A New Beginning

Ryan collapsed onto the ground, as a creature named Xixi happily smeared its saliva all over his dark face. This wasn't because Ryan's skin was dark, but because he hadn't bathed in so long—and brushing his teeth was out of the question. Nearby, two other slaves saw Ryan's condition and shook their heads, slowly resuming their tasks. One muttered, "Sigh, Ryan's so honest. If Holman's nephew were here, we'd have our hands full."

"Forget it, as long as we don't end up at the back mountain. It's tough work, but at least it's better than there. The beasts are vicious, the living conditions are worse, and we only get bread delivered once a month. If there's heavy snow, we might go months without food. Worst of all, there's nobody there. I heard the last few guys went crazy," the other slave glanced at Ryan, still sitting in the mud, and spoke to his companion.

"Let's not talk about it. Once we get paid tomorrow, we're heading straight to the tavern for a good drink. Sigh, my greatest wish is just to have a drink every day."

"Get back to work. I know what you're really thinking—it's that flirtatious tavern owner, isn't it?"

...

Ryan's mind was in turmoil. Although Wang Jin, the "otaku" who now occupied Ryan's body, already knew that he had somehow crossed over to another world, he had no idea why or where. If this was indeed some ancient European setting, he could at least get a sense of the larger trends, but the situation now felt more confusing. Wang Jin—now inhabiting Ryan—felt completely lost and scared about the future.

From Ryan's remaining memories, Wang Jin understood that this was a world with no human rights. While human rights hadn't truly existed in Wang Jin's original world either, they at least had some semblance of protection. Here, however, slaves like Ryan could be killed at will, and the master would face no consequences. Slaves were treated like animals, and even the servants' status was near the bottom. Next were the commoners, and above them were the nobles. As for the nobles, Ryan only knew that his knightly lord owned the land, but little else beyond that.

"Damn it! I'm just playing a new game, right? I don't believe that thousands of years of accumulated civilization have nothing to offer! I'm a slave now, but I won't stay a slave forever. Every day I survive is a step forward. I refuse to believe that with my intelligence, I can't handle these half-naked, blonde barbarians. … Ouch!" Wang Jin slowly regained his composure, pushing Xixi away as it licked his face. He stood up and began to roar, but before he could finish, Xixi nudged his already bruised backside. It was frustrating, but at least he was still alive. Wang Jin had no intention of giving up. When people reach rock bottom, they often find clarity—sort of like how a path always appears when you reach a mountain.

"Alright, I'm Ryan now. I'm about 1.6 meters tall, a solid 80 points. My hair is golden, a rare color, extinct on Earth. That's a perfect 100. My body's about as thin as a stick, maybe 40 points. I'm 13 years old—well, still a little handsome, so let's call it 70 points. Overall, I'm passing... not bad for a 13-year-old, huh? 100 points!" Ryan splashed around in a large wooden tub, occasionally glancing at himself in a nearby wooden basin. In truth, he couldn't really tell how he looked. To him, Europeans all looked the same—white skin, blue eyes—while Africans were just as easy to spot, with their black skin and big white teeth. So, he couldn't really figure out how good-looking he was. Besides, the reflection in the water was too blurry to make any judgments.

After a refreshing bath, Ryan felt much better. The only downside was his clothes, which were still dirty. So, he wrapped a relatively clean cloth around his waist and left the rest to air out. His only outfit had been washed but was still damp.

"Sigh. If I'm going to survive in this world, I need knowledge. But Ryan can't read. The only place I can get knowledge is..." Ryan's eyes flicked toward the massive two-story wooden building. He clearly remembered that it had a large library, though he didn't know what was inside.

"Going to the back mountain might not be the worst idea. If I change my behavior and speech a bit, no one will notice. I can take my time there. I'm not just going to tend horses—I'll find something useful to do. Maybe I'll check out the library," Ryan thought. With that, he headed toward the castle. However, he couldn't help but scoff internally, "Is this supposed to be a castle? Compared to those ancient castles in Europe on Earth, this is nothing."

"Anthony! Harry! Are you there?" Ryan called out loudly as he stood at the door. Anthony and Harry were the two slaves responsible for maintaining the castle.

"Hey! Little Ryan, what's up? Harry had something to do, so he went home early today," Anthony came out and puffed out his chest when he saw Ryan. Noticing Ryan's strange appearance, he sneered slightly and asked, "What's going on, Ryan?"

"Big Brother Anthony, do you have any old clothes? My clothes got ruined. Could you give me something old? I'd be happy to help with some work in return," Ryan was irritated by Anthony's somewhat superior attitude, but he had no choice. After all, Anthony's status was higher.

When Anthony first heard that Ryan was asking for clothes, his face darkened. He was about to lash out, but then he heard Ryan's offer. Looking at the time, he realized it was only halfway through the day, and then remembered the low, cramped storage room. He quickly switched to a friendly tone and said, "Poor Ryan! I've got two sets of clothes, but you'll need to clean out the storage room in exchange. How about it?"

"Sure, thank you, Big Brother Anthony." Ryan smiled broadly, but inwardly he was groaning. He had hoped to clean up the house for Anthony, but now he found himself tasked with cleaning the storage room. However, Ryan didn't dare show his dissatisfaction. He also noticed that people here had a straightforward approach, much like Europeans—if you need something, just ask!

"Ugh! What a jerk!" Ryan muttered under his breath. When he finally changed into a worn-out outfit and followed Anthony to the so-called storage room, he was horrified by what he saw. The "storage room" turned out to be the castle's basement, a space filled with bags of grain and large barrels, presumably filled with wine or something similar. After Anthony walked away, Ryan couldn't help but curse under his breath.

Cleaning out the storage room seemed simple at first—just turn over each bag of grain to check if any had gone bad, and throw out the spoiled ones. The barrels didn't need to be moved, as they were bigger than the tub Ryan used to bathe in. Fortunately, the bags of grain weighed about 50 pounds each, not the 200-pound sacks Ryan was used to on Earth. Also, to Ryan's relief, Anthony had prepared a piece of black bread for him. While it didn't taste great and wasn't very satisfying, it was better than the black, mushy gruel Ryan had been drinking before.

"Digging deep, accumulating grain... looks like food is the real currency in this society. Otherwise, there's no way they'd store this much grain." Ryan thought to himself, becoming a bit more cunning. He realized that going through all the bags of grain would take at least half a month, so he only flipped the ones on the surface. As for the rest, well, he'd leave them as they were. It wasn't that Ryan didn't want to do an honest job, but tomorrow was the day the supplies would be sent to the back mountain, and Ryan would be changing tasks.

"I'll push through this, and then at night, I'll sneak into the library and take a look. I have to find something useful, ideally a book with pictures!" Over the past few days, Ryan had familiarized himself with the layout of the castle. The two slaves would return home at night, and two guards would patrol outside. As a slave, Ryan wasn't allowed to leave, and he hadn't seen the butler, Holman, or the captain of the guards, Tor. If this had been the old Ryan, he wouldn't have dared to think about sneaking around, but this Ryan was different.

"Huh, what's this? A chest?" When Ryan finished moving the last bag of grain, he noticed an old chest in the corner. It wasn't big, and if he hadn't been moving the grain, it might have remained unnoticed forever. The grain used to be stacked to the left, but now it was on the right, and directly in front of him were the huge barrels. The chest was hidden between the barrels and the grain bags, blocked from view by both. Ryan glanced at the giant barrels and then at the small door to the storage room. He realized that as long as the barrels didn't break, the chest would remain hidden inside. Using the faint light from a candle, Ryan carefully examined the damaged chest. He recognized that the wax used for the candles here came from the fruit of a plant, something he had done before.

Ryan reached out, intending to open the chest, but then hesitated. Facing the unknown, it was better to be cautious. He found a wooden stick and slowly pried the chest open.

"Ah! Gold coins!" Ryan was dazzled by the golden glow inside the chest. He leaned in to take a closer look and found several gold coins along with a book. That was it—nothing else inside. Ryan grabbed the coins, his face lighting up with excitement. Looking around, he sadly realized he had nowhere to put the coins. His clothes were just a piece of cloth with no pockets, so he had no choice but to look at the book first.

The book was made of animal hide, with a pitch-black cover. Ryan carefully stroked it but couldn't identify the material, given his limited knowledge. The book was quite thick, about 5 centimeters, but not very wide, almost like a cheap calendar. The cover had a strange design—sometimes resembling a hammer, other times a flask. It gave off a vague, almost abstract feeling.

"My God! I can't read this!" Ryan opened the book and saw the swirling, tadpole-like characters. It quickly became clear that he couldn't understand the language. As a slave, he had never learned to read, so he sighed and tossed the book aside. He rifled through the chest again but found only some tattered clothes, nothing else.

Looking at the seven gold coins and the unreadable book in front of him, Ryan was puzzled. He couldn't possibly carry all these things, and from what he had overheard Anthony say, he knew the immense value of these seven coins. In the tavern, Anthony and Harry could easily spend a silver coin on drinks and a dance girl, and one gold coin was worth 100 silver coins, while one silver coin was worth 100 copper coins. Ryan was certain that if anyone found out about these coins, he would disappear without a trace. He glanced at the surrounding grain and barrels, and a bold idea began to form in his mind.