The alarm sounds at 6 a.m. Beep beep. A hand moves slowly and presses down with a monotonous action, as though it is ingrained in its very muscles.
Ocridef opens his eyes, staring at the familiar ceiling for a few seconds, already knowing what will happen today. It will be a day like all the others, where he wakes up, goes to work, comes home, falls asleep, and then repeats it all again.
So, he gets ready, leaves his apartment, and walks down the path that has been walked on many times. As he walks on the path, looking down and lost in thought, he hears a frighteningly loud sound and then a strong force hits him from the side. After a few seconds of shock and pain, all sensation is lost.
People screaming, the truck driver getting out of the truck with his hands on his head. These are the last things that Ocridef sees as the world slowly fades away. The space starts distorting; a forest slowly appears in his view. Then, as though the force of gravity started acting again, he is pulled down from the sky towards a corpse, then everything goes dark.
Beep beep. He hears a sound from his very soul. A screen appears in his mind.
"Soul transmigration successful! Beginning body restoration process in 3, 2, 1. Start!"
"What is this feeling?" asked Ocridef himself. He was feeling as though water was being poured into his body, filling it up with life. The feeling was intoxicating as he slowly regained sensations.
His skin regained its function, his eyes seemingly disturbed by the strong sunlight penetrating through the trees' canopy. A few seconds passed before he regained control to move and opened his eyes to a purple screen with shining words.
"Body restoration successful!" Then it disappeared from his sight instantly after the words finished appearing.
Ocridef stared blankly for a few seconds into nothingness, trying to understand what had just happened.
Taking a deep breath in and a deep breath out, he said, "Okay, first things first, I died which is fine. I don't mind; at least I won't have to go to work anymore haha," he laughed nervously. "Then I seem to have been transported somewhere. These trees don't seem like any trees I have seen before," he thought as he looked at a tree a few meters ahead of him. It was tall, about 30 to 40 meters high, pitch black, with deep green leaves the size of a large table with strange shapes.
Ocridef then spent a few seconds just looking at that tree and taking in the world, still trying to understand his situation. A few minutes passed just like that, and then all of a sudden, Flak Flak!
Ocridef gave himself two slaps, finally getting his mind out of its confusion. He was no stranger to what all this meant. He had read a few novels about transmigration, and that seemed to be the case here. Remembering what most of them had in common, Ocridef recalled the voice and the purple panel he saw before.
He willed it to appear, and to his surprise, it appeared instantly.
Realm: Mortal
Spiritual Roots: Earth Grade
Cultivation Multiplier: 1
Soul Points: 0
He looked at it for some time and got some information out of it. If his suspicion was right and he did indeed transmigrate, then the Realm column meant that this was a cultivation world with immortals. And as for the Spiritual Roots Earth Grade… hmm, that must be my cultivation talent, but is it good or bad? I don't know. Plus the Cultivation Multiplier—that must be my Golden Finger. Right now it's only at 1, and to increase it in the future I most likely will need those soul points, but I have no idea how to get them, nor do I know how to cultivate. I am completely at a loss. Maybe if I ask the system, "System, hello?
System, can you explain to me how to get Soul Points, please?"
Nothing happened. "Damn it, I am on my own."
Thinking he couldn't get any more information from the system, Ocridef decided to examine his body.
He seemed to be taller than before, and he had long hair which he didn't have in his past life.
"Seems I am deep in a forest of some sort. There are only black trees as far as I can see."
Looking left and right, there seemed to be no creature that wanted to eat him around for now. But before standing up, he had to try something first.
"Let's see, if it's like those novels, then I would need to gather the energy of this world in my body to cultivate, right?" he said to himself.
He then crossed his legs and closed his eyes, still expecting a bit to wake up in his bed.
As he got rid of these thoughts, he felt a faint fiery energy around him, like a swarm of fireflies slowly moving in this world, being present in all things that existed.
Then he heard a sound.
"Qi detected! Activating cultivation mode."
"Hmm, it seems the system will help me with this," he thought.
Immediately his concentration increased greatly and the world started to turn bright.
He then felt the fireflies immediately becoming brighter like a strong fire and slowly moving towards his left leg, entering a strange nerve-like vessel that he was able to feel.
He felt how the fire was moving through this vessel upwards towards his chest and into his heart, then slowly moving all around his body before returning to the starting place. Then, after it completed a rotation, a strong feeling of power pulsed throughout his whole body. The feeling was wonderful; he could feel his body slowly strengthening.
"Ding, first Qi rotation complete!"
Immediately the previous panel appeared again in his vision.
Realm: Qi Gathering 1
Spiritual Roots: Earth Grade
Cultivation Multiplier: 1 (0/100)
Soul Points: 0
The Realm had changed, and something appeared beside the Cultivation Multiplier.
He immediately stopped cultivating and started thinking.
Hmm, Qi Gathering Realm. This is a very familiar realm. I read a few novels where this cultivation realm has appeared before as the starting realm. If that's also the case for the other realms, then the next realm should be the Foundation Establishment Realm, but that can only be speculated on. And as for the number near Cultivation Multiplier, that must be the amount of Soul Points needed to increase my multiplier—a full 100! That seems a lot. I wonder how long it will take me to gather 100 points after I find out how to obtain them.
Opening his eyes and looking around, he thought,
"Well, for now I should really start looking around and try to find a safe place before I get attacked by some creature from this forest. Cultivation can wait for later; for now I need to understand where I am and where to head to next."
Just as he stood up, a rustling sound came from a patch of grass not far away.
He immediately looked in the direction the sound came from. The next moment a golden light blinded his vision and at the same time a voice sounded in his mind.
"Are you the human master my father told me about??"
Ocridef looked at the small golden beetle in the grass looking at him with its small black eyes.
A bewildered look appeared on his face and he immediately shouted out loud in shock, "What is this? And did it just talk!!"
With a loud bang he fell down.