Lucian watched the fungus take its last breath of struggle before it wilted. And with that, Lucian finally dismissed his blade.
"That was an interesting life form. I guess that species managed to survive living off the nutrients of other creatures. I might come across them in the future, so I should take care."
It was an interesting experience, but one Lucian would rather not have to go through once more.
He would much rather prefer his system coming back and giving him back the conveniences he used to enjoy in his past life.
"Where did that bastard disappear to? Did it finally decide to run because it realized it scammed me?"
Lucian questioned, but he did not expect an answer.
Bzzzz
[System co…mi…ng…Online…Breaking…connection…with home system…Reboot in 5…4…3…2…1…? Error???]
[Rebooting]
[Welcome User. Checking your debt. Match found. 999,999,999 / 1,000,000,000 Coins]
Finally, the system came back online. But the result was the same depressing one Lucian did not want to see.
"So, what took you so long to reboot this time? Were you trying to run away?"
Lucian's voice sounded bitter, but the system was backed by artificial intelligence. It did not understand emotions… for the most part.
[The system reboot took longer due to an internal error. Issue resolved… Error.]
[Would the user like to see his stat and skill list?]
"That's not needed. I want your filter system to find the skills I need. Manually going through thousands of skills will be too time-consuming. As for the stats of this body? I can pretty much guess them based on their performance."
After going through the same thing again and again, Lucian had an instinctive understanding of his body's performance.
Currently, his efficiency was dropping even faster because of the cold. Diving headfirst into the snow had not been a good idea.
"First thing I need to do is find shelter and some dry wood to make a fire. I can think about the rest later. System, any help?"
Lucian asked, and the system's reply came immediately.
[User's body has a mana deficiency. Would the user like to use coins to use skills?]
The system, like the bastard that it was, asked this question. And Lucian's reply was almost immediate.
"Forget about it. I can't risk going into debt any harder. I'll find a cave myself."
Lucian's past experiences with such terrains came in clutch at such a time.
The marks in the snow pointed toward a solid structure, and after much struggle, Lucian was able to find shelter for himself in a small cave.
Dragging his body across the small opening, Lucian breathed a sigh of relief once his small body was able to make it inside.
"Finally, I somehow managed to make it across. If I were a little older, I likely would not have been able to make it."
Lucian's body hurt, and his injuries started to bother him. But thankfully, he had his system inventory with some supplies he had stored in it for emergencies.
'If only the system allowed me to store more, the start of this world would not be so hard. Unfortunately, looking at my supply, I only have enough for a couple of days. I need to establish a food source for myself quickly.'
It sounded hard, but it was actually not hard for Lucian to grow his own food. With the use of mana, anything was possible—even growing food in this barren winter land.
The only problem? His young body lacked the energy to do anything.
"For now, I should take a potion and light some fire. I can think about what to do next once I survive."
Lucian had supplies for both, but these were his last ones (due to inventory limit).
Once Lucian was safe, he finally allowed his eyes to close and sleep to claim him. From tomorrow, the struggle to survive would start again.
When Lucian woke up the next morning, the fire was at its last breath. His body felt much warmer, and the biting edge of the cold he had felt last night was nowhere to be found.
Lucian's body also moved far more easily now that he no longer felt sick when he tried to move.
The system's light shined in front of his eyes, waking him up, and Lucian finally had time to breathe and check up on his system.
"So, me being thrown into this world was not a dream. The only thing I remember the system saying to me at the end was that this would be the last world if I succeeded. That's… something, right? I just need to be the stepping stone for one last time."
Lucian was not an overly optimistic person, but he felt that if he did not find a silver lining in this situation, he would go mad.
"Alright, what's my mission? As an extra, it cannot be too difficult, right?"
He asked before opening the mission tab.
[User's final mission: Help the hero of this world reach the end and exit the stage at the appropriate time.]
[Reward: Repayment of life debt. User's freedom.]
The mission sounded vague.
Out of all his lives, this was the first time Lucian had received such open and vague information.
"Is that all the information I am getting?"
Lucian asked, but there was no answer from the system to tell him he was right or wrong.
In the end, all he could do was ensure his own survival for now and wait for the hero of this world to show up.
"Alright, first thing I need to do is eat something. And then, I should look around to find a water source nearby. Once I have a location secured, I can start using magic to transform this place into something suitable for cultivating food."
Since the system had not pointed out Lucian in any specific location or direction, he could only assume that he was on the right track.
And from his past experience, he knew that he would need a lot of resources and money to reach his goal.
But first, he needed to survive.