Jin's fate had already been sealed the night before. Dean Xue Wu had the authority to make it happen.
As for Jin's parents? They don't care. If you're weak, you're not even worth to be called a son. It wasn't personal — not really. The ice ran deep in their blood, and with it came a coldness that left no room for sentiment. It was simply the way things were in Xue Family.
The Next Morning
A sharp, repetitive beeping dragged Jin out of sleep. He groaned, rubbing his eyes. 'What now…?'
Crossing the room, he tapped the console.
A notification blinked: Someone is waiting for you.
The door slid open with a hiss.
Dean Xue Wu stood there, tall and imposing in an ornate green robe embroidered with silver thread. Like most of the family, his hair was grey — but his eyes were different. Not the storm‑grey of Xue Li, but a pale - almost white that seemed to catch the light unnaturally.
Without a word, he handed Jin a sleek, tablet‑like device — a hoolbook.
Jin's inherited memories made the script easy to read. The document was formal, precise… and blunt.
It basicly says - brother, you are a failure. That is why we are removing you from the training grounds.
The rest was dressed up in polite phrasing, but the meaning was clear: He would be sent to Planet Roca as the Xue Family's representative there.
It was, essentially, exile. They couldn't throw him out entirely — Alliance law forbade it — but they could send him far enough away that he'd never be in their way again.
Jin's eyes skimmed the text, then flicked up to Xue Wu. He shrugged. "Understood."
Inside, he was almost smiling. 'If I'm being honest… I couldn't be happier. This works perfectly in my favor.'
"Your transfer is immediate. Your new guardian will arrive in five hours to collect you." Xue Wu's voice was as calm and precise as the document he'd just handed over.
Jin's lips twitched. 'Five hours? Hah… they work efficiently enough when they want someone gone.'
And on Dean's face. No malice, no pity. Just the execution of a decision already made.
The door slid shut behind Dean Xue Wu with a soft hiss.
'Shame I don't have access to Skynet. Hell, I don't even have a hololink. Guess I'm on my own.'
He glanced around the room, eyes landing on the Gamer System interface. An Alarm Clock option blinked in the corner. 'Huh. That'll do.'
He set it for four hours — enough time to prepare before his "guardian" arrived.
'Alright… time to recreate some of Han Jihan's abilities.'
He sat down on the meditation mat, straightened his back, and tried to relax. His breathing slowed. His thoughts… wandered.
It took a while, but eventually a soft ding echoed in his mind.
[New Skill Created] [Mana Sense] [LVL 1]
[PASSIVE/ACTIVE]
Allows user to perceive mana inside and outside the body. Effect: Sense mana outside body, range 10 meters. Cost: 1 MP per minute.
Jin's lips twitched again. '…I wanted Meditation. How the hell did I make Mana Sense?'
He rubbed his temples. 'Guess it's not as easy as the Gamer manhwa made it look.'
Determined, he closed his eyes again, forcing himself to calm down and focus. Less than a minute later—
[New Skill Created]
[Mana Control] [LVL 1]
[PASSIVE]
Ability that allows control over mana more effectively.
Effect: Increased control over mana by 10%, decreased mana consumption by 1%.
Jin's eyes snapped open. '…Again? Wrong skill! Dammit, was I really this bad at this? I can't believe it.'
He flopped back onto the mat, staring at the ceiling. 'Motherf—… whose bright idea was it to say meditation is an easy skill to learn? Damn you, fanfic authors!'
Still, despite the frustration, a small grin tugged at his lips. 'Mana Sense and Mana Control… not what I aimed for, but they're not useless.'
The next thirty minutes were an exercise in frustration. Jin sat cross‑legged, trying to empty his mind, but every time he thought he was close, some stray thought would yank him back.
'Main reason I'm failing? Agitation. I'm too wound up.'
He forced himself to think about what Meditation actually did in the Gamer manhwa — focus, calm, recovery — and tried to aim for that.
Finally, a soft ding echoed in his mind.
"Finally!" he said aloud, grinning as he opened the notification… and froze.
[New Skill Created] [Mana Absorption] Allows user to absorb ambient mana. Passive: Absorbs 1 MP per minute. Active: Absorbs 10 MP per minute. Requirements: Sitting. Cost: 1 MP per minute.
Jin's smile twitched into a grimace. 'Three wrong skills in a row… dammit.'
He exhaled slowly, calming himself. Then, with exaggerated seriousness, he clapped his hands together like a praying monk.
He pictured himself sitting atop a mountain, wind brushing past his face, the scent of pine and stone in the air. He imagined the stillness of a calm lake, the quiet weight of nature pressing in. His breathing slowed. His body became motionless.
Another ding. Then another.
He cracked one eye open, crossing his fingers before checking the notifications.
[New Skill Created]
[Meditation] [LVL 1]
[PASSIVE/ACTIVE]
Allows user to enter deep meditation.
Passive: Recovers 10% MP per hour. Active: Recovers 10% MP per minute.
Jin grinned wide. "Yes! I'm the best!"
'Now *that's* what I'm talking about. OP skill unlocked. I can spam and recover mana — training just got a whole lot more efficient.'
Then he glanced at the second notification… and blinked.
[New Skill Created] [Nature Sense] [LVL 1] [PASSIVE] Allows user to perceive nature energy and passively absorb it.
Jin stared at it. '…Pretty sure this skill wandered in from the wrong universe. What is this, Naruto? I swear, if I turn into a frog, I'm suing somebody.'
Jin checked himself from every angle — arms, legs, face, even the whites of his eyes in the mirror. No frog features. No stone‑like skin. No weird mutations.
He let out a long breath of relief. 'Good. Still me. No accidental trip to the Naruto verse… yet.'
But as he relaxed, his senses — sharpened by Mana Sense — picked up something else.
Mana flowed in the air around him, faint but steady, like a soft current. And woven through it… something different.
It wasn't mana.
Sometimes it was calm, almost soothing, like the hush before dawn. Then, without warning, it would shift — wild, sharp, unpredictable — like a coin flipping endlessly in mid‑air, never landing.
The change was so sudden, so alien, that goosebumps prickled along his spine.
'What the hell is that…?'
It wasn't just energy. It felt alive. Watching. Waiting.
Jin's fingers twitched, the urge to probe it stronger than his better judgment. 'Mana I understand. This… this is something else entirely.'
Calming down, Jin made a mental note: 'Nature energy is indeed scary… let's shelve that for now before I end up as frog décor.'
He refocused. 'Right… magic skills. For now, I just need two: Energy Bolt and Mana Shield.'
He extended his hand, recalling how Han Jihan did it. 'Will the mana forward… shape it… release.'
A sphere of blue light formed in his palm, sluggish at first, then accelerating sharply as it shot across the room.
BOOM.
It slammed into the far wall, leaving a crater two inches deep, cracks spider‑webbing outward.
Jin froze. '…I really hope I'm not required to fix that. I don't have the money. As far as I know.'
A soft notification chimed in his mind:
[New Skill Created]
[Energy Ball] [LVL 1]
[ACTIVE]
Sends out a sphere of condensed energy toward the target, dealing damage.
Cost: 1 MP.
Jin tilted his head. 'Not exactly Energy Bolt… but close enough. Han Jihan would approve.'
He cracked the door, peering into the corridor. No one seemed to have heard the blast — or they were pretending not to. Either way, he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
'Alright… next, Mana Shield.'
He closed his eyes, drawing mana inward, then pushing it outward in all directions. Slowly, a faint shimmer began to form around him, wrapping him in a translucent bubble.
A soft notification chimed in Jin's mind — but the moment it did, a strange emptiness washed over him, like something vital had been scooped out of his core.
He glanced at the Gamer System window and saw why.
[New Skill Created]
[Mana Shield] [LVL 1]
[ACTIVE]
Creates a defensive barrier that surrounds the user.
Cost: Activation 40 MP, continuous use 50 MP per minute.
Jin's eyes widened. 'Oh… so *that's* where the emptiness is coming from.'
He flicked his gaze to his MP bar — watching it tick down almost a full point every second.
'Yeah, no. Not today.'
With a thought, the shimmering bubble around him dissolved. The drain stopped instantly, leaving him feeling like someone had just taken their foot off his chest.
'Alright… I forgot my mana pool isn't anywhere near Han Jihan's when he made this skill. For now, Mana Shield is strictly for emergencies.'
He lowered himself back onto the meditation mat, crossing his legs and closing his eyes.
'Time to recover what I just burned through.'
The world faded into stillness as he slipped into Meditation, the slow, steady pulse of mana returning to his body like water filling a cup, drop by drop.
A few minutes of Meditation later, Jin opened his eyes and checked his Status Panel.
MP: 195/195
'Full. Perfect. Now… time to go for the big one.'
The skill that had made Han Jihan a walking nightmare in the manhwa. ID Create — the Instant Dungeon.
A dimensional layer. A parallel space. A private world where he could fight, train, and grind without touching the real world. 'It's not just OP… it's *the* cheat skill. Control the environment, control the rules, control the pace of my growth.'
From what Jin remembered, it was unique — most people in The Gamer's world could only use Illusion Barriers, separating fighters from the real world. But ID Create? That was on another level.
He extended his hand, pouring his strength and will into it. 'Create illusion barrier… create illusion barrier… create illusion barrier…'
Nothing seemed to change. The room looked exactly the same.
Then—
[New Skill Created] [ID Create] [LVL 1]
[ACTIVE]
Allows user to create an Instant Dungeon. Skill level allows creation of stronger Instant Dungeons.
A slow grin spread across Jin's face. 'Oh yes… it's mine.'
He extended his hand again, this time focusing on the exit command. 'Escape… escape… escape…'
The air in front of him shimmered, a faint crack appearing in space itself.
[New Skill Created] [ID Escape] [LVL 1]
[ACTIVE]
Allows user to escape Instant Dungeons.
Jin stared at the notifications, then threw his head back and laughed — loud, exaggerated, and just a little unhinged.
"MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
It was the kind of laugh a third‑rate villain would use after stealing candy from a child — and Jin didn't care. 'I've got the keys to my own private world now.
One thing Jin had already confirmed: once a Gamer skill was learned or created, it could be activated with nothing more than a thought — pure willpower was enough.
When he willed ID Create, a translucent panel appeared in front of him:
[ID Create]
1 – Empty
2 – ??????
3 – ??????????
4 – ????
…
Only the first option, Empty, was accessible.
'Just like in the manhwa… the rest are locked until I level the skill or meet certain conditions.'
Without hesitation, he began spamming Create and Escape in rapid succession.
Create. Escape. Create. Escape.
Over and over, the world shimmered and snapped back, the transitions seamless.
'Doesn't seem to use mana… but damn, it's tiring.'
After a while, his breathing grew heavier, his shoulders aching from the repeated bursts of focus. It wasn't magical exhaustion — it was physical, the kind that came from pushing his mind and body to keep up with the constant dimensional shifts.
He sat back on the mat, rubbing his temples. 'The Gamer's system isn't as simple as it looks in fiction. There are always hidden mechanics, hidden costs. If I want to survive — and thrive — I need to research its capabilities slowly, methodically.'
His silver eyes narrowed slightly.
As Jin sat catching his breath from spamming ID Create and ID Escape, a strange warmth began to spread through his limbs.
At first, he thought it was just his body relaxing — but then he felt it. The subtle hum of Nature Sense activating on its own.
Energy seeped into him from the air itself, threading through his tired muscles, washing away the heaviness in his bones.
He blinked, startled. '…It's filling me back up. This… this isn't bad at all.'
The sensation was all‑enveloping — like sinking into a hot spring after a long day. The fatigue melted away, replaced by a calm, steady vitality.
"Not bad, Nature Energy… not bad at all," he murmured.
With his strength returning, he went back to work — creating and escaping, over and over.
Then, mid‑spam, the ID Create panel flickered.
[ID Create]
1 – Empty
2 – Zombie Dungeon
3 – ??????????
4 – ????
…
Jin's silver eyes lit up. 'Second dungeon unlocked… and it's zombies. Perfect.'
He let the Nature Energy keep flowing, enjoying the way it erased his fatigue. But this time, he wasn't rushing in.
He checked the alarm clock in his Gamer System. Time left until guardian arrives: 1 hour 30 minutes.
'Plenty of time… but zombies can still be dangerous at low level.'
His gaze swept the room — and landed on a weapon rack mounted on the wall.
That's when it hit him. '…Wait. I have an Inventory.'
He smirked, shaking his head. 'Guess I can blame that on myself. It's only my second day with these abilities — still getting used to thinking like a real Gamer.'
Jin had never seriously considered using cold weapons in a fight — not in his old life, anyway. But to his surprise, the old Jin had at least some experience with them.
Storing most of the musium in his Inventory, now he had: swords, spears, halberds, even a mace, to his beck and call. 'Guess you never know when a halberd or mace will come in handy…'
Still, for now, he slung a bow over his shoulder. 'Ranged first. Let's see what these zombies can do before I get close.'
Bow in hand, he willed the command: ID Create – Enter Zombie Dungeon.
The room didn't change. No sudden shift in lighting, no ominous groans.
He stepped into the corridor — and there it was. A shambling corpse, its movements jerky but purposeful. His first target.
Not rushing in, Jin activated Observe.
[Observe LVL 1 Activated] Name: Zombie Level: 2 HP: 45/45 Summary: A reanimated corpse driven by hunger. Secretly a hidden romantic.
Jin blinked. '…Hidden romantic? Seriously?'
He scoffed, lowering the bow slightly. 'What's next, a poet werewolf?'
Still, the smirk on his face didn't last long — the zombie had noticed him, and it was starting to move at him.