As someone who transmigrated into another world as a so-called chosen one, Zero didn't have any lofty ambitions.
Power? Fame? He didn't want any of it.
The very thought of sitting in a high position and having to deal with endless troubles made him feel exhausted in both body and mind.
It felt like he had been working thousands of years at some soul-crushing job in his past life.
In his previous life, he had already studied himself half to death. This time, Zero just wanted to lie flat, slack off, and be an ordinary, unremarkable person.
Unfortunately, the moment he descended into this other world, half of that dream of slacking off shattered.
Just like in those old legends of emperors, an unprecedented anomaly occurred when he descended.
The Aeon of Hunt, who should have been busy hunting down abominations, suddenly appeared over Luofu.
That colossal divine form blotted out the sky, the oppressive might of a god making it impossible to breathe.
The people of the Xianzhou, upon seeing a Aeon, trembled with awe.
Devout believers were overcome with excitement, falling prostrate on the spot in worship.
Some of the visiting foreigners didn't even dare to look directly at the Aeon. Drenched in sweat, their legs gave way, and they knelt down together with the Xianzhou people.
This "Aeon of Hunt" said nothing, just cast a glance, then hurriedly departed.
But for the Xianzhou people, who understood "Aeon of Hunt" better than anyone, it wasn't that simple.
For the Aeon to act like this, there must be some profound meaning behind it.
And so, all the children born that very day in Luofu were burdened with heavy expectations, and Zero was dragged into it as well.
From the moment he came into the world to the day he entered the academy, he was under constant scrutiny. Time and again, people would nag him, urging him to study hard, afraid he might disappoint the Arbiter of Fate (Aeon of Hunt).
One day, at home, Zero stumbled across an arrow infused with the Aeon Hunt's divine power.
This single arrow was powerful enough to blow up a star. The energy it held felt inexhaustible, infinite in supply.
And at that very moment, it lay quietly, obediently in his palm.
For an instant, he almost let out a sharp scream.
He knew full well, if anyone else ever learned of this, then he could kiss the word "ordinary" goodbye for the rest of his life.
Just thinking about it gave him a headache. He'd probably never know peace in this lifetime.
Just when he was about to despair enough to run away from Luofu, the standard-issue cheat of transmigrators appeared, a system.
But instead of a cold, emotionless voice, once it saw the thing in Zero's hand, it let out a sharp, unsettling laugh.
It laughed and laughed in fits and starts, the sound like some old rusted machine.
[Hahaha, I am the Game System]
The laughter was deafening, making Zero's ears hurt.
The tone was bizarre, not at all human-like. He was half afraid it would laugh itself to death in the next second.
Zero, "…Stop laughing, you're scaring me."
System, [The way you look right now… it's really hilarious!]
Zero, "Can you put this thing away?"
System, [Eh? But this is power on the level of a Hunt Eidolon! Why would you want to hide it?]
Zero, "…Because it's a pain in the ass!"
The system obeyed and stowed the arrow away. Still grinning and unserious, it asked, [If you don't want to use the power of the Hunt, then what do you want?]
Zero shook his head. "I don't want anything."
For others, transmigrating to another world was like starting a brand-new account, instantly getting a golden finger, standing out among mediocrity, leaping into the role of some heaven-defying protagonist everyone envied.
But Zero was true to his name, he just wanted to live quietly, peacefully.
Rather than chasing achievements, he cared more about simply living well. If he could meet a soulmate, that would be a blessing. If not, then having a few close friends to drink and eat with would be enough.
He had no ambition whatsoever. But the system bound to him, the so-called "Game" system, wasn't having it.
In its lazy, cocky tone, it promised him endless credit points and rare treasures.
From the way it talked, a single mission could help him achieve his dream of lying flat, letting him retire on the spot and skip hundreds of years of hard work.
Its tone was so exaggerated, it felt more like some scammer luring people in with promises of high pay, [The power of the Elation Eidolon, do you like it?]
Zero, "…"
Zero, "The Aeon of Joy, your so-called Eidolons, did you scam them all into it? That's pretty pathetic."
The electronic voice fell silent for a moment, then shifted into a voice neither male nor female.
It burst into laughter again, invited Zero to become an Eidolon, and when rejected, simply muttered [Returning it to its original owner] before vanishing without a trace.
Zero let the words of Aha pass in one ear and out the other, and began studying the so-called golden finger he had been left with.
Without "Joy," the Game system could only provide the most basic functions, inventory, skills, and the like.
Opening his inventory, his vision was instantly filled with a mess of random items.
Raspberries, trash, Mora, Divine Hearts, relics, Marrow-Washing Pills, intertwined fates, moonlit illusions...
'What kind of weird junk had gotten mixed in here…'
He couldn't even count how many items there were. After scrolling all the way down, he finally spotted the "Hunt Arrow."
When he focused on it, the system automatically popped up an annotation, [Power personally bestowed by Hunt, yet this gift doesn't seem to please its recipient? How could a humorless Aeon ever hand out a satisfying gift? Hunt bad, Aha awesome]
Zero, '…Aha, go make your posts somewhere else.'
For several days after receiving his golden finger, Zero treaded carefully, terrified someone from the General's Office would suddenly appear and arrest him on the spot.
Zero, 'If another mess comes up, I really will switch my faith to Abundance…'
Fortunately, with the arrow tucked away in his inventory, nobody sensed the explosive power hidden there.
And fortunately, he wasn't the only one born that day in Luofu.
Among them were many talented, brilliant individuals.
Under the blinding light of others, Zero's deliberate attempts to slack off made him seem much less conspicuous.
He was like a faint spark by a bonfire, quickly dimming, blending into the background, the most forgettable figure in the crowd.
Under the pitying gazes of others, he finally breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Later, with barely passing scores, he entered the Divination Commission.
After muddling along in the Divination Commission for a few years, Zero finally mastered the proper way to slack off, developing his own style.
He strolled in leisurely at the exact minute work began, and just as leisurely slipped into the break room under the excuse of "making tea," chatting idly with colleagues.
After a while, when they noticed the boss was about to arrive, he and his coworkers exchanged a look, stopped talking, grabbed their brand-new palm-sized thermos cups, and returned to their desks.
One cup of tea, one pen, enough to get through the day.
If only he could add a cigarette, it'd be perfect… If it weren't for the smoking ban in the Divination Commission, he'd definitely light one up.
Thinking this, Zero sat staring blankly at the divination coins in front of him.
Before long, the Commissioner himself arrived.
Hearing the familiar footsteps, Zero immediately sat upright, eyes fixed intently on the coins.
"What's this? Hoping to stare them into blooming flowers?"
The Commissioner, Xiao Lin, was a middle-aged man with a full beard. His smile was forced, his sharp gaze like it could see straight through Zero's slacker soul.
His eyes first landed on the coins, then locked onto Zero.
Zero held his ground, refusing to look away. The Commissioner studied him, expression unreadable, tone giving nothing away, as he asked slowly, "You and that Swordmaster, Jingliu, you two… is there some something going on between you two?"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/XenosX
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰