It was only then that Li Wei "saw" the panel in his mind, and a thought couldn't help but surface.
'Is this… a cheat system?' Li Wei's mind was just starting to wake up. 'Did I awaken a system in my sleep?'
However, before he could figure it out, Don Quixote, clad in simple armor, had already strode out of the basement. Li Wei could only trail closely behind him.
Li Wei had once heard that forcefully waking a sleepwalker could cause severe damage to their cognition and Spirit, with a small risk of inducing psychosis.
He didn't know if the rumor was true, but considering the man was his guardian, his uncle, and his only support at the moment, it was probably best to just go along with it.
He followed Knight Don Quixote out the main door of the apartment building, and they walked one after the other along the sidewalk.
It was late into the night. The entire alley was deserted, with hardly a soul in sight. Only the sound of police sirens and the occasional gunshot from an unknown direction served as a reminder to Li Wei that this was Brooklyn, the district with the worst crime rate in New York.
Li Wei looked at Knight Don Quixote and couldn't help but ask, "Uncle... Lord Knight, where are we going?"
"We are going to find goblins, my Attendant," Don Quixote declared loudly. "You must know, goblins are very cunning. They hide deep within the dense forests, and we must be very, very careful to find them."
'If I can find goblins in New York,' Li Wei thought silently, 'I'd rather find a succubus or an elf. Or even Santa Claus, so I can beat him for all his Gold Coins.'
"Ha!"
For no reason at all, Knight Don Quixote suddenly let out a loud shout, making Li Wei jump.
"There it is!" He pointed forward. "That filthy, stinking goblin! The main culprit behind the harassment of the villagers!"
Li Wei followed his gaze and saw... a trash can?
Before he could say anything, Don Quixote gave him a shove. "Go, my Attendant! As a Knight's Attendant, I trust you can handle this lone goblin!"
Li Wei pointed at himself, bewildered. "Me? But... you're the Knight. I didn't accept any quest to protect a village."
"You are the Knight's Attendant," Don Quixote said, slapping Li Wei on the head. "A single, lone goblin isn't worthy of a Knight's personal attention!"
Li Wei didn't catch the second half of the sentence, because Don Quixote's iron-gauntleted hand had just smacked him on the head, and his brain was still ringing.
'Alright, alright. As long as it's not a person.'
He walked numbly over to the trash can. He glanced at Don Quixote, then back at the can. Gritting his teeth, he slammed his fist into it.
"Excellent, Attendant," Don Quixote's satisfied voice called out. "Keep hitting it! Show it what you're made of!"
Li Wei had no choice but to keep punching and kicking, eventually knocking the full trash can over with a kick.
"Very good." Don Quixote walked over to his side, staring at the trash can with his eyes shut tight. "We have defeated this stinking goblin."
"Does that mean our mission is complete?"
Li Wei turned his head to look at the tightly shut-eyed Don Quixote and asked.
Knight Don Quixote fell silent for a moment, seeming to seriously consider Li Wei's words.
"We've already defeated this goblin," Li Wei said, seeing his words were having an effect. He continued, "Leaving its corpse here might deter the surrounding goblins from daring to offend the village."
Don Quixote's eyes moved beneath his eyelids. "You have a point, Attendant Li Wei. It would be better to leave its corpse here."
"Good," Li Wei said. "What are we going to do now?"
"Now we must return to report on our mission," Don Quixote declared loudly. "The Knight must inform the village chief that we have eliminated a despicable goblin today."
Li Wei watched Don Quixote's retreating back, then quickly crouched down to set the trash can upright, tossed the garbage back inside, and caught up with him.
'Looks like I can influence Uncle Don Quixote verbally,' Li Wei thought to himself as he followed. 'Maybe this way I can get him to sleepwalk less?'
And just like that, Don Quixote had inexplicably come out wearing armor, commanded Li Wei to defeat a trash can, and then walked back home, still in his armor.
After they got inside, Li Wei watched as Don Quixote, with his eyes closed, removed his armor and stuffed it back into the corner.
"Attendant, you were very brave today," Don Quixote said. "This Knight is most satisfied."
With that, he expertly took off his clothes, changed into his pajamas, and went into his own partitioned room. A dozen or so seconds later, snores could be heard.
And just then, a voice once again sounded in Li Wei's mind:
[Mission: Assist the Knight in Clearing Goblins - Complete]
[Reward: System Panel Unlocked, Attribute Points +0.1]
[Your Knight is very satisfied with you. Bonus Reward: Gold Coin +1]
Suddenly, Li Wei felt a slight weight drop into his right pocket, as if something had just fallen into it.
His heart suddenly started to pound, faster than it ever had before.
He hurried into the bathroom, locked the door and window tightly, and then tremblingly reached into his right pocket.
He felt a cold, hard, round piece of metal.
He pulled it out. A flash of gold glinted under the light. A Gold Coin, intricately patterned and stamped with a completely unfamiliar design, lay quietly in his palm.
Li Wei hissed, sucking in a sharp breath.
He weighed the Gold Coin in his hand. It felt like it was about 5 grams, but he didn't know if it was real gold or fake.
"If this is real gold," he said, turning the coin over and over in the light filtering in from the streetlamp outside, "it could probably sell for several hundred US Dollars."
But the system panel in his mind seemed more important. Li Wei casually stuffed the Gold Coin into his pocket and focused all his attention on the mysterious voice in his head.
After some experimentation, a translucent panel appeared on his retina.
[Name: Li Wei]
[Age: 17]
[Strength: 0.8]
[Spirit: 1.0]
[Agility: 0.9]
[Constitution: 0.8]
[Skills: None]
[Equipment: None]
[Unassigned Attribute Points: 0.1]
[Skill Draws Available: 1]
(Reference: An average 20-year-old adult has a value of 1 in all stats.)
'The standard template for a high school senior from the Celestial Dynasty, alright.'
Li Wei had already accepted the fact that he had a system and began to carefully assess his physical condition.
His Strength and Constitution were weaker than an average adult's. His Agility was slightly better but still below the average line. Only his Spirit reached the level of a normal adult.
Li Wei looked at the unassigned attribute points, then suddenly took the Gold Coin out of his pocket again.
He picked up the coin and examined it over and over. Its patterns and markings didn't belong to any country he knew of. 'A person can't imagine something they can't conceive of,' he reasoned. This Gold Coin was undoubtedly a reward from the system; it wasn't a sign that he was going crazy.
As for spending the system points...
He glanced at the thunderously snoring Don Quixote, returned to his small partitioned room, and got on the floor to do 10 push-ups.
He didn't have many tools on hand to test his physical changes, so he could only use this simple method to make a basic assessment.
However, his frail, unexercised body started to give out after just 10 push-ups. The first few were fine, but by the seventh or eighth, the delayed onset of lactic acid introduced him to the feeling of sore muscles and trembling all over.
After forcing himself through 10 push-ups, he climbed up from the floor, panting heavily and dusting off his hands.
His sub-par physical condition, represented by his 0.8 Constitution and Strength, made it difficult to continue after only 10 push-ups. The last time he'd done push-ups was probably for middle school gym class.
Now, it was time for him to test the real change brought about by the system's point allocation.
"Sy... System... assign... the point!"
[Constitution 0.8] —> [Constitution 0.9]!