It was late at night.
A voice sounded in Ian Song's ear: "Ding, system upgrade maintenance complete. Restarting."
Although the system voice was as cold as ever, Ian found it especially pleasant.
With a thought, the brand-new system interface appeared before Ian's eyes. Before the upgrade, the interface was black and white; after, it became colorful, with a much stronger sense of immersion.
Host: Ian Song
Level: 10
Physical Power: 3000 points
Spiritual Power: 900 points
Skills: Martial Arts, Piano Master, Driving Mastery, Gun Master, Super Chef, Language Master, Surging Waves, Thousand-Hand Buddha, Dragon Soaring Nine Transformations, Whirlwind Thirty-Nine Forms, Huarong Golden Needle Technique, Painting & Calligraphy Mastery, Eastern Medicine Mastery, Gambling Mastery
Divine Arts: Photographic Memory, Mastery Insight, Clairvoyant Vision, Radiance of Life, Spatial Stasis, Gravity Domain, Pill Condensation Technique
Cultivation Method: Origin-Nurturing Scripture (Innate Fifth Layer)
Fictional Worlds: Enabled
Fame Points: 1.62 billion
Next Draw Fame Cost: 200 million
Not much had changed in the data panel—just two new fields: 'Fictional Worlds' and 'Next Draw Fame Cost.'
"Meow~ How do I use this Fictional Worlds feature?"
As soon as Ian finished speaking, the system interface changed. Three two-meter-tall doors appeared before him: the Bronze Gate, the Silver Gate, and the Gold Gate.
Meow-Meow's voice sounded: "All three gates are portals for traversal. Crossing the Bronze Gate costs 50 million Fame Points, the Silver Gate costs 500 million Fame Points, and the Gold Gate costs 5 billion Fame Points.
The Bronze Gate leads to low-tier Fictional Worlds, the Silver Gate to mid-tier, and the Gold Gate to high-tier Fictional Worlds."
"What's the difference?" Ian asked thoughtfully.
Meow-Meow explained, "There's a big difference. Low-tier worlds are less dangerous, perfect for a newbie like you to try out. Inside, the time ratio is one to one—one year inside equals just one day in the real world.
Mid-tier Fictional Worlds are much more dangerous. With your current strength, the odds of getting killed inside are over ninety percent. The time ratio there is three to one—three years inside to one day outside.
As for high-tier worlds, they're extremely dangerous. Even the most ordinary creature inside could wipe the floor with you. The time ratio is ten to one—ten years inside for every one year outside."
Ian fell silent for a moment, then asked, "When I enter a Fictional World, is it just my soul that goes, or does my whole body go in?"
"You can go in as a soul, or with your whole body. Soul-travel costs some Fame Points, since the system has to rebuild you a body in-world. But honestly, there's not much difference—if you die inside, you're really dead!"
"In that case, there's really no point in soul-travel. When can I cross over? And can I check what kind of world I'll be entering?"
"You can cross over anytime. As for the nature of the world, I can only tell you this: every Fictional World is constructed from the plots of real novels, movies, or TV dramas. If you've read or watched the source, congrats—you'll have a huge advantage. If not, you'll just have to figure things out as you go! By the way, do you want to cross over now?"
"Not crossing!" Even though crossing was a novel idea, Ian wasn't about to rush in. He decided to spend some time reading novels and watching movies and TV shows in the real world, so that when he did go in, he'd have the advantage of knowing the plot.
"Meow-Meow, I remember you said the system would issue missions when I cross over. Can you tell me what kind of missions they are?"
"I can't reveal that. The missions are issued by the system, and I don't control them. But don't worry—the system always tailors missions to your strength, so it won't give you something impossible to complete."
Ian nodded in relief. "That's good."
Ever since he defeated Jihyun Choi, Ian had gained some fame on campus.
Aside from daily classes, training Leon Long and Gavin Gan, and guiding Bella Ba's martial arts, he spent all his remaining time reading novels, watching TV, and movies.
At first, Ian thought Leon and Gavin would lose interest after a few days. To his surprise, both guys grit their teeth and completed all the training tasks he set for them.
After ten days, both had gotten much stronger. Ian then tossed them a set of acupoint and meridian charts, telling them to memorize everything. Anyone admitted to Waterwood University wasn't stupid.
Within five days, both Leon and Gavin had memorized the charts perfectly—though not as quickly as Bella Ba.
Bella Ba managed to memorize both the meridian and acupoint charts in only two days.
Next, under Ian's guidance, she began cultivating Dragon-Elephant Force.
Although Ian hadn't practiced this technique himself, he was still a top Innate Fifth Layer expert, and his cultivation method was far more advanced and complex than Dragon-Elephant Force. Guiding a beginner was child's play for him.
So, under his guidance, Bella Ba cultivated her first strand of internal energy in just one week, stepping directly into the Postnatal Middle Stage.
Being able to cultivate internal energy in just seven days showed that Bella Ba had real talent, even considering that Dragon-Elephant Force is an advanced martial arts method.
So, Ian decided to go all the way and gifted her a Marrow-Cleansing Pill.
The main effect of the Marrow-Cleansing Pill is to purify the body and improve one's aptitude. Hannah Han had taken one too, so after Bella Ba used the pill, her talent rose another level, and her cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds. At most, in a month, she'd break through to the Postnatal Late Stage.
This made Bella Ba admire Ian as her master even more.
One more thing worth mentioning: Sierra Chen, Kelly Wu, Kelsey Zhang, and Molly Wang actually reached out to Ian and his roommates during this time.
However, Ian noticed that these girls seemed a lot more interested in him than in Leon Long or Gavin Gan.
That gave him a bit of a headache.
After all, Leon Long was hoping to pursue Kelly Wu, and Gavin Gan had his sights set on Sierra Chen.
With no other choice, Ian kept his distance from them. Whenever he had time, he'd hide in a corner and read novels.
The Welcome Party arrived.
Sure, showing off at the Welcome Party could earn some Fame Points, but Ian no longer cared about such a small amount. So, he didn't perform at the event.
"Zheng... zheng!"
The sharp notes of a guzheng rang out, carrying a sense of solemnity and killing intent.
Ian, who'd been reading a novel with his head down, looked up at the stage, slightly surprised. Then a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Didn't expect her to come to Waterwood University too."
After the Welcome Party ended, Ian left alone. As for Leon Long and Gavin Gan, they went to dinner with Sierra Chen and the other three girls.
He'd been invited too, but he declined.
He'd only walked a few steps when a voice called out from behind: "Ian."
Ian turned around and looked at her. "What a coincidence—I didn't expect you'd come to Waterwood University too."
"I think it's more that you never paid any attention to me, huh?" the girl replied, her tone half playful, half reproachful.