Chapter Two: The System

"Ouch... it hurts!" Zhou Tian never imagined that swallowing the magic core would lead to such a result. Panic gripped his heart and he instinctively tried to regurgitate the core he'd just swallowed. But once inside him, the magic core instantly dissolved into a surge of violent energy, rampaging through his body with destructive force. How could he possibly force it out now?

So, even as the pain from the rampaging energy grew sharper and he desperately tried to expel the core, Zhou Tian, having no experience with such things, found himself powerless to do so. The energy, remorseless and wild, tore through him like a runaway horse, heedless of his will.

As the internal damage worsened, Zhou Tian’s consciousness began to blur. In the end, he lasted only a short while before slipping into unconsciousness.

Among magical beasts, swallowing a magic core to enhance strength typically followed a simple rule: the strong consumed the weak. Even on those rare occasions when a weaker beast obtained a magic core from a beast stronger than itself, it would at least possess some degree of power and know how to use its own energy to neutralize the core. But Zhou Tian was nothing more than an ordinary little snake; under normal circumstances, a snake like him would never have had the chance to obtain a magic core. Thus, the usual rule that devouring a core was safe didn’t apply to him. If he couldn’t resolve the energy within, he would inevitably be blown apart from within by the overwhelming force.

Just as Zhou Tian’s body began to bulge dangerously, on the verge of bursting from the unrestrained energy, a streak of pitch-black light suddenly flashed from within him. In that moment, the rampaging energy seemed to find an outlet and surged toward the light.

The black light on Zhou Tian's body seemed like a bottomless pit, silently absorbing the energy—enough to destroy billions of snakes like him—until it vanished without a trace.

Only after the last wisp of energy was drained did the black light finally stir. Quietly, with no outward sign, it began to heal Zhou Tian’s wounds, slowly and steadily mending his body until he was completely restored. Then, the black light receded back into his body.

As the light faded, Zhou Tian was startled awake by a sound at his ear:

“Ding, absorbing energy: 1%... 5%... 12%, system initializing... Beep... Host in mortal danger. According to the novice protocol, host is invincible at level 0. The system is obliged to ensure host’s survival... Activating protection mode... Healing host’s injuries... 1%... 5%... 30%... 70%... 100%, injuries healed... Exiting autonomous management mode.”

“I’m not... Eh? What’s going on?” After the energy riot, Zhou Tian had been certain he was doomed. Now, suddenly realizing he was still alive, he couldn’t help but feel astonished.

But beyond his survival, there was something that caught his attention even more.

“This... this should be the character panel!” Zhou Tian would never forget what he was seeing before him. It was because he had once downloaded a web game called ‘Beast King’s Dominion’ that, due to an accident, he’d ended up in another world. The game was one of the main reasons for his transmigration, so anything related to it was deeply etched in his memory.

Though he hadn’t played that game for long, he had at least entered it, so the character panel was familiar to him. Crossing into another world was already fantastical enough, but to discover that the game he’d played seemed to have crossed over with him as well was almost beyond belief.

Once he processed this, Zhou Tian was overjoyed by his discovery.

He didn’t know whether he'd crossed into a true alternate world or into the world of ‘Beast King’s Dominion,’ but one thing was clear: if the game system had come with him and recognized him as its host, then he had, in essence, gained the classic “golden finger” from transmigration novels.

With a mixture of excitement and anxiety, Zhou Tian instinctively tapped his “character panel.”

Thankfully, the system responded just as it had in the game. When Zhou Tian lightly touched the panel, it reacted immediately.

Player Name: Dragon King
Player Race: Snake
Player Level: 0
Player Talent: None
Aura: 48 points

‘Beast King’s Dominion’ was quite different from other games. Besides the usual monster slaying and leveling up, it had no stats for strength, agility, or even experience. Every player began as the lowest form of wild beast and improved their power by defeating monsters, leveling up until they could advance to a higher species. For Zhou Tian, as a snake, when his level reached the maximum, he could evolve into a flood dragon, and if he advanced further, he could transform into a true dragon.

Apart from these design changes, the game’s ultimate goal, like any other, was profit. Thus, it featured “Aura,” a special in-game currency akin to gold ingots. Aura could be used in the system shop to buy all manner of treasures, elixirs, or even talents.

Now, having discovered the game system, Zhou Tian quickly realized through a few simple operations that the system he controlled was identical to the one from Earth. This calmed his anxious heart.

“Damn it, with this divine tool in hand, one day I’ll become the mightiest dragon god! If I ever find out who sent me to this wretched place, I’ll make them pay dearly.” After cursing the mysterious force that had dragged him to this world, Zhou Tian carefully examined his status.

There wasn’t much to examine, really. In ‘Beast King’s Dominion,’ a novice’s stats were almost all zero. Since nothing had changed, there was little for Zhou Tian to scrutinize.

The only thing that struck him as odd was the Aura. On Earth, it could only be obtained by spending real money, but Zhou Tian didn’t remember ever making a purchase. So, the origin of these 48 points of Aura naturally piqued his curiosity.

“Could it be...?” Recalling the sequence of events, Zhou Tian speculated and finally turned his gaze to the two slain magical beasts nearby. Since arriving in this world, he hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. If anything could be related to the acquisition of Aura, swallowing the magic core was the only plausible event.

He wasn’t sure if his guess was correct, but finding out would be easy. With two dead beasts before him, repeating the process should reveal the truth.

With that thought, Zhou Tian steeled himself and crawled toward the other magical beast.