The Creatures that We Are

“Ke Yo, take Vermilion Bird to rest in the room,” Gao Yang said calmly.

Ke Yo nodded and pushed the wheelchair to the bedroom.

Gao Xinxin knew that Gao Yang was giving Ke Yo and Vermilion Bird some private time, so she didn’t follow. She patted Wang Weiyan’s back. “Yanyan, it’s late. Come. Let’s brush our teeth and wash up so that we can go to bed.”

“Okay.” Wang Weiyan wiped the tears on her face with the back of her hand. She followed Gao Xinxin to the bathroom.

Gregor rubbed the beer belly under his undershirt and rose to walk into the kitchen. “I’m hungry. I’m going to make food. What do you want?”

“Soba with clear broth,” Raven Shark said.

“I’m good,” Gao Yang said.

Ten minutes later, Gregor returned with a bowl of soba with clear broth and a bowl of aromatic pork leg noodles. Knowing that Raven Shark disliked the smell of meat, he brought his noodles to the study room.

Raven Shark squatted by the tea table and ate his soba in small bites. Gao Yang sat down on the sofa on his side, quietly watching him for a while.

Raven Shark nodded while digging into the noodles.

Soon, Gao Xinxin emerged from Wang Weiyan’s bedroom, closing the door gently behind her. Wang Weiyan was content and happy after playing tabletop games the whole day, and she fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed without being coaxed.

Gao Xinxin sat down next to Gao Yang. She had heard about Can’s death, but she didn’t know how to comfort her brother. She chose to silently rest her head on her brother’s arm. Sometimes, some silent company was the best one could offer.

Raven Shark finished his soba and went to the kitchen to do the dishes. Then he washed up and went to the bathroom. Although he could sleep on a bed like regular people, he preferred sleeping in water.

The living room quieted. The main lights were turned off, leaving only the soft lamps on.

Gao Xinxin was going to lend a dependable shoulder to Gao Yang and give him some company, but she fell asleep soon.

She was only sixteen years old after all, yet she had to take care of a little girl, a patient in a vegetative state, a middle-aged manchild with terrible habits and irregular diets, and a quirky boy with autism. It had been difficult for her.

Gao Yang sighed softly and carried his sister to her bedroom, laying her on the bed and taking her shoes off before tucking her in.

He went back to the living room and sat down, closing his eyes.

[Access granted.]

[You have accumulated 602 Luck points.]

[Constitution: 2289 Endurance: 2141]

[Strength: 2071 Agility: 2145]

[Willpower: 2003 Charisma: 2602]

[Luck: 2020]

[Absolute Defense lv5]

[Teleportation lv6]

[Replicate lv6]

[Fire lv6]

[Gecko lv3]

[Double lv6]

[Psychic Armor lv6]

[Lie Detection lv4]

[Lucky lv5]

—Willful Power decreases my stats by 1% after use, while level 3 Gecko grants some bonuses to Consitution, Endurance, Strength, and Agility, and level 5 Absolute Defense grants greater bonuses to Constitution, Endurance, and Charisma.

—Absolute Defense reached level 5 when I woke up in the hotel in Ni Nation, most likely due to my surge of emotions.

—Psychic Armor is a double-edged sword. While it allows me to stay rational and make the most optimal decisions during battle, it also suppresses my emotions and delays the level-ups of my Talents. Having a Talent level up during a fight introduces the greatest variety, which may turn the tide if it happens at an opportune time.

—Had Absolute Defense reached level 5 during my fight with Azure Dragon, things might have ended differently…

Gao Yang took a deep breath and stopped himself from unnecessarily thinking about all the what-ifs.

In those imagined scenarios lay many perfect solutions, but things always went wrong or made an unexpected turn in real life.

In an argument, similarly, one would always think of all the comebacks and counterarguments they could make after the fact, yet when they got into another argument, their tongue wouldn’t be any sharper.

Looking back, Gao Yang had made numerous “mistakes”, and he might continue to do so. Even then, he would not stop fighting.

He had long booked the one-way ticket to hell.

—System.

“Yes,” the voice of a young woman said into his ear.

Gao Yang started and opened his eyes. A beautiful and gentle-looking woman, his once caretaker, sat on the sofa across from him. Her long black hair was tied into a simple hairdo with the tail of it resting on her left shoulder. Dressed in a refreshing patterned long dress with a blue whistle on her chest, she clasped her hands together and rested them on her lap.

“You…” Gao Yang blinked in disbelief. “How did you come out?”

“I’m not out here. It’s only that I’m more closely connected to your consciousness and senses.”

Gao Yang didn’t understand it fully, but he knew one thing: he was still in the system, and not in reality.

“I have a question. Why can’t my Talents reach level 7?”

The dorm keeper gave him a faint smile. “Don’t you have an answer already?”

“Because I lack conviction?”

She blinked. “Perhaps it’s not that you lack conviction, but that your conviction isn’t clear enough.”

Gao Yang leaned back with one hand propping his chin and the other hand raised. “Go into more details.”

The dorm keeper seemed to think for a while. Then she patiently explained, “When one’s conviction is clear enough, it becomes a concrete goal. Were a person a boat, their conviction would be the compass, and the goal, the steering wheel. Even the most remarkable captain won’t be able to find treasure in the vast ocean with a compass alone and not a steering wheel.”

Gao Yang thought for a moment, his eyes glinting. “So, if I go to the wishing fountain and say, ‘I want to get stronger’, the wish will fail because it’s too abstract. But I said, ‘I want to comprehend Absolute Defense’. There was a chance of the wish coming true since it was concrete with a clear path to realizing it.”

The dorm keeper blinked. “That is true according to the rules of the wishing fountain, yes.”

“Dr. Jia believes that the energy of all Talents belongs to the Heavenly Way…” Gao Yang muttered to himself before looking up to meet the woman’s eyes.

“Then can I think of it this way? How the Heavenly Way allocates its energy depends half on us. Those with a strong and clear enough conviction will be more likely to be seen by the Heavenly Way and earn good graces.”

The dorm keeper paused for a few seconds before saying calmly, “Perhaps your guess is approaching the truth.”

“Stop pretending. You must know.” Gao Yang scoffed.

She shook her head and blinked innocently. “I’m only the system.”

“Wait, but it’s not right.” Gao Yang frowned. “I have my goals. I want revenge. I want to collect all the Rune Circuits to open the Gates. I want to protect those around me. Which of them isn’t concrete enough?”

She stared at him. “Perhaps those aren’t the ultimate goals you most desire.”

“If not those, what can it be?” Gao Yang frowned.

“You’ll have to ask yourself.” The dorm keeper gave him a look that said there was nothing she could do.

“Trash system,” Gao Yang insulted her on purpose.

“How nostalgic. I remember the last time you insulted me like that.” She gave him a disingenuous smile.

Gao Yang’s gaze darkened. “You’re being less and less like a system. Actually, you aren’t one, are you?”

The woman blinked. “How can I not be one?”

Gao Yang suddenly had a Black Gold dagger in his hand. He teleported to the sofa she was sitting on instantly. Pushing and pinning her down, he held the dagger to the woman’s pale delicate neck, his eyes shining with killing intent.

“What are you? Why did you seek me out? Are you a friend, or foe?”

“You’ll have to ask yourself.” She looked up at him ever calmly.

“Stop speaking in riddles and tell me!” Gao Yang growled.

…

He seemed to have lost some time.

Gao Yang opened his eyes to find himself still sitting on the sofa like nothing had happened. He let out a heavy breath. For a moment, it felt as if he had just had a schizophrenic episode.

He entered the system to check his status screen again. Only then did he make sure that what had happened was real. While he was wondering if he should manifest the system once more to interrogate it, a voice came from behind him.

“Captain.”

Gao Yang turned around to see Nine Frost.

Instead of responding, Gao Yang tapped on his temple with an index finger. Nine Frost immediately used Telepathy, and Gao Yang relaxed when he sensed the intangible breeze.

“How did it go?” Gao Yang asked.

“I contacted Liu Qingying.” Nine Frost was wearing black gloves. There was a dark red fruit gummy candy between his fingertips. “She said that this was her last time exchanging intel with you. And you have to eat this.”

Gao Yang smiled when he saw the frown on Nine Frost’s face. “You seem to disapprove.”

Nine Frost nodded. “This has Liu Qingying’s blood on it. I’m worried that she’s pulling another trick. She’s sold our intel to the Ocean River Union before, and with the Union helping her get revenge, she may have joined them already.”

“It’s possible, but it won’t be a huge problem.”

Gao Yang conjured a double to check the gummy candy as he spoke, making sure that there was no curse. Then he asked Gregor to make sure there was no poison before having his double eat the candy.

Thirty seconds later, his double didn’t show any unusual sign. Only then did Gao Yang swap himself with the double to have the effects apply to himself.

Gao Yang sat back down on the sofa and started meditating to fall asleep.

Soon, he entered a Sweet Dream.

Houseau3's Thoughts

Hmm if it's not a system, what can it be? Is there more to the orphanage Gao Yang grew up in, and similarly the caretaker he remembered fondly of?

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