Absolute Choice

One could not sense the passage of time in an imagined world, nor would he feel a hint of exhaustion at all. However, there was always the point when one would awake from it. The only difference was that waking up from a meditative state would not result in too much mental confusion. Everything would appear extremely calm, as if imagination and reality was just separated by a thought.

And with that, Shi Xiaobai woke up.

After Shi Xiaobai slowly woke up, he immediately sensed his body covered in a sticky substance, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. Nearly instantly, he caught a whiff of a pungent smell. As he opened his eyes blearily, he was surprised to discover himself lying in a bathtub. He was only wearing a pair of shorts, while the rest of his exposed skin was covered in a black viscous layer of an unknown substance.

“It stinks!”

Shi Xiaobai hurriedly held his breath, nearly throwing up. As he resisted the feeling of vomiting, he looked up and scanned the surroundings. Immediately, he saw a shower head in the bathroom, and quickly grabbed at it. Turning it on, refreshing cold water immediately ejected out of the shower head, drenching his body.

Being bathed in clean, cold water, the sticky black substance was like mud being nourished by the rain. Upon turning wet, it coagulated to form an even more disgusting blob. With a swipe of his hand, layers of black blobs fell off his body, mixing into the clear water that turned into sticky, smelly black mud.

“What happened?”

Shi Xiaobai’s mind was filled with questions. As the water rinsed off the black mud from his body, he was finally cleansed moments later. Immediately, smooth, white translucent skin that looked like a charming woman’s skin appeared. If he stretched out his hand, a clench made it seem like water would flow out.

“This is This King’s body?”

Shi Xiaobai hurriedly came out of the bathtub and walked to a mirror in the bathroom that went from the floor to the ceiling. Standing in front of the mirror, it reflected himself that looked the same, be it his facial features or body figure. The only difference was his skin, and for that, he heaved a sigh of relief. Turning around, he saw a set of male underwear and a white towel hanging in the bathroom.

“This must be prepared by Violent Girl.”

Shi Xiaobai used the shower head to cleanse himself thoroughly and then washed away the smelly muddy substance in the bathtub. He then used the towel to dry himself and began wearing the clothes.

The white t-shirt and trackpants Riko prepared for him were slightly loose, while the black underwear was slightly tight, but Shi Xiaobai could do nothing about it. After dressing up, he stretched and loosened his muscles, slowly getting adapted to it.

Shi Xiaobai left the bathroom and wandered around the house several times, but he realized that Riko was not home.

“Odd, where did Violent Girl go?”

Shi Xiaobai shouted a few times but there was no response. Suddenly, he felt an intense sense of hunger burgeoning from his stomach. This sense of hunger felt like he had repressed it for an extremely long period of time. It was like a tightly-compressed spring that rebounded up his head.

“Holy shit! So hungry!”

Shi Xiaobai nearly lost his mind due to the intense hunger pangs. He crazily rushed to the kitchen and forcefully opened the refrigerator. The refrigerator that was filled to the brim with food began pouring its contents out immediately. Clearly, Riko had prepared this early on. Shi Xiaobai gulped down a mouthful of saliva, and reached his hand into the refrigerator to grab some food to stuff food directly into his mouth.

As Shi Xiaobai chewed on cooked meat that was both cold and hard, he stuffed rice balls into his mouth. The way he devoured his food made it seem like he had been starving for months.

Only after his stomach was somewhat satiated did Shi Xiaobai contentedly close the refrigerator door. He casually walked back into the living room, and saw a white piece of paper pressed down by a television remote control on a table.

Shi Xiaobai curiously picked up the piece of paper, and saw beautiful handwriting written on it.

…

“Shi Xiaobai, I have something on, so I’ll be leaving first. I’m not sure how long your Cogitation will last, so who knows when you wake up. But first, I have to congratulate you. You have already broken into the first level of the Psionic Mortal Realm. I am curious what you were imagining after you entered a meditative state that allowed you to enter the Psionic Mortal Realm so quickly. It’s so unscientific!”

“Oh right, when you first enter the Psionic Mortal Realm, you will experience your first metamorphosis—’Psionic Flushing’. Your body would automatically flush out the impurities accumulated in your body over the years. In summary, your body would be covered in a layer of smelly and sticky substance. As for how smelly it is, you probably have experienced it. Anyway, after I threw you into the bathroom, I could still smell the stench in the room. I couldn’t stand it, so I’m taking off first!”

“After you wake up, the suppressed hunger will suddenly rebound. I’ve already placed food in the refrigerator, but make sure not to eat too much, or your stomach will not be able to handle it. Oh yes, the clothes I prepared for you was handpicked by me. Tsk tsk, go ahead and cheer as much as you like!”

“Alright, it’s time to talk about serious matters! Although you are already at the first level of the Psionic Mortal Realm, from what I understand, you don’t even have the most basic offensive skills. In short, you are still very, very weak, extremely weak! Although amongst this batch of [Annihilation] rookies, you are the only one above A Class, as well as a Psyker, there are many rookies who are at or above the second level of Psionic Mortal Realm. There are even some who have reached the fourth level! Xiaobai, I have to tell you currently, you have no superpower advantage at the moment. Your Psionic Ability realm is considered terrible, and without knowing any combat skills, you will be ranked last amongst this batch of rookies!”

“So, you must be mentally prepared that you would be lining the back! [Gaia]’s first principle is ‘reward the strongest, punish the weakest’. Even for rookie training, there still exists a cruelest elimination mechanism. Your instructor will randomly test you, and every time, the weakest would be eliminated. So, Xiaobai, do your best!”

“Also, make sure not to call yourself ‘This King’! Your strength won’t do, so you must learn to keep a low profile! [Gaia] encourages rookies to engage in one-on-one duels to resolve conflicts, so don’t you seek death for yourself! You must now learn with a humble heart to keep a low profile, to become stronger. Never become the last person, and on this foundation, work hard to climb higher. Xiaobai, with your talent, falling behind is just temporary, so don’t be discouraged if you encounter difficulties, much less give up!”

“Alright, the rookie training begins on July 1. There is a clock on the wall in the living room that displays the date. Make sure to take a look at it when you wake up. Make sure not to be late on the first day, much less play truant. The instructor for this [Annihilation] batch is quite a redoubtable guy, and he is very peculiar. Anyway, don’t break any rules, don’t leave a bad impression on your instructor, and don’t enter conflicts with the other rookies. Remember to keep a low profile, a low profile!”

“As I need to earn Hero points to raise my Hero Ranking, I took on a Hero employment mission that is slightly more complicated. It will probably take me a period of time before I return. When I return, I wish to see a brand new Shi Xiaobai. Make sure not to disappoint me!”

“—Riko Minamiya.”

After Shi Xiaobai saw this, he felt mixed emotions. Breaking into the first level of the Psionic Mortal Realm made him extremely excited, yet the situation described in Riko’s note gave Shi Xiaobai a heavy heart.

“Isn’t getting This King to keep a low profile equivalent to asking for his life?”

The moment Shi Xiaobai realized that he could not call himself “This King”, he felt like the world had darkened a few notches. After a long struggle, he stood up helplessly and walked towards the wall in the living room. On the wall, there was a small LCD screen that displayed the time.

Shi Xiaobai wanted to see how many days he had left to the rookie training, because this decided how long he could go to the gaming arcade.

Shi Xiaobai went closer and focusing his eyes, he suddenly froze.

What he saw displayed on the clock was—”July 4, 10:30″!

Holy shit, already late by four days!?