"Good morning, Boss," Han Ming said as he found a booth and sat down next to Kael.

  "Morning," Kael replied. He had a "cool and aloof" image to maintain, but being enigmatic didn't mean being rude. He gave a polite nod.

  Kael didn't say much else. While he was genuinely curious why a man who couldn't cultivate would come to the training room, he preferred to observe silently. After all, among all his customers, Han Ming was the only "commoner" so far.

  After the brief greeting, Han Ming glanced at Kael’s crystal ball, then placed his own hands onto the base of his terminal. Following the prompts, he selected New World Mode.

  "I wonder what happens when an ordinary person enters the New World," Kael thought, keeping a watchful eye on Han Ming’s progress through his peripheral vision.

  "Boss, behind you!"

  Ying Feng’s voice rang out within the game.

  "Pull back a bit. There are too many Throwing Goblins up front," Kael said calmly, standing behind the hot-blooded youth and methodically lobbing Fireballs. He pivoted slightly, casually dodging an arrow aimed at his back.

  Though these wild goblin groups were numerous, they weren't particularly strong. Their attack patterns were predictable, and the battle soon drew to a close.

  "Man, that was a lot of them," Ying Feng panted, sitting on the ground to catch his breath. His physical stamina was fine, but the mental strain of a high-speed reaction battle was exhausting.

  "On the bright side, I leveled up again. I'm Level 5 now! I can learn a new martial art," Ying Feng added gleefully, opening his skill tree.

  He now had three active skills. To him, this felt like starting his cultivation journey all over again. Every level-up boosted his stats slightly, providing a rush of excitement that was incredibly addictive.

  "Once you hit Level 5, you'll start facing Experience Suppression from wild goblins. We should wait for a third person so we can hit the dungeon," Kael said, glancing at his own level: Level 7.

  Kael had grinded to Level 5 with maxed-out XP last night. After carrying Ying Feng to Level 5 today, Kael had only gained a bit of XP, barely nudging him past Level 7.

  I can't believe the System actually implemented XP throttling so well, Kael mused.

  "Right! We’ve killed so many of them; we should go tell the old man. It'll cheer him up," Ying Feng said, springing to his feet.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Kael stared at him, momentarily stunned. Maybe I shouldn't tell him yet that the old man is just an NPC meant for world-building...

  The village was a safe zone, and the goblins in the mountains were infinite. This was a concept Ying Feng might find hard to grasp.

  Meanwhile, Han Ming’s consciousness arrived in the stark-white creation room.

  "What a miraculous alchemical creation. Is this the power of a cultivator?" Han Ming marveled. Alchemists were, by definition, cultivators; without mana, one couldn't practice alchemy.

  [System: No player class detected. Would you like to proceed with manual selection?]

  The voice echoed in his mind, startling him. Immediately after, a flood of information poured into his brain.

  "A new world... starting from zero... I choose a class and then begin my journey?"

  "Then I choose to be a Mage. A Wind Element Mage," Han Ming declared, picking the class he had dreamed of since childhood.

  [Class selection successful. We hope you enjoy your journey in the New World.]

  As the notification faded, white light engulfed the room. When Han Ming opened his eyes, he was in a small village nestled against a massive mountain range. An elderly man sat on a doorstep nearby, sighing softly.

  "Skills, gear, levels..."

  Han Ming was busy reviewing the instructions the crystal ball had downloaded into his head. He didn't notice that Kael, in the booth next to him, was watching his screen.

  "Wait... why is my skill tree blank?"

  Han Ming opened his Wind Mage skill tree and was shocked to find it completely empty. There wasn't a single spell icon to be found.

  Watching from the side, Kael almost burst out laughing. The System really is stingy. It didn't give a commoner any default skills. If someone had the aptitude to cultivate, they wouldn't be a commoner in the first place. In New World Mode, the tiny stat boosts from leveling up alone weren't enough to survive a single goblin ambush without skills.

  "I need to fix this. I'll make a suggestion later," Kael noted.

  Han Ming, however, didn't let it get him down for long. He felt a brief moment of disappointment but was quickly distracted by the sheer realism of the world. If he didn't focus on his memories, he could easily believe he had been reincarnated into another life.

  Besides, the absence of skills didn't mean an absence of power.

  While the skill tree was based on the player's real-world knowledge, the Leveling System was universal. In the New World, every level-up granted a small increase in stats and—more importantly—Mana or Battle Qi.

  For the first time in his life, Han Ming felt the sensation of energy flowing through his veins.

  "Is this... Mana? This feeling is incredible!"

  Han Ming focused on that tiny wisp of magical energy within him. A dream he had long ago given up on—a dream he thought was impossible in this lifetime—had suddenly come true. Even if it was "virtual," the joy was overwhelming.

  "I’m coming here every single day," Han Ming vowed. Even if all he could do was sit here and feel this mana, it was enough.

  Having made up his mind, Han Ming walked over to the NPC. "Old man, why are you sitting here sighing?"

  The old man looked up, sighed, and recited the tale of the goblin infestation once more.

  "What? Such vile creatures exist?!"

  Han Ming roared with righteous indignation the moment the story ended.

  Watching from the sidelines, Kael was baffled. "Do all these pampered rich kids have such an overactive hero complex?"

  "Don't you worry, old man!" Han Ming shouted with newfound bravado. "As long as I'm here, you don't need to fear those mountain goblins. If they dare show their faces, I'll show them the taste of magic!"

  It seemed the newly acquired mana had made Han Ming a little too eager to test his "strength."