Chapter 2: Striking the Sky
Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Striking the Sky
This choice wasn’t as clear-cut as the last one.
Last time, the obvious choice was to store up energy. After all, when you’re too weak, development is the priority.
But now?
As a Swordfish, it had already grown a pointed bill. At the same time, external information indicated that many of its brethren’s eggs were already gone.
At a time like this, should it break out of its shell, or continue to develop?
If it didn’t hatch, this Swordfish might very well die.
But if it hatched, a Swordfish that hadn’t even finished absorbing its yolk... would its body truly be fully developed?
It was like a human fetus in the womb. A full-term, ten-month pregnancy versus a premature birth at seven, eight, or nine months—or even three months—were three completely different states.
’If it hatches early, will it be premature? Malformed?’
’I’ll just pick one and see what happens...’
Fortunately, he had three chances, so he could afford one trial run.
’I choose option one: cut through the egg membrane and hatch.’
The moment he made the choice in his mind, the scene changed.
[The environment is harsh. You use your pointed bill to break the egg membrane. Carrying your still-undigested yolk sac, you swim from the loving fluid of your egg into the cold, unfamiliar sea. You have obtained the trait: Impatient.]
[You are the first Swordfish in the vicinity to successfully hatch. Your appearance has drawn the attention of predators.]
[While resting on a patch of sand on the seabed, you were devoured by a Bobbit Worm.]
[This simulation has concluded.]
’It’s over?’
Zhu Ge was stunned.
The next instant, the screen changed, and new text appeared.
[Traits obtained from this simulation: Endure, Fencing, Impatient.]
[Endure: For ten minutes, you lose all perception of the outside world and recover all your stamina.]
[Fencing: Increases affinity for sword-type weapons.]
[Impatient: Intelligence is halved. Strength, speed, and agility are doubled.]
[Please select a trait or proceed to the next simulation.]
[If you proceed to the next simulation, the traits from this round can be carried over.]
’Choose a trait or proceed to the next simulation?’
A quick glance told him that Endure, Fencing, and Impatient were all pretty good traits.
In a world teeming with gods and Ghosts like this one, they were all quite practical.
The problem was, what he urgently needed right now was a trait that could solve his current predicament.
Besides, since the traits could be carried over to be chosen later, he could compare them all at the very end. If there were no better options, he could just pick one from this round.
’Proceed to the next simulation!’
[You became a Swordfish...]
[You stored up energy...]
The beginning of the simulation was more or less the same. Some sentences were slightly different, but the final choice was always the same: store up energy.
But things changed after it grew its pointed bill.
[Violent storms raged, waves surged, and currents churned. In this stretch of sea, only two hundred eggs remained. Panicked, your brothers and sisters hatched one after another, only to perish in the ocean.]
[You did not choose to hatch. Instead, you continued to develop, growing strong muscles and tough fins. You have obtained the trait: Calm.]
[With a casual twist of your body, you shatter your shell. Fully developed, you can swim for hundreds of meters without tiring. You have no need to rest on the sandy seabed, and thus you avoid attacks from Bobbit Worms and other hidden predators.]
[Roaming this ocean cradle, you slowly learned to hunt, to flee, and to grow.]
[As an adult, you looked at the seabed below and the ’sky’ above, and a question arose within you: Why can I not burrow into the earth, nor fly through the sky?]
[Thus, you have arrived at the sole pivotal choice of this simulation. Please decide with care.]
[1. Roam the ocean and seek the true meaning of life.]
[2. Break free from your cage and see the world you have never seen.]
’A sole pivotal choice!’
Seeing this, Zhu Ge’s gaze sharpened.
Both options were actually quite good.
’Seek the true meaning of life’ and ’see the world you have never seen’—just by their phrasing, he knew they could yield powerful traits.
But which one to choose was a critical decision.
After all, the word ’sole’ made it sound incredibly important.
After thinking it over, Zhu Ge’s gaze finally settled on the second option.
’See the world you have never seen.’
A thought struck Zhu Ge.
His own transmigration was, in essence, ’seeing a world he had never seen’.
Moreover, he felt he couldn’t see or understand his current situation clearly. Naturally, he had to choose this path.
[You chose to break free of your shackles and leap into the sky.]
[You were spotted by a seagull and devoured.]
Zhu Ge: ?
Zhu Ge’s heart clenched. He held his breath, nearly choking.
Thankfully, the text continued.
[Before being devoured, your muscles tore from the force of your leap from the water. Your fins bled as you forced them open to glide. Your gills and eyes burned with dryness...]
[But because of this, you breathed air. You saw that the source of light was the sun. You saw that the ’sky’ above you was a true sky, as vast as an abyss. You saw that your home was but a small patch of water in a vast world...]
[Your consciousness broke free from its shackles, completing a metamorphosis from egg to fish, and then to bird. You successfully evolved into a new life form and obtained the trait: Kunpeng.]
[Your physical body perished, but your act of breaking the shackles of the flesh was witnessed by your kin. They emulated you, one by one. Your species completed its own ’hatching’ and became the ’Sky-Dominating Swordfish’.]
[This simulation has concluded.]
It was over!
Even though it was only a block of text, Zhu Ge couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
[Traits obtained from this simulation: Calm, Kunpeng]
[Calm: Enhances logic and reasoning abilities.]
[Kunpeng (Unique): Three thousand years as an egg, break the shackles to become the Kun. Six thousand years as the Kun, break the cage to become the Peng. The Peng’s journey spans ten thousand miles for nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine years, until it perishes striking the firmament. Please discover and develop its specific uses on your own.]
[Please select a trait or proceed to the next simulation.]
[If you proceed to the next simulation, the traits from this round can be carried over.]
Kunpeng?!
Zhu Ge’s eyes flew wide, and his breath quickened.
Although the trait didn’t specify its effects, he could tell from the description alone that it was extraordinary.
If he didn’t have one more chance, Zhu Ge would have selected it on the spot.
But, clinging to the mentality of ’what if there’s something even better,’ Zhu Ge cautiously chose to run the simulation one more time.
Zhu Ge had assumed the third simulation would be more or less the same, but the result left him dumbfounded.
It went wrong right from the very first choice.
[You chose to close your eyes, not observing the world. You missed the chance to escape a predator’s mouth and were reduced to nutrients.]
"It’s over just like that?"
Zhu Ge couldn’t help but mutter.
This made Zhu Ge realize—perhaps every run of the simulation was random? Or maybe... it corresponded to a genuine life?
Otherwise, how could the same choice lead to a different outcome?
But now wasn’t the time to delve into that question.
[Please select a trait.]
’I choose Kunpeng!’
Zhu Ge selected the ’Kunpeng’ trait in his mind.
The next moment, his information appeared on the system interface.
[Name: Zhu Ge]
[Lifespan: 53 years]
[Trait: Unequipped]
[Inventory: Kunpeng]