Chapter 401: Language Learning
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 401: Language Learning
"Oh~ I didn't expect the breakfast here to be so lavish." Walking through the buffet area, I looked at the dazzling array of breakfast items. There were many delicacies I had never seen before—some were strangely shaped, some were quite creative, and others were so bizarre I couldn't bring myself to try them.
Overall, however, they looked decent, so I sampled a bit of everything.
"The taste isn't bad. What’s wrong? You look like you didn't sleep well last night."
As I savored the reasonably tasty food, I contemplated trying the Taste Sense cultivation from the Five Senses Body Cultivation method. I didn't have much of a lead on it yet, but after becoming a Self-Awakened Body Cultivation practitioner, my sense of taste had improved significantly. In fact, all my five senses had been slightly enhanced.
"Huh? No... I did. Maybe I just slept too long yesterday, so I didn't sleep much during the night... Actually, my energy is mostly recovered."
"That’s good. In that case, I’ll have to trouble you with teaching me the language and script over the next few days," I said with a smile.
After all, when learning a language, once you master the common vocabulary, pronunciation, and basic grammar, you can generally communicate. My requirements weren't that high, so I planned to spend a few days on it, barring any accidents.
I had the Memory Bookshelf spellbook, so many things could be recorded directly. Even if the Memory Bookshelf couldn't record pronunciations through text or images, I could always use phonetic notation.
As long as you find the right method for what you want to learn, you can master it quickly.
Furthermore, during my conversations with Qiu Ruxin, I had already gained some understanding through the information transmitted via consciousness communication and her spoken words. At this stage, I already had a bit of a foundation.
Personally, I didn't feel the language Qiu Ruxin spoke was particularly difficult. It lived up to its name as an International Common Language; if it were too hard to learn, it wouldn't have been adopted as a common tongue in the first place.
"I'll do my best!" Qiu Ruxin nodded vigorously, looking quite eager.
"Mm."
I gave a flat response. Qiu Ruxin’s sudden enthusiasm was indeed unexpected, to the point where I couldn't even find an excuse to explain the phenomenon.
Could there really be such a thing as love at first sight between the same sex?
I didn't believe such a small probability would happen to me.
Whether it was her seeking me out right after I showered yesterday or her deliberately waiting by the door this morning, none of it seemed normal. This shift in attitude felt a bit too fast.
When exactly did this change begin?
Since... she found out I had money? But Qiu Ruxin didn't seem like a gold-digger. What else could it be?
Pondering this, my gaze drifted until I had finished the porridge-like substance in my bowl. My eyes flickered toward the two threads of Luck at my side.
The Luck on my person, which had previously been like rootless duckweed, was now involuntarily drifting toward Qiu Ruxin, which was why they caught my eye.
Seeing this, it suddenly clicked!
What if Qiu Ruxin was acting this way because of this Luck?
But that raised another question: why didn't this happen back in the Main World?
If people with Luck were involuntarily attracted to a Child of Destiny, then after the Dream Exchange Competition, I should have been treated like a star surrounded by a constellation of admirers.
Moreover, Teacher Ji Niang had mentioned that having Luck at most influences some of a Child of Destiny's decisions. For instance, when I held the Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament, several Children of Destiny showed up to join my nonsense for various inexplicable reasons.
But... I’d never seen anyone develop a crush on me because of it. Take Tan Han, for example—the Child of Destiny I’d interacted with the most. Did she have feelings for me?
Unlikely.
Still, if I couldn't figure it out, there was no point in overthinking it. Rather than mulling it over, I might as well run an experiment.
I used my mental power to interfere with the Luck threads, brushing them away from me. These two threads were quite different from the Luck in the Main World; at the very least, transferring them didn't require a ritual as troublesome as the one I’d used before.
In an instant, the two threads of Luck rushed back to Qiu Ruxin like young swallows returning to their nest. These two threads merged with the single thread already on her, forming a more solid golden thread that eventually vanished into that nearly withered Luck Seed.
Upon feeling the nourishment of the Luck, the Luck Seed seemed to emit a faint glimmer of vitality, but that was all.
The change was incredibly minute, almost imperceptible.
I remembered back then, even a single thread of Luck had caused a massive change in the Luck Seed of that adorable little girl from the Cat-girl Academy.
"Um... Sister Xiao Han, is there something on my face?" Qiu Ruxin subconsciously touched her cheek.
Just now, she felt as if something had happened, but after a quick self-examination, she found nothing out of the ordinary. Only Sister Xiao Han was staring at her with a strange look—or rather, staring at a specific spot on her?
"Oh, it's nothing." I shook my head, acting as if nothing had happened.
Breakfast ended quickly. On the way back, I discussed our next steps with Qiu Ruxin. We eventually decided to go collect the bounty first to avoid any complications from waiting too long.
Back in the guest room, we huddled together and opened the computer to search for guides on how to claim the bounty for the Secret Diggers.
However, as she searched for information, the joy on Qiu Ruxin's face faded.
"What's wrong? You don't look so good. Did you see some bad news?" I asked curiously, watching her operate the computer.
"It is a bit bad... The site for claiming Secret Digger bounties is a public welfare organization website. It lists all the people wanted as Secret Diggers."
"And?" I prompted.
"The bounty money is entirely crowdfunded..."
"Huh? Crowdfunded?" I looked at the webpage she was navigating. Although I couldn't read most of the text, I could understand the pictures. "So the reward is very low?"
"No... it's actually quite high. There are plenty of people worldwide whose families were destroyed by these Secret Diggers, and many of them are wealthy. To get revenge, many are willing to spend vast amounts of money on bounties."
"Then what do you mean by 'not so good'?"
"As the Secret Diggers became more dangerous and fewer people dared to touch them, putting money into this was like throwing it into the ocean—you wouldn't even hear a splash... Moreover, the few people who actually managed to kill a Secret Digger and went to claim the bounty rarely succeeded. Most were hunted down and killed by other Secret Diggers during the audit process. There are even rumors that someone absconded with all the money."
"For real?" I looked at the posts. Even without understanding the words, I could sense the fury in the text, symbols, and images.
"Whether it's true or not doesn't matter anymore. It's not even certain if the people who went through the process were actually killed by Secret Diggers, but the money definitely can't be taken away..."
"Oh, so it's a money-grabbing scam?" I realized.
"Yeah... it seems so. Meanwhile, it looks like the international wanted orders were all retracted after their identities as Secret Diggers were confirmed..."
"Tsk... no wonder..." I recalled what that man had said when I told him I’d use his corpse to claim the bounty. He said those things because he knew I wouldn't be able to collect?
No, he might not have known for sure, but he probably understood the human nature of this world better than I did. He knew that even with great strength, trying to claim the reward would be fraught with difficulties.
Did I have any chance of getting the bounty from them?
Naturally. If I started by wiping out a country, they would be more than willing to use the bounty for those guys—and much more—to beg me to stop.
But immediately after, they would hold secret meetings to discuss how to deal with me.
In short: a pain in the ass!
"Then, Sister Xiao Han, what should we do?"
"Deal with it, I guess. You think I’m going to bicker with those people?" I shrugged, but I made a mental note of this grudge.
Next time I find the ley lines of this world... they’re going to have a bad time.
"But... those killed Secret Diggers..."
"Just let them stay where they are," I said casually. It wasn't their real bodies anyway.
With the bounty matter falling through, I began to focus on understanding and learning the language of this world.
The more I reflected, the more I felt that this world was the small world the Dean had mentioned—the one that would eventually collide with the Main World.
Now I just needed to verify it.
So, I wanted to take this opportunity to try and organize information about this world, including but not limited to its language, script, culture, history, current development, and technological level.
Personally, I thought the Dean would be very curious if I brought this information back. Then there was the information about the Secret Diggers; I wondered if the Dean knew anything about such entities.
"Then... shall we start with basic children's textbooks for literacy and writing?" Qiu Ruxin asked tentatively. After all, she had never taught anyone how to read, nor did she have any experience in this area.
"Sure. I have a very strong memory. You just need to take me through the meaning and context of the words, the pronunciation, and then teach me the grammar. That should be enough." I nodded, having no objections.
Qiu Ruxin then began operating the computer, clearly searching for teaching materials.
"Huh? They want to charge for this? Wait... let me look for something else."
Qiu Ruxin finally found one she liked and clicked it, only to find it was behind a paywall! This was naturally unacceptable to her. "Strange, you can read these textbooks for free in the library. Why is the price so high on the Plant Network?"
"It's fine. If we have to pay, we pay. We aren't short on cash right now," I said. For me, time and efficiency were the most important things; everything else took a backseat.
Ultimately, out of necessity, Qiu Ruxin had to let me enter my bank account details to pay. This seemed to be quite a blow to her, as she had been very stubborn at first, claiming she was an expert at finding free resources, only to end up having to pay.
"This is so wrong... Isn't there a single kind soul who uploaded these children's literacy materials?"
"Alright, don't take it so personally. The money's already paid, right? Let's just get started." I comforted her from the side.
Hearing my words, Qiu Ruxin had no choice but to accept reality and began teaching me.
However... while it was called teaching, I was actually the one leading. I knew exactly what I needed to learn, whereas Qiu Ruxin didn't know what she should teach. I couldn't just passively wait for her to teach me slowly; that would be too inefficient.
As my life gained structure, my time in this world began to settle into a routine.
Learning the language went faster than I had anticipated. This wasn't just thanks to the Memory Bookshelf spellbook, but also the Practical Learning Spell and my own hard work.
Now, I could manage basic communication in this language, though I spoke with a heavy "foreign accent." But that wasn't something that could be changed overnight—besides, it had only been a few days.
I found it incredible myself. Learning a foreign language and achieving barrier-free communication in just a few days? In my previous life, wouldn't that have earned me the title of "genius"?
Moreover, my focus over these few days wasn't just on language. I placed even more importance on researching that Reverse Summoning Spell.
Only by thoroughly understanding this would I have a chance of returning. But as I successfully condensed the summoning rune for the Reverse Summoning Spell, a wave of unease rose in my heart.
Because to be summoned by the Reverse Summoning Spell, the other party theoretically needs to set up a summoning ritual for me to cross over.
In other words, this was a one-way door. Only after the other party opened the door would I have the option to be summoned.
Doesn't this method... sound a lot like an evil god invading a world? People hold a ritual to summon an evil god, praying for its descent.
And the other party might not even pay them any mind.
If I thought about it further, this spellbook was derived from Teacher Ji Niang's [Transcendent Knowledge]. Could that piece of Transcendent Knowledge be... a bit dodgy?
The more I thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, and it sent a shiver down my spine.
But putting aside unrealistic thoughts, upon closer reflection, this was likely just one rune out of that entire set of [Transcendent Knowledge], so I shouldn't jump to conclusions too early.
Now that I had sorted out the summoning rune for the Reverse Summoning Spell, I just needed to turn this rune into a specific anchor point to use it. Otherwise, having to set up a ritual with this rune every time someone wanted to summon me would be quite troublesome.
I glanced at Qiu Ruxin. She didn't look like someone who could complete such a ritual independently.
That was why I needed this ritual to have a concrete physical vessel, and that vessel would be the anchor point for the Reverse Summoning Spell. Once the ritual was activated, I could use the spell to sense who was trying to summon me.
But there was still a glaring problem: there was no summoning ritual or rune left behind in the Main World, and I had no way to send this ritual back...
It was a complete deadlock.
I had been summoned here with Luck as a guide, but to go back, there was no summoning rune, no guidance, and no coordinates. I had even severed my ley line shackles and stepped out of the script. How was I supposed to get back?
Did I really have to wait several months for those Witch Mentors to arrive in this world?
What if this wasn't the world the Dean was talking about?
I couldn't just grow old and die here alone! I can't let Sister Bai become a widow like this!
After my initial agitation, I calmed down and analyzed the situation. This spellbook was made by the Dean. Assuming for a moment—was it possible the Dean had left a contingency? For example... the Dean might have kept the summoning rune for this spell!
But that also presented a problem: if the Dean didn't activate that rune, I wouldn't be able to perceive the summoning coordinates.
Following this line of reasoning, if the Dean wouldn't gamble with my life, how would she know if I encountered danger after arriving in this world?
The answer... seemed to be staring me in the face.
I looked down at myself. The shield the Dean had placed on me remained dormant, and I couldn't even dispel it myself. To break such a miraculous shield, even I would need to use extremely powerful means.
"No, I can't test it now. I need to settle my affairs first... wait, no, I mean, I need to get all my preparations ready. It wouldn't be funny if I couldn't come back..."