The Fourth Calamity: People in High Martial Arts, Gods in Games

Chapter 2 A God-like Start

The sun is setting.

The last rays of sunlight fell upon the ruins of the martial arts school. The ravaged floorboards and the rat heads peeking out from the cracks in the floor gave Lin Qi an inexplicable sense of security.

"Player Fang Zhen, age 29, physical fitness test results: strength 76 kg, speed 7.3 meters per second."

"evaluate?"

"Elementary school student."

Lin Qi looked at the small notebook in his hand, scratched his head, crossed out the words "primary school student," and added seven more words after it.

The kindergarten senior class is yet to be determined.

"You have to act like an NPC and make them obey you at the same time. This team is so hard to manage."

Lin Qi put away his notebook, sighed, and glanced at a corner below his field of vision. A semi-transparent panel slowly appeared.

System: The Traditional Martial Arts System is now open. The current task is "Completely Repair the Obsidian Martial Arts School". The reward is a B6 training machine for instructors, which increases the maximum number of players that can be introduced by 40.

Host: Lin Qi.

Age: 25.

Martial arts level: Preparatory apprentice.

Strength: 92 kg. (Apprentice standard: 100 kg)

Speed: 8.9 meters per second. (Apprentice standard: 10 meters per second)

Number of players that can be introduced: 10 (The host currently limits the number of online players to 1, and the current number of pre-registrations is 5.)

The Martial Arts Transmission System allows people from the other side of Earth to enter this world through the game, and it can also sever the player's connection with this world at any time. Moreover, the player can be resurrected after death without paying a price, making its power almost heaven-defying.

But now...

Lin Qi felt that he had come to understand the system again.

Although the system can bring players here, the players' physical condition is clearly not very good.

boom!

boom!boom!

"This secondhand generator is really unreliable. The basic power supply is intermittent, and yet they still sold it to me for 500 bits. That black lizard's heart is indeed black."

Lin Qi, sitting in the lounge, patted the rumbling metal lump in front of him and muttered a complaint under his breath.

Lin Qi was originally just a 25-year-old entrepreneur on Blue Star. He had worked hard since college and owned his own game technology company. He had finally achieved financial freedom and could start to enjoy life, but fourteen days ago, he suddenly transmigrated to this world.

It's one thing to time travel, but to arrive in his original state without even a piece of clothing is really too much. Luckily, he was fortunate enough to time travel to the current abandoned martial arts school right from the start.

While searching for clothes in the martial arts school, Lin Qi found many old books and magazines, which gave him a general understanding of some basic information about this world.

This Blue Star is completely different from the Blue Star he used to live on. It is not only a world of advanced martial arts where all races gather, but also has a higher level of technology. As for the dangers, they are unimaginable.

In July 2025, the sea level on Earth suddenly cracked open, and a great catastrophe ensued.

The wilderness is teeming with powerful monsters that are immune to firearms, and the occasional hordes of beasts can easily destroy cities, making the living space for humans on this planet increasingly smaller.

Fortunately, in the course of human development, a solution was found: martial artists.

By learning martial arts, people break through the limits of the human body, and life evolves, giving humanity the power to fight against powerful monsters for the first time. Subsequently, all races appeared, and martial arts flourished for hundreds of years. Even now, martial arts is still a pursuit for people, a hope to protect the human race. In fact, many countries and races around the world have made martial arts a compulsory course in high school, and the college entrance examination even considers martial arts test scores.

If you don't meet the martial arts exam score, even if you're a liberal arts student with perfect scores in all other subjects, you can forget about going to university. And if you want to go to a martial arts university, the martial arts exam is the most crucial thing.

As for finding a job after graduating from university, it goes without saying that the first thing HR professionals at major companies do during interviews is to make the interviewee take a punch.

If you can handle the first round of interviews, the second round will be the second round. If you pass all three rounds, you won't need any further assessments and can start working immediately.

As martial arts flourished, various martial arts schools sprang up like mushrooms after rain. The Obsidian Martial Arts School where Lin Qi now resides is one of the human martial arts schools established when the City of Light was first founded.

The place where the Obsidian Martial Arts Academy is now located has become an abandoned area of ​​the City of Light, a place that even stray dogs would shake their heads at. However, the Obsidian Martial Arts Academy covers more than 80,000 square meters. Even though it is dilapidated, it still has some places that can provide shelter from the wind and rain, so that Lin Qi will not have to sleep on the streets.

"As expected, this generator is beyond saving." Lin Qi patted it again. The power in the martial arts hall was still intermittent, and the lights were flickering, clearly indicating that it had not been repaired.

"This is a generator, a precision instrument. Do you think it's like those unruly kids who can be fixed with a couple of taps?" A woman over two meters tall, with fair skin, a high ponytail, and a prosthetic arm, walked directly to Lin Qi's side and kicked the metal lump several times. Each kick caused the surrounding floor to crack inch by inch. After more than ten kicks, the lights in the hall finally stopped flickering. "Alright, your strength is still a bit lacking. You need to practice more."

"Thanks." Lin Qi looked at the brightly lit training ground and couldn't help but sigh, "As expected of a licensed mechanic from the City of Light, their strength is indeed incomparable to that of ordinary people."

Luo Qi, 24 years old, is an employee of a weapon shop in the suburbs of the City of Light. She is also Lin Qi's savior after he transmigrated to this world of high martial arts, allowing Lin Qi to truly understand this world, this City of Light.

"Stop flattering me, I won't reduce your pay by a single penny." Luo Qi rolled her eyes at Lin Qi, raised her prosthetic arm, and pointed to the vintage car parked outside the martial arts school behind her. "I've brought everything over and put it there. Consider the ten alloy shovels a gift, three composite longbows, and nine black steel arrows. These weapons are all high-end products made of A5 grade alloy. Even the young masters who are aspiring martial artists use them occasionally. It's 15000 bits in total. Are you planning to pay in installments or settle it all at once?"

"15000 bits? That's so cheap? I heard that rents in the city are going up recently?" Lin Qi looked at Luo Qi in surprise. "And your sister is only in her first year of high school, right in the middle of intensive tutoring. If you sell it to me so cheaply, you'll earn a lot less this month. Did you get some big orders recently?"

Making weapons takes a lot of time. As an employee of the weapon shop, Luo Qi can only make five or six weapons a month, earning just a little labor fee. The cost of A5 grade alloy is very high. Three A5 grade weapons cost 15000 bits, which is almost the cost price.

Money in the world of high martial arts is extremely hard to earn; often, what you earn isn't enough to live on. Good jobs usually require martial arts apprentices, while ordinary people with official status only earn about two thousand bits a month.

Luo Qi is slightly better off as a mechanic, but only slightly better. He'd be lucky to earn an extra five or six hundred. Living in the suburbs, the monthly rent takes up half of his income, and the cost of making three weapons is equivalent to half a month's salary.

As for attending high school in this world, the cost is exceptionally high. Tuition alone is six thousand per semester, plus the various nutritional costs required for cultivating qi and blood. It's difficult for ordinary people to afford it, let alone an individual.

"Recently, the rent here has indeed increased, and it's not just us, but all the races are the same. The Half-Scale Clan has some kind of luck, and several genius martial artists have emerged. Their status in the City of Light has risen a lot. The Half-Scale Clan has lower rent, so the rent of all the other races naturally has to increase." Luo Qi's eyes revealed envy when he talked about the martial artists.

Becoming a martial artist is not easy, and becoming one before the age of 25 is even more difficult. For the human race, it has been almost 20 years since any genius martial artists have emerged.

After a moment of reflection, Luo Qi looked at Lin Qi and said, "Don't worry about me. I'm a mechanic, after all. I don't need your money. How many installments do you plan to pay in? I suggest a ten-year installment plan. Although the interest rate is higher, you can at least afford it each month."

"No, I'll pay in full at once." Lin Qi reached into his clothes and pulled out eighteen crisp banknotes, each worth one thousand dollars.

"You really did take that step." Luo Qi looked at the banknotes in her hand, her gaze complex as she looked at Lin Qi. "Which gang? How much did you borrow?"

"The gorilla gang over at the warehouse in the suburbs," Lin Qi told Luo Qi without any concealment. "They borrowed 30,000 and will pay back 60,000 in two months."

On the first day Lin Qi transmigrated to this world, he was thinking about how to become a martial artist. However, on his way to the city of Chasing Light, he encountered two high school students from a martial arts class. The two were sparring under a bridge, which caused the bridge to collapse, resulting in many passersby being seriously injured, including him.

Luo Qi was also on the bridge at the time. Before he fell, he pushed Luo Qi, preventing her from falling off the bridge. Afterwards, out of gratitude, Luo Qi took him to the hospital despite his serious injuries.

As an undocumented vagrant, Lin Qi was completely ignored by the City of Light, which offered no compensation. Since he had no money, Luo Qi first gave him two thousand and then helped him with another thousand to prevent him from starving. Although the hospital healed his injuries, he still owed the hospital ten thousand bits, which he was to repay in four interest-free installments, equivalent to paying back 2500 per month.

It's practically impossible for an undocumented vagrant living in the City of Light to repay 2500 bits a month. Undocumented vagrants do illegal work, and their daily food expenses don't even exceed 5 bits. Let alone earning 2500 bits, they'd be lucky to earn even a fraction of that.

As for becoming a martial artist, even a basic training manual sold in the city library costs tens of thousands of bits. Not to mention that practicing the training manual on your own is useless; you need a professional guide, and the guide fee is several times that of the training manual itself. It's completely out of his reach as an undocumented person.

"You borrowed so much money, you're not planning to go into that line of work, are you?"

"Um."

"You're insane! You're gambling with your life!"

"Making money always involves taking some risks, and I think I have a good chance in farming."

Having been in the world of high martial arts for the past few days, Lin Qi has come to understand how difficult it is for an undocumented vagrant to survive, and that there are only two paths to making big money in the City of Light.

First, they became guinea pigs for various companies; second, they were used for farming.

The latest novel is first published here!

Even for true martial artists, the wilderness of the high-level martial arts world is fraught with danger. However, major cities have limited areas and large populations, so food is always scarce, especially food that can accelerate the improvement of blood and qi.

For an ordinary person to become a martial artist, the training of qi and blood requires a large amount of energy from the body, which is difficult to obtain with ordinary food. Fortunately, the technology in the world of high martial arts is very advanced, and many special plants have been created, one of which is blood essence rice.

Blood Essence Rice, when planted in places with abundant energy, not only matures in just ten days but also contains a high concentration of energy. Major cities are generally built on energy veins, which provide them with ample power sources. Therefore, the closer to the city center, the more concentrated the energy, making Blood Essence Rice a staple food for major cities.

However, each city is only so big, and the amount of blood essence rice produced is simply not enough to eat. There are many places in the wild that are full of rich energy, so wild cultivation has become a good way for undocumented vagrants to make money.

If a batch of Blood Essence Rice can be grown in the wild, even just ten pounds, at the market price of 200 bits per pound in the City of Light, that's 2000 bits. The cost of ten pounds of Blood Essence Rice seeds is only 500 bits. Four times the profit is enough to drive many people crazy, not to mention undocumented immigrants.

"You're really crazy. That line of work isn't for ordinary people. Even martial arts apprentices who have embarked on the path of martial arts wouldn't dare to set foot in it casually. You should just give up. Putting aside the fact that with your small frame, you might not even be able to find a hidden energy site in the wild and guard those blood essence rice. You should know that this line of work is now controlled by various gangs. Once they find out, there won't be any good results." Luo Qi said speechlessly, "You really go to bars too often. Do you really think everyone can become an urban legend?"

"Fei Jin, the jackal of the wilderness, and Qi Lan, the steel-clad light chaser, did indeed break through the blockade of those gangs as vagrants, and even became martial artists, legendary figures that everyone in the vagrant community aspired to be. But among the tens of millions of vagrants in the City of Light, how many such legends can there be?"

"Give up while you still can."

"I know a pretty good hospital. With your looks, if you didn't become a man, I believe many wealthy men would like your demure and sweet type."

Luo Qi's words were sincere, and she could even see a bright future for Lin Qi in her eyes, which left Lin Qi momentarily stunned.

A girl from a modest family?

Lin Qi didn't consider himself short. On his original planet, he was a tall man of 186 cm. However, in this world of high martial arts where everyone trains, the average height of junior high school students is two meters, and that of high school students is generally 2.2 or 2.3 meters. His height is indeed nothing special, but it's not enough to warrant pity.

"Forget about this route, it's too risky. I don't have the mental fortitude for that." Lin Qi quickly interrupted Luo Qi, who still wanted to talk, "Do you have a map showing the distribution of the major gangs in the City of Light?"

Although there are many monsters active in the wild, there are also many relatively safe places. These places contain many areas rich in energy, and major gangs usually occupy these places to grow Blood Essence Rice for sale in the city. Others who want to grow Blood Essence Rice can only avoid these places.

Although the Cangjing Weapon Shop where Luo Qi works isn't a particularly powerful weapon shop, it's still one of the top weapon shops in the suburbs. They've supplied weapons to various gangs on the side and transported them to them. So they should know a little about the outdoor activity ranges of the various gangs.

"Sigh, you're just too conservative." Luo Qi looked at Lin Qi, who had made up his mind, and sighed inwardly at his lack of willpower. She sent him an electronic map and turned to leave, but still reminded him before leaving.

"If you really can't pay back the money before the deadline, remember to let me know in advance. I don't think you want to hand over your body to those gorillas. I have connections and should be able to sell you for a high price. Maybe I can even save you a kidney for future use."

"Can we keep one more?" Lin Qi looked at Luo Qi in surprise, not expecting that Luo Qi had such strong connections.

Sixty thousand is no small sum. It's equivalent to two years' income for an average person in the City of Light. Lin Qi estimated that his body was only worth sixty or seventy thousand, otherwise those gorillas wouldn't have only lent him thirty thousand.

"How about we let the 29th one give it a try?"

"Sixty thousand per session? Even aspiring martial artists don't earn that much, and they can still keep one kidney to survive. It's practically perfect!"

Lin Qi watched Luo Qi disappear into the night and couldn't help but feel a little tempted, but he shook his head and quickly gave up the idea.

Players are different from ordinary people; they can resurrect infinitely. If some forces notice the problem, they'll have endless opportunities to reap the rewards. If they eventually find him, the problem will be much bigger.

Two hours later, in the basement of the Obsidian Martial Arts School.

"Good stamina, has potential." Lin Qi looked at Fang Zhen, who was still barely standing, and nodded. With such stamina and perseverance, he was definitely a skilled farmer. Lin Qi's evaluation of Fang Zhen immediately rose, and the word "pending" could be crossed out. "By the way, how are your kidneys usually? How are you feeling right now?"

"How are my kidneys? How do they feel? Does my legs feeling weak count?"

"Don't you feel anything?"

"Brother, should I be able to sense something?"

Fang Zhen couldn't help but look warily at Lin Qi outside the iron bars. He felt very flustered. He had made Lin Qi do two thousand squats for two hours, and now he was asking him how his kidneys were and what he felt.

What kind of feelings could this god possibly have? What kind of feelings do you expect him to have?

Good? Great?

"Sigh, even kindergarteners in their last year are still no good."

"???"

Lin Qi sighed slightly, glanced at the time displayed on his watch, and looked at Fang Zhen, as if waiting for something. Fang Zhen was about to say something when he felt an indescribable stinging pain in his brain and kidneys. Then he spat out a mouthful of dark blood and everything went black.

System: You are dead.

"A game? This is a game?!"

Fang Zhen stared wide-eyed at the system notification, completely dumbfounded.

Are game developers these days really this good at this?

(End of this chapter)