[Welcome to the Daynasty System.]
So, System, can you talk? Tell me what your functions are. Will you give me a newbie gift?
[No.]
In the dark and silent room, Yuan Yuan stared at the still parchment.
No? No, my ass! I waited six damn years for you, and you come at me with this crap?
He raised a finger, ready to scold the System.
"Hey Yuan, what's going on? Why are you still awake?" His father's hushed voice came from the side. Ren Tie looked at him but couldn't see much in the dark. Yuan froze.
Wait... he can't see it. System, can others see you? Wait—damn, I just asked the cliché question.
[No.]
Whatever...
"Ahh, Father, I just couldn't sleep. Don't worry about me."
"Is that so? Make sure you get plenty of rest. We'll be busy tomorrow," Ren Tie said, laying back down.
"Okay, Father," Yuan replied, lying down on his mat.
System, we'll continue tomorrow. Turn yourself off you're too shiny.
Yuan closed his eyes, whispering a prayer.
"Please be real. Please still be here when I wake up tomorrow."
With another sleepless hour and too many unanswered questions, Yuan finally passed out from exhaustion after all the field work.
"Yuan Yuan, wake up!" Yuan heard his mother's voice and slowly opened his eyes.
"Yuan, I put some food on the table. We're going with your brothers. Don't forget to feed the animals," she said to her still half-asleep son.
Hey System, are you there?
[Yes.]
It's still here! It's real!
"Okay, Mom, I won't. I'm going now!" Yuan yelled as he rushed toward the door.
"Your food, Yuan! Sigh..." Mei Lan called after him.
"Oh, right!" Yuan devoured his meal in seconds and was out the door like lightning.
He ran outside and opened the pen. "Okay, boy. Take your sisters—we're going!"
"Mehh," the goat MF and two others trotted out, following him.
Let me feed the chickens first. Then I can go to the stream.
"Go, bro, go! Learn everything quickly and then get back to help Dad."
After a short walk, Yuan and the goats arrived at the stream.
"Alright, you go eat, MF. I've got business here," he said, waving the goats off before sitting down.
System, open up.
[『 Daynasty System 』
────────────────────────────────────
Host: Yuan
Title: [Village Boy]
Family Members: 5
FP: 0
────────────────────────────────────
FAMILY POWER (FP): 9 (Monthly Income)
– Father (1st Circle Peak) – 4 FP
– Mother (Adult, Tier 0) – 2 FP
– Yuan (Child, Tier 0) – 1 FP
– Hao (Child, Tier 0) – 1 FP
– Jin (Child, Tier 0) – 1 FP
────────────────────────────────────
INVENTORY:
–Empty
SYSTEM MALL:
–LOCKED
Requires 10 FP to unlockProgress: 0 / 10 FP]
"Huh... that's good. It's not a useless or annoying system."
Yuan relaxed, hands behind his back.
"WAIT, WHAT?! My old man is First Circle?! System, are you sure?!"
[Yes.]
Damn! No wonder that man works like an ox in the forge all day.
"Ahh, I need to help him! Let's finish up here quick and go back."
Where was I—right, System, can I use the inventory?
[Yes.]
"Okay, put my knife in, then." Yuan took the knife from his back. It vanished instantly.
[INVENTORY (1 cubic meter):
– 1x Handmade Knife (Basic)]
"That's fun. Alright, next—quests. Give me one."
[What kind of quest would you like: daily, monthly, or long-term?]
I don't even know what that means. Whatever, let's learn.
"Just give me one of each."
[Understood.]
[ACTIVE QUESTS:
– Help at the Forge (Daily)
– Complete 7 Daily Quests
– Earn Your First Coin (Will Upgrade)]
"Okay, let's go." Yuan stood up, took off his sandals, and jumped into the stream.
I can probably finish two quests a day if I'm lucky.
Let's check if my traps caught anything.
He pulled out his fish traps from the water—three small ones.
Not bad, I guess.
As he put the traps back, Yuan started asking the System more questions.
"Hey System, do you have a last mission for me? Like defeat a demon or save the world?"
[No.]
"Why are you like this? At least answer nicely."
"Then what about the Family Power and the Store function? Will it open?"
[You earn Family Power from quests and your family members' monthly contribution.]
"And the store?" Yuan asked, visibly annoyed.
[Earn enough to unlock it.]
"For fuck's sake, can't you just talk like a normal person?"
He got out of the water and grabbed the fish from the ground.
"Can you store these?"
[No. They are alive.]
So no living things. Fair enough. What about gutted fish?
[Yes, you can.]
"Oh! So I can put dead bodies inside. That's good. Might pull off some tricks with that."
Yuan gutted the fish and stored them in the inventory, then began walking back with his goats.
"I'm back, Father!" Yuan returned the goats to their pen and ran to the forge.
"Oh, you took long enough. Now go fire the bellows."
"Yes, Father! But can you pay me a copper coin for today's work, pleasee?" Yuan ran over and started pumping air while his father worked the tongs, heating the metal.
His father glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "Sure. If you do a good job, I'll give you some. How about that?"
"For sure, Father!" Yuan grinned, already excited about completing his quest.
Damn, this place is hot. I want to start martial arts already. I'm too weak.
Time to dig for info. "Hey, Father, did you learn martial arts before?"
"Yeah, I got a shot. You might not know, but your father's Tier 1," Ren Tie said proudly, waiting for Yuan's reaction.
But Yuan just stared.
Ren Tie's face darkened. "You brat! Do you know how amazing that is for village folk?" He pulled the glowing red metal and slammed it on the anvil.
"Enough talk. Come help me."
"What did I even do?" Yuan mumbled, running over and grabbing his hammer.
"Don't hit too hard," his father said, correcting him while hammering alongside him. Yuan's sweat dripped off his nose as he tried to keep up.
"Alright, that's enough." Ren Tie struck the iron flat and tossed it back into the forge.
"Back to the bellows, boy! Don't think I'm going easy on you."
"What? Okay..." Yuan wiped his forehead and pumped again.
"But Father, when will I learn it?" he muttered.
"Hmph. If you mean smithing, you're still too young and weak." Ren Tie stepped back and sat on a stool.
"But if you mean martial arts—you'll be going when you're twelve."
"Eh? Going where?" He's not gonna sell me off, right?
"Well, the government collects all kids at that age and trains them every year," Ren Tie said while stoking the fire.
I know nothing, old man! Explain!
"Hahaha, don't worry. I'll tell you. After that, you can choose to join the army or martial schools. I'd recommend the army, honestly. You can't get into the schools unless you're talented anyway."
"Then... did you join the army?"
"Nope. I wasn't talented enough. I could've gone, sure, but the low ranks? Same as the scum. No one wants that life. You'd be lucky to survive one of the Empire's endless wars. It's not worth it."
"So... you can choose not to join?"
"Yeah. If you're lucky like me, or just untalented, you can come back and be a blacksmith like your old man." Ren Tie got up, pulled out a heated iron, and began hammering it into a sickle.
"Okay, boy. Take a break. Drink some water."
Finally... that was exhausting. "Thank you, Father."
Yuan walked over to the water jug, drank deeply, then poured some on his head.
"Ahhh, that's better." He sat down, waiting for his father to finish.
Ren Tie hammered until the sickle was formed, then cooled it in water. He set it aside and turned to Yuan.
"Alright, go put in some charcoal."
Ren Tie grabbed another iron piece and placed it in the forge.
Yuan ran to get charcoal and fed the forge. "Done, Father. Hey, what's the highest tier, anyway? You said you're Tier 1, right?"
"Hmm, well... villagers think Tier 5 is the max. But that's wrong. It actually goes up to Tier 10. I heard even the strongest people these days barely reach Tier 6—that's top of the top."
"Alright, enough talking. Let's finish our work."
"Okay! I'm on it!"
After working hard for hours, both of them cleaned themselves up and sat down in the house.
"Here you go. Some coins for you—whatever you're gonna do with them." His father pulled out a few copper coins from his pouch and handed them over to Yuan.
"Thank you, Dad." Yuan took the three coins and slipped them into his pocket, smiling dumbly.
"Why are you smiling like that, brat? Did you find a girl or something?" his father asked, curiosity written all over his face.
"Nothing."Of course, his father couldn't see that he was looking at the System page.