Chapter 1
Prologue.
***
#Prologue
I found a curious object in front of my door.
[Pyo-yang-gi-i (飆颺羈弛) Ye-hoe-hyeol-go (翳晦孑錮) Hyeok-hyeok-gol-mae (奕奕矻邁)]
A scroll covered in characters that looked incredibly complicated.
It felt imbued with some mystical power, so I merely touched one of the characters in the middle.
“Ah, aah…!”
I had turned into a frail-looking little girl.
I was short, but my chest was heavy.
My skin was pale, and my hair had turned white, too.
The biggest problem was…
“Th-the world is so br-bright….”
I felt like I might have a seizure just looking at the blue sky outside the window.
The cozy bed and blankets were so comfortable. I didn't want to leave.
Still, there was one good thing.
[Five Spiritual Roots] [0/10000]
[Talisman Dao Sacred Body 1-Star] [0/10]
While everyone else had to work endlessly to advance their realms, I could raise mine with a click, simply by repeating things.
***
#Chapter 1
In a world where people were left behind if they lacked talent, no matter how hard they worked.
My earliest memory was from when I was three.
It was the moment I opened my eyes inside a tank of green nutrient solution.
“Are these the children I'm going to be in charge of?”
A young girl who looked no older than ten said. Her flowing silver hair and cold blue eyes made a strong impression.
“That's right. You're a member of the Qi Refining squad now, too.”
A hulking, completely bald man nodded.
He snapped his fingers, and my consciousness went dark.
Next was when I was five.
Nine, who had downloaded history and information through the chip implanted behind their ear, lined up as instructed.
It was a short line of ten people, including Nine.
Lines like it stretched endlessly, all the way to the horizon.
Nine stood ninth in line.
Everyone in the line was Nine's sibling.
Nine had been born ninth, so they became Nine.
Today was the first selection.
The day they weeded out those with spiritual roots from those without them.
Of the five billion people born that year, only fifty million could remain on Earth and become cultivators.
The other 4.95 billion, those without spiritual roots, would be exiled beyond the solar system to work as laborers supplying resources to Earth.
Nine didn't want to become a laborer.
Nine wanted to have their spiritual roots verified, become a cultivator, live forever, and keep climbing higher without end.
“Next.”
A cold voice rang out.
Before Nine knew it, all eight siblings ahead of them had disappeared.
Every one of them had awakened Four Spiritual Roots and was overjoyed.
Snapping out of their thoughts, Nine held out an arm.
The silver-haired girl, Eunsolhwa (銀雪華), took Nine's pulse.
Their caretaker was only twelve years old.
“…Five Spiritual Roots.”
Nine nodded obediently on the outside and trudged toward their siblings.
Then Nine looked back and saw the little girl who had been standing behind them.
Unlike her five-year-old siblings, the youngest sister was four, her birth and growth delayed.
Eunsolhwa's eyes widened unusually as she took the girl's pulse.
“She has Two Spiritual Roots.”
“Ooh…!”
The bald giant beside them had been watching indifferently with his arms crossed.
Cultivator Seo suddenly burst into tears.
“To have two people with Two Spiritual Roots born in my generation—what an immense blessing!!”
Nine's mouth fell slightly open.
***
Gulp, gulp.
Now Nine was twenty.
Nine, now an adult, poured liquor down their throat, wanting to get drunk.
But even though it was over 90% alcohol and brewed specifically for cultivators, Nine's body barely got drunk.
In fact, what Nine was drinking wasn't even liquor. It was pure ethanol.
“Khaa….”
The empty glass bottle dropped to the floor.
Nine had already gone through more than ten, but there was no sign of getting drunk.
“I wanted to be a cultivator. I wanted to be a cultivator.”
The first selection had already been fifteen years ago.
Nine was confident they'd tried everything over the past fifteen years to become a cultivator.
‘You haven't even reached the Qi Refining stage. What gave you the confidence to apply to our university?’
‘Five Spiritual Roots… Do you have any idea how much I'm regretting spending a minute reading your application?’
‘Our university doesn't accept failures like you. Leave.’
The interviewers' eyes, looking down at Nine with contempt, came back so vividly that Nine shuddered.
Nine slept only four hours a day.
Of the twenty hours they were awake, Nine spent twelve sensing and absorbing spiritual energy, then devoted another eight to studying theory.
Nine had even tried eating sand, thinking it might let them become a cultivator.
They'd stuck chopsticks into an electrical outlet, trying to sense lightning spiritual energy.
They'd thrown themselves into a blazing pit to sense fire spiritual energy, and crammed themselves into a steel drum and drowned in the sea to sense water spiritual energy.
Nine was willing to do anything for cultivation.
And yet, and yet, Nine's realm was still only at the Body Tempering stage!
Despite fifteen years of repeated effort, Nine hadn't even reached Qi Refining!!
“Heavens above!!!”
Nine pointed accusingly at the sky.
Nine's aptitude was horrendous.
Five Spiritual Roots—and the lowest grade of talent among them.
In truth, even Nine's spiritual roots amounted to little more than tiny tendrils, no bigger than a sprig of spiritual ginseng, lodged in their body.
“Heh, heh…”
Nine cried and laughed as they poured the pure alcohol down their throat.
Then Nine took out their phone and opened the online forum.
[Korean Peninsula Mortal Gallery]
Commonly known as the Mortal Board.
It was a gallery mostly used by mortals who had failed to become cultivators.
Nine tapped the screen and opened the trending posts tab.
[I'm fuckedI'm fuckedI'm fuckedI'm fuckedI'm fuckedI'm fucked]
[Did the spiritual sense awaken?Did it awaken?Did it awaken?Did it awaken?]
[I'm fuckedI'm fuckedI'm fuckedI'm fuckedI'm fuckedI'm fucked]
Anonymous (118.235) | Views 432201 | Likes 8439 | Comments 1232
No, seriously, what the hell do I do? No, seriously, one month left.
I puked blood while circulating qi this morning, fuck!
My dantian won't open, goddammit!!
My family's atmosphere is completely wrecked, and my dad sighs every time he looks at me—what the hell am I supposed to do!!!!
I'd rather go into a Gate!!!!!!!!!
-There're tons of trash like you at the off-world mines anywayㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ People live there too, so just accept it and go~
ㄴAnonymous (118.235)
You fucking bitch, it's easy for you to say when it's not your problem, you bastard
-Fact: According to Statistics Korea, 0.9% fail to reach Qi Refining by the second selection. That figure includes people born with severed spiritual meridians and those with severe intellectual disabilities. In other words, you're either incurably sick or a piece of garbage who blew your golden window of opportunity after stuffing yourself with the elixirs your parents bought you and doing nothing but fucking aroundㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴAnonymous (118.235)
I ate every damn elixir they gave me!! How the fuck am I supposed to make my dantian absorb it, you fucking bastard!!!
-If you can't absorb it, then you die. What else can you do? That's the universe's natural selection, you dumbass. Good luckㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-If you enter a Gate, you go straight to the Demon Realm. Think that'll be painless? Now I get why you couldn't even reach Qi Refining.
[Did the spiritual sense awaken?Did it awaken?Did it awaken?Did it awaken?] Anonymous (243.145) | Views 1232201 | Likes 84339 | Comments 12432
[Photo of a flame blooming at the tip of a finger]
It awakened, so I posted thisㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ My spiritual sense opened this morning and I immediately hit the 1-Star Qi Refining bottleneckㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
You talentless mortal trash can fuck off to the off-world space mines!!! Rot in the mines for the rest of your livesㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Congrats
-🖕
-You only had a month left and you got it nowㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Could've gone together, what a shame
ㄴ Even if this talentless bastard's reached 1-Star Qi Refining now, he'll be dragged to the Demon Realm in ten years.
ㄴ You're an off-world miner, aren't you? Earth's shit-wiper has arrivedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Nine grinned stupidly as they chugged liquor with one hand and browsed the gallery with the other.
For Nine, who had lived solely for cultivation, the gallery was their only refuge.
Nine had been drinking to catch up on the posts they'd missed, and by the time they'd gone through about twenty bottles…
Their buzz had risen to a certain level. After gazing at the sky for a moment, Nine headed home.
It happened when Nine reached the area near home.
“What is this?”
Nine picked up an object lying near the building's entrance.
It was basically a white scroll, but it had yellowed with age and was covered in scratches.
Even so, an archaic, divine aura lingered around it.
“A magic artifact? But who loses one of those?”
Nine decided to take the scroll inside for now.
It looked valuable, and Nine casually thought it would be better to return it themselves than let someone else pick it up.
……That was what Nine intended to do.
“Ugh, eh?”
[Pyo-yang-gi-i (飆颺羈弛) , Ye-hoe-hyeol-go (翳晦孑錮) , Hyeok-hyeok-gol-mae (奕奕矻邁)]
The middle of the scroll, which Nine had opened without thinking.
It was covered in complicated characters from the Immortal Dao.
They were so divine that… Nine's hand reached out as if entranced, and only barely brushed against them.
As if someone had struck Nine hard on the head, their consciousness abruptly cut out.
Thud!
Nine collapsed unconscious in the living room.
***
“Mmm, uhh….”
Warm morning sunlight streamed through the curtains covering the floor-to-ceiling window, bathing Nine's body.
Normally, this was when Nine would spring out of bed and devote themselves to cultivation.
But strangely, Nine's body felt weak.
Their body was heavy.
“Uh, uh.”
Nine's mind was hazy.
‘What did I do yesterday?’
‘I drank and wandered around a bit… then I found a scroll.’
“Ah!”
Nine screamed and got up from the floor.
Maybe because they'd moved so suddenly, Nine's shoulder ached, and their chest felt oddly heavy.
Nine looked down in confusion. Their chest was swelling upward.
“Awa!?”
A pathetic, strange sound escaped Nine's lips.
No, wait. Why was their voice so thin? Panicking, Nine shook their head frantically from side to side.
Then something swayed at the edge of Nine's vision.
When Nine looked down, dazzlingly white hair spilled over their shoulders.
The white hair fell all the way to their waist.
Nine hurriedly braced themself on the floor and staggered to their feet.
Huh? The view was lower. Nine had become shorter than before.
They weren't as small as a child, though, and for a woman, they seemed moderately tall.
The problem was the heavy mass hanging from them, completely mismatched with their reduced height.
Nine's chest felt unnaturally heavy with every breath.
When Nine looked down at the unfamiliar sensation, the curves swelling upward blocked even the tips of their feet from view.
“Ah, ah?”
Against Nine's will, only strange little sounds kept spilling from their mouth.
It happened as Nine tried to back away, denying the absurd situation.
Perhaps it was their body's changed proportions and the strange center of gravity pitched forward.
Nine's legs tangled helplessly.
“Uh, uhh?”
Nine flailed awkwardly, but ultimately lost their balance and toppled straight toward the bare floor.
Splat!
“I-it hurts…!”
Tears welled up in Nine's eyes against their will.
Pure, childlike tears streamed down without the slightest delay.
“Aah….”
Ignoring their aching knees and flowing tears, Nine searched the floor.
The scroll had to be connected to this.
If it wasn't a magic artifact, none of this made sense!
How many minutes had Nine spent crawling around searching for the scroll?
Absurdly, it was floating nonchalantly right above their head!
Flutter~ Flutter~.
What had happened to its yellowed color from yesterday?
The scroll shone with a spotless, pure-white light.
“What….”
Holding the fluttering scroll with both hands, Nine read the words that had appeared inside it.
The characters were written in a color as black as the abyss, in contrast with its pure-white surface.
Unlike the Immortal Dao characters written on it yesterday, these were in a language Nine could read.
[User : Eun (銀) Nine (羅引/Nine)]
[Talent: Five Spiritual Roots 0 / 10000]
[Constitution: Talisman Dao Sacred Body (符道聖體) 0 / 10]
[Arts: Body Tempering Art 8-Star 0/15000 / Introductory Talisman Dao Art (符道入門訣) 7-Star 1300/15000 / Body Tempering Art—12th Revision 3-Star 50/200]
[Current Realm: Body Tempering Stage 80%]
“……!”
The moment Nine saw it, a small shiver ran through their body.
A tremendous revelation seemed to plunge straight into the center of Nine's soul, beyond instinct.
The functions of the scroll poured into Nine's small mind.
The scroll's functions were simple and straightforward.
[Talent: Five Spiritual Roots 0 / 10000]
If Nine absorbed spiritual energy through their spiritual roots, their Five Spiritual Roots would evolve into Four Spiritual Roots.
Perhaps even the next step might be possible.
[Constitution: Talisman Dao Sacred Body (符道聖體) 0 / 10]
The Talisman Dao Sacred Body was a constitution granted by the scroll.
It granted genius-level talent with talismans, and Nine's talent would rise every time they drew one.
[Arts: Body Tempering Art 8-Star 0/15000 / Introductory Talisman Dao Art (符道入門訣) 7-Star 1300/15000 / Body Tempering Art—12th Revision 3-Star 50/200]
Cultivation techniques—the very things that held cultivators back.
Their ranks could be raised through repetition alone.
No bone-crushing effort or blood-vomiting hardship was required.
All it took was simple repetition.
“Is this really… possible?”
Nine murmured softly.
Nine sank into thought for a moment, then felt their excitement gradually rise.
But if this was real, if it wasn't a lie, if it was the truth!
“Heek, heehee, kyahah… cough, cough!”
Nine didn't care that they'd become a woman.
If anything, they liked it.
They were so happy they felt like they might fly into the sky.
They even wanted to embrace the heavens they'd resented and kiss them.
And so Nine hugged the scroll and showed it their affection.
It was a blessing that had fallen right into their lap—or rather, a fortuitous opportunity!
“From now on, your name is Status Window, got it?”
Flap! Flutter!
The scroll thrashed violently in Nine's arms.
Nine hugged the scroll even tighter.
“There, there. You like the name Status Window too!”
Nine was glad it liked the name.
Nine hugged the scroll and spun round and round in the living room for a while.