"Tick tock, tick tock~."
The sound of the clock echoed in the quiet living room.
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the sofa, placing his sword on his lap, meditating.
This meditation wasn't the kind that mages practiced, but rather a method taught to Su Xiao by Geng Si Lang, allowing him to perceive himself more clearly.
Practicing swordsmanship isn't just about slashing; it's also a process of strengthening the body and mind. Although this process might be tedious for others, Su Xiao found joy in it.
The level of enthusiasm for something also signifies how far that thing can go. If there's not even a basic passion, it's better to give up, especially in sword training.
"Hoo~."
Taking a deep breath, Su Xiao ended his meditation. Although he hadn't exercised, he felt a strong hunger.
Picking up his phone, Su Xiao ordered takeout for eight people. With his current appetite, an average person's portion wasn't enough to fill the gap between his teeth.
Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door.
Seeing the delivery guy drenched in sweat, Su Xiao chuckled. The guy had carried eight portions upstairs, quite the effort.
"Click."
The door opposite opened, and a man wearing sunglasses with a serious expression stepped out.
The sunglasses man glanced at Su Xiao and the delivery guy. Upon seeing Su Xiao, he became noticeably alert since Su Xiao lived across from him.
"New tenant?"
"New tenant."
After exchanging greetings, the sunglasses man went downstairs.
After a hearty meal, Su Xiao recalled the man with sunglasses. His steps were strong and stable, not an ordinary person, but Su Xiao wouldn't investigate his background as that would be unnecessary meddling.
He was merely staying in the real world for a few days, yet Su Xiao couldn't understand why he felt a bit restless.
He found himself eager to venture into Reincarnation Paradise, making him chuckle. Perhaps he was never meant to be a content person.
[Beep, a new Derivative World is about to open. The Hunter will return to Reincarnation Paradise. Please ensure there are no witnesses around.]
[Teleporting..., teleportation complete.]
Su Xiao felt a sense of daze, a buzz in his ears, and when everything settled, he was back in his exclusive room.
A new Derivative World had arrived, and Su Xiao couldn't help but feel some anticipation about which world he would enter this time. If it were something as challenging as One Piece, it would be tricky.
This time entering the Derivative World, Su Xiao would not only receive the main quest from Reincarnation Paradise but also a Hunting Quest.
If the Derivative World's difficulty was too high, the likelihood of him hunting successfully wouldn't be big.
"Paradise, which Derivative World will I enter?"
[Hunter Level: Lv.2, you'll receive notification ten minutes before entering the Derivative World. The Hunter will enter the Derivative World in one hour; please be patient.]
Su Xiao understood. He could know ahead of time which Derivative World he'd enter, but it required his level. The higher the level, the earlier the notification, giving him more preparation time.
Currently, he only had ten minutes beforehand, which wasn't short but also not long, making it hard to prepare anything substantial.
Leaving his exclusive space, Su Xiao headed to a trading market.
It was a circular plaza where, although items were sold throughout Reincarnation Paradise, the largest crowds gathered here, and there were good finds.
Su Xiao had previously seen a green gun in the Trading Square.
"Skill Material Collection, a four-month-old store."
"This is too expensive, 700? Why don't you just rob?"
"Buying Derivative World outputs at fair prices."
"Don't miss out, various healing items for sale."
The noise of haggling and selling intermingled among the bustling crowd.
Su Xiao still had 2827 Paradise coins, intentionally saved for the upcoming Derivative World.
Stopping at a stall selling healing items, a few Contractors had already gathered, hesitating.
This stall Su Xiao had seen a few times before. The stall owner was likely a Worker, often setting up here.
Compared to the Contractor stalls, Su Xiao preferred the Worker stalls.
Many Contractors treated items from the Derivative World as treasures, pricing them exorbitantly, ridiculously so.
But Workers were different; they frequently roamed the trading market and understood the prices in Reincarnation Paradise well.
If recently many Contractors entered worlds with Dark Creatures, Light attribute items' prices would visibly increase.
Price hikes would change with Contractor needs, a rule of thumb; Workers wouldn't dare inflate prices excessively as they also had to enter Derivative Worlds and might face retaliation.
At the healing items stall, Su Xiao found a few decent healing items.
[Salt Rice Ball]
Origin: Food Captive
Quality: White
Type: Healing item
Effect: After eating, can slowly recover 10% of Life Value.
Rating: 3 (Note: White item ratings range from 1 to 10, with the rating indicating the item's value.)
Introduction: A rice ball, a magical rice ball that can slowly heal injuries.
...
[Golden Fried Rice]
Origin: Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma
Quality: White
Type: Healing item
Effect: After eating, can slowly recover 40% of Life Value. (This item requires longer consumption time; life value recovery depends on the amount of consumption, minimum 1%, maximum 40%.)
Rating: 5 (Note: White item ratings range from 1 to 10, with the rating indicating the item's value.)
Introduction: Not only a healing item but also a delicacy. A dish that doesn't make your clothes explode, isn't a good dish.
...
[XT-12 Life Vitality Potion]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise, Radiance Potion No.3 Production Line.
Quality: White
Type: Healing item
Effect: After drinking, recovers 15% of Life Value in a short time.
Rating: 8 (Note: White item ratings range from 1 to 10, with the rating indicating the item's value.)
Introduction: Manufactured by Workers, verified safe by Reincarnation Paradise.
...
These three types of healing items, although [Golden Fried Rice] had the largest recovery amount, it required full consumption and had a slow recovery speed.
[Salt Rice Ball] was similar to [Golden Fried Rice] but could be consumed much faster. According to Su Xiao's estimation, he could eat it in two bites at most, or swallow it in one during emergencies.
The most valuable was the bottle of [XT-12 Life Vitality Potion]. Though it only recovered 15% of Life Value, it could be sipped during a battle break.
Reincarnation Paradise didn't have an automatic potion-use feature, requiring personal use.
Using healing items during intense battles was difficult but didn't mean they were worthless; they were the best choice for post-battle recovery.
"These three, name your price."
The Worker saw that Su Xiao intended to buy, different from the few hesitant Contractors beside him, being more purposeful.
"[Salt Rice Ball] is 100 Paradise coins, [Golden Fried Rice] 200 Paradise coins, [XT-12 Life Vitality Potion] 700 Paradise coins, totaling 1000 Paradise coins.
Friend, I can see you're sincere about buying, and I'm sincere about selling. This is the best price. I'm called 'Medicine Pot,' let's be friends."
The prices of the first two food healing items weren't high, only the potion's price was as high as 700 Paradise coins.
But that's something that could save a life, which justified the higher price.
Imagine a critically injured Contractor possibly owing his survival to just one bottle.
"Too expensive, how about I buy more...?"
After some negotiation, Su Xiao purchased [XT-12 Life Vitality Potion]×1, [Golden Fried Rice]×2, and [Salt Rice Ball]×5 for a total of 1500 Paradise coins.
The Worker called Medicine Pot was pleased and even explained the correct usage method to Su Xiao.
Medicine Pot was obviously a fake name, just like Su Xiao's Bai Ye. Using real names in Reincarnation Paradise was rarer than pandas among Contractors.
[Salt Rice Ball] could only recover 10% of Life Value but was convenient to eat.
Healing items didn't have cooldowns, but continuous use over short spans reduced effects, eventually nullifying recovery.
"Brother, wish you return alive."
Medicine Pot waved goodbye to Su Xiao with a genuine smile.
Workers and Contractors differed; lacking extensive brutal experiences, most Workers hadn't even killed before.
"Thanks for the good wish."
After browsing the Trading Square for a while, Su Xiao received a notification from Reincarnation Paradise.
[Hunter will enter the Derivative World: Tokyo Ghoul in ten minutes.]