Possessing Nothing Chapter 3
Advertisement
Chapter 3
There were many ways to earn money in Eria . Naturally, the simplest way was to hunt ‘monsters’ .
There are two areas in this continent . The place where humans lived was the ‘residential area’ while the place where monsters lived was called the ‘hunting grounds . ’ Of course, this was merely a simple categorization . There were various types of hunting grounds . For example, a dungeon .
Lee Sungmin judged his current state objectively . He had Martial Skeleton . He had gotten a Cultivation Method . But he didn’t have a great amount of power as of yet . Martial Skeleton and Cultivation Methods only accelerated his growth and did not immediately bestow upon him power .
Therefore, he wouldn’t have much success even if he went to the nearest hunting ground . The past Lee Sungmin would have wiped out the nearby hunting grounds, but… now, it wasn’t possible .
‘I only have experience . It’s not too useful, either…’
The past him didn’t have much power . He learned martial arts, and he learned many other things to survive . Even after all of his efforts, he barely reached the average qualifications of the otherworlders . .
That was the limit of the No Class . Lucky No Classes with medicine or a master went up the ranks quickly, but he had neither in his past life .
Therefore, he needed all the help he could get this time .
Out of the many hotels, Lee Sungmin went to one that was of average quality . It wasn’t great, but it was cheap .
“How long?”
The owner was a middle-aged man . He eyed Sungmin from his head to his toes and said .
“You don’t seem to have that much money… you’re a No Class, right?”
“Yes . ”
“Tsk tsk, that’s bad . You don’t seem too old, either… You’re unlucky . ”
The owner muttered . It was the word that he heard 13 years ago . It might just be a facade . After all, he was just betrayed by a “nice” guy .
“ . . . I have money for only a day . But… if… it’s ok, can I pay with something other than money?”
“Hmm?”
“Like monsters… if you need anything, I’ll get it . Of course, I’ll give you money, too . As much as I can offer…”
“ . . . mmm…”
The owner slurred his words . Sungmin was going to another place if the owner said no . Monsters were money to the residents as well as the otherworlders .
Advertisement
“ . . . Well, sure . There’s always room . Ok . From tomorrow, give me a Goblin’s tooth or liquid . ”
The owner laughed a bit and answered .
“Ah, don’t take it the other way . Goblin’s teeth and liquid does give money . You know?”
“Yes… a bit . ”
People who buy these stuff were the armory guild and the magic guild . Maybe some from the soldier guild, too
As he wasn’t in a guild, he wouldn’t be able to sell them at its original price because of taxes . Thus, it was better to give them to the owner for a night’s stay, instead .
“Ah, and can I borrow a pen and paper?”
Lee Sungmin got a room that was relatively tidy, but had a peculiar smell to it . There was a public bath on the 1st floor as well .
For 20,000 Erie, the rate for staying per day was cheap for a hotel like this .
‘But, it’s far from the hunting grounds . ’
This hotel was at located at the top of Genavis . The hunting grounds were located opposite to it . It would take about two hours to get to the grounds by foot . It would be a shorter trip if travelled on horseback, but that would cost money .
Therefore, there were barely any customers . The lack of customers worked out well for him . It was also a cheap place to stay .
He opened the notepad; he was going to organize his thoughts . He pondered for a long time before he began to write down all the opportunities that he missed in his past life .
‘One year . I have to stay for one year,’
He stayed here for 3 years in his past life . However, one year was sufficient for him in this life . Well, it wouldn’t even take one year . He needed only half a year to have enough power to graduate from this place .
But, there was a reason as to why he had to stay for one year .
The Colosseum .
A Colosseum was located at the center of the city . It was a place reserved for combat . A competition would be held every month, and most otherworlders entered to compete .
There was a huge prize for the winner . He was going after that prize in one year .
‘In one year, the prize is the Intelligence Potion . ’
The No Class fight . Only No Classes could enter that fight . Usually, the prizes for such fights were measly, but there would be a great prize appearing in one year . .
Advertisement
It was a medicine that would aid his inner strength . The prize alone was worth his lengthened stay here .
‘But, it won’t be easy . ’
Not all No Classes were weak . From what he could recall, the person he went up against in his past life was rather strong .
‘There is only one chance . I have to get it this time . ’
One year . Long, but short . In his past life… how did he spend his first day? He didn’t have anything . He slept by the backdoor of an alley . He was starving but unable to buy anything to eat . Sungmin bitterly smiled as he thought about his past experiences .
‘Compared to the past, I have a good start . I have money . I have a room . I have a bed… I can take a bath . ’
He felt hungry . He had not consumed anything and his hands still reeked of blood .
But, he would wait . Sungmin opened the book that he bought . He was going to read it once . There was no need to memorize it for now . Just reading it would suffice .
(You have read the Genuine Heavens Cultivation Method)
(Would you like to learn the Genuine Heavens Cultivation Method?)
Yes . He spoke inside his head . PSH! A light emitted from his head . This was the reason why there was no need for memorization . If he just read it thoroughly, he could already learn it as a skill . It was the same for magic .
‘Magic… I would like to learn it if I had the time . ’
The past him didn’t use magic . It was very different from martial arts . Martial Arts improved as much as he practiced . However, magic was different .
If he learned ‘fireball,’ then he could only use that spell . It was definitely less useful than strengthening the body . Its benefit might be better if he could learn various magic spells, but the past him didn’t have that chance . It cost money to become a member of a magic guild or field . Furthermore, the requirements to enter were extremely strict . .
But, it was the same for martial arts as well . They wanted people who already possessed magic and martial arts prior to joining, the No Class who had nothing were harshly admonished .
There was an exchange between the students . If their birth location was different, then they would learn different skills . It applied to magic, as well . Thus, people would learn from one another . In Eria, that was how knowledge was shared .
But No Class… they had nothing . Nothing to give .
‘Whatever… I guess I”ll do it myself . ’
Luckily, he could use the skills he learnt in his past life using his memory of it alone . He closed his eyes and recalled them .
[You remembered the One Thunder Cultivation Method]
[You remembered the Iron Skin Cultivation Method]
[You remembered the Rock Smash Cultivation Method]
[You remembered the Chase Soul Spear Technique]
Got it . His face revealed a joyful expression . Those were the four skills that he used in his past life .
‘Learning from memory…this is the first time I tried something like this . ’
He sighed in relief . He knew that he could relearn skills using memory from what he learnt in his past life . If it was impossible to learn skills from memory, then otherworlder magicians wouldn’t be able to use them as skills or pass them on to others .
One Thunder Cultivation Method increased the user’s agility . The Iron Skin Cultivation Method and Rock Smash Cultivation Method made the host’s body as hard as steel . The Chase Soul Spear Technique was a skill that provided holistic aid to him .
He utilised spears and close combat in his past life . Spears… He smiled bitterly . The reason why he chose it was simple; it seemed safer to stab enemies from a distance . The close combat was used for close range combat when he couldn’t use weapons .
‘These aren’t the best, but at least it’s better than what I used in the past . I tried to use rocks to hunt . ’
However, his aim wasn’t very accurate and often missed the monsters . When they hit the target, he would often run away from the enraged monsters, frightened .
Name: Lee Sungmin
Occupation: No Class
Skill:
Genuine Heavens Cultivation Method(1)
One Thunder Cultivation Method(1)
Iron Skin Cultivation Method(1)
Rock Smash Cultivation Method(1)
Chase Soul Spear Technique(1)
He made sure that the skills ended up on the screen and stood up . He was going to eat and wash up . He would sleep after learning Genuine Heavens a bit . Tomorrow, he would be able to get the items he needed .
He was going hunting .
Advertisement
- In Serial38 Chapters
Rise of the Dragon General: Formative Years
Firecores. They are feared, hated. Societies across the world of Rivaga destroy them simply for existing, those unfortunate souls born with red eyes and gray hair. Hiding in one such society, firecored Arthur Cendrillion is fiercely ambitious, highly skilled, and smarter than anyone truly realizes--but he has a soft spot: his daughter. And little Cel has a lot of growing up to do. Multi-POV. Family. A darker take on Slice of Life fantasy. Prequel Novella to main story. COMPLETE.
8 164 - In Serial20 Chapters
Sword System Academia
2/17 NOTICE: I'm putting this on hiatus, possibly permanently. I didn't want to spam with an "update chapter", so hopefully here and in the story blurb will get enough eyeballs. There are a couple reasons for ending SSA for now. 1) I wrote the next chapter but wasn't happy with it. I've been less and less satisfied with SSA's quality the more I thought about it. Part of the reason is... 2) I am seriously thinking about trying to publish some novels to help pay the bills, since I don't have my other source of income anymore. I have never asked for anything from SSA readers, no money, not even a review or rating. SSA is written for fun to amuse myself, primarily, and I would kind of feel bad actually charging someone money for something as unserious as that. I don't think it is good enough to ask anything in return. To use an analogy from music, SSA is more like a jam session with a bunch of friends. You're just chiling and having fun playing some music. I mean, if you are Mozart or even Eminem, your jam session is good enough to sell, but for an amateur beginner like myself, haha, no. If I want to publish something, I feel like I need to go the proper route of practice and rehearsals, which might be more similar to a classical concert performance. With SSA, I work from worldbuilding notes and a loose outline, but what you are essentially getting is the first draft with lots of so-called pantsing. Pushing out a web novel like this also means it is very difficult to go back and improve things without breaking everything else downstream. I wanted to try this "jamming" approach, as it was a good way to teach me about another aspect of writing, but to move forward, I think I need to hone my "classical" techniques, which emphasize rewriting, or at least, revising outlines. 3) While I intend to try to make $$$, my actual current goal is to "get gud". I've spent a lot of time recently trying to understand the self-publishing industry, and I'm pretty sure I can make some money by using short-term strategies with my current amateur skill level. But I've seen too many authors come and go/burnout, and really, the only way that I think I can enjoy writing and still make money on a long-term basis is to become a better writer. And the next step for me, which I haven't done much before, is to spend more time on rewriting and outlines. That is pretty much antithetical to the way SSA is developing. I've always been kind of 20/80 plotting/pantsing, but I want to spend a lot more time outlining before I even start writing. SSA jam sessions don't really fit my goal anymore. If you're curious about what's next, read on... Among other regrets, I regret not finishing SSA. It's the first story I've dropped, but then again, it's the first web novel I've attempted, so I suppose that's not a surprise. I don't think traditional web novel formats suit me that well. The whole SSA story I had loosely planned (beyond a first book or major arc) is way too large as well. Big story = good for neverending webnovel with Patreons, bad for penniless and fickle writer like me. I am currently outlining a complete trilogy to another story in great detail. I want the story to end concisely, and I also want the chance to really spend a lot of time on the full outline to spot pacing problems, character issues, lost themes, and so on. I'll still share this story on RR. What I intend to do is finish book 1, flash-publish the whole thing here for a few weeks, then publish on the big Zon. Repeat for books 2 and 3. The upcoming story will be about crafting heroes. The backdrop is an isekai-like setting, where elves will summon humans to their world as heroes, but the whole hero crafting business is still in its infancy. The elven mage researchers are figuring out how to imbue heroes with power, while the heroes are trying to figure out how to use the powers that they gain. Humans are the best hero templates because they are blank and have no intrinsic magic. Or at least that what the elves thought. The human MC has his own secrets... There will be some similarities with litrpgs, but I would call it more a progression fantasy or gamelit story. For example, the stats are very low, at least initially. Say we have a stat called Str. Going from Str = 1 to Str = 2 is a huge deal. Also, going from Dex = 0 to Dex = 1 is an even bigger deal. I guess you could call it a "low-stat litrpg", haha. Also, the heroes won't be gaining stats simply by killing things or leveling up. You can't increase stats arbitrarily, either. There will be rules to how stats can increase, and how they work with each other. The elven mages will be figuring out these rules in order to craft stronger and stronger heroes. Some inspiration will be from cultivation magic systems, but there won't be overt cultivation, at least for now. A theme I really want to explore is the idea of interactions. That includes things like hero crafter vs hero, tactics vs strategy, skill synergies, racial interactions (dwarves, elves, etc), and son. Yeah, so hero crafting. I'm super excited about this project and venturing into publishing. If you want to check out the upcoming story, you can follow my RR author profile to see when it drops here. Finally... THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! I'm very sorry that SSA is stopping, but I hope at least some of you will find the next story at least as enjoyable, if not more. Thanks to all the readers who gave SSA a shot. Big hug or solid fistbump to all of you, whichever you prefer! I hope this message is not a downer but an upper, because I am psyched!! -purlcray -------------- BLURB: Talen, youngest Master of the Koroi, makes his way to the Empire's capital to salvage his clan's fate. But the bustling city has few opportunities for the traditionalist. For the old sword clans are fading. With the rise of alchemy, gold can purchase strength that ordinarily took years of training to cultivate. Sword artists, once rare and accomplished, are quickly growing in number, especially among the wealthy noble class. Even with such alchemy, though, no one has advanced to the rank of Grandmaster in countless years. Talen's true dream is to walk the path of a sword artist to the very end while fulfilling his clan duties. And then the Swordgeists return, fabled founders of all sword arts, gods who had touched the world long ago and vanished. These myths turned into reality warn of a coming threat. Alongside this warning, they issue an invitation to the Sword System Academy, a path to power beyond the mortal realm. But first, they will hold an entrance exam... Story notes:Sword System Academia blends elements of western and asian fantasy such as xianxia and litrpg. I took parts from different genres I enjoyed and twisted them into my own creation. There will be an explicit system, both of the litrpg kind and the hard(ish) magic kind, but it is embedded within an academic structure that will develop over the course of the story. This is my attempt to design a unique type of system, the System Academia.
8 153 - In Serial8 Chapters
Zoomchard: The Battle of Dominance(Cancelled)
The planet "Metalet" was wrecked by an episode of a destructive war that is still ongoing and had its 1000th anniversary. It was a war of dominance that got out of hand and became a struggling battle for life as many nations with the appearance of a humanoid robot divided by the colour of their eyes join aside the two nations that began this endless war; Green-eyed robots named Province of Conaire and yellow-eyed robots named The Tretse Federation. On the other hand, a fearless shopkeeper named Zoomchard had an average life, besides the fact that he was born with "The Unchosen Illness." An illness where the melanin coding failed and gave the eyes an appearance of a grey colour. It was a rare illness that only affected the 1% quadrillionth inhabitant planet. The illness never stopped him from living a normal lonely life with only one friend that saved him from the death of his parents that were bombed in their home city while Zoomchard explored the southern borders of Conaire. Zoomchard one day had contact with a friend who is a medic and both were excited to see each other again, but that never lasted like three days after the reunion party - Zoomchard's friend's home city was bombed and they went missing. This affected Zoomcharrd and it changed his mindset entirely, he went from a peaceful guy that hated the idea of revenge because it will ruin his mind to a guy that needed the most revenge he can grab hold of. So he was recruited for The Conaire Army and had his first-ever mission, the mission to save all the soldiers imprisoned behind enemy lines. This is a journey of a Rookie Soldier exploring the war while searching for a way to revenge his family and locate his missing friend.
8 92 - In Serial39 Chapters
Blue mage
The end of the world is the best thing that ever happened to Jace. All of his life things have gone well until now. Now Jace has graduated college but can't get a job in his chosen field due to this young age. Watch as a depressed Jace learns to enjoy a new monster eat monster world. Updates Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:30am(PST) Only posted here on Royal Road!
8 93 - In Serial15 Chapters
Suitor
As Halloween arrives, the town of Parker Colorado comes alive. The annual return of a murderous local legend becomes the least of Abby's concerns when she comes to own an odd costume head with a dark secret hidden behind the permanent devilish grin. Combining elements of classic slasher horror and modernized creature terror, this story delivers a whole new brand of edge-of-your-seat, nail biting horror unlike anything you've ever seen before. Be ready for a bloody good time! (WARNING: Bloody Violence and some language. 13+ recommended.)
8 177 - In Serial6 Chapters
Greene's Monthly Contest
most writers don't have enough recognition. most of them only win awards based on the general aspects of a story; genre or theme, judged by the same things, not appreciating the genius behind the chapters. same awards, same results.--and we disagree with that.
8 97

