"There's something wrong with this world," Li Mei muttered as she lay on her back, staring at what she could only assume was a virtual sky between countless open windows on her Interface. Lina sat beside her. Their breaks were rare and short since Lina had the ability to heal and refresh them both, yet Li Mei always took the opportunity to study - reading through pages of information stolen from the hidden research facility as well as the various books left behind by Faust.

"How do you mean?" Lina asked with a slight smile.

"They have computers and long-distance communication devices, yet their research labs only had basic chemicals and rudimentary equipment alongside piles of monster materials and... magic plants? I guess? And these lab reports... They were taking their studies very seriously and write like pretentious undergrads who barely understood the professor's lecture."

Li Mei touched her chin, thinking deeply. Sorting through 44's memories brought more questions than answers.

The mansion was large and ornate, but antique in design. According to Vigen's bragging, it was built by hand in one month by master craftsmen. Magitech tools available even to the higher ranking servants were simple in design and nature. Farmers had access to storage artifacts, but the actual farming itself was done with hand tools. They didn't even have automated irrigation!

Books left behind by Faust contained plenty of information, but most of it involved survival in the wilderness. Observations on plants, animals, the use of monster materials and the difference between monster and beast. Explanations of different peoples and cultures, mostly etiquette and long paragraphs denoting war campaigns and conquest.

One book contained theories behind magic, pointing out how Cores allowed for 'active' magic that manifested in the world around them, like Li Mei's barriers, while most known arrays and Circuits used passive magic, like transmitting voice or creating heat in a localized area. By the end the author concluded he had no idea what the difference was and why it was like that, much to Li Mei's disappointment.

The research lab had the most high tech equipment around but even that was limited in scope. Beakers and vials and boilers and chemical showers and maybe a centrifuge in some of the bigger rooms. A basic internal network hooked the computers together, monitoring basic text records and security cameras with terrible resolution and no timestamps on any of the videos saved.

And the entire world's abject fascination with, if not outright worship of, the Progenitors. A fascination that bled through every book she read, from author's forewords to casual mentions in every other page. More than ancestor reverence, chasing after the Progenitor's legacy was almost a way of life for these people. It was often their entire purpose.

Almost a religion.

Li Mei frowned. She tugged on her shirt to examine the seams.

Even stitching, but not mechanically uniform. The cloth was smooth and comfortable - all the clothes Faust gave her were sturdy, with fine material compared to the burlap sack 44 was used to, but certainly nothing like polyester or other fabric blends from Earth. From the material to the stitching, Li Mei's clothes were made by hand.

In fact, everyone who lived on the estate wore clothes made by hand. One of the servants was a skilled seamstress who spent every day mending or making clothing, curtains, and bedding. 44 and the other slaves were forced to make their own outfits from spare scraps the seamstress tossed their way.

"Food and comfort," Li Mei muttered. "The advancement of civilization can be measured by the food and comfort levels of the most basic citizens. Faust is a great cook, but the way he made food... No compressed vegetable or seed oils, at most four different kinds of seasoning herbs, salt but no peppers or other seasonings. And that was high quality stuff compared to what even Vigen ate back in the mansion!

"Their bread is coarse and dense. Water wheels at the farms mill grain into flour, but it's not the refined stuff I'm used to. It always has seeds in it even after baking. No one ever makes pastries that either I or 44 have seen, and that cake Faust made was the first dessert this body ever ate.

"Long term storage of ingredients consists of jarring, drying, and salting. There's no canning or instant meals.

"Games and festivals consist of contests of skill and strength using martial weapons or one's own body. Entertainment comes from reading, storytelling, singing, dancing, and watching plays.

"Those rifles I got from the Oriole soldiers were by far the most advanced magitech, and they weren't even much. Otto showed me how to take them apart and reassemble them, their power and ammunition is provided via arrays and monster cores rather than through gunpowder or the design of the gun itself. He could take each gun apart but he couldn't tell me what any of the parts did.

"Parts themselves were made by techsmiths at Oriole, crafted by hand and engraved with the relevant Circuit patterns. The magitech tools I've seen were hand-crafted too, they lacked the uniformity in form of mass production.

"Now that I think about it, most tools I've seen were made with iron. If any tools around the house broke, it was disposed of while the servant was punished because no one... could... fix... it."

A lightbulb flickered somewhere in the back of Li Mei's mind. The obscured truth of the world, the missing puzzle piece that made things feel just a bit out of place for reasons she previously couldn't put her finger on. Li Mei turned to look at Lina, who was grinning so wide her face almost split in half.

"The civilization itself hasn't advanced, but they either found or inherited tools beyond their comprehension?" Li Mei muttered. If she thought of it that way, everything she'd seen so far started to make a lot more sense! "Even if they can produce the tech and components, they're just copying stuff that already exists. They don't actually know how to use it so they can't fix it if it breaks, they just replace it with more copies since they know that works!"

"Being able to copy the products is pretty impressive," Lina said with a smirk. "But it's not the same as inventing the stuff yourself. Forgery is a skill too, but it's not in the same tier as creation."

"A pre-industrial civilization got hold of high-tier technology and magic, huh? What an odd world this is..."

"Your world was odder," Lina sighed. "Humans went from spinning wheels and piston pumps to computers and space exploration in just 200 years without any mana, that's really terrifying you know! Railroads to rocket ships. Your memories of Earth are scarier to me than anything I know of on this planet! The raw potential of Earth's humans, I wonder where they'd be in another hundred years? A thousand?"

"Not that I'd ever know either way," Li Mei shrugged, closing her Interface windows. She stretched her small body, reaching her hands to the artificial sky. "Humans don't live that long."

"Mana is an efficient energy source." Lina smiled, propping her chin in her hands. "If you wanted to live for a thousand years, you could. Just have to absorb enough mana."

"A thousand years, huh... Let me guess. You wanna live that long?"

"A thousand, a hundred thousand. Longer. As long as possible! Don't you want to see what the universe has to offer? Sailing through the sea of stars like the explorers of Earth charging forward on their wooden ships, dreams of treasure and glory and their hearts. See everything, try everything! Doesn't that sound interesting?"

"What would we do by the end of it?"

Lina grinned wide. The sparkle in her eyes matched the curiosity and interest twinkling in Li Mei's. "We'd do it all again, of course. Why not?"

"Of all the convenient products this civilization copied the creation of without understanding the process or development behind, I'm damn glad toilet paper and hygeine products are on the list." Li Mei clutched her chest and heaved a sigh of relief, her imagination wandering for a moment to imagine transmigrating into a universe without toilet paper.

A dark, dark place.

"This is also a great opportunity," Li Mei muttered, pinching her chin. "I need to see for myself what condition people are living in. This estate really isn't a good starting comparison, it has too many resources available thanks to Faust having a high rank in a big research organization. Otto and Hana won't be much help in terms of information either, considering their backgrounds.

"Capital's important no matter what universe you're in, I can think of some easy modern conveniences that could earn a lot of money depending on how new their concepts are... Condiments for example, mayonnaise and vinegar and even ketchup! And how common are magitech tools outside of a big organization like Oriole? Were they common here because of Faust's connections rather than them actually being used everywhere? But to see it for myself..."

She rubbed the black band around her neck and grimaced. It wasn't obtrusive, but Li Mei was never able to forget its presence. The slavery band ensured she had to follow Faust's orders, including the one forcing her to stay within the forest until he returned.

He was being kind for the moment with his orders, relatively speaking, but what if he changed his mind? If he decided she wasn't interesting anymore, he could order her to starve to death.

Or walk into the jaws of a vicious beast.

Or worse.

He changed the enslavement binding's terms and conditions once before, Li Mei had to assume he could do it again. With such a shaky and imbalanced foundation for their relationship, she really couldn't trust Faust at all. "I need to get rid of this thing first..."

Lina's body flickered, and the world around the two girls dissolved until only a bland metal room was left. "Ah. Our time's up. With what you've learned here you've managed to increase your Rank a bit, but you're still being held back by your own inexperience... Oh well. With time, you'll figure it all out."

"We're done already? It's only been a little while." Li Mei muttered, a hint of disappointment darkening her eyes.

The copy smiled and jumped to her feet, extending a hand to pull up Li Mei. "It's been longer than you think. I won't be able to do this for you again so do your best in the future to keep getting stronger, okay? Especially magic. Learn all you can about magic, and eventually I'll be able to help you break that annoying shackle."

Li Mei squeezed Lina's hand and smiled. In the next moment, she was alone once more in the familiar mountaintop garden, stars sparkling in the clear night sky.

She exhaled a deep breath, watching the vapor mist vanish into the chilly air.

Hana knew three spells, all derived using her Core's Pyrokinesis ability as a base. It wasn't something Li Mei could replicate with her limited knowledge of magic. Otto didn't know any spells at all, so he couldn't teach her anything either.

"Will I really have to rely on Faust yet again?" Li Mei sighed before turning her attention to a few new Interface windows demanding her attention.

-----

[Rank Up]

★★★★★

Completed!

Rank increased from 0 (100%) to 2 (9%)

Unlocked Lottery!

Obtained 1 (Lucky★) Spin!

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[Lottery]

A roulette wheel that can bring great fortune or sorrow with its Prizes. Spins can be purchased using EXP and mana - more expensive spins have lower odds of unlucky results.

The Lottery can be used once per day.

As your Quest System is lower than Level 3, the Lottery cannot produce tangible products. Prizes are currently limited to temporary effects. Upgrade your Quest System as soon as possible for best results!

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[Lottery Spin Types and Cost]

Free spins obtained via Quests or other methods are marked ★, and have a further increased chance of lucky results compared to other spins of the same type.

(Trivial) Spin: 111 EXP and 111 Mana. Prizes as cheap as its cost. Both lucky and unlucky Prizes are less than half as effective as other spin types.

(Risky) Spin: 444 EXP and 444 Mana. A spin that risks it all! 60% chance of unlucky Prizes, but lucky Prizes are twice as effective.

(Lucky) Spin: 7777 EXP and 7777 Mana. Only a 30% chance of unlucky Prizes! But unlucky Prizes are twice as terrible...

(Rigged) Spin: 999999 EXP and 999999 Mana. 100% lucky spin! No unlucky results! Will always produce a convenient and useful Prize appropriate to your situation and needs, guaranteed!

Other types of spins will be unlocked as you upgrade your Quest System.

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Another window listed examples of current lottery Prizes. Increased strength, magic power, mana absorption, mana capacity, EXP gain rate... And on the flip side, decreased vitality, lowered immune system, and even damage to a Core were possible unlucky Prizes.

Li Mei let out a long, low whistle. 'I'll hold onto the free spin until I can upgrade the Quest System. No use squandering it now!'

She'd barely closed the windows when she was barreled over by a furious Bao, charging across the garden at top speed to headbutt an off-guard Li Mei. She flew back several meters before slamming into a cluster of crystals, countless fine cracks forming intricate spiderweb patterns at the point of impact.

"What the hell?!" Li Mei gasped, clutching her aching ribs. Such a powerful blow was just enough to knock the wind out of her lungs, which Bao was aware of. The Fera stomped his clawed feet and snorted, all four eyes narrowed into angry slits.

"Big Sis!"

"Boss!"

Hana and Otto gasped as they ran up the path from the mountainside abode, just a few seconds behind Bao's arrival. Li Mei frowned as she clambered to her feet, glancing at their worried faces then at Bao's furious one.

She quickly thought of an excuse and forced her expression into one both bland and nonchalant. "I uh. Went and had an... Epiphany? And lost track of time. How long was I gone?"

"Two weeks," Hana said softly. "Otto cried."

"Did not!" Otto scoffed, the tips of his ears turning crimson. He clenched his hands at his sides and stubbornly refused to look Li Mei in the eye. "Bao was still here so I knew she'd be back!"

"Cried a lot."

"Hana, you little-"

"Crybaby."

"It won't happen again," Li Mei promised, ruffling Bao's fur. Bao snorted again, but a single swish of his tail showed forgiveness. Li Mei kept petting his fluffy face until the Fera's whole body relaxed. "Next time I have to go somewhere I'll let you know first. I doubt another breakthrough like that will happen any time soon, don't worry."

She didn't consider the Rank Up quest could take a whole two weeks when she accepted it! The passage of time was hard to track in the training space since there were no clocks, no sunrise or sunset, and unlike the Training Room there was no sense of hunger or fatigue thanks to Lina's magical refreshment ability.

Two weeks gone just like that, but the information and experience she got fighting Lina was well worth the effort.

Li Mei grinned. "I feel like I got a bit stronger, let's celebrate! Who's hungry?"

"It's the middle of the night, Boss..."

"Ah... Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"Bao suddenly kicked up a fuss and charged off, we thought something might have happened..."

"Oh. Since you're all up, let's make food anyway. I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks!"