Xun Xie slept through the night and woke refreshed. Usually, he'd start breakfast now, but he couldn't wait! If his feeling was right, he could finally spin the wheel himself!

  His gold finger* was finally useful!

  *[A gold finger - also known as a cheat ability, broken game ability, plug-in, or unfair advantage. Legend claims every true protagonist needs such a unique distinguishing ability to justify being the story's center compared to other special characters. It's the most powerful aspect of the main character other than, of course, the supreme plot armor. Each broken ability is like a game cheat or hack, nicknamed 'gold finger' after Midas's touch from ancient tales, referencing the absurd advantages such abilities offer.]

  Xun Xie quickly looked inside his mind and found the stone wheel. Several minor changes had collectively transformed it. The stone was now smooth as sculpted clay, its edge traced with a thin white-gold line.

  The main wheel's eight sections each emitted a distinct glow: the hourglass dark gold, the three coins verdant green, the crown purple-white, and the cloak a perceptible but colorless luminescence. The remaining four sections glowed pale white. Together, they gave the stone wheel an ancient yet mystical feel.

  The smaller auxiliary wheel radiated rainbow light.

  He knew three abilities now: Treasure Seeker from the coins, Great Clarity from the crown, and Invisibility from the cloak. The hourglass's power remained a mystery, though oddly it had been there from the start.

  "Typically, they activate immediately upon winning, but only three of eight worked that way. Too soon to use them as a benchmark - I'll have to keep testing."

  Xun Xie tried spinning the wheel but failed, realizing 24 hours hadn't quite passed - different day, but not quite time.

  Waiting patiently...

  He spun the wheel.

  "Haha! Just as I thought - I can finally spin it myself!"

  The wheel whirled and the pointer stopped.

  "You spun the lottery wheel and won Treasure Seeker in 1 meter."

  "Duration: 1 day"

  "Critical activated: Thousand critical obtained"

  "Treasure seeker within 1000 meters gained."

  Xun Xie finally saw the small wheel move.

  "So that's what it's for! A critical multiplier - with those numbers, it can multiply by 0, 2, 10, 1000, and 10,000!"

  "So treasure seeking within a kilometer instead of a meter? And invisibility could have been 10,000 seconds instead of one?!"

  Xun Xie burst into peals of maniacal laughter that startled nearby birds and didn't settle for a long time.

  If the villagers were alive, they probably would have come to beat his mouth shut.

  ***

  "Under the old tree 110 meters away, three non-toxic shiitake mushrooms - delicious ingredients."

  "Eighty-six meters downstream, near a large boulder by the creek, a red aquatic plant with therapeutic effects for internal and external injuries."

  "Deep under the pile of rocks ninety-eight meters right, a 500-year-old ginseng."

  "Forty-seven meters left, two pure gray mushrooms among red-spotted poisonous ones, good for blood clotting and mild healing." ...

  Xun Xie walked the valley with a bamboo basket on his back and hoe in hand, harvesting treasures wherever he went. His heart soared - treasures everywhere, and he'd go wherever they called.

  Happy happy happy.

  He picked from morning to afternoon until the bamboo basket nearly burst.

  Under his golden finger's guidance, he swept the valley like a carpet. He noticed many beasts - moose deer, grass snakes, wild boars, various birds and insects. But no large predators.

  "There shouldn't be man-eating beasts here. After all, there was a village," Xun Xie reasoned. That bear was probably the area's overlord, its territory keeping other vicious beasts away - they'd compete otherwise.

  Maybe, hopefully, in this world bears were herbivores?

  As evening approached, Xun Xie prepared to head back, satisfied with his haul.

  But then!

  "Go straight ahead 450 meters - there's a cave containing a bag of gold, silver, and jewelry."

  Xun Xie froze, then joy exploded in his chest.

  "Gold and silver, jewelry, a whole bag..."

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  This was fortune-making territory!

  His spirit soared as he bounded forward, three steps at a time, pushing through adjacent trees and tall wormwood bushes.

  Suddenly!

  A dark, low hole appeared.

  Wealth moved his heart - without thinking, he plunged inside.

  Then he heard it.

  From deep in the cave!

  A heavy whirring sound like a dull drum.

  Xun Xie froze, blinking as his eyes adjusted. In the weak sunlight, a huge, bloated outline gradually took shape.

  "Fuck, the bear from earlier!"

  Xun Xie's body went rigid.

  This was obviously a bear cave!

  He'd delivered himself right to its door!

  Thank heaven the brown bear was sleeping soundly.

  Otherwise, Xun Xie might have just become dinner.

  Thinking about it now - wandering alone in the wild, casually picking treasures, how could he not encounter danger?

  Animals had intelligence too. If something was valuable, they'd want it as well. Though that wasn't the case this time, generally that was true.

  Opportunities hid risks.

  The golden finger might point to treasure, but it never promised safety.

  Xun Xie had been careless!

  He stepped back carefully, but his heel found a branch.

  Crack!

  'Fuck my luck today! Is this a movie? Is the director plotting against me? I won't trip while running, will I?'

  "Grrr!" The brown bear's ears twitched, eyes suddenly opening to peer out of the cave.

  Xun Xie and Master Bear's eyes met.

  He shivered as the bear's dazed look turned ferocious.

  He was just a thin child with a hoe - no threat at all.

  Turn around, move those legs, and run.

  A terrifying roar erupted behind him.

  'So, it isn't an herbivore.'

  Xun Xie didn't look back, running wildly with his vegetable-strength legs, weaving through the woods.

  Running and running until - his left foot caught something.

  'Fuck it actually happened!'

  He stumbled and fell, rolling several times. His small body was partly to blame; he still wasn't used to it, misjudging where his feet could reach.

  The bamboo basket flew off, scattering his day's hard-won treasures everywhere.

  Not caring about the losses, Xun Xie scrambled up and kept running.

  He reached the stream in one breath, wading across. Guessing the brown bear wouldn't cross quickly, he dared to look back.

  The bear stood upright beside a tree thirty meters away, watched him for a moment like some kind of demonstration, then turned back.

  Xun Xie breathed in relief.

  'Looks like I'm outside its territory.'

  He noticed scars on its back - if those were from humans, it would explain its wariness in pursuit. Human hunting usually involved bait and tricks, after all.

  Only then did the burning pain hit.

  Hands, knees, elbows, buttocks - bruised everywhere, crimson blood oozing. Old injuries not yet healed, new ones added.

  Xun Xie waited there a while, ears pricked, watching carefully. Only after confirming the bear had truly gone did he carefully retrieve his basket and scattered treasures.

  He limped back to the Temple of Earth, having managed to kill a bird with his newly made slingshot - a skill from his naughty childhood in his past life.

  Lying on his bed, Xun Xie suddenly remembered the red aquatic plant among his harvest - supposedly good for internal and external injuries. And those two gray mushrooms with similar properties.

  He hurriedly retrieved them, washed them with well water, and stuffed them in his mouth, chewing thoroughly before swallowing.

  Then he boiled water, adding his other finds - edible mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, the roasted bird, a small piece of Ganoderma lucidum, and a sliver of that 500-year-old wild ginseng. He let it all simmer before devouring the meal.

  Afterward, a dry heat rose through his body. Feeling drunk with exhaustion, he fell immediately asleep.

  He woke the next day to find it was already noon.

  Looking at his body, he discovered a miracle!

  Yesterday's wounds had scabbed over, nearly healed. His body felt unspeakably comfortable - even the internal injuries seemed cured.

  "So miraculous?!"

  Xun Xie rejoiced at the unexpected potency of the red aquatic plant, though the mushrooms and ancient ginseng likely contributed to his rapid recovery.

  However, thoughts of the brown bear brought fury and fear. He hadn't considered it before, but now the threat was clear.

  With such a ferocious beast in the valley, what if it broke in one night while he slept, hunting for food?

  There was no living with a brown bear as a neighbor - this dangerous beast had to die!

  Moreover, that bag of gold and silver jewelry still waited in its cave.

  Determined, Xun Xie searched the village ruins again, hoping for hunting tools. But he found only broken bows, arrows, and traps - beyond his ability to repair.

  Maybe make a trap? Dig a deep pit with sharpened wooden stakes?

  But his small frame couldn't handle such physical labor. His meat supplies had run out too.

  Besides, in such a vast valley, how could he guarantee the bear would fall into one specific trap? For all he knew, it might have special abilities - this was a new world, after all.

  Unable to find a solution, Xun Xie relegated bear hunting to a long-term plan.

  Time to spin the wheel again.

  With high expectations, Xun Xie quickly set it spinning.

  It's slowing down!

  He watched happily.

  'This momentum... it's going to stop on one of the four unknown symbols that appeared after the fourth unique symbol showed up on the main wheel.'

  Finally, a new ability!

  What would it be?

  Xun Xie could hardly wait for the wheel to stop.

  Finally!

  "Thank you for your patronage!" "No Duration. Daily Spin consumed." "Critical unavailable."

  Xun Xie: "..." .. ... ...

  "What the fuck! No prize!"

  Xun Xie felt cheated, all his hopes dashed. So much for unique abilities!

  This was clearly a placeholder section that black-hearted businessmen used to bait customers. Only some were real prizes, the others included just to waste money!

  An age-old con!

  "So there are only three real prizes? No, the four symbols are the same, but the hourglass is different. It should be like the other three, so four prizes total."

  Xun Xie fumed at his eight abilities being halved.

  Suddenly!

  "Anyone there?" "I heard a strange noise. Who's in the temple?"

  A voice came from outside.

  Xun Xie startled - someone was here!

  He quickly tucked the hoe into his waist, opened the temple door, and found a young man and woman standing there.

  "Yin Shen, it's you!" The young man's eyebrows rose as he shouted.

  "?"

  Xun Xie didn't know them but found he could understand their words.

  "Yin Shen, what happened? Where are the villagers?" the young man asked.

  Xun Xie hesitated, afraid of revealing that this body's previous owner was gone.

  The hooded woman cut in: "Why bother asking? He's a fool, dumber than a pig - can barely speak."

  What? I'm a fool?

  Xun Xie was stunned.

  Sure enough, the young man stopped questioning and hurried inside, glancing around. "Well, look at this - the village idiot living well! You've collected all the good stuff."

  The hooded woman followed, looking around with a sigh. "We go to my mother's house, and the village disappears. Must've been robbers, killed everyone."

  "I even bought a learning pamphlet so my annoying brat sister could learn reading and writing faster like she kept demanding. Ptah! Why is she doing it for her and not me? So what if you can read and write in this beat-down old village? More importantly, who's going to pay me back now? I was robbed of 50 copper coins!"

  Suddenly, she spotted a package by the bedside. She grabbed it, opened it - and dirty gold coins, forty-three taels of silver, and hundreds of copper coins scattered everywhere.