Reaping the rewards of his efforts? Hell yeah! It was a feeling beyond words. After all those deaths and restarts, the payoff was finally here, and it was bigger than ever!
Including the single Transmigration Coin left over from the previous run, he was now a man in possession of a whopping 12 Transmigration Coins!!!
A man destined to master time itself!
"Achoo...!"
A sudden gust of cold wind assaulted Julian Thorne, fresh out of the shower and still stark naked, forcing a sneeze out of him. He padded over to the window, stared out for a few seconds, and realized that it had started snowing at some point.
Julian: ...
He quickly slammed the window shut and fished out a white shirt.
What the actual hell? It was just raining when he came upstairs, and now it's suddenly a blizzard.
This weather...must be taking lessons from the Sichuan Opera with all those face changes.
In the world of "Apocalypse", the weather was so erratic that every dorm room at Vickers University was equipped with a gas heater. However, since the northern Walrus-men controlled the coal mines, gas was pretty damn expensive. A few hours would burn through 1 Roschen.
The Roschen was the second tier in the Kingdom of Bryston's currency system, derived from the ancient Faric word "Groschen," meaning "shiny thing." One Roschen had the purchasing power of about 20 bucks in Julian's original world. Not exactly cheap. Above the Roschen was the Victa, worth 10 Roschen, and each Roschen was further divided into 10 Vinney.
There were even cases in the past where poor students froze to death in their rooms trying to save a single Roschen during extreme weather.
If it weren't for the money he'd looted from those Curse Cult goons, Julian probably wouldn't have been willing to spend the money either.
Sheds a tear for being broke. jpg.
Julian inserted a Roschen and turned the knob on the gas heater. A blue flame flickered to life, growing in size.
From a modern perspective, the heater's design was pretty ingenious. It had a heat sensor and an overheat switch that automatically shut off the gas if the internal temperature got too high. It was practically as good as a modern appliance.
As the heater roared, the room temperature quickly rose. Savoring the warmth, Julian let out a sigh of relief. He was just about to crawl back into bed and continue studying the Transmigration Simulator when a woman's scream pierced the air from outside.
"Aaaah!"
Startled, Julian rushed to the window and peered out.
Due to the meteorological tides, travel between cities wasn't exactly convenient. Many students, like Julian, stayed on campus during the holidays. The lights in a dozen dorm rooms flickered on as others, clearly disturbed by the scream, looked outside as well.
Outside the dormitory was a small grove of trees, a popular spot for couples to get it on when the weather was nice. But now, with the heavy snow, visibility was near zero. All he could hear was the rustling of snow falling on the leaves.
There were no further sounds. Nobody was willing to brave the snow in the dead of night to investigate. After a while, the dorm lights switched off one by one.
"Probably just a stray cat," Julian heard someone say from downstairs.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
No way that was a cat... But Julian wasn't brave enough to go down alone either. He took a deep breath, double-checked that the windows were locked, splashed some water on his face in the bathroom, and opened the Transmigration Simulator panel again.
First things first: time to claim the rewards.
The choices this time were pretty interesting. There were definitely some good things in the JoJo world. Julian had lived for so long in the simulation, becoming a legendary vampire on par with Count Dracula. Besides the Stone Mask, his collection might even include the Arrow or other powerful artifacts.
But right now, the most attractive thing to him was the Ripple Breathing Technique. There was no need to take risks for some uncertain possibilities. So, he obediently chose option one.
[You have chosen Option One.]
[You have acquired the skill: Expert Flirting Proficiency.]
[You have acquired the skill: Ripple Breathing Technique (Beginner).]
[You have acquired the skill: Occultism (Intermediate).]
[Expert Flirting Proficiency]: +1 to Charisma checks. With your immense charm and thick skin, your attempts at flirting are often successful.
[Ripple Breathing Technique (Beginner)]: A highly effective breathing technique. Grants an additional +3 to Strength and +3 to Dexterity.
[Occultism (Intermediate)]: +1 to Intelligence. You have a deep understanding of the occult and have learned how to craft some occult items.
A surge of knowledge flooded Julian's mind. His head throbbed as information about the occult and the complete Ripple Breathing Technique filled his brain. It took a while for him to recover.
He took a deep breath, and immediately felt a surge of warmth rising from his lungs. Life energy pulsed through his body, making him feel incredibly alive.
How to use the Ripple, how to conduct it through objects—it all felt instinctive now.
It was a surreal feeling. After a long, exhausting day, he should have been tired.
But now, Julian felt invigorated.
His body was free of aches, and his mind was clear of fatigue.
Damn, this game really is something else.
Clicking on the [Occultism] skill, a list of formulas and methods for crafting supernatural items appeared.
At the top of the list was the Stone Mask, followed by Voodoo Doll, Silver Bullets, Holy Water Formula, and so on. It seemed this legendary vampire version of him was quite superstitious!
But... what was the deal with the Stone Mask? Was he supposed to create vampires in this game world?
[Detected that the Player has achieved a perfect clear in the "Lost in Paris" Scenario. You have one chance to retain a Talent in the real world. Proceed with the draw? Yes/No]
"Retain a Talent in the real world? How does that work?"
[You may choose one of the three Talents selected during this transmigration. The retained Talent will be available in both the real world and the simulation world. However, you can only have one additional Talent in the simulation world, which can be replaced at any time.]
No need to even think about it! Julian's heart pounded with excitement as he chose "Yes."
[Draw complete: You have obtained the Purple Talent: Tony Stark (Purple).]
[Tony Stark (Purple)]: Like Tony Stark, the Iron Man, you are a typical playboy, a bit of a smart-ass but incredibly intelligent and exceptionally gifted in scientific research.
Julian paused, then asked, "System, if I have this Talent, will my personality change too?"
The system, for once, seemed to hesitate for a moment: [No, your personality will primarily be based on your true self.]
Julian nodded. The game panel refreshed again, and his stats underwent a dramatic transformation—the first significant change since he started this whole transmigration gig.
His Dexterity, in particular, had surpassed that of an ordinary person by a full thirty percent, firmly placing him in the realm of the extraordinary.
His Charisma had reached an unprecedented 99!
Name: Julian Thorne/Wayne Stilwell
Race: Human
Template: NPC [Beta Testing Countdown: 47 days, 23 hours, 58 minutes]
Level: 2
Class: Student/Assistant Instructor [1/10]
Subclass: Linguist [2/10]
Talent: Tony Stark (Purple)
Attributes: Strength 10, Dexterity 13, Constitution 8, Willpower 9, Intelligence 9, Charisma 99
HP: 80/80
Stamina: 96/96
Willpower (Stat): 9/9
Mana: 0
Life Skills: Basic Alchemy, Intermediate Occultism
Normal Skills: Expert French Fluency, Intermediate Pickpocketing, Basic Shooting Proficiency, Expert Flirting Proficiency, Ripple Breathing Technique
Other details omitted.
[Description: An ordinary person who's starting to become somewhat combat-capable, but still vastly outclassed by his own looks.]
Julian's eyes welled up.
The final description had finally changed from "a completely useless person except for his looks." Progress!
Oh, right. What about the new Scenario and new function mentioned earlier?
He opened the simulator panel again. Sure enough, a small red dot had appeared on the Scenario tab, indicating new content. And one of the two previously locked tabs was now accessible: Shop.
