Chapter 2

Luo Mu didn’t resent the golden finger, but wasn’t this thing coming a bit too late?

Even the donkey of the production team would shake its head at this.

During the time Luo Mu silently grumbled in his heart, the special prompt system seemed to encounter something unexpected and crashed for a moment, before a line of text slowly appeared.

【According to detection, although the host’s strength is the weakest among Champions... it is indeed genuine Champion-level Trainer status. Has this system arrived too late?】

“What do you mean ‘weakest’? Apologize right now, kora!”

Luo Mu casually flicked his tongue in protest; though he knew his true strength well, even the top Champion had not fought him at full power.

But being mocked by a system claiming it arrived late still irked him.

Yet during Luo Mu’s inspection of his land, the golden finger seemed to have crashed again, occasionally flickering the words “Self-diagnosing.”

Luo Mu ignored it. From years of online experience, he knew he couldn’t get rid of this golden finger—better to do something useful.

When he had walked the entire undeveloped land, pondering where to build what structures and where to designate pastures, the prompt system reappeared.

【Binding completed... Although the host has already achieved Champion status, there remains ample room for growth. Why not travel to other regions?】

“That sounds great, but I decline,” Luo Mu firmly rejected the goofy floating text that danced before his eyes as if afraid he wouldn’t see it.

【.........】

Seeing the system fall silent, Luo Mu realized this thing was less like a mechanical prompt system from the novels he’d read before his transmigration, and more like an emotional conversational partner.

But judging by its frantic efforts to grab his attention, Luo Mu knew with his toes that this system had no authority or power to force him.

Aside from that mysterious prompt function, it could probably only tell him jokes.

But that was fine—if it came with mandatory quests, his free soul would rather die right where he stood... though he’d hate to leave behind the Pokémon who’d walked this path with him.

After all, he’d finally escaped the 996 grind, the overtime that made him spit blood, and the New Year’s Eve shift swaps—now he was just an ordinary farmer who wanted a quiet, peaceful life.

“......Whether in the land, in the clouds~ or in that child’s skirt~”

Humming a familiar tune, Luo Mu, like a retired old man, strolled to the only two-story house standing on the vast land he’d purchased.

It was a three-story Western-style house showing signs of age; Luo Mu remembered the mayor of Pingdie Town saying it had once been home to an elderly couple with no children, who relied on each other.

After both elders passed away several years ago, their land and house were left abandoned.

Luo Mu had been able to buy such a large, albeit neglected, plot of land

because the couple’s will stipulated that upon their deaths, the land would be donated free of charge to Pingdie Town—and if the town sold it, the proceeds would fund the village’s development.

Truly, two people brimming with kindness in every sense.

Walking through the house and touring each floor, Luo Mu gained a thorough understanding of the three-story Western home left behind by the couple.

Just the footprint of the house itself was nearly two hundred square meters.

All necessary rooms were present; the third floor even had a balcony for growing flowers and basking in the sun. Though old, it was exactly the house of his dreams.

A thorough cleaning and removal of the dusty old furniture would make it livable.

“Still, some things are definitely unusable... need to clear them out.”

Luo Mu planned to clean first, then head to town to buy bedding, and move in tonight.

Aside from essential Pokémon training expenses, most of the money he’d saved over the past year went toward buying this land—he’d cancel his temporary hotel stay too; there’d be plenty more expenses ahead.

Thinking some heavy items inside might be beyond his strength to move, Luo Mu took a Poké Ball from his waist, smiled faintly, and pressed the button.

A flash of red light, and a Gyarados, far more muscular than its kind and with a fierce glint in its eyes, appeared before Luo Mu.

This Gyarados, whose fist could shake the earth and make a girl cry, instantly softened its fierce expression the moment its gaze met Luo Mu’s smiling eyes.

“Gyarados, could you help me carry these things outside to air them out?” Luo Mu smiled, pointing to the dusty, musty furniture behind him, neglected for years.

Among them were chairs, tables, a sofa, and some sealed cardboard boxes whose contents were unknown.

Gyarados nodded slightly, its powerful arms—so reassuring to look at—easily lifted the weathered sofa and walked straight out of the room.

“Heave-ho!” Luo Mu rolled up his sleeves and headed toward the stack of sealed boxes, planning to carry them into the sunlight while the weather was good to see what lay inside.

If they were sentimental items belonging to the couple, he’d take them to their graves.

If they were other items, he’d sort them to see if anything could be reused for the farm’s pasture or farmland construction—saving money in the process.

After all, he had little money left after buying this land; he had to budget carefully.

【In the third cardboard box from the left on your right-hand side, there is a magical crystal stone that significantly enhances your strength.】

Luo Mu’s hand froze mid-reach. He raised an eyebrow, stared at the box the system mentioned, said nothing, walked over, squatted down, and his face showed clear curiosity.

Something that boosts strength?

So this system hasn’t given up at all—it’s trying to nudge his power up through indirect means.

Curious to test how accurate its prompts really were, Luo Mu pulled out a small parcel knife and sliced open the box’s sealing tape, then began rummaging inside.

Soon, he saw the “magical crystal stone” the system had described.

The object was wrapped in a bright blue crystal shell that still shimmered despite being coated in dust—but the shell wasn’t the point. The real focus was the gray-black “ore” enclosed within.

“Is this really it?”

Luo Mu was astonished. He’d imagined many possibilities for the system’s “strength-enhancing item,” but he’d never expected it to be—

the raw ore of a Terastal Crystal.