Adam waited anxiously to hear the system's voice again... but silence was all he got.
"Huh? What's going on? Did I imagine it all?"
He looked at his changed body and quickly dismissed the thought. What had happened wasn't a hallucination.
"Status."
A transparent blue window appeared in front of him:
Name:Adam
Age:65/20 (Actual age / Physical age)
Skills:
- Appraisal
- Gift (Tap for more information)
Followers: None
"What the hell? Why is my status so bad?"
Adam growled in frustration. While other transmigrators received overpowered systems, he got... a status screen?
"Could there be a worse start than this?"
He took a deep breath to calm himself. Getting angry wouldn't help. After a few moments of silence, he focused on the skills:
Appraisal:Your eyes can reveal the status of any individual.
Gift:You can empower any person or object, as long as they accept to become your follower. Upon acceptance, the Gift activates, linking them to you and granting you limited control over them.
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and his voice carried a spark of excitement:
"Perfect... That means I can build an army of powerful followers!"
For the first time since waking up, he felt a genuine thrill. He adjusted his ragged clothes, pushed the door open, and stepped outside—only to be hit by a sight he hadn't expected.
Beggars filled the streets. The stench was overwhelming. Emaciated bodies lay on the ground as if waiting for death.
"What a start... This is the first thing I see after stepping outside?"
Though he had some fragments of the body's memories, most of them were blurred. He barely remembered anything about the neighborhood or this district.
"At least I've got a roof over my head... even if it's ready to collapse."
He walked toward a nearby beggar and stared for a moment, then decided to test his appraisal skill:
"Appraise."
Name: Luke
Age: 50/30
Talent:None
Level: None
Strength:3 (Healthy adult average: 6)
Speed: 2 (Healthy adult average: 5)
Endurance: 2 (Healthy adult average: 8)
Skills:None
Note:Severely malnourished
"Yeah... just what I expected."
He repeated the process a few more times, and the results were all the same. Weak, starving people, with no talents or skills.
Then suddenly, he stopped. His eyes landed on two teenagers sitting together in a corner, huddled close.
"Appraise."
Name: Anna Filip
Age:14/70
Talent:Green (Decent)
Level: None
Strength: 2
Speed: 3
Endurance:2
Skills:Speed
Note: Malnourished
Name:** Pedro Filip
Age:** 16/70
Talent:Green(Decent)
Level: None
Strength: 3
Speed: 2
Endurance: 3
Skills: Strength
Note: Malnourished
Adam froze. His heart skipped a beat.
"Skills? And a talent too?!"
He tapped on the skill descriptions:
Speed: Increases user's movement speed by 10%
Strength: Increases user's physical power by 10%
"Sure, 10% isn't much... but in a world like this, that's gold."
He looked at his ragged outfit and scoffed:
"Great. I look like a beggar myself... how am I supposed to convince them to follow me?"
He glanced around, making sure no one was watching. Then whispered:
"Simple plan... earn their trust, feed them, and then make them mine."
He took a step toward his potential first followers—then stopped.
"But... I have no food. No money. How do I feed them?"
He clutched his head, thinking hard. No solution came to mind.
"Haaah... Let's solve the food problem first."
He turned his back to the siblings and headed down the path leading to the market, relying on the vague memories he had.
As Adam wandered through the narrow alleys of the market, eyeing the merchants and their wares, he passed by an old man selling vegetables from a wooden cart.
Suddenly, he spotted the corner of a brown cloth being subtly pulled from the man's back pocket. He looked up and saw a skinny boy in tattered clothes walking away calmly, hiding something under his coat.
"Appraise."
Name: Lark
Age: 65/15
Talent: Gray (Weak)
Level: None
Speed: 4
Endurance: 3
Adam sighed and approached silently. In a swift motion among the passing crowd, he brushed against the boy's shoulder as if by accident—and with practiced ease, retrieved the purse hidden in the boy's coat without him noticing.
"A clumsy thief... he'll run into real trouble if he keeps this up."
The boy kept walking, unaware that he was now empty-handed.
Adam, meanwhile, gripped the purse tightly in his hand—and smiled:
"First step, taken... time to start changing the world."