Ding-dong.
New task detected: Assist Granny Li in crossing the road.
Task Level: Trifle.
Task Description: The joy of helping others is the essence of happiness.
Granny Li is a resident of Xiaohedian Village in Haizhou City, aged a venerable 73 years. In her younger days, she had spent half of her life toiling for her children, leaving her with lingering health issues. To avoid burdening her children, she has started peddling goods on the streets on her own. In the face of such a respectable elder, wouldn't it be heartless not to offer a helping hand, youngster?
Task Reward: One Merit Point.
A string of data quickly swept across his mind and Li Chunsheng, who was leisurely walking on the street, abruptly brightened his eyes. He swiftly detoured down a side street. As expected, at the crossroads, an old crinkled lady with a small stool in her hands was squatting down, scowling at the bustling traffic in front of her.
Li Chunsheng grimaced, then jogged over to the old lady and took the stool from her hands without another word.
"Li lad, here you are doing good deeds again, huh?"
"You don’t often see kids like Li lad these days, who respect their elders and love the young. We've noticed, rain or shine, he's here every day. If we didn't know any better, we would think he's Granny Li's real grandson."
Li Chunsheng helped Granny Li onto the zebra crossing. A few old men selling fruits at their stalls behind Granny Li chuckled softly, their eyes followed Li Chunsheng teasingly, full of kindness.
"All of you old geezers, are you making fun of me? If I had a dutiful grandson like Little Li, it would be the result of eight generations of accumulated virtue. But I, Granny Li, am not that fortunate." Granny Li shot the old men a glance, then looked at Li Chunsheng with affection in her eyes.
"Granny Li, what are you talking about? I'm just helping you out with a few small things — it's what I should do. So please don’t over-praise me." Upon hearing that, Li Chunsheng grinned a smile, supporting the staggering Granny Li all the way to the road's edge, where a middle-aged man sat waiting in a wheelchair.
Li Chunsheng gave Granny Li's hand to him, said a quick goodbye then dashed away hastily.
"What a good boy, if our grandson could be half as decent as Little Li, I'd be completely satisfied with this old life of mine."
It was only after Li Chunsheng's silhouette faded from sight that Granny Li heaved a sigh. Then she shot an annoyed glance at her limping son. The latter scratched his head, mumbled a few words under his breath, and accompanied his elderly mother, gradually making their way home.
As for Li Chunsheng, he rushed off into the distance and found a corner of a wall. He looked left and right and, seeing that no one was around, half-squinted his eyes. A semi-transparent interface suddenly appeared in his mind.
The interface was peculiar, much like a holographic projection seen on television. It had only two options: 'Task' and 'Unlocked'. The only option available for Li Chunsheng to view was 'Task', and there was only an initial task displayed in gold font and a sub-task.
Li Chunsheng silently glanced at the task description and clicked the confirmation button with his mind. Suddenly, a pleasing chime sounded in his ears.
Ding dong, system prompt: assist Granny Li in crossing the road task complete.
Ding dong, system prompt: initial task progress 99/100.
Task Reward: one merit point.
Current Progress: 1/1
Friendly Tip: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; just as a river starts with a single drop of water. Do a good deed daily, the young lad is doing quite well.
As the system prompt ended,
Li Chunsheng felt a golden light seeping out from the soles of his feet, enveloping his whole body. Then a pleasantly refreshing sensation spread to all his limbs. He felt a considerable increase in strength and clenched his fists; it felt as though he had inexhaustible strength.
"I'm just a little bit away from completing the main task, oh boy, after half a month of hard work, I finally see some hope."
"This godly system is so demanding, only give one merit point for a good deed, too stingy. Today, I must complete the initial task first, I really want to see what the hell this thing is."
Li Chunsheng chuckled and scratched his head. Even till this day, he could hardly believe he had acquired such a thing.
This system was called the Godly Immortal System, which he had obtained half a month ago.
Li Chunsheng still remembered the day when he just came back from a client's place, frustrated and drinking away his sorrows on a bridge pier by the Haizhou Bridge. Unexpectedly, he saw a rambling old man who seemed insistent on jumping into the river to commit suicide.
Li Chunsheng didn't consider himself a particularly good person, but he couldn't bear the thought of standing by and doing nothing as someone died.
But what he didn't expect was that he would end up following the old man into the river and upon waking up, found that he had been lying in the hospital for quite some days, with the old man nowhere to be found.
As Li Chunsheng grimaced at the medical bills, he discovered that a divine system of some sort had somehow lodged itself in his brain.
He was genuinely frightened, wondering if he had been turned into a guinea pig or if aliens had invaded his brain. However, his covert consultation with the doctors almost led to people thinking he was mentally ill and sending him to a mental health facility.
As a result, he spent many days in constant dread, looking up abundant information online.
After going through a roller-coaster of emotions - fear, unease, excitement, and anxiety - Li Chunsheng had become immune to it all, utterly calm and collected now.
His greatest expectation right now was to complete the initial task unexpectedly set by this divine system: 'At the beginning of mankind, human nature is inherently good'. He wished to find out what exactly this divine system, which had been making him do good deeds come rain or shine for the past half month, was up to.
However, doing good deeds wasn't as easy as just declaring it. There weren't so many good deeds out there waiting for Li Chunsheng to perform. After wondering around for half the day, just as he was growing impatient, he finally stumbled upon a vendor with all his fruits scattered on the ground, looking distraught.
A light flashed in Li Chunsheng's eyes, and like a whirlwind, he rushed over to help clean up, which took him a good half an hour.
Before the vendor could even say thank you, Li Chunsheng disappeared, leaving the vendor utterly bewildered.
In the corner, light shone in Li Chunsheng's eyes, his heart pounding as he tapped on the 'Complete' button on the system interface. Then, a dazzling display of fireworks exploded in front of Li Chunsheng's eyes, followed by the system's prompt sound.
"Ding-Dong, system prompt, initial task completed."
"Ding-Dong, system prompt, initial task completion, 100/100."
"Task reward: Abridged version of Fiery Eyes of Insight."
Description: One can always make progress. Young man, congratulations on successfully completing the initial task of "Mankind's Beginnings - Innately Good". As a reward, you are granted the title of "Fiery Eyes", valid for one month. Young man, keep striving. The system has faith in you.
What a mess.
Li Chunsheng silently criticized this unreliable system in his heart. He stared at the system interface for a long time. Other than feeling an unfamiliar sense of relief, he felt nothing else.
Is that it?
Li Chunsheng hoped for something miraculous, but his mood plummeted with this discovery.
"Seriously? I've been fussing for over half a month and got nothing. I'm just a bit stronger, and here I was hoping for a lovelife turnaround, to win over a beautiful and rich woman, become a CEO, and climb to life's peak. Where's the change though?"
Li Chunsheng complained. He'd been searching for something special on the system interface for a long time but found nothing. Suddenly, he recalled that he seemed to have received a quest reward.
Fiery Eyes?
A title reward?
What is this?
He glanced subconsciously at the quest reward. It seemed like a title, but unfortunately, there were no descriptions of the title rewards on the system interface. Li Chunsheng stared at it for a long time but still didn't get it. Helplessly, he placed the title of "Fiery Eyes" above his head.
Ding dong, system prompt: the host has equipped the title "Fiery Eyes."
Duration: one month.
Ding dong, system prompt: the host has fulfilled the requirements to initiate the Super Immortal System. Launching the binding process.
System upgrading...
As the system's prompt sounded, Li Chunsheng silently felt that nothing had changed. Just as he was feeling downhearted, it seemed as though his eyes had been smeared with refreshing ointment, making them feel incredibly cool and clear.
Li Chunsheng blinked instinctively, only to find his vision had magnified, as if the world before his eyes had become incredibly clear.
"What's happening?"
Li Chunsheng knew his eyesight wasn’t the best. Even though he didn’t wear glasses, he had myopia of around 200 degrees. Yet now, everything seemed sharp and clear. He could even clearly see the cicadas on the tree hundreds of meters away, which brought him great surprise.
However, Li Chunsheng was still a little disappointed.
"I thought I would gain some special abilities or something. Those novels sure are misleading. Well, it's not too bad to just have improved my physical condition after a month of effort. Contentment is the key, right? Let it go, the more I think about it, the more depressed I'll get. I'd better go help my cousin for now."
Li Chunsheng voiced his complaints, but in his heart, he was quite satisfied.
He glanced at the sky and saw that it had darkened. Abandoning his contemplations for now, he hopped on a bus heading to an antiques market in the southern suburbs of Haizhou.
"Li-boy, you're here so early to help out again. Your cousin didn't talk about giving you a salary, did he? It would be nice if I had a responsible clerk like you. How about this, Li-boy. Come work for me! Room and board, a floor salary of 150, and commission for sales, what do you say?"
"Come work for me, Chunsheng. I don't mean to gossip, but your cousin is a bit of a tightwad."
No sooner had he entered the antique street than the friendly voices began to chime in, a group of vendors winking and nudging among themselves. Li Chunsheng chuckled, but before he could respond, a middle-aged man with a dark face and an apron strode out.
"Are you guys just idle or what, trying to steal my help right under my nose? Chunsheng’s a graduate from Haizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and has a good job. He's just helping me out because he's free. Could you guys even afford him if he decided to mingle with you peasants?"
The dark-faced man bellowed, causing the neighboring vendors to wince and shrink back. Not bothering with their reactions, he quickly ushered Li Chunsheng towards his shop.
Before they even entered the shop, the man’s loud voice rang out again.
"Chunsheng, haven't I told you? You didn't have to come and help out after those busy days. You got injured a few days ago; you should be resting. If I wasn't too busy to stand, I wouldn't have asked for your help."
"Cousin, look at what you're saying. I'm just feeling a bit bored. Besides, we Li village children are not that weak, we are rather tanned and tough. If you really made me stay at home, I’d get sick from boredom. Besides, isn't it true that I'm close with you, cousin?"
Li Chunsheng smiled at the dark-faced man and joked with a laugh.
