23 Not Enough

Jim woke up wracked with pain, he slapped away the beetle trying to gnaw on his fingers and forced himself to stand up. "Ugh!", Jim exited the barrier, he was covered in sweat as he undressed to inspect his wounds. They were unsightly, he was reminded of the zombies in the City dungeon, the left side of his face was simply gone, it was all bloody exposed bone and tissue, the remaining points on his body weren't much better off.

Grunting, Jim started channeling Reiki, it was slow but better than doing nothing, he endured the overwhelming pain as his wounds began to mend.

[Death Resistance Has Reached Level 7]

[Magic Resistance Has Reached Level 6]

[Disease Resistance Skill Obtained]

[Disease Resistance Has Reached Level 4]

[Indomitable Will Has Reached Level 5]

He reached his limit again, the pain made him pass out.

Jack had been a police officer for just over a year now. His partner Dave's wife had gone into labor and rushed off a little while ago, wishing them well Jack returned to reading, he was a novel enthusiast and frequently got absorbed in stories. Some official made a lot of noise at the precinct about delicious soup or something, it didn't make sense, but Dave and Jack got the short straw earlier today, they had to sit in the car for hours on end near a group of hobos to look for anything suspicious.

Standing guard for something ridiculous had him bored, and now he didn't even have his partner to chat with, so he cracked open a book and occasionally looked up.

"Attention 217, we've got a 10-56."

"217, received. En route."

Bringing in a drunk guy early in the morning wasn't Jack's idea of a good time, but he was nearby and bored as hell, so he drove over.

"217, 10-23."

*Additional Police Chatter.*

Jack headed over to stop the guy shambling around, but as he approached he noticed there wasn't just one, there were dozens, they were all drooling and had dead looks in their eyes while wandering the street.

'What? Did it really happen? Oh god, is this the zombie apocalypse?' Jack started trembling at the thought of civilization crumbling, he didn't want to be bitten, he didn't want to go hunting for scraps and squatting every day, but he had a duty, he gathered himself and headed forward.

To Jack's relief, none of the people attacked him, it looked like they had ingested some hallucinogen, this was an affluent neighborhood, Jack put two and two together.

'Sigh...rich idiots took some party favors.' He had to call this in, his cruiser wouldn't fit this many people.

Back in Jim's room, he woke up, his wounds had mostly healed by now, but he was feeling weak. 'I need more power, these things are just too dangerous!' An intense fire had sprouted within his heart, Jim could no longer accept being too weak to handle something, it grew and grew, burning hotter and driving his will further.

[??? Activation Conditions Met, Initializing...]

[Dimensional Travel Activated, Finding Suitable World]

[World Selected, Transporting]

"Wha-?" Before he could say anything, Jim's surroundings changed, everything was white, a heavy fog blocked his vision, he couldn't tell where he was.

Jim began walking forward, pushing the fog out of his way, suddenly his heart leapt, the surroundings changed again, he was in a forest, the trees were massive, larger than redwoods, the sky couldn't be seen through the canopy overhead.

[Transport Successful, Current Location: Bahn Tai Cosmos]

'I...Another World? Are you joking with me system?' Jim heard a noise coming from afar, he proceeded over, wary of anything that could pop out. "Hah!" a tall woman in grey robes was holding a long sword and performing a series of exercises, the movements were fluid and lead into one another, an image of flower petals drifting on the wind surfaced in Jim's mind for an instant.

"Who's There!?" The woman quickly spun around and glared at him, her eyes widened in shock at the sight. "What...are you?"

Bin Ha was accepted into Flowing Cloud Sect as a small child, praised for being a genius cultivator she quickly rose up the ranks. Unfortunately, her cultivation stagnated when she reached 12 years old, just shy of reaching the qualifications to become an Inner Sect Disciple, her status as a genius became a joke now that she hadn't shown any signs of improvement for four entire years.

The frustration got to her, she trained hard every day, cultivated like crazy, saved up money and bought expensive pills, but nothing seemed to change. For a shooting star to suddenly plummet helplessly, it was extremely hard to accept, she didn't have any hardships in her life before this, constantly pampered and praised by all around, now the gazes of pride had become those of mockery and disdain, it was stifling.

Practicing the Twelve Petal Blade Art in seclusion was part of her morning routine, she never expected someone to show up in the middle of it, but when she turned to look she was stunned. The creature in front of her was hornless, not only that, it had a small stature, pale white skin, and golden hair! What is it!?

Immediately on guard, she began sending her qi out to test it, she found it was merely an early foundation realm cultivator. 'Useless trash, there's no way such a pitiful creature could sneak into our our outer sect. Someone must have taken pity on this mutant and relegated it to servant duties.' "Hmph, return to your lodgings immediately!" She pointed her sword towards the servant quarters and glared at the creature, it nodded and left, she returned to training. 'How strange...'

Jim was confused, the woman he spotted had deep red skin and two horns growing out of her forehead, he couldn't make heads or tails of what she said but the angered tone and direction she pointed to made her message clear. Dumbfounded, he proceeded to where she pointed after appraising her.

[Name: Bin Ha]

[Species: Bahn Tai Dual Horn]

[Cultivation Realm: Peak Qi Refinement]

[Qi: 783/1,290]

[Strength: 47]

[Dexterity: 52]

[Vitality: 41]

[Agility: 50]

[Magic: 0]

[Spirit: 80]

'So weak! Can she even fight a Horn Rabbit?' Jim, oblivious to the power standards of this place, headed forward.