Breakthrough!

With half an hour to go, Marcus pleasantly brought Hiro around the area close to the library building.

Inter-High High School was a large establishment with many facilities, including sports stadiums, swimming pools, and research laboratories.

"Here you go," Marcus returned Hiro's phone to him and said, "This is the official website for the school, and you can find the list of books to read to prepare for the entrance exam here. Also, you can rent the notes from last year's freshmen if you feel like studying from the books isn't good enough."

Marcus then pointed at the few students who were chilling all around the library building's entrance, explaining that they had clean, organized notes from last year.

"There's such a thing?" Hiro was stunned for a moment. Such opportunistic bastards, this tactic is a high-level university scheme where I come from, how hard can a high school exam be?!

As Hiro thought about it, he checked the website and downloaded a few PDF files of the last three entrance exams held by Inter-High.

After reviewing the exam papers, he started getting a headache.

"Is this really a high school exam?!" Hiro couldn't help but exclaim at the dense questions.

Each subject had at least 60 questions.

Luckily, I had the foresight to get the immersive reading skill, but it seems like I'll have to pull an all-nighter on these subjects.

As Hiro thought about the massive list of books that he needed to read in the next few days, he began to sweat.

After considering his options, Hiro decided to bite the bullet and spend some of his current savings. Hiro still had around 8,000 credits in his bank account, and after thinking for a while, he consulted Marcus on which notes to buy. 

Although Marcus felt like Hiro was unnecessarily wasting his money, he still helped him get notes that belonged to the top five students from the last year. They were expensive, about 2,000 credits worth of notes! 

Even Marcus was shocked, not expecting his roommate to be so desprate. He didn't know that Hiro considered it a worthy investment as long as he could complete a high-priority mission for the system. 

Soon, the library opened its gates and the two of them entered, found a corner, and sat down to sort out the notes and books together. When Hiro learned that he could also rent out copies of the books for a specific fee, he didn't hesitate. 

I've already spent this much, Hiro told himself. Spending some more won't hurt! 

While feeling pained by the investment, Hiro brought the books and notes to his dormitory room, secured them in a locked cabinet, and left for work. 

... 

Although working more than the mandatory 4 hours would help Hiro score some brownie points with Manager Matthew, Hiro understood that school was a higher priority than work at the moment. Thus, after his 4-hour shift ended, he quickly returned to the dormitory and invested in studying with Marcus. 

Just like that, time passed by and it was quickly approaching 19:00 O'clock, and while closing his eyes and pretending to be in deep thought, Hiro entered the system space. 

"I will first try my luck with a lottery box," Hiro said in realization, almost forgetting he had 5 gems if not for the mini display screen showing his current currency in the system space. 

Although he only had 15 APs; five extra points after befriending Marcus, that didn't take away from Hiro's expectations for the lottery box. The prize pool had many miraculous items and all of them were RPG-related, leaving Hiro wondering just what could the mystery box give him. 

Checking the lottery box window, Hiro discovered that 5 gems were enough to roll the 1x item lottery box, while 30 gems could be used to roll for 10x items. It was quite the discount, but Hiro wasn't patient enough to slowly collect 30 gems. 

He quickly chose the 1x lottery box option and used his 5 gems. 

A box dropped from the window, colorful question marks on all six sides of the mystery cube as it began to spin wildly. After watching for a while, Hiro reached with his finger and tapped the cube, causing it to explore in a shower of bright colors. A soft bell chime sounded in the space. 

[Notice: Congratulations, you've acquired 5x Cosmitic Key!] 

... 

A short description of the {Cosmitic Key} appeared in Hiro's mind, and he clicked his tongue with a hint of disappointment. After obtaining a game in the {Simulation Space}, the cosmetics sector in the system shop was opened. 

The cosmetic key allows Hiro to choose a "cosplay" gear from the cosmetic section for free, and he wouldn't need to pay APs for it. These cosmetics can change a person's temperament and aura, and they can make for a great disguise, but they won't change Hiro's strength or body functions in any practical manner. 

Although disappointed, Hiro quickly went to the cosmetics shop and used his five keys to buy five different cosmetic items. After filling the shopping cart, he checked his items list with great satisfaction. 

The list included immortal silver eyes, long silver hair, immortal cyan-blue robes, a flowing milky river visual effect, and an immortal aura visual effect. Of course, all of them had the effect of glowing formations, making it impossible for people to see Hiro's face clearly through the "cosplay." 

I probably look like an immortal with those effects, Hiro thought to himself with excitement. 

After he confirmed the purchase, Hiro entered the {Simulation Space} and started playing the only game he currently had. 

... 

Transcendent Taoist, Cave Dwelling. 

Hiro's character was seated in the middle of the spirit array, cultivating. The moment Hiro opened his eyes, he was immediately delighted with his spiritual harvest for the day. 

He gained over 1 million units of spiritual energy! 

Looking at the long string of numbers, Hiro felt like his investment of 5 gems to upgrade the spirit array was worth it. Checking his status window, there was a {Breakthrough} option blinking next to his cultivation base statistics. 

Hiro selected the option without hesitation, and he kept on spamming the option for the next few seconds while feeling the rush of Spirit Qi cleansing and tempering both his body and mind. 

Hiro almost moaned in pleasure, but he held himself back. 

His cultivation base climbed through the ranks of foundation establishment, quickly stopping at the 8th level of Foundation Establishment, two minor realms away from the Golden Core realm. However, when he checked how many spiritual units were needed for those breakthroughs, he almost vomited. 

This is too much! 

Hiro realized that he needed three if not four days of cultivation before he finally reached the Golden Core realm. For a moment, Hiro felt desprate, only now understanding why those cultivators would seclude themselves for days, weeks, months, and even years just for one or two advancements in their realms. 

[Notice: A wandering labor disciple discovered your cave-dwelling, and he wants to offer you a mysterious treasure in exchange for 300 gold coins, do you accept?] 

An urgent notification appeared in the [Encounters] window, catching Hiro's attention. 

Curious and realizing that he didn't lack the gold coins, Hiro decided to accept it. 

A cut scene displaying Hiro's character leaving the cave, meeting a young female disciple with mud all over her hands and face, and exchanging 300 gold coins for a treasure box was played out. Hiro felt his consciousness detached from the whole affair, but he wasn't surprised. 

The moment Hiro returned to his cave dwelling, he focused on the treasure box and a notification appeared. 

[Notice: Your cultivation realm is too low and thus you failed to discover the secrets of the treasure!] 

[Notice: Do you wish to use 30 gems to unlock the treasure?] 

Hiro blinked. What in the name of...