How To Be A System (Dummy-Proof Edition)

Ren Qingquan’s room

After reading the explanation about system functions, Ren Qingquan looked at his surroundings, searching for a target to use the [Devour] function. Several seconds later, he placed his attention on a pair of vases decorating his room.

Ren Qingquan grabbed one of them before he selected the water as his target. He then activated [Devour] and suddenly, the water inside the vase vanished by a third. Soon after, a system notification rang.

[Ding! Host used devour, 0 points gained. Note: points under 1 will be accumulated until it reaches at least 1 point before being shown.]

Looking at the notification, Ren Qingquan thought. 'So, just this much water is not enough to gather one point? Guess I need to [Devour] more of them, before I can accumulate one point’s worth.’

Just when Ren Qingquan tried to place his hand on yet another innocent flower vase, a sudden knocking sound followed by a girl’s voice stopped him. “Young master, have you woken up yet? Please excuse my rudeness.”

Slowly, the door opened and a young girl around his age arrived inside. The girl, called Xiao Ling is a maid chosen to take care of Ren Qingquan by his father.

She has a slightly above-average Asian face which, coupled with her age, makes her look a bit cute. Nevertheless, she only looked like a random extra from a palace drama my mother in the previous world usually watched.

Similar to Ren Qingquan, Xiao Ling also wore ancient historical costume like clothes. The only difference being hers is for females. Complete with a hairpin to tie her hair into a bun.

“Young master, are you feeling well yet? The master requested you to meet the elder and him once you started feeling well.” Hearing what Xiao Ling said, Ren Qingquan could guess they were most likely concerned about his condition after that defeat.

“Please lead the way.” Following how the original Ren Qingquan usually spoke, he answered.

Hearing his answer, Xiao Ling bowed and immediately moved outside.

Taking his first step outside of this room since his transmigration, Ren Qingquan followed Xiao Ling and passed many complicated corridors, courtyards, and several hundred people. Halfway through the journey, he started cursing internally about what a waste of space and a pain in the ass it was to have such a big clan house. ‘Why must everyone live together in the same building complex, anyway? I can’t understand rich people.’

Amidst internal cussing, he finally arrived at his grandfather’s, the second elder’s courtyard.

Upon their arrival, Xiao Ling send her greeting toward the door as she spoke. “Master, elder, I have brought the young master.”

“Come in” Answering Xiao Ling’s greeting is a heavy, middle-aged male voice from behind the door.

As Xiao Ling opened the door, Ren Qianquan finally met his new father and grandfather directly for the first time.

Inside, two middle-aged men sitting at a table while drinking a warm tea come into view. His grandfather Ren Wangzhen is a martial artist at peak Martial Saint realm. Because upon reaching the Martial Saint realm, one will gain the ability to retain his youth, it often resulted in this weird view of father and son that looks similar in age.

“How is your wound?” While blowing his tea, Ren Wangzhen asked him a question.

“After applying the medicine, my wound has started to heal.” Once he answered his grandfather, silence suddenly descends into the room.

That is until Ren Qingquan’s father talked. “That Ren Qingchen is just too much. He actually targeted our branch suddenly during the yearly tournament. Why couldn’t he just target another branch? It’s not like there is no new genius there. The third elder’s sixth grandson is also at the ninth stage martial apprentice, although he achieved it at seventeen years old which is two years older than Ren Qingquan, but don’t you think it is more appropriate to use him as a target to show off. After all, not only that kid often fights with random people in the city which could be counted as battle experience, our Qingquan has just achieved the ninth stage recently and has not been used to his strength. Not only that, I have even heard some news saying that the Ren Qingchen kid is a no good thing, he actually entered the city with the smell of human blood at midnight, if not for him to be our Ren family member .....”

As Ren Qingquan listens to his father, Ren Shiluo rambles on and on while slowly diverging from the topic. He feels like the wound on his body might get worse because of stress.

He can only hope that this meeting would quickly end. After all, he still needs to experiment with the system.

As he looked at his grandfather, Ren Qingquan saw him wearing a frown on his face and started to raise his hand while trying to massage his temple. “Alright! Stop your ramble. I will handle the matter about that kid Ren Qingchen.”

“Dad, you should seriously handle this matter. Don’t just shrug it off like you usually do. I want him to at least shed a layer of skin.” Hearing what his father just said, Ren Qingquan couldn’t help but think his father definitely sounds like some third rate villain trying to scheme a brain dead plan.

Now that he thinks about it, there is definitely something weird about that Ren Qingchen guy. Although his combat experience is low, he is still a core member of the Ren family. Which entails having a much better skill-set compared to someone from a side branch. But, Ren Qingchen actually achieved a leapfrog battle at a crucial competition. Everything clue lead to the fact that Ren Qingchen might be a main character.

While standing in a daze thinking about Ren Qingchen’s suspicious point. His grandfather suddenly broke his thinking by throwing a question. “Then, Ren Qingquan. How do you think we should handle him?”

Uttering whatever come into his mind, Ren Qingquan spoke “Grandfather, I think it is better to let the past go. Instead, we need to throw an olive branch at him secretly. After all, he is a talented member of Ren’s family. Of course, we still need to make some public show of targeting him. Otherwise, other people might think we are a pushover.”

“Hahaha! Good. As expected of my grandson. This small setback wouldn’t affect you much. You actually thought of a pretty good plan which might allow us to pull some people to our side by showing our generosity.”

Actually, Ren Qingquan just doesn’t want to handle someone suspected of having a main character template. He also could barely hold himself from telling Ren Wangzhen that this ‘small setback’ made his grandson cried himself to death. But being unable to say it, he could only keep a smile on his face.

(¬_¬)

“Alright then, you may return. I will follow your plan for now.” With Ren Wangzhen’s dismissal, Ren Qingquan finally leaves.

After walking a certain distance following Xiao Ling back to his room, Ren Qingquan realized he actually forgot to use [Scan] to scan his father and grandfather.

Suddenly remembering the [Scan] function, he tried to activate it at some random place. Like the floor in the hall, the wall, a painting depicting a mountainous landscape, and some plants in the courtyard. But the notification from the system made him speechless.

[Painting, devour for ? points. Please study more about art appreciation for further details.]

[Plant, devour for ? points. Please study more about herbology for further details.]

[Soil, devour for ? points. Please study more about pedology for further details.]

Looking at that half-hearted notification, Ren Qingquan just cussed but still continued to use [scan] on anything he passed while in a daze. That is until he accidentally used [scan] on Xiao Ling near his room.

[Human: Xiao Ling, unable to devour

Age: ?

Realm:Martial Lord (??? Stage) Technique: ???

Please study more about martial arts,anatomy, and other arts related to humans for further details.]

“???”

Ren Qingquan feels like being struck by thunder. How could Xiao Ling, a maid, have such high martial realm? confused, he asked some questions to the system.

“System, are you sure about her realm?”

[According to the data accumulated, Xiao Ling’s realm is definitely above martial lords.]

With System’s confirmation, a storm is happening in his brain. 'Do I actually have a super-hidden boss as a maid? Or is she a spy? But which crazy organization would place a Martial Lord as a spy? To spy on some random young master at that. She is probably not a spy, then. So what is her goal for hiding her cultivation? Father never told him about Xiao Ling’s cultivation.’

While he stood in a daze, Xiao Ling suddenly talked to him with a concerned tone. “Young master, do you perhaps feel unwell?”

Realizing Xiao Ling’s strength, Ren Qingquan could feel himself sweating bullets now.

Looking at his silence, Xiao Ling asked once again. “Young master?”

Trying to shift the blame to my wound, I replied to Xiao Ling. “My body just suddenly hurt a bit from the wound.”

“Then I will bring the family physician to your room for a check.”

Hearing Xiao Ling’s word, I waved my hand quickly. “There is no need. I will just rest for a moment. Also, you may leave.”

After opening the door for him, Xiao Ling bowed and walked away to another place, leaving the area.

Finally entering his room, Ren Qingquan slowly relaxed his tense body that resulted from realizing he had walked so long with the equivalent of a living missile.

Spending some time on his bed like a corpse, Ren Qingquan once again remembered the last thing he tried to do before being called. Reaching his hand into the flower vase, he tried to devour the water in it.

Looking at the flower, he remembered the gardens he passed while walking back to his room. Based on his memory, there is a garden where people rarely walk by. It is one of the places he often visits when he wants to be alone.

“I will just experiment on [Devour] in that garden.”

Retracting his hand, he walked back into the door leaving the flower vase alone.

Count this as your lucky day, flower vase~

***

Consciousness space

While Ren Qingquan is shocked at the realization of walking near a living missile Xiao Ling, I have actually also scanned his grandfather and father already.

Comparing their data to the peoples Ren Qingquan passed while walking. His grandfather is exactly the same as what he knows, a martial artist at the peak of Martial Saint realm. But his father actually is not a Martial Grandmaster like the original Ren Qingquan’s memories. He is actually at least a freaking Martial Lord. His energy is even far above that of Xiao Ling.

I suspect he might even be a Martial Emperor. But I still do not have enough data to reach a certain conclusion. So, if Xiao Ling is a missile, then his father is at the level of an intercontinental missile or even a nuclear bomb.

Anyway, Ren Qingquan. Please just devour and scan some books so I can fill in the data in [Storage] and start future planning.

(╥_╥)