Immortality Starts With Selling Pills

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: The Innate Skill

[System Initializing...]

The words hung in the middle of his vision, glowing faint gold, completely invisible to anyone else in the room.

”Cassie... she will be devastated hearing about you. You two were closer than anyone else I have known.”

Rebecca paused when she saw his lost expression and said, ”You must be tired, right?”

”I should prepare something for you to eat.”

She continued to talk.

Sometimes about dinner, sometimes about Cassandra coming home soon.

Derrick heard it all, but it went in from one ear and came out of the other.

His real attention was on the screen before him.

A system. An actual, glowing, floating-text system.

He’d read about them in novels.

Dozens of them.

But Derrick never wrote about one.

But still... He knew exactly how they were supposed to work. Pick a class, grind some stats, save the world one dungeon at a time.

Never did I expect I would get my hands on something like this. Is this even real?

Weren’t systems supposed to be a fantasy trope...

But then again, nothing about my current situation is normal. I should at least check what it can do.

’Come on. Show me what you can do, System!’

[Welcome, Host.]

[Binding to True Immortal Transcendence System...]

[Error.][Error.]

[Host location does not match designated deployment world.]

[The World Is Wrong]

[Recalculating!]

[Recalculating...]

...what?!

A glitch? Right away?

What is this True Immortal Transcendence System? It sounds like a joke. T.I.T.S.

Come on, don’t tell me this is one of those Xianxia tropes. I cannot sit on my ass and cultivate for days without doing nothing.

Better be a corpse than pretend to be one.

What did it mean by the world is wrong? You are the wrong one here.

The gold text flickered, glitched, and scrambled itself into static for one full second that felt like a year.

Although Derrick did not know what the principle or laws on which the power system of the world worked were, it was definitely not cultivation.

Because if it were cultivation, he would be in some backward world where people were too full of themselves to create something new.

No, this was a sci-fi-like world where even curtains could change colors. More importantly, neither the doctor nor Rebecca was walking with their noses into the roofs or used a single weird word during their conversation.

Let’s hope the system corrects itself.

His wish seemed to have been granted, as the next second, the system’s glitching screen started to mend itself.

[Deployment world mismatch confirmed.]

[Reassigning host to compatible framework.]

[System renamed: Pill Tycoon System.]

[The System will help the host reach the pinnacle of pill-popping genius.]

[Popping, Snorting, doping, straight up injecting... you name it, we got it all.]

[The system will make you far stronger than any cultivation master who spent decades sitting on a stone staring at the sun going up and down.]

[Innate Talent Unlocked]

[Would You Like To Check?]

Derrick stared at absolutely nothing, because that was the only appropriate response to the concept of his cultivation-cheat protagonist system apologizing for showing up in the wrong world and rebranding itself like a failed startup.

Pill Tycoon.

You have got to be joking.

What do you mean, popping, snorting... you sound like a dealer and not a system.

Can I get a hoiya—I mean, a refund?

Derrick decided to ignore the system for now and focus on the most beautiful woman before him.

”—so I’ll go make something to eat,” Rebecca was saying, already halfway to standing, wiping her face dry with the heel of her hand like she’d decided crying time was officially over. ”You rest. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

”Okay,” Derrick said, because it was the only word his brain had spare processing power for.

The moment she left the room, he mentally jabbed at the glowing text like he was clicking a button that wasn’t there.

Show me the innate talent.

[Innate Talent: Author’s POV]

[Ability 1: Unlocked: The Eye Of The Author.]

[The Eye Of The Author: A true author is not just good at writing books. They also have keen eyes; they notice the details others tend to miss and read people better than anyone else.

[Details:

Passive Ability.

Sharp Eyesight.

Keen Observation Skills.

People’s Reading Skills.

Micro Expression Reading: When focused on someone, you can read the change in their body language as minute as a twitch of a muscle. With that, you can tell if someone is lying or not.]

”Holy shit.” The words came before he could even stop them. Derrick looked around the room and noticed that his eyes were still the same as before. ”Did I have this ability since I opened my eyes, and only noticed it now?”

[Indeed, Host.]

[This Innate Ability came from the very essence of your soul. Innate abilities are rare everywhere, especially in this world.

Wait, this is a sentient system. God, I hate those.

[Why would you hate me, host?]

Seeing the system trying to act cute, I almost chuckled before I remembered all the horrible stories I have read about the system with consciousness and their sharp tongues.

I am not a masochist, so I don’t like it when someone makes fun of me.

[I am not sure what you mean but I am here to help you, not make fun of you.]

Derrick stared at the screen for one thoughtful moment before he thought of something.

Show me the missions.

[Number Of Available Missions: 1]

[Training Mission: Investigate the death of the original host.]

[Reward 1: Memories of original Derrick, Along with a message.]

[Reward 2: 10, 100% Pure, Unranked Physical Enhancement Drugs.]

[Reward 3: Unlock The Second Ability Of Innate Skill- Author’s POV.]

[Reward 4: Unlock The Shop Tab.]

[Status: Active. This mission cannot be skipped. You may get options in the future, but this one is important. Your future depends on it.]

[The main missions are locked until this Mission is completed.]

[Complete this mission to get full access to the system.]

[Full Access Includes: Future Missions, Shops, and Inventory.]

Derrick’s stomach turned over.

The original host’s death? So he really died, and I took over his body. There is no doubt anymore. I am not the same Derrick who just awakened the memories of his past life and forgot the new ones.

Derrick looked down at his hands, wondering if this made him an accessory to murder.

He thought about the doctor’s careful, evasive words.

Trauma markers... Whatever caused it is gone without a trace.Somebody killed this kid, Derrick thought, cold settling into his chest.

Before he could fall deeper in thought, the sound of the main door opening came from the other side of the room, followed by the plain voice of a young woman.

”I’m home.”

It did not take long before she walked into the room.

She must be the twin sister. Cassandra, Derrick thought as he looked at the girl with a calm expression. His innate ability was already working on her.

The girl looked nothing like Rebecca. She had short blonde hair, a cute face, and a slender body. She was wearing a white school shirt and a navy blue skirt with a checked pattern. On her hung a black bag that looked nothing like what a girl her age would be interested in.

She looked fourteen, maybe fifteen, with an expressionless face that kept others from approaching her. But he noticed how her eyes glowed as she entered the room. The guarded tension in her shoulders relaxed once she was in her home.

Her eyes landed on Derrick, and the smile that was about to appear on her face froze. ”Hey Derrick, You won’t believe—”

She was about to walk straight to Derrick when she caught something in the corner of her eyes.

It was Rebecca, following behind her.

The thing that made her pause was her face. It was red and raw with emotions. Seeing her daughter, the young mother looked like she was about to lose control over her emotions once more while standing in the kitchen doorway.

Cassandra’s feet froze on the spot. She looked back to Derrick and noticed the blank look on his face.

It was like he was looking at someone for the first time and not his twin little sister, who had lived with him and shared all those happy memories with him for the past fifteen years.

”...Mom?” Her bag slid off her shoulder and hit the floor. ”What happened? Derrick, what’s—”

”Cassie,” Rebecca said quickly, already crossing the room to catch her daughter’s hands. ”He’s okay. He’s just—he had an accident. He doesn’t remember some things right now.”