8: Body Switch

Ning felt bored. He wasn't pretending; he was genuinely bored. He had been waiting in the rock for several days, with thunderstorms coming and going, and most other days being cloudy, so he hadn't even absorbed much energy.

Every day, he would wake up at sunrise, hoping that this would be the day he unlocked his next skill.

"Status." He opened his status page to see how far he was from his next unlock.

[StatusEnergy: 126,524Mission: Collect 73,476 EnergyReward: You have acquired Body SwitchShop: Locked

According to the System's prompt, his next skill unlock would be Body Switch, which meant he could finally leave this desolate sea.

He quickly realized this sea was not a good place at all. The part he was in was higher than the rest, so he couldn't see anything below. If he went just 10 meters deeper, he would reach the beach.

That was just sad. He felt sad. He also felt angry at himself for feeling sad. "Why did I have to acquire an emotion system? Can't you delete them? I was doing fine before. Now all I do is feel bored and sad, and then angry about it." He really hated the fact that he had unlocked emotions.

The moment he unlocked these emotions, he began to feel an immense sadness, even crying over his own death, and it was then that he realized how fake the emotions he had been mimicking were.

He was sad because his previous life had amounted to nothing. From a young age, he had been excluded from everything. His parents had died tragically, leaving him alone. The friends he had managed to make in the orphanage had also left him, adopted by new parents, and now even life itself had left him.

From then on, he began to loathe these emotions he had unlocked.

"System, tell me, do I really need these emotions?" he asked.

<Yes>

<There are many records showing that receptionists without emotions would use the System to do terrible things to the universes they inhabited>

<Transmitting emotions is a way to make the user empathize so they don't cause unnecessary harm to others>

<The System was created so that hosts could live carefree lives without destroying other life in the process>

<So, now hosts are forced to have emotions, and they are even amplified>

"Is that why I feel such immense sadness even though I've already accepted the fact of death?" he asked, but the System didn't answer. The System couldn't judge how sad he was.

"Okay." He accepted the answer, and with it, these emotions.

Finally, the next day, another thunderstorm arrived, accompanied by hail. Ning was ecstatic; he could say he had never been so happy, and even the joy of gaining energy was amplified.

This time, the hail was smaller, each hit only bringing a hundred points of energy, so it would take a considerable amount of time to accumulate seventy thousand points of energy.

"It seems I won't be using the Body Switch skill today. I hope the weather clears up soon." Just as he was thinking this, he happened to look up at the sky and saw something flashing.

Boom!

A massive lightning bolt suddenly appeared and struck the rock he inhabited.

It left a hole about 40 centimeters wide and came with several notifications.

<You have lost 8,624 Energy>

<You have gained 234,284 Energy>

<You have unlocked Body Switch>

"Oh my god, that scared me. What was that? A lightning strike?" He could feel the extremely hot hole the lightning had left on the rock's surface. He looked back at the notifications and realized he had reached his goal.

"Body Switch? Wait... I did it? Yes!!! Haha, it's right here. I did it." He exclaimed, this being the happiest moment since he arrived here.

"Haha!! More, more!" He shouted internally at the storm.

However, no more lightning struck him.

"Oh, right, I forgot lightning doesn't strike twice. I was too happy." He was a little sad again. His emotions were very volatile now, changing as quickly as a chameleon changes color.

He waited until the thunderstorm ended. By now, he had gained about 20,000 energy just from the hail. "Status." He checked what his next goal was.

[StatusEnergy: 391,542Mission: Collect 108,458 EnergyReward: You have acquired SoundShop: Locked

"Sound? System, what does Sound mean? I can already hear sounds, though. It was the first thing I unlocked."

<You will know once it is unlocked>

"Why are you being so vague?" The System didn't answer, so he had to change the question. "Alright then, let's switch bodies. How do I do it?"

<Please select a non-living object you wish to switch bodies with>

"Non-living? Hmm... what about rooftops? They get a lot of sun, right? Oh, no, no, wait, can you switch my body with those cultivators' clothes? I want to see them use their abilities to fly around and such."

<You can only switch with objects that are in contact with your current body>

"My current body? But that rock is in the middle of nowhere. The only thing in contact with it is seawater. I thought you said water was a bad body, didn't you?" He started to feel angry.

<Solid objects are the best. Liquids and gases are easily separated, so there is a greater chance of energy loss>

"So, that means I can't switch bodies with anything right now? Damn it!! I wasn't even excited at all."

He was incredibly excited because he could finally switch bodies and go to other places. However, he was very disappointed when he learned that he could only do so with objects in contact with him, and his day was ruined.