The "White Stone Potion Shop" is an unremarkable common pharmacy in the small town of Leopold, and like its ordinary name, the goods sold in the shop are nothing special.
Besides the signature "Live Fish Potion," items such as pain relief and hemostatic potions are considered top quality, while the rest are hardly worth mentioning.
"Ding, ding..."
The bell hanging on the door rang, and a slightly shy young man of about eighteen or nineteen behind the counter put down his ledger and smiled up: "Good morning, Mr. Aiven!"
Although he's several years older than Aiven, Sangji always insists on using honorifics, because he says it's necessary to show respect to his employer.
"Good morning, Sangji. Has Aunt Mary's leg injury improved?" The young man wearing hunting attire and leather boots pushed open the door as he entered.
"It's much better now, she should be able to walk tomorrow, and mom has been saying she wants to thank you in person for finding the splint herb for her!" The shy young man looked grateful, his pure, innocent eyes making him seem even more childlike than Aiven.
"Hahaha, it's nothing. Have Aunt Mary make me a Leopold-style seafood feast that she's so good at, and it'll be fine." Aiven waved his hand casually, not taking it to heart. Over the years, Aunt Mary's family as neighbors had also helped him and Grandpa Leo a lot.
"Grandpa Leo... I'm so glad to see you're okay!"
Before Aiven came to the shop, Sangji had been thinking about how to comfort him. After all, since Mr. Leo's passing, Aiven had disappeared for a whole day, not looking well.
Seeing him returning to his usual self now, Sangji truly felt happy for him.
"By the way, Mr. Aiven, would you like to check this week's accounts? Everything's fine, but the 'Live Fish Potion' stock is nearly out again."
As a shop assistant, Sangji is undoubtedly highly competent, arranging accounts clearly with organized entries and exits. Since Grandpa Leo has been bedridden for a year, it's been Aunt Mary's eldest son helping him manage, sparing Aiven from worrying about minor matters.
"Alright, Sangji, I understand. I'll replenish the 'Live Fish Potion' in time, and I'll leave the shop to you."
Replying briefly, Aiven turned and walked out of the "White Stone Potion Shop."
In fact, Aiven was already considering whether it might be appropriate to hand over the pharmacy to Sangji, letting him take over as the new manager. After all, he's crafted a new plan for his life and couldn't spend a lifetime just tending to this small shop, letting life pass by in Leopold.
Moreover, this small shop was Grandpa Leo's hard work, and it helped them through the difficult early days together, so Aiven felt quite sentimentally attached to it.
Entrusting it to a stranger was unsettling, but placing it in Sangji's hands might be a good choice. If possible, Aiven planned to start gradually passing on related pharmacy knowledge to him soon, ensuring the shop could operate normally without him.
When Sangji saw Aiven turn around, noticing the longsword and longbow at his waist, and the beast-skin backpack he carried, he muttered to himself, "Is he heading to the mountains again? Somehow, Mr. Aiven seems different today."
Leaving Leopold's city gate not far behind, no sight except the sandstone main road leading afar, and before him lay endless green, spilling the raw breath of nature.
Constrained by productivity, wild areas development in this era was generally low, with vast stretches of undeveloped wilderness outside human settlements.
Instead of forestry development, humans preferred exploring the seas, realizing quickly that maritime trade and exotic treasures far surpassed land cultivation. To Aiven, civilization and wildness intertwined, modernity and antiquity coexisted, making the world in great upheaval strikingly charming.
Not stopping to appreciate the exotic scenery, Aiven turned into the forest along a trail carved by hunters.
Curiously, the youth ran swiftly along the familiar path but kept glancing towards the lower left corner of his sight, even ignoring handy herbs by the roadside.
Until he saw a huge swath of exposed gray limestone pinnacles, Aiven slowed and, seeing absolutely no one around, flitted into the stone forest.
The excitement stirring since the previous evening finally started calming down.
It wasn't a problem with his spirit arising from memory recovery, rather after breaking free from the nightmare last night, he discovered a vague, illusory icon quietly surfacing in the lower left corner of his vision.
Over time, the fuzzy icon grew clearer, and just now, with a "ding," the phantom icon fully solidified, turning into a logo Aiven was very familiar with from his previous life.
"Isn't this the latest sports bracelet I purchased?"
"Thump, thump..."
The intense sound of heartbeats.
"This kind of scene feels oddly familiar! Could it be..."
Aiven, with nervous curiosity, attempted mentally touching the icon gently, and his world instantly transformed.
Time: 6:30 AM
Temperature: 21℃
Wind speed: 10km/h
Humidity: 52%
Step rate: 0
...
Rows of green data information like a waterfall kept refreshing across Aiven's vision. The youth's eyes widened, mouth twitching incessantly.
Indeed, it was his sports bracelet claiming the most comprehensive functionalities! Beyond the tech-savvy display on the retina, the shown data matched precisely what was seen from the bracelet.
No way! A sports bracelet?!
Are you kidding me? Already in the Otherworld, what's the use of a sports bracelet? For counting steps?
Holding onto the last shred of hope, Aiven tried experimenting little by little, resulting in mixed emotions reflected on his face.
First confirming, the inexplicable object that came with him through the journey was indeed his sports bracelet; none of the envisaged powerful features like super brain, automatic deduction, artificial intelligence, or world traversal existed!
Still, it underwent a series of transformations during the crossing.
Primarily, it lacked a physical form, its programming integrating with his soul and mind, enabling all its functions merely through mental imagination.
Engaged with the external world, sharing with Aiven's senses, it could accurately quantify various parameters within his sensory range. While Aiven could only roughly gauge wind levels; it precisely calculated wind speed down to 0.1m/s. Estimating a tree as approximately ten meters tall himself, it marked it precisely at 10.13m, and so on.
Engaging in micro-recognition, enlarging or reducing to observe the microcosm, identifying unique voice prints visually, picking out the singular four-leaf clover among countless three-leaf clovers; recognizing a distinct sound heard once amidst various noises again.
Lastly, the most vital core capability being continual monitoring of his physical status, although changes to the world and body demand intricate dynamic testing, collection of others' body data for comprehensive conclusions, unavailable temporarily.
Whether more undiscovered features exist, Aiven was unsure, left to gradual verification with simple operations void of even artificial intelligence over time.
Concealing the data visualization, Aiven exhaled lightly; though far from the powerful Golden Finger envisioned aiding him in traversing the Otherworld, it was entirely free, right? If it's offered freely, why refuse?
Gathering thoughts together, Aiven embarked on the first day owning what he named the "weakest Golden Finger in traversal history: Data Visualization," abbreviated to "Golden Fingernail."