Evaluation by the Realms
Everyone at Fuyou Academy knew about the Myriad Realms ring. It was common knowledge, and its related information was a mandatory subject in the Realms Admission Exam.
Li Chuan opened the box and took out an ordinary-looking white ring. The moment he held it, knowledge flooded his mind: the definition, origin, and main functions of the Myriad Realms ring; the requirements for wearing it; conditions under which it could be forcibly revoked; how to reapply after revocation; the recovery process after the user’s death—everything.
In just that instant, his blood pressure spiked to 220 over 160, triggering a shrill alarm from the monitor.
Jiang Changming rushed over. “Stop thinking. If you keep going, we’ll have to inject another hormone dose to expand your brain capacity. Your body can’t keep up with the nutrient demands of your mind.”
No one knew what would happen to Li Chuan if he kept pushing. He might end up looking like a big-headed alien from a sci-fi film, suffer total organ failure, or even fall into a vegetative state.
Either way, it wouldn’t be good.
Li Chuan let out a long sigh. “It activates… by itself. Can’t… stop it.”
The flood of information had weakened his speech. Three words were the most he could manage at once. Even holding a conversation was difficult.
He rarely spoke to his classmates, which contributed to his average social standing. He only had two friends: Huang Jian and Yu Qichi.
Still, Li Chuan felt incredibly lucky to have them.
During his three years at Fuyou Academy, it was those two who cared for him through every serious episode. Without them, whether he could’ve finished the three years was a big question.
Huang Jian and Yu Qichi were average students and hadn’t made the top ten in this exam, meaning they didn’t qualify for the Realms.
Fuyou Academy held the Realms Admission Exam twice a year. Students had three years and six chances total. If they failed all six times, they’d have to leave and attend a regular university.
Thankfully, exam scores could be submitted in place of the national college entrance exam. Students who left didn’t need to retake the national exam—they could just submit their highest score across the six attempts.
Because Fuyou Academy’s curriculum was far more intense than that of a normal high school, most universities welcomed its students.
Many planned to take the exam twice and leave. Time was limited, after all. If they spent all three years at Fuyou and failed to qualify, their peers would already be graduating from college. The gap would be too wide.
But Huang Jian and Yu Qichi had decided to take all six exams. They believed that even if Li Chuan survived in the Realms, his health wouldn’t improve much. They wanted to follow him into the Realms and take care of him—their brilliant but fragile friend.
Li Chuan had tried many times to persuade them otherwise, but they refused to change their minds. They insisted it wasn’t about him; it was for their dreams.
But he knew he played a big role in their decision.
He wished he could repay them somehow, but with his condition, even helping them study was a struggle. All he could do was place his hopes in the Realms.
Jiang Changming said, “Once you put on the Myriad Realms ring, you’ll enter a void-like space—a transit corridor between the Human Realm and the Realms. In that corridor, the ring will analyze your origin world and assess your potential. Based on your profile, it’ll send you to an appropriate location. All Fuyou students get placed in the Main City of the Human Realm.
“The Main City has a ‘Fuyou Academy Realms Office.’ This is the city map, with the office marked. Once you arrive, head there as soon as possible. They’ll assign you temporary housing and give you some essentials.”
All this had been covered in class, but students didn’t have access to the map until the awards ceremony.
Due to Li Chuan’s condition, the school had authorized Jiang Changming to show him the map early.
As soon as the map was projected onto the infirmary wall, Li Chuan nodded gently—he’d already memorized it.
Jiang Changming stared. He hadn’t even had the projector on for a full second.
Li Chuan’s memory, trapped in a failing body, was a curse. But in a stronger body, it would be a terrifying advantage.
“You memorized the whole thing? You won’t forget even a bit?” Jiang asked.
Nodding took too much effort, so Li Chuan just blinked.
Satisfied, Jiang turned off the projection. “Normally, students are sent to the Realms in groups of ten. You’d be deployed to the same coordinates and could look out for each other. But your health’s deteriorating fast. The school is letting you activate your ring early.
“You’ll be going alone. Take care of yourself. If moving around is hard, ask someone in the city to contact the Fuyou Office for you. The Main City folk are united. They’ll help you.”
Li Chuan gave Jiang Changming a small smile, silently noting down his teacher’s kindness.
With nothing more to add, Jiang helped Li Chuan fasten the Myriad Realms ring to his left hand and gave him a nod.
The unremarkable white ring suddenly released countless scanning beams that swept over Li Chuan’s body in an instant.
A light screen visible only to him appeared, displaying his information.
[User: Li Chuan]
[Race: Human, Primate]
[Origin World: Human Realm – Huaxia; Parallel Human Realm – China (Dual World, Parallel World Data Unknown)]
Li Chuan’s pupils contracted. He was stunned.
The ring had even read the memories of his past life.
Based on what he currently knew, he understood the ring as a system—a system executing the laws of the Realms.
Its functions included teleportation, evaluation, enforcement, and trade.
Teleportation was straightforward: transporting people to the Realms.
Evaluation covered both a user’s potential and the value of their items.
Enforcement didn’t follow human laws but the laws of the Realms, which were drastically different.
Trade allowed users to exchange goods and services with other ring users—like a vast e-commerce network, even distributing Realm Coins.
In the Realms’ value system, anything could be traded.
A human powerhouse had once used nuclear weapons in a first trade and quickly became a top-tier figure in the Realms.
Another rich man had traded a gold mine for immense power.
Strong humans in the Realms were often powerful or wealthy in reality too. Ordinary students usually became ordinary fighters there.
But even those fighters gained powers far beyond the norm. When they returned to the Human Realm, they often became elites—success stories who had jumped social classes.
Li Chuan came from a modest family. They had nothing special he could trade through the ring. Whether it was curing his illness or gaining power, he would have to rely on himself.
Seeing the ring pull up his past-life data, Li Chuan felt a flicker of anxiety. He feared his presence would pull that peaceful modern world into the Realms’ system. His previous country had known peace—if drawn into the Realms, chaos would surely follow. That was something Li Chuan would rather die than cause.
Fortunately, after some analysis, the ring gave its verdict: “The Realms have no jurisdiction over parallel worlds.” Only then did Li Chuan breathe easier.
He continued reading.
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 18 years, 2 months, 7 days]
[Remaining Lifespan: Fleeting, ephemeral, transient like smoke]
Li Chuan: “…”
Was he supposed to admire the ring poetic flair? So many metaphors just to say he could drop dead at any moment?
[Physical Score: 5/100 (Brittle, could be knocked down by an 80-year-old man, severe muscle atrophy, max 100 steps at a time, collapses in a breeze)]
[Combat Rating: Straw dummy]
Li Chuan’s eye twitched. It was his first time using the ring. He hadn’t expected the laws of the Realms to be so expressive—with a rich vocabulary and a love for metaphors, no less.
Feeling emotionally crushed, he held his chest and kept reading.
[Potential Score: Infinite]
After completely destroying his ego, the ring delivered a shockingly positive evaluation.
[User Li Chuan, though physically frail, has an extremely high knowledge with potential to rise further. He possesses limitless potential. The Realms have assigned him the classification: Genius.]
[Rare energy source detected within user. Analyzing…]
[Energy source identified: knowledge. Current knowledge value: 300. Exchangeable for 30,000 Realm Coins. Proceed with full exchange?]
Li Chuan ignored the prompt and turned to Jiang Changming in the infirmary. “Teacher… that strong guy who traded… nukes… how much Realm Coin… did he get?”
Even that sentence nearly killed him. He gasped for breath, clutching his chest.
“Fifty thousand,” Jiang replied.
Li Chuan’s eyes lit up. “What… about the gold mine?”
“Gold’s rare and hard to produce. In the Realms’ system, it’s worth even more. That mine was worth a hundred thousand Realm Coins. But that man illegally traded a vital resource. He broke Human Realm laws and became a top-level wanted criminal. He’s still hiding in the Realms and can’t return.”
Jiang warned, “If you discover any undisclosed mineral resources, don’t try to trade them. You’d be prosecuted—and your parents would be implicated.”
Li Chuan said, “I… couldn’t… even if I wanted. Just… curious.”
He kept his face calm, but inside, he was celebrating.
His knowledge pool was actually worth a third of a gold mine.
