Chapter 2

When Lin Jiu woke up again, he found himself in a simple room. The room was only about ten square meters in size, with very basic furnishings. Apart from the bed he was lying on, there was nothing else.

A black tattoo in the shape of a sharp sword appeared on his forearm. The pale blue text reappeared, but this time it was not floating in the air; instead, it appeared directly in his field of vision. Even when he shifted his gaze, the text remained stationary, as if embedded in his retina.

The content of the text was as follows:

World Entered: Pokémon

World Difficulty: Level 10 Hell (This difficulty is for Hunter Trials)

World Origin: 0% (Exploring or interacting with characters in the current world will increase this. At the end of the world, it will be combined with the mission difficulty to form the final score)

World Introduction: Pokémon can be found in the sky, the sea, on mountains, in forests, on grasslands, and in towns.

Main Mission: Personally expel the Time and Space Gods

Side Mission: None

Warning: Do not mention anything about the Paradise in this world. If the warning is ignored, you will be forcibly executed!

Tip: This is a special derivative world, with coordinates provided by the Hunter. Rewards are significantly increased.

Tip: Due to the Hunter's first entry into the world, the language of this world will be automatically mastered for a period of 30 natural days.

"Are you trying to kill me directly, or is sending me to this world just a waste of temporal power?" Lin Jiu read the assessment task for this world, his face dark, and looked around for something to vent his frustration on.

After a few deep breaths, Lin Jiu calmed himself down and began to analyze his current situation. The Pokémon world might seem like a children's world, but such worlds can be more terrifying, especially with a very high upper limit. The Alakazam on a full slate of Lycanroc might have the strength of a seventh-tier being, so the Time and Space Gods should be around the strength of fifth or sixth-tier contractors.

Forget it, might as well just die! Lin Jiu thought, his anger rising. As an ordinary person, expelling two beings with fifth-tier strength would be a joke in the Paradise.

After staring at the text for a long time, Lin Jiu saw a glimmer of hope in the line "World coordinates provided by the Hunter." The Hunter referred to Lin Jiu, but as an ordinary person, how could he provide world coordinates? The only possibility was the metal disk that brought him into the Paradise.

Putting the matter of the Paradise Disk aside for now, Lin Jiu carefully pondered the meaning of this sentence. Since the coordinates of this world were provided by him, it meant that this world was not originally a derivative of the Paradise. Therefore, he was the only visitor from the Paradise in this world.

This was good news! Contractors knew why the death rate in derivative worlds was so high—it was due to the conflicts between contractors and the significant changes in the plot caused by their presence.

Lin Jiu thought about this and opened the mission options, revealing the specific details of the mission.

[Main Mission: Expel the Two Gods]

Difficulty Level: Level 10

Mission Description: A "Temporal Rift" has appeared above the town of Sandgem, and the two Pokémon known as gods, Dialga and Palkia, have both appeared!

Mission Information: Use any method to expel the Time and Space Gods from Sandgem.

Mission Deadline: 30 natural days

Mission Reward: Full activation of Hunter status. Title: [Pioneer]

This assessment task's difficulty lived up to its name of "Hell." In a normal Pokémon world, even as an ordinary person, staying in a town would be relatively safe because this world had order. However, to complete the mission, he would not only have to face the Time and Space Gods but also deal with antagonistic organizations like Team Galactic.

They would have no qualms about killing an ordinary person without a Pokémon. As for Lin Jiu, he doubted he could even beat Ash.

Lin Jiu opened his personal information to check:

Contractor No. 13014. (This is a false number to protect the Hunter, and no method can lock onto the Hunter.)

Name: Lin Jiu (Hunter)

Level: Level 1 (First Tier) (Each 10 levels is one tier. Leveling up does not grant any attribute bonuses but increases the Hunter's authority in the Paradise, corresponding to world difficulty and mission difficulty.)

Health: 100% (This attribute cannot be fully quantified and changes based on the degree of injury)

Mana: 70 (Intelligence × 10. Current mana recovery rate: 3.2 points per hour)

Strength: 5 (Related to attack power, carrying capacity, etc.)

Agility: 5 (Related to movement speed, attack speed, etc.)

Stamina: 7 (Related to health, defense, resistance to abnormalities, etc.)

Intelligence: 7 (Related to spell damage, mana, perception, etc.)

Charisma: 7 (Related to social skills, summoning, etc.)

Luck: 1 (Related to item discovery, crafting, etc. This attribute is extremely difficult to increase, so Hunters should cherish opportunities to improve it)

Note: The standard attributes for an adult male are 5 points, with luck at 1 point.

Reforge Talent: Soul Condensation. Gain a small amount of soul power from each defeated opponent (can be repeated). The upper limit is constant in each world!

[Personal information is provided to help Hunters estimate their own strength, but it does not reflect true combat power. Attribute values affect the Hunter's physical condition, but combat is not solely determined by physical attributes. Hunters should be cautious.]

It seemed that his years of part-time exercise had given him a slightly higher stamina than his other attributes. As for his intelligence, Lin Jiu didn't think he was particularly smart, but he guessed it was related to his [Soul Condensation] talent.

The word "Reforge" before the talent puzzled him, and the character "凝" (nín) seemed to have been smudged. These questions would have to wait until he returned to the Paradise, assuming he could survive.

"If the only possibility of completing the mission is that I am the only traveler in this world, then the significantly increased rewards for pioneering a new world are the sliver of hope I need to seize!" Lin Jiu's eyes flashed with determination. He could choose to abandon the assessment and become a regular contractor, but he had no intention of giving up. After enduring so much, the opportunity to turn things around was right in front of him, and he couldn't afford to miss it.

Lin Jiu left the room and saw a few scattered houses, with a forest entrance not far away.

"You're finally awake!" As Lin Jiu stepped out of the house, a boy no taller than 1.5 meters, around ten years old, greeted him excitedly.

"Hello, what's going on? Why am I here?" Lin Jiu asked, confused.

"My name is Xiaofeng. My friends and I found you unconscious by the roadside on our way back, so we brought you here," Xiaofeng said, scratching his head and smiling.

"Thank you!" Lin Jiu smiled, noting that the name was very Pokémon-like.

"Big brother, why were you unconscious in front of the forest? Are you a legendary trainer?" Xiaofeng's eyes shone with admiration, clearly from a common family and unable to obtain a starter Pokémon from the League.

Lin Jiu smiled and ruffled his hair. "I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I'm just an ordinary traveler, not a Pokémon trainer."

After a meal at Xiaofeng's house, Lin Jiu gathered information and determined his current situation. He was in a small village near Twinleaf Town, where the Lily of the Valley Conference was in the preparation stage. Trainers from all over the Sinnoh region were gathering to challenge the gyms.

Lin Jiu didn't stay long, as his time was limited. After replenishing his strength and obtaining some medicine and bandages, he set off into the forest.

"This is tough!" Lin Jiu held a thick wooden stick, facing off against a red, arm-sized worm Pokémon, which he recognized as a Caterpie.

Untrained in combat, Lin Jiu could only use the stick to deliver a simple overhead strike. The Caterpie hissed in anger, and its health bar visibly decreased.

The Caterpie suddenly coiled and rammed into Lin Jiu's stick, breaking it. Lin Jiu stepped back, but the Caterpie also fell, rolling a couple of times.

Holding the broken stick in one hand and a stone in the other, Lin Jiu saw the Caterpie form a "C" shape, its head and tail both aimed at him.

He waved the stick lightly, focusing his attention. The next move would require extra caution, as the Caterpie's tail spikes were poisonous. If he were to be stabbed and left alone, he would die.

As the first traveler in this world, the difficulty was indeed high. Without an identity, Poké Balls, money, or combat skills, he had to engage in physical combat. Even a low-level Bug-type Pokémon with a base stat total of less than 200 was not an ordinary creature, and higher-level ones could use skills.

The Caterpie's tail spikes glinted in the sunlight, but no toxic energy was visible. Lin Jiu didn't have to worry about it using Poison Sting, but he still needed to be cautious of the natural toxins.

The enraged Caterpie couldn't hold back and coiled to launch itself at Lin Jiu. Lin Jiu was prepared; as long as it didn't use Poison Sting, he could handle it.

When the Caterpie coiled, Lin Jiu prepared to dodge. As it launched, he sidestepped, and the Caterpie flew past him. Lin Jiu struck its soft underbelly with the broken stick.

"Hisss!" The Caterpie fell to the ground, and Lin Jiu pounced, stomping on its tail to prevent it from using its spikes. He then smashed its head with the stone.

Seeing the Caterpie knocked out, Lin Jiu breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was a Caterpie that hadn't learned Poison Sting. As soon as the Caterpie fainted, Lin Jiu felt a cool sensation in his mind, confirming the effect of his [Soul Condensation] talent.

Lin Jiu massaged his sore arm and looked at the unconscious Caterpie, feeling a twinge of regret. He picked up the stone and killed the Caterpie.

Bug-type Pokémon have a short growth cycle, and although their lifespan is short, they can quickly become a valuable asset in completing his mission. Unfortunately, without Poké Balls, he couldn't capture the Caterpie and had to resort to killing it.

After killing the Caterpie, the cool sensation in Lin Jiu's mind became more pronounced. He realized that killing also counted as defeating, and the effect was stronger than just defeating. However, defeating had the advantage of being repeatable.

[Notification: You have killed a Caterpie]

[World Origin increased by 1% (Reward increased)]

[Your talent Soul Condensation has activated, permanently increasing your soul power. Current soul power is below the display threshold.]

[You have obtained a chest (Green, Reward increased)]

[This is your first kill. Storage space activated (2 square meters). Storage space can be upgraded with Paradise Coins upon returning to the Paradise.]