Chapter 1: Check-in System

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In the royal palace of the Kingdom of Great Xia…

At this time in the Imperial Household Department….

A group of gray-robed eunuchs were lined up neatly in front of another group of eunuchs dressed in embroidered blue robes. The gray-robed ones didn’t dare to even breathe out loud.

The royal palace had a strict ranking system in place for everything, which included how the eunuchs were organized. Those of superior rank oversaw and lorded over those lower than them.

The blue-robed eunuchs were in charge of overseeing the gray-robed ones. Thus, the gray-robed eunuchs were being very respectful and well-behaved before those dressed in the embroidered blue robes.

“From this day forth, you all shall adhere to the rules of the places where you are assigned,” one of the embroidered blue-robed eunuchs standing in front of them said.

He then unfolded a list with all their names on it that he was holding in his hand.

There were more than 1,000 eunuch recruits at this time.

Some who had been shrewd or perceptive enough to have earned favors with nobles were taken away immediately. All who remained had undergone martial-potential testing. The ones who had performed admirably were taken away by those from the Imperial Horse Directorate.

The Imperial Horse Directorate was the place for fostering formidable warriors in the royal palace.

All the eunuchs who made the cut into that directorate had to be extremely gifted in the martial sense.

They would all become heads and leaders of other directorates in the future.

The stronger ones among them would even become head eunuchs of the palaces.

The likes of the intendant, the seal director, the scribes, and other high-ranking members of the Ceremony Directorate hailed from the Imperial Horse Directorate.

The intendant eunuch of the Imperial Horse Directorate before them now was among the handful of the best warriors that could be found in the royal palace.

All of the gray-robed eunuchs before him were average at best.

The assignment of all those eunuchs was taken care of by the Palace Eunuch Directorate.

The members of the Palace Eunuch Directorate would select those who they found appealing and assign them to the Imperial Household Department.

The fates of all the others that remained depended on their connections within the palace.

Those who had very strong backing would be assigned to the Palace Maintenance Directorate, and they would then get the chance to see the emperor or the higher-ranked eunuchs serving the emperor personally.

Those who had connections that were not as strong would be assigned to the likes of the Imperial Temples Directorate, which was more idyllic and leisurely in nature.

While these eunuchs would have no chance of rising to prominence, there was also zero chance of them getting into trouble with the nobles.

Eunuchs of the Palace Eunuch Directorate would receive a lot of gifts from the new recruits every year before the assignments came, and the heft of favors was directly proportionate to the gifts received.

“Sun Jingyao, Jingren Palace.”

A new recruit named Sun Jingyao walked out gleefully from the ranks and shot a smug look at the other eunuchs behind him.

His fate from then on would be a cut above that of the other eunuch recruits.

The Jingren Palace was, after all, where the empress resided.

The empress was kind and compassionate and was known to value her eunuchs very much.

“Huang Lu, the laundry room.”

Another recruit walked out of the ranks, but he had a sour expression.

The laundry room was a place where menial tasks took place.

The eunuchs assigned to the laundry room would have no chance of ever meeting nobles, and they would remain lowly servants living miserably for the rest of their lives.

Worse still, if they were to accidentally ruin any garment that belonged to the nobles, they would be sure to suffer, even if they were to survive the mishap.

……

As the names of the eunuch recruits were read aloud, they would be taken to the side by a blue-robed eunuch.

“Li Mu, Jingning Palace, floor-sweeping eunuch.”

Swoop~

The eunuch dressed in embroidered blue robes finished reading that name aloud.

Every single one of the eunuchs turned around to look at the recruit named Li Mu.

All manner of gazes, ranging from sympathy to delight over his misfortune, were directed at Li Mu.

Li Mu’s face was ashen as he walked out of the ranks.

There was no blue-robed eunuch present to take him away.

“Just stand to the side for now,” the eunuch dressed in the embroidered blue robe said, heaving a deep breath.

He then continued reading the names aloud with a deadpan face.

None of the other eunuchs paid any more attention to Li Mu after having taken a brief look at him.

A floor-sweeping eunuch in the Jingning Palace…

A dead-end job that he would be stuck with for the rest of his life.

It could be worse.

He probably only had a few years to live being in that position.

Everyone knew that it was Concubine Jing who resided in that palace.

Concubine Jing had just infuriated the emperor several days ago, and she had been condemned to live in a “cold” palace.

The privileges that the entire Jingning Palace had previously enjoyed had been stripped. The servant girls and eunuchs who worked in that palace had been dismissed.

If the emperor’s mood got any worse, he might just decide to execute Concubine Jing in the near future.

On the other hand, she might simply decide that she was done with living and decide to commit suicide, which meant that all the eunuchs who worked in the Jingning Palace would be executed alongside the concubine to serve as company for her.

The living days of the floor-sweeping eunuch would come to an end, as soon as Concubine Jing was no longer alive.

It was due precisely to knowing just how perilous Jingning Palace was that those who’d served in the Jingning Palace did all they could to leave.

Thus, the Palace Eunuch Directorate had no choice but to select someone from the recruits to work at that doomed place.

That job was seen as one with a 100 percent possibility of death.

Li Mu stood alone outside the Imperial Household Department with an ashen face.

He’d just suffered yet another blow before he was finished dealing with the previous one.

His original name was also Li Mu, and he had once been a professor in Chinese medicine on Earth.

A car accident had caused him to be transported to this world where he became a eunuch recruit.

Now, he had been brought down to where he had been before he even got to know what the world where he found himself was about

Man…

I lost my manhood just like that.

How sad indeed.

Yet, before he was able to come to terms with his newfound identity as a eunuch, he was quickly shocked by something else.

The Jingning Palace.

The latest palace that had been made a “cold” palace in the royal palace complex.

He knew from the memories of the man who had inhabited his current body that any eunuch assigned to a “cold” palace had their days numbered.

So that is it, eh?

Why?

Li Mu could not help but shiver all over.

Tap, tap.

He unconsciously moved two steps back as his legs threatened to buckle under him.

Ding! “Congratulations to the host for successfully activating the Check-in System.”

System…?

Li Mu was dumbstruck.

A System?

A Check-in System?

So, could this be my cheat then?

Being an avid reader of online novels for over a dozen years back home meant that he knew what such a System was.

A grin blossomed on his face immediately.

He felt as if all the weight that had been sitting on his shoulders had been lifted all of a sudden.

I finally have something to rely on.

It took him quite a while to suppress his glee, and he murmured, “System, how do you work?”

The most important thing at this moment was to get to know the System.

“Host, you will gain the chance of getting a reward every time you check in on a new location.”

“Do you mind elaborating, System? What is this chance that you speak of? What does it have to do with locations?” Li Mu asked.

“You will only gain rewards by checking in on important or renowned locations. The more important or more renowned the location, the greater the reward acquired.”

“You can only check in once in some important places, but do so repeatedly in others.”

“You have yet to tell me about the reward,” Li Mu asked, feeling curious.

Important places?

Isn’t a place like the royal palace of the Great Xia important enough?

Every single location found in the complex must be important and renowned, no?

That includes the Jingning Palace that I’m about to head to. That’s renowned in Great Xia, right?

Ding! “Be it secret manuals about methods, pills, or medicines, or some other kinds of treasures, rewards will be issued randomly, in accordance to the importance of the thing. The reward of the first check-in on an important place will usually be greater, but there is no guarantee that it would be so.”

“Great! I’ll check in right here then.”

Li Mu’s eyes sparkled as he was filled with joy, making his decision right after taking a deep breath.

A eunuch with no background of any kind gaining methods and beginning a path in training.

Everything would change with that.

Ding! “The host has successfully checked in at the Imperial Household Department. One Marrow Cleansing Pill rewarded.”

Marrow Cleansing Pill?

“System, what is the Marrow Cleansing Pill for?”

“It can enhance your potential for martial arts, as well as your cultivation potential.”

Sigh.

Li Mu sighed right away.

If only I could have gotten access to this System two days ago and gotten myself a Marrow Cleansing Pill.

I might have actually ended up in the Imperial Horse Directorate right now. I could at least be at the Imperial Temples Directorate, failing that.

One way or another, I would have had a bright future ahead of me.

But, now…

If Concubine Jing dies before my training amounts to anything, I fear what will happen to me.

If Concubine Jing’s days are numbered…?

He began to worry.

He stayed where he was until sundown.

An old blue-robed eunuch came to take him to Jingning Palace, after all the other gray-robed recruits had been given their assigned workplaces.