"Solitary Star and Calamitous Fate…"
"Hmm?"
"This adeptus title feels a bit oppressive."
"Then… should we change it?"
"Mm, I'll help you think of one too."
The two of them lay under the covers, pondering for a while, until they settled on "Perfected Lord of Purity and Frost."
A heart as clear as ice, untouched by dust.
Xia Zhi felt this suited Shenhe's temperament perfectly.
"You're already an adeptus now."
Shenhe looked at him and suddenly whispered, "But Xia Ci is a god."
That strange competitive spirit flared up again.
Xia Zhi chuckled. "Don't compare yourself to her. She's the incarnation of Irminsul, born as the Dendro Archon. You've grown incredibly fast—you'll become the Cryo Archon one day too."
"Mm."
Shenhe nodded, then slowly slid further under the covers.
And then… there was no "then."
Today was Sunday, and the day passed by leisurely.
That night, Xia Zhi took out the Platinum Treasure Chest he had obtained from Shenhe the previous day.
He chose to open it.
A small card appeared before him.
[Temporary Occupation Badge]
Quality: Platinum
Type: Special Equipment
Traits: Word of Power, Myriad Forms
Effect: After writing any profession or identity on this item, the wearer temporarily gains the corresponding bonuses and skills of that role, though these cannot exceed the item's quality tier.
Hidden Effect: Charm +5%
Yet another piece of special equipment.
Xia Zhi held the item in his hand, examining it.
It looked like an ordinary work badge.
The front was blank, while the back had a pin.
Beyond that, there was nothing particularly remarkable about it.
The effect description mentioned "any profession or identity," making it seem like a role-playing prop.
After a moment of thought, Xia Zhi picked up a pen from the table and wrote a word on the blank front:
[Principal]
Then, he set the pen down and pinned the badge to his chest.
Click.
The moment the pin fastened, Xia Zhi felt a flood of new knowledge and experience fill his mind—all related to the identity of a Principal. With this, he could instantly become an outstanding school principal.
"Interesting…"
After digesting the new information, he opened his system panel and navigated to the Skills tab.
There, he found a newly appeared passive skill:
[School Administration Mastery] (Temporary): Passive. Allows rapid handling of various school-related matters.
A temporary skill.
This was the first time Xia Zhi had encountered this type of skill.
He picked up the pen again, his mind effortlessly forming coherent thoughts as he began drafting a School Enrollment and Development Plan on the paper before him.
Midway through, he suddenly set the pen down and removed the [Temporary Occupation Badge] from his chest.
Click.
The moment the pin unfastened, the smooth flow of thoughts in his mind abruptly cut off.
Now, when he looked at the School Enrollment and Development Plan, he found himself at a loss for how to proceed.
Xia Zhi checked the system panel—the [School Administration Mastery] skill had vanished.
"So this is what a temporary skill is like…"
He picked up the badge and examined it again.
The front had reverted to its blank state.
The words [Principal], which he had written earlier, had disappeared the moment he removed it.
This meant it could be rewritten with a new profession or identity.
Xia Zhi was beginning to understand how this Platinum-tier item worked, but he sensed that the definition of "profession or identity" was quite broad, leaving plenty of room for experimentation.
After some thought, he picked up the pen and wrote another phrase:
[Strict Principal]
Once written, he pinned it to his chest again.
Click.
The moment the pin fastened, the interrupted thoughts in his mind resumed.
He checked the Skills tab.
The [School Administration Mastery] skill had returned—but this time, its description had changed slightly.
[School Administration Mastery] (Temporary): Passive. Allows rapid handling of various school-related matters. Increases authority over teachers and students.
Xia Zhi removed the badge and continued testing.
[Kind Principal]
The temporary skill's effect changed accordingly.
[School Administration Mastery] (Temporary): Passive. Allows rapid handling of various school-related matters. Increases affinity with teachers and students.
"So, adding specific descriptors to the profession affects the final role-play effect."
Xia Zhi finished writing the School Enrollment and Development Plan on the table, then pushed the experiment further by writing two words on the badge:
[Geo Archon]
The moment he finished writing, the characters faded away as if dissolving, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
It seemed that attempting to assume the identity of the Geo Archon exceeded the badge's capabilities.
Xia Zhi shook his head, unsurprised.
After all, this was only a Platinum-tier item—Diamond-tier was the realm of gods.
Once he Enhanced it to Diamond quality, perhaps it could achieve such a feat.
He continued testing.
[Extremely Handsome Man]
Gained temporary skill: [Exceptional Charm] (Temporary): Passive. Charm +30%.
[Extremely Lucky Man]
Gained temporary skill: [Exceptional Luck] (Temporary): Passive. Luck +30%.
[Extremely Enduring Man]
Gained temporary skill: [Exceptional Stamina] (Temporary): Passive. Stamina +30%.
…
Xia Zhi tested many different professions and identities, discovering that all attribute boosts were capped at 30%.
Clearly, this was the item's current limit for stat increases.
However, the reduction of stats had no such lower bound.
[Extremely Unlucky Man]
Gained temporary skill: [Misfortune] (Temporary): Passive. Luck reduced to 0.
It could outright zero out his stats—though this debuff wasn't particularly useful.
The most valuable aspect was still the stat boosts.
By writing a specific profession or identity, Xia Zhi could temporarily increase all his attributes by 30%.
This was a massive boost for him.
He removed the badge from his chest.
As a Special Equipment, like [Radiant Wings], it could be directly equipped to his character panel.
Just as he was about to slot it in, he noticed [Shadow Hand] on his character panel—and a new idea struck him.
The badge allowed role-playing.
The glove allowed skill theft.
If someone else wore the badge to gain a temporary skill, and he then used [Skill Steal] to learn it… wouldn't that make it a permanent skill?
After all, the other person's temporary skill would only vanish if they removed the badge. Since he wasn't wearing one, his "temporary" skill would never be canceled, right?
Xia Zhi felt this plan had potential.
Later that night, Shenhe came over.
Xia Zhi beckoned her. "Shenhe, come here—I need your help with something."
Shenhe tilted her head. "Mm? What is it, Boss?"
Xia Zhi held up the [Temporary Occupation Badge]. "I made this little thing. I need you to wear it for me."
"Oh."
"Once you put it on, you'll feel some unfamiliar knowledge in your mind. Don't worry—that's normal."
"Okay."
Shenhe nodded obediently, letting him pin the badge to her pajamas.
The badge read: [Principal].
Once it was fastened, Xia Zhi selected Shenhe and activated [Skill Steal].
"[Skill Steal] successful. Learned [School Administration Mastery] from the target."
Just as he had guessed, the temporary skill became a permanent one.
This worked mainly because he had already stolen all of Shenhe's other skills—so now, the only new skill he could learn from her was this one.
Xia Zhi nodded in satisfaction.
Different pieces of equipment really could enable some clever tricks.
"Shenhe, how do you feel?"
"Fine. I just suddenly feel like I know how to handle school affairs."
"Haha, yeah—because you're the principal now."
"Principal?"
"Look at the badge. It says [Principal]."
"So… whatever is written on it, I become?"
"Mm. For example, if I wrote [Hydro Vision Holder], you could trigger Freeze reactions all by yourself while wearing it."
"!"
Later, Xia Zhi stole several more stat-boosting skills from Shenhe: [Exceptional Charm], [Exceptional Luck], [Exceptional Stamina]…
He was now one step closer to beating Ganyu at card games.
"Boss."
"Hmm?"
"I want to keep this [Exceptional Stamina] state for now."
"Keep it?"
"For tonight."
"Oh. Sure."
And then… there was no "then."
Well, if anything, the bell rang a little longer that night.
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