The Second Life of Adam Cosmos

Hao Jun's tone was neutral- friendly, even. But Ling knows her grandfather well enough to realize that he is disappointed in her.

A few days before Hao Jun was placed in an extended coma, it was decided that he would spend the entire time within Pangea while his body was being treated in the real world.

Since he has to be in the Cosmos Medical Center, he would naturally spawn in the Lorikan Republic server.

While the gaming pod is used worldwide for virtual gaming, its original purpose was to let those coma be placed in a virtual world where they could live a semblance of life. But of course, like so many of humanity's inventions, its intended humane function was eclipsed by its more profitable application.

Instead of starting directly in the Undead Regions, it was decided that Hao Jun would start the game and spawn in the Forgotten Temple where the rest of Hao Wei guild would help him level up quickly. In this way, Hao Jun would reach a relatively high level in the shortest time possible while under the protection of over a hundred Hao Wei players.

This is because, unlike other players, a death in-game for him would mean going back to unconsciousness as his body is in a coma. And this is something Hao Jun would not allow to happen.

Unfortunately, the plan was turned upside down when an earthquake was detected by Hao Wei in the temple about half a day before Hao Jun was expected to log in.

That on its own was no issue. However, in hindsight, the earthquake set a chain of events that led to the complete annihilation of Hao Wei just as Jun arrived in Pangea.

As the horde of undead wiped out the rest of Hao Wei, Jun found himself alone in a place crawling with monsters that could one-shot him.

Unlike the first batch of players who chose their paradigm and class by activating the totems that Imperatrix Demetra summoned, the newer batch of players can now select their paradigm and first class before arriving in Pangea.

As Jun was not originally expecting to fend for himself, he chose the Creation Paradigm and a class that is similar to what his original profession was when he was younger. Needless to say, when he found himself suddenly alone in a high-level area, it became clear that his movement and options became severely restricted. He may not be a gamer, but he understood how dangerous his current predicament is. And so, Jun spent the next few days cautiously moving around the Temple by himself.

Of course, he could have chosen to simply leave Pangea and spend the time virtually exploring the internet. But Hao Jun was never the type to give up before even trying to do anything.

Instead, he took the opportunity of life and death (in a manner of speaking) to desensitize himself when getting into potential danger while in the world of Pangea.

Since Hao Wei had left supplies in the area, he was at least able to pass the time familiarizing himself with the new world he would be staying in for the next 2 years. Or rather, it would be 6 years if he were to go by the passage of time in Pangea.

He spent the past few days carefully exploring the area. Luckily, whatever caused the undead to swarm suddenly disappeared so Jun was able to explore with relative ease for as long as he was not careless. When he is not exploring, he spends time reading the various Lorikan books and reports he received from the guild managers of Hao Wei.

Finally, after waiting for them for 3 days, the team led by his granddaughter had resurrected.

"Welcome, Little Ling. What took you so long?"

"I'm sorry for making you wait, grandfather," Ling began to say. "There was unforeseen trouble at the time you logged in."

"When leading a team, failure due to unforeseen trouble is an unacceptable excuse," said Jun calmly, but firmly. "Tell me, Little Ling, what happened?"

Ling obediently told her grandfather what happened. From the earthquake, to how she ordered everyone to explore the Inner Catacombs and find the source, the encounter with a mysterious player, and the sudden rampage of the undead monsters that caused the complete party wipe of every Hao Wei personnel in the Forgotten Temple.

"Hmmmm. I see, I see," nodded Jun. "Don't worry about this matter anymore, Little Ling."

"But grandfather, as the captain of this team it is my duty to-"

However, she was cut off by her grandfather with a stern look.

"Don't worry about this anymore my granddaughter," said Jun while smiling as if there was no interruption to begin with. "I will be taking charge of the guild in this server from now on."

In truth, this isn't a surprise for any of them.

Hao Jun is the head of the Hao Family and owns the majority of the Hao Wei Global Company. It is not an exaggeration to say that Hao Wei Guild is one of his business properties.

Nonetheless, the announcement felt like a sting to Ling who was eager to prove herself. As the youngest daughter in the family, she is already chasing the shadows of her older siblings. Taking charge of the Forgotten Temple's exploration was supposed to be her chance to gain some achievements on her own merits.

While she was expecting that her grandfather would take the lead of the guild once he logged in, she was originally expecting to be in control of the entire temple's business by the time she greeted her grandfather. And in turn, this would put her in a better light when asking for a position of authority in the guild.

Unfortunately for Ling, that is not what transpired.

First, there was the encounter with a mysterious player who managed to eliminate her and her top elites. Then, the entire guild was wiped out by the undead swarm.

To say that she had made the worst possible display of competence- or lack thereof was not incorrect. Now, she will be lucky if her grandfather considers her qualified to even be a manager of a small team. Her only hope now is to plead her case and hope for the best.

"Of course, grandfather. Hao Wei Guild is yours to command," said Ling obediently, hoping that her compliance would net her some points. "Allow me to be of some help in running the guild, grandfather."

"Hmmmm. We'll see about that."

Hao Jun replied without addressing his granddaughter's implied request. This is something that Ling did not miss.

"l will interview every one of you and check your status windows," said Jun in a much louder voice so everyone could hear him. "Everyone, group yourselves according to your Paradigms and current level. The highest level first, then to the lowest."

As he had been all alone for the past 3 days, he had nothing but time on his hands. He spent a good chunk of time reading the report that the various guild managers had given him to have a better level of understanding of how the game system works. Since Hao Wei has several hundred members all over the world, the guild already has a pretty good grasp of the skills that most of the known classes have. As such, a skill tree for each class was drawn and made available to him upon logging in.

He then interviewed each of the Hao Wei members to gain a better insight into their character as well as the skills and talents they have acquired so far.

Hao Jun made notes of players with the same skill sets and ranked them based on capabilities. He did this on every player and gave feedback to everyone as to what skills every one of them would take. In an extreme case, he instructed the players he judged to not be skilled enough in their current role to delete their characters and select a new paradigm and class.

He also took the time to interview the part-time workers. Those he deemed of a certain character were offered to be full-time worker exclusively for Hao-Wei and was promised a good salary as well as their very own gaming capsule.

This process took nearly an entire day.

Finally, all the Hao Wei players were interviewed leaving only Ling.

When it was his granddaughter's turn, Hao Jun did not bother to conduct the same interview he did for the rest of the players. Instead, he just asked his granddaughter a question that is not a question but an implied instruction.

"Little Ling, do you want to be my right hand as I run the guild?" asked Hao Jun.

"Of course, Grandpa!" enthusiastically answered Ling. "Please tell me what I need to do."

"Oh, it's pretty simple," smiled Hao Jun to his youngest granddaughter. "You see, there are plenty enough fighters, mages, and hunters in our guild. What we need right now are crafting specialists."

"Grandpa, I'm sorry but I don't follow," Ling responded with confusion. "What do I need to do?"

"It's pretty simple. I need you to restart your character and choose the Creation Paradigm. Oh, I want to spend more time with you so why not pick my class as well? I'm an Alchemist."

If Adam had been here to witness this conversation, he would have been very surprised at this development.

***

Strict, firm, but fair, and generous to those who perform well, Hao Jun is known for expecting nothing but the best when it comes to his employees.

In his younger days, he worked as a town healer in a small province in China where people still relied on old-fashioned herbal medicine.

And so, when he started in Pangea, he thought it fitting to return to his roots as a symbol of starting over again.

Fortunately for him, there is a class that is close to what he used to do in his younger days: Alchemy.

In his previous life, Adam personally knew Hao Jun; he was a Grandmaster Alchemist and was Adam's mentor.

When the apocalypse happened, the need for potions became a new demand worldwide as there were ailments that modern medicine could not cure. And so, Hao Jun, also known as Saint Alchemist, became one of the most important figures in humanity's fight for survival.

Hao Jun managed to acquire even more wealth and power thanks to the potions he created.

Fortunately for Adam, his skills in Alchemy have been deemed as passable by Hao Juns' standards and he was able to work for him even when the apocalypse engulfed the world.

Hao Jun would shortly establish a separate organization that is dedicated to creating potions and this is one that he would directly manage while the control of Hao Wei Guild would be returned to his eldest grandson in the Murim Archipelago.

However, there is now a major change to what originally happened.

Hao Jun chose not to take control of the guild until after he became an Expert Alchemist. He was originally happy to let the Hao Wei Guild function as a professional player's guild while he focused on exploring and understanding this new world. Yet now, he took control immediately upon arriving.

Secondly, Hao Jun asked Ling to change her paradigm and class. It was something that never happened in Adam's previous life. Hao Ling would never become a top player and would fade into obscurity as time went on. As a matter of fact, Adam didn't recognize Ling as the granddaughter of Hao Jun for this very reason.

Even during the Apocalypse, there is little to no mention of her while the other Hao siblings gained fame due to their numerous achievements of clearing dungeons and reclaiming China's territories that were occupied by monsters.

Yet now, not only did Hao Jun take control of the guild directly, but he also instructed his granddaughter to become an alchemist.

The Hao Wei of Adam's first life will be very different from what it would be this time around.

***

Adam continued working at his workshop.

The forge, furnace, and smelter can all be built using bricks. So once the 500 bricks he initially created cooled down, he was able to complete its construction with very little difficulty.

Not long after making the bricks, he was able to complete the quest to create his smithy. He used some of the materials in Vetius' warehouse to create cement and the construction was completed not long after.

He also succeeded in creating a charcoal furnace which would make the process of making charcoal easier in the long term.

As for the bellows, which are used to consistently pump air into the forge and furnace, he used the knowledge he gained from leather and wood crafting to assemble it and he was able to complete it in less than a day.

Of course, Adam's strength and high dexterity contributed to its easy completion.

Ding!

[Blacksmithing Quest Completed: Build your smithy]

[Blacksmithing proficiency has increased.]

[You are now an Apprentice Blacksmith.]

Now that he had a fully constructed smithy, he then prepared to produce coke fuel.

Coke fuel is essential in turning iron ore into steel. Between iron and steel, steel is undoubtedly the superior material when making weapons and armor; Vetius' Dagger is made from pure steel.

Fortunately, coke fuel is fairly easy to make. All Adam has to do is put the fine charcoals into a crucible and put it under intense heat. The process would place the charcoal under immense heat with little oxygen- the remaining substance is what is called coke- as in "coked" under intense heat while the undesirable elements in the charcoal evaporate.

Since Adam had an abundance of charcoal at this point, it was no problem for him to create as much coke fuel as he wanted. This coke fuel would then be a key material for smelting the iron ore.

But for now, smelting, and blacksmithing would have to pause as received a series of new quests from Vetius.

Ding!

[Blacksmithing Chain Quest: Create 10,000 Bricks]

[Blacksmithing Chain Quest: Chop 10,000 Woods]

[Blacksmithing Chain Quest: Mine 10,000 Ores]

Vetius intends to build a store where he can start selling his wares to traveling adventures. And while his ability to control earth comes in handy in blocking or creating passages, a store made of brick would have undoubtedly been more attractive-looking for customers.

Otherwise, the alternative is that players who find the workshop would assume he's a boss monster guarding a mountain pile of weapons and armor. Interestingly enough, this is exactly what happened during Adam's first life.

Needless to say, Adam enthusiastically did as he was told and diligently made more bricks. He remembers in his previous life that Vetius did end up building a store, but it only happened years after players had known of him. Perhaps it is because Vetius acquired an apprentice that some hidden condition was triggered for the store to start sooner than it originally happened. Or perhaps it is his interaction with Adam that made him realize that Otherwolders would be open-minded enough to buy from him despite being a Revenant.

Either way, Adam doesn't particularly care. Having the store means having a steady stream of players eager to trade their Essence and raw materials that Vetius and Adam can use to craft even more equipment.

And so, as he cooked and baked hundreds upon hundreds of bricks, he also began working earnestly with his potions.

As for chopping the wood and ore- 10,000 of each at that, he decided not to dwell too much on it for now. Even for him, it is a back-breaking labor. He'll just have to deal with it when the time comes.

For now, the 10,000 bricks alone would take some time as it requires several steps so he focused on that. He decided to prepare them in batches of 1000s.

During the time that each batch of brick was cooking, he also continued crafting potions.

Ding!

[You have created a Health Potion (Notable Quality). You have gained 10000 Essence.]

[You have created a Stamina Potion (Notable Quality). You have gained 15000 Essence.]

[You have created a Mana Potion (Notable Quality). You have gained 18000 Essence.]

[You have created a Cleansing Potion (Average Quality). You have gained 25000 Essence.]

[Alchemy proficiency has increased.]

[Intermediate Alchemy has reached 100%.]

[You are now an Adept Alchemist.]

[You can now imbue mana to your created potions.]

[You are the first player to become an Adept Alchemist. The achievement First Adept Alchemist has been added.]

After completing a hundred bottles each of health, stamina, and mana potions, he made another trip to the auction house.

Now that he is an Adept Alchemist, any basic potions (health, stamina, and mana potion) he created- provided he perfectly performs the process is near-guaranteed to be of Superb grade.

Superb is the next tier after Notable and only Adept-ranked alchemist and above can create potions in this grade. This means his potion would be even more effective and he can sell it to the public at much higher prices.

But first, he needs additional funds to buy more materials.

At the auction house, he placed every health, stamina, and mana potion he made for auction in batches of 10.

As the quality of his potions is higher than the ones at the Sanctus Lux Fortress or anything that other player alchemists can create at this point, there is no doubt that his product will be bought by the various guilds and wealthy independent players at high prices.

He kept on receiving private messages from various guild agents asking him to join their respective guilds in exchange for some generous contract. He ignored all of these messages.

Putting potions into sale whenever he can is ideal for him as he doesn't have to commit to anyone's schedule. He will sell whenever and whatever he can, and he will craft potions whenever he has the time for it.

It so happens that he has the time for it now.

Adam continued buying ingredients. While he hasn't made a profit yet from the new batch of potions, he still has enough remaining money to buy some more materials.

First, he replenished his supply of Oil Flask as it had been nearly depleted during the fight with the Lich- he ended the fight with only 3 bottles remaining. From single flasks to dozens of barrels, Adam greedily purchased and bid on every oil flasks. After all, the oil flask is an amazing compliment to his pyromancy skill.

Of course, this is something that other pyromancers also realized so he would regularly encounter competition when bidding for oil. But Adam is swimming in quite a generous amount of liquid funds so he did not hesitate to bid more than the other buyers.

Next, he secured more ingredients for potion-making.

In particular, he needs ingredients for utility potions like invisibility and haste potions. His stock for these has been used up with his skirmish with Hao Wei and he had previously had no way of replenishing it; only Alchemist of at least Adept rank can successfully craft it.

While the recipe is not readily available for players at this point, Adam knows the recipes by heart.

Unfortunately, the ingredients for these potions are much rarer than the other potions so he can only buy it in limited quantity despite his healthy budget. At the very least, nobody knows yet the purpose of these ingredients so there are not many players trying to acquire it.

He also kept an eye out for any Voynich Pages. But just like the last time, there's still no page available for auction yet.

After that, he left the auction house and resumed working at the smithy.

Crafting the utility potions is more tricky and time-consuming than the basic potions, so these took considerably more effort.

He also had to take extra caution as the ingredients were not easy to come by even with his money. As such, Adam juggled between making the bricks and crafting the potions for the next several days.

Not long after, nine days have passed in-game. Adam did not log out even once during this period.

He finally completed the 10,000 bricks that Vetius asked for and he completed all the utility potions he needed.

Adam received another series of system notifications.