As Liang En used his mental energy to touch the card, the spiritual power was absorbed by the card in the blink of an eye. Instantly, a faint light emanated from his body, enveloping him as if he were cocooned.
In just a brief moment, Liang En's figure gradually vanished from the dusty living room, leaving only a pair of footprints as evidence that someone had been there.
Meanwhile, within the cocoon of light, Liang En felt his eyelids growing heavier, and before he knew it, he had completely closed his eyes and plunged into darkness, entering an incredibly mysterious dream.
After an unknown amount of time, he felt as if a bucket of ice water flowed from the top of his head, jolting through his entire body. Suddenly, all sensations returned to his body.
Liang En's eyes snapped open, only to realize he was no longer in the abandoned living room; instead, he found himself in an entirely unfamiliar room.
The surroundings were filled with tightly packed bookshelves, holding all sorts of books. It seemed to be a rather modestly sized bookstore.
Once he confirmed his safety, Liang En began to inspect himself. He discovered that he had transformed into a young white boy, dressed in a well-made linen shirt and a silk jacket, suggesting a decent social status.
"It seems I've become someone else," he mused while looking at his fair and tender hands. "Since this occupation is called a 'historical explorer,' I'm probably somehow placed in an important historical event."
Before he could finish his thoughts, a middle-aged white man appeared before him, handing over a somewhat crude newspaper. "Little François, here's today's 'Egyptian Courier.' I believe you'll find the contents interesting."
"Thank you, father," Liang En instinctively reached out and took the newspaper, then started reading. After a few lines, he realized not only did he consider the unfamiliar middle-aged man his father, but he also inexplicably learned French.
"François, 'Egyptian Courier,' 18th and 19th century France—" Liang En quickly summarized the information he had gathered in his mind and swiftly glanced through the newspaper's content.
Finally, he found a crucial sentence in the newspaper: "A piece of black basalt inscribed with three scripts was discovered near Rosetta—"
"I am now Jean-François Champollion, a French historian, linguist, and the father of Egyptology," Liang En's eyes widened abruptly. Just as he was confirming his identity, a mist reappeared around him.
When the mist cleared, the environment had changed once again. Over the following time, Liang En experienced multiple leaps on the timeline. Whenever he recognized the general circumstances, he would be transported to the next significant moment:
At the age of 11, Champollion entered Collège de Grenoble, where he self-studied various languages and even earned the nickname "Egyptian" due to his knowledge of Coptic.
After graduating at 17, he devoted himself to researching the connection between Coptic and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs in libraries across Paris, leading him to destitution and rags.
By the age of 24, Champollion began publishing noteworthy research results and managed to escape his previous poverty through royalties.
Seven years later, at the age of 31, Champollion successfully formulated the decipherment system for Egyptian hieroglyphs, marking the birth of Egyptology.
In the following years, Liang En followed in the footsteps of Jean-François Champollion, conducting on-site investigations in Egypt. He collected and replicated numerous hieroglyphic carvings and materials for research until, unfortunately, he passed away at the age of 41 due to a stroke.
After the last time he was enveloped by the dense fog, Liang En once again found himself facing the occupational legacy card representing the historical explorer.
However, this time the card was no longer gray due to its activation; it had transformed into a radiant existence, like a multi-colored glass, emitting a glow around it.
Under Liang En's gaze, three cards, each a different color and smaller in size, flew out from this card and surrounded it. Golden text appeared on each card.
"It seems this legacy is usable. Let me see what it entails," Liang En thought, delving into his exploratory mindset and observing the contents of these cards.
**[Historical Explorer (Novice) (UR)]: Over time, many things erode away, but certain entities always manage to acquire knowledge, wealth, and power from history.
Occupation Card (Permanent), unique in nature. Permanently bound to the user's soul, cannot be undone. Other cards can only be used through this card.**
**[Keen Observation (R)]: Some people might search for something for ages without finding it, while others can locate what they need in mere minutes. It must be acknowledged that there are differences between individuals.
Skill Card (Permanent) (Passive), the possessor possesses an extremely acute observation of various entities around them, able to notice things that ordinary people often miss.**
**[Proficient Linguist (Advanced) (R)]: Language is the bridge humans use to communicate. Often, misunderstandings due to language barriers result in significant losses or even bloody conflicts. Thus, mastering a foreign language is generally a good idea.
Enhancement Card (Disposable), consumes this card to fluently read and write any language the possessor knows more than 10% of, as if it were their native language.**
**[Detection (N)]: When seeking various objects, preparation is vital, but luck also plays an essential role. Currently, this issue can be easily remedied.
Skill Card (Disposable), consumes this card, enabling the possessor to detect the most historically valuable item within a maximum radius of 5 meters from their core, marking it.**
"This truly is a golden finger." After inspecting the large card and the three smaller ones, Liang En's face broke into a satisfied smile. Though he didn't yet know how to obtain new cards, the ones he currently possessed were already impressively potent.
"But what do I do next to get out of here?" Gazing at the surrounding mist, Liang En's expression turned bewildered. However, at that moment, he realized the mist suddenly dispersed, and he found himself back in the living room.
"It seems I just need to think about it." Satisfied with everything returning to normal, he nodded approvingly. Then, he began contemplating the usage of these cards.
For him, the most important task was ensuring the safety of using this "golden finger." So, the first thing he did was to summon the cards and take a selfie with his phone.
Indeed, just like when he first acquired the golden finger, these cards, even when activated, could only be seen by him. With this confirmed, Liang En proceeded to test the utility of these cards.
The card "Keen Observation" immediately came into play. He quickly remembered that among the books he had perused earlier, the cover of the book "Ancient Middle Eastern Poetry," published in 1958, seemed distinct from the others.
After taking out the book and carefully examining it, Liang En realized that the spine of the book appeared to have been reglued. After meticulously destroying the adhesive with a small knife he carried, he used tweezers to extract a small piece of paper.
"A draft left behind by Champollion when he was researching Ancient Syrian," Liang En said as he opened the paper. At a glance, he recognized it, as he had written countless similar notes in the previous dreamscape.
At the same time, he finally grasped the true reason behind the activation of the "golden finger." Clearly, what played the activating role was not these relatively new books, but this historically valuable scrap of paper.
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