Start by logging into the Old Man's Ring at Hogwarts

"Yes, thank you, young man. It would be even better if you washed it with water; I still feel like I'm not quite clean enough."

"Then I'll come find you again next time. In the meantime, could you please help me choose my college? It seems like everyone is waiting for us."

"Alright, alright. Actually, I don't even need to look to know where you should go. Unparalleled wisdom and a thirst for knowledge. Ravenclaw is definitely the best choice."

"No, I want to go to Gryffindor."

"Oh, why? You should know that those lion cubs aren't very well-behaved, and you'll be out of place."

"I promised Hermione's parents I would take good care of her. Besides, the pursuit of knowledge is less lonely when someone is there to accompany you, isn't it?"

"Yes, child. You value family and have a protective heart. Gryffindor might be a good fit for you."

"Then, I look forward to you coming to the principal's office to help me take a bath."

"Gryffindor!"

Upon hearing that Zicomo had ultimately joined Gryffindor, the lion cubs erupted in thunderous cheers.

It was no less enthusiastic than the welcome given to Harry before.

They had a great deal of goodwill towards this freshman who dared to cast a spell on the Sorting Hat during the Sorting Ceremony.

Zicomo sat down next to Hermione, and Ron's twin brothers crowded around.

"That's so cool, buddy. How did you even think of casting a spell on the Sorting Hat?"

“Oh, right, this is Fred, and I’m George. I’m Ron’s brother.”

“Hey! I’m George! He’s Fred.”

Ignoring the two clowns, Zicomo calmly said, "It's nothing, I'm just a bit of a germaphobe."

"Wow! Even the reason is so cool!"

At this point, Professor McGonagall tapped her cup, signaling everyone to quiet down.

Dumbledore stood up and said, "Welcome everyone to Hogwarts for the start of a new school year! Before the banquet begins, I must say: Idiots! Crybabies! Trash! Squeaks! Thank you all!"

Although they ate a lot of snacks on the train, the snacks weren't enough to fill them up. Harry and Ron, who had been starving all day, began to wolf down their food.

Hermione and Zicomo were fine; they ate their main meal at noon, taking their time.

While eating, the little witch asked Zicomo what Dumbledore's last words meant.

"I guess it's a description of the four colleges?"

"Ravenclaw students think everyone else in the houses is stupid; Gryffindor students are mostly brave, so they think the other three houses are all crybabies; Slytherin admires pure-bloods and thinks the other houses are useless scum; while Hufflepuff students are honest and hardworking, so they think the other houses should straighten themselves out."

Recalling the descriptions of the four houses she had read in the book, Hermione felt that her cousin's words made a lot of sense.

Just as everyone was enjoying their meal, the ghosts of Hogwarts burst in.

Seeing Hermione staring at Nick, who was almost headless, Zicomo quickly stopped her.

"Hermione! Stop being so curious! Think about what we're doing!"

"Trust me, don't investigate the cause of that ghost's death, unless you don't want to eat anymore!"

Hermione clearly realized something from the nickname "ghost," so she kept quiet and continued eating.

After the banquet, the class leaders from each college led the freshmen back to their dormitories.

Looking at the ever-changing staircases, a sense of unease flashed through Zicomo's mind. He estimated that it would take a considerable amount of time for him to find the right path for a long time to come.

The Gryffindor common room is spacious, with a roaring fire burning in the fireplace, and the decor and color scheme are warm and inviting.

Zicomo discovered that because his name was listed last, the same applied when it came to assigning dorm rooms.

He was lucky enough to get a single dormitory room because he was last in line.

What could be better than having a completely private space without being disturbed by others?

Back in the room, Erotic came closer, cooing.

“Little guy, are you hungry?” Zicomo patted it.

Irene nodded blankly.

After feeding it and washing up, Zicomo prepared to go to sleep.

However, at this moment, his system, which had not made a sound for a long time, started to move.

[Congratulations, host, on achieving the life achievement 'Magic Apprentice, First Year'! You have been awarded one chance to draw a mini-game.]

"Um???"

"What do you mean?"

This system is a game-based life system; achievements in the game will naturally lead to achievements in life.

[Achieve a life goal and you'll get a chance to win a mini-game prize]

"Isn't it supposed to be that you have to complete one game before you can play the next one? What's with these mini-games?"

Mini-games are rewards for life achievements; completing a mini-game will not unlock the next one, and as the name suggests, they are small-scale games.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I'm asking about the difference between the mini-game and the Elden Ring!"

The mini-games can be controlled by the host's thoughts without requiring the host's conscious intervention; however, the host can also consciously enter the game to experience its fun.

Unlike the main game 'Elden Ring', the mini-game only offers completion rewards, not manifestation attempts. If the host wants a specific item in the mini-game, they will need to consume their existing manifestation attempts.

In reality, the original mini-games cannot be visualized; there are only rewards for completing them.

This is a manifestation function that the system specially opened up to give Zikomo some benefits while also taking back the manifestation attempts he had.

After all, the game "Old Man Ring" already has 42 existing achievements.

The system fears that if it doesn't find a way to deplete Zicomo's materialization achievements, he might one day demand that it materialize the entire border region.

After all, once he becomes the King of Elden, the entire border region can indeed be considered his property in principle.

(Zicomo: Good idea, I'll vote for this number of manifestations!)

"Interesting. If you get tired of grinding Runes in the old man's ring, you can change things up. Not bad, system."

"Let's start the mini-game!"

P.S.: Thank you everyone for adding to your favorites and giving flowers!!! Also, I'd really appreciate some more data, please!!!

Chapter Sixteen: Gamp's terrible sense of direction exposed; what are the other four exceptions to the Gamp Transformation Law?

[Instruction received, begin extraction]

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained "Plants vs. Zombies 95 Edition"]

Zicomo: "???"

"System, do all these games have to have some sadistic elements to be enjoyable?"

Zicomo also played Plants vs. Zombies 95 in his previous life.

This version significantly increases the strength, spawn speed, and density of zombies. Zombies will appear from the right side at the start, giving you no time to collect sunlight. While the strength of the plants has also been improved, most of the time, whether you can complete the level depends on luck rather than skill.

Zicomo suspected that he had been playing the old man's ring too smoothly lately, and the system was annoyed with him and decided to make his game experience more difficult.

"Wait! System, open the Plants vs. Zombies game interface! Then open the command bar!"

System: ...I have a bad feeling.

“I think it should be this one, sukhbir.”

As Zicomo typed in the command, his premonition came true.

The system felt exhausted. Fine, it's giving up. As long as the host is happy. It'll just charge him a token fee.

[...Use one manifestation opportunity to modify game commands?]

"Hehehe, I didn't expect it to actually work! Use it!" Zicomo grinned with delight.

[Deducted attempt, modification successful. Enjoy the game, host!]

Sukhbir is a cheat command in this game that ignores sunlight, has no cooldown, and allows you to use purple cards immediately after activation.

In his previous life, Zicomo couldn't play the game any longer, but he didn't want it to end without a conclusion.

Then he found the instruction online.

Although it consumed one manifestation attempt, Zicomo didn't feel bad at all.

Once he integrates the entire inventory of the Old Man's Ring with the system space, he can simply store any materials he wants from the Old Man's Ring into the space without consuming any more manifestation attempts.

'Hmm? Could this be why the system is trying so hard to trick me into giving it more manifestation attempts?'

"Never mind, I haven't played this game in ages. I'll give it a try first."

As a result, this experience lasted all night.

At the border, Melina waited for Zicomo to appear at the blessing point as usual, intending to continue observing him secretly, but she waited for a long time and no one came.

It wasn't until dawn that Zicomo realized he had already completed most of his first playthrough.

Seeing that it was already dawn, Zicomo decided not to sleep anymore. He got up, washed up, and went out to find something to eat.

Then he realized that he had overestimated his navigation skills.