Rules

The final countdown disappeared.

Then a warm breeze, carrying the sunlight of dusk, swept over him, burning away the Wild Grass-like darkness. Lines of red-and-black text scattered like Ember.

Notice: The perspective of Game Character No. 1—"Gu Wenyu"—has been successfully loaded. (After a period of buffering, the character's background memories will be uploaded into your brain. A massive influx of memories may follow. Please prepare yourself mentally.)

Amid the sunlight pouring toward him, Ji Minghuan trembled slightly as he raised his eyelids.

Before him were books piled high on a desk.

Overly loud ringing, immature and frivolous chatter, and the screech of desk legs scraping against the floor tangled together from all directions, as if forming a boisterous giant hand that dragged him into this unfamiliar world without explanation.

After staring blankly for a moment, he lifted his head and looked around—this seemed to be a classroom. Students in blue-and-white uniforms brushed past the desks, their Footsteps unceasing.

Judging by the sky, school should already have ended by now.

The students on duty remained behind to clean, while the rest packed their bags and streamed out.

When he glanced outside, most of the figures passing through the corridor were in pairs. Amid laughter and cheerful voices, the setting sun gilded their silhouettes with a golden edge.

Meanwhile, Ji Minghuan alone remained sprawled awkwardly over his desk, his chin resting on his folded arms, with two textbooks beneath them.

Lowering his gaze, he saw that he too was wearing a blue-and-white school uniform identical to everyone else's.

He had never attended school since childhood, much less gone to class. This environment was somewhat unfamiliar to him. His gaze paused briefly as it swept past the bookshelf and bulletin board at the back of the classroom before slowly withdrawing.

"Is this for real...?"

Still lying over the desk, he slanted another glance out the window.

It was sunset outside. The sun was slowly sinking toward the horizon, spilling its lingering glow over the city.

That last trace of sunlight before evening arrived was like a mischievous child riding a sled, sliding down the Blood Red mountain called the Sky Curtain and into a steel forest built of neon lights and cables. It darted lightly between skyscrapers, streets, and alleys, unconsciously dyeing the glass curtain walls along its path crimson.

At last, it passed through the classroom window and shone upon Ji Minghuan, washing away the pallor brought by a month of confinement.

Bathed in an orange glow, the Young Man stared blankly at the sunset on the edge of the city. Though his eyes had yet to adjust to the sunlight, he still could not resist looking directly at it—he had not seen the sun for a month.

By the time he came back to himself, the crowd in the room had mostly dispersed, and the clamor of desk legs scraping against the floor had gradually subsided. In its place came someone calling his name from behind.

"Gu Wenyu, wanna come to my place later?"

Hearing that, Ji Minghuan turned halfway around to look behind him.

The one calling him was a student in uniform. He had handsome features and a lean, tall build, with medium-length black hair tied into a perky braid atop his head. His desk drawer had probably received no shortage of love letters.

Ji Minghuan studied him curiously, considering how to respond as he said, "I..."

The moment he squeezed out that one word, a low, hoarse, and androgynous voice sounded beside his ear again.

Character Memory has finished loading.

As the voice fell silent, fragmented, disordered memories flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.

His head buzzed as though someone had pried open a crack in his skull with fire tongs and poured boiling water inside.

Amid the scorching pain, scenes from memories that did not belong to him flashed past one after another, playing rapidly before his eyes like a slideshow. Even his pupils trembled slightly.

In two seconds, he had read through every memory. It was as if he had lived another life inside his mind.

Those memories indeed did not belong to Ji Minghuan. They came from this newly generated Game Character—"Gu Wenyu."

In those memories, this school was called Li Jing Fifth Middle School.

And among Gu Wenyu's social connections, this seemingly frivolous classmate before him was his best friend at school, Li Qingping—a genuine rich second-generation heir.

Though they were all penniless high school students, Li Qingping received ten or twenty thousand yuan in living expenses every month. On top of that, he was generous and free-spending, so he was quite popular in class.

Many people thought it strange that the two of them had become friends.

"What's wrong with you? Summer Vacation's here, and you're still unhappy?" Seeing him space out, Li Qingping leaned over and bumped his shoulder, asking with a cheeky grin.

"I just woke up. My head's still a little dizzy."

As Ji Minghuan spoke, he pulled the neatly packed schoolbag from the desk drawer and slung its strap over his shoulder.

"I've got something to do today. I'll come hang out at your place another time. Summer Vacation's just started—we've got plenty of time." With that, he rose from his seat and walked out of the classroom without looking back.

After taking a few steps toward the stairwell, he stopped in an empty corner of the corridor. Leaning against the railing, he gazed out at the city shrouded in dusk. There was no doubt that the city before him was the Li Capital he knew. As a child, Ji Minghuan had gazed out at this city countless times from the attic of the Welfare Home, imagining what the world outside was like.

But he had never taken even one step outside that place.

Back then, he never could have imagined that his childhood wish would ultimately come true through the absurd means of "controlling another body."

"So... I really returned to Li Capital through my own superpower?"

As Ji Minghuan pondered this, he turned his head and looked from the top of the school building toward the Welfare Home.

In the dusk, he could vaguely make out the tall Library within the Welfare Home and the attic perched atop it. As if he had seen an old friend after a long separation, his eyes brightened.

Looking down at this body, he said, "Come to think of it, did I take over someone else's body, or did I... use my own superpower to create a brand-new person in this world, even giving him a complete life trajectory? Why has no one ever suspected me?"

At that thought, Ji Minghuan casually tossed the schoolbag from his shoulder, turned around, and spread his arms over the railing behind him, his fingers lightly tapping against it.

"Wouldn't this be the equivalent of forcibly inserting into history someone who never existed in the first place... or, even more absurdly, brainwashing the entire world?"

"From another perspective, does this count as directly creating a parallel world?"

"Doesn't that butterfly effect say that even a butterfly flapping its wings on a different worldline can stir up a storm? Let alone directly inserting a person who never existed into history."

"Theoretically, no matter how tiny, insignificant, humble, or unremarkable that person is—even if he dies of illness in bed the day after he is born—he could still drastically alter the future course of this world."

Ji Minghuan drew a deep breath, bowing his head as his eyes were hidden behind the hair hanging over his forehead.

"So that's why..." he murmured in relief. Recalling the month he had spent imprisoned in the laboratory, he could not help letting out a quiet chuckle. The curve of his lips carried a mocking edge. "No wonder the people in that laboratory thought so highly of me. And this is only the effect after I was given a Superpower Inhibitor. If Instructor found out, he'd be shocked out of his mind. My Main Body probably wouldn't be taking another step out of that laboratory after that."

His thoughts scattered chaotically. At that moment, several high school students passed in front of him, casting him strange looks. After the final class of the day, Summer Vacation had officially begun. For most students, this moment was several times happier than the New Year, and no one would linger at school.

Glancing to the side, he saw that the corridor had already become completely empty. Ji Minghuan did not stay any longer and soon headed downstairs, leaving the school building.

With both hands in his uniform pockets, he walked toward the school gates and thought, Since my superpower is a game, are there any game quests I can do? Like snapping my fingers and cutting the world's population in half, or failing an arts entrance exam and starting a world war?

Just then, he suddenly noticed a "gear" icon in the lower-right corner of his vision.

No matter how he shifted his gaze, the icon remained stuck in place, like a maggot clinging to bone. As he walked, Ji Minghuan deliberately rubbed his eyes, quickly realizing that the icon's existence had nothing to do with his retina.

Left with no choice, he found an empty corner behind the school building and tentatively reached out to poke it with a finger.

The instant his fingertip touched the "gear," the icon suddenly moved to the center of his vision, then expanded more than tenfold, turning into a square text panel. Several options were listed from top to bottom—anyone who had played games would recognize it as a system settings panel.

Ji Minghuan did not inspect it closely, only giving it a rough glance. Among the options he saw were—Attribute Panel, Task Panel, Character Exclusive Training System, Skill Tree System...