The night was cool as water.
Soft moonlight spilled through the window into the bedroom, like a thin layer of silver sand.
Yan Anqing sat before his computer, staring blankly as he held his phone.
All the apps on the phone's home screen had vanished, leaving only a piece of software he had never seen before.
He tapped it open, and a round, chubby Black and White Dumpling logo appeared on the screen.
Looking closer, he realized it was an adorable Little Panda, unbearably cute.
Moderate gaming benefits the brain; excessive gaming harms the body.
After that official-sounding reminder, the app entered its main interface.
You are the only player of this game across the endless planes. Enjoy your game.
Seeing this, the corners of Yan Anqing's lips lifted slightly.
"Interesting."
He studied the software that called itself a game and found that it was actually an image-editing program similar to Photoshop.
Its functions were much simpler and clearer, however, without many complicated buttons.
After importing a graduation photo he had saved on his phone into the game, Yan Anqing made a few minor adjustments to himself in the photo, then tapped the "Finish" button.
In an instant, Yan Anqing felt that the world before his eyes...
Had changed!
His clothes seemed a little tight.
He noticed that his pant legs had suddenly become shorter.
Yan Anqing went into the bathroom and looked into the mirror, only to find that his appearance seemed to have changed as well.
After graduation, he had spent every day writing at his computer. His face, battered by radiation, had become somewhat rough, and his skin was exceptionally pale, as bloodless as the vampires in many films and television dramas.
But now...
The skin on his face was smooth and delicate, like the finest white jade!
Already somewhat handsome to begin with, his looks had instantly risen several levels, even surpassing his peak teenage years by a great deal.
"This so-called game can alter the real world by editing photos?"
Yan Anqing raised an eyebrow, his thoughts drifting.
A moment later, he found a measuring tape and measured his height several times.
The result was—180 centimeters!
The senses could deceive, but data could not.
When he had gone to the hospital for a checkup half a month ago, his recorded height had been 174.5 centimeters!
At his age, his growth plates had long since fully fused. There was no way he could grow even one more centimeter!
Influencing reality through image-editing software...
The authority of this game was simply heaven-defying!
Yan Anqing decided to make a few more attempts and dig deeper into its potential.
Explore, discover, think, understand, apply!
That was the pattern of behavior he had developed while attending medical school.
Yan Anqing took off his red-and-gray hoodie and snapped a selfie of himself.
After a round of edits, he tapped the Finish button.
Without any sound or visual effect, his physique underwent an earth-shaking transformation in complete silence!
Full chest muscles like armor, eight perfectly symmetrical abdominal muscles, biceps with hard, smooth lines, and even distinct V-lines!
"This isn't scientific." Yan Anqing frowned deeply.
What he meant by unscientific was not the game's image-editing software affecting the real world, but something else...
Yan Anqing had made a habit of working out since high school. Though he had done so on and off, he had experienced his own peak periods.
When his body fat percentage had been at its lowest, his abs had also been clearly visible.
At that time, he had six abdominal muscles, and they had not been completely symmetrical!
Many people believed the number of muscle groups could be changed through training.
They thought asymmetrical abs meant that one had not trained enough! It was unscientific! It was bad training!
In truth, that was completely wrong!
A fallacy.
The number and shape of a person's abdominal muscles were determined by the tendinous intersections of the rectus abdominis.
In other words, they depended on traits expressed by one's genes.
As for whether someone's abs appeared to be "there" or "not there," that was merely a matter of changing body fat percentage.
Everyone had abs. It was just that some people's abs were covered by a layer of fat and could not be seen directly.
Moreover, after testing his physical capabilities, Yan Anqing discovered that the muscles on his body were not merely empty decoration.
Explosive power surged within him.
"So this game can not only Modify reality, but even has a certain degree of Reasonable Modification!"
An inexplicable flame lit up in his eyes.
After calming himself down a little, Yan Anqing opened the assistant option and entered a line of text.
"If I accidentally lose my phone, is there any after-sales service?"
As for the software on his phone, Yan Anqing had no desire to ask where it came from.
He only wanted to know how to make sure it would belong to him forever.
The Little Panda that had appeared earlier suddenly hopped out, its plump body squeezing the main interface aside.
It blew out a string of text bubbles from its mouth. "Please retrieve it yourself, Host. This software is currently in its trial period and does not yet provide a binding function."
Yan Anqing's eyes curved into crescents, and a warm spring seemed to brew within his amber gaze.
"Trial period? Binding function?"
The game assistant seemed to have given him an extraordinary hint...
Before Yan Anqing could think further, the Little Panda blew out another series of text bubbles.
Vermilion background, dark blue text.
The first stage of the Main Quest has been issued!
Mission Content: Obtain 3 achievements. Current progress: 0/3.
Rewards: ① Upon the end of the trial period, the game will bind to the Host's soul. No one other than the Host will be able to see or use this game. ② Unlock new game options.
"How do I obtain game achievements?"
Yan Anqing typed in his question again.
Please explore on your own.
"That's fine too."
Holding his phone, Yan Anqing adjusted all the ill-fitting clothes in his home until they fit properly.
With the help of this software, wealth, fame, and everything ordinary people desired were all within easy reach.
But Yan Anqing had no interest in those things.
Money?
Enough to get by was enough.
He had just finished writing a novel. After deducting his daily expenses, he still had some money left.
In this eighteenth-tier little county town, there was nowhere he needed to spend much money for the time being.
Women, or rather...
Beautiful women?
His heart had sunk into desolation on the day his girlfriend, Li Wan, took her own life because of depression.
Many men were like lions.
They could fall in love with many women at once without feeling the slightest discomfort, believing it to be perfectly natural.
But a very small number of men were like badgers.
If one became separated, the other would spend the rest of his life searching.
Unfortunately, Yan Anqing belonged to the latter.
Li Wan had been a very ordinary girl.
She was plain-looking, not particularly clever, a graduate of a third-rate university, prone to little temper tantrums, and occasionally considerate. Aside from painting, she had no other special talents.
But Yan Anqing loved her.
An orphan, Yan Anqing had only himself to feed and no responsibility or obligation to carry on his bloodline.
So Yan Anqing had no intention of finding another girlfriend to replace Li Wan.
Living alone was quite good too.
So the question was...
Now that Yan Anqing had obtained a heaven-defying object capable of altering the real world, what exactly should he do with it?
For no reason, he thought of a corny joke his classmates used to tease him with.
"Even if you won five million in the lottery, you wouldn't know how to spend it!"
Yan Anqing pondered for a long time, then suddenly chuckled.
He raised his phone and aimed it at the moon in the sky...