The One with the Cheat Is Me

On a bustling street, amid the noisy, hurried crowd, a row of dilapidated houses stood along a lane running against the flow of people.

At the end of those houses stood a ramshackle hut, so rundown it could not have been worse. Everything about it looked haphazard.

The hut had been thrown together carelessly, and its door was nothing more than a wooden plank propped up in place. The wind slipped in through the gaps and quickly escaped from the other side, as if even it found this place beneath contempt.

A cough gradually sounded from within the shabby house.

"Cough, cough... Where am I?"

A boy of around ten struggled up from the bed, his confused gaze taking in everything before him...

Everything in front of him was utterly unfamiliar, leaving the boy startled and uncertain.

Suddenly, pain exploded in his head. A massive stream of information flooded into his mind, and the agony knocked him unconscious.

After an unknown amount of time, the boy slowly woke up and understood his situation.

This was the world of Battle Through the Heavens, a novel he had once read. That was the only thing that made him happy.

Both the boy's soul and body were named Xiao Bai. This body belonged to a descendant of the Xiao Family in Wutan City.

Years ago, his father had been a steward of the Xiao Family, but he had died in an accident. His mother had been devastated by his death and soon left Xiao Bai as well, leaving the young Xiao Bai to barely survive on the Xiao Family's relief money.

But because of this, with no one to rely on, Xiao Bai became an easy target for the other descendants. He was beaten up from time to time, and even his relief money was taken away. He could only survive by doing odd jobs outside.

Xiao Bai had transmigrated into this body because the original owner had accidentally bumped into the young master of the family, Xiao Yan, and had been beaten by those sycophants.

At present, Xiao Yan had not yet lost his Dou Qi. He was the family's young genius, already at Stage Nine of Dou Qi at the age of ten. One more step, and he would become a Dou Zhe—the mark of entering the path of cultivation.

In contrast, Xiao Bai was at Stage Two of Dou Qi, weak beyond measure. For someone like him to dare touch that lofty pearl was simply courting death.

Xiao Bai could feel the intense hatred in his mind. It was the original owner's memory. Xiao Yan's indifferent gaze pierced his heart like a needle.

"Ah, I've already gone up against the protagonist right from the start. This sucks!"

Xiao Bai sighed, then solemnly promised, "Don't worry. I'll definitely avenge you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Bai felt a change come over his body.

His body felt light, his heart felt at ease, and everything he ate would taste delicious. It was as though he could fly. The feeling was simply perfect.

This was probably fate. Heaven wanted him to help the original owner. Only by helping him eliminate his hatred would the original owner lend him a hand.

This was a mutually beneficial arrangement!

Although Xiao Bai was only at Stage Two of Dou Qi, he felt that if he worked a little harder, reaching Stage Three or Stage Four would be easy. As long as he reached Stage Four and waited patiently, bullying Xiao Yan would be just around the corner.

In Xiao Bai's memories, Xiao Yan reached Stage Nine of Dou Qi at ten and became a Dou Zhe at eleven. But when he turned twelve... heh heh, his Dou Qi weakened until he ultimately became someone at Stage Three of Dou Qi.

Xiao Bai believed that no matter how poor his talent was, could he really fail to advance one or two stages of Dou Qi in two years? Impossible!

But although he had transmigrated here, there was something he had to ask.

Where was my transmigration cheat?

Not knowing what else to do, Xiao Bai could only call out into the air.

"Where's my cheat?!"

The air fell silent for several seconds.

"Your system is right here!"

A light, clear voice suddenly came from the air.

"I am your system."

Matching host...

1%...

5%...

"My cheat has appeared!"

Xiao Bai was thrilled. His cheat was online—reaching the pinnacle of life was no longer a dream. He would crush the protagonist, crush everyone.

Xiao Bai was excited for quite a while, but he still did not hear the voice he had been waiting for.

He immediately began to panic.

The matching progress had reached 99%, 99%, 99%.

And then... there was nothing.

What did that mean? Was it trying to give me a surprise, or a scare?

Matching in progress...

Because the host's constitution is too rare, a one-in-a-million physique, the system feels inferior to it. The system is ashamed.

Matching failed...

The system is disconnecting from the host...

Disconnection failed. The system has committed suicide.

Backup Cheat activated.

Powering on. Absorbing Dou Qi...

Very quickly, Xiao Bai felt the little Dou Qi in his body vanish completely, turning him into an ordinary person without any Dou Qi.

Feeling the change in his Dou Qi, Xiao Bai was horrified. This Cheat actually needed to absorb his Dou Qi as its power source. What a scam.

But after absorbing all of Xiao Bai's Dou Qi, the Cheat still had not come online, making Xiao Bai frantic.

"What's going on? Why hasn't my Cheat appeared yet?"

"Why? Did I transmigrate here just to become an ordinary person? I refuse to accept this!"

Ding dong.

After testing, there is insufficient energy to activate the Cheat. Please recharge. Thank you!

Xiao Bai was stunned. Was this the legendary Pay-to-Win Game?

It even asked him to recharge and thanked him for it. Thank its ass.

Xiao Bai's face was full of grief and indignation. This was forcing him to become a pay-to-win player. What a rotten Cheat.

"How much more do I need?"

After testing, you are still one level short. You will need to work hard for another year or two. Keep it up.

Seeing the prompt on the Panel, Xiao Bai instantly broke down.

"Is my aptitude really that bad?"

He fell into deep self-doubt...

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Bai came to his senses. Looking at this utterly unfamiliar world, he was filled with both self-denial and self-affirmation.

"I can do this. It's just charging up a Cheat—easy enough. After all, I'm the only transmigrator among millions."

"No, two years is too long. By then, everything will have changed."

"No, no, no. How can you doubt yourself? You're a favored son of heaven. With your knowledge of the plot, can't you beat a mere protagonist?"

"The protagonist has an old grandpa."

"But you have a Cheat!"

At that thought, Xiao Bai shook his head hard, throwing off the chaotic thoughts. He reaffirmed his decision, and an astonishing light shone in his eyes.

After all, I'm a man with a Cheat. A little hardship can never stop me.

He had once heard the story of the Foolish Old Man Who Moved the Mountains. It taught people that they had to aim high and speak loftily, and even heaven would help them.

Think about it—wasn't the Foolish Old Man's mountain moved by the Mountain God?

Therefore, he had to learn how to talk and set grand ambitions.

Even if I lose at the starting line, I'll still be the final victor. Because I'm not going to play fair with you people—I'm going to use a Cheat.

Remember this: the one using a Cheat is me!

Xiao Bai sank into a deep bowl of inspirational chicken soup.

Then he began training from scratch.