The First Mission: Collect One Hundred Roast Chickens

The First Mission: Collect One Hundred Roast Chickens

Jiang Hao began studying the system panel before him. It was very simple, divided into only a few sections.

There was a Rewards section, a Missions section, and a general instruction manual below them. There was nothing else.

"System?"

"Sprite?"

"Can you communicate?"

Jiang Hao tried calling out to the system, but no one responded. It seemed this system had no so-called system sprite; it was a completely interface-based system.

If he wanted to truly understand how it operated and all its details, he would have to read the manual himself. It contained answers to all sorts of questions.

The Rewards section was completely blank.

There was one message in the Missions section, the very message that had appeared in Jiang Hao's mind earlier: "Collection System installation complete. Would you like to accept this system and become a system collector?"

Below it was a pair of buttons: "Yes/No."

Jiang Hao opened the manual and began reading it carefully.

"Accept becoming a system collector. Complete missions to obtain rewards. If you decline, the system will be removed from your mind without leaving behind any memories or traces. The system will select another collector."

"After the mission platform issues a mission, the collector will enter a movie world to carry it out. A mission progress bar will appear. The mission will be completed once the progress bar is full."

"When collecting an item, there will be ten seconds of preparation time. The collector's hand must not leave the item being collected. During the collection process, there will likewise be ten seconds of reaction time."

"The collector cannot take any items from a movie world. After completing a mission, the system will grant a random reward, either an item reward or a skill reward."

"Missions issued by the system do not have to be accepted, and there will be no penalty."

"If there is an uncompleted mission on the system panel, the system will not issue a new mission. If the mission is not accepted, it may be directly canceled to wait for the next mission."

"During a mission, the collector may voluntarily admit failure. Failure carries a penalty: one previous reward will be randomly deducted."

"Warning! Warning! To ensure a realistic experience, the collector's entry into movie worlds is a physical transmigration. If you encounter danger, illness, or serious injury in a movie world, you may choose to fail the mission and exit the movie world. The system will repair all negative conditions. If the host's soul perishes, that is true death!!!"

"When the collector enters a movie world, the system will arrange a suitable identity, alter their appearance, and implant memories of the movie's characters to facilitate mission completion."

The manual contained a great deal of information, all of it extremely detailed. Jiang Hao read through the system instructions one by one, clenching his fists as he kept shouting in his heart.

Perhaps this is my chance to change my fate!

Crisis and opportunity coexisted. High risk meant high returns.

Determination flashed through Jiang Hao's eyes.

His finger pressed the Accept button.

"Welcome to the Collection System. You may now begin accepting missions."

"Ding, a new mission has arrived."

Jiang Hao froze. The mission had come surprisingly fast.

"System prompt: A customer watched the movie The Mermaid and wants to taste the roast chicken in it. They have placed an order to collect one hundred roast chickens."

"Requirements: fifty original-flavor chickens, and fifty flavored with Cumin and Chili."

"Mission: Enter the movie world of The Mermaid and collect one hundred roast chickens. Would the collector like to accept the order?"

Roast... roast chicken!

Jiang Hao was somewhat unable to stay calm when he saw this mission.

Crossing spatial barriers and traversing the entire universe—just thinking about it sounded unbelievably awesome. Yet the order was for something like this. Did they really think this was food delivery?

It was like buying a bag of ChaCha Sunflower Seeds in China and chartering a plane to airlift it to the United States. How expensive would the shipping be? What an extravagant expense.

Forget it. He didn't understand the world of the rich.

The Mermaid world... was it the 2016 movie The Mermaid directed by Stephen Chow?

Jiang Hao exited the system panel and mentally closed the light screen. He took a pack of Hard Yuxi from his briefcase. He had bought it specifically to offer cigarettes to clients. Jiang Hao smoked too, but he only ever brought himself packs of Hongtashan that cost a few yuan.

He pulled one out, lit it, and took a deep drag.

He was extremely excited right now and needed a cigarette to calm himself down. The smoke circled through his lungs before he exhaled it. By the time he finished the cigarette, Jiang Hao had gradually relaxed.

He knew that from this moment onward, his life would no longer be the same. Should he accept this mission?

Jiang Hao was not timid, but neither was he reckless. He still did not know what would happen after accepting the mission. At the very least, operating the system in the park was extremely unwise.

He picked up his suit jacket, grabbed his briefcase, and left the riverside park. Instead of thinking about where to find new clients, he boarded the bus home.

When he opened the door, he found himself in an old three-bedroom apartment with a living room. The two sunny rooms were rented by two couples, each costing four hundred yuan more per month than his room. He lived in the smaller room that faced away from the sun, which was naturally cheaper.

At this time, they had all gone to work, and the apartment was empty.

Jiang Hao returned to his room and locked the door. He recalled The Mermaid. He had watched the movie before, though not in a theater—he had watched a pirated version on his phone. He owed Stephen Chow a movie ticket.

He opened the mission panel and read the mission again. Thinking back, he remembered there really was such a scene in the movie. The female lead took the male lead to eat roast chicken, and he cried while eating it. It should be there.

Jiang Hao took a deep breath and silently said, "System, accept the mission."

Whoosh—

Jiang Hao's body vanished from the room.

Meanwhile, in the movie world of The Mermaid, a young man opened his eyes. Jiang Hao discovered that he was sitting in a moving car. Immediately afterward, a stream of information entered his mind, allowing him to understand his current situation.

His current identity was that of a young white-collar worker in this city. Jiang Hao had transmigrated directly into this person's identity.

He had to marvel at the system's power. This was clearly his own body, yet he had become someone else—or rather, he had been given someone else's identity, along with everything about that person.

At the moment, he was in a taxi, on his way home from work.

Jiang Hao was somewhat envious of this guy. He actually took a taxi home after work—what luxury. Thinking of his mission, he searched through his memories but found no information about that roast chicken stall.

He suddenly regretted it. He had watched The Mermaid before and assumed there would be no problem, so he had accepted the mission right away. Now that he thought about it, some parts of the plot were still rather vague.

It was his first time, after all. He lacked experience.

If he accepted another mission next time, he would definitely watch the movie carefully several times.

It seemed he needed to think of a way now. He racked his brains. That roast chicken stall seemed to be in a place like a small park. He had no idea whether it would be easy to find.