Interview

Interview

"Have you arrived?" "Don't be nervous. Your grades are so good—you'll definitely pass."

"Don't worry about the surgery fee. Mom found a new side job and will definitely scrape enough together for you. Just attend the interview with peace of mind."

Looking at the messages his mother had sent, Zhang Yu silently put away his phone, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and waited quietly.

After a long while, someone called out ahead.

"Candidate No. 989, Zhang Yu."

Zhang Yu stood and walked into the interview classroom.

He looked at the three interviewers and gave the polite smile he had practiced for a long time. "Hello, everyone. I'm Zhang Yu from Dongyang Junior High School."

The interviewer in the middle looked at him and said blandly, "Why did you apply to our school?"

Zhang Yu said, "Your school's long history, deep foundations, abundant teaching resources, and its long-standing cultivation of many outstanding talents for society..."

The interviewer frowned and cut him off. "Don't give me that formal nonsense."

Zhang Yu answered honestly, "I want to get into a prestigious university. Of all the schools I can apply to, Songyang High School has the highest university admission rate."

The interviewer smiled faintly and looked over the materials in his hand. "Hmm, perfect scores in every subject, first in your school? No wonder you were recommended here."

"Your grades aren't a problem, but if you want to enter Songyang High School, school exam results alone are nowhere near enough."

After thinking for a moment, he casually asked, "How long do you sleep every day?"

Zhang Yu said, "Five hours."

The interviewer said in surprise, "Five hours?"

"Our students have averaged no more than two hours of sleep a day since elementary school. As for the outstanding graduates of previous years, they basically didn't sleep at all."

"You actually sleep five hours every day. That means you study three hours less than others every day. Over nine years, that's a gap of nearly ten thousand hours..."

Zhang Yu froze slightly. He had never expected that, despite thinking he had already worked incredibly hard, there would still be such an enormous gap between himself and others in terms of effort. He knew that Songyang City students started elementary school at age nine and entered high school at eighteen, nine years later, but he had never imagined that over the same nine years, the gap between people could be as vast as heaven and earth.

Zhang Yu hurriedly said, "I'll work hard to catch up to them."

The interviewer on the left asked, "How much of the high school curriculum have you learned?"

Zhang Yu steadied himself slightly and answered confidently, "I've already taught myself the first-year high school curriculum."

The other man frowned slightly. "Only the first year? Don't you know that when classes begin here, we assume students have already finished the entire high school curriculum?"

Zhang Yu was stunned when he heard that. This was yet another piece of information he hadn't known. What he had thought was an advantage had become a disadvantage in the blink of an eye.

Just as he was at a loss, the interviewer in the middle asked the next question.

"To improve study efficiency and prevent puppy love, our school requires all students to undergo sterilization surgery to remove the relevant organs before enrollment, so they can focus wholeheartedly on cultivation."

"Did you know about this?"

Finally hearing something he knew, he hurriedly replied, "My family is already preparing for it. I'll definitely complete the sterilization surgery before school starts and keep my hormone levels at the most suitable level for studying."

The interviewer nodded noncommittally. "All right. Today's interview is over. You can leave first."

Zhang Yu walked out of the classroom uneasily. He felt that his interview had seemed shorter than those of the other students.

After he left, the interviewer in the middle shook his head. "He's already in junior high and still hasn't been sterilized. This child's heart toward the Dao isn't firm enough."

The female interviewer beside him smiled. "I think he came here knowing nothing. He doesn't have a single required test report or extracurricular exam result. All I can say is that the quality of these recommended students from ordinary junior high schools below us gets worse every year. If not for the support policy, what right would they have to see us?"

The interviewer in the middle nodded. "Sigh. I thought poor people would work harder. Perhaps my expectations of them were too high."

"Put this one on the backup list for now."

With that, he tossed Zhang Yu's résumé into the wastebasket beside him, where it was crammed together with several hundred other backup résumés.

Although Zhang Yu felt that this interview had not gone very well, he had no extra time to think about it. He had already begun preparing for interview after interview, visiting one different high school after another.

"Student Zhang Yu, we understand that your family circumstances may not be enough to cover the tuition here. However, we provide discounted loan services for impoverished students. You only need to be willing to mortgage a few unimportant organs..."

"Don't worry, you came to the right place. We know you're male, and although our school is a girls' school, we have never discriminated against men. As long as you complete gender reassignment surgery, not only can you enroll, you'll also be considered a seed student with a resolute Dao Heart, with the chance to enter an advanced class and study the Primordial Yin Qi Refining Art..."

"What a pity. You're still just a little short of our admission standards. But this year, in consideration of impoverished students, we've introduced a special-talent policy. If you're willing to give up your Physical Body, you can study in the Principal's Myriad Souls Banner as a soul-cultivation special-talent student..."

"Student, you really came to the right place. We're the high school best suited for civilian geniuses like you.

Let me introduce the benefits here. We add Nootropics to the drinking water, ensuring that students remain at Level Five Focus at all times.

Every day, the Homeroom Teacher will issue each of you over 900 grams of Ox Demon-specific supplements, guaranteeing cultivation results more than ten times better than before.

Even the air circulation system is filled with Neural Excitatory Filler, so you'll never need sleep again. And all of this is free.

Of course, if you want to withstand these enhancement supplements, you must undergo modifications at our designated hospital.

Don't worry. We only need to implant a few tiny magical artifacts to improve your metabolic capacity. Here is the detailed price list..."

Interview after interview, question after question.

Either the threshold was too high to reach, leaving him unable to see even a sliver of hope.

Or the contracts were riddled with traps, making him feel as though he would be swallowed whole in a single bite.

All of it left Zhang Yu feeling so crushed that he could barely breathe.

At that moment, he suddenly realized that although he had ranked first in an ordinary suburban junior high school, compared with the students in the city center, there had long been a difference between them as vast as heaven and earth.

Even now, he only knew the tip of the iceberg of how great the specific gap between them truly was...

All his years of diligent studying now seemed like a joke.

In the end, he was no different from those classmates who learned nothing and knew nothing. He likewise could not get into high school.

After returning home, Zhang Yu sat silently like a stone statue.

The phone on the table began vibrating repeatedly.

Mom: How did this interview go? Mom: I have to work overtime today. Remember to heat up the food in the fridge and eat it yourself.

A moment later, the phone vibrated again.

Mom: Son, don't worry. Whether you choose sterilization or gender reassignment, Mom will definitely scrape together the surgery money for you.

But Zhang Yu did not look at the vibrating phone. He merely stared blankly at the ceiling, wanting to think about the future, yet feeling as though his head were completely empty, unable to squeeze out a single thought.

Just then, the phone began vibrating violently again.

Zhang Yu originally did not want to bother with it, but after it had vibrated for more than a minute, he finally could not resist picking it up, only to discover that the caller had already hung up.

Then he received a message from them: Your five-thousand emergency fund is ready. It only takes ten seconds to arrive in your account...

"A microloan ad?"

"Hmph."

Zhang Yu thought that one of the schools had probably sold his interview information.

But after putting down his phone for a moment, he picked it up again and reopened the message.

That night, when his mother returned from overtime work, she discovered that Zhang Yu, who had originally looked ashen and lifeless, seemed to have recovered. He was sitting upright at the table, reading.

"Mom, don't worry. I won't be knocked down that easily."

"If I can't make it this year, I'll take the exam again next year. I'll definitely cultivate immortality."

"Tomorrow, I'll look for a cram school. I'll make up everything I'm lacking, one piece at a time."

Early the next morning, Zhang Yu rushed out. When he returned that night, his face was full of joy.

"Mom, I found an Immortal Dao cram school. The teachers there were all hired from Key High Schools. If I study with them, I'll definitely get into high school."

"You don't need to worry about the tuition. They think I've had good grades since childhood, and they know my family isn't well-off, so they've temporarily waived my tuition. As long as I get into Songyang High School next year, I won't need to pay it back. It'll count as advertising for them."

"Don't worry. They're a big company. They won't scam me."

His mother watched Zhang Yu leave for cram school before dawn every day, then continue studying until two or three in the morning after returning home late at night.

She watched him constantly bring back second- and third-year high school textbooks for Chinese, mathematics, physics, and more. Seeing that he planned to finish all the General Knowledge Classes of high school besides the Immortal Dao, she felt gratified by her son's drive to improve himself.

But when she saw box after box of medicine he brought home, a trace of doubt still rose in her heart.

Zhang Yu explained with a smile, "Mom, from childhood until now, I've already studied ten thousand hours less than those top students. If I don't work harder, they'll only leave me farther and farther behind."

"These Neural Excitatory Fillers let me sleep only half an hour a day and improve my study efficiency, so at least I won't keep falling further behind the students in the city."

"Don't worry, none of this medicine costs money."

"The Principal of our cram school thinks very highly of me. He gave me all these medicines."

Hearing that they were gifts from the Principal, his mother was even happier that her son was being recognized.

Soon, Zhang Yu brought even more things home.

Besides all kinds of high school textbooks and Neural Excitatory Fillers, there were capsules for regulating hormone levels, supplements intended for demon beasts, and bottle after bottle of unlabelled medicinal powder.

Zhang Yu had many explanations. Sometimes he said they were cheap goods he had bought through part-time work, sometimes he said classmates had given them to him, and sometimes he said they were rewards from the cram school...

His mother was happy about her son's diligence, and even happier about his good relationships and excellent performance at the cram school.

She transferred one thousand yuan to Zhang Yu and told him to remember to thank his classmates and teachers.

But gradually, she noticed that Zhang Yu's mood began to seem wrong. Sometimes he would leave happily in the morning, only to return at night without saying a word and go straight to sleep.

Sometimes he would be eating happily, but after taking a phone call, his brows would knot tightly and he would be unable to swallow another bite.

She knew that the pressure of cultivating immortality must have been too great, leaving Zhang Yu constantly tense.

She could only buy more things he liked to eat and save more tuition money for him, hoping to help ease some of his pressure.

Gradually, she also noticed that Zhang Yu cared excessively about his phone. Not only was it almost never out of his hand, he would not allow anyone to touch it casually. Whenever a call came, he always went into the bathroom and shut the door before answering.

Once, when she saw that his phone had run out of battery and took it to charge, Zhang Yu even angrily scolded her.

Knowing that he was under great pressure, she never dared touch Zhang Yu's phone again, afraid of affecting her son's cultivation.

Then one day, Zhang Yu asked her for cram-school fees. He said the cram school had invited seniors who had been admitted into top universities to lecture for them, and this was money to give those seniors. Then there was a recommendation fee for high school admissions teachers.

A Spirit Root testing fee for the hospital.

And money to buy a civilian-grade children's flying sword with his cram-school classmates.

From two or three thousand to seven or eight thousand... the last time, he directly asked her to transfer twenty thousand yuan. Zhang Yu said it was the fee for renting a Heavenly Spiritual Root.

But at last, good news arrived. Zhang Yu had successfully tested into Songyang High School.

His mother was overjoyed. She was proud of her son's hard work and talent, and she agreed without hesitation to the tuition, miscellaneous fees, medicine fees, and everything else Zhang Yu mentioned afterward.

But after school began, Zhang Yu kept asking for more and more money, and the household gradually began spending more than it earned.

Finally, one afternoon, as she listened to the voice on the other end of the phone, his mother's heart trembled.

"Hello? Is this Zhang Yu's mother?"

"Do you know that your son's loan has been overdue for thirty days..."

That night, Zhang Yu confessed everything to his mother.

Over all this time, the various expenses during his studies had not been free gifts, recognition, or support as he claimed... Every last bit of money had come from loans he took out across major platforms.

"Mom, I'm sorry."

"But I really want to cultivate immortality."

"Even if I have to spend my whole life unable to repay my debts, I still want to cultivate immortality..."

After hearing everything, his mother silently sold all the valuables in their home, then borrowed more money to repay Zhang Yu's debts.

She had thought that her son would finally be able to cultivate immortality in peace.

But she soon discovered that he had new overdue loans.

Repaying loans... borrowing loans... repaying loans... borrowing loans...

At last, his mother could not help urging Zhang Yu to spend less money.

"Mom, I can't stop taking this medicine. If I stop, my Dao Heart will regress, and all my previous efforts will go to waste..."

"I have to rent a Heavenly Spiritual Root. Without one, my Magical Power can't keep up..."

"This VIP card for the cram school needs to be topped up. Otherwise, I can't understand the cultivation arts the school teachers explain in class..."

Advanced Immortal Dao Technique allowed ordinary people without Spirit Roots to step onto the immortal path, but the price was that they had to undergo the most expensive regular study and maintenance in order to keep walking it.

In the blink of an eye, three months had passed since school began. Watching the debts pile higher and higher, until they could no longer afford even the rent, water, or electricity... all of it seemed like an endless nightmare. At last, his mother could bear it no longer.

So when Zhang Yu came home from school one day, he no longer saw his mother.

After reading the message his mother had left before departing, he sat there blankly for a long time. In the end, he silently picked up his phone and walked outside.

On the rooftop of the rental apartment.

A burst of piercing pain surged through the man's mind, gradually rousing his muddled consciousness from the darkness.

He opened his eyes and looked ahead, only to see a street not far away, crowded with people and flooded with filthy water.

On both sides of the street, advertisements of every color flashed with neon light. Looking higher, blackened buildings were crammed together, as though they were about to blot out the entire sky.

The building beneath his feet was a dilapidated apartment. Videos of financial advertisements were still being projected onto its mottled red-brick walls. In the advertisements, immortals who flew through the sky and tunneled through the earth were jointly promoting Cultivation Loans with thirty days of interest-free borrowing for new users.

"Wasn't I playing Black Myth: Wukong?"

"Where is this?"

As he wondered what was happening, he turned his head and discovered that the rooftop was filled with candles.

Rows upon rows of candles burning with scarlet flames surrounded him and a worn-out Wa Wa.

It was a cloth doll with yellowed, faded fabric and crooked stitching, as though it might split apart at any moment.

The eerie scene seemed to stimulate his mind, making waves of fragmented memories tumble and leap through his head.

"This isn't China... Did I get thrown into another world?"

He found it hard to accept that he had transmigrated.

But the genuine memories of Immortal Dao Technique in his mind kept pounding against his consciousness. As he gradually merged with the original owner of this body, they repeatedly reminded him that he was now in another world.

This place was Kunxu, a superstructure that stood upon the earth like a pyramid. It had thirty-six floors aboveground and eighteen floors underground.

Beginning with the First Layer, the largest in area and like an entire continent, every level was a brand-new world of its own.

As for what the world outside Kunxu was like, Zhang Yu's mind held no answer.

He only knew that within Kunxu was a world where the great Sects of the Immortal Dao reigned supreme.

The great Sects stood high above all, almost monopolizing every industry—food, energy, transportation, education, scientific research, medical care, finance, the internet, and more. Compared to Sect enforcement teams, the government and military were more like security guards watching the gate.

Yet ordinary people had no blessing to enjoy most of the benefits brought by Immortal Dao Technique. Instead, they spent every day struggling to make a living.

And he was a high school student named Zhang Yu, living on the Kunxu First Layer and admitted into Songyang High School, who had recently become obsessed with some strange ritual...

"Now, I've become Zhang Yu from another world."

Just then, a stabbing pain came from his palm, waking Zhang Yu from the flood of memories.

He lowered his head and saw a transparent symbol appear in his palm, gradually turning black at an extremely slow pace.

"What is this thing?"

As the night wind swept past, the crimson candlelight around him flickered.

On the ground, the battered Wa Wa stared at him with hollow Eyes made of black buttons, lying rigidly upright as it looked straight at him.

He tried to recall what had happened, but the more he thought, the more his head ached and spun.

The atmosphere in the air grew increasingly eerie and sinister. Zhang Yu clutched his still-dizzy head, feeling as though the world around him was whirling upside down.

When he came back to his senses, he found that he had already left the rooftop in a daze and made his way step by step back to his own door.

After glancing at the overdue rent notice, he stepped inside. The only things that met Zhang Yu's eyes were a bed and a table.

"Is this my home?"

Feeling his skin sticky with sweat and the stifling heat around him, Zhang Yu wanted to find the air conditioner remote, only to remember that this place did not have an air conditioner at all.

He wanted to rinse himself off with water, but discovered the water had already been cut off.

Zhang Yu sat down on the bed helplessly.

"What a shitty place."

"So what if there are immortals? Life here is even worse than in a world without immortals."

Zhang Yu's gaze swept over the wall, where he found it covered with certificates of merit pasted behind the desk.

First grade, second grade, third grade... all the way to the third year of middle school. The original Zhang Yu had ranked first in his grade almost every year.

Looking at those certificates, memories of receiving awards surged into Zhang Yu's mind. "The original Zhang Yu was a diligent, hardworking student who had excelled academically since childhood."

"Songyang High School, where he was now enrolled, was also a Key High School in the city."

"I'm a top student."

As he recalled the knowledge in his mind, Zhang Yu's eyes gradually lit up. "Get into a prestigious university, and I can reach Foundation Establishment. Join a major Sect, and I can reach Core Formation. I can keep climbing in Kunxu, leave this slum, enjoy more of the benefits of Immortal Dao Technique, and living a few hundred extra years won't be a problem."

Thinking of that, Zhang Yu suddenly felt that coming to this world might not be such a bad thing after all.

Just as he was thinking that, his phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Zhang Yu. Your loan through our platform is already three days overdue..."

After hanging up, Zhang Yu scrolled through his phone's messages and found them packed with payment reminders, all of them demands for repayment after the previous owner's loans from various platforms had gone overdue.

At the same time, the relevant memories flooded into his mind.

"This guy had started borrowing money for tutoring even before entering high school. After getting into Songyang High School, he wanted to keep up with everyone else's grades, so he had a flash of inspiration: he began borrowing to pay off loans, borrowing money everywhere to buy medicine and attend tutoring classes, forcibly stimulating his potential. In the end, not only did his debts grow larger and larger, his potential was gradually squeezed dry too."

"This bastard was a fake cultivation genius propped up by loans from online lending platforms."

"Even his mother couldn't stand him anymore. In the end, she just left."

After calculating the total amount of overdue loans, cold sweat immediately began pouring down Zhang Yu's forehead.

That was because he discovered that, after interest compounded on interest, Zhang Yu owed more than seven hundred thousand yuan across the various platforms.

And when he checked his account, he had only a little over fifty yuan left in total.

"Seven hundred thousand in debt... fuck!"

Zhang Yu suddenly slammed his fist into the bed and roared, "In this world... even for a gifted child of heaven who had graduated high school, this is a massive debt."

"No wonder this guy was obsessed with all kinds of messed-up rituals... he was just a loan-hound with no hope left in life."

"He had his fun, and now I'm the one paying off his debts?"

At the same time, the lights in the room abruptly went out.

After repeatedly flipping the switch and checking on the situation in the neighboring apartments, Zhang Yu confirmed one thing... his electricity had been cut off.

"This shitty place..."

"If only I could wake up tomorrow morning and be back home..."

With all kinds of chaotic thoughts churning through his mind, Zhang Yu eventually drifted into a muddled sleep on the bed.

In his palm, the once-transparent symbol had already been filled one-tenth of the way with black.