The Hanging Fatty

Hua Qiang opened his eyes to a forest, the trees around him tall and thick.

Why is it so hard to breathe?

His brain felt starved of oxygen, and his body swayed precariously.

Where's the ground? Why can't I reach it?

This neck… why can't I breathe through it?

Hua Qiang struggled to clear his muddled head and looked at his surroundings again.

Holy crap!

Why is there a rope around my neck?

His body was dangling, suspended from a crooked tree branch.

Am I… hanging myself?

Committing suicide?

Or did someone hang me here to kill me?

He felt his breathing grow progressively worse, his chest about to explode. He was on the verge of suffocation, his brain about to lose consciousness.

Hua Qiang desperately extended his two chubby hands, grabbed the rope around his neck, and pulled with all his might to lift himself up.

Hoo —

He exhaled a breath of stale air, and the feeling of suffocation eased slightly.

But, in the next moment, the strength in his hands rapidly vanished, and his body would return to its previous state of weightlessness, his neck feeling tighter and tighter.

"Where is this?"

"Who am I?"

"What in the world happened?"

Suddenly, Hua Qiang's head throbbed with intense pain. Two massive streams of information converged in his mind. After a long while, he finally understood…

He had transmigrated!

He had transmigrated into this unlucky fat guy who was currently hanging himself.

Damn it, I just came back to life, and now I'm going to die again?

He exerted force with his hands again, trying to free his head from the noose.

Unfortunately, his hands lacked strength, and the more he struggled, the tighter the rope around his neck became.

Hua Qiang's legs flailed in the air, trying to find something to brace against.

Alas, the ground was only a few inches below, and he couldn't reach it no matter how hard he tried.

The feeling of suffocation intensified. His tongue stuck out of his mouth, turning purple.

His eyeballs bulged outwards, as if about to pop out of their sockets the next moment.

His entire face had turned purplish-blue, and was slowly turning black.

Feeling like he was about to suffocate to death at any moment, his mind began to drift into a state of chaos.

Hua Qiang simply let go of the rope with both hands. Fine. Since I've already died once, why fear a second time?

It's just dying again… that's all!

Why am I so unwilling?

Heaven is bullying me!

Creak… Snap!

A heavenly sound reached Hua Qiang's ears.

The branch that was supporting his 280-plus pounds finally snapped under the strain.

Thump!

Ouch —

Hua Qiang felt like he had been reborn.

He… was saved!

The crooked tree branch, which had a contract with him to harvest lives, had unilaterally breached the contract. His fat body fell heavily to the ground.

The impact split his backside and made his back ache.

But he started laughing like a madman.

Hahahahahaha!

Fortunately, the area was remote and deserted. Otherwise, his laughter would have surely terrified anyone who heard it.

It was too eerie!

After venting, Hua Qiang lay on the ground, gasping for air. It took him a long time to slowly recover.

At this moment, he accepted reality.

He had transmigrated!

He was originally a heavy reader of web novels on Earth. Today, he was reading one, "I Rely on Slaughter to Become a God." He got too excited, and his brain overfilled with blood...

As his consciousness slowly sank into the abyss, thinking he was definitely going to die, he surprisingly transmigrated to this planet called Blue Star, which was similar to Earth but ten times larger.

He had possessed the body of a fatty with the same name and a similarly rough fate.

From the memories he received, Hua Qiang couldn't help but force a smile.

This was Hua Country.

The fatty, also named Hua Qiang, lived in the slums of Modu Base.

His father, Ye Wendao, worked at a Exotic Beasts slaughterhouse, and his mother, Liu Li, worked as a housekeeper.

His sister, Ye Bingxue, was a year younger than him but was in her final year of high school, just like him. She would be participating in the college entrance examination in a month.

Today was Fatty's eighteenth birthday.

As for why the fatty had the surname Hua while his father had the surname Ye, well, that was because Ye Wendao had adopted him from an orphanage when he was three years old.

The family of four had a very close relationship, especially Hua Qiang and his sister Ye Bingxue. Their bond was closer than that of actual siblings.

In this world, Void Rifts were everywhere, and Exotic Beasts roamed freely. Every moment, people fought against Exotic Beasts, and every day, people died devoured by them.

To ensure human safety and effectively defend against and resist Exotic Beast invasions, each country established several human living circles based on bases.

The Hua Country government divided the entire country into thirty-six bases. Everyone lived within the bases, surrounded by powerful defensive military installations manned by the army and Martial Artists.

Due to the ravages of Exotic Beasts, conventional firearms had lost their advantage. Only Martial Artists could contend with them, thus Martial Artists held extremely high status and enjoyed many privileges and resources.

Hua Qiang was a student in Class 20 of Grade 12 at Modu Eighth Middle School. Because of his obese physique, his grades in both liberal arts and martial arts were poor, and he was discriminated against and ostracized by his classmates.

This guy even had a crush on Murong Qingya, the most beautiful girl in the class and one of the school's beauties.

He had been fawning over her for nearly two years, but she had always been indifferent to him, keeping him as a stray fish in her pond.

This fatty spent all his time trying to please her.

Today was his birthday.

This guy had actually stolen his adoptive parents' hard-earned money to buy the latest mobile phone, not for himself, but to try and impress Murong Qingya.

He even booked a table at a hotel, planning to invite her for a candlelight dinner.

Then, he would give her the gift during the meal and confess his feelings.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he reached the school gate, he saw a scene that made him extremely angry.

Murong Qingya, along with a rich second-generation student from another class, was laughing and chatting as they got into a sports car and sped off.

The fatty couldn't handle it for a moment and ended up hanging himself, as had happened before.

At the brink of death, his body was occupied by a soul from Earth.

Ring, ring, ring...

A mobile phone ringtone came from his pocket.

The jarring sound pulled his thoughts back.

Hua Qiang took out his phone and subconsciously felt a jolt.

It was a call from his homeroom teacher, Bald Qiang.

The nickname "Bald Qiang" was given by him and Fatty Wang in private.

Neither of them was favored by Bald Qiang and they were often scolded.

After a moment of hesitation, Hua Qiang pressed the answer button.

"You scoundrel, you fatso, where are you?"

"It's already been half an hour into class, and you're still not here. Where the hell are you?"

"Did you fall into a cesspit while going to the toilet, or into a sewer while walking?"

"Why don't you just find a place to hang yourself and die?"

"I'm giving you five minutes to get to the classroom, or I'll call your parents to see me!"

Hua Qiang's expression stiffened, and dark lines appeared on his forehead.

He felt a crow fly overhead.

Damn it, is this what a teacher would call being a role model? His mouth was full of profanity, and you could smell the stench from afar.

His body's subconscious was very afraid of this class advisor.

This was because the original owner was basically verbally abused by him every day, and sometimes even slapped.

And he would often threaten to call the parents!

It was really because his performance in class was too poor, his grades were bad, and his personality... seemed, appeared, was probably not that great either.

Most students in the class kept their distance from him, and were even reluctant to talk to him.

In Class 20, the only true friend he had was Fatty Wang.

Perhaps their similar builds, equal academic standing, and shared interests were the reasons they got along so well.

As a result, the two of them were exceptionally close.

As for… anyone else he could consider a friend, it was probably only Murong Qingya, who he harbored feelings for.

Unfortunately, at this moment, the "white moonlight" in his heart had shattered.

"Bald Qiang, oh no, Teacher Li, I'll be right there in the classroom."