Prologue: About Me Being Reincarnated as Steve?

Chapter 1: Prologue - The Story of My Reincarnation as Steve?

Jiang City, Earth.

Fang Mo walked slowly down the street, holding his younger sister's hand.

It was high noon in the middle of summer. The scorching sun cast blinding rays, and the air itself seemed to shimmer and distort under the intense heat. Fang Mo endured the oppressive heatwave, already drenched in sweat.

Even the stray dogs on the street looked listless, as if their fur had been scorched.

But unlike the impatient adults, the still young Fang Xin wasn't bothered by the muggy weather. Instead, she hummed a cheerful tune.

"Youth is truly wonderful."

Watching his sister hop along happily, Fang Mo yawned lazily. "I guess I'm getting old. I can't even stay up past ten in the morning anymore."

For Fang Mo, an old otaku, staying up all night to watch anime and play games was the norm.

It was just that his body, having worked for many years, couldn't keep up with the younger generation. Seeing Fang Xin excitedly enjoying her summer vacation, Fang Mo, as the older brother, couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia. He remembered a time when he could pull all-nighters for four days and three nights, mining without sleep.

But now, under the exploitation of the capitalist overlords, the all-nighter skills he honed in his youth were all used for overtime work.

That's precisely why he went all out playing games during his breaks. The result was that his dark eye circles hadn't disappeared for three years, and he was often nicknamed "Panda Curator" by his colleagues at the company.

"You love me, I love you, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea makes you happy~"

As he was thinking, a catchy, almost hypnotic jingle from a cold drink shop across the street suddenly blared out.

"Brother, I want ice cream."

Fang Xin, being just a child, immediately looked up at Fang Mo after hearing the jingle. Her big, dark eyes sparkled as she put on a pitiful, well-behaved expression. "Brother, can you give me two yuan?"

"Little glutton."

Fang Mo smiled indulgently, then took Fang Xin's hand and walked towards the other side of the street. "Let's go, I'll treat you to a sundae."

"Hooray!"

Fang Xin cheered, raising her small fist.

The two then crossed the pedestrian crossing, chatting and laughing, heading towards the cold drink shop.

But at that moment, a piercing honk suddenly sounded from nearby. Fang Mo turned his head and saw a dump truck running a red light at the intersection, speeding towards him without slowing down.

As for Fang Xin, she was frozen in place, terrified.

Fang Mo's heart lurched. He immediately wanted to pull Fang Xin away to safety, but the consequences of years of staying up late and overworking finally caught up to him. A sharp pain suddenly gripped his chest, and he froze, unable to move.

"I... damn..."

Seeing the dump truck getting closer and closer, Fang Mo gritted his teeth and managed to muster the last of his strength to kick Fang Xin away.

With a long screech of brakes, blood stained almost the entire street.

Fang Mo lay on the ground, his head buzzing. He had lost all feeling in his lower body, only vaguely sensing something warm and sticky flowing out of his belly.

"Brother!!!"

Fang Xin's heartbroken cry echoed in his ears.

Hearing the cry, Fang Mo forced his eyes open. The first thing he saw was Fang Xin's tear-streaked face, and not far away, a pile of minced flesh mixed with torn cloth and bone fragments. The torn cloth, just minutes ago, had been a pair of intact jeans.

"Am I... going to die?"

Seeing this scene, Fang Mo found himself surprisingly unafraid.

After all, dying young meant decades less of struggle. His colleagues would probably be envious of him... It was just that dying without a complete body was too tragic. He couldn't imagine how his parents would collect his remains. They wouldn't really just scoop him up with a shovel like in those accident compilation videos, would they?

[Confirmation complete: Body datafication successful.]

Huh?

Fang Mo blinked. He thought he heard something just now, but Fang Xin was crying so tragically that he couldn't quite make out what was said. He figured it was probably just a passerby.

Given his current state, he was practically an oni-chan, and it was indeed worthy of a sensational short video. Perhaps he'd appear in those accident compilation videos.

"Xin Xin, stop crying..."

Thinking this, Fang Mo reached out and gently patted Fang Xin's shoulder. Although the child wasn't heavy, he was now cut in half. After the initial numbness, an endless pain set in, making even the slightest touch unbearable.

[Confirmation complete: Datafied body parameters adjusted, pain suppression successful.]

"Brother, I'm not crying, I'm not crying..."

Hearing Fang Mo's voice, Fang Xin desperately wiped her tears, but the more she wiped, the more they flowed uncontrollably.

"Brother, you're not going to make it, so listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you."

For some reason, Fang Mo felt the pain disappear. He figured it must be a final surge of energy, so he quickly began to instruct Fang Xin. "The police will probably contact Mom and Dad later. Don't be scared. Tell them exactly what I say, that it's my dying wish, and they should do as I say."

"Bro... sob... Brother, don't die..."

Fang Xin couldn't help but wail upon hearing this.

"You silly girl... Why are you crying? I died in my twenties. Everyone will just envy me for being a leek that gets cut a few decades less. You should be happy for me."

Fang Mo forced a smile at Fang Xin, then suddenly turned serious. "Listen, after I die, make sure to burn or sell all the furniture I used – my bed, my computer desk, my chair, everything. Don't leave anything behind that will make them miss me."

[Confirmation complete: More Furniture Mods unlocked.]

"Huh? What the hell was that noise?"

Fang Mo frowned and looked around, but perhaps due to excessive blood loss, his vision was narrowing. He couldn't see if anyone was nearby at all, so he could only continue to instruct Fang Xin: "After I die, no one is allowed to touch my computer. After I'm cremated, just put my ashes in the computer case and bury me. Otherwise, I'll be all alone down there and won't even be able to play games."

[Confirmation complete: GraveStone Mod unlocked.]

Fang Xin couldn't speak anymore. At this moment, she could only nod repeatedly while crying.

"Oh, and my phone..."

On the verge of death, Fang Mo suddenly remembered his phone's browsing history. With a surge of strength he didn't know he had, he struggled to roll over and crawl towards his phone, which was not far away. However, after only two attempts, he lost his strength and could only watch his phone with regret.

[Confirmation complete: Moving Mod unlocked.]

"Bro... Brother!"

Seeing this, Fang Xin, with tear-streaked cheeks, handed Fang Mo his phone.

Fang Mo managed a weak smile, took the phone, and deleted his browsing history as quickly as possible. He then thought for a moment, opened QQ, and sent her a message: 'Sorry, I won't be able to grind games with you anymore.' After doing all this, Fang Mo collapsed onto the ground as if all his strength had been drained: "Finally... it's done. Now I can rest in peace. But getting hit by a dump truck... will I be transmigrated to another world too?"

[Confirmation complete: The Lost Cities Mod unlocked.]

"What the hell was that noise from earlier? It's been ringing and it's so annoying..."

By this point, Fang Mo's pupils were starting to lose focus, and his thoughts were becoming increasingly muddled. An indescribable darkness began to engulf his consciousness. It was only now that Fang Mo realized the horror of death.

"Is this death?"

"I... I really don't want to die..."

[Confirmation complete: Game mode set to Survival Mode. Upon death, all items and experience will be lost, but respawning is infinite.]

"There are so many things I haven't eaten yet..."

[Confirmation complete: Pam's HarvestCraft Mod unlocked.]

"There are so many sights I haven't seen..."

[Confirmation complete: Biomes O' Plenty Mod unlocked.]

"Xin Xin, I'm sorry, brother can't stay with you anymore. If Mom and Dad don't arrive soon, you'll have to use Baidu Maps to navigate home yourself..."

[Confirmation complete: MiniMap Mod unlocked.]

"It's all the fault of those damn capitalists for exploiting me. I could have dodged it, but the angina caused by overtime is what did me in. These capitalists... hanging them from lampposts would be too good for them. If I ever get the chance, I really want to personally take a knife and kill these vampires..."

[Confirmation complete: Avaritia Mod unlocked.]

Fang Mo lay on the ground, the light in his eyes gradually fading. Fang Xin's wails grew distant. He had originally wanted to make a 'Don't Stop!' meme with Fang Xin, but before he could even speak, his consciousness completely blurred.

Only darkness consumed everything Fang Mo once was.