Waking Up

Chen Yuan woke up with a start, bolting upright from the bed.

Before he could even register his surroundings, a sharp, stabbing pain in his chest forced him to cough twice, causing him to curl his abdomen inward to dull the agony.

"You're finally awake." Once Chen Yuan's coughing subsided, a man's voice drifted from beside him. It was raspy, likely from a lack of water, yet strangely familiar.

Chen Yuan turned toward the sound and saw a man sitting on a stool. He appeared to be in his thirties or forties, with a square jaw and features that sparked instant recognition, causing him to blurt out, "Captain Qin!"

Only then did Chen Yuan take in his surroundings: he was in a hospital room, lying on a medical bed.

"Looks like you're recovering well." Qin Zhan scanned Chen Yuan's slightly improved complexion and finally managed a faint smile. "You took a direct hit from an Iron-Haired Wild Boar that ruptured your internal organs. You're one lucky kid to have survived that."

"Enough, there's no one else here. Stop calling me Captain Qin—call me Uncle!"

"Qin... Uncle, thank you for looking after me these past few days." Chen Yuan shifted his address accordingly, then recalled the scene before he lost consciousness and asked, "How long have I been out?"

"Three days," Qin Zhan replied. "Fortunately, you were brought in quickly and stabilized. The doctor said that as long as you regained consciousness, you're out of danger."

"Speaking of which, I need to have a word with you." Qin Zhan's expression suddenly turned stern. "You're a kid who's practiced swordsmanship quite well, so why did you lose your head the moment you hit the field? Just standing there like a fool, letting a boar ram into you."

"It's a good thing you didn't suffer permanent damage, or I wouldn't know how to answer to your father."

Qin Zhan stood up as he spoke. "I'm going to go get the doctor to give you a check-up. You keep resting, and while you're at it, think about whether the path of a Martial Artist is really right for you."

He paused for a moment before adding, "Sometimes, living a safe, ordinary life isn't such a bad thing."

"Think it over carefully."

Chen Yuan didn't respond to Qin Zhan's advice. He simply watched the man walk out of the room before exhaling a long, relieved breath.

Then, Chen Yuan slowly lay back down, letting the memories of his transmigration wash over him.

That's right—transmigration.

Chen Yuan did not belong to this world, yet he shared the same name as the Chen Yuan of this reality, both hailing from "Earth."

The Chen Yuan of this world was nineteen years old, had become a Martial Artist three months ago, and currently possessed a strength of 2,000 kilograms, placing him at the entry level of an Intermediate Warrior.

Swallowed Star, is it... As the memories surfaced, Chen Yuan quickly identified the source of this world.

The RR Virus, monsters, Martial Artists, the Swallowing Beast, Hong, Thor, Luo Feng...

Chen Yuan sighed softly. The timing was all wrong.

He had transmigrated too late.

The digital clock on the wall displayed the date: September 13, 2077, Earth Calendar.

As a long-time fan of Swallowed Star, Chen Yuan knew that at this point in the timeline, the Genius Tournament had already concluded years ago, and Luo Feng had long since risen to prominence.

No chance to ride the coattails of the protagonist now... Luo Feng might even be in Chaos City by this point, Chen Yuan muttered to himself. And to make matters worse, my timing for arriving here is just miserable.

In truth, Chen Yuan hadn't just arrived; he had been here for a few days already.

To be precise, the "Chen Yuan" of this world had been mid-battle with an Iron-Haired Wild Boar when the transmigration occurred.

Because of this, the original Chen Yuan—an Intermediate Warrior who shouldn't have been easily hit by a Primary Beast Soldier like an Iron-Haired Wild Boar—had been caught off guard. Just as he was about to end the fight with a single strike, his consciousness was replaced by the Chen Yuan from the other world.

The original owner was unlucky, too. An Intermediate Warrior fighting a Primary Beast Soldier—even if it was his first real combat experience, it should have been a total stomp. Plus, with a War General there to oversee things, there shouldn't have been any risk. Who knew that at the critical moment, I would transmigrate into him... Chen Yuan lamented. Not only was the original owner unlucky, but he was, too.

He had been at home, pulling an all-nighter reading novels, when he closed his eyes and opened them in this world—only to see a wild boar charging straight at him.

I've got to be the most pathetic transmigrator ever. I open my eyes and get knocked unconscious by a boar. I only remember thrusting my sword out by instinct before I blacked out. I don't even know if I killed the thing...

He shook his head, deciding not to dwell on the boar's fate. Either he had poked it to death, or his teammate had finished it off.

By now, Chen Yuan had fully integrated the original owner's memories and even his muscle memory. Combat techniques the original had mastered were now his; he only needed a bit of practice to make them second nature.

The integration was so seamless that Chen Yuan almost felt as if this wasn't a transmigration, but rather the awakening of past-life memories.

However, the consciousness currently dominating this body was that of the transmigrator, Chen Yuan. The original owner's consciousness seemed to have vanished entirely, leaving no trace or influence on him.

For instance, the original owner had felt deep respect and affection for Qin Zhan, bordering on an inferiority complex. But to Chen Yuan, Qin Zhan was a complete stranger. He knew from the memories that they were close, but that was the extent of it.

I need to be careful about Chen Yuan's interpersonal relationships and how to handle them. I don't want to be exposed just because my personality is different. Chen Yuan pondered the original owner's situation for a moment, then let out a sigh of relief.

The original owner's social circle was incredibly simple. His mother had died young, and he had been raised by his father, Chen Ji. He had been a loner since childhood with no real friends.

When he was thirteen, Chen Ji had encountered a small beast horde in the Wilderness Zone and died while covering for his teammates. Before he passed, he had entrusted his son to Qin Zhan.

Qin Zhan had been a member of Chen Ji's squad and owed his life to him. True to his word, after returning to the Base City, he had looked after Chen Yuan as per the "Captain's" final wish.

But the solitary Chen Yuan hadn't wanted to join "Uncle Qin's" family and chose to live alone. Upon learning this, Qin Zhan moved his entire family next door, continuing to look after him for the next six years.

Over those six years, their relationship had become very close.

So, I just need to play the part a little bit in front of Qin Zhan and his family, and I won't have to worry about being found out. Chen Yuan felt relieved; he wouldn't have to put in much effort to act.

Besides, as for being a loner—he just had to talk less. Once he started changing gradually over time, no one would suspect a thing.

Now, the main question is: what about my future? Do I just lie flat and live a quiet life? Or do I charge out of Earth and conquer the universe?

Chen Yuan felt deeply conflicted by this.

If he had a choice, he would definitely pick the latter. After all, he had lived a "lie-flat" life before transmigrating; if he did the same here, the whole experience would have been for nothing.

But reality wasn't something he could change just by wishing for it.

After absorbing the memories of this world, Chen Yuan discovered that his aptitude was not particularly good; in fact, one could say it was quite mediocre.

Chen Yuan had become an official Martial Artist about three months ago, which might seem decent considering he was nineteen years old.

However, one must not forget that under the sponsorship of Luo Feng, cultivation for the people of Earth had become much simpler than it was twenty years ago.

Every student at the Limit Dojo, upon promoting to an Advanced Trainee, could receive a free portion of "Purple Light Dew" to enhance themselves.

Purple Light Dew was a treasure Luo Feng purchased from the Black Dragon Mountain Empire; just 10 grams were enough to raise an Advanced Trainee's physical fitness to the level of a Martial Artist!

In this current era, advancing to a Martial Artist had become very simple and was no longer a privilege of the elite; even the prospective Martial Artist examinations at the dojos had been abolished.

Because of this, after his predecessor became a Martial Artist, he had no choice but to join Qin Zhan's wilderness squad and undergo his first real combat under the care of his teammates, which led to Chen Yuan's transmigration.

Chen Yuan had already learned from those memories that his predecessor, as a student of the Limit Dojo, had also become a Martial Artist by absorbing Purple Light Dew.

Therefore, Chen Yuan's actual aptitude was at the level of a nineteen-year-old "Advanced Trainee," which might be considered excellent in the eyes of ordinary people, but was quite ordinary on Earth.

That was why it took him a month of practicing the Five Hearts Toward Heaven technique to sense cosmic energy, and his first absorption of cosmic energy only increased his strength by 400 kilograms.

After practicing for another two months, his current strength had just barely exceeded 2000 kilograms, which, according to the classifications in the universe, meant he had just stepped into the Apprentice Second Rank.

Chen Yuan sighed softly; with this aptitude, he couldn't hope to reach the Apprentice Ninth Rank without decades of effort, let alone the Planetary Level. Once his prime years passed, the probability of a breakthrough would drop rapidly, and he might not even cross the threshold of the Planetary Level before his lifespan ran out.

Before the Planetary Level, one's lifespan was not high, living at most one or two hundred years, but once one broke through to the Planetary Level, one could live for a thousand years!

"So, the most important goal right now is to break through to the Planetary Level. Even if I wanted to slack off, being able to slack off for a thousand years is much better than a hundred."

"Besides, I don't want to slack off, but even if I don't aim to dominate the universe, I at least need to become a Planetary Level to leave Earth."

In other cosmic nations, only those at the Planetary Level were considered to have basic "human rights" and could manage to make a living, while those below the Planetary Level had almost no human rights and could be captured as slaves at any time.

Therefore, the current leadership of Earth stipulated that to leave and travel to other planets, one must first become a Planetary Level and be granted the status of "Earth Elite" to be eligible.

"So, how should I improve myself? Relying solely on hard work definitely won't work, and the famous resources and fortuitous encounters on Earth have almost all been taken by Luo Feng and his group..." Chen Yuan pondered for a while, feeling more bitter the more he thought about it. "It's practically unsolvable. To break this deadlock, unless a cheat comes along."

Just then, a "beep" suddenly rang in Chen Yuan's ears, making his heart jolt.

"No way, is it real?" Chen Yuan's eyes widened. He turned his head to look around, but there were no objects nearby that could make such a sound, so he tried calling out in his mind: "System?"

"Beep."

The sound was so melodious that Chen Yuan was certain it came from within his mind, not from the outside.

This discovery made him ecstatic, and he hurriedly called out various terms in his mind, saying whatever came to him: "System, activate, panel, expand, missions, upgrade..."

Soon, a screen of light appeared before Chen Yuan's eyes.