Cheat

Sunshine bathed the streets, and spring was in full bloom. Everyone was full of laughter, and the scene was harmonious. Familiar faces greeted one another, while groups of children played chase in the streets.

The shopkeepers were busy with their businesses, and everything seemed to be thriving. This place seemed like a pretty nice place to live—but Ye Han didn't think so.

He knew exactly where he was, and that was what made it feel so absurd. Naruto, in Konoha: a long-running manga that had been serialized from 1999 to 2014, for nearly fifteen years.

Ye Han had still been a student back then, and he'd loved manga, anime, and games. Naturally, he'd read Naruto, a manga series known all over the world.

Back in school, he'd longed to learn the ninja techniques from that world. He'd wanted to punch Uchiha Madara and kick the Ten-Tails. But when he grew up, he realized that place seemed pretty dangerous. I'd better stay right here on Earth.

He had no idea how he'd ended up here. And after arriving, his body had turned into that of a child. Reincarnation and transmigration had crossed his mind countless times, but those things had only become popular around 2008. By the time he was that age, the popular thing was chasing girls. Fighting was a job for the city inspectors.

On top of that, he had an incredibly impressive identity here: his surname was Uchiha. Uchiha Ye Han was a peripheral member of the Uchiha Clan. The odds of some obscure, distant-generation Uchiha like him awakening the Sharingan were practically nil. It was perfectly normal to go a whole lifetime without awakening it. Ye Han hadn't even met many of his relatives.

Even so, his status in Konoha was practically aristocratic. His parents had died in the war, and Konoha had given him a house to live in, along with enough money for food, clothes, and other expenses. It was pretty good treatment.

But he didn't want to stay here. It was too dangerous. Don't tell me that knowing the plot is the ultimate cheat. Damn it, what good would knowing the plot do for a kid who was only four or five?

He had no ninja techniques, no chakra, and no idea how he was supposed to awaken the Sharingan. Was he supposed to kill his brothers or parents? Never mind whether he could do that—his parents in this world were already dead by the time he'd transmigrated here.

Of course, there was one more important reason. The story was set more than a decade in the future. What good would knowing the plot do? Was he supposed to wait a few years and get killed by Uchiha Itachi because of his impressive identity? Or get targeted by Danzo or Orochimaru? His life really was full of misfortune.

It seemed God knew Ye Han had a hopeless, sit-around-and-wait-to-die disposition, so He gave him a little hope.

[Mall System]

This was Ye Han's cheat as a transmigrator. In a world where not having a Kekkei Genkai, extraordinary determination, or talent made you little better than trash, it gave him a chance to survive.

Don't ask where this cheat came from. Transmigrators were just that awesome—no explanation needed. He wanted to know where it came from too, but no one had told him. It had simply been there when he arrived.

[Mall System]

Just like the name suggested, it was a system shop. Ye Han had spent more than a decade grinding away in countless Chinese online games, so he knew what that meant: power.

No matter how skilled a player was, when faced with a cash-rich powerhouse, all they could do was lie down and take it. In Chinese online games, the wealthy could stand unshaken amid a thousand troops, drink the most expensive health potions, and unleash skills that reaped enemies by the dozen. There was no such thing as too much money—only someone richer.

Countless wealthy players had bowed before even wealthier ones. Then, unwilling to accept defeat, they'd spend more money, become even richer, and come back swinging. At the root of it all was the system shop, constantly coming up with new things to tempt players into spending.

Ye Han was lying on the rooftop, atop the little water tank room. He silently thought, Shop, and a virtual storefront appeared before him. Its design even had an old-fashioned Chinese look, so he could be pretty sure this system shop was made in China.

A Chinese-made system shop was reassuring. Chinese online games had the most outrageous shops of all. Famous examples included Changyou's New Dragon Bamen and Tencent's online games.

He still remembered how he'd worked hard to build up his combat power and compete with other players, only for the system shop to release even higher-grade stones. Each one cost fifty thousand yuan, and a single stone was enough to outdo all his combat power. The frustration had made him sell his account, uninstall the game, and swear never to play a Chinese online game again.

But Ye Han vaguely remembered a pop-up appearing as he uninstalled the game. It had said something like, "Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to possess great power? Do you want..." He'd seen every trick game companies used; he'd even encountered more absurd uninstall prompts, some with curses. "Yes" or "No"—he'd clicked "Yes" without hesitation. Those were his final memories.

Looking back, he probably should have clicked "No." But it was too late now. He could only make the best of life in this world. Almost everything in the shop was gray, which meant it couldn't be used. Ye Han had no idea when it would become available. Maybe he had to meet certain conditions.

Unfortunately, all he could do for now was stare at it. "When the hell will I be able to redeem anything?" Ye Han couldn't help letting out a long sigh. The most painful thing in life wasn't dying before you could spend your money. It was having something right in front of you and still being unable to get it.

Suddenly, a voice came from below. "Ye Han! What are you doing up there? Come down and play with us!" It was a young girl's voice.

The girl was named Hyuga Hiben, a child of the Hyuga Branch Family. She was pretty and adorable, had good aptitude, and had already awakened the Byakugan. Her prospects were far better than those of Ye Han, who had almost no chance of awakening his eyes. Even at her young age, it was clear she'd grow into a beauty. If he were into raising little girls, she'd be an excellent choice—but he wasn't that depraved.

Still, he felt a little embarrassed about playing with these kids. He'd once been a grown man, and now he'd fallen so low that he had to play with children.