Sword Brows Starry Eyes

Orenda Kingdom.

Winter in Grey Gull Port always carried a damp chill that seeped into the marrow of one's bones.

The sea breeze, laden with the distinct stench of dead fish and rotting shrimp from the docks, shoved its way relentlessly into the dilapidated straw shed.

Su Li curled up on a blackened straw mat.

He was old.

His seventy-year-old body was like a rusted, scrapped machine, every single part emitting a final, mournful groan.

Around him lay several other ragged, elderly laborers.

No one looked at him.

In this place, dead men seemed even more common than dead fish.

Aside from being one worker short, the world would keep turning just the same.

Su Li took a laborious breath.

He didn't feel afraid.

He was finally going to be liberated.

He would never again have to carry two-hundred-pound sacks across that godforsaken gangplank, breaking his back for a mere two copper coins.

He would never again have to fight for moldy black bread, only to have to gnaw off the fuzzy parts like a dog.

What a shitty life.

Su Li's blurred vision pierced through a hole in the shed, staring up at the grey, overcast sky.

Fifty years.

He still remembered the day he first transmigrated.

Back then, he was eighteen, wearing a T-shirt and jeans, standing on the docks of Grey Gull Port with a look of utter bewilderment.

And the result?

Before he could even get two words out, he was pinned to the ground and roughed up by a squad of fully armed guards.

The reason was simple.

Strange attire, incomprehensible language.

A confirmed spy for an enemy nation.

If it hadn't been for the fact that the Orenda Kingdom was embroiled in a frantic war with its neighbors and desperately needed cannon fodder for the front lines, he would have been dangling from a gallows, swaying in the wind that very day.

And after that?

After that, he became a glorious laborer.

Having miraculously survived the battlefield, he was sold back to the docks.

Fifty whole years.

He learned the local common tongue, learned how to read the expressions of noble lords, and learned how to scavenge for food among the moldy scraps.

The only thing he never learned was how to turn his life around.

No golden finger, no wise old mentor, no broken-engagement trope.

Only endless bricks to haul and endless beatings to endure.

This transmigration... it's such a disgrace to transmigrators...

Su Li muttered to himself.

His voice was so faint that even he couldn't hear it clearly.

His eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

The sound of his heartbeat amplified in his ears, then slowed down, and slowed further.

Thump.

Thump.

It stopped.

That uncomfortable sensation of suffocation didn't last long.

Darkness surged in like a tide, then rapidly receded.

There were no ghosts of the underworld, nor were there gods or angels.

Su Li's consciousness floated in a void.

Just when he thought he had truly kicked the bucket, a pale blue light screen unfolded abruptly before his eyes.

It felt just like a pop-up ad from a low-quality web game.

[Reincarnation activated]

[Host death detected, commencing life settlement]

Su Li froze.

Even in his soul state, he wanted to jump up and curse.

You show up now that I'm already dead?

Where were you earlier?

I've been hauling bricks for fifty years; if you had shown up even one day sooner, I could've at least eaten an extra hot steamed bun!

Lines of data flickered across the light screen.

[Survival duration: 52 years]

[Rating: E (White)]

[Annotation: To survive until natural death in a hellhole like Grey Gull Port, you are practically a reincarnated cockroach. You lived a long time, but it was devoid of any quality.]

Su Li stared at the text.

What did they mean by cockroach?

That was survival wisdom!

The data continued to scroll.

[Wealth accumulated: 0 silver coins]

[Rating: F (Grey)]

[Annotation: When you died, you had half a piece of moldy bread hidden under your straw mat; that was your entire inheritance. You didn't even leave behind a single copper coin—it's enough to bring tears to one's eyes how clean you left this world.]

[Social status: Pariah]

[Rating: F (Grey)]

[Annotation: A dock porter, the very bottom of society. Your presence was less significant than a piece of ballast on the pier.]

[Offspring: 0]

[Rating: F (Grey)]

[Annotation: Forever alone. Due to extreme poverty and malnutrition, you didn't even have the chance to visit the red-light district. Your lineage ends here.]

That cut the deepest.

Su Li didn't want to speak anymore.

It was the truth.

Forget a wife; he couldn't even afford to keep a female cat.

[Legendary status: 0]

[Rating: F (Grey)]

[Annotation: No one knows your name, except for the foreman who pressured you to work. In three days, everyone will have completely forgotten you.]

Finally.

A massive, dull grey letter slammed into the center of the screen.

[Overall rating: F (Grey)]

[Your life was a life without meaning.]

[You are the dust beneath the wheels of history, a background extra in the vast sea of humanity.]

Su Li looked at that "F" and suddenly felt a sense of grievance.

He had really tried his best.

To avoid being beaten to death, he learned to bow and scrape.

To avoid starving to death, he learned to fight wild dogs for scraps.

In this man-eating world, he, a modern man, had stubbornly survived for fifty years.

Was that easy?

[Settlement complete.]

[Based on the overall rating, distributing rewards.]

[Current rating is F, opening F-rank prize pool.]

[Drawing traits...]

Su Li sighed.

An F-rank prize pool didn't sound like it held anything good.

Yet, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of anticipation.

What if?

What if he got "Born with Divine Strength"?

Or "Photographic Memory"?

At the very least, an "Iron Stomach" would do; that way, he wouldn't get diarrhea from eating spoiled food in his next life.

A dusty, grey roulette wheel appeared on the light screen and began to spin frantically.

The pointer swept across one grid after another.

[Trace Poison Resistance]

[Hardened Soles]

[Thick Body Hair]

[Sharp Fingernails]

Su Li's eyes blurred as he watched.

What kind of garbage was this?

What the hell was "Hardened Soles"? Was it for the convenience of walking barefoot?

"Stop! Stop!"

He shouted in his mind.

The pointer slowly decelerated.

Finally, it stopped on a grid glowing with a faint white light.

[Congratulations on obtaining the innate trait: Sword Brows Starry Eyes (White)]

A flash of light erupted.

A line of explanation appeared.

[Sword Brows Starry Eyes: Your appearance will be significantly optimized. Your features will become more defined, your gaze deep and captivating, and you will possess an undeniable charm. Even if you are stuck in a mire, you will be like a pearl covered in dust.]

[Note: This trait has been solidified into your soul and will automatically take effect in every lifetime.]

Su Li: "..."

He stared blankly at the trait.

What was the use of being handsome?

In a place like Grey Gull Port, being handsome wasn't necessarily a good thing.

If he wasn't careful, he might get snatched up by some perverted noble with peculiar tastes...

Su Li shuddered.

"Can I swap it for another one?"

"I'd even take 'Hunger Resistance'!"

The system remained unresponsive.

The text on the light screen began to change.

[Rewards distributed.]

[Rebirth anchor point backtracking in progress.]

[Time node locked: The moment of your first arrival in the Orenda Kingdom.]

[Preparing for teleportation...]

Su Li was stunned.

First arrival?

Doesn't that mean...

Doesn't that mean he had to face that hellish starting scenario all over again?

Before he could think further, a massive suction force pulled at him.

His consciousness began to plummet.

It felt like a freefall from ten thousand meters in the air.

The surrounding darkness receded like a tide.

Sounds began to emerge in his ears.

Splash—

Splash—

That was the sound of waves crashing against the reefs.

The familiar, briny scent once again forced its way into his nostrils.

It was a smell he had endured for fifty years.

It was carved into his very bones.

Cold.

Su Li snapped his eyes open.

What met his gaze was a murky, gray sky, with a few gaunt seagulls circling overhead, emitting harsh, grating cries.

He was lying on a damp, gravelly beach.

Su Li instinctively raised his hand.

It was no longer the calloused, withered, stick-thin hand of an old man.

This was a young, fair, and slender hand.

The skin was taut, the veins clearly visible.

It was full of vitality.

He had come back to life.

Su Li sat up abruptly and looked down at himself.

Blue jeans.

A black hoodie printed with English letters.

And the white sneakers on his feet.

In this medieval-themed world, this outfit was as conspicuous as a firefly in the dead of night.

"Damn it..."

Su Li had no time to marvel at the joys of youth.

His heart began to pound violently.

Memories came flooding back.

Fifty years ago, at this very spot, at this very moment.

In about five minutes.

A patrol squad responsible for the coastline would pass by here.

In his previous life, he had stood there foolishly, even trying to greet them to ask for directions.

As a result, upon seeing his "bizarre attire," they hadn't said a word before pressing their spears against his neck.

The fifty-year nightmare that followed had begun at that very moment.

In the distance.

The faint sound of leather boots crunching on gravel drifted toward him.

Crunch.

Crunch.

The sound was very light, mostly masked by the crashing of the waves.

They were here!

Su Li took a deep breath, the frigid air stinging his windpipe.

But his eyes were sharp and clear.

Su Li moved with extraordinary speed.