Tomato Novels Never Lie

When Gan Ming returned to the first-floor lobby, it was even emptier than before.

The two people who had come that morning had already disappeared somewhere.

He found an empty seat in a corner, sat down, and let out a long breath.

He had held that breath in for two and a half years.

Gan Ming took the temporary awakened identity card from his pocket and held it up before his eyes.

On the card, his name, number, rank, and other information were all listed neatly.

Only after looking it over several times did a faint smile appear on his face.

It really was his name.

It really was real.

"I finally have an identity," Gan Ming said softly.

The weight of those three words—

Only those who had crawled through the mud of the Lower District knew how heavy they were.

What did it mean to have no identity?

It meant you were not human.

Because you simply did not exist in the household registration database.

During his two and a half years in the Lower District—

In the first year, he could not speak the language or read the writing.

He could not even get the lowest-grade odd jobs and could only survive by scavenging leftovers.

He had squatted beside garbage heaps in the Lower District, picking up discarded packaging and old newspapers, comparing the words one by one as he learned.

In the second year, he could barely use the language, and he began running errands and hauling cargo.

He hauled cargo during the day and continued learning to read at night.

He remembered that, during the first winter, the heating pipes throughout the Lower District had inexplicably shut down.

Wrapped in two layers of torn cardboard, he had curled up beneath a bridge beside three people in circumstances similar to his.

When he woke the next morning, one of them never did.

No one came to collect the body.

The corpse remained beneath the bridge for four days before sanitation workers dragged it away on the fifth.

That was the Lower District.

That was how people without identities lived.

In the third year, he had finally figured out the rules of this world. He began deliberately training his body, waiting for this day.

And what had truly kept him going was just one sentence.

Since you're here, make the best of it.

He had already transmigrated here. What else could he do?

There was no way back. No matter how rotten the road ahead was, as long as he did not want to die, he had to keep walking.

He had thought about it back then.

A transmigrator, following the usual novel formula, had only two possible endings.

Either you landed in a box and died right from the start,

Or you soared to the heavens and rose to the top.

But after suffering through two and a half years, no cheat had appeared.

For a while, he had thought he belonged to the landed-in-a-box type, just one of the slower batches.

So, he had decided to speed things up for himself!

If he would not become a box, then he would become a core!

He gambled!

Sure enough, he had won.

Gan Ming brought up his attribute panel.

Several lines of text quietly floated before his eyes.

He stared at the words "Soul Snatch," narrowing his eyes slightly.

Personally kill a target and seize its abilities.

Skills and talents could both be taken.

"This is definitely my cheat!"

Gan Ming recalled the days when he used to binge Tomato Novels back on Earth.

Watching those protagonists cheat their way through life had gotten more addictive the more he read.

Sure enough.

Tomato Novels never lied to him.

He put away the panel, stood, and headed toward the second floor.

First, he would collect his newbie subsidy and have a good meal.

The second floor was even quieter than the first.

Gan Ming was the only person in the entire corridor.

The collection window was at the end of the corridor, a semi-open counter.

A sign hung above it that read, "New Awakened Supplies Collection Point."

Behind the counter sat a middle-aged woman in her forties, her hair tied up impeccably.

An old registration terminal sat in front of her.

She was lowering her head and cracking sunflower seeds, only looking up when she heard footsteps.

"Here for supplies?"

"Yes."

"Identity card."

Gan Ming handed over his temporary card.

The woman took it and casually tapped the terminal.

Beep.

The screen lit up.

After reading his identity information, she swept the sunflower seed shells aside.

"Gan Ming, right?"

"Yes."

"Wait."

She turned and walked into the warehouse behind her.

Gan Ming leaned against the counter and looked at the displayed items behind its glass.

There were weapons and armor, but none of them looked particularly impressive.

Just as he was about to look away, he noticed a palm-sized wooden plaque in the corner of the counter with a line carved into it:

"This window does not accept bargaining, tantrums, rolling around on the floor, threats, or intimidation in any form. Violators will have their collection eligibility revoked."

Gan Ming: "..."

What exactly had previous people done when collecting supplies to force the staff to put up a wooden plaque?

Two minutes later.

The woman emerged holding a gray box and set it on the counter with a slap.

The box was only a little larger than a fist.

She opened the lid and took out a ring.

The ring was unremarkable, a grayish bronze metal band.

After pinching the ring and checking it, the woman handed it over.

"Check it. There's one standard-issue basic shortsword, one basic protective leather armor, five beginner health recovery potions, and five mana recovery potions inside. The ring is yours too. It has fifty cubic meters of storage space."

Gan Ming did not take it right away. Instead, he asked, "Wasn't it supposed to be a set of equipment?"

"Who told you it was a set?"

The woman's expression changed instantly. She raised a hand and pointed at the wooden plaque in the corner.

"Go ask whoever told you that!"

Gan Ming understood immediately.

So that was what the line on the wooden plaque had been waiting for?

He wisely shut his mouth and reached out to take the ring.

Beep!

A series of information panels popped up before his eyes. The details of every item inside the ring appeared clearly, listed one by one.

[Iron Shortsword (Common)]

[Type: Weapon · Shortsword]

[Physical Attack: +5]

[Durability: 40/40]

[Creator: Wang Shaohui (Production-Type Awakened)]

[Note: A basic standard-issue weapon, suitable for First-Order Early Stage awakened.]

[Crude Leather Armor (Common)]

[Type: Armor · Light Armor]

[Physical Defense: +8]

[Durability: 35/35]

[Creator: Wang Shaohui (Production-Type Awakened)]

[Note: Basic armor mass-produced by Production-Type Awakened, providing limited physical protection.]

[Beginner Health Recovery Potion (Common)]

[Effect: Restores 50 HP within 10 seconds after consumption]

[Creator: Jiang Xuan (Production-Type Awakened)]

[Note: Mass-refined by Production-Type Awakened.]

[Beginner Mana Recovery Potion (Common)]

[Effect: Restores 30 Mana within 10 seconds after consumption]

[Creator: Jiang Xuan (Production-Type Awakened)]

[Note: Mass-refined by Production-Type Awakened.]

"The 3,000 living allowance has already been transferred to your identity card."

The woman tapped the terminal several times, and a number appeared on the screen.

[Account Holder: Gan Ming]

[Account Balance: 3000]

When Gan Ming saw the balance, he felt inexplicably excited.

What did 3,000 mean?

When he hauled cargo in the Lower District, he earned thirty on a good day and twenty on a bad one.

On days with no work, he did not earn even a single cent.

To earn 3,000, he would have to haul cargo for nearly half a year without eating or drinking.

But he also knew that prices in the Lower District and regular urban areas were not part of the same system.

A meal in the Lower District could be settled for three to five bucks, but that was because the things they ate did not deserve to be called food.

Outside the Lower District, normal restaurants, lodging, and transportation cost several times more than that.

How long this money could last, he would find out after spending it outside.

For the first time in two and a half years, he had savings of more than three digits in his pocket.

"One last thing."

The woman pulled another sheet from beneath the counter and slapped it onto the surface.

"This is the list of basic skills for newly awakened. First-Order Early Stage awakened can claim one basic active skill for free. Choose one from six. Once you choose, you can't change it. Think it over and tell me."