Checking In at the Temple

At seven in the morning, the sun had just cast its first ray of light across the sky.

In an apartment in Chinatown, Washington, D.C., New York, Chen Xu sat at the dining table, holding a knife and fork as he absentmindedly cut into the soft-boiled egg and sandwich on his plate.

No one knew what he was thinking.

In a world invisible to others, a pale blue progress bar appeared before his eyes, its progress already at 99.9 percent.

Chen Xu was overwhelmed with excitement.

"Almost ten years!"

It had been nearly ten years since he came to this damned Marvel Universe. At first, he thought this system would only take three years to load, but after three years came another three years, and then another three years. It had almost been ten years!

"Has my system finally finished loading?"

Just as Chen Xu excitedly let his thoughts run wild.

"Ding, system loading complete!"

"Ding, beginner mission: Please arrive at Jagannath Temple in Kathmandu and check in within twelve hours. Arriving on time will earn an unknown reward."

Once the progress bar had fully loaded, the system's mechanical synthesized female voice rang out in Chen Xu's mind.

"It finally loaded!"

Chen Xu excitedly slammed a fist onto the table, and the immense force made everything on it jump.

But then he frowned slightly and muttered in confusion, "Kathmandu? Nepal?"

"If I remember correctly, isn't that where Kamar-Taj's Earthly Gate is located?"

"Why is the system sending me there? Could I run into Master Ancient One?"

Unable to figure it out, Chen Xu quickly finished his breakfast, then hurried into his bedroom to get dressed.

He found his wallet in a drawer and counted the money inside. There was a little over a thousand dollars.

Most of it consisted of small ten-dollar bills, with only one or two hundred-dollar notes.

Once he had prepared the necessities, Chen Xu left the apartment that sheltered him from the wind and rain, preparing to head to Kathmandu in search of his opportunity.

Two in the afternoon, Kathmandu, Nepal.

After changing planes several times, Chen Xu had just gotten off the plane. Though he had been utterly exhausted, learning that he was about to reach his destination instantly swept away all his fatigue.

After hurriedly eating a Big Mac by the roadside and drinking a large cup of soda, Chen Xu hailed a taxi and prepared to head to Kathmandu's most famous Jagannath Temple.

Along the way, Chen Xu sat comfortably in the taxi, admiring the bustling streets and the scenery outside. Before he knew it, an hour or two had passed.

In the distance, Jagannath Temple had entered Chen Xu's field of vision, and the sight thrilled him.

After taking out his wallet to pay the fare and thanking the driver, Chen Xu got out of the taxi and strolled toward the temple in the distance with a smile on his face.

However, what Chen Xu might not have expected was that not long after he got out, the taxi driver fell into thought as he watched his retreating back.

The previously honest-looking face was now filled with cruelty. He pulled out a phone from his pocket, coldly watched Chen Xu's back, and rattled off something incomprehensible.

Meanwhile, Chen Xu was nearly at the temple when a traffic accident happened ahead. The main road was completely blocked by local residents gathered to watch, leaving him no choice but to take a side street.

Kathmandu, a world-famous city, had countless narrow streets, and some of them were quite winding.

Chen Xu could only follow the navigation on his phone in a daze, turning this way and that. As time passed and he went deeper in.

Gradually, there were fewer and fewer people around him, while he got closer and closer to the temple.

By the end, as Chen Xu stood near the temple looking at his map, he failed to notice several unwelcome visitors appearing in front of him. At that moment, he was completely focused on the map on his phone.

Thus, without realizing it, he ran headfirst into the chest of the man in front of him.

"Sorry!"

After bumping into someone, Chen Xu quickly raised his head and apologized, but as he hurriedly looked the man over, he realized something was wrong.

Wasn't the person he had accidentally run into that taxi driver?

Seeing this, Chen Xu, who had lived in America for years, was no fool. The instant he saw the driver, he realized what was about to happen.

When he looked back, just as expected, several muscular men holding weapons had appeared behind him.

They faintly formed an encirclement around him.

"Hand over your money."

Among the group, the taxi driver appeared to be the gang leader. He stared maliciously at Chen Xu with a baseball bat in hand and said with a flippant grin, "Hand over all your money, yellow-skinned monkey, or I can't guarantee your safety!"

Seeing this, Chen Xu sighed and muttered to himself in Chinese.

"You bastard, I just wanted to check in."

"Can't you let me do it in peace? Why do you have to stir up so much trouble?"

The thugs in front of him were all white. Seeing Chen Xu muttering to himself, they grew impatient.

"What are you muttering about?"

"Hurry up and hand over all your money, then you can leave safely!"

"Okay, okay!"

Chen Xu slipped his right hand into his pocket and raised his left hand with a smile.

"I'll give you all the money on me right away. Right away!"

Watching the unrestrained greed on everyone's faces, Chen Xu suddenly pulled the loose cash from his pocket and tossed it into the air. While everyone's attention was drawn to the money, he abruptly dashed through the gap between them.

"Shit!"

When they came to their senses and discovered that aside from one large-denomination bill, all Chen Xu had thrown were scattered small notes and loose change, the taxi driver flew into a rage and shouted at his men picking up the money from the ground.

"Hurry up and chase him! That kid has at least a thousand dollars in his pocket!"

"I saw it with my own eyes!"

The taxi driver's men had been reluctant to leave the loose change on the ground, but after hearing their boss, greedy gleams appeared in their eyes.

"What, a thousand?"

In a place like Kathmandu, a thousand dollars was enough for several of them to live it up for months.

Seeing the greed on his men's faces, the taxi driver smiled.

"Go catch him! We split it fifty-fifty afterward!"

The moment he finished speaking, he gave chase. His men, however, overtook him even faster, their faces filled with greed.

"Pant, pant."

Chen Xu was now running with all his might toward the temple. After all, he used to jog around Chinatown every morning.

At that moment, he was incredibly grateful for the habit he had formed. Just as his thoughts wandered, the hateful taxi driver's voice rang out behind him.

"Shit! Kid up ahead, stop right there!"

The taxi driver's furious voice came from not far behind. Even while running, Chen Xu turned back and gave him the middle finger.

And sneered inwardly, Only an idiot would stay put and wait for you to rob him!

The taxi driver chasing Chen Xu with all his strength turned green with anger when he saw that raised middle finger.

"Damn yellow-skinned monkey, you'd better hope I don't catch you!"

The taxi driver stared venomously at Chen Xu running ahead.

Finally, after rounding a corner, Chen Xu saw the temple he had been longing for—the check-in location required by the system.

Seeing it, Chen Xu broke into an excited smile, and his previously steady pace instinctively quickened.

As he watched Chen Xu about to reach the temple, tension appeared on the taxi driver's face. He roared at several loafers near the temple entrance.

"Shit! You guys, stop him!"

Upon hearing the taxi driver's roar, the two loafers who had been smoking at the temple entrance and leering at passing girls suddenly tossed away their cigarette butts and blocked the entrance from either side.

"Damn it!"

Chen Xu, who was about to run into the temple, cursed under his breath. In an instant, he lowered his head and thought for a moment. When he raised it again, his gaze was resolute. He was ready to take a big gamble.

His already maxed-out speed increased even further. At the same time, he bent slightly forward with his right shoulder leading, like a warrior about to smash through a gate, and charged at the two loafers at the temple entrance.

A trace of ferocity flashed across Chen Xu's originally refined and handsome face.

For the system that had finally finished loading after ten years, for his future happiness, Chen Xu gritted his teeth and chose to risk his life.

How could the loafers trying to stop Chen Xu have ever seen something like this? Watching Chen Xu charge at them with a savage expression as though he did not care whether he lived or died, the two men instinctively took two steps back.

And that was the key to Chen Xu's success.

He smashed through the two burly men and stumbled to the ground. As Chen Xu successfully entered the temple, a pleasant system notification sounded in his mind.

"Ding."

"Congratulations, host, on successfully arriving at the check-in location!"

"Host has been awarded immensely powerful Telekinesis!"

After hearing the system notification in his mind, Chen Xu was so excited that he laughed wildly like a madman, utterly oblivious to anyone around him.

"Hahahahaha..."

Behind him, the taxi driver and his men finally caught up. Panting heavily, they came to Chen Xu's side and surrounded him.

"Run, you damned bastard! Weren't you so good at running?"

"Pray, Chinese man. You have no idea what kind of brutal fate awaits you!"

The thugs wore vicious grins. They could hardly wait to beat the Chinese man lying on the ground senseless.