The First Note

"Here's the deal: you two do me a favor. As part of the bargain, I'll tell you all the serial numbers after the 50th first." Officer Huang used his chopsticks to pick up a strand of spinach boiled to just the right tenderness. "Not only that, but I'll also answer one question for you for free-any question you want to know and I just happen to know."

"What kind of favor?" Qingling asked.

"You have to agree first." Officer Huang smiled. "It's definitely not hard, and I guarantee there's no life-threatening danger."

Qingling didn't speak.

Gaoyang didn't speak either. In fact, he had no business negotiating terms with Officer Huang anyway, so he simply decided to play it safe and stay inscrutable.

"You already know the one-in-ten-thousand ratio, so you should understand how bad your situation is." Officer Huang sighed deeply. "We are all orphans of this world, long abandoned by the gods."

Qingling fell silent, hesitating.

Gaoyang didn't make a sound either.

Officer Huang coaxed them step by step: "I believe that if you want to survive in this world of fog, besides having powerful talents, you also need to master as many rules as possible."

His gaze was leisurely, but his tone was resolute. "I guarantee that my information is worth a fortune. This trade is definitely worth it."

"Deal," Gaoyang blurted out. His reasoning was simple: since the other person had already put it this way, he might as well agree first. If things didn't work out, it wouldn't be too late to renege later.

Qingling glared at Gaoyang, but didn't voice any objections.

"Smart man." Officer Huang was very satisfied. He pulled a sticky note and a pen from his uniform pocket and wrote out three notes with a rustling sound. "Don't blame your uncle for being stingy, either. After all, I still can't completely trust you. Reincarnated into a hell like this, we can only try our best to survive."

The police officer folded the notes and handed them to Qingling.

Qingling reached to take them, but the police officer quickly pulled his hand back. " Remember, tomorrow after evening self-study, open the first note. Finish one task, then open the second. Finish two tasks, and look at the third. Be sure to follow this."

Qingling took the notes and shoved them into the front pocket of her school uniform. "Once it's done, I want to ask two questions."

"Alright. Once it's done, I'll contact you." Officer Huang stood up and took out his phone. "Old Man Liu, bill, please."

In the middle of the night, when Gaoyang returned home, his mindset had already undergone a huge transformation.

Once he knew the one-in-ten-thousand ratio of humans to beasts, he could no longer look at this once-warm and happy five-person family the same way.

Judging from the host's experience on the night he turned four, Gaoyang could almost be certain that Grandpa was definitely a "beast", even though it wasn't clear which kind.

Grandma shared a room with Grandpa, so she was probably a beast without a doubt.

As for Dad, Mom, and his younger sister...

Gaoyang didn't want to think about it too much. Deep down, he wished so badly that his family members all happened to be human, even though the probability of this was as small as winning the lottery. Still, he couldn't stamp out this wishful thinking; after all, they were family members who had lived with him day and night for twelve years.

If on the night of his eighteenth birthday, Gaoyang hadn't been hit by that "madman", and if he had continued to live ignorantly, growing up, getting married, having children, and dying of old age, it might have actually been a kind of happiness.

A person living in falsehood and lies wasn't pitiful, provided they never woke up.

However, there were no ifs. Gaoyang had awakened, and his once-peaceful life was gone.

Right now, other people were hell!

From now on, he could only move step by step, walking on thin ice; the slightest mistake would lead to an abyss of eternal damnation.

At three in the morning, his family had long since fallen asleep. Gaoyang would undoubtedly face a scolding from his parents tomorrow morning, but at least tonight, he didn't have to face them yet. He still had time to properly adjust his mindset and find the most suitable state to face his family.

Exhausted in both body and mind, Gaoyang climbed into the bathtub, just wanting to soak comfortably in a hot bath. Looking up, the hexagram before him emitted a faint light. This time, without touching it with his hand, he tried closing his eyes and controlling it with his inner voice: Enter the system.

[Beep-]

[Entering system]

[You have newly acquired 27 fortune points, for a total of 30 fortune points. Do you wish to use them?]

--Use them.

[Opening the attribute panel for you]

[Physique: 12　Stamina: 12]

[Strength: 11　Agility: 11]

[Spirit: 10　Charisma: 10]

[Fortune: 0]

Gaoyang immediately noticed that some basic attributes had increased, albeit very slightly.

--Do attribute values increase automatically?

[Attribute values will fluctuate to a certain extent based on your bodily functions and state]

[You spent a fulfilling day today, and you are a little stronger than you were yesterday]

--Then if I do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10km run every day, and keep it up for three years until all my hair falls out, can I become the strongest being on the surface of the earth?

[In theory, your body will become stronger, but you may also face injuries such as muscle strains and knee wear and tear]

--Then how do I get stronger?

[Use fortune points to permanently enhance attribute values]

[In addition, different talents also grant permanent bonuses to different attribute values]

--Is Qingling's Blade God talent strong?

[Talent: Blade God. Serial Number: 32. Rune Type: Damage]

[Max-Level Blade God: Weapon Mastery, weapon damage increased by 3x, physical armor-penetration rate 91.4%]

[Max-Level Blade God Permanent Attribute Bonus: Stamina +400, Strength +800, Agility +1000, Charisma +400]

--What about the Gun God talent?

[Talent: Gun God. Serial Number: 41. Rune Type: Damage]

[Max-Level Gun God: Firearm Mastery, 97.3% firearm accuracy, shooting speed 12 rounds/sec]

[Max-Level Gun God Permanent Attribute Bonus: Stamina +300, Strength +700, Agility +800, Charisma +300]

--F*ck.

[Some kind of plant?]

--Trash system!

[Buddhism cannot save the unlucky; paying money cannot alter your fate.]

[You also explored the talent--Metal today. Do you need to view the details?]

--Don't show me anymore, my heart can't take it.

[Do you want to allocate your stat points?]

--With only 30 Fortune points, what is there to allocate? Put them all into luck! I want to see just how fortunate I can get.

[Once Fortune points are allocated, they cannot be changed. Are you sure?]

--Sure, hurry up!

[Congratulations! Your luck has broken through 30, and all attributes receive a permanent 6-point bonus.]

[Stamina: 18, Endurance: 18]

[Strength: 17, Agility: 17]

[Spirit: 17, Charisma: 16]

[Fortune: 30]

--6 points, could you be any stingier?

--Wait, no, all 6 stats get 6 points each, that's 36 points total. This wave isn't a loss.

[In addition, you have triggered a hidden panel. Do you wish to unlock it?]

--Unlock! Hurry up!

[Sorry, insufficient luck.]

--Then what the hell are you talking about!

[Access ended, system hidden.]

[Beep...]

Early in the morning, Gaoyang got up and unsurprisingly received a lecture from his mother: he was supposed to be taking the college entrance exams soon, yet for the past two days he had stayed out all night, ignored text messages, and refused to answer phone calls. He was becoming less and less reassuring.

Gaoyang lied that it was Wang Zikai's birthday, and that Wang Zikai had dragged him to sing karaoke until midnight.

Hearing this, his mother grew even angrier. "Wang Zikai? Didn't he drop out of school? Don't hang out with that kid all day, and don't pick up his bad habits."

At the dining table, his father happily bit into a fried dough stick and held a different view. "Little Zikai? His old man is quite wealthy, son. That's a friend worth making."

"Don't listen to your father's nonsense. Those who touch vermilion turn red, and those who touch pitch turn black!" His mother glared at his father.

"Wife, times have changed."

"How have they changed?"

"In today's society, ability is secondary; it mainly depends on connections and resources. A friend from Little Zikai's social stratum is someone our son will definitely find useful in the future." His father argued logically and forcefully.

"What kind of distorted values are these?" His mother grew angry.

"Wife, I don't mean anything else. I just want our son to have more friends and more paths. I believe Yangyang has his own judgment and won't actually learn bad habits from him." Feeling a bit aggrieved, his father cast a look at Gaoyang. "Right, son?"

"Dad, Mom, I'm full."

Gaoyang felt a complicated mix of emotions and truly didn't know how to face his "family." He forced down a couple of bites, grabbed his school bag, and left for school.

Even knowing that his family members were most likely beasts, for a split second, Gaoyang still felt a moment of wavering: his parents had raised him, spent every day and night together, cared for him meticulously, and loved him far too much-how could they be beasts? Yet, wasn't Li Weiwei his childhood sweetheart back then? Such a wonderful girl had still turned into a demon in the span of a second.

What kind of creature was a beast, really?

What on earth did they want to do?

What was going on with this parallel world, anyway?

Gaoyang had no answer, just as he had no answer for why he had transmigrated at the age of six, or why he had ended up with such a bullshit system.

Gaoyang arrived at school and spent an ordinary day.

All day, Gaoyang didn't speak to Qingling, not even sharing a single intersecting glance. After evening self-study, Gaoyang went to a small alley near the school with no security cameras.

Soon, Qingling also appeared. She pulled two very thin black hoodies out of her large backpack, along with two baseball caps and face masks. "Change."

"Th-this?"

"Or what, do you want me to set up a fitting room for you?" As she spoke, Qingling began taking off her uniform. Her changing speed was genuinely fast, like a snake shedding its skin; in two or three moves she shed her top, revealing a fair neck and sexy collarbones. Gaoyang hurriedly turned his back and awkwardly began stripping off his clothes.

Three minutes later, the two of them had changed into the black hoodies, pulled up their hoods, and put on their baseball caps and face masks.

Before setting off, Qingling took the first slip of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it.