The Fighter's Past Life (Part One)

"Welcome to the Perfect Life Simulator!"

"Your wallet balance is 3,179 Origin Jade. You may choose to simulate your own future life or someone else's past life."

Four screens hovered around the dial.

The first screen showed Su Wu sitting in the temple in a daze, representing the simulation of his own future life.

The second screen showed "Zhuo Jie" standing before the mountain gate of the No-Thought Venerable Power Temple, looking up at the sky. It represented the simulation of Zhuo Jie's past life.

The third and fourth screens were completely black.

Since Su Wu had reached a save point, his future simulations would begin here. He no longer needed to start from his rented apartment.

When he saw the fourth screen, he paused briefly, then focused his attention on it.

"Would you like to spend 30 Origin Jade to simulate the past life of the dagger's owner?"

The simulator had classified the dagger that man left behind as a relic?

Su Wu had originally intended to run a future simulation to determine what harm using Fiend Hand Enlargement at his current level would do to him.

He hadn't expected another past-life simulation option to appear in the simulator.

Thirty Origin Jade was no longer much to him.

That man had been burly, with sharp reflexes, and had struck like a thunderbolt. If Su Wu hadn't been something other than an ordinary human himself, the man would probably have taken him down with a single move.

The man must have had some unusual experiences in his past to develop such formidable fighting skills.

His past life naturally held some value.

Yes.

Su Wu answered inwardly.

"Selection confirmed."

"30 Origin Jade deducted. Your wallet balance is 3,149 Origin Jade."

"You may bring the following items into this simulation..."

Option 0: Your body (180 Origin Jade).

Option 1: Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand (500 Origin Jade).

Option 2: Damascus Steel Dagger (1 Origin Jade).

Option 3: Imperial Bell (1 Origin Jade).

Option 4: Damaged Copper-Clad Skeleton (1 Origin Jade).

Option 5: Folding table (1 Origin Jade).

This time, he could bring a great many items into the dagger owner's past life. Aside from recently produced food and water supplies and his phone, everything else could be taken into the simulation.

Su Wu surmised that whether an item could be brought into someone's past-life simulation depended on whether it had already existed back then.

If the item had existed during the period being simulated, he could easily bring it in.

But if it hadn't, he couldn't bring it in no matter how hard he tried.

For instance, food and water produced within the past month and a phone released less than three months ago couldn't be brought into the dagger owner's past life.

Yet the folding table he had bought three years ago could be brought in without trouble.

The Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand could also be brought into the simulation.

-Did that mean the Corpse Buddha Ghost Hand itself had existed for a certain number of years, or could supernatural entities simply be brought into past simulations at will?

Su Wu didn't have enough samples to test his conjecture.

He snuffed out the stray thoughts in his mind and entered the simulation without selecting a single item.

Overhead, circular lights set into the ceiling shone brightly, illuminating the wooden floor until it gleamed like a mirror.

Rows of punching bags lined both sides of the spacious hall.

Boxing gloves, various protective gear, and specially made training weapons hung on display racks.

Burly men, some bare-chested and others wearing black tank tops, stood barefoot in loose trousers. They formed a circle around a tall man whose build wasn't particularly muscular.

The man had a somewhat vicious-looking face, and the confusion in his eyes gradually faded.

He cautiously sized up the hulking men surrounding him.

What had the dagger's owner done in the past?

Was this place he'd arrived at upon entering the simulation some kind of combat fitness club?

Thoughts raced through the man's mind.

There was no doubt about his true identity-he was Su Wu.

"A worthless bastard like you,

"scum who gambled away the family fortune and left his parents and family without even a place to live,

"should have been crawling into spaces under bridges and sleeping in unfinished buildings, cut off from the world, with even dogs wanting nothing to do with you!"

While Su Wu was pondering, a voice came over the speakers in the spacious hall.

"But what can I say? I'm kindhearted.

"I pity you, so I'm giving you this opportunity.

"And you haven't ruined your body yet, which means you can seize it.

"Now, as long as you complete every part of the training here, I can arrange for you to compete in Underground No-Holds-Barred Fighting!

"I'll hire the best coaches to train you.

"I'll give you the best medical treatment and guarantee you won't die here.

"I'll supply you with plenty of food so you can improve yourself more effectively.

"You won't have anything to worry about.

"All you need to do is finish your daily training.

"Have you got that?"

What kind of saint was this?

As he listened to the voice over the speakers, the thought flashed through Su Wu's mind. He didn't respond immediately.

A hulking man walked over and slapped Su Wu across the left side of his face!

Smack!

The giant's swinging palm actually stirred up a gust of wind!

The slap made "Su Wu's" left cheek visibly redden and swell. A faint, metallic sweetness filled his mouth, his head buzzed, and stars danced before his eyes!

"Have you got that?"

The voice over the speakers held a strange excitement.

"Yes!"

Though Su Wu's head was still buzzing, he didn't dare hesitate and answered at once.

He had come here to see whether there was a way to improve himself.

He hadn't come specifically to get beaten.

But things didn't go as he hoped.

As his reply died away, the man's voice over the speakers fell silent as well.

A mechanical electronic voice came over the speakers. "First training exercise: taking a beating."

The simulator's electronic female voice sounded at the same time as the broadcast, leaving Su Wu barely able to distinguish between them.

"You have discovered the Safe House 'Training Grounds.'

"Your progress will automatically be saved here during the simulation.

"You may choose to exit the simulation from this location.

"Would you like to exit?"

The hall he was in was itself a Safe House.

He could exit from here whenever he wanted?

And-what was this beating exercise the hall's speakers had announced? Why would something like that even exist?

Thought after thought drifted through Su Wu's mind.

He didn't choose to exit the simulation.

Instead, he looked around.

The hulking men who had stood silently at attention, metal masks covering their faces, were now charging toward him.

Whoosh!

As they closed in, one burly man led with a punch aimed straight at his head!

The punch tore through the air with a resounding crack!

What ordinary person in the real world could punch hard enough to make the air crack?

If that punch hit his head, wouldn't he die on the spot?

Su Wu immediately twisted aside, avoiding the ferocious punch. But as he dodged it, another man kicked him behind the knee!

Thud!

His knee buckled and he dropped to the floor, both hands flinging forward as he pitched face-first toward the ground!

Thud, thud, thud!

Countless fists and feet blurred into afterimages, raining down on his body!