Back in America

Lin Rui's high school grades had been far from ideal.

To give him a better future, his parents had sold everything they could, borrowed money and shouldered debts, and found a study-abroad agent to send him overseas for school.

People nowadays knew that children who went abroad before adulthood, with their worldviews still unformed and no family beside them, could easily take many wrong turns in life, even plunging beyond redemption.

Unfortunately, Lin Rui's parents twenty years ago had known none of this. They had taken it for granted that life abroad had to be better than life at home, that the moon was rounder overseas and foreigners were better-mannered.

So, when Lin Rui walked out of Newark International Airport in New Jersey State with his suitcase, he could not help swearing:

"This goddamn dump. I went through a thousand hardships to get out, and now I'm back-and twenty years in the past, at that."

Yes, he had been reborn.

Not only had he been reborn, he had come with a system.

A hoarse notification voice sounded in Lin Rui's mind. "Hello, demon hunter. You were fortunate enough to escape the vortex of a temporal storm and have just emerged from a massive spatial teleportation array.

"Unfortunately, you have arrived in a rotten, depraved, fallen world.

"This place is crawling with evil spirits, cultists, and blood demons. Every darkness in the world can be found here in physical form. Remember your duty and your convictions. Do not let evil taint you."

Demon hunter? Spatial teleportation array?

Puzzled, Lin Rui glanced back at the Boeing 747 that had brought him here and the airport terminal teeming with people. This really is a spatial teleportation array.

A virtual screen flashed into view, with Lin Rui's portrait at the top and some basic information about him below.

Name: Lin Rui.

Age: 17.

Class: Demon hunter, "trainee."

Strength: 5 (You spent all your time studying and got far too little exercise. Your hand-to-hand combat ability is practically zero.)

Constitution: 6 (Your body is not particularly healthy. Your cardiovascular fitness is poor, and your stamina is severely lacking. Your youth, however, makes up for these shortcomings a little.)

Spirit: 12 (Years of studying have their benefits. At least you are no fool, though you are not particularly clever either.)

Agility: 8 (Youth gives you quite a few advantages, but with your lack of exercise, you can hardly be called nimble.)

Charm: 15 (Your appearance has been optimized, and your memories from before your rebirth make you seem more mature. This will give you a tremendous advantage in social interactions.)

Skills: None.

Equipment: None.

Deck: None.

Followers: None.

(A value of 10 is the standard for a normal adult.)

These uneven stats meant that, for now, Lin Rui should use his mouth rather than his fists whenever possible.

Newark International Airport was only twenty-odd kilometers from Manhattan, New York, the "center of the world." Many travelers bound for New York chose to land here to save money.

It was 2005. Several years had passed since 9/11, American soldiers had stormed into Afghanistan, and America was still at the height of its power, arrogant and complacent.

Yet Newark Airport hardly resembled an international transportation hub. Its systems were outdated, its management chaotic, and flights were frequently delayed or even canceled.

Lin Rui wheeled his suitcase into Terminal B and examined himself in a restroom mirror-his features had not changed, nor had his height. He was still over six feet tall.

His overall appearance was different, however, more refined. It was like scoring ten extra points in each of the six college entrance exam subjects: the total would rise by a considerable margin.

This was not merely because his "charm" stat was high. He also had twenty more years of life experience, allowing him to put that stat to use.

On the plane, the flight attendants had glanced his way repeatedly, their smiles warmer, and had offered him a cabin upgrade-free of charge, since business class happened to have unsold seats.

As he disembarked, the coolly beautiful, mature chief flight attendant had found an opportunity to leave him her phone number, saying she might be able to help if he ran into any trouble in New York.

This proved that all the talk about Asian men being unpopular in Europe and America was bullshit-it depended on whether you were handsome, knew how to talk, and could provide emotional value.

As long as you were handsome enough, smooth-talking, and generous with your love, plenty of people would be there for you-so boys away from home needed to learn to protect themselves too.

At the terminal, Lin Rui found a pay phone and called the study-abroad agent who was supposed to pick him up. "This is Lin Rui. I just got off the plane. Where are you?"

A harsh voice cursed through the receiver. "You damn brat, I've been waiting in the parking lot for three hours. Do you mainlanders have any sense of time?"

The good mood he had built up on the plane immediately vanished into the wind.

"The flight was delayed. There was nothing I could do." Hearing the voice on the phone, Lin Rui grew irritated, and many unpleasant memories resurfaced.

Lin Rui's parents had been born beneath the red flag and raised in the spring breeze. They had entered the workforce right in the 1980s and 1990s.

After being laid off, the couple had started a small business. They had made money, but suffered plenty too. They had poured their entire fortune into finding a way to send their son abroad, hoping he could live a good life.

In his previous life, Lin Rui had also harbored unrealistic dreams of America. He had happily spent more than a dozen hours on a transoceanic flight to reach the "land of the free."

His English had been poor then, and his head had been spinning when he got off the plane. He had wandered around Newark Airport's terminals for ages, unfamiliar with the place and everyone in it, so anxious he had nearly cried.

Reborn, he made his way smoothly to the exit of Terminal B, found a battered Ford in the parking lot, and once again saw the study-abroad agent's ugly face...

The man was skinny, with triangular eyes, center-parted hair, and an arrogant expression. Supposedly, his ancestors were Chinese laborers sold to the United States like livestock in the late Qing dynasty, and his family had lived in New York for four or five generations.

"Kid, you're lucky. Getting to study in America? Your ancestors' graves must be puffing out blue smoke. I can't promise anything else about this American place, but making money here is easy as can be."

"Your parents work themselves to death back home, but can they make a thousand yuan a month? In the United States, even washing dishes at a Chinese restaurant will get you at least three or four thousand... dollars a month."

The words "washing dishes" triggered Lin Rui, because he really had done it-from nine in the morning until nine at night, until exhaustion left him dazed.

The boss had acted like an overseer, even timing employees' bathroom breaks with a watch. Anyone who spent a little too long on the toilet would be greeted with a dark scowl and abuse-what took you so long? Even if you were eating shit, you should be done by now!

Once Lin Rui got into the car, the agent pulled out a battered phone and boasted, "Know what this is? A mobile telephone. Never seen one back home, have you?

"These are very hard to buy, very precious. I've even prepaid your phone credit. One thousand dollars. Pay me now.

"Oh, and you need to reimburse my parking fees and lost work time. Let's call it a hundred dollars. There's also a three-thousand-dollar processing fee for enrollment. How about paying it all now?

"Don't complain about the price. That's the going rate. It's excellent value.

"Just do as I say, and I guarantee you'll earn it back in a year or two."

These words darkened Lin Rui's expression. Every shadow cast over his mind when he first arrived in America in his previous life had been dragged back out.

The phone was a secondhand Motorola with nothing but the cheapest plan on its SIM card. Service had been cut off after a month. It was nowhere near worth a thousand dollars.

As for the parking fees, lost work time, and so on-Lin Rui's parents had already paid thirty thousand dollars. Providing those services was the agent's job.

In reality, all this man had done was submit applications for preparatory study to a few public high schools in New York on Lin Rui's behalf and forward some documents.

Applying was not difficult either. There was no need to pull strings or cultivate connections.

Many schools had places for international students. You could try your luck, and as long as you met the requirements, you might get in without spending a cent.

But the school this agent had applied to was utterly abysmal. It was not even in New York, but in New Jersey to its west-a trash high school in a trash neighborhood.

To get into that school, Lin Rui had been extorted by the agent as though the man were scraping his bones and sucking out his marrow. He had suffered more than enough at that high school too, and it still rankled years later.

In his eyes, America was no good place at all. What the hell did New York's prosperity have to do with those at the bottom-when your lot was to live in a basement, you still dreamed of a seat at the table?

Glancing at the agent, Lin Rui turned it over in his mind, unwilling to repeat his old fate. He pushed open the door, got out, opened the trunk, and took his luggage back out.

The agent asked in surprise, "Kid, what are you doing? Without me looking after you, you won't survive a single day in New York. You're abroad now, not back home.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. All your enrollment paperwork is in my hands. If you don't pay, you'll have come to the United States for nothing. You won't even have a place to stay."

Seeing that Lin Rui remained unmoved, the agent grew angrier and cursed furiously. "Was studying abroad just a cover? Planning to hide and work illegally as soon as you land?

"I know every Chinese restaurant in New York. This isn't your little hometown county. Without my say-so, you won't find work. Nobody's going to feed you.

"You little newbie, don't get full of yourself. I'm giving you one last chance. Get back in the car, pay up, and I'll let this slide."

But after getting out, Lin Rui merely gave the agent a contemptuous glance, wheeled his suitcase away, and found an airport police officer nearby.

The American officer was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted. As Lin Rui approached, he warily placed a hand on his holster, only refraining from any excessive reaction after confirming that the face was Asian.

Inside the battered Ford, the study-abroad agent was astonished. He cursed inwardly, Damn it, does this kid think he's back home, going to the police just like that?

From that distance, the agent could not make out what Lin Rui told the officer. He only saw the airport cop frown, then fix his gaze on him.

The agent's heart immediately raced and his breathing quickened, like a mouse encountering a cat.

Before long, the airport officer walked over, stared at the agent inside the car, and said, "Sir, someone has reported you for operating an unlicensed transport service. Show me your driver's license."

Fuck... how does that kid know about this? Isn't he supposed to be some mainland bumpkin fresh off the plane in New York?

The agent cursed Lin Rui a hundred times in his mind, but could only force a smile and fawn over the officer. "Officer, I'm here to pick up that kid. I'm his relative. This isn't a commercial vehicle."

"Your driver's license," the officer repeated, his face stern. "Move slowly. Let me see your hands."

On the verge of tears, the agent could only shakily take his license from his pocket and hand it through the window.

The officer took one glance, raised his eyebrows, and said, "This license is expired."

American driver's licenses had expiration dates, usually after eight years. Once expired, they had to be renewed within a certain period, or the holder would have to retake the test.

But if a license had too many violations on its record, the fines due at renewal would also amount to a hefty sum. Some people therefore put it off day after day until their licenses expired.

Lin Rui had not gone far. From nearby, he twisted the knife. "His plates are fake, and there's contraband in his trunk. Oh, and check his tax records. You're sure to find a surprise."

The agent's face instantly went white. Every one of those charges was enough to put him in prison, especially the last. He looked at Lin Rui in shock and terror and asked dumbly, "Kid, how do you know all this?"

His face cold, Lin Rui thought, The first lesson I learned in America was not to trust so-called "compatriots." And you were the bastard who taught me that lesson.

"Officer, could you investigate this suspect as thoroughly as possible?" With a calm expression, Lin Rui watched the officer searching the agent's trunk and put his social skills to work.

The broad, thickset officer only had to turn and glance at Lin Rui to be influenced by his fifteen points of charm. An officer's sense of duty and pride rose within him, dispelling his original intention to simply go through the motions.

"Don't worry. I'll get to the bottom of everything about this guy."

Hearing this, the agent was so frightened that his legs trembled and his throat choked up. Tears nearly poured down like rain.

Lin Rui felt no pity for him. Resting a hand on the car window, he snapped coldly, "You wanted to fleece me like a fat sheep. Now it's my turn to slaughter you."