[No holier-than-thou readers or murderous maniacs allowed]
[Please don't skip around. This isn't a mindless power fantasy, and you'll miss a lot of details if you do.]
[The protagonist is decisive when it comes to killing, but he isn't a madman who kills everyone he meets. If you don't like that, please steer clear. Thank you.]
[There are reasons for all the settings that will come later. The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils arc is long to show the protagonist's underlying character; the pace will pick up afterward.]
[All the settings are explained through the plot. I won't simply write them into the book and tell everyone everything at the start. If you don't like using your brain, you can leave now.]
[In short, I'll write this properly. If you can't stand reading it, just leave. After all, no book can suit everyone's tastes.]
[Please follow me. I can open a fan group at a thousand followers, where everyone can chat freely about the plot. Thank you!]
America.
Deep in the mountains, a lean man dressed in dirty burlap abruptly appeared in the woods.
"I did it! I really did it!"
Xu Xiao was beside himself with excitement, delight shining through the grime on his face.
Xu Xiao, male, twenty-three years old.
A scavenger from the refugee camp outside Vanguard City, a base in the post-apocalyptic Lower City.
Ever since the apocalypse had arrived seven years ago and global evolution had changed the world, Xu Xiao had struggled to survive in that ruined world like a tenacious bedbug.
He didn't know whether to call it the sweet reward after bitter suffering or say that heaven had finally tempered him, a son of destiny, enough.
Not long ago, Xu Xiao had picked up a USB drive while scavenging and subsequently awakened his golden finger.
The Heavens World-Crossing Gate.
An ability that could cross dimensional walls and traverse the vast barriers between worlds.
The only things it required were world coordinates and just a hundred million points of energy.
As it happened, the USB drive Xu Xiao had picked up contained several movies that could serve as reference points for world coordinates.
To defy heaven and change his fate, and to put an end to seven years of scraping by, he took a chance.
Mustering his courage, Xu Xiao had secretly infiltrated the outer city's energy reserve center.
Prepared to die, Xu Xiao had stolen the use of an energy accumulator at the reserve center to charge his golden finger, successfully crossing into another world.
"Chronicle."
[Beep! Crossing complete. Remaining energy: 0%] [Please gather enough energy to return before this world's laws reject you. Otherwise, you will be rejected by the World Will.]
Two mechanical announcements sounded in Xu Xiao's mind.
At the same time, something like a timer appeared in his mind, its digits ticking away.
29:23:59:15
This should be a countdown, right? Does that mean I can only stay here for thirty days?
Using his common sense, Xu Xiao quickly guessed what the string of numbers in his mind meant.
Clearly, this was what his golden finger meant by returning before this world's World Will rejected him.
Although he didn't know what this so-called rejection by the World Will was, it didn't sound like anything good.
Xu Xiao had no intention of waiting until time ran out to find out.
No zuo, no die!
He had risked his life to activate his golden finger to fight for a chance at survival, not to court death.
"But then again, I've seen this movie before, and I still remember a little. If I can get my hands on that thing, maybe I really can stay alive when I go back."
He had struggled through the apocalypse for seven years, and he had forgotten far too much about the movies and shows from before it.
Xu Xiao remembered only a little of the plot. After thinking it over, all he could recall was the most badass thing in it: the superpower crystal.
"I absolutely have to get my hands on it. Otherwise, when time runs out and I go back, those ability users in the Lower City will have me killed."
Xu Xiao's golden finger only had the ability to cross worlds. It didn't have the drawback of issuing missions, so he could decide all his actions for himself.
But he had come here prepared to risk his life to change his fate. To do that, he needed power, so he had naturally set his sights on the core of this story.
In the apocalypse Xu Xiao came from, ordinary people without abilities were livestock at the very bottom of the heap.
Everyone stood above you, and if you weren't careful, your life could vanish for no apparent reason.
Shaking his head to cast those worries from his mind, Xu Xiao began planning his next move.
First, he needed to figure out where he was.
He looked at the dense trees around him and the sunlight occasionally filtering through the leaves.
Good thing it isn't nighttime.
Xu Xiao felt somewhat relieved.
This, too, was a habit he had developed in the apocalypse. Night brought all sorts of trouble.
Even if this world was the one from the movie and didn't have the dangers of mutant beasts roaming about as they did in the apocalypse, the cold at night could still leave a person half-dead from hypothermia.
Besides, in America's wilderness forests, there really might be wild beasts like bears and wolves.
I need to hurry out of the forest before the sun goes down.
With his plan made, Xu Xiao immediately got moving.
He found a sturdy tree and quickly climbed it like a nimble monkey.
The higher he stood, the farther he could see. He might not find a city, but at least he could see whether he was at the foot of the mountain or on top of it.
The tree beneath him, at least twelve meters tall, gave Xu Xiao a good view.
Whether heaven was watching over him or his luck was simply excellent, he couldn't say.
Sitting among the branches at the top of the tree, Xu Xiao caught intermittent glimpses of a road in the distance.
A road! That meant he wasn't far from a city and could soon reach human society.
He swiftly climbed down, got his bearings, and headed quickly toward the road.
Thanks to the exercise he'd gotten in the apocalypse, despite being as thin as a monkey and weighing just over sixty kilograms at 1.8 meters tall, Xu Xiao was capable.
His movements were remarkably agile.
It couldn't be helped. In the apocalypse, ordinary people without abilities who couldn't run fast enough would have long since become food for mutant beasts.
After about half an hour of brisk travel, Xu Xiao finally emerged onto the road, at the cost of a few quiet rumbles from his stomach.
I'm a little hungry. Wouldn't it be great if some kind person came along and gave me a ride?
Xu Xiao walked along the road, thinking to himself.
Of course, it was only a thought.
In American TV shows, all you had to do was stand by the road and stick out your thumb to get a ride.
It sounded cool, but the prerequisite was that you at least had to look like a normal person, and preferably have white skin.
Xu Xiao was obviously Asian, and with the stinking, tattered windbreaker he wore, he looked like a homeless scavenger, whether in the apocalypse or in America.
But it had to be said.
Sometimes, when luck came, nothing could stand in its way.
Just as Xu Xiao was walking aimlessly along the road, a beeping sound came from behind him.
A Chevrolet that had passed through who knew how many hands honked behind Xu Xiao, then slowly pulled up beside him and stopped.
"Hey, friend. Looks like you're in trouble. Want to come have some fun with us?"
A young man with multicolored hair, tattoos all over his body, and several rings hanging from his nose leaned out of the car window and called out to Xu Xiao.
"Oh, James, you must be high. He's just a homeless man."
Beside the man, a similarly slovenly dressed woman opened her eyes and glanced at Xu Xiao, unable to hide her disgust.
But for some reason, perhaps because the young man really was high, as the woman had said, he paid her no heed.
Ignoring his companion's disgust, he reached into the driver's compartment and pulled out a small, transparent baggie, inviting Xu Xiao with an excited look:
"Come on, come on, friend, try the new stuff I bought today."
Two junkies. But I can actually understand what they're saying. At least I don't have to worry about communicating.
He had been worrying about finding a way out, and now a pillow had appeared just as he was getting sleepy.
"Come on, let's have some fun together. I'm really happy today, so I'll share..."
The young man was still extending his enthusiastic invitation.
Bang!
The next second, Xu Xiao had decisively yanked open the car door and dragged him out.
James was so muddled from getting high that he had no habit of locking the car door and was pulled straight out by Xu Xiao.
"Ow... you..."
The pain of hitting the ground brought the young man's overexcited mind back to its senses.
In the blink of an eye, Xu Xiao had climbed into his beloved car.
The woman in the passenger seat was reasonably sober and immediately reached for the handgun on the now-empty driver's seat, but a lean hand caught hers.
"Heaven! You're hurting me!" the woman glared at him.
Xu Xiao had both her wrists clamped in one hand, while his other hand reached the revolver on the empty seat before she could.
Safety off, aim!
"Get out!"
Xu Xiao barked coldly, forcing the woman's cries of pain back down her throat.
Soon, after driving the two of them out of the car, Xu Xiao began asking them some questions about basic matters.
"Snohomish County, Washington State," Xu Xiao murmured.
To be honest, he couldn't remember where Chronicle took place, but fortunately he remembered that it involved a high school.
After confirming where he was and looting the pair of their belongings, Xu Xiao drove off just like that.
Having just arrived in an unfamiliar world, he didn't want to kill anyone and draw attention.
His first priority was still to find the superpower crystal and replenish his golden finger's energy.
[Please follow me. Thank you, thank you very much.]