Chapter One: Where Am I? (Please add to your favorites and recommend!)

"Hmm, so it’s not a dream!"

Opening his eyes, Xie Jing stared at the intricately patterned ceiling above him and muttered to himself.

This was already the second day since he arrived in this unfamiliar world.

He lay back down, recalling that morning just the day before, when he, a gravely ill patient, had been confined to a hospital bed for a full year.

Xie Jing had always believed fate had a secret fondness for him; after all, at eighteen, he lost both parents, yet they left him a vast inheritance. He’d grown up with a beautiful childhood friend harboring a secret love for him. Just as his life was about to unfold like the protagonist of some wish-fulfillment novel, fate struck a heavy blow.

He was diagnosed with cancer—breast cancer, of all things.

After battling the disease for a year, he finally succumbed.

He remembered the moment his ears caught a sweet melody, and in a haze, he felt himself drifting away from the world. A wave of relief washed over him, as if countless gentle hands were caressing his body, and the cancer retreated...

Just as he debated whether to shout "my fate is my own, not heaven’s," a burst of light shattered the sensation.

Damn it... I wasn’t done enjoying myself...

Before his consciousness slipped into darkness, Xie Jing uttered his final words...

...

He had no idea how much time had passed before he awoke, groggy and dazed.

He found himself lying on a soft bed. There was no pungent smell of disinfectant, no distant hospital clamor.

It was already late when he first arrived, and all he felt was an unprecedented lightness. The pain from chemotherapy and cancer had vanished, replaced by a comfort so profound he couldn’t help but stretch luxuriously.

To preserve energy in his struggle against the cancer cells, Xie Jing had devised a clever tactic: absolute stillness! If he could avoid moving, he wouldn’t waste a drop of energy—he swore he’d fight cancer to the very end.

Yet now, the bed beneath him was incredibly soft, infused with a sunlit fragrance, making him long for a good sleep.

So he did just that.

He slept soundly, all the way until now.

Now, Xie Jing found himself seriously pondering three questions:

Who am I? Where am I? What should I do?

A sudden jolt in his mind made him touch his chest—no tubes, no wires.

Startled, Xie Jing shot upright, surveying his body and feeling a surge of strength.

Healthy. Full of vitality.

Where was his illness? The disease that was supposed to end him?

And—where was this place?

He donned the clothes left on a nearby chair, covering his bare body, and cautiously examined his surroundings.

It seemed to be a mansion. The spacious room contained only a bed, a large floor mirror, a desk piled with books covered in symbols, and an old-fashioned desktop computer flickering softly, evidence of its ongoing operation.

He checked the mirror—yes, still the same handsome face.

He touched the area where he’d once had surgery. The scar was gone, replaced by well-toned muscle.

How long had it been? A year, perhaps.

He flexed his arm, pleased to see the substantial muscle. Since falling ill, chemotherapy had ravaged his body; even moving was a challenge, let alone building muscle.

He opened the door and, judging by the décor, realized he was in a two-story villa, complete with a garden and swimming pool outside.

"Where am I? America? Doesn’t seem like it..."

Lost in thought, a breeze drifted in, making him shiver in his short sleeves.

Heading back inside, Xie Jing sat at the desk and began leafing through the books.

"Fujii Yuta? Japan? Am I in Japan?"

"Aircraft manufacturing techniques?"

"Are these airplane blueprints?"

He stared at the complex schematics in his hand, surprised to find he understood Japanese now. Picking up a nearby photo, he saw himself and a pretty girl posing together.

No way... A possibility occurred to him.

Had he transmigrated? Into another world? And ended up in Japan? Was this the real Japan, or some anime version?

Was there a system, too?

He tried calling out, "System? Show yourself!"

Beep—

A blue screen instantly appeared before his eyes, filled with garbled text, though a few recognizable words and Chinese characters remained.

"Whoa, there really is one!" Overjoyed, Xie Jing could hardly believe it—wasn’t this exactly like those web novels he used to read out of boredom?

The screen resembled a half-localized software: half gibberish, half simplified Chinese. Xie Jing couldn’t decipher the complex symbols, but there was a timer constantly ticking down.

He couldn’t make much of it, so he shifted his gaze to the lower half, where the Chinese characters were clear and familiar.

Skills: None

Draw Chances: None

World Mission: Do you want to become the ultimate star idolized by children? Do you wish to grow or shrink at will? Do you long to wreak havoc on cities without being cursed into oblivion? Then go! Become Ultraman! My brave warrior! (In Progress)

Hey, can’t this mission be a bit more serious? And this system is way too basic! Xie Jing was at a loss for words.

Wait—Ultraman?!

At the bottom of the screen, a line of colorful, artistic text, rendered in the classic WPS style, flashed—

Reward: One Newcomer’s Treasure Chest!

His mind still reeling, Xie Jing’s attention was drawn to that line.

A newbie bonus? Classic starter pack!

He focused on the words, and the multicolored light instantly scattered through the air. A treasure chest, taking up seventy percent of his field of vision, descended before him.

It was a massive, dazzling chest, resplendent with intricate patterns and impressive gemstones.

Focusing his mind, though uncertain how to open it, Xie Jing silently intoned, "Open."

A brilliant golden light flared; he heard a series of clinking sounds, then the chest opened and three glowing orbs shot out, shimmering before his eyes.

The chest, rendered with the graphics of a low-budget web game, gradually faded away as Xie Jing examined the three orbs.

The first to appear was a palm-sized disk, carved with mysterious patterns on its milky-white surface, emanating an enigmatic aura.

Above the disk, golden characters introduced it:

Single-use Universal Compass!

A line beneath it read: With this, you can find anything in the universe!

Xie Jing pondered what use this could possibly have for him right now.

Hmm... doesn’t seem very useful...

The second item was a book.

White characters hovered above it:

"Martial Arts Manual"

Description: Hey, ha, hey, yo, ho, ha!

Xie Jing frowned. Martial arts? For someone who’d just escaped a life of exhaustion, this energy-consuming ability felt more like a curse.

Still, better than nothing!

Following novel tradition, he tapped the void with his finger; instantly, the book transformed into a wisp of white light and merged into his body.

Ah, the wisdom of web novel masters never fails.

A surge of heat rushed through him, and his mind was suddenly filled with countless moves and techniques. Clenching his fists, Xie Jing sensed that he could easily take on four or five ordinary people now.

He was quietly delighted—not bad, not bad, as long as it’s useful.

Before he fell ill, he’d read plenty of system novels. Starter packs either contained items too advanced to use for thousands of chapters or utterly useless junk; only a lucky few protagonists received gifts they could use right away.

The final item, even after the glow faded, continued to illuminate the space around him.