Ye Hen slowly opened his eyes, instinctively sitting up and looking around in confusion. Old items came into view: a swaying wooden bed, a faded mahogany table, and a broken computer. This was indeed his small family home!
What's going on?
Ye Hen suddenly jumped out of bed, a wave of inexplicable fear rising within him.
As his bare feet touched the cold cement floor, the chill confirmed that he wasn't dreaming. After all, he had fallen from the ninth floor while working at a construction site, and he had died on the spot!
Ye Hen gasped and mustered the courage to look up at the electronic calendar on the wall.
February 18, 2052, 15:32! The red digits on the black electronic clock shocked him, causing him to stumble several steps and lean against the cold wall. Ye Hen clearly remembered that the day he fell from the construction site was August 26, just less than a week before his sister Ye Ke was to start school. This was why he had worked so hard on the construction site.
Rebirth!
As the word suddenly popped into his mind, Ye Hen began to understand. At the same time, the blood in his body started to boil. How could he have such good luck? He just wanted to shout to the heavens three times to vent the long-accumulated frustration in his heart.
After a brief moment of excitement, Ye Hen quickly calmed down. He hurried to the bedside and slipped on a pair of wool slippers; getting a cold would not be worth it.
Ye Hen sat down heavily on the small wooden bed, quietly cradling his head in thought. Since heaven had allowed him to return to six months ago, he absolutely could not let this opportunity go to waste, not only for himself but also for his little sister, Xiao Ke.
Ye Hen was 22 years old and from Pingjiang. He had been orphaned at a young age, leaving him and his sister with this small, two-bedroom old house. He had dropped out of school at 15 and only completed middle school, which was quite unusual in an era where university students were everywhere. However, Ye Hen had never indulged in self-pity. After entering society, he had worked as a child laborer, sold carpets, and even been a small-time thug. Despite the disdain and ridicule from others, he had single-handedly put Ye Ke through college.
His sister, Ye Ke, was his only family in this world and the little angel he had to protect. In his previous life, their poverty had almost prevented Ye Ke from paying her tuition fees. In this life, after being reborn, Ye Hen vowed to provide his sister with a good learning environment and living conditions.
Ye Hen pondered intensely about how to leverage his rebirth to quickly earn a substantial amount of money and escape this life of poverty.
After thinking for a long time, Ye Hen realized that aside from his knowledge of games, he had no memory of any significant events that had occurred in the past six months.
Stock trading? How could someone who hadn't even solved his basic needs be expected to understand that?
Buying lottery tickets? That's a good idea, but Ye Hen had no idea what lottery tickets were all about.
Racking his brain, Ye Hen finally thought of a method that could be considered a way out: earning money in online games!
Don't be surprised. In the mid-21st century, virtual gaming had developed to a high level. The idea of playing games while sleeping had already been realized two decades earlier. Earning money as a professional player in virtual games was no longer a rarity. However, to earn big money, one had to possess high skill levels and an understanding of the game's background.
There were several virtual games on the market today, but the most popular was undoubtedly "Sword of Dominance." Developed by the world's largest gaming company, Tenglun, this super game boasted a realism level of 99%, surpassing all previous virtual games in every aspect, attracting all players.
"Sword of Dominance" officially launched on February 14, Valentine's Day, and it had been four full days since the game opened. In his previous life, Ye Hen had entered the game half a month after its launch. The reason was simple: in February, he was busy working on the construction site and had no energy to play games.
Having made up his mind to make a name for himself in the game, Ye Hen immediately took action. He quickly rummaged through his bedside and found an old black wallet containing all his savings: 3,280 yuan!
"That's enough to buy a 2,000 yuan gaming helmet," Ye Hen muttered to himself while looking at the thin stack of bills in his wallet.
Ye Hen squatted down and pulled out a yellowed suitcase from under the bed, searching through it, still only dressed in a thin shirt.
Two minutes later, he stood in front of a large mirror, zipping up his gray jacket while examining his appearance.
Half a year was not a long time, but Ye Hen's appearance had noticeably changed. Before his fall, he had long, unkempt hair and a scruffy beard, with dark, lifeless eyes. Now, he sported a short buzz cut, had a well-defined face, and his eyes were clear and pure. The transformation was stark. The reason for this change was largely due to his time in "Sword of Dominance."
Ye Hen locked the door and navigated through narrow alleys, arriving at a bustling street. Walking on the wet street and looking up at the overcast sky, Ye Hen began to recall events from his past.
Here's what happened: in his previous life, although Ye Hen entered the game half a month late, he didn't know if it was due to his good fortune or the blessing of the lucky goddess. Ten days after entering the game, he obtained a golden-grade dagger called "Night's Kiss." It's important to note that in the first month of the game, there were only a handful of golden-grade equipment, most of which were held by large studios and guilds. Ordinary players couldn't even piece together a complete set of bronze equipment, so the value of "Night's Kiss" was immense.
Ye Hen was a visionary. Despite being offered over ten thousand RMB at the time, he refused to sell the dagger. He knew that having this dagger would open many doors for him in the game.
And indeed, after equipping "Night's Kiss," Ye Hen's attack power significantly increased, making him one of the high-attack assassins in the game. He took on many bounty missions and earned a considerable amount of commission, enough to cover living expenses for himself and Ye Ke.
However, good times didn't last long. Just as Ye Hen was gearing up for a big break, he caught the attention of a notorious mercenary group. This group, formed by a studio in real life, was called the Blood Dance Mercenary Group, led by a figure known as the Blood Dance Judge. The Judge was also an assassin, and upon learning that Ye Hen possessed an unknown golden dagger, he set a trap to kill Ye Hen in order to acquire it.
Though "Sword of Dominance" had severe punishments for malicious PK (player killing), the system did allow for some exploitation. The rule was: the higher the PK value of a player, the greater the chance of equipment dropping when they killed another player.
Because of this rule, after being killed by a player with a PK value over 200, Ye Hen not only lost all the items in his backpack but also a third of his equipped gear, including "Night's Kiss."
Without "Night's Kiss," Ye Hen was like a tiger without teeth. No matter how hard he tried, fortune did not smile on him again. After a long period of stagnation in the game with no income, Ye Hen was forced to return to the construction site to scrape together enough money for Ye Ke's tuition.
Everything was for survival. If it was just himself, Ye Hen wouldn't have cared, but he could not let his sister suffer because of him. Returning to the construction site, Ye Hen was gloomy, and he accidentally fell from the ninth floor, dying on impact.
Lost in thought, Ye Hen found himself in front of a large shopping mall, watching the flow of people coming and going at the entrance. He shook his head vigorously, trying to dispel the memories from his mind. Overthinking was useless; he understood this very well. He knew that in this life, no one could bully or scheme against him again.
TL Note:
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