His finger hovered over the glowing options, trembling despite his best efforts to steady it.
Eight talents. Eight paths. Only one choice.
Lei Han's eyes swept across them, his heart hammering. This wasn't just picking a skill in a game—this was choosing who he'd become. What kind of person would return from that simulated life.
The white-glowing talents called to him first, safe and predictable:
[Natural Athlete] — Superior physical coordination and endurance
[Quick Learner] — Double learning speed for knowledge-based skills
[Silver Tongue] — Enhanced charisma and persuasion
[Iron Will] — Mental fortitude and psychological resistance
[Keen Observer] — Enhanced perception and pattern recognition
All useful. All reasonable.
But they are all... ordinary.
His gaze drifted to the blue-glowing talents, pulsing with brighter energy:
[Lucky Break] — Passive probability manipulation
[Martial Prodigy] — 5x combat learning speed
Both glowed with steady blue light—rare, but stable.
And then, at the end, something different.
[???]
It didn't just glow blue—it blazed with intense azure light that flickered and crackled like unstable lightning. The glow was brighter than the other blues, almost blinding, pulsing erratically as if the system itself couldn't quite contain whatever this was.
Unknown. Unpredictable. The gamble that could change everything or leave him with nothing.
'You've been playing it safe your entire life,' Lei Han thought bitterly. 'Where has that gotten you?'
Failed exams. Drowning in debt. A burden to everyone who believed in him.
His finger moved toward [Martial Prodigy]. Combat skills were practical—something he could use immediately. Five times faster learning meant he could become dangerous quickly, survive whatever this simulation threw at him.
But was that enough? Just being a better fighter?
[Lucky Break] called to him next. Passive probability manipulation—the universe bending slightly in his favor. No more bad timing, no more missed opportunities. Just... luck.
But luck felt too passive. Like waiting for someone else to save him instead of saving himself.
He hesitated, his finger hovering between the two blue talents.
Both were safe choices. Smart choices. The kind of calculated decisions that had defined his entire life.
But then he remember his sister's note, crumpled and rain-soaked in his pocket. "You're smarter than you think."
Smart people made calculated decisions.
But Lei Han was done being smart in all the wrong ways.
His eyes drifted back to [???]—that blazing, unstable light that promised everything or nothing.
"To hell with it," he whispered—words that felt foreign on his tongue, reckless and wild.
His finger pressed against [???].
The world went silent.
Not quiet— but silent. Absolute, suffocating silence. The rain stopped making sound. The paramedic's voice vanished. His own heartbeat disappeared into nothing.
[WARNING]
[UNKNOWN TALENTS CARRY UNPREDICTABLE EFFECTS]
[NO REVERSALS. NO REROLLS. NO EXCHANGES.]
[CONFIRM SELECTION?]
His breath caught. His last chance to choose safety.
But determination flooded through him. He pressed again, harder.
[SELECTION CONFIRMED]
The blue glow of [???] exploded outward, consuming his vision. The light shifted—blue bleeding into violet, then gold, then crimson—cycling through a spectrum of impossible colors before settling into a radiant aurora that shouldn't exist.
Then new text burned itself into existence, each word carrying the weight of something fundamental shifting in the universe:
[TALENT ACQUIRED: PERFECT RESONANCE]
[RARITY: MYTHIC]
[DESCRIPTION: Your soul resonates perfectly with all forms of power, knowledge, and experience. Growth rate multiplied by 5. Skill integration is flawless with no degradation or conflict. All experiences—combat, knowledge, emotional growth—become permanent parts of you. You are evolution incarnate.]
[WARNING: MYTHIC TALENTS ATTRACT ATTENTION. HIGHER ENTITIES MAY NOTICE YOU.]
Lei Han's mind reeled.
Five times faster growth. Perfect skill integration. Everything he learned would stay with him forever.
This wasn't just a talent. This was a path to something beyond human.
Lei Han took a shaky breath. Whatever came next, he was ready.
[PERFECT RESONANCE ACKNOWLEDGED]
[CONSCIOUSNESS TRANSFER PREPARATION INITIATED]
New text appeared, clinical and precise:
[REALITY STATUS UPDATE]
[YOUR PHYSICAL BODY WILL ENTER DEEP STASIS]
[VITAL SIGNS WILL BE UNDETECTABLE FOR 30 MINUTES]
[PARAMEDICS WILL ASSUME CARDIAC ARREST]
[DO NOT PANIC. YOUR BODY WILL RECOVER AUTOMATICALLY UPON SIMULATION COMPLETION]
Lei Han's eyes widened in horror. They'd think he was dead. His family would get the call. His sister—
"Wait, they'll think I'm—"
[INITIATING FIRST SIMULATION]
[RANDOMIZING SCENARIO...]
A slot machine of possibilities spun through his vision—ancient cultivation sects, corporate warfare, post-apocalyptic wastelands, fantasy kingdoms. Each scenario flickered past faster and faster until—
The spinning slowed. Slowed. Stopped.
[SCENARIO SELECTED: STREET LEVEL - UNDERGROUND FIGHTING CIRCUIT]
[SETTING: NEO-HARBOR CITY - ALTERNATE TIMELINE, PRESENT ERA]
[STARTING AGE: 18]
[STARTING CONDITION: DESTITUTE, ZERO COMBAT EXPERIENCE, NO CONNECTIONS]
[FUNDS: 47 YUAN]
[SIMULATION OBJECTIVES:]
[MANDATORY: SURVIVE 30 YEARS]
[OPTIONAL: REACH PROFESSIONAL FIGHTER RANK - Reward: Combat Mastery (Bronze)]
[OPTIONAL: ACCUMULATE 1,000,000 YUAN - Reward: Financial Instinct]
[HIDDEN OBJECTIVE: ???]
[TIME CONVERSION: 30 SIMULATION YEARS = 30 REAL-TIME MINUTES]
[SURVIVAL MECHANICS]
[HUNGER DECREASES AFTER 24 HOURS WITHOUT FOOD]
[STARVATION BEGINS AFTER 72 HOURS]
[DEATH: SIMULATION RESETS TO LAST CHECKPOINT]
[CHECKPOINTS: MONTHLY OR AFTER MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS]
[CRITICAL WARNING: PAIN, INJURY, AND DEATH WILL FEEL COMPLETELY REAL. PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA IS POSSIBLE. TRAUMA RESISTANCE WILL BUILD OVER TIME.]
Lei Han's throat went dry. Death. He could die—potentially multiple times—and will feel every agonizing second.
Mom. Dad. Xiao. I'll come back stronger. I promise.
If I can come back at all.
The thought chilled him. But it was too late to turn back now.
[TRANSFER IN 3...]
[2...]
[1...]
[CONSCIOUSNESS TRANSFER: INITIATED]
The last thing Lei Han saw in reality was the paramedic's face freezing mid-motion, her expression shifting from concern to alarm as his eyes rolled back and his pulse flatlined.
Then the rain-soaked street vanished.
And Lei Han's consciousness was ripped from his body like a tooth being pulled, stretched thin across impossible distances. He saw glimpses—flashes of other lives that might have been, alternate versions of himself branching into infinity. A thousand deaths. A thousand victories. A thousand futures collapsing into one single point—
Pain.
Compression.
His entire being crushed through a space smaller than an atom—
And then release.
Birth into another life.
[SIMULATION ACTIVE]
[WELCOME TO YOUR FIRST LIFE]
Lei Han gasped and staggered forward, his hand shooting out to catch himself against rough brick.
He blinked. The wall felt real—solid under his palm, covered in faded graffiti. The air tasted different. Garbage and car exhaust mixed with something frying from a nearby food stall. Cheap oil and desperation.
He looked down. Different clothes—a stained white t-shirt, jeans with holes at the knees. His hands looked younger, eighteen again, but the kitchen scar from his childhood was still there. Fresher.
The alley looked familiar—like the warehouse district near his apartment in reality—but subtly wrong. Older buildings. Different graffiti. A timeline that had branched from his own somewhere in the past.
In the corner of his vision, translucent blue text floated:
[SIMULATION ACTIVE - NEO-HARBOR CITY]
[TIME REMAINING: 29 Years, 364 Days, 23 Hours, 58 Minutes]
[CURRENT STATUS: LEI HAN, AGE 18]
[SKILLS: NONE]
[FUNDS: 47 YUAN]
This was impossible. He was standing in... what? A simulation? Another world? His mind struggled to process it.
But whatever this was, it felt completely, terrifyingly real.
Suddenly a metal door burst open further down the alley. Three men stumbled out, laughing and shoving each other. One had blood on his mouth but was grinning wide—the kind of high you only get from winning a brutal fight.
Then the biggest one noticed Lei Han. He had a bald head, his knuckles wrapped in stained tape, and had dried blood on his shirt. His eyes swept over Lei Han—cold, assessing, predatory.
"Are you lost, kid?" His voice was rough, like gravel scraped over concrete.
Lei Han's throat tightened. These men weren't fake. They felt real—dangerous and unpredictable.
"N-no," he managed. "I'm just—"
"Just what?" The man moved closer, eyes sharp and searching.
A grin spread across his face. "Looking for fights?"
He looked Lei Han up and down. Cheap clothes. Beat-up backpack. The posture of someone with nowhere to go.
"You've got the look, kid. Broke. Hungry. Nothing left to lose."
Run. Every instinct screamed it.
But thirty years stretched ahead in this simulation. Thirty years to grow stronger.
He just had to survive today.
[QUEST GENERATED: FIRST BLOOD]
[OBJECTIVE: ENTER THE UNDERGROUND FIGHTING RING]
[REWARD: COMBAT EXPERIENCE SYSTEM UNLOCKED]
[OPTIONAL: WIN YOUR FIRST FIGHT]
[BONUS REWARD: SKILL - BASIC STRIKING (BRONZE)]
The bald man studied him for another moment, then nodded. "Name's Razor. Underground ring's down that way." He gestured to the metal door behind him. "You fight, you get paid. Win, you get paid more."
He paused, grin widening. "Lose? Well... we've got medical staff. Sometimes."
The other two men laughed at that.
Lei Han stared at the door. Even from here, he could hear muffled sounds—shouting, thuds, the distant roar of a crowd.
His hands shook. This was real. People actually fought—and bled—in there.
Can I really do this?
This was insane. He had zero fighting experience. Never thrown a real punch in his life. Walking through that door was suicide.
But staying broke and failing exams? That was suicide too. Just slower.
And he had Perfect Resonance now. Five times faster growth. If he could survive just one fight and learn the basics, he could build from there.
Lei Han took a breath and looked Razor in the eye. "I'm in. How do I sign up?"
Razor's grin turned sharp. "That's the spirit. Come on, fresh meat." He turned toward the door. "Try not to die on your first night."
He led Lei Han toward the metal door, the sounds of violence growing louder with each step.
He then turned and headed toward the door.
Lei Han followed, each step feeling like walking toward his execution.
The door opened, and sound crashed over him like a wave.
The underground ring was carved into an old parking garage. Concrete pillars held up a low ceiling that trapped smoke and sweat and the metallic scent of blood. Makeshift betting booths lined the walls, men and women shouting odds. Flickering fluorescent lights cast everything in harsh, sickly yellow.
And in the center, surrounded by a chain-link cage that looked like it had seen a hundred deaths, two men were trying to kill each other.
Lei Han stopped walking. He couldn't look away from the cage.
Two fighters were inside, beating each other bloody. One was lean and fast, covered in old scars. The other was bigger but slower—already losing, with blood running down his face from a cut above his eye.
Every time a punch landed, the crowd roared. They were hungry for violence, feeding on every hit.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Razor said with a grin. "This is where real men are made. Or broken."
He looked around the ring for a moment, then pointed to a beat-up desk near the cage. An older woman sat behind it, smoking a cigarette.
"That's Ma Lin. She runs the registry. Tell her I sent you."
Lei Han pulled his eyes away from the fight. "How much do I get paid?"
"Win? Three hundred yuan. Lose but put on a good show? Fifty." Razor paused, his grin getting wider.
He leaned in closer. "Die? Your family gets nothing."
Lei Han swallowed hard. Three hundred yuan. Almost a week's worth of food. The difference between surviving and starving.
He walked toward Ma Lin's desk. His legs were shaking.
The woman looked up at him. Her eyes were cold and empty—like she'd seen a thousand broke kids come through here looking to make quick money.
"Name?" Her voice was rough from smoking too many cigarettes.
"Lei Han."
"Age?"
"Eighteen."
"Experience?"
"None."
She raised an eyebrow. "You sure you want to do this, kid? People get hurt here. Badly."
She waited and watching him very closely.
Lei Han thought about his sister's note. About thirty years stretched ahead. About Perfect Resonance and becoming something more.
"I'm sure."
Ma Lin stared at him for a moment, then sighed. She pulled out an old clipboard. "Entry fee is twenty yuan. You don't get it back. Win, and you make it back plus more."
Lei Han's stomach sank. Twenty yuan was almost half his money.
But he pulled out the crumpled bills and handed them over anyway.
Ma Lin took the money and pushed a paper across the desk. It was covered in tiny writing— it's some kind of waiver. "Sign here. You're in match five. That's in forty minutes. Find a spot and get ready however you need to."
Lei Han picked up the pen. His hand was shaking as he signed.
[QUEST PROGRESS: REGISTERED FOR FIRST FIGHT]
[TIME UNTIL MATCH: 38 MINUTES]
[OPPONENT: TAO "WILDCAT" MING - FIRST TIMER, DESPERATE, DANGEROUS]
[FUNDS REMAINING: 27 YUAN]
Lei Han walked away from the desk. He needed to find somewhere to wait.
He spotted an empty corner and sat down against a concrete pillar. His legs felt weak.
Thirty-eight minutes. That's how long he had before his fight.
Back in the cage, the lean fighter threw a series of fast punches. His opponent fell to the ground, knocked out. The crowd roared—screaming, cheering, hungry for more blood.
Two men dragged the unconscious fighter out. He left a trail of blood across the cage floor.
Lei Han's hands were shaking. He closed his eyes and took a breath.
I have Perfect Resonance. Five times faster learning. I can do this.
He opened his eyes. He needed to watch the fights. To learn something—anything—before it was his turn.
Another fight began. Two young guys stepped into the cage. Both looked scared. Both looked new.
They started throwing punches—wild, messy swings with no technique. But Lei Han watched carefully anyway.
He watched how they moved their feet. Where they tried to hit.
One guy was smarter—he stayed back, kept his distance. The other guy kept swinging and swinging, getting more tired. His arms dropped lower.
That's when the smart guy rushed in and punched him hard in the jaw.
The tired guy collapsed. Fight over.
Lei Han nodded to himself. Okay. Stay back. Wait for them to get tired. Then strike.
It was basic. But it was a start.
[OBSERVATION SKILL ADDED]
[COMBAT PATTERN RECOGNITION: NOVICE LEVEL UNLOCKED]
[BONUS FROM PERFECT RESONANCE: LEARNING RATE +500%]
Something clicked in Lei Han's mind. He could see the patterns now—how fighters moved, when they made mistakes. His brain was processing everything faster than normal, connecting dots he didn't even know were there.
Perfect Resonance was working. Turning what he saw into real understanding.
He was still a complete beginner. But at least now he was learning.
The third fight started. But this one was different.
An experienced fighter stepped into the cage. His opponent looked terrified—clearly outmatched. The veteran didn't rush. He took his time, dodging easily, landing hits whenever he wanted. Then he finished it with a brutal knee to the face.
The sound of impact made Lei Han flinch. But he kept watching. Kept learning.
Don't rush. Control the fight. Pick your moment.
[COMBAT PATTERN RECOGNITION: ADVANCED TO BEGINNER]
[NEW INSIGHT: TIMING IS EVERYTHING]
The words appeared in his vision, then faded.
Twenty minutes until his fight.
Lei Han stood up. He needed to move, to do something with all this nervous energy.
He tried stretching, copying the movements he'd seen other fighters do. His body felt weird—younger, awkward, like he didn't quite fit in his own skin. But each time he repeated a movement, it felt a little smoother. A little more natural.
Perfect Resonance was working even now, helping his body learn.
Ten minutes left.
The fourth fight ended. Both fighters were bloody and exhausted, but still standing. The crowd actually clapped—showing respect for fighters who gave everything.
Lei Han understood something then. You don't have to win. You just have to survive.
Five minutes.
"Lei Han!" Ma Lin's voice cut through the noise. "You're up next, kid!"
His heart started pounding hard against his ribs. This was it.
He walked toward the cage. Every eye in the crowd turned to watch him—the fresh meat, the new guy they could bet against.
His opponent was already inside, waiting.
The guy was thin and wiry. Young, like Lei Han. His name was announced: Tao "Wildcat" Ming. His hands were wrapped in dirty, stained tape. He bounced on his feet, unable to stand still—nervous energy pouring off him.
His eyes were desperate. Hungry. The same look Lei Han probably had.
They were the same. Two broke kids about to beat each other up for money.
Lei Han stepped through the cage door. It slammed shut behind him with a loud clang.
No way out now.
[FIRST FIGHT: BEGIN]
A gray-haired man stepped between them. Lei Han hadn't even noticed him before. The man was covered in old scars and had a referee whistle hanging from his neck— the referee.
"Rules are simple," he said. "First person to bleed loses. Or if you get knocked out, you lose. No poking eyes. No biting." He grinned, showing gaps where teeth used to be. "Everything else is allowed."
He stepped back to the edge of the cage.
"Fight!"
The moment the word left his mouth, Tao exploded forward.
He swung his fist at Lei Han's face— like a wild, desperate punch with everything he had.
But something strange happened.
Everything seemed to slow down in Lei Han's eyes. He could see the punch coming. He could see the way Tao's body moved. He remembered the patterns from the fights he'd watched.
Without thinking, his body moved.
He leaned back.
Tao's fist flew past his face. So close Lei Han felt the air move against his skin.
I dodged it, Lei Han thought, shocked. I actually dodged—
But Tao's other hand came up fast, punching from below.
Lei Han saw it for a split second—too late.
It slammed into Lei Han's ribs with bone-crushing force.
Pain exploded through his body.
This is the worst pain Lei Han had ever felt in his life. His ribs felt like they were cracking. He couldn't breathe.
He gasped for breath and stumbled backward. Blood filled his mouth.
This is too real, he thought, panicking. The pain is real. I'm actually getting hurt.
But Tao didn't give him any time to think. He came at Lei Han again, throwing punch after punch.
Lei Han tried to block them, tried to move away, but there were too many and he was too slow.
A punch slammed into his shoulder. It hit so hard it spun his whole body around.
Before he could recover, another punch hit the side of his head.
Lei Han's vision went blurry. Black spots appeared everywhere. He couldn't see straight.
He stumbled backward, trying to stay on his feet. His mind screamed at him: Get away! Move back! Keep distance!
But his body wouldn't listen. It was too slow, too clumsy.
All those fights he'd watched meant nothing now. All those patterns he'd learned—useless. When someone was actually hitting you, your brain stopped working.
Panic took over.
Tao came at him again.
He threw a punch straight at Lei Han's face.
Lei Han saw it coming. His hands shot up to block it.
But the punch never came.
It was a trick.
Tao's foot swung up from below instead. It slammed into Lei Han's thigh with brutal force.
Lei Han's leg went completely numb. It just stopped working.
He dropped to one knee. His hands hit the cage floor hard, stopping him from falling all the way down.
The crowd went wild. Screaming. Cheering. They could smell blood. They thought the fight was over.
Tao grinned. This was it—time to finish the fight.
He rushed forward, ready to knock Lei Han out.
Lei Han saw him coming. His brain screamed at him to dodge, to block, to do something smart.
But there was no time for that.
He just acted on pure instinct.
Lei Han threw himself forward with everything he had left.
His shoulder slammed into Tao's stomach.
Tao wasn't ready for it. The air rushed out of him with a grunt. They both crashed backward into the cage wall, making the chain-link shake from the impact.
For a split second, they were pressed together against the wall.
Then Lei Han pulled his arm back and swung his fist at Tao's face.
His fist hit Tao's jaw.
It was a terrible punch—messy, unbalanced, desperate. But it connected.
Tao's head snapped to the side. Blood burst from his mouth and splattered on the floor.
First blood.
A whistle blew—sharp and loud, cutting through all the noise.
"STOP!"
The referee jumped between them, pushing them apart. "Winner—Lei Han!"
Lei Han's legs gave out. He slid down against the cage wall until he was sitting on the floor.
He tried to breathe. Each breath sent sharp pain shooting through his chest. His ribs felt broken. His leg was still numb from that kick. His knuckles were torn up and bleeding.
Every part of his body screamed in pain.
But Lei Han didn't care about any of that.
He won.
Against all odds, with zero experience and pure desperation, he'd actually won his first fight.
He was alive. He'd survived. And he'd earned three hundred yuan.
A laugh bubbled up from his chest—painful, breathless, but real. He'd done it.
[QUEST COMPLETE: FIRST BLOOD]
[REWARDS: COMBAT EXPERIENCE SYSTEM UNLOCKED]
[BONUS OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: FIRST FIGHT WON]
[BONUS REWARD: SKILL - BASIC STRIKING (BRONZE) ACQUIRED]
[FIGHT EARNINGS: 300 YUAN]
[TOTAL FUNDS: 327 YUAN]
[PERFECT RESONANCE PROCESSING COMBAT DATA...]
[ANALYZING 4,127 MICRO-MOVEMENTS...]
[INTEGRATION COMPLETE]
[NEW SKILL: BASIC FOOTWORK (BRONZE) - SELF-LEARNED THROUGH OBSERVATION]
[NEW SKILL: PAIN TOLERANCE (NOVICE) - EARNED THROUGH EXPERIENCE]
Lei Han stared at the floating words in his vision, barely believing what he was seeing.
One fight. And he already learned three skills.
Three skills. From one fight. His mind struggled to process it.
Perfect Resonance wasn't just making him learn faster—it was turning every single experience into real knowledge that would stay with him forever.
Razor appeared at the cage door, grinning wide. "Not bad, kid. Sloppy as hell, but you've got heart. Same time tomorrow?"
Lei Han looked down at his hands. They were shaking, covered in blood—some his, some Tao's.
Across the cage, two men were helping Tao walk out. He was limping badly but conscious.
The crowd had already lost interest. They were moving on, placing bets on the next fight.
Lei Han thought about the thirty years ahead of him in this world. Thirty years to train, to grow stronger.
He'd just survived day one.
"Yeah," Lei Han said, his voice rough. "Same time tomorrow."
Someone handed him a stack of crumpled bills as he stepped out of the cage—his winnings. Three hundred yuan. Lei Han counted them with shaking hands.
But something felt wrong.
A cold, strange feeling crawled up the back of his neck. Like someone was watching him. No—not someone. Something. Something that wasn't human.
He stopped walking and looked around.
The crowd. The fighters. The blood on the floor.
Nothing unusual.
But the feeling stayed.
Then, in the corner of his vision, bold red text suddenly appeared:
[UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED]
[ANALYSIS FAILED]
[WARNING: YOU HAVE BEEN MARKED]
The text vanished before Lei Han could fully process it.
A chill ran down Lei Han's spine. His breath caught.
He blinked. Was that real?
The crowd roared as the next fight began. The noise snapped him back to reality.
Lei Han shook his head and walked toward the exit, still counting his money.
But the feeling of being watched never left.
Somewhere in the darkness beyond the flickering lights, something ancient and hungry smiled.
Lei Han's first life had begun.
And he was already being hunted.