Jinzhu City.
Zhou Chen awoke from a deep sleep. He stared blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling, then sat up and looked around. This wasn't his familiar bedroom, but a hospital room.
'Where am I? Wasn't I sleeping at home? How did I end up here?'
As Zhou Chen pondered in a daze, questioning his very existence, he was stunned to discover a faint outline that had appeared deep within his mind at some unknown point.
When he gathered his consciousness and focused his attention, he realized the outline was a—
—a glass bottle?
'What the hell???'
Before he could recover from his shock, fragments of memories surged into his mind like a tidal wave.
Zhou Chen, a resident of Jinzhu City, a third-year student at Jinzhu University. His parents had died five years ago during a Corrupter rampage. He had only managed to finish high school and get into university thanks to the survivor benefits he received...
A while ago, he had passed the Star Association's campus recruitment with outstanding grades and performance. He was a rookie who had been interning at the Star Association for less than a month...
Two days ago, he officially completed the Star Association's two-week orientation training. He had teamed up with other rookies for his first mission: to capture a group of smugglers. However, what should have been a smooth "test" took an unexpected turn...
They encountered a Corrupter.
After an extremely brutal battle, even though they managed to send a distress signal, only six members of the twelve-person squad survived. And all six survivors, including him, suffered varying degrees of mental pollution and Soul trauma.
Three of them succumbed to corruption while receiving treatment and were killed on the spot by Star Association Operators. Two more died from their Souls collapsing. In the end, he was the only one to crawl back from the gates of Hell.
They say that surviving a great disaster brings good fortune, but all that greeted him were the harsh blows of reality.
Physical injuries, mental pollution, and Soul decay caused by a Corrupter devouring a full half of his Soul...
It was like having a terminal illness; he could drop dead at any moment.
'Starting on Hell mode...' Zhou Chen rubbed his throbbing temples, confirming the fact that he had transmigrated.
To be more precise, it was more like he had awakened the memories of a past life, a kind of reincarnation of the Soul.
He and the body's original owner were both "Zhou Chen"—identical in name, appearance, and even personality. Now, the memories of his past and present lives were gradually merging, as if they had always been the same person.
Based on his memories and current situation, Zhou Chen was certain that something as ethereal and illusory as the Soul truly existed in this World.
He himself was the best proof. Two days ago, he had unexpectedly encountered a Corrupter during his mission and had half of his Soul devoured. As a result, he was diagnosed with Fragmented Soul Syndrome, which came with a series of aftereffects: drowsiness, amnesia, depression, lethargy, and a shortened lifespan.
Now, his fragile Soul was gradually decaying, like a leaf slowly turning yellow and withering. On the day it dried out completely, his Soul would become as brittle as a dead leaf, facing an unstoppable disintegration.
Then there was the sense of nothingness originating from the depths of his Soul...
He touched his chest. The emptiness left by his fragmented Soul enveloped and consumed him like an Abyss. His heart felt hollow, filled with a boundless void, as if he had lost all meaning in life. Every second stretched into an eternity of pain and torment.
Missing half a Soul was a condition that even the Star Association's most advanced medical technology couldn't fix. They could only advise him to eat and drink well in his final days, lest he die with lingering regrets and corrupt into a Corrupter.
'Right, what was a Corrupter again?' Zhou Chen tried to digest his memories, and the corresponding knowledge soon came back to him.
—In the late Old Era, scientists confirmed the existence of the Soul. They pointed out that after humans awaken as Ascenders, they can directly perceive their own Souls and gain incredible Extraordinary Abilities.
But it seems everything has two sides. With the appearance of Ascenders came the birth of aberrant creatures known as Corrupters.
They are evil, Twisted, greedy, insane, and cruel... They feed on human flesh and Souls. Furthermore, High-Level Corrupters can spread mental pollution, causing humans to corrupt and turn into more of their kind.
'Old Era... Ascenders... Corrupters...' A chaotic torrent of vast knowledge rushed into his mind. Zhou Chen clutched his forehead, taking a dozen minutes to fully digest the memories and sort out his two lives.
The Old Era referred to the previous human civilization, which was destroyed in a terrifying apocalyptic disaster more than two hundred years ago.
The year was now 234 of the New Calendar. Human civilization had long since recovered, and it was even more prosperous than before.
This was all due to the appearance of Ascenders.
Since the end of the Old Era, a group of "Ascenders" with Extraordinary Power had emerged among humanity. They awakened all sorts of Abilities, such as telekinesis, pyrokinesis and hydrokinesis, mind control...
It was thanks to the existence of Ascenders that humanity was able to survive in a dangerous, post-apocalyptic world, rebuild its technological foundations, and establish a new order within just a few short years.
As cities were built and civilization was restored, humanity began to explore the outside world. However, in the lands that had once been destroyed, they discovered one mysterious, fog-shrouded Restricted Area after another.
Zhou Chen didn't know much about the Restricted Areas. As a rookie who had just joined the Star Association, his clearance level was the lowest; he was merely aware of their existence.
His knowledge was similarly limited when it came to special items with Extraordinary Abilities—Forbidden Objects.
Every Forbidden Object had a different Ability. Some were too wondrous, some too dangerous, and some too important. If they fell into the wrong hands, they could cause immense destruction, so they had to be strictly guarded and handled with caution.
As a behemoth that controlled the workings of the World, the Star Association held intelligence on countless Forbidden Objects and had contained an innumerable number of them.
They classified Forbidden Objects into four Levels based on their danger, from high to low: A, B, C, and D. This system has now become the globally recognized standard for cataloging Forbidden Objects.
'Speaking of Forbidden Objects, this bottle should count as one, right?' Zhou Chen carefully observed the glass bottle in his mind, trying to figure out how to use it.
He was certain that this thing hadn't been in his head before. The glass bottle only appeared after the memories of his other life awakened. Such a strange item could only be a Forbidden Object.
'But... where did this glass bottle come from? Is it harmful or harmless? Is it related to my past life's memories? And did my past life come from the Old Era?'
One question after another rose in his mind. Zhou Chen let his thoughts run wild for a while before finally letting out a long sigh. It was useless to think so much. He was about to die.
According to the medical report, at his current rate of Soul decay, his Soul would completely collapse in less than seven days.
And then he would die.
During that time, he would have to endure the torment of his fragmented Soul, a pain that far surpassed any physical agony, and ultimately die in anguish.
Death was terrifying enough, but what was even more terrifying was having to endure inhuman suffering before dying.
With his death imminent, Zhou Chen could only feel a deep sense of despair and helplessness. He was still young. He didn't want to die. He wanted to live. There were so many things he hadn't done, so many things he hadn't experienced. He'd never even had a girlfriend. If he died like this, he would never be able to rest in peace...
But cold, hard reality would not change for his insignificant will. The Soul decay had already become a sword of Damocles hanging over his head. When the countdown to his death reached zero, it would fall without mercy.
The seven or so days he had left were the last moments of his life.
Before he knew it, it was 7:30 in the morning.
Just as the hands on the wall clock pointed to that exact time, the door to the hospital room opened. A group of scholars filed in and began meticulously examining every aspect of Zhou Chen's condition.
After all, Zhou Chen's two teammates with damaged Souls had already died from Soul collapse. Yet he, who had lost more than fifty percent of his Soul, hadn't died on the spot, nor had he become mentally disabled or fallen into a vegetative state. Instead, with the tenacity of a cockroach, he had managed to survive. It was a medical miracle, which was why various scholars were all vying to examine him.
However, these nerds, who poured all their energy into research, had abysmally low emotional intelligence. They kept muttering things like: "He's actually still alive," "There's no way to save him," "He's a lost cause," and "How is he not dead yet?"
It made Zhou Chen so angry he nearly shot up from his deathbed to punch each one of them. 'Since I'm a dead man walking anyway,' he thought, 'what's the worst they can do? Let them pull my oxygen tube. At least it'd be a quick death.'
The examination ended over half an hour later. Before long, doctors from various departments came in with all sorts of documents, certificates, and agreements for him to sign. In the end, even someone from the dissection department showed up.
Staring at the body donation form stamped with "Dissection Department 2," Zhou Chen felt a mix of emotions. He never would have imagined he'd one day be signing this kind of agreement.
"I remember the Dissection Department 2 specializes in researching Corrupters, right? Why do you want my body?"
"Ah... the department just started a new project this year. We've begun research into the Soul Realm." The female scholar, her face a sickly pale, glanced left and right as if wary of someone. "This is just to make a reservation, to prevent the other departments from bickering over your body after you die. It would be a shame to miss the optimal dissection time. Specimens are scarce lately, and all the departments are fighting over them like crazy. Please, I'm begging you, just sign it."
Zhou Chen took a deep breath and glared at her. "And what if I don't die?"
"If you don't die, that's great! The body only belongs to us after you're dead." The female scholar glanced at the medical chart in her hand. "But with your condition... Er, never mind..."
'If you don't know how to talk, then don't. It really feels like you're hoping I'll turn into a dissection specimen...' Zhou Chen grumbled inwardly. He sighed and signed his name on the registration form.
'Oh well. I'll just consider it a posthumous contribution to humanity...'
But at that exact moment, he froze.
Inside the mysterious glass bottle in his mind, a tiny speck of Star Dust materialized out of the void. It was as minuscule as a mote of dust, yet it flickered with an incredible light, like a firefly in the Darkness.