Early the next morning, Liam took his only ten copper coins and headed to the internet café with his schoolbag.
It was his first time visiting an internet café in this life.
The café had only a faint smell of smoke, not as pungent as the internet cafés he remembered from his previous life.
Liam looked around.
The café was a bit run-down, seemingly barely decorated—just painted walls and some patterned stickers. But it was still much better than Liam's place, because there were two lights on the ceiling.
Not candlelights, but electric lights.
In the safe zone, anyone who could afford electricity was considered wealthy in Liam's eyes.
And anyone who could run a business that used electricity was practically a tycoon.
In this poor area on the edge of the safe zone, few people could afford the luxury of paid internet access.
Yet somehow, there was an internet café here.
As the only internet café nearby, the owner must have some connections. Every time Liam passed by on his way to and from school, he noticed strange-looking people coming and going.
Liam called out to the network administrator: "I want a computer—half an hour is enough!"
Liam dropped ten copper coins on the counter—his earnings from a week of part-time work organizing books in the school library.
With electricity in short supply, internet café fees were extremely expensive. Giving up the ten copper coins made Liam's heart ache.
The chubby, thirty-something network administrator behind the counter stared at Liam for a few extra seconds, then pointed to a computer expressionlessly:
"That one—go ahead."
After sitting down, Liam noticed a man in a suit typing away on a keyboard not far from him.
It was then that Liam realized why the internet café smelled much better in this life than in his previous one.
Because it was expensive.
People who could afford to come here were usually looking up information or conducting transactions, coming and going in a hurry.
As for what information they were looking up or what kind of transactions they were conducting, Liam had no idea.
He turned on the computer, but it was very slow.
It took two minutes just to boot up.
No wonder—faster computers cost extra.
He immediately logged onto the Sequence ability user forum "Godslayer Camp" and searched for the Sequences that had already been discovered.
The pinned post was a summary of all known awakened Sequence abilities. He clicked on it right away.
In the five years since New Year's Day 2005, thousands of Sequences had been awakened.
Everyone had awakened suddenly, as if struck by lightning.
No one had seen a bird's eye before awakening.
What surprised Liam even more was that among the thousands of Sequences, no one had an ability related to devouring gods.
In other words.
No one had his awakening method, and no one had his Sequence ability.
Liam swallowed hard and muttered:
"Could it be... I'm the chosen one? The only one?"
His Sequence couldn't be found anywhere.
Should he make it public? He might become the center of attention!
But when his eyes landed on one particular post, he hesitated.
"Humanity still cannot digest god remains. If you awaken a Sequence that allows you to grow stronger by eating gods, you might be captured for research!"
Captured for research...
Having gained a basic understanding of Sequence abilities, he knew his "God-Eater" Sequence was one of a kind.
Even Sequence ability users on "Godslayer Camp" yearned for such an ability.
Because hunting gods while simultaneously growing stronger would undoubtedly make him a terrifying perpetual motion machine.
Liam wisely realized that he didn't have the strength to match this incredible Sequence.
As the saying goes, "A man of no significance carries no guilt for possessing jade—his possession alone is his crime."
If a person possessed wealth beyond their strength, danger would lurk everywhere.
Should he trust himself.
Or trust others, placing his life and future in the hands of others' noble morality.
For most people.
The answer was clear.
Liam immediately made up his mind:
He would keep this a secret.
Work quietly and accumulate wealth and power.
It was an unshakable truth—both in his past life and this one!
As he pondered his future plans, the computer suddenly returned to the login screen, displaying a message:
[Time's up. To continue using the computer, please go to the front desk to renew your session.]
The internet time he had bought with ten copper coins was already over.
This was the hardship of being poor.
No matter how powerful your Sequence, you still had to log off on time.
Fortunately, in just half an hour, Liam had found the information he needed.
Above all, he must never let anyone learn about the "God-Eater" Sequence.
Liam picked up his schoolbag and left the internet café under the confused gaze of the chubby network administrator.
Through the safe zone's air defense glass, he looked up at the eternal starry sky and the huge gods wandering by from time to time, feeling confused again.
What should he do next—go to the safe zone exit or return to school?
On "Godslayer Camp," Sequence ability users had mentioned that hunting teams frequently entered and exited the safe zone exit every day.
The united government provided various support policies and resource inclinations to Sequence ability users.
In exchange, Sequence ability users were required to hunt gods outside the safe zone.
Furthermore, the more and larger the gods they hunted, the more generous the rewards for the Sequence ability users.
To prove they had hunted gods, Sequence ability users would bring back a special part from the god's corpse as proof to claim their rewards.
So Liam thought that waiting at the safe zone exit might give him a chance to take a bite of a god's flesh and verify if the "God-Eater" Sequence really made him stronger.
If it worked, he might be able to rise rapidly.
He could hide outside the safe zone, hunting gods until he became an unparalleled expert, then return to the safe zone and rule over everything.
Being able to enhance his strength while hunting gods made him practically a perpetual motion machine.
But Liam checked the information panel in his mind again, calmly analyzed his skill, and shook his head.
"The description of Blood Feast says that eating gods raw can also enhance strength."
"But it doesn't say it can satisfy hunger..."
"If it can't fill my stomach, that means I can't save money on meals by eating gods."
For him, the problem of food took priority over his Sequence ability—he couldn't afford to be careless.
Even heroes can be defeated by an empty stomach.
Liam stopped thinking about where to go.
Because he only had one choice—to go to school.
Going to the safe zone exit to take a chance might indeed give him an opportunity to grow stronger.
But according to the almanac, today was "not suitable for any important matters," meaning it might not be a good day to take risks.
Liam hadn't been superstitious before.
But after experiencing rebirth and the apocalypse—such unscientific events—being superstitious seemed reasonable.
When people encounter things beyond their understanding, they can't help but become superstitious.
The school provided lunch and dinner.
More importantly, today was Friday.
The school had weekends off.
And when the school was closed, the cafeteria was too—which meant he couldn't get free meals.
Missing today's cafeteria meals would mean going hungry for two more days with no money.
Not only did he have to go to school, but he also had to beg Aunt Zhang in the cafeteria to give him extra food to get through the weekend's one or two meals.
Aunt Zhang, who served the food in the cafeteria, knew he was an orphan and took good care of him.
He could go to the safe zone exit on the weekend—after all, Sequence ability users didn't take days off.
Sequence ability users needed to submit god remains to the united government to obtain resources, much like self-employed individuals.
Since they were self-employed, their working hours and days off weren't clearly defined.
Liam made up his mind.
On the dark main road, there was only a dim street lamp every tens of meters.
It barely illuminated a few steps ahead. The top of each street lamp was also connected to the air defense glass, seemingly serving as support.
In Liam's opinion, the only purpose of these street lamps was to tell passersby that this was the main road in the edge area of the safe zone.
Other than that, they were of little use.
Even the lights in the internet café were much brighter than these street lamps.
Liam walked along the dark main road for more than ten minutes before reaching the school.
In his previous life, Liam had attended an ordinary high school in the county, and the school's conditions hadn't been very good.
It was more or less the same in this world.
He had no choice.
There was only one school nearby—[Safe Haven School].
[Safe Haven School]covered twelve years of education from primary to high school.
Children on the edge of the safe zone started school at six or seven and left at eighteen.
It could be said to be their second home.
All the students in this school were ordinary people, and their parents were ordinary people too.
In a safe zone where Sequence ability users were not uncommon, there weren't many places inhabited entirely by ordinary people—all located on the edge of the safe zone.
Anyone who could awaken a Sequence ability would definitely move their family away from this dangerous and dilapidated edge area to live in a better part of the safe zone.
In the school, everyone was at the bottom of the safe zone's social hierarchy.
But Liam's family background was the worst of them all.
He didn't even have a home. Orphaned at a young age, he lived alone.
If it weren't for the united government's policy of waiving tuition fees for orphans.
He had no idea where he would be or what he would be doing now.
Liam walked along the dim street to the school.
The teacher on duty at the school gate hadn't arrived yet, and morning self-study hadn't started either.
Morning self-study was from 8:00 to 8:15 every day.
He had woken up early because he was so excited about awakening his Sequence. Even after spending half an hour in the internet café, he was still early.
The school was brightly lit everywhere.
It was the brightest place on the entire edge of the safe zone, with the best electrical system and light bulbs.
In a safe zone where electricity was expensive, this was extremely rare.
The united government believed that the hope of saving humanity and counterattacking the gods lay in every child. No matter what, they shouldn't neglect education.
By improving educational conditions, the new generation would develop a sense of belonging to the united government and the safe zone.
They would then be more enthusiastic about devoting themselves to the cause of hunting gods.
The united government also advocated giving every child an equal opportunity to receive education, because you never knew which child would grow up to be a hero.
But policies were just policies. When implemented in each school, they became distorted in various ways.
People like Liam, who didn't pay tuition fees and had no promising future, were seen as parasites in the school. Even the teachers didn't look favorably on him—even though after the apocalypse, the teachers exploited the school far more than Liam ever did.
The homeroom teacher had placed his desk in the corner of the classroom, an overlooked spot.
The exact same position as in his previous life.
In his previous life, Liam had felt lonely because of this, but after rebirth, he found it quite comfortable. At least here, no one would disturb his daydreaming.
While other students took out their textbooks and started previewing today's lessons, Liam rested his chin on one hand and stared out the window at the gods flying by near the safe zone from time to time.
Could he defeat a god? What would a god taste like?
"Liam."
Just then, his daydreaming was interrupted.
He looked up to see a delicate-looking female classmate standing beside him.
"Oh, Olivia, what's wrong?"
There she was.
She had come—bringing with her memories of an unpleasant past.
Olivia was Liam's classmate in high school.
Cunning and manipulative.
To Liam now, she seemed childish, but among her peers in high school, she was quite skilled at manipulating others.
No wonder Liam had been strung along by her for three years. Every day, he would skip meals to buy breakfast for Olivia with the money he earned from part-time work. He even did all her homework for her. Liam had fulfilled every request Olivia made.
But Olivia had never agreed to his confession, always putting him off by saying they shouldn't let their studies suffer.
However, whenever Liam was about to give up pursuing her, Olivia would take the initiative to find him, encouraging him and saying it was just a test, hoping he would keep going.
These words were almost impossible for a pure-hearted high school student to refuse.
More addictive than blacksmithing competitions, hoof trimming, or carpet cleaning.
So Liam resolutely became a die-hard romantic.
Unfortunately, after graduating from high school, he learned that Olivia had gotten together with Ethan from the next class.
Ethan's family conditions were good—his uncle was a director in the education department, and his parents had decent jobs. Getting together with him was a leap of nearly half a social class for Olivia.
He still remembered the sneer Olivia had given him when he saw her holding hands with Ethan:
"So stupid—no wonder you're an orphan!"
This time around, even though the world had undergone drastic changes, most of his former classmates remained the same.
Seeing Olivia again, he felt no ripples in his heart—only a sense of sudden enlightenment.
Like the spring breeze returning to a young man, today he finally recognized his true self.
Love was beautiful, but one must be wary of those who used it to do evil.
Olivia said in a coquettish voice: "Liam, you haven't brought me breakfast for three days."
"Oh, I ate my own breakfast." Liam replied indifferently.
Olivia was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise: "What about my breakfast?"
"Didn't you tell me you have breakfast at home, so you don't need me to bring it?"
Liam had only found out later that Olivia had been giving the breakfast he brought her to Ethan from the next class to curry favor with him.
It could be said that Olivia had worked very hard to get together with Ethan.
It's just that she had dragged Liam along with her in her efforts.
"I was testing you! You gave up so easily—how can I feel at ease being with you in the future?"
Watching Olivia's angry yet coquettish expression, Liam smiled faintly: "If you don't feel at ease, then don't be together. After all, we're not boyfriend and girlfriend now."
Upon hearing Liam's reply, Olivia felt a sense of unease. She didn't understand why Liam, who had always been at her beck and call, had suddenly changed in the past few days!
But she was eager to get back the homework Liam had done for her so she could go check answers with Ethan.
"Then give me my homework."
Liam opened his schoolbag, took out three homework notebooks, and handed them to Olivia.
Olivia took the homework, flipped through a couple of pages, and suddenly widened her eyes: "Liam! Why is the homework blank?!"
"Homework doesn't write itself. If no one writes it, it's naturally blank."
"B-but... you always used to do it for me!"
Liam took out three more notebooks and opened the blank homework sections to show Olivia: "I didn't do my own homework—why would I do yours?"
"You! You're going to get me scolded by the teacher!"
"Oh."
"If I get scolded by the teacher, don't you care?"
Liam looked at Olivia as if he had heard something funny, then shrugged: "You didn't care when I was made to stand as punishment by the homeroom teacher yesterday."
Tears welled up in Olivia's eyes: "Liam, I think you don't like me anymore."
Liam ignored her acting and instead gave her a thumbs-up: "Olivia, that's the only sensible thing you've said all morning."
With that, Liam leaned against the window and continued staring at the bizarre gods in the sky—would eating them give him diarrhea?
Olivia was completely dumbfounded.
She had made an appointment with Ethan to check homework answers and planned to give him the breakfast Liam had brought her.
Now that Liam had backed out, how was she going to explain to Ethan?!
Faced with Liam's indifference, she said angrily: "Liam, if you keep acting like this, we'll never have a chance!"
Liam snorted, turned around, and glanced at the calendar hanging at the back of the classroom.
[Blue Star Calendar, January 1st, 2010]
[Western Calendar, Friday, New Year's Day]
[Lunar Calendar, Year of the Ox, 17th day of the 11th lunar month—unsuitable for all matters]
"Who says today is unsuitable for all matters?"
"Isn't this a double blessing?!"