'Huh? Where is this?'
'A shack?'
'Could it be that my fever from the flu got so high I'm hallucinating?'
'My head is spinning. Maybe I should just give up and take the day off? Just not go to work?'
'It's only 150 bucks, right?'
'Ugh, forget it. I should still go…'
Tang Wen muttered to himself about money earned in Nanzhou staying in Nanzhou—not a single cent ever making it home—as he pushed himself up with one hand.
'The head of the bed?'
'What the hell? Why does this feel like straw?'
Tang Wen's mind cleared. He opened his eyes and froze.
Faint morning light streamed in through the roof—no, the top of the shack.
He could just barely make out his surroundings in the slivers of light.
It was a simple, tent-shaped hut, an irregular triangle.
There was no furniture, not even a small table.
The mottled earthen walls were bare, save for a wooden door haphazardly nailed together from planks and sticks.
A crooked earthen stove sat against one wall, a small iron pot resting on top of it.
Seeing the pot, Tang Wen felt a surprising surge of relief—they still had one household appliance. No, a household iron utensil.
The floor was a layer of dry straw, which was what he had been sleeping on. A few rough clay pots sat to the side.
In the opposite corner, a long-haired person was huddled together.
'Huh? A woman?'
A very skinny woman.
BZZZ.
Memories flooded his mind like a tidal wave...
The woman sleeping across from him was this body's older sister.
This was a wasteland world.
This world's civilization had collapsed.
The natural environment had changed dramatically.
The loss of civilization had reverted life to something akin to a primitive society.
People hunted, fished, and farmed. They bartered for goods and spent every day just trying to fill their stomachs.
You had to risk your life hunting for just a single bite of meat.
The changes in the environment had altered the genes of both humans and beasts.
Both humans and beasts could awaken Extraordinary Abilities.
The very camp he was in had been established by someone known as the "Flame Queen."
He was eager to learn more about Extraordinary Abilities, but this was the outer edge of the camp. The body's original owner was just a scrawny, powerless kid, not even fifteen, who knew nothing about such things.
He only dreamed of becoming Extraordinary, hoping that the incomparably beautiful "Flame Queen" would take a liking to him.
The more he processed this memory, the stranger Tang Wen's expression grew.
The original owner's greatest wish was, of all things, to kneel naked before the "Flame Queen" and offer her his everything…
'The memories are so vivid. Did I really transmigrate?'
Tang Wen frowned and pinched himself hard. The pain only made his brows furrow even tighter.
I really did transmigrate!
And I've become a scrawny kid with an even weaker older sister, struggling to survive together in this fucking wasteland world.
What the hell is this?!
'Why me?'
'Why did I have to be the one to transmigrate to such a miserable world?'
He lay on the straw, an indescribable sense of grievance welling up inside him. His eyes stung, and tears streamed down his face.
The tears trickled down his cheeks and onto his neck, making it itch.
Tang Wen reached up to wipe his eyes, and suddenly, the light in front of him distorted.
The next moment, a translucent, light gray screen materialized before him:
[Name: Tang Wen]
[Age: 14 years, 9 months]
[Body: 0.3]
[Essence: 0.7]
[Skill: Farming Mastery (719/1000)]
'What is this?'
Tang Wen stared blankly for a long moment. When the screen didn't change, he slowly came back to his senses.
He didn't even dare to pinch himself again, afraid that it was all a hallucination.
'A cheat system?'
'A system?'
Before he could examine it further,
BANG!
The wooden door shook violently, and a rough voice bellowed, "Are you dead yet? If not, get your ass out here!"
Tang Wen's heart clenched. He slowly sat up.
He knew there was no hiding. The cobbled-together door wouldn't last more than a few blows.
Besides, the person outside could see him lying on the straw through the gaps in the door and wall.
"Co-coming! I'm coming!"
"Xiaowen."
A timid voice called out.
The girl on the floor hugged her stick-thin legs with her skinny arms. Her large eyes were filled with worry, and her body trembled uncontrollably.
Tang Wen took a deep breath, walked to the door, and gently removed the wooden bar.
A large, bearded man stood impatiently in the doorway.
Behind him were two dark-skinned, sword-wielding Guards.
The bearded man wore a black armband, on which a single word was embroidered in white thread: Manager!
"Brother Li, good morning, Brother Li." Recalling the man's name and identity, Tang Wen instinctively bowed and offered a cautious, placating smile. His already scrawny frame seemed to shrink even further.
"What's so good about it! Where's next month's rent?"
'Rent?'
'They charge rent for a dump like this?'
Tang Wen's face paled as he frantically searched his new memories. A moment later, it turned even whiter.
The man wasn't lying; they did collect rent here.
But it wasn't rent for the shack. It was for the right to live in the camp. If you didn't pay, you were kicked out to live in the wilderness. Out there, you had to worry about not only the Mutated Beasts but also the danger from your own kind: the Scavengers.
There was no order among the Scavengers, and no humanity!
It was survival of the fittest, and life and death were decided by fate.
With physiques like his and the girl's, they'd be caught and thrown in a stew pot the very first night!
The camp conditions were also terrible, but at least your life was safe here.
The "Flame Queen" had established a rule: no killing, no fighting, and no stealing. No one dared to defy her.
The tragic fates of the countless people who had dared to challenge the Queen's authority served as a stark warning to all.
The original owner's parents had died long ago in this miserable world.
The original owner had no special skills to make a living. He couldn't even compete with the others when scavenging outside the camp and often returned empty-handed.
He could only do odd jobs, like watching over fields for others and shooing away birds and beasts.
A full day's work was often not even enough to fill his and his sister's stomachs, let alone leave a surplus for rent.
"Say something! You mute? If you don't have it, get out!"
"I have it! I have it!"
"Then what are you waiting for? Go get it!"
"Yes, right away! Right away!"
"Ten pounds of grain. Not an ounce less."
"..."
Tang Wen turned back into the shack and saw the girl weeping silently.
He avoided her gaze, quietly brushing aside the straw in the far corner to reveal two jars.
Their mouths were sealed with burlap. He held them and gave them a shake. One was full; the other was only half-full.
A full jar held seven pounds of Maize, so the two together were just about ten pounds.
But this was their entire food supply. If he handed it all over, they would starve.
Tang Wen picked up one jar, then felt around under his sleeping straw and pulled out a half-meter-long Iron Rod before walking to the door.
"Brother Li, I only have seven pounds of the Maize. Can I use this to make up the difference? What do you think?"
He gingerly held up the Iron Rod with one hand, his heart in his throat. Although iron was valuable in this era, in a dog-eat-dog world like this, nothing was more valuable than food.
"Heh." Brother Li snatched the Iron Rod and swung it back and forth a few times.
Tang Wen bent his back even lower, ducking his head.
The Iron Rod was right over his head, ready to smash down at any second.
He was reminded of a dinner with a client, back in his old life. The client had filled a large glass with liquor, and he'd had to drink it. Refusing would mean a loss of face.
TAP.
The Iron Rod tapped his shoulder. There was no force behind it, but Tang Wen's body still flinched to the side as he clutched the jar of Maize tightly to his chest.
He didn't dodge or look up.
"I'll let it slide this time."
"Thank you, Brother Li! Thank you, Brother Li!" Tang Wen's voice trembled.
"Just this once!"
"Yes, yes, of course. Thank you, thank you so much..."
A Guard came forward, took the jar, and emptied it into a sack.
Brother Li pulled a stamp from his clothes, grabbed Tang Wen's arm, and—CHUNK—pressed it onto the back of his hand.
Tang Wen took back the empty jar and watched the three of them move on to knock on the next door.
A few minutes passed before he looked down at the back of his hand. A new red mark was there: a red circle containing the single, crimson word—October.