Chapter One: You Were Born, You Died
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Chapter 1: You Were Born, You Died
[This life simulation has ended. Commencing results!]
[...]
[Lifespan: 0 (You were born, you died)]
[Status: 0 (You have no status)]
[Fame: 0 (You have no renown)]
[Evaluation: 0 (Heaven never seals all exits; use your wits.)]
[Reward: 0 (Destiny Points)]
[This life simulation has ended. Commencing results!]
[...]
[Lifespan: 0 (You were born, you died)]
[Status: 0 (You have no status)]
[Fame: 0 (You have no renown)]
[Evaluation: 0 (Heaven never seals all exits; use your wits.)]
[Reward: 0 (Destiny Points)]
[This life simulation has ended. Commencing results!]
[...]
[Lifespan: 69 (To pursue greater wealth, you relentlessly exploited your own body; surviving to this age is already a tribute to medical progress.)]
[Status: 33 (You were an entrepreneur, and also a philanthropist.)]
[Fame: 37 (Your company treated employees better than peers, and you were zealous in charity—a model capitalist in many eyes.)]
[Evaluation: 0 (You experienced confusion and hardship, you struggled and worked hard, and ultimately achieved success. Yet, regrettably, you lost your way.)]
[Reward: 0 (Destiny Points)]
The small room contained a bed, a wardrobe, a computer desk, and other furniture. Though somewhat cramped, everything was arranged neatly, without a trace of disorder.
“Another failure.”
Jiang Ren sat on the only chair in the room, his gaze unfocused. Three days ago, the Life Simulation System had abruptly appeared in his mind and forcibly bound itself to him.
After enduring a wave of fear, anxiety, excitement, and anticipation, Jiang Ren had more or less figured out the system’s functions.
Life Simulation!
As the name implied, the Life Simulation System could create worlds indistinguishable from reality, and cast Jiang Ren’s soul as its host into them, to experience lives—ordinary, mediocre, or extraordinary.
Whenever a life reached its end, he would return to reality, and the system would evaluate his achievements and award “Destiny Points.”
Destiny Points functioned as currency, used to start new simulations or purchase goods from the system’s store.
The only slight disappointment was that nothing from the simulated worlds could be brought back, and items bought with Destiny Points could only be used within the simulations.
Still, this was thrilling enough for Jiang Ren. The system, though unable to help him directly, could let him retain some memories from simulated lives—a miraculous advantage.
Each simulation required one Destiny Point to begin, and the system granted one free point per day.
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Out of caution, Jiang Ren had not entered the simulation on the first day he acquired the system. Instead, he bought several life insurance policies and made thorough preparations, waiting until the fourth day—today—to begin.
He never expected his very first simulated life would have him born as an abandoned infant, not even surviving to the second day.
After two consecutive failures, Jiang Ren changed tactics on his third attempt, finally managing to survive. By pushing his body to its limits, he became a moderately well-known entrepreneur and philanthropist.
Yet even so, the evaluation was still zero.
“Lost my way?”
Jiang Ren rubbed his temples.
Still, it wasn’t all in vain; at least he learned that one simulated year equaled about one real-world minute.
Moreover, once a simulation began, his real body would enter the system’s space, time would pause, and all bodily needs would be suspended—a sort of indirect life extension.
Two minutes later, Jiang Ren reopened the system interface.
There was only a single world available.
“Hunter”—that was its name. The world’s level of technology and entertainment matched the real world, but with a much larger map.
[Entering requires deduction of 1 Destiny Point. Proceed?]
“Enter!”
Jiang Ren didn’t hesitate, investing his sole remaining Destiny Point.
Since the system store required ten Destiny Points to access, and he had none left, he had no choice. At once, his body vanished, his soul drawn into a realm of utter darkness.
Jiang Ren’s feelings were calm. This was the process at the start of every simulation—like the opening sequence of a game.
A massive, softly glowing round clock appeared before him.
Tick.
The longest hand began whirling backward, then the minute hand, then the hour hand.
Faster and faster, until all became a blur.
Dong!
Hour, minute, and second hands halted simultaneously.
A spectral projection materialized before the clock—a newborn infant.
And at that moment, Jiang Ren was sucked in.
With a wailing cry, Jiang Ren was born into this new world.
[Kaoshan Village lies in the remote southwest of the Great Zhou, named for its meager arable land and the generations who lived off the mountains.]
[With the turn of centuries, people’s livelihoods are no longer confined to hunting and farming. Most of Kaoshan’s young now seek work in distant cities, or relocate with their families to bustling towns.]
[Those who remain are mostly elders unwilling to leave; the few young who appear are merely passing visitors.]
[On this day, a pregnant stranger drove to the edge of the village, entered an abandoned shack, and, stifling her pain, gave birth to a child…]
After this narration—like the voiceover of a film—Jiang Ren finally became conscious.
He opened his eyes to find himself in a dilapidated wooden shack laced with cobwebs.
Chill winds slipped through the cracks, and Jiang Ren, swaddled in only the thinnest of garments, began to shiver uncontrollably.
Beside him, a woman, pale as death, looked at him with a complex expression.
This woman was his mother in this life.
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Jiang Ren composed himself and ceased crying. He had to conserve his strength.
This woman would soon abandon him without hesitation.
And as a newborn infant, without care, he could only wait to die. His sole hope was a hunting dog and its owner, who would search the area for prey about half a day later.
The first two times he entered this world, he lacked the strength to cry and missed his only chance at rescue, passing away in his sleep.
At that moment, the woman seemed to steel herself.
“Don’t blame me. If you must blame someone, blame your father—for it was he who heartlessly abandoned us.”
She muttered to herself as she stood, grabbed her bag, and made her way to the door.
She glanced back at Jiang Ren, then staggered outside. Her footsteps faded swiftly, followed by the sound of a car driving away.
Ha! Who else should I blame but you?
Jiang Ren stared at the half-open door, a sneer in his heart.
This was an era of plenty, not some desperate age when survival was uncertain. There was no shortage of food or money. To abandon her child solely out of spite for the man—was this something a human could do?
Even so, this wasn’t the worst of it.
Had she left the child at an orphanage, a marketplace, or anywhere with people, at least he would have had a chance. But to abandon a newborn in this desolate place—how was that different from killing with her own hands?
The cold wind kept lashing through the house.
As time passed, Jiang Ren’s body temperature dropped, his consciousness growing ever hazier.
He grew drowsy.
But he knew full well that falling asleep in such circumstances meant certain death.
All he could do was cling to consciousness, as he had in his last attempt, waiting for the right moment to cry for help.
He didn’t know how much time had passed. The sky outside had darkened, and his eyelids fluttered incessantly.
“Woof!”
Suddenly, a dog’s bark echoed in the distance.
“Now!”
Jiang Ren summoned his remaining strength, opened his mouth, drew a deep breath, and—
Waaah—
A wail pierced the silence.
If it had been a human, they might not have heard the feeble cry of a newborn. But this was a dog—a creature whose hearing surpassed a human’s many times over.
Soon, footsteps approached the door, growing nearer.
With a creak, the wooden door swung open.
“Huh? Why is there a baby here?”
A beam of flashlight swept in, and an aged voice sounded.
Saved!
Upon seeing that vague, familiar figure at the doorway, Jiang Ren finally let himself slip into unconsciousness.
(End of Chapter)