Chapter 1: The Entry System
Sunlight streamed through the window into the room. A yellowing air conditioner hung on the wall, humming softly.
In the twenty-something square-meter bedroom sat a wooden bed and a desk with a computer on it. An electric kettle was bubbling with steam — the water had just boiled.
Facing away from the sunlight, Lin Yuan picked up the kettle and poured the hot water into an electric pot on a folding dining table.
The boiling water melted the beef hotpot base. A carefully prepared sesame dipping sauce was already placed beside the pot.
On the seemingly small table were a variety of hotpot ingredients: ox tripe, freshly sliced beef and lamb, duck intestines, luncheon meat, tempura, juicy meatballs, fried tofu skin, and more...
Among the dozen ingredients, there was also the obligatory single piece of green lettuce for garnish.
Sitting on a small stool, Lin Yuan picked up his phone. The clean screen reflected his unusually youthful face. He didn't look anything like a 22-year-old. When buying groceries, people would often ask if he had skipped school that day.
This was also Lin Yuan's biggest concern. Despite cutting his hair short for a more masculine look and wearing dark, muscular-style clothes, he had inherited his mother's fair skin, delicate features, and slender frame. As his cousin once said, "You look refined — in a handsome way, though."
"Let's keep watching those short videos…" Lin Yuan muttered. He was just about to start eating.
The "short videos" were ones shared in QQ groups, discussing strange phenomena and unexplained events in the world.
Theories in the videos claimed that the recent chaos — such as an increase in stray dog attacks — were all results of secret experiments from American laboratories.
At first, Lin Yuan thought it was nonsense.
But after a few days, and matching the videos with what he saw around him, he began to think… maybe there was something to it. The mysterious atmosphere of an impending apocalypse was more gripping than any TV series.
Just then, without turning on his phone screen, a glowing blue window appeared in front of him:
[Entry System Activating…]
"Huh?" Lin Yuan squinted his eyes hard.
He moved the turned-off phone away — and to his shock, the glowing message was still there!
The floating window glowed and changed again:
[Your world is facing an invasion of high-level martial forces and a revival of spiritual energy. For ordinary people, it will be like the end of days. This is the worst era — and the most terrifying one!]
"High-level martial invasion? Spiritual energy revival…"
Lin Yuan's mouth opened slightly in shock.
Could those short videos have been real?
A chill shot up his spine. The idea that the world might be facing not just conspiracies, but something even more outrageous than secret labs — shook him deeply.
[You have activated the Entry System. The system is now fully bound to you.]
[Complete system missions to acquire various entries. For you, this will be the era of transformation!]
[Entry System Activated… Acquired Talent: Information View — use this to see basic info about any visible target.]
Like a drowning man grabbing driftwood, Lin Yuan instinctively accepted it all. He didn't even question it.
He decided to try his new ability and test whether he could truly view information about nearby things.
He looked around — at the electric hotpot, a cactus plant, and a large willow tree just outside the window.
Immediately, three blue windows appeared before his eyes:
[Electric Hotpot – Description: A discarded item from five years ago, no longer functional. Entry: Scrap (Common).]
[Cactus – Description: A regular prickly cactus. Entry: Spikes (Common).]
[Old Lantern-Willow Tree – Description: A willow tree with glowing fruit lanterns. Each lantern contains a fresh, extracted human brain. Entries: Super Growth (Excellent), Toughness (Spirit-grade).]
Each object had an entry attached. But what caught Lin Yuan's attention was the descriptions.
"What the hell?"
The electric hotpot was clearly still working — the soup was boiling. The cactus looked normal.
But the willow tree had become a horrific monster? A brain-harvesting nightmare?
He looked again — outside the window, the willow tree swayed gently in the wind. No glowing fruits. No sign of danger. Nothing unusual.
Maybe… the Entry System was broken? A mistake?
But then, he reread the hotpot's description: "Produced five years ago…" That wasn't true — his cousin gave it to him two years ago.
That's when it hit him — what if the system was showing the future?
Three years in the future, the hotpot would be discarded. Three years later, the willow might really become a brain-harvesting monster.
A chill ran down Lin Yuan's back.
"Three years from now, high-level martial forces invade, spiritual energy returns… a dark age begins."
He took a deep breath, the scent of hotpot filling his lungs. It calmed him a little.
After all, the apocalyptic future wasn't now. He was still here, enjoying hotpot, safe for the moment.
Then he thought of something else: if he could view items' future info — what about animals? What about humans?
And most importantly:
"What about… me?"
Curious and tense, Lin Yuan whispered:
"View information!"
(End of Chapter)