In a city ablaze with gaudy neon lights that painted the speeding traffic around him, a young man walked like a quiet wave in a sea of chaos. The slight slump in his back made him appear smaller and more fragile among the rushing figures.
His eyes were veiled with despair, like two stagnant lakes reflecting only a heavy sorrow. He moved with a mournful expression, his sighs escaping him like confessions of defeat, and his steps were hesitant.
"Why have I reached this point? It wasn't my fault to begin with!"
"Why were all my dreams shattered? Was I wrong about something? What did I do to deserve all of this?"
"Should I have returned when I had the chance?"
He looked around, observing the people who walked with mechanical speed, as if their entire lives depended on their arrival. Bodies driven towards predetermined goals, a herd rushing within the boundaries of an invisible enclosure, surrounded by the city's mocking glow.
"What should I do now?" Liu Wei asked his own silence. "Should I go back?"
Liu Wei... eighteen years old. And here he was, in Timelight, the first city in the heart of the Wang Heart state, having come from New Han in the North. University was set to begin in a week, and he had already gathered the tuition fees, but...
"It genuinely wasn't my fault! Because of a mistake by the client, I'm going to lose my job!"
"Who told you to give me the wrong address!"
"Damn you!"
As he slowly raised his gaze towards the lights, he felt a cold prickle at the back of his head, as if a small electric current had passed through him.
[System Activation in Progress]
[1%... 2%... 3%]
Liu Wei stopped. It was as if he had lost his balance for a moment.
[100%... System Activated]
"What now?" he mumbled, his throat dry. "Am I hallucinating? On top of everything else, I have heatstroke! What is this System now?"
[Welcome, Host]