Chapter 1: The Coldest Wedding Night
The November wind in Jiangbei City cut like a knife. It was midnight, and the neon lights of the high rise buildings reflected coldly off the wet asphalt of the streets.
Ye Chen stumbled along the sidewalk, shivering violently. He looked like a ghost haunting the city's prosperous center.
He was wearing an expensive Italian custom made suit, the type that cost tens of thousands of yuan. It was the suit he had worn at his wedding ceremony only six hours ago. Now, it was wrinkled, stained with mud where he had fallen, and offered absolutely no protection against the biting winter cold.
The most pathetic thing was the bright red boutonniere still pinned to his lapel, a mockery of a happiness that had already turned to ash.
"Why?" Ye Chen whispered, his voice hoarse from crying and shouting.
He stopped by a grimy bus stop bench and collapsed onto it, burying his face in his freezing hands.
Today was supposed to be the best day of his life. He had married Su Yun, the campus belle he had chased for four years in university. She was beautiful, elegant, and seemingly kind. Ye Chen, an orphan who had built a small but successful trading business from nothing, thought he had finally found a home.
But it was all a lie. A carefully orchestrated trap.
He remembered the scene in the bridal suite just hours ago. He had been waiting for Su Yun, filled with anticipation. Instead, the door burst open. Five large men rushed in, followed by Su Yun and a lawyer.
Before Ye Chen could even speak, photos were thrown in his face. Doctored photos showing him in bed with another woman.
"Ye Chen, you disgust me," Su Yun had said, her beautiful face twisted into a sneer he had never seen before. "Cheating on our wedding day? We are getting a divorce immediately."
"Yun'er, what is this? I do not know that woman. These are fake!" Ye Chen had pleaded, confused and terrified.
Su Yun just laughed coldly. "The evidence is irrefutable. And thanks to the prenuptial agreement you signed yesterday without reading, because you trusted me, if you are at fault, you leave with nothing. My family's lawyer has already frozen your company accounts and transferred the assets to me as compensation for mental damage."
It happened so fast. They forced him to sign the divorce papers under threat of physical violence. They took his phone, his wallet, his car keys. They even pulled the platinum wedding ring off his finger.
He was thrown out of the hotel by security like a stray dog.
In the span of one evening, Ye Chen went from a happily married successful young entrepreneur to a penniless divorced homeless man. His company, his house, his savings, all gone to the woman who had promised to love him forever.
"I have nothing left," Ye Chen murmured to the empty street.
His stomach growled loudly. The cold was seeping into his bones, making his joints ache. He had no family to call. His friends were mostly business associates who would ignore him now that he was broke.
He looked up at the massive LED screen on the building across the street. It showed an advertisement for a luxury watch. The man in the ad looked powerful, rich, and happy.
A dark thought entered Ye Chen's mind and refused to leave.
What is the point of struggling? I am back to zero, but this time it is worse. I am humiliated and alone. Maybe if I just walk into the traffic on the main road, this nightmare will end.
He stood up slowly, swaying slightly. His eyes focused on the headlights of a speeding truck approaching in the distance.
He took one step off the curb toward the road.
It will be quick, he thought, closing his eyes.
Just as he was about to take the second final step, a sharp mechanical sound exploded inside his brain.
[DING.]
Ye Chen froze. He opened his eyes, looking around wildly. "Who is there?"
The street was empty. The sound had not come from outside, it had come from within his own mind.
[DING. Detecting host's mental state has reached peak despair. Activation requirements met.]
A translucent blue screen, like something out of a video game, suddenly materialized in the air right in front of his face. Ye Chen rubbed his eyes, thinking the hunger was making him hallucinate, but the blue screen remained floating there.
[Congratulations, Host. You have successfully bound the Supreme Truth System.]
"System?" Ye Chen stared blankly at the floating text. He used to read webnovels in college. He knew what a system was. But those were stories. This was real life.
[The System aims to help the Host reach the pinnacle of life and expose all falsehoods in the world. The core ability of this System is to turn the fake into the real.]
Ye Chen's heart skipped a beat. "Turn fake into real? You mean... if I have counterfeit money, I can make it real?"
[Correct. However, the energy required to alter reality is immense. The Host must complete tasks to earn system points to use this ability.]
Ye Chen felt a surge of adrenaline that momentarily chased away the cold. This was his chance. This was the lifeline he needed to crawl out of this hell.
[DING. Since this is the first activation, the System is awarding a Newbie Gift Basket. Would the host like to open it.]
"Yes. Open it immediately!" Ye Chen said out loud, not caring if anyone thought he was crazy talking to the air.
[Opening Gift Basket...]
[Congratulations Host. You have received Permanent Passive Skill: Eyes of Truth, Level One.]
[Congratulations Host. You have received Item: Reality Modification Card, Trial Version, two pieces.]
A sudden warmth flooded into Ye Chen's eyes. It stung for a moment, causing him to blink rapidly. When he opened his eyes again, the world looked sharper.
He looked down at his muddy suit. A small information box popped up next to the fabric.
Target: Ruined Custom Suit.
Material: High grade wool blend, mud.
Current Value: 50 Yuan, scrap value.
He looked at the dirty concrete of the sidewalk.
Target: Concrete sidewalk slab.
Composition: Cement, aggregate, water.
Status: Slightly cracked.
"My god," Ye Chen breathed. "It is real. I can see the truth of everything."
He then focused his mind on the Reality Modification Cards sitting in his mental inventory.
Item: Reality Modification Card, Trial Version.
Description: Allows the host to turn one fake counterfeit or imitation item into the genuine article without cost. Remaining uses: two.
Two chances. He had two free chances to change his life before he had to figure out the complicated point system.
He needed money, immediately. He needed food and a warm place to sleep tonight, or he might actually freeze to death before he got his revenge.
But he had absolutely nothing on him that was fake. He had nothing on him at all.
Ye Chen looked around frantically. The street was mostly deserted. He walked down the street, his energy renewed by hope.
Fifty meters ahead, near the entrance of a closed subway station, there was a small ratty blanket spread on the ground. An old woman, perhaps seventy years old, was sitting there bundled in rags. On the blanket were a few cheap trinkets meant to catch the eyes of tourists.
She was packing up, preparing to leave for the night.
Ye Chen approached her. His eyes scanned the items on her blanket.
Target: Plastic hair clip. Value: 2 Yuan.
Target: Glass beads necklace. Value: 5 Yuan.
His eyes fell on a dull greenish grey bracelet that looked like it was carved from soapstone. It was chipped and ugly.
Target: Imitation Jadeite Bracelet.
Material: Dyed Quartz and glass.
Real Origin: Manufactured in a Guangdong factory last week.
Fake Identity: Antique Imperial Jade heirloom from the Qing Dynasty.
Current Value: 15 Yuan.
Ye Chen's heart pounded against his ribs. This was it.
He approached the old woman. She looked up at him with tired cloudy eyes, surprised to see a man in a ruined suit stopping by.
"Young man, I am closing up. Want to buy something for your girlfriend? Cheap prices," she rasped.
Ye Chen patted his pockets, remembering his humiliation. "Grandma, I... I do not have any money right now. I have had a very bad night."
The old woman sighed. She looked at his red eyes and the flower on his suit. She seemed to understand. "Wedding day disaster, huh? Take it from an old woman, life goes on."
She picked up the ugly imitation jade bracelet. "Here. Take this. Maybe it will bring you better luck than it brought me. It is worthless anyway."
Ye Chen trembled as he took the cold heavy bracelet. "Thank you, Grandma. I promise, I will repay you tenfold someday."
The old woman just shook her head and hobbled away into the night.
Ye Chen stood alone under a flickering streetlamp. He held the fake bracelet tightly in his left hand.
"System," he said, his voice shaking with intensity. "Use one Reality Modification Card on this bracelet. Turn the fake into the real."
[Ding. Target confirmed: Imitation Jadeite Bracelet.]
[Applying Reality Modification Card...]
[Transformation in progress: one percent... fifty percent... one hundred percent.]
A brilliant flash of emerald green light erupted from Ye Chen's hand, momentarily blinding him.
When the light faded, the bracelet in his hand felt different. It was heavier, smoother. It felt warm to the touch, almost alive.
He looked down. The dull grey stone was gone. In its place was a bracelet of incredibly vibrant translucent imperial green jade. It seemed to glow from within, flawless and mesmerizing.
His Eyes of Truth automatically activated.
Target: Imperial Glassy Jadeite Bracelet.
Material: Top tier natural jadeite.
Origin: Myanmar, ancient stone veins.
Current Value: Approximately 12,000,000 Yuan.
Ye Chen gasped, nearly dropping the treasure.
Twelve million yuan.
Just minutes ago, he was ready to throw his life away. Now, he held a fortune in his palm.
A savage grin spread across Ye Chen's tear stained face. The cold wind did not feel so bad anymore.
"Su Yun," he whispered into the night, his voice full of icy determination. "You took everything from me and threw me away like trash. Just you wait. I am coming back, and I am going to take it all back with interest."