The ringing in his ears was the first thing Su Chen noticed. It was a sharp, high-pitched whine, like the aftermath of a flashbang grenade.
He groaned, peeling his eyelids open. The light in the room was dim, filtered through heavy curtains that he didn't remember closing. His body felt heavy, as if the gravity itself had shifted slightly, pressing him deeper into the mattress of his small, rented apartment.
"Water..."
His throat felt like he had swallowed a handful of sand. Su Chen tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness forced him back down.
What happened?
Memories fragmented and chaotic flooded his mind.
He remembered walking home from the convenience store. He remembered the sky turning a violent, bruised purple. He remembered the ground shaking—not like an earthquake, but like the groaning of a stretching rubber band. And then, the voice.
A voice that didn't come from ears, but vibrated directly in the soul.
[The Convergence has begun. The Planet will now undergo Ascension.]
[Integration of Dimensional Laws: 100%.]
[Planetary Surface Expansion: 1,000,000x.]
[Mana Source: Activated.]
"Ascension..." Su Chen rubbed his temples, forcing himself to sit up. The dizziness was fading, replaced by a strange, coursing heat in his veins.
He looked around his apartment. It was a mess. Books had fallen off shelves, the TV was cracked on the floor, and the plaster on the walls showed hairline fractures. But it was still standing.
He stumbled toward the window. He needed to see.
Su Chen pulled back the curtains.
His pupils constricted violently.
"You have to be kidding me."
Su Chen lived on the 18th floor of a high-rise in the Jinghai District. Usually, this view looked out over a concrete jungle of other apartments and a distant highway.
Now, the world had been torn apart and stitched back together by a mad god.
The building opposite his was still there, but it was now three kilometers away. Between his building and the next, a massive, verdant jungle had erupted from the asphalt. Trees the size of skyscrapers pierced the clouds, their trunks glowing with faint, bio-luminescent veins.
The sky was no longer blue. It was a swirling tapestry of auroras, and hanging low in the horizon were two moons—one pale white, the other a blood-soaked crimson.
The city hadn't been destroyed; it had been diluted. The Earth had expanded. A million times larger. What used to be a walk across the street was now a journey across a primeval forest.
Roar!
A sound like thunder rolled from the distance, shaking the glass of his window. Su Chen saw a shadow pass over the clouds—a winged creature, easily the size of a passenger airliner, gliding lazily through the air.
"Monsters," Su Chen whispered, his grip tightening on the window sill until his knuckles turned white. "It's real. The webnovels, the theories... it's all real."
He stepped back, his heart pounding against his ribs. Panic threatened to set in, but Su Chen forced it down. He was an orphan; he had grown up relying only on himself. Panic was a luxury he couldn't afford.
Check resources. Check safety. Check self.
He went to the kitchen. The tap let out a pathetic sputter of brown sludge before dying completely. The electricity was out.
He looked at the small dining table. On it sat the plastic bag he had brought home before he passed out.
Inside: Two packets of instant noodles, a box of biscuits, and one 500ml bottle of mineral water.
"One bottle of water," Su Chen stared at the bottle. His thirst was agonizing. "In a world like this, this isn't enough to last a day."
He reached out to grab the bottle.
The moment his fingertips brushed the cold plastic surface, the world froze.
A mechanical, translucent blue panel unfolded in his retina. It wasn't an illusion; it hovered there, crisp and clear, anchoring itself to his vision.
[System Initializing...]
[Host Detected: Su Chen]
[Talent Awakening...]
Su Chen froze. "A System?"
He wasn't a stranger to this concept. He had read thousands of chapters of novels where protagonists awakened systems. But usually, they had to die first, or get struck by lightning.
[Awakening Complete.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have awakened the Sovereign-Tier Talent: Absolute Copy.]
"Absolute... Copy?"
Su Chen blinked. Text began to scroll rapidly across the blue screen.
[Name: Su Chen]
[Race: Human (Unranked)]
[Level: 0 (0/100 Experience)]
[Strength: 7 (Average Adult Male: 10)]
[Agility: 8]
[Spirit: 15]
[Constitution: 6]
[Innate Talent: Absolute Copy (Sovereign Tier)]
Description: The Host can copy the properties, skills, bloodlines, talents, and physical existence of any target touched or observed.
Current Range: Touch / 10 Meters visuals.
Restriction: None.
[Innate Ability: Infinite Dimensional Storage]
Description: A separate space-time pocket. Time inside is frozen. Space is unlimited. Living things cannot enter (currently).
[Innate Ability: Dimensional Travel (locked)]
Status: Unlocked after First Kill.
Su Chen read the description three times. His heart was hammering so loud he could hear it in his ears.
"No restrictions?" he whispered hoarsely.
"Usually there's a cooldown. Or a cost."
He looked at the bottle of mineral water on the table.
"Let's test it."
He placed his hand on the bottle. He focused his mind, visualizing the concept of more.
Copy.
[Target: 500ml Mineral Water (Common)]
[Copying...]
Shua!
There was no flash of light. No fanfare.
Instantaneously, a second bottle of water appeared next to the first one. It was identical down to the condensation droplets on the plastic.
Su Chen's eyes widened. He felt a tiny, almost imperceptible drain on his mental energy, like he had just done a simple math problem.
"Again."
Copy.
Four bottles.
Copy.
Eight bottles.
Copy.
Sixteen bottles.
In less than ten seconds, his small dining table was overflowing with water bottles.
They clattered onto the floor, rolling everywhere.
Su Chen grabbed one, twisted the cap—it cracked with the familiar sound of a fresh seal—and downed it in one go. The cool, crisp water flooded his system, washing away the fatigue.
"It's real," he gasped, wiping his mouth. He looked at the pile of water. "I have infinite resources."
In an apocalypse, what was the most dangerous thing? It wasn't the monsters. It was hunger. It was the desperation that turned humans into animals.
But with this...
Su Chen touched the pile of bottles.
Store.
Whoosh.
The sixteen bottles vanished instantly.
Su Chen focused his mind, and he could "see" a massive, gray void in his mind. The bottles were floating there, suspended in absolute stillness. With a thought, one appeared back in his hand.
"Absolute Copy... Infinite Storage..." Su Chen leaned back against the kitchen counter, a wild grin spreading across his face. "I don't need to scavenge. I don't need to fight people for scraps. If I find one piece of bread, I have a bakery. If I find one bullet, I have an armory."
But then, his eyes drifted to the [Dimensional Travel] option that was currently grayed out.
[Unlock Condition: Kill a living being of Level 1 or higher.]
"Travel..." Su Chen muttered. "Does this mean I can leave this expanded Earth? Go to other worlds?"
The implications were terrifying. If he could go to a cultivation world, he could copy spirit stones. If he went to a sci-fi world, he could copy starships.
Bang!
A heavy impact slammed against his apartment door.
Su Chen snapped out of his reverie. The smile vanished from his face. He crouched low, instinctively quiet.
Bang! Scratch... Scratch...
The sound was wet and heavy. Like meat slapping against wood.
"Uhh... rahh..."
A low, guttural groan seeped through the door frame.
Su Chen's expression turned cold. He knew his neighbor across the hall. Mr. Zhang. A nice old man who liked to play chess.
But that sound... that wasn't Mr. Zhang anymore.
Su Chen looked around the kitchen. He needed a weapon.
He grabbed a fruit knife from the counter. It was a cheap, stainless steel knife with a black plastic handle.
[Target: Cheap Fruit Knife (Gray Grade)]
[Attack: 2]
[Durability: 5/10]
"Garbage," Su Chen muttered. "But it's all I have."
He held the knife.
Copy.
A second knife appeared in his left hand.
Copy.
A third and fourth knife appeared. He stored them in his space.
"I have infinite attempts," Su Chen told himself, calming his breathing. "I can throw them. I can break them. It doesn't matter."
He crept toward the door, moving silently in his socks. He looked through the peephole.
The hallway lights were flickering, casting strobe-like shadows.
Standing there was Mr. Zhang. But his skin had turned a sickly, grayish-green. His jaw hung loose, unhinged, and his eyes were entirely white, glowing with a faint, predatory hunger.
[Target: Infected Human (Zombie)]
[Level: 1]
[Skill: Virus Infection (Passive)]
[Weakness: Head.]
Su Chen took a deep breath.
If he wanted to survive in this million-times expanded world, if he wanted to unlock the ability to travel the multiverse...
He had to open this door.
"Let's begin," Su Chen whispered.
He reached for the lock.