Chapter One: The Underachiever

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Class Thirteen, Senior Year Three, at Martial City No. 13 Middle School.

Their homeroom teacher, Ma Yuan, was standing at the front of the classroom, delivering an impassioned speech to fire up his students.

“It’s April already. There are only two months left until the college entrance examination. I know the weather is hot, and I know you’re suffering!”

“But no matter how hard it is, it will only last these two months. Grit your teeth and push through it. Once you’re admitted to a martial arts university, you’ll have plenty of time to rest and play.”

His gaze was stern and his voice fervent, like a general delivering his final speech before two armies clashed.

Below the podium, the students sat upright and listened attentively. Whether their grades were good or bad, at the very least, they were all immersed in the passionate atmosphere of the moment.

Seeing the fighting spirit in their eyes, Ma Yuan felt deeply satisfied.

“So from now on, I’m asking all of you to work even harder. Those of you who normally train until midnight should train until one or even two in the morning. That wouldn’t be excessive!”

“If you train for one extra hour, you’ll advance a little farther than everyone else. Sharpening your weapon at the last moment may not make it sharper, but it will at least make it shine…”

Just as he was about to repeat his theory about making last-minute preparations, the loud crash of a chair hitting the floor suddenly interrupted him and drew the attention of the entire class.

Ma Yuan’s face darkened. There was only one student in the class capable of making such a tremendous disturbance during his homeroom period.

“Yang Feng!!!”

The furious roar sent spittle flying uncontrollably from Ma Yuan’s mouth.

Yang Feng had just climbed up from the floor, his face blank with confusion. The sudden thunderous bellow made him shudder.

The next moment, a piece of chalk flew straight toward him. He instinctively dodged.

“You still have the nerve to dodge?!”

“Yang Feng, if you refuse to study, then at least don’t disturb the other students. What’s your blood vitality value? Don’t you have any idea where you stand?”

“You’re still sleeping at a time like this? April is almost over, and there’s only a little more than a month left before the college entrance examination. The other students are wishing they could turn one day into two, and you’re sleeping in class?”

“You even dare to sleep during my lessons. What about the lessons taught by the other teachers? Don’t you feel ashamed of yourself? How can you sleep so peacefully?”

“…”

The students in the classroom all turned to look at Yang Feng. Some wore sympathetic expressions, while others looked down on him.

After his initial panic, Yang Feng gradually calmed down. Still, all he could do was remain silent and endure his homeroom teacher’s fury.

Only after Ma Yuan had finished venting did Yang Feng’s deskmate, Yang Qixin, cautiously ask, “Are you all right? If things are really bad, you should see a doctor. You’ve looked awful lately.”

Yang Feng felt somewhat helpless. He offered no explanation and merely nodded in silence.

Yang Qixin was not wrong. Yang Feng’s complexion had indeed grown worse recently, and he felt that his body had become much weaker as well.

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Yet when he went to the hospital for an examination, the results showed nothing wrong apart from severe malnutrition.

Malnutrition had plagued him since childhood. He had no idea why. He had never been a picky eater, yet he had always been malnourished. No matter how much he ate, it was as though he could never fill his stomach.

At first, malnutrition alone had not been a serious problem. But a month ago, he had begun suffering from the same nightmare night after night. In the dream, he was always being hunted by all sorts of inexplicable monsters. As a result, his sleep had deteriorated, and his body had grown even weaker. That was why he had fallen asleep during his homeroom teacher’s lecture.

…

After school, Yang Feng had just stepped out of the school gate when he spotted a vendor selling rice cakes nearby.

The vendor’s business was not very good. Many people thought the rice cakes were far too sweet.

Yang Feng, however, liked them very much. By then, he was already ravenously hungry, and the growling of his stomach sounded like thunder.

After hesitating for a while, Yang Feng took out the last nineteen dollars he had and walked up to the stall.

“Boss, give me nineteen dollars’ worth of rice cakes!”

The vendor and Yang Feng were already old acquaintances. The man immediately smiled and said, “No problem. This portion is worth twenty, but you’re a regular customer, so nineteen will do.”

“Thank you, Boss!”

The moment Yang Feng took the rice cakes, he began eating them in great mouthfuls without the slightest hesitation.

He ate quickly and with relish. In no time at all, he had finished a third of the cakes.

Even though the elderly vendor had witnessed this scene more than once, he still clicked his tongue inwardly in amazement. This child could certainly eat. It was rare to see anyone devour his rice cakes with such delight.

What was strange was how someone who ate so much could remain so thin.

Yang Feng noticed the old man’s gaze but paid it no mind. He had seen that look far too many times throughout his life.

“Boss, I’ll have one too.”

Perhaps Yang Feng had been eating with such gusto that a passerby could not resist buying a piece after seeing him.

“Coming right up.”

Seeing that the vendor had a new customer to serve, Yang Feng did not wish to disturb him. He simply left in silence.

He walked while eating, and in less than five minutes, the rice cakes in his hands were gone.

Yet his stomach was still hungry.

“Haah…”

Yang Feng sighed helplessly, his thoughts beginning to wander.

He had lived in this world for nearly eighteen years. The memories of his previous life had almost faded completely, growing hazy with time. After all, they belonged to eighteen years ago.

Sometimes, he even felt that his memories of his previous life were merely a vivid dream.

A dream that had lasted twenty-eight years.

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He had been single and had worked overtime every day. After finally saving up a million, he had just paid the down payment on a house when he died suddenly from overwork.

Then he had arrived in this world.

Looking back, his life had been a tragedy from beginning to end.

Yes, he had crossed over into this world—or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he had been given a second life.

Unlike his previous life, where Earth’s China had been peaceful, most ordinary people had followed the same path: attending school, finding a job, getting married, and having children. For the vast majority of people, life had been ordinary and stable.

But this world was different. Because spatial passages existed, the entire world faced all kinds of threats: foreign races, monsters, and spatial collapses.

The news, television programs, and short videos were filled either with reports of invasions by foreign races or with stories of martial artists defeating them. The difference from his previous life was like the difference between heaven and earth.

At first, faced with such a world, Yang Feng had been filled with lofty ambitions. He had believed that, with the advantages of being a transmigrator, he could at the very least become a top-tier martial artist.

Unfortunately, ideals were beautiful while reality was always cruel. His chronic malnutrition made it impossible for him to concentrate on cultivation. As time passed, his lofty ambitions had been ground to dust.

Sometimes, he thought that he might have been better off never crossing over at all. At least in China on Earth, he would not have had to worry about his safety or whether he could eat his fill.

…

Yang Feng returned home.

His mother was in the kitchen, stir-frying vegetables.

Seeing that the living room was empty, Yang Feng asked, “Mom, where are Dad and Yang Zhi?”

Yang Zhi was his younger brother, two years younger than him.

Yang Feng’s mother was named Lu Qing. Hearing her son’s question, she replied, “Your brother went back to his room to do his homework. Your father went downstairs to collect the delivery of exotic beast meat. Your medical reports always say you’re malnourished, so he bought some to see whether it would help.”

Yang Feng fell silent. His family had bought exotic beast meat for him before. It could indeed ease his hunger, but even the cheapest exotic meat cost ten thousand dollars per pound. His parents made their living running a breakfast shop, earning only a little over ten thousand dollars a month. Exotic meat was simply far beyond what Yang Feng could afford.

“Mom, I already told you that exotic beast meat is useless for me. It doesn’t do anything, so don’t waste money buying it again.”

Yang Feng could only lie.

“We only bought it because your blood vitality has been so poor these past few days. Besides, we’ve already paid for it. It’s not as though we can return it.”

Yang Feng remained silent for a moment. Knowing that nothing could be changed now, he could only say, “Mom, I’m going back to my room.”

With that, Yang Feng did not wait for his mother to respond. He simply closed the door behind him.

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