Early the next morning, he took his only ten copper coins, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and headed to the internet cafe.
As soon as he entered, he smelled cigarette smoke, though it seemed less acrid than in the internet cafes of his previous life.
Qin Siyang had never smoked, so he wasn't entirely sure of the difference.
The cafe was a bit shabby, seemingly barely renovated—just painted walls and some patterned stickers—but it was still much better than Qin Siyang's own dwelling.
Because there were two lights overhead.
Not oil lamps, but electric lights.
In the Safe Zone, anyone who could afford electricity was considered well-off in Qin Siyang's eyes.
Those who could run a business using electricity were outright wealthy.
In this impoverished area on the Safe Zone's edge, no one could really afford the cafe.
Yet, there it was, open for business.
As the only internet cafe nearby, Qin Siyang had heard the owner had some connections, and the place often attracted rather odd characters.
"One terminal, half an hour is enough!"
Qin Siyang tossed down the ten copper coins—a week's wages from his part-time job at the school library.
The extreme scarcity of power made internet access exorbitantly expensive. Handing over the coins made his heart bleed.
The portly, thirty-something attendant behind the counter stared at Qin Siyang for an extra moment, then pointed expressionlessly to a terminal. "That one. Go ahead."
After sitting down, Qin Siyang noticed a man not far from him, a thin cigar clamped between his teeth, tapping away at the keyboard.
It was then he realized why the smoke here was more tolerable than in his past life.
The high cost acted as a filter.
The patrons here were generally people looking up information or conducting deals.
The tobacco they smoked was naturally of much higher quality than the cheap stuff in the internet cafes of his memory.
As for what kind of deals they were conducting, Qin Siyang had no idea.
He booted up the computer. The machine was slow, taking two full minutes to reach the login screen.
It couldn't be helped; a faster computer wouldn't be this "cheap."
He immediately logged into the Sequence Ability user forum, the «God-Slayer Camp», and began searching for information on currently known Sequences.
A pinned post listed statistics on all awakened Sequences to date. He clicked on it immediately.
From New Year's Day 2005 until now—a full five years—thousands of Sequences had awakened.
And everyone else had awakened suddenly, not in some bizarre manner like him.
A post titled «How Can Humanity Retake Blue Star?» caught Qin Siyang's attention.
"None of the abilities awakened so far give us any hope of wiping out the gods."
"The gods can heal by eating us, but we can't grow stronger by eating them! How can we possibly win?!"
"If only there was a Sequence that let you grow stronger by devouring gods! It'd be a perpetual motion machine!!"
"Thousands of Sequences awakened, and not a single one related to devouring gods. There's no hope."
So.
No one shared his awakening method, and no one shared his Sequence ability.
Qin Siyang swallowed hard and muttered to himself:
"Could it be... I'm the one and only Chosen One?!"
The «God-Eater» Sequence was, without a doubt, something that would shake the entire Safe Zone to its core if revealed!
But then his eyes lingered on one particular reply, and he hesitated.
"Hey, if you did awaken a Sequence that lets you eat gods to get stronger, you'd probably get dragged away for experiments! No chance you'd be typing here!"
Dragged away for experiments...
Now that he had a preliminary understanding of Sequences, he knew his «God-Eater» Sequence was the stuff of countless people's dreams.
The tens of thousands of Sequence Ability users on the «God-Slayer Camp» all desperately wished for an ability that allowed them to digest gods and enhance themselves.
Being able to grow stronger while hunting gods was, without a doubt, the most terrifying form of perpetual motion.
Qin Siyang cautiously realized that he currently lacked the power to match this miraculous Sequence.
As the saying goes, "The common man's guilt lies not in the jade, but in owning it."
A person who possesses wealth disproportionate to their strength easily finds themself in danger.
Should he trust in himself?
Or trust in others, basing his life and future on the高尚 (lofty) morals of others?
For any rational person.
The answer wasn't difficult.
Qin Siyang instantly solidified his decision: He must keep this secret.
Amass fortune discreetly.
In both his previous life and this one, that was an unassailable truth!
As he pondered his future plans, the computer suddenly jumped back to the password screen, displaying a message:
[Session Time Expired. Please proceed to the counter to add more time.]
The internet time purchased with ten copper coins was up. This was the difficulty of having no money.
No matter how heaven-defying your Sequence, you still had to log off on time.
Fortunately, in just half an hour, Qin Siyang had found the information he needed. At the very least, he absolutely could not let anyone know about the «God-Eater» Sequence.
He shouldered his backpack and left the internet cafe under the somewhat puzzled gaze of the portly attendant.
Outside, the air was instantly fresher, free from the smell of smoke and strange, greasy odors, leaving only the common scent of dust.
However, with the absence of electric lighting, the surroundings plunged into utter darkness, and it took Qin Siyang's eyes a good while to adjust to the dimly lit path.
Gazing through the Safe Zone's defensive glass at the perpetual starry river hanging in the sky and the occasional massive god drifting past, Qin Siyang felt a wave of迷茫 (bewilderment) again.
Where should he go next?
To the Safe Zone exit? Or to school?
On the «God-Slayer Camp», those Sequence Ability users mentioned that squads hunting gods came and went through the Safe Zone exit every day.
To enable humanity's counterattack against the gods, the Unified Government provided Sequence Ability users with various support policies and resource allocations. In exchange, Sequence Ability users were required to hunt the gods outside the Safe Zone.
Moreover, the more and the larger the gods slain, the richer the rewards for the Sequence Ability users.
To prove their kills, Sequence Ability users would bring back the most distinctive part of a god's corpse as proof to claim their bounty.
Therefore, Qin Siyang thought that if he waited at the Safe Zone exit, he might find an opportunity to take a bite of god flesh, testing whether this «God-Eater» Sequence could indeed make him stronger.
If the test succeeded, he might be able to rise meteorically.
He could hide outside the Safe Zone, continuously hunting gods until he became a peerless master, then return to the Safe Zone to dominate everything.
His Sequence was immensely powerful; growing stronger while hunting gods made him a veritable perpetual motion machine.
But then Qin Siyang checked the information panel in his mind again, analyzed his skill calmly, and shook his head.
"The description of Blood Drinker is, 'Gain power even by consuming gods raw.'"
"It doesn't say it can fill my stomach..."
"If it doesn't satiate me, that means I can't rely on eating gods to save on food costs."
If that were the case, even if he slaughtered countless gods, he would still starve to death outside the Safe Zone.
A single meal can stump a hero.
Qin Siyang stopped deliberating about where to go, because he only had one real option—school.
Going to the Safe Zone exit to try his luck did hold the possibility of getting stronger.
But today's Xia Calendar entry read «Ill-Omened for All Endeavors», suggesting it probably wasn't a good day for taking chances.
Qin Siyang wasn't originally superstitious, but with unscientific things like rebirth and the apocalypse happening, a little superstition started to seem reasonable.
When people encounter things beyond their understanding, they can't help but become a bit superstitious.
Even if he were lucky enough to get stronger at the Safe Zone exit, converting that ability into food would take time; it couldn't be achieved overnight.
But at school, this wasn't a problem.
School provided lunch and dinner. Without school, Qin Siyang didn't know how he'd survive in this derelict Safe Zone slum.
More importantly, today was Friday.
Saturdays and Sundays were school holidays. The cafeteria closed on holidays, meaning he couldn't get free meals.
Missing today's cafeteria, penniless as he was, would mean going hungry for two more days.
That wasn't a good decision.
Not only did he have to go to school, he also needed to beg the cafeteria lady, Auntie Zhang, to give him a larger portion, to solve the problem of one or two meals over the weekend.
Auntie Zhang, who served the food, knew he was an orphan and often looked out for him.
On weekends, the Sequence Ability squads didn't rest.
Sequence Ability users needed to submit god remains to the Unified Government to obtain resources; they weren't much different from small, self-sufficient sole proprietors.
Since they bore their own profits and losses, the line between workdays and days off was blurry.
Therefore, Qin Siyang decided to try his luck at the Safe Zone exit over the weekend.
Without a doubt, going to school was the optimal solution.
The main street was dim, with a not-very-bright street lamp every few dozen meters, illuminating only a couple of steps. The tops of the lamps were connected to the defensive glass overhead, seemingly for support.
In Qin Siyang's view, the sole purpose of these streetlights was to inform pedestrians that this street was the main thoroughfare of the Safe Zone's edge. Beyond that, they weren't very useful.
Even the lighting inside the internet cafe was several times brighter than these streetlights.
Qin Siyang walked along the dim main road for over ten minutes before reaching the school.
In his previous life, Qin Siyang had attended an ordinary county high school with fairly poor conditions.
In this world, it wasn't much different.
He had no choice, as the «Jū'ān School» was the only one in the area.
«Jū'ān School» covered the entire twelve-year education system from elementary to high school.
Children on the Safe Zone's edge started school at six or seven and didn't leave until they were eighteen.
You could say it was a second home.
The students here were all ordinary people, and their parents were ordinary people too.
In a Safe Zone where Sequence Ability users weren't rare, gathering places consisting entirely of ordinary people weren't common, and they were all located on the fringes.
Anyone who managed to awaken a Sequence ability would inevitably move their entire family away from this dangerous, dilapidated border area to a better environment deeper in the Safe Zone.
Within the school, everyone was from the bottom rung of Safe Zone society.
But Qin Siyang's family situation was undoubtedly the very lowest of the low.
He didn't even have parents; he lived alone.
If not for the Unified Government's policy waiving tuition fees for orphans, he didn't know where he'd be now, or what he'd be doing.
Perhaps he'd already be a pile of bones.
Qin Siyang followed the dim street to the school. The teacher on duty hadn't arrived yet at the gate, and morning self-study hadn't begun.
Morning self-study was from 8:00 to 8:15 am.
The excitement of his recent awakening had him waking up early. Even after spending half an hour at the internet cafe, it was still very early.
The school was full of lights.
It was the brightest place on the entire Safe Zone edge, boasting the best electrical system and lighting.
This was a rare thing in a Safe Zone where power was so expensive.
The Unified Government believed the hope for rescuing humanity and counterattacking the gods lay with every child. No matter what, education must not be shortchanged.
Once educational conditions improved, the new generation would feel a sense of belonging to the Unified Government and the Safe Zone, and thus become more enthusiastic about joining the cause of hunting gods.
The Unified Government also promoted equal educational opportunities for every child, because you never knew which child might grow up to be a hero.
But policies were one thing; their implementation in each school took on all sorts of strange forms.
The school teachers didn't believe every student was worth cultivating, especially not at Qin Siyang's «Jū'ān School».
According to incomplete statistics, the more impoverished the area, the fewer Sequence Ability users awakened.
To date, Qin Siyang hadn't heard of anyone from «Jū'ān School» awakening a Sequence ability.
People like Qin Siyang, who neither paid tuition nor had any future prospects, were seen as parasites in the school, largely disliked by the teachers. Even though the teachers themselves extracted far more from the school than Qin Siyang ever could.
The homeroom teacher had placed his desk in the corner of the classroom, an unnoticed spot, exactly the same position as in his previous life.
The pre-rebirth Qin Siyang's heart had grown lonely because of this, but the post-rebirth Qin Siyang found it quite comfortable.
At least here, no one disturbed him when he zoned out.
The other students took out their textbooks and began previewing the day's lessons. Qin Siyang, however, rested his chin on his hand, gazed out the window at the gods occasionally flying past the Safe Zone, and pondered how to find an opportunity to get stronger.
"Qin Siyang."
Just then, his reverie was interrupted.
He looked up. A girl with delicate features stood beside him.
"Oh, Li Jingwen. What is it?"
She had finally come.
Information about her instantly surfaced in his mind—this was a woman he wouldn't forget even if she were reduced to ashes.
She was Li Jingwen, Qin Siyang's high school classmate.
In his previous life, Qin Siyang had pursued Li Jingwen for three years, acting utterly卑微 (servile) throughout.
He'd rather go hungry himself than fail to bring her breakfast every day. He'd even done all her homework for her.
For Li Jingwen, Qin Siyang was always compliant, giving everything he, an orphan, possibly could.
He hoped to be with her.
But Li Jingwen had never accepted his confessions, always putting him off, saying she couldn't let it affect her studies.
However, whenever Qin Siyang thought about giving up his pursuit, Li Jingwen would proactively seek him out, offer encouragement, say it was just a test, and hope he would persevere.
So Qin Siyang firmly believed that Li Jingwen would start dating him after high school graduation.
Unfortunately, it was only after graduation that he learned Li Jingwen had already been with Zhou Yang from the next class for a long time. Zhou Yang's family was relatively well-off; being with him allowed Li Jingwen to ascend half a social class.
He still remembered Li Jingwen's mocking laugh when he saw her holding hands with Zhou Yang:
"So stupid. Serves you right for being an orphan!"
This time, reborn into a second life, even though the world had changed drastically, most of his former classmates remained the same.
Qin Siyang felt immensely grateful to the heavens for letting him see Li Jingwen again.
It allowed him to utterly bid farewell to the simp he was in his previous life.
In his memory, the high school Li Jingwen was sweet and lovely, her two dimples when she smiled captivating him utterly.
But seeing her now, Qin Siyang was filled with disgust. There was no more heart flutter, he even found her a bit nauseating.
His gaze towards Li Jingwen was dull and cold.
Li Jingwen didn't notice the change in Qin Siyang. "Qin Siyang," she said with a coquettish tone, "you haven't brought me breakfast for three days."
"Oh, I ate it myself," Qin Siyang replied flatly.
Li Jingwen was taken aback, then asked, surprised, "Then what about my breakfast?"
"You told me yourself your family provides breakfast, so you didn't need me to bring you any."
Qin Siyang had only found out later that Li Jingwen had been giving the breakfast he provided to Zhou Yang, to curry favor with him.
You could say Li Jingwen worked very hard to be with Zhou Yang.
It's just that her efforts were built upon Qin Siyang's laughable付出 (devotion).
Li Jingwen put her hands on her hips. "I was testing you! If you give up so easily, how can I feel secure being with you in the future?"
Observing Li Jingwen's mix of anger and affected撒娇 (coquettishness), Qin Siyang let out a soft laugh. "If you don't feel secure, then don't be together. It's not like we're dating now anyway."
Hearing his response, Li Jingwen felt a sense of foreboding. She didn't understand why Qin Siyang, who had always been at her beck and call, seemed like a different person these past few days!
But she was also angry now and had lost the patience to be nice to him. She just wanted to quickly get the homework he was supposed to have done for her so she could go check answers with Zhou Yang.
"Then give me my homework."
Qin Siyang opened his backpack, pulled out three workbooks, and handed them to Li Jingwen.
Li Jingwen took them, flipped through a couple of pages, and her eyes instantly widened. "Qin Siyang! Why are the pages blank?!"
"Ridiculous. Homework doesn't write itself. If no one writes it, it naturally stays blank."
"But... but you always do it for me!"
Qin Siyang pulled out three more of his own workbooks, opening them to the blank assignment pages to show her. "I haven't even done my own. Why would I do yours?"
"You! You'll get me scolded by the teacher!"
"Oh."
"Aren't you worried if I get scolded?"
Qin Siyang looked at her as if she'd said something hilarious, then shrugged. "You never worried when I got scolded."
Tears welled up in Li Jingwen's eyes. "Qin Siyang, I feel like you don't like me anymore."
Qin Siyang was unmoved by her performance. He simply gave her a thumbs-up. "Li Jingwen, that's the only sensible thing you've said all morning. If there's nothing else, don't disturb me while I'm spacing out."
Having said that, Qin Siyang leaned back against the window, continuing to watch the bizarrely shaped gods in the sky, wondering: If I eat one of those things, will it give me diarrhea?
This time, Li Jingwen was completely dumbfounded.
She had promised to check homework answers with Zhou Yang later and planned to give him the breakfast she expected from Qin Siyang.
Now that Qin Siyang had dropped the ball, how was she going to explain it to Zhou Yang?!
Faced with Qin Siyang's disregard, she said angrily, "Qin Siyang, if you keep this up, there's no chance for us in the future!"
Qin Siyang snorted, turned his head, and glanced at the calendar hanging on the back wall of the classroom.
[Blue Star Calendar 2010, January 1]
[Western Calendar, Friday, New Year's Day.]
[Xia Calendar, Year of the Jǐchǒu Ox, 11th Month, 17th Day, «Ill-Omened for All Endeavors»]
"Who says today is ill-omened for all endeavors?"
"This is a double blessing!"