Chapter 6

ps: Thank you to Tianya Daozun for the generous tip of 588, and to Ah Gang 77, Hongchen Heng, and Xingxing Fuxingxing for the tips of 100 each.

Oh!

After regaining his composure, Wei Xiaobei hurriedly reached into his throat, trying to vomit out the meatball he had swallowed. He didn't want to die from food poisoning.

But after a few dry heaves, all he managed to vomit out was a disgusting mixture of compressed biscuits, with no trace of the meatball.

Feeling dizzy and disoriented from the effort, he realized this was his fate.

What did he have to fear with such a lowly life? Wei Xiaobei bitterly smiled to himself.

To say that Wei Xiaobei's entire life was that of an ordinary person.

Wei Xiaobei came from an ordinary family.

His father was a worker at a small state-owned factory, and his mother was a primary school teacher, both very ordinary.

In elementary school, Wei Xiaobei had grand ambitions, dreaming of becoming a scientist, a general, or a tycoon, and his academic performance was excellent.

In local terms, this kid was a surefire top student.

But by junior high, the numerous game rooms and video rooms on the streets captured all of Wei Xiaobei's attention.

After barely getting into a county high school, Wei Xiaobei had transformed from a model student into a frequent truant.

After performing poorly on the college entrance exam, his parents found a way to send him to the military.

In the military, Wei Xiaobei regained some of his vigor. He didn't win a third-class merit, but he did receive several commendations for being an outstanding soldier. According to the military leaders, Wei Xiaobei was a natural soldier.

For this reason, the military leaders even registered him for the military college entrance exam.

If Wei Xiaobei had been able to get into a military academy, it might have been a good path for him.

But already deeply averse to studying, Wei Xiaobei ultimately failed to get into the military academy and was discharged back home.

Wei Xiaobei thought that with his excellent performance, he would find a decent job back in his hometown.

But Wei Xiaobei underestimated the world. Upon returning home, he found himself assigned to a nearly bankrupt county battery factory.

After working there for two months, Wei Xiaobei resigned on his own, packed his bag, and came to Cuihu City, becoming one of the many workers in the big city.

Whenever he thought about all this, Wei Xiaobei couldn't help but feel some regret. If he had studied hard and gotten into Tsinghua, Peking, or Fudan, he would probably be a department manager by now.

After all, the CEO of the company he worked for now had only graduated from an ordinary university.

Of course, there was no pill to take to undo the past.

Wei Xiaobei had originally planned to just muddle through his life, save some money when he got older, return home to start a small business, and maybe find a wife.

But now, it seemed his fate had taken a new turn?

Waiting for an unknown fate was a cruel thing.

Wei Xiaobei, lying in bed and rubbing his slightly aching stomach, felt a musty smell enter his nostrils, making him sneeze seven or eight times in a row.

If I'm going to die, I might as well die.

After a few sneezes, Wei Xiaobei somehow felt more at ease and lay down to rest.

After waking up, the series of changes left Wei Xiaobei feeling as if his spirit was about to break. Only now did he finally relax, feeling particularly exhausted.

Before long, Wei Xiaobei unknowingly fell into a deep sleep.

"Ready to fight, ready to act! Practice with the gun, throw the grenade, aim accurately and throw far..."

A short, crisp, and powerful song woke Wei Xiaobei from his sleep.

This was one of the songs he had learned in the military, called the "Training Song." It was often sung before meals, with a group of rough men bellowing it out before rushing to the cafeteria, creating a grand and imposing scene like hungry tigers descending from the mountains.

Of course, at the moment, this was just a memory for Wei Xiaobei.

After being startled awake, Wei Xiaobei's first reaction was to reach for the empty wine bottle next to him, but his hand came up empty, instantly jolting his drowsy mind. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was still in his rental apartment, lying in bed, with his phone alarm ringing on the pillow.

No! Wei Xiaobei propped himself up and looked around.

The dust on the floor and table was gone, and the poster of Zhang Liangying that he had just put up a few days ago was brand new, her charming face still radiant.

The tangerines and apples on the small coffee table were not rotten, and the aluminum windows recently replaced by the landlord showed no signs of corrosion or cracks.

In short, everything in the room had returned to its original state.

What was going on?

Was it all just a dream? But it felt so real.

Wei Xiaobei came to his senses and reached for his waist, feeling a hard object in his belt.

It was the dagger, the one he found in the otaku's room, but it had shrunk to the size of a pencil sharpener, with no handle, the result of being corroded by the slug's bodily fluid.

Wei Xiaobei was stunned. He then reached into his pocket, where the lighter was still there. Beside the bed was an old backpack. Opening it, he saw the mineral water, compressed biscuits, pornographic magazines, and Guan Mingjun's work ID, though the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" was even more tattered from the slug's bodily fluid.

Wei Xiaobei felt a cold sweat break out on his back.

What the hell is going on? Was it a dream or a real experience?

Wei Xiaobei rubbed his face, turned off the phone alarm, and sat on the bed for a while, staring at the dimly lit sky outside, his mind racing.

Previously, when he woke up, he found the world had seemingly advanced a hundred years, everything looking extremely old. He found the dagger, went to the convenience store, found water and food, encountered the man and the slug, and then killed the giant slug, accidentally eating the meatball.

After much thought, Wei Xiaobei still couldn't figure it out.

But Wei Xiaobei didn't have to think much longer.

Suddenly, his stomach churned, and his face turned pale. He had to grab a roll of toilet paper and rush to the bathroom.

Gurgle, gurgle, thud!

A series of sounds like flatulence exploded in the one-square-meter bathroom, followed by a foul smell that made Wei Xiaobei gag.

Looking down, Wei Xiaobei almost fell into the toilet.

The white toilet bowl had turned a different color, covered in large amounts of black blood and some meat-like substances.

Wei Xiaobei's face turned pale. Was he about to die?

After a while, Wei Xiaobei felt a bit relieved. As he continued to defecate, the intense pain in his abdomen subsided, and his body felt much better.