Chapter 1

"Doctor, am I really, really beyond saving?"

In the Fifth People's Hospital, Zhang Fan resisted the urge to tear up the medical report in his hand. The word "cancer" kept echoing in his mind. With a glimmer of hope, he looked at Dr. Bai and asked, "Could it be a mistake?"

Dr. Bai, dressed in a white coat, sighed softly, put down his pen, and looked at the programmer in front of him, who was already gray-haired in his thirties. He felt a pang of sympathy.

"This is cancer, and modern medical science is still unable to..."

Zhang Fan didn't know how he managed to leave the hospital. He felt as if he had been struck by lightning, dazed and numb, completely oblivious to his surroundings.

On the bus back home, his heart was cold, his limbs icy, and he shivered involuntarily. Even the scorching summer heat of the city, with temperatures over forty degrees Celsius, couldn't warm him.

"What's happening up ahead? Stop the bus, we're about to crash..."

"Driver, stop the bus."

A delivery man darted out from a corner, and the passenger at the front of the bus immediately shouted in alarm. It looked like a disaster was about to happen. However, after being alerted by the passengers, the bus driver, instead of stopping, sharply turned the steering wheel, colliding with an oil tanker. Instantly, a deafening explosion echoed through the sky.

"The bus exploded? Something happened, everyone..."

The bus, now enveloped in thick smoke, drew a growing crowd. The noise and the wailing sirens filled the street.

...

"Ahh!"

Zhang Fan woke up from his nightmare, looking around in confusion and helplessness.

He stared blankly ahead, and his vision focused on the computer screen, which displayed the date: 2014/10/28.

A thick, nasal voice echoed faintly in his ears, disturbing the silence.

The computer on the table next to him was still glowing, and Liu Qiang, who was lying in bed, poked her head out from under the covers, looking at the still-glowing screen. She couldn't help but grumble, "Yan Ming, can you be a bit quieter?"

Zhang Fan, sitting on the bed closest to the window, touched his head stiffly, realizing that his head was still there. Everything in front of him was unfamiliar, yet there was a sense of innate familiarity.

Well, after countless people had been transported to the past, even the train of rebirth had taken many people back in time.

"Now it's my turn to be transported, to live again, and even to become more handsome. This is reasonable, right!"

On his desk hung a small mirror, allowing him to see his face clearly.

This face was of the ordinary type, with a touch of melancholy in his brows, reminiscent of Jiao Shu. His body was in the prime of youth, making him look strikingly handsome, giving off an aura of a gentleman, like a breath of spring.

Suddenly, his head ached, and fragmented memories began to surface, like a rapid slideshow, giving him a clear understanding of his previous life.

"Zhuangzi dreamed of being a butterfly, and the butterfly dreamed of being Zhuangzi. Am I dreaming of a parallel world, or have I really been transported?" he pondered.

However, with such a foundation, even if he didn't strive, living off others would still be quite comfortable.

More importantly, he now had hair, thick and black, and his body was healthy. Even breathing the air felt fresh.

"I'm living again!"

He stretched lazily, looked at the Alliance of Fools still running on the computer, and then closed the game. He quickly washed up and got into bed, ready to organize his thoughts and plan his future.

In the past, he had been obsessed with games in college, never even dating a girlfriend, living a monotonous life between the cafeteria, dormitory, and classroom, like a monk, but learning nothing.

Four years in a mediocre university, four years of study and play, with almost no sense of achievement or gain.

Wasting his youth, he became a 996 programmer, forever losing the comfort of a stable life. Even in death, he would be a lonely, forgotten soul.

But now, he was still a young man, with dreams and a future. Perhaps he could truly say, "The game is not over, and we are all dark horses."

"Future, here I come!"

After organizing his thoughts, Zhang Fan, as an ordinary person, felt no superiority in this new world. The programming languages were entirely different, essentially starting from scratch.

The only bright spot was that he was an orphan, relying on his talent and hard work to get into Yanjing University. As long as he didn't slip up in the future, he would at least do better than in his previous life.

"Wait... orphan?"

Zhang Fan seemed to have discovered something significant, his pupils dilating, his mind racing.

Could it be, could it really be...

"Deep Blue, give me a boost." He looked arrogant.

"System, I advise you not to be ungrateful. Come out immediately." He looked defiant.

"System Dad, are you there? Respond." He looked pitiful.

For an ordinary person to change their fate was too difficult. Without background or support, without capital or connections, even a lifetime of hard work wouldn't allow him to buy a house in the expensive city of Yanjing.

Even as a student at Yanjing University, he deeply understood the difficulty of living in Yanjing, where earning and spending money in the city left nothing to take home.

The outside world was prosperous, but it had nothing to do with him.

"How frustrating! If I had read more novels and learned more, I wouldn't be in this situation now."

Zhang Fan scratched his head, realizing that a homebody programmer, without programming, meant losing everything.

He had almost no work experience, no social skills, and it was unlikely he would succeed.

"Indeed!"

"A life of failure is still a life of failure, no matter where you are. Nothing will change."

He then took out his phone, opened the payment app, GlobalPay, and checked his balance: 13,465.84.

This was all he had. As an orphan, he had relied on the kindness of others and his own hard work, sacrificing weekends to tutor and earn this money.

This amount was too little. After paying for a semester's tuition and living expenses, there was almost nothing left.

Even if he had ideas, the remaining funds were too meager to consider starting a business.

He didn't think a business novice, a homebody programmer, and a barely subsisting former homebody, could compete with those who had capital and means.

"Trouble!"

"If I had been a humanities student, I could have relied on my memorized articles and knowledge to be a stable writer, a renowned literary giant. Wouldn't that be great?"

After much thought, Zhang Fan realized he had lost all his literary talent.

At this moment, Zhang Fan felt truly desperate.

No matter what he did, he was a failure, the top of the list.

The only cards he had were his education and appearance.

At Yanjing University, just not failing and keeping up with the top students would be a stroke of luck.

So, it seemed he could only rely on his looks to make a living!

"It seems I am truly an ordinary person, with no signs of success. If all else fails, I might as well live off others."

Zhang Fan remembered a wealthy woman who had been pursuing him, a beauty-obsessed rich woman. Unfortunately, he had rejected her due to his clumsiness. Now, he wanted to reconsider. Was it too late?

"Financial Simulation System, recharge successful. Current balance: 13,465.84."

"Would you like to use the financial simulator?"