Chapter 2

Wu Xiaode suddenly opened his eyes.

What met his gaze was a simple wooden table, with a few bottles of beer and several plates of barbecue on it.

His clothes were intact, with no spices or seasonings on them.

His phone was mounted on a stand.

The screen was playing a concert.

Cute members of a girl group, wearing black stockings and short skirts, were dancing energetically.

"Back... really back..." Wu Xiaode muttered.

This was the small shop downstairs from his home.

The shop served both barbecue and stir-fried dishes, and he often came here to indulge himself.

Outside the shop was a small alley, surrounded by residential buildings.

—But when he died, he was in the middle of a group fight. How did he end up back at the barbecue stand?

Wu Xiaode swiped the screen.

The energetic dance was replaced by the time displayed on the screen.

06:09.

—6:09 PM.

What would happen next?

He carefully recalled in his mind.

According to the timeline, the next thing that would happen was that his phone would receive an urgent news alert.

Half a minute later, the boss would bring over ten skewers of crispy bones and place them on his plate.

He hadn't eaten much when he saw his upstairs neighbor, a young woman, hurriedly walk into the alley, followed by a few hooligans.

The hooligans were pestering her, taking advantage of her.

This young woman was very close to him, someone he had grown up with.

He couldn't stand it and said a few words, which led to a fight with the hooligans.

It was originally a minor issue.

But in the chaos, he was stabbed in the heart from behind with a fruit knife.

Because of this stab, he entered the Death Dungeon.

Wu Xiaode looked at the time on his phone screen and fell into deep thought.

If he really had returned to before everything happened, then the first thing that would happen next would be—

The emergency news.

He stared at the phone screen, waiting quietly.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

Suddenly, various apps on his phone started to display a flurry of messages:

"An undersea earthquake occurred in the Western Pacific, with a magnitude of 8.0. It is expected to trigger a tsunami, affecting the following countries..."

"This is the fifth earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or higher this month!"

"Drones captured a strange phenomenon, but the footage is blurry."

"The most advanced robots will be sent to the seabed after the earthquake to investigate the situation."

"Relevant scientific research is being carried out intensively."

"To ensure the safety of coastal cities, the military has been deployed."

It was indeed the emergency news!

Wu Xiaode browsed through the messages for a while and then looked at the barbecue stand owner.

The owner walked over with ten skewers of crispy bones and placed them on his plate, saying, "Xiao Wu, eat while it's hot."

Wu Xiaode silently looked at the plate, waited for a few breaths, and then looked toward the alley entrance.

A slender, long-haired beauty hurried into the alley, followed by a few rowdy young men.

"Beautiful lady, add me as a friend."

"Yeah, why run so fast? You're wearing high heels, you can't run faster than us."

"Haha, you have a great figure."

The young men teased and surrounded her.

Everything matched up.

Wu Xiaode held his breath and quietly observed everything happening around him.

It seemed he had really returned a few minutes before, and everything was happening again.

That meant—

He could make a new choice.

This way, he wouldn't be stabbed to death and wouldn't be sent to the Death Dungeon.

A new choice...

Wu Xiaode's eyes flickered and landed on the woman.

At the time, he couldn't stand it and said a few words, which led to the hooligans attacking him.

So this time, he had to do things differently.

Wu Xiaode made up his mind, lowered his eyes, and sat still on the chair.

The woman, unable to shake off the hooligans, looked panicked and shouted, "What do you want? I've already called the police!"

She walked faster, about to pass the barbecue stand.

"Ha ha ha, beautiful lady, you haven't taken out your phone, how did you call the police?" one of the young men laughed.

Another young man glanced at the barbecue stand and shouted at the customers, "What are you looking at? Eat your food."

The customers immediately avoided the hooligans' gaze.

Wu Xiaode didn't raise his head, looking like a coward, and the hooligans didn't pay him any attention.

Finally, the hooligans surrounded the girl and walked past the barbecue stand, heading deeper into the alley.

The girl let out a scream, but a hooligan covered her mouth.

...

Safe!

Wu Xiaode let out a sigh of relief.

To save his life and avoid returning to that terrifying place, he had kept his head down, looking at the barbecue and beer, making sure not to draw attention. It worked; the hooligans didn't notice him.

He was really foolish.

Why did he stand up to those hooligans and try to reason with them?

Getting stabbed was not worth it.

So this time, he could take the right approach.

He waited for a moment, then grabbed a beer bottle in each hand, quietly got up, and quickly followed the hooligans, raising the bottles with all his strength.

Clang! Clang!

The crisp sounds echoed through the entire alley.

Having returned from the Death Dungeon, Wu Xiaode had no more reservations and struck hard, using all his strength.

The two hooligans who were ambushed fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

The other hooligans turned around, but Wu Xiaode had already grabbed a chair and smashed it on another hooligan's head.

Blood splattered.

The leader of the hooligans, enraged, shouted, "You little punk—"

Wu Xiaode ignored him and kicked another young man who was charging at him, sending him rolling away.

Seeing his determined look, the leader of the hooligans pulled out a fruit knife and said with a fierce expression,

"Student, you should focus on your studies, not fight on the street?"

Seeing the fruit knife, Wu Xiaode felt his blood rush to his head.

It's you.

You were the one who stabbed me from behind!

Hooligans who often fought on the street knew the rules—

Winning means going to jail, losing means going to the hospital.

So they usually didn't fight to the death, just a few rounds and then they would stop, exchange some tough words, and end the fight.

Wu Xiaode had been in fights before and knew the rules. He tried to avoid fighting whenever possible.

If he had to fight, it was just pulling at collars, pushing and shoving, grabbing arms, and making noise, afraid of causing any real trouble.

—If someone really got hurt, the money and jail time weren't worth it.

What else could he do?

The police would come quickly.

So Wu Xiaode thought it was just a fight, helping the neighbor, and that was it.

No one would use a knife unless it was a matter of life and death.

Now that the other side had pulled out a knife—

Wu Xiaode said nothing and ran.

"Stop right there!"

"Little punk!"

The hooligans shouted and chased after him.

Wu Xiaode just kept running, entering the barbecue shop, grabbing a meat cleaver from the kitchen counter, and a fish filleting knife from a fish basin, then turned around—

"Do you want to die?"

He looked at the hooligans who had chased in and asked softly.

The hooligans, who had been chasing him aggressively, realized he wasn't running away.

He was getting equipped!

For a moment, the hooligans were stunned.

Wu Xiaode didn't care and swung the knives at them.

A bunch of trash!

You made me go through that terrifying experience!

Want to die?

Come on!

All of you, die!!

The meat cleaver sliced through a hooligan's coat, leaving a long cut.

Wu Xiaode stepped forward, holding the filleting knife straight, his eyes cold as he looked at the hooligan's stomach.

The space was narrow, and if he stabbed, it wouldn't be a fish he was cutting.

"This kid is serious!"

"Murder!"

The hooligans turned and ran out.

Wu Xiaode chased after them, shouting, "A bunch of trash, don't run if you have the guts!"

The hooligans scattered.

Only the hooligan with the fruit knife walked toward him step by step.

"Help! Call the police!" a woman screamed.

"Don't fight!"

"Murder!"

People around them shouted.

Even the hooligans were nervous.

"Student, you're asking for it." The leader of the hooligans sneered, holding the fruit knife and lunging at Wu Xiaode.

Wu Xiaode didn't look at the fruit knife, stepped forward, switched to the meat cleaver, and stabbed hard at the hooligan's chest.

The hooligan leader couldn't stab him.

—The fruit knife had an 8 cm blade, while the meat cleaver had a 20 cm blade.

Before he could stab the student, the student would have stabbed him through!

Seeing this, the hooligan leader jumped to the side.

He kept his distance, waving the small knife and shouting,

"You damn—"

Before he could finish, he realized something was wrong.

Wu Xiaode's stab missed, but he had already pulled back the filleting knife and was charging at him.

Seeing the filleting knife hidden behind him, ready to strike, his eyes red with anger, the hooligan leader felt a chill down his spine and took a few steps back.

Wu Xiaode didn't care if he advanced or retreated, shouting fiercely,

"Come on, die together!"

Before he finished, he charged with both knives, knocking over tables along the way, his knives raised, ready to strike the hooligans.

—This kid really meant to kill.

For a moment, the hooligans all thought the same thing.

Hooligans were tough, but they knew from years of street fights—

Sometimes the younger ones were the most dangerous.

Because they didn't consider the consequences.

When faced with such a reckless youth, even the police hesitated to intervene, waiting for them to calm down, then taking them to court or executing them.

"Damn, this kid is crazy!"

The hooligan leader put away the fruit knife and ran out of the alley.

The other hooligans followed.

Wu Xiaode chased them to the alley entrance, realized he couldn't catch up, and panted, putting away the knives and turning back.

The neighbor stood in the middle of the road, looking at him with a complex expression.

"Xiao Wu." She called out.

"If they dare to bother you again, I'll cut them." Wu Xiaode waved, indicating she shouldn't worry.

The neighbor pulled him to the side and said softly, "You didn't have to do that, it was dangerous."

Dangerous!

I've been through much more terrifying things.

Seven days later—

Wu Xiaode shook his head, stopping his thoughts, but felt he needed to speak his mind.

"Sis, we grew up together, no need to say that."

Xia Huilan shook her head. "It was too dangerous."

"Would you want me to watch others bully you?" Wu Xiaode adjusted his expression and grinned.

Xia Huilan, in her early twenties, while Wu Xiaode was only seventeen, patted his head. "I'll be more careful next time."

"Right, you need to learn to protect yourself." Wu Xiaode said seriously.

Xia Huilan looked at him, her eyes softening.

Without warning—

A phantom lamp suddenly appeared in the air.

The moment it appeared, it made a loud "clang" and quickly turned into a fierce starlight.

No one, including Xia Huilan, saw this phenomenon.

Wu Xiaode, however, was stunned.

Isn't this the power of the Book of the Dead?

Why is it showing up now?

As he thought, the starlight quickly scattered into countless light points, merging into the Book of the Dead.

The pages turned automatically, revealing lines of text with a cold, icy aura:

"Congratulations!"

"You have gained Xia Huilan's recognition and admiration."

"Current recognition level: Two stars (the limit for ordinary people)."

"This book has resonated with Xia Huilan and will randomly extract valuable things from her."

"Xia Huilan is an ordinary person, and her most valuable assets are knowledge and skills."

"Extracted knowledge:"

"Design of 92025 Type Advanced Humanoid Combat Robot Curved Bearings (Revised)."

"Pre-requisite knowledge and related knowledge have been integrated into your mind, becoming part of your personal memory."