Chapter 1: Against All Odds
「Beichun.」
「The Old District.」
RUMBLE...
A fierce wind whipped huge drops of rain like countless whips, furiously slamming against the metal dumpsters on the roadside and making them clang sharply.
Deafening thunderclaps sounded one after another. The dim yellow streetlights flickered, and flashes of silvery-white lightning became one of the few sources of light in the world. The downpour seemed endless, falling tirelessly.
"What the hell is this weather..."
After locking his electric scooter to a stone pillar by the road, Gu Heng ducked his head and dashed into the building as quickly as he could, muttering to himself as he stomped his feet hard.
"Damn it!"
"The power’s out?"
"You’ve got to be kidding me!"
Gu Heng climbed two floors without seeing any lights in the hallway, and a bad feeling immediately welled up inside him.
Gu Heng climbed the shabby, narrow staircase to the sixth floor.
The moment he opened his door and tried flipping the light switch several times to no avail, the part of his heart that was already dead finally flatlined.
"Sigh..."
"The power really is out."
"I was hoping to make a bowl of instant noodles with an extra sausage, egg, chicken leg, and some Spam to warm myself up, but that’s not happening now."
Gu Heng let out a gloomy sigh. After folding up his rain poncho outside the door, he stepped into his home.
In the darkness, Gu Heng fumbled in a cabinet and pulled out half a candle.
After expertly lighting it and setting it on the table, the candle’s faint glow allowed him to barely make things out.
He took off his jacket and pants, casually grabbed a bag of old-fashioned cream-filled bread and a corn sausage from the snack rack, and threw himself onto the sofa.
RAT-TAT-TAT...
The downpour beat against the old window, adding a unique atmosphere to the otherwise silent environment.
Gu Heng rested his head on the arm of the sofa. While taking big bites of bread, he habitually opened his WhatsApp Moments and scrolled aimlessly through the screen.
At first, he was scrolling with interest.
Until he started coming across posts from his old classmates, sharing their university acceptance letters, their college-bound celebration banquets, and their graduation trips on Moments.
Gradually, Gu Heng, who had been taking big bites of bread, found his chewing slowing down.
For some reason, the soft, delicious bread suddenly became difficult to swallow.
’If they hadn’t divorced...’
’If I could have gone to high school like normal...’
’I’d probably be a freshman in college right now, too, wouldn’t I?’
In the dim room, the light from the screen illuminated Gu Heng’s face. He stared blankly at the Moments posts, where even the text overflowed with joy, and an inexplicable bitterness filled his heart.
BZZT! BZZT!
As Gu Heng was lost in a daze, the phone he was holding in mid-air suddenly vibrated, nearly making him drop it on his face.
Snapping back to his senses, Gu Heng saw the notification from the crowdsourcing app. Forgetting his melancholy, he instantly shot up from the sofa.
[Your account has been suspended from accepting orders.]
[Order acceptance can be resumed on July 17, 2023, at 22:00:00.]
[Reason: Three consecutive complaints for poor service attitude within one week.]
"Holy shit!"
"They really banned my account!"
Gu Heng stared at his account, banned for a day. Recalling the three negative reviews and complaints he’d received this week, a nameless fire instantly ignited in his heart.
Asked to carry rice up and refused—bad review, complaint!
Asked to pick up a package and refused—bad review, complaint!
Asked to take out the trash and refused—bad review, complaint!
The worst part was, according to the platform’s system, all three fucking complaints were deemed valid!
Is there any justice in this world?
Is there any law and order?
An order pays three yuan! I’m delivering your food, and you expect me to haul two 55-pound bags of rice up to the 7th floor on top of that?
This level of exploitation is so bad, even an ancient slave driver would have to light a cigarette for you out of respect before leaving!
"Motherfucker!"
"Sons-of-bitches customers!"
"Beast of a platform!"
"Your-mom-is-dead customer service!"
"Fuck—!"
Gu Heng’s chest heaved with anger. He unconsciously crushed the half-eaten piece of bread in his left hand into a ball.
If Gu Heng had seen the platform’s message ten minutes ago, he would have been angry, but not this angry.
It’s the comparison that kills you.
They were all 18 years old. Others, supported by their parents, were about to step onto university campuses and embrace the most beautiful years of their youth.
But Gu Heng, with no parents to support him, could only struggle to survive like a weed, stumbling through his growth alone, forcing himself to be his own safe harbor.
Gu Heng’s youth...
Perhaps it had ended the moment he started worrying about money.
DING!
Just as the anger in Gu Heng’s heart reached its peak, a crisp sound suddenly rang in his mind, followed by a sci-fi-like screen of light appearing before his eyes.
[At 13, your grades were excellent, and you ranked among the top in your year. However, you were never truly happy, because your excessive handsomeness often attracted a lot of unnecessary trouble;]
[At 14, your life took a dramatic turn. Your parents’ relationship fell apart and they divorced. Your mother left with nothing and went abroad, and you began to live with your father;]
[At 15, your father, unable to bear the loneliness, eloped for love and vanished overnight. From then on, you were all alone, with no one to rely on, barely scraping by with the help of your school, teachers, and classmates;]
[At 16, you graduated from middle school and chose to drop out and enter the workforce. You left your hometown of Jiang City for the provincial capital, Beichun. With only a few hundred yuan to your name, you started to make a living on your own in Beichun.]
[At 17, you worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant, hauled heavy loads at construction sites, served as a waiter in nightclubs, and dressed up as a mascot bear on the street.]
[In the dead of night, you witnessed the decadent world of the rich, who spent money like water. At the crack of dawn, you also saw the frugal world of ordinary people, who pinched every penny for daily necessities.]
[At 18, on the very day you officially became an adult, you chose to "don the emperor’s yellow robe" and become a delivery driver, weaving through the city’s streets and alleys...]
[In the past three years, you have seen the world’s warmth and coldness and endured countless disdainful looks and mockery.]
[Adrift in life like a stray duckweed, floating all alone.]
[Now, you will be given a chance to reverse your life’s fortunes.]
[Gu Heng, are you willing—]
[to risk it all for your life?]
Gu Heng stared blankly at the screen of light that had suddenly appeared. He rubbed his eyes hard, but the screen remained, floating steadily before him.
"Sys... Brother Tongzi?"
After all, as a veteran reader who had devoured countless novels on Qidian, Gu Heng quickly realized what was happening.
In an instant, the anger that had filled his chest receded like a tide, and his heart began to pound faster.
’Reverse my life’s fortunes?’
’Are you willing to risk it all for your life?’
Faced with Brother Tongzi’s question, Gu Heng didn’t hesitate for a second.
"I am willing!"
His voice was soft, yet exceptionally firm.
Although Gu Heng didn’t know what trials he would face by accepting this opportunity, or what changes the future would bring—whether for better or for worse.
But so what?
Could it get any worse than this?
He was already a weed trapped in a barren wasteland. Just running around every day, toiling away simply to survive, already took everything he had.
No parents to rely on, no diploma, no special skills.
The future?
Gu Heng couldn’t see any hope.
But now, a chance to reverse his life’s fortunes had appeared before him. A chance that might mean he no longer had to bow his head and live at the mercy of others’ expressions—a chance to stand tall and live with dignity.
No matter the cost, he had to seize it.
Three years of fending for himself had taught the young Gu Heng a crucial lesson.
In this society.
If a man is rich, everything he says is the truth.
If a man is poor, everything he says is bullshit.
With money, you’re the boss. Without money, you don’t even get the chance to be a bootlicker.
Life is a wilderness?
Bullshit!
You need a gold mine to run wild!
Only cold, hard cash is life’s most solid safe harbor!
He remembered how at 16, when he left home, he had confidently and firmly told his friends: Sooner or later, I’ll make a name for myself.
Now he was 18, and whenever he recalled the past, he just wanted to say to his former self: You were so fucking full of it!
Only after coming to Beichun did Gu Heng truly understand that money is hard to earn and life is a bitch.
Gu Heng originally thought life was just about the trivial matters of clothing, food, housing, and transportation—the daily grind.
What could they do to me?
But strangely, when they all piled up, he was crushed to the point he couldn’t breathe.
This is reality. This is life.
As Gu Heng’s emotions surged, his voice faded, and the screen of light that had been floating before his eyes gradually disappeared.
In its place appeared two magnificent, grand, illusory images.
One was a brilliant golden tower, and the other was a scepter gleaming with precious light.
[Reversal Life System officially activated.]
[Host: Gu Heng]
[Age: 18]
The screen of light floated before Gu Heng’s eyes again. He then saw the tower, which seemed to pierce the heavens and the earth, tremble slightly.
[Challenge Mission: Lose 29 pounds in 30 days.]
[Mission Reward: Unlock Level 1 of the "Golden Tower of Wealth". Your Wealth Level will be raised to—A9.]