1: Chapter 1: Unemployed and Scavenging for Trash, Unexpectedly Obtaining the "All Things Enhancement System"

In the height of summer, the Magic City was as sweltering as a giant steamer. Without air conditioning, it felt like one could faint from the heat; the body felt wet and sticky all over.

The Magic City, a city full of opportunities and challenges, is where many young people come just to seek a chance to change their fates. However, the prosperity and bustle of the entire city seemed completely out of place for Chen Fan.

Chen Fan held a tattered cardboard box, standing blankly on the crowded street. Inside the box was everything he had accumulated over three years of work: a few professional sales books, a thermos with some tea stains on it, and a "Notice of Termination of Employment Contract" he had just received from the HR manager.

"Chen Fan, the company isn't a charity. If you can't produce results, then get lost." The cynical words of his supervisor, Zhang Lei, seemed to still echo in his ears, like a sharp blade piercing straight into Chen Fan's heart.

"Li Zhe's performance isn't even as good as mine. How can he still stay at the company?" Chen Fan had asked indignantly.

"You still want to compare yourself to Li Zhe? The general manager is his cousin. You can only blame yourself for not being born into the right family." Zhang Lei's petty face was unforgettable in his mind. At that moment, he had wanted nothing more than to rush up and give Zhang Lei a violent beating.

But a moment of rationality told him he couldn't do that. He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the dissatisfaction and resentment in his heart.

Chen Fan was a typical small-town youth. Through hard work, he got into an ordinary university. After graduation, he and his girlfriend, Zhang Ya, stayed in this city. Although the pressure here was high, there was hope after all, so he still wanted to gamble on the future.

Chen Fan had no connections and no special skills, working as a financial product salesman at this company. Sales was like that; performance was never stable. For three consecutive months, Chen Fan's performance had been at the bottom.

After packing his things and walking out of the company, his heart was filled with mixed emotions. For this job, he had worked overtime until late at night countless times, just to gain a foothold in this city. But now, all his efforts had gone down the drain.

Just then, his phone suddenly rang. He saw a WeChat message from his first love and girlfriend since university, Zhang Ya. Both were from small cities and had stayed in the Magic City together after graduating.

He opened WeChat, and messages came into view one after another, like a bolt from the blue, striking him again and again.

"Chen Fan, let's break up."

"You can't give me the life I want. I know you've given me almost everything you have, but it's not what I want."

Chen Fan immediately panicked after reading it. He replied: "Wait for me a bit longer. I'll work harder to let you live the life you want. I'm coming to find you right now."

Just as the message was sent, another message from Zhang Ya arrived.

"I've never carried a designer bag, worn designer clothes, or used the latest iPhone. Living in that crappy rental with you, I feel like I can see the end of my life."

"Now that you've been fired again, how are you going to let me live the life I want?"

"Chen Fan, let's just leave it at that. Don't come looking for me."

To make Zhang Ya's life a bit better and to be closer to the company, Chen Fan found a 5,000-yuan-a-month apartment. Although it wasn't a high-end house in the Magic City, it was much better than the environment of the urban villages.

The three years in the Magic City had changed Zhang Ya a lot. Her style became increasingly fashionable, she started demanding brand names, and she constantly compared herself with her colleagues at work. Chen Fan's salary became less and less sufficient, and they lived on a tight budget. Even so, Chen Fan felt that as long as he worked hard enough, everything could still get better and better.

Chen Fan opened Zhang Ya's Moments and saw a photo of a Hermès bag and a bouquet of flowers. He zoomed in on the photo and saw the card on the bouquet, which read: "For my little sunshine," signed by Zeyu.

Li Zeyu? That Rich second-generation kid who drove a Porsche and was covered in designer brands?

Chen Fan wanted to say something more, but his hand froze. His heart felt as if it were being tightly gripped by a cold hand, giving him a sense of suffocation.

It suddenly started to rain. Other people on the street began to run around to seek shelter, but Chen Fan stood blankly in the rain.

When it rains, it pours. A call from the landlady, Auntie Wang, followed immediately.

"Little Chen, this month's rent is over a week late! If you don't pay, pack your things and leave tomorrow!"

"Auntie Wang, please give me two more days, I just..." The words about having just lost his job hadn't even come out yet.

"Beep, beep, beep..." The call was heartlessly hung up from the other side.

Chen Fan looked at the pitiful 52.1 yuan in his WeChat balance and then saw the bill that popped up from his credit card. An unprecedented sense of despair washed over him like a tide, threatening to swallow him whole.

He tilted his head back and laughed at the sky, starting softly and gradually getting louder. He once thought that hard work would be rewarded, but reality had slapped him hard in the face.

"Look at that guy, is he crazy? He's as pathetic as a stray dog." Two fashionable young lovers walking by laughed as they passed, their gazes lingering briefly on him with undisguised disgust and pity.

Chen Fan clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, yet he felt no pain at all.

As it grew dark, the Magic City was filled with neon lights and wine, brightly lit, but none of it had anything to do with him. He walked aimlessly down the street and unknowingly arrived at a secluded corner where several trash cans were piled up. Because of the hot weather, waves of rotten and sour smells wafted over, and flies circled incessantly above the trash cans.

If it were before, he would have definitely stayed far away, covering his nose as he walked past.

But now... at his wit's end, he had actually fallen to the point of scavenging trash to trade for food money.

He saw several mineral water bottles next to the trash can, and his Adam's apple bobbed. If he picked these up, how many steamed buns could they be exchanged for? His heart began to pound.

A strong sense of shame made his cheeks burn, but his growling stomach and the credit card bill whipped him incessantly like a lash, making him set aside his pitiful self-esteem.

"Surviving is more important than anything right now. Only by surviving is there a chance for a comeback," he thought to himself.

He gritted his teeth and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, lunged forward to pick up the plastic bottles and put them in a bag. Then, he rummaged through the trash bin and pulled out a dirty-looking soda can.

The moment his fingers touched the soda can—

[Ding!]

A mechanical voice sounded in Chen Fan's mind, followed by a series of system prompts.

[Detected that the host meets the binding conditions for "Counterattack in Adversity." The "Myriad Things Amplification System" has been successfully activated! This system can amplify any item touched by the host (1 to 10,000 times). Amplification effects include value, function, attributes, etc., and can even unlock hidden functions. Amplification has no upper limit and no cooldown.]

[Initial Binding Gift Pack: For the first Amplification by a novice, the multiplier is locked at 100 times. Current item for Amplification: Waste soda can. Would you like to amplify it immediately?]

Chen Fan was stunned and rubbed his eyes hard. Could he have hallucinated from hunger?

He picked up the soda can in his hand and looked at it. After looking for a long time, it was just an ordinary soda can, as ordinary as could be. He thought he was having a hallucination.

"Amplify?" he muttered to himself.

[Command confirmed! Waste soda can, 100x value Amplification!]

With a swish.

The soda can in his hand suddenly turned golden, shining with a bright yellow light under the streetlamp! The originally weightless texture immediately felt heavy in his hand!

Chen Fan was absolutely dumbfounded, his heart racing so fast it almost jumped into his throat.