1: Chapter 1: A Corporate Slave on Earth, Reborn with High Martial Arts Skills

The smell of disinfectant was thick and choking.

Wang Pingan's consciousness struggled to surface from a chaotic darkness. His first sensation was a headache, as if someone were working on his temples with an electric drill—the kind where the drill bit even takes turns.

He forced his eyes open with great effort.

What met his gaze was a stark white ceiling, so pure it lacked any impurity, a whiteness that made one feel uneasy.

"Where... am I?"

A raspy voice squeezed out of his throat, as dry as two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

He tried to sit up, but his entire body was as soft as a bunch of freshly cooked noodles. With even a slight movement, his head buzzed as if a rock party were being held inside.

At that moment, two distinct yet equally frustrating life memories crashed into his mind like a bursting flood.

One belonged to Blue Star.

A young man named Wang Pingan lived a life of '996 blessings' in a jungle of steel and concrete.

Endless PPTs, never-ending morning and evening meetings, and the empty promises of bosses who kept painting grand but unreachable futures.

He remembered the cold moonlight when he walked out of the office building late at night, and the identical numbness on the faces of the people around him when he squeezed onto the subway the next morning.

Having struggled for half his life and now in his mid-thirties, he had no house, no car, and no partner—only a body full of ailments and never-ending consumer loans.

Despair.

The other memory belonged to this world.

A youth named Wang Pingan, a senior at Shencheng No. 1 High School.

This was an interstellar world where martial arts were supreme. Martial artists stood high above, possessing infinite glory and wealth.

And he, with mediocre talent, had practiced bitterly for over a decade, yet his blood qi value was stuck just below the threshold, barely making him a "quasi-First-Rank Martial Artist."

This word "quasi" was a natural chasm.

It meant he hadn't even touched the door of being a martial artist. He was a brick at the very bottom of this pyramid society, a subject of pity among classmates who called him "untalented," and a sample for consolation in the eyes of teachers who said, "Taking a regular civil service university wouldn't be bad either."

Equally despairing.

The two torrents of despairing memories intertwined, collided, and merged, finally turning into a heavy sigh.

Wang Pingan—or rather, the current Wang Pingan—lay on the hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

God, what kind of international joke are you playing with me?

In my last life, I couldn't keep up with the rat race and died suddenly at my desk. Fine, let it be.

In this life, I changed tracks, but ended up with a beginner account that didn't even have a starter pack, and my talent is welded shut at the starting line.

So I'm just a professional benchwarmer? Two lifetimes, just experiencing human suffering in different ways?

The corners of his mouth twitched; he wanted to laugh, but it looked worse than crying.

Double the despair brought double the "steadfastness." He couldn't even be bothered to get worked up anymore; he just wanted to lie there until the end of time.

This is what they call 'letting it rot,' I guess.

Just then, the communicator at the head of the bed made a soft "beep-beep" sound.

Wang Pingan turned his head, and a virtual light screen popped up, showing his parents' faces.

Their background was a wall with a metallic texture, and occasionally, a dull roar could be heard from the distance.

"Pingan! How are you? Are you awake?"

His mother's anxious face was almost pressed against the lens, the red bloodshot streaks in her eyes clearly visible.

His father stood behind her, lips tightly pursed and brows knitted into a knot. Though he didn't say a word, his worry weighed down heavily.

His parents were soldiers stationed at the front-line battlefield, rarely coming home.

"Dad, Mom, I'm fine."

Wang Pingan licked his cracked lips and tried to make his voice sound more normal. "I just wasn't careful while riding my bike and took a fall. The doctor said it's a concussion; I'll be fine after a couple of days in the hospital."

"What do you mean you're fine! A car accident! Do you know that when we heard the news, our hearts almost jumped out!"

His mother's voice carried a sob. "It's all our fault for not being there to take care of you..."

"Alright, the boy just woke up, why are you saying all this?"

His father interrupted her, his voice low and powerful. "Pingan, listen. We've already transferred money to you. Fifty thousand star coins. Thirty thousand is for medical expenses, and keep the remaining twenty thousand as pocket money. Buy whatever you want to eat, don't be stingy."

As soon as he finished speaking, the personal terminal on Wang Pingan's wrist vibrated, and a transfer message popped up.

[Your Interstellar Bank account has received a transfer: 50,000.00 star coins.]

Looking at that string of numbers, Wang Pingan felt a mix of emotions.

Fifty thousand star coins might just be the cost of a meal for children of wealthy families. But for parents who traded their lives for military merits on the front lines, this was likely their entire monthly allowance.

And this money was now to be spent on him... a useless account.

A strong sense of powerlessness and guilt surged into his heart, making it almost impossible to breathe.

"Dad, Mom, I..."

He wanted to say something, but found his throat felt blocked.

Just as he thought he was about to repeat a mediocre life crushed by reality, just as he was prepared to accept his fate.

A cold, emotionless mechanical voice rang out deep in his mind without any warning.

[Detected host soul specificity, meeting the activation conditions for the 'Civilization Tinder Project'.]

[Binding...]

[Binding successful!]

[Universal Supreme Pay-to-Win System, officially activated!]

Wang Pingan froze completely.

Auditory hallucination?

Sequelae of the car accident?

He blinked; the world before him hadn't changed. His parents were still looking at him with concern on the communicator.

"Pingan? What's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"

"No... it's nothing," Wang Pingan snapped back to his senses and shook his head quickly. "I'm just a bit dizzy. Dad, Mom, you're busy over there, so let's hang up for now. There are nurses here."

After hurriedly ending the call, he lay on the bed, his heart pounding wildly as if it were about to jump out of his throat.

He closed his eyes and concentrated.

That voice rang out once again.

[host: Wang Pingan]

[Realm: quasi-First-Rank Martial Artist (blood qi value 98/100)]

[Strength: 9.5]

[Speed: 9.2]

[Constitution: 9.6]

[Spirit: 13.2 (Soul is unique, higher than ordinary people)]

[Recovery: 9.8]

[(Note: The average value of all stats for the First-Rank Martial Artist threshold is 10)]

[pay-to-win points: 0]

[Conversion Function: Can absorb any substance containing energy and convert it into pay-to-win points. Current recommended conversion material: Spirit Crystal. Conversion ratio: 1 standard low-grade spirit crystal ≈ 10 pay-to-win points (affected by spirit crystal quality)]

A blue holographic interface that only he could see floated quietly within his consciousness.

It's real!

Not a hallucination!

An indescribable ecstasy, like a volcanic eruption, instantly demolished the "detachment from the world" psychological defense line he had just built.

He clenched his fists tightly, his nails sinking deep into his palms, his body trembling slightly from extreme excitement.

He wanted to laugh out loud, but feared being caught and treated as a mental patient. He wanted to jump off the bed and run a few laps, but feared tearing the wounds on his body.

A system! A pay-to-win system!

As a veteran 'leek' who had been victimized countless times in his previous life by various free-to-play games, first-recharge benefits, and VIP levels, he understood all too well what the words "pay-to-win" meant.

It meant ignoring the rules! It meant breaking the balance! It meant becoming stronger in a simple and crude way!

He snapped his eyes open, his gaze falling on the personal terminal on his wrist.

There lay the fifty thousand star coins his parents had just transferred.

These were no longer cold numbers, no longer a burden that made him feel guilty.

This was his bargaining chip to change his fate! His capital to flip the table!

With almost no hesitation, he immediately entered the official mall of the Shencheng City Martial Artist Association through the public network terminal next to his bed.

He found the cheapest cultivation resource—"low-grade spirit crystal."

Spirit crystals were a resource humans discovered that could assist in martial arts cultivation. The spiritual energy contained within was just like in the web novels he had read in his previous life; it could assist martial artists in their training, improve physical fitness, and provide countless other benefits.

Based on the amount of spiritual energy contained in standard-sized spirit crystals, they were divided into low-grade spirit crystals, mid-grade spirit crystals, high-grade spirit crystals...

A single low-grade spirit crystal had an official price of 1,000 star coins.

He carefully placed an order for one, chose the hospital address, and selected expedited delivery.

In less than ten minutes, a round delivery robot slid to the door of his ward and handed him a sealed metal box.

Wang Pingan held his breath and opened the box.

A thumb-sized crystal, emitting a faint white fluorescence, lay quietly inside.

He reached out and grasped the spirit crystal.

[Detected energy source 'low-grade spirit crystal', absorb and convert to pay-to-win points?]

"Yes!" he muttered in his heart.

In the next second, the spirit crystal in his hand dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye, finally turning into a handful of greyish-white powder that slipped through his fingers.

At the same time, the numbers on the system interface changed.

[pay-to-win points: 10]

It worked!

Wang Pingan's heart pounded wildly once more.

He looked at the basic attributes on the system interface; each one had a clickable "+" sign behind it.

Which one to increase?

His experience playing games in his previous life told him that in the early stages, one should either go for extreme stat-stacking or balanced development.

But right now, he just wanted to feel this power in the most direct way possible!

"Add it all to 'Strength'!"

With a thought, the 10 pay-to-win points were instantly cleared.

[Strength: 9.5 → 10.5]

The moment the value changed, a hot surge of warmth appeared out of thin air, gushing from his heart and instantly flowing through his entire body!

His arm muscles bulged slightly, his bones made a faint crackling sound, and an unprecedented sense of fullness and power erupted from every cell.

He slowly raised his right arm and clenched his fist.

It was a completely different feeling.

Before, his strength was "hollow" and "floating," but now, he felt that if he threw this punch, he could punch right through a wall!

Of course, he also knew this was just an illusion brought by the explosive increase in strength.