Chapter 1 The Golden Finger That Arrived Nineteen Years Late
In a parallel world, it was January of the year 2000 at the University of London, England.
William Devinhill raised his hands, tracing a hexagram in the air. A golden magic circle materialized before him.
With a pulling motion, the golden circle transformed into a magical, shimmering rope. He flicked his wrist, and the rope shot out, wrapping around the back of a nearby chair. A sharp tug sent the chair flying toward him, which he caught deftly.
The magic was nearly identical to Doctor Strange's from the movies, with one key difference: his power source was a system. He had no need to draw power from some magical god or dimension; the system provided his magic, completely free of side effects.
Closing his eyes, he extended his senses, feeling everything in the dormitory. He could clearly perceive the items stored under his bed, even locating a few coins tucked away in the bed frame.
He tried to use his mental power to form a mage hand. To his surprise, it worked. The coins lifted as if held by an invisible force and floated over to him.
William excitedly whipped the magic rope around, snagging shoes from across the room and sending the chair bumping against the wall.
Suddenly, a vigorous pounding shook his dormitory door.
An angry shout came from the other side. "What the hell, man! Are you on drugs? Do you have any idea what time it is? Some of us are trying to sleep! One more sound and I'm calling the police!"
Hearing his neighbor's complaints, William hurried to open the door and apologize. It took a great deal of coaxing before the disgruntled student finally left.
He closed the door and lay on his bed, unable to stop thinking about the adventures of the past few days. His initial confusion had slowly given way to pure excitement.
He had been in this parallel world for nineteen years, and it wasn't until three days ago that a ticking sound in his sleep had awakened him.
'Charging complete. Marvel Universe System initializing. Deploying basic magic knowledge pack.'
*Charged?* he thought. *What kind of system takes nineteen years to boot up?*
Then, a massive flood of knowledge and memory rushed into his mind, causing him to faint within seconds.
The next morning, William sat up, rubbing his dizzy head. Why was there all this strange knowledge in his mind?
*Magic?*
*How can there be magic in this world?* He had lived in this parallel world for nineteen years and had never heard of anything like it. *Did I drink too much?*
He rubbed his eyes, closed them, and then opened them again.
He had been in this world for nineteen years. The monarch of England was a king named Philip, and the President of the United States was a man named Benjamin. This was a world completely different from his previous life.
In his previous life, William—or Chen Mo, as he was then—was a twenty-two-year-old office worker from Xichuan, Greater China. That day had been his cousin's twentieth birthday.
He, his two younger brothers, and a brother-in-law had accompanied their fourth uncle for drinks. After four bottles of Wuliangye, they still weren't done and started playing drinking games until well after 10 p.m.
When he got home, Chen Mo, despite having drunk a lot, felt surprisingly sober. He poured himself a large glass of water, went out onto his balcony to enjoy the early summer night breeze, and pulled up a website on his phone to watch the newly released *Avengers 4*. He watched with great interest.
Halfway through the movie, a thunderstorm began to roll in. Just as Chen Mo was about to head back inside, a bolt of lightning shot from the sky and struck him. He lost consciousness instantly.
He was reincarnated as a mixed-race baby of Chinese and British descent. Perhaps because a baby's brain is not fully developed, the memories of his past life only returned to him gradually as he grew older.
Twenty years ago, his mother, Lena Devinhill, had met his father while skiing in Switzerland. It was a romantic, wonderful seven-day trip, but on the final day, disaster struck.
As they were skiing down from the summit, they were caught in a massive avalanche. Lena and William's father were separated by the torrent of snow.
Fortunately, Lena was not buried deep. Rescuers spotted the tip of her ski and pulled her out, but William's father, Chen Jing, was never found.
Filled with a mixture of grief and relief, she returned to England. Three months later, Lena discovered she was pregnant.
The only information from Switzerland was his father's name: Chen Jing. A month later, using his grandfather's connections, they found out a little more. Chen Jing was from Hong Kong and had entered the country illegally in '75. Beyond that, there was nothing.
After William was born, Lena traveled to Hong Kong several times, spending money and using whatever connections she could to find his father's family. After years with no news, she finally gave up.
This left William to wonder his whole childhood if he had any other relatives in Greater China.
Fortunately, Lena had her parents. William's grandparents, while displeased with Chen Jing, adored their unexpected grandson and helped Lena raise him.
However, raising a child as a single mother is incredibly difficult. After William's grandparents passed away when he was ten, life became even harder for his mother. Yet, she shouldered every burden alone, working tirelessly to raise him.
Growing up in a single-parent family and being of mixed Chinese and British descent, William had few friends.
With few opportunities to play, William found his happiness in his studies. He couldn't quite connect with the other kids anyway, so he excelled academically from a young age.
His grandfather, Henry Devinhill, was from a noble family and had taught William a great deal as a child. Furthermore, after he turned ten, the memories from his past life began to merge with his present, making him instantly smarter. He could learn things twice as fast as a normal person.
The only trouble was that the England of the 1980s was not only chaotic but also rife with discrimination and conflict. By chance, he also discovered that someone was secretly monitoring him and his mother. To protect himself, he deliberately adopted the persona of a nerd who was bad at making friends.
This continued until he was admitted to the University of London, one of England's top schools. In the eyes of most people, he was a loner who lived in his own world and had never had a girlfriend.
'*Drring, drring, drring*.' The sound of the alarm clock woke him from his reverie.
'Marvel Universe System fully charged and initiated. Welcome, Host William Devinhill.'
*A system?* William was stunned. *Is this for real? I get struck by lightning while watching* Avengers 4 *and I'm given the entire Marvel Universe?*
"System, are you there?" William muttered inwardly.
After a long wait, the system gave no response.
"Why doesn't this busted system have a spirit guide or something? Not even a tutorial for new users? And what kind of system needs to charge for nineteen years?"
As he focused his thoughts on it, he realized the system was designed to be foolproof for beginners. He could learn any technology, magic, or ability contained within it, provided he could see and clearly understand it.
It made sense that he could learn technology by observing it, but as he spent a long time reading through the magic catalog, a headache began to form.
He could understand the catalog's descriptions, but he had no idea how to actually learn the specific spells.
Fortunately, there was a consolation prize: the system's own magic training module.
Although William felt he should first figure out if magic or superpowers even existed in this world, he decided it was best to learn in secret and keep a low profile until his abilities became formidable.
But this was magic. Who wouldn't want superpowers after watching so many superhero movies? *Never mind,* he thought, *I'll just learn it first.*
The basic magic theory was surprisingly thorough yet simple, and even a complete novice like him could understand it.
After some consideration, he sat cross-legged on his bed and began to practice according to the basic theory. Before long, specks of light appeared in his mind's eye, followed by various theories and methods for applying magic.
*Is this magic?* William suddenly understood. *Wait, how do I know what this is?*
He felt an intuitive certainty, a sense of innate knowledge. It was as if he already knew these things and only needed to see them once to understand their mechanics completely.
Moreover, his soul was now that of a complete adult, a fusion from two worlds. It was naturally more flexible than most people's, and his cognitive abilities were several times faster than before.
Experiencing magic for the first time, William had been ecstatic for the past few days. Outside of eating and sleeping, he spent all his time practicing. Finally, that night, he mastered his first spell: the magic rope.
This spell had many uses. It could restrain people, and he even learned the accompanying mage hand. That was even more useful. If he wanted a pen while lying in bed, a simple use of mage hand would send it flying right to him.
With this golden finger, he was going to be rich.