The world was silent.
Li Cheng's eyes fluttered open to darkness—not the comforting kind that whispered of rest, but the heavy, suffocating void between death and rebirth.
A faint hum vibrated in his ears. Then, the voice returned.
[System Rebooting...]
[Energy Surge Detected.]
[Rebirth Protocol: Overclocking Sequence Initiated.]
A flood of golden data lines cascaded around him, weaving into his skin like digital fireflies. Every nerve screamed—pain, joy, chaos—all at once.
"Wha… what's happening to me?" he gasped.
His voice echoed through the void, trembling with confusion. But the System didn't answer immediately. Instead, it pulsed, forming circuits of light around his body.
He saw flashes—memories, moments, heartbreaks.
His ex-girlfriend, Lin Yue, standing in that café, her eyes cold and calculating.
The smirk of the middle-aged tycoon's face as he placed a hand possessively on her shoulder.
The laughter of the onlookers—his classmates—mocking him for daring to love above his means.
Each image stabbed his chest, tearing open scars that hadn't even healed yet.
"Why…" Li Cheng muttered, gripping his shirt. "Why was I so stupid?"
[Pain Level Detected: Extreme.]
[Emotional Saturation: 97%.]
[Initiating Adaptive Fusion.]
The light intensified. Symbols crawled across his skin, burning like molten runes. His body began to rise, suspended in a vortex of shimmering red-gold mist.
Every cell trembled under pressure. His heartbeat thundered like war drums.
[Overclock Threshold Reached.]
[Host's Biological Limits… Exceeded.]
[Human parameters insufficient.]
[Upgrading Host Classification → Overclocked Human.]
A roar tore through the void.
It wasn't human—it was something ancient, something that made the air tremble. The energy around him burst outward, forming cracks in space itself.
Li Cheng's red eyes snapped open, blazing like twin rubies. His long, crimson hair whipped around him, glowing faintly at the tips.
His body no longer felt weak. Every movement carried an impossible weight—like the universe itself responded to his will.
When he breathed, reality seemed to shiver.
The next moment, the darkness shattered.
Li Cheng's consciousness snapped back to the real world—the university infirmary.
Fluorescent lights flickered above him, and a nurse screamed as the bed frame beneath him cracked from sheer force. The floor tiles fractured in a circular pattern, spiderwebbing out from where he sat up.
Students crowded at the window outside, phones out, recording.
"Bro, did he just break the bed by sitting up?" someone whispered.
"Wait—Li Cheng? The guy whose girlfriend dumped him? What the hell is going on!?"
Li Cheng blinked, his vision flickering between normal sight and faint digital overlays—the System UI hovering like transparent glass.
[Sign-In Reward Pending...]
[Daily Task: Face Slapping Mission Available.]
"Face… slapping mission?" he murmured.
Then the door slammed open.
Three figures entered—boys from the Business Faculty, all smirking. Their leader, Zhao Ming, was known for his slick hair, designer shoes, and a single brain cell dedicated to causing trouble.
"Well, well, well. The heartbroken loser lives," Zhao sneered. "Shouldn't you be in a coffin by now? I heard your precious Lin Yue finally upgraded her life. Guess money does buy happiness."
The group laughed.
Li Cheng didn't move. He just looked at them—expressionless.
The silence stretched.
Then, the lights began to flicker.
A strange hum vibrated through the air. The metal IV stand beside him trembled, and Zhao's smirk faltered.
"Wh-what's happening?"
Li Cheng tilted his head slightly, eyes glowing faintly red.
[Host's Anger Detected.]
[Overclock Stabilization: 73%.]
[Face-Slapping Mission Triggered.]
[Objective: Defeat Those Who Mocked You. Reward: 1,000 EXP + 10 Attribute Points.]
Li Cheng rose from the bed—slowly, deliberately. His shadow stretched unnaturally across the wall behind him, forming the shape of a burning silhouette.
"Zhao Ming," he said softly, "do you know what happens when a fool slaps a lion?"
"Huh?" Zhao blinked, confused.
"This."
Li Cheng's hand moved faster than the eye could track. A crack echoed like thunder. Zhao spun in midair before landing in a heap on the floor, cheek swelling red.
The other two froze. One dropped his phone.
"Y-you hit him!"
Li Cheng smiled—a faint, dangerous curve. "Oh, don't worry. That was just my warm-up."
The air pressure thickened. Dust lifted off the floor. With a single step forward, the ground caved slightly beneath his shoe.
Before they could scream, Li Cheng flicked his wrist. A gust of invisible force sent them tumbling out the door, crashing into a cart of medical supplies.
[Mission Complete.]
[Reward Distributed: 1,000 EXP + 10 Attribute Points.]
[Host Level Up → Lv.2.]
The sound of digital chimes rang in his ears.
Outside, the gathered students gasped, backing away in awe and fear.
Li Cheng stood in the doorway, his red hair flowing, the broken bed and shattered floor behind him. He looked every bit like something out of legend—a fallen hero reborn from ruin.
In the hallway, someone was watching.
Lin Yue.
Her manicured fingers tightened around her designer purse as she stared at him, disbelief written all over her face.
"That's… impossible," she whispered. "He was supposed to be pathetic. Weak. Not—this."
Their eyes met across the corridor.
For a heartbeat, the world fell silent again.
Li Cheng didn't say a word. He simply turned away, his eyes cold as ice.
[Quest Updated: Face the World That Mocked You – Stage 1 Complete.]
[Next Objective: Publicly Humiliate the Unfaithful One.]
[Reward: Skill Unlock – System Scan.]
A smile ghosted across his lips. "Publicly humiliate, huh? Guess karma's got a sense of humor."
The System pulsed softly.
[Indeed, Host. Let's make it entertaining.]
Li Cheng chuckled under his breath and walked away, the faint echo of his footsteps mixing with the whispers that followed him down the corridor.
For the first time in years, he wasn't the fool being mocked.
He was the storm.