Chapter 3 – Resurrection and the Myriad Worlds Emotion System
The morgue was shrouded in oppressive midnight silence, broken only by the faint buzz of a single fluorescent tube struggling to stay alive.
Suddenly, the light began to flicker, slow at first, then faster. A sharp "zzzt… zzzt…" crackle echoed through the empty room, each spark pricking the stillness like needles.
Outside, the night sky was starless and moonless. Then, without warning, the darkness tore open. A mysterious orb of light, neither silver moonlight nor twinkling starlight, but something far deeper and more brilliant, appeared high above. It moved in impossible patterns: sometimes streaking like a meteor, sometimes drifting like a lazy cloud, descending straight toward the morgue.
Inside, the flickering grew violent. BANG! The bulb exploded in a shower of glass. Pitch darkness swallowed everything.
In the darkness, the orb drifted in through the wall as though it didn't exist, bathing the room in an eerie, otherworldly glow.
It floated to the metal table, hovered above Ding Li's broken corpse, and gently merged into his forehead.
The body that had been cold and rigid for hours suddenly twitched. Slowly, impossibly, it rose into the air, suspended by invisible threads.
Thump… Thump… A heartbeat, faint at first, then stronger, steady, alive.
Frozen blood began to flow again. Fractured bones clicked and knitted themselves back together with soft grinding sounds, like a low, solemn music announcing the return of life. The crushed half of his skull regenerated: flesh crawled, wounds closed, skin smoothed until it looked newborn.
Color returned to his cheeks. His chest rose and fell in steady breaths. And then, his eyes snapped open, bright and clear.
Ding Li looked around the ruined morgue, confusion written across his face. Before he could speak, the entire room trembled. A blinding white flash erupted from his body.
When the light faded, Ding Li had vanished, leaving only scattered glass and an empty slab.
Ding— "Automatic language package of current world installed."
A cold, mechanical voice rang inside his mind.
The next thing he knew, he was lying naked on warm golden sand. Sunlight danced on gentle waves. A flawless blue sky stretched endlessly overhead. Salty breeze carried the scent of the sea.
Ding Li's eyes fluttered open. He blinked at the endless ocean, felt the sun on his skin, and muttered, "So… this is the afterlife? Not bad at all."
A crab scuttled onto his shoulder. He picked it off gently and set it down. He stood, stretched, and was shocked at how light and powerful his body felt, every joint perfect, every muscle responsive.
He walked to the water's edge, letting waves lap at his ankles, and for a fleeting moment all the pain, betrayal, and despair of his previous life felt distant, almost meaningless.
Then—
"Kyaa! Pervert!"
A girl's scream shattered the peace. A teenage girl in a marine-colored outfit stood twenty meters away, one hand covering her eyes, the other pointing straight at him.
Ding Li's face turned crimson. Without thinking, he dove into the sea, leaving only his head above water.
"Hey! I'm not a pervert!" he shouted. "My name is Ding Li! I just… woke up here with no clothes! You can uncover your eyes now!"
The girl peeked through her fingers, gave him a look that said are-you-an-idiot, turned on her heel, and marched away.
Ding Li stayed in the water, mortified, until—
Ding! "Congratulations, Host. Collected 1 point of [Embarrassment] emotion."
Ding Li froze. "…What?"
Ding! "Host has not misheard. This system is the Myriad Worlds Emotion Collection System."
Ding Li's jaw dropped. A system? The golden finger from every web novel he'd ever read?
"But I died," he thought bitterly. "What's the point of a system now?"
Cold voice: "Host did die. This system resurrected you and randomly transported you to the current world. Your body has been restored to the peak condition of an ordinary human: Physique: 10 Vitality: 10 Soul Strength: 10 (10 is the limit for normal humans.)
You may collect emotion values from living beings within 50 meters to strengthen yourself and learn skills. Note: The same person can only provide 1 emotion point per day."
A translucent panel appeared in his mind:
[Host: Ding Li] Physique: 10 Vitality: 10 Soul Strength: 10 Collected Emotion Points: 1 / 10,000,000,000,000 Spendable Points: 1 Skills: None
Current Main Quest: Not yet activated.
Ding Li's eyes widened. Ten trillion emotion points to freely travel the myriad worlds?
That meant… he could go home someday. That meant… some worlds might have ways to bring back the dead. That meant… he could see his parents again.
For the first time since falling from that rooftop, real hope ignited in his chest.
He stared at the endless sea, clenched his fists, and whispered to the wind:
"Just wait for me… Mom, Dad… Mengyan… I'm coming back."
Far away on the horizon, a ship with a goat-headed prow sailed closer, its figurehead proudly wearing a straw hat.