A year later
Lan carried a bag filled with transparent roses that had brown smoke swirling inside them. These ones could fill the stomach, so they were useful for people who struggled with food. She delivered the bag to an aunty called Hua, who was the favorite of every man in the village for reasons everyone already knew.
"If life feels too hard, you can come join my daughter. I can take care of you," Aunty Hua offered with a smile that made Lan uncomfortable.
Lan politely refused, collected the payment, and headed home without saying much.
When she stepped inside, she called out, "Brother, I am home. You know what, the widow Hua's daughter awakened her Glyph. People are saying she is going to follow her mother's footsteps and become a prostitute. Everyone already calls her Little Hua."
She talked like usual, but there was no answer at all.
Because Lei could not reply.
After everything he had been through, the betrayal, the loss of the treasure that could have changed his life, the feeling of being powerless in front of his future, Lei simply did not wake up. His mind shut down completely. His body lived, but he slept without end.
Lan did not give up. She took over his small tasks and whatever work he used to handle. She came to his bedside and wiped his body with a damp towel.
She picked a brown Smoky Rose and a White one, plucked the petals, and placed them gently on his lips.
The petals melted into liquid. Lan pressed her fingers on his neck and a tiny field of force wrapped around her fingertips. The energy tugged the liquid into his throat as if pulled by an invisible thread.
A faint vertical line could be seen on the left side of Lan's face. That was her Glyph. The small force-field ability she used was her supernatural power, though even she had no clue what her true ability really was.
She looked at her sleeping brother with a soft but fierce gaze.
"Please wake up, brother. I promise you, no other bitches will ever hurt you again," Lan whispered.
---
"Now..." The man stood in front of the floating memory bubble with both hands on his waist. He looked ready to jump in and bite someone.
The Spector blinked at him. "You sure? There is supposed to be an anomaly happening in the village soon. I planned to wait for that and then send you there."
"No need," the man said. "This is enough. I just want to pat her head. So send me."
The Spector rubbed his chin. "If you go now, a lot of things will change. The timeline might explode for all I know."
"I don't care. Just give me my cheat and push me in." He stretched his arms out dramatically. ᕙ( ͡◉ ͜ʖ ͡◉)ᕗ
The Spector took a deep breath. "Alright… but sorry to inform you… there is no cheat."
"Wait what?" the man shouted. He was so shocked he flipped the Spector's sofa. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
The Spector shrugged like it was no big deal. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
"I am sorry. But you already reserved this transmigration package. No takesy backsy. No refund."
Then the Spector suddenly grew legs out of nowhere and Sparta-kicked him straight into the bubble, "THIS IS XARTA."
"Oi you bitch! How am I supposed to survive without a Glyph, or a system, or any damn cheat?" the man yelled as he fell in.
The Spector just crossed his ghostly arms. (⌐■-■) "Not my problem."
The man: ( ཀ͝ ∧ ཀ͝ )
And then he vanished into the bubble, screaming internally and externally at the same time.
┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈┉
"Aaaahhhhh…" The man shot awake, gasping. He touched his chest but there was no pain.
The world around him looked like a fever dream cooked by a drunk god. Smoke drifted everywhere as he looked around. Horses ran on two legs like usain Bolt.
A dragon slept inside a grilled stove like it was a barbecue. It even put salt and pepper on itself. Trees swayed even though there was no wind.
Right in the middle of this fever dream sat a small kid, crying quietly. It was the blue haired boy , Lei.
The man looked down at himself and freaked out. He was in a white ghost-like form. No legs nor body nor hand.
He drifted closer. Before he could say anything, Lei spoke first, "I know everything. I can see your memories too."
The man froze. If he still had sweat glands, he would've drenched the place. Even his ghost-soul felt sweaty.
"It's alright," Lei said in a flat voice. "I know you are the complete opposite of me. Total scum in your previous life."
The man opened his mouth. "…That hurts, but okay. It's Fair."
Lei didn't sugarcoat anything. His words were painful but accurate.
"I don't care anymore," Lei said. His voice softened, but his eyes were tired, older than his age should ever look. "Just make my sister happy. And never let her know that I disappeared and you replaced me."
Before the man could answer, Lei's body dissolved into smoke. It's gone like he never existed.
"Wait! Oi! Lei—" But the world twisted and sucked him in.
The man jolted awake again, this time in a real bed.
He blinked around, wooden walls, a faint smell of herbs, a soft blanket. He felt warm and alive.
His eyes widened. "Finally… I got transmigrated…"
He wanted to scream in joy and run in circles, but he swallowed it down because right next to him, curled like a small kitten, slept Lan.
She stirred faintly at his movement. He reached out and gently patted her head. She smiled in her sleep, like she could sense her brother's presence.
He quietly stood up and stepped outside.
The night sky was calm. Moonlight coated the small village like silver dust. Most houses were closed, lanterns glowing dimly behind paper windows. Crickets sang. The breeze was cool.
For a moment, he just stared.
"This world… looks kinda nice…" But then he looked beyond the village, to that massive wall of swirling black fog.
The Darkness.
Moonlight couldn't enter it. It just vanished the moment it touched that border. It felt like a giant beast sleeping at the edge of the village.
He shivered.
"Should I use my previous life knowledge and conquer this whole village and make every girl my wives?" he muttered, rubbing his chin like a villain planning his debut.
It was a serious thought. He wasn't joking.
He had only two goals in life. Immortality And a harem.
In his old world, he wasn't a hero, not a genius, not a successful person. Just a spoiled second-gen rich kid who lived off his parents' inheritance and died pathetically alone. Even Webnovel never accepted his Novel Contracts. And never said the reasons for it like a dick.
But now…
"This time, I'll build a huge family." His voice was firm. He meant it.
Inside the house, Lan's eyes squirmed as she woke up. "Brother…"
She reached beside her, but her hand hit an empty bed. Her breath stopped, "Brother…?"
When she didn't find him, panic blasted through her body. She jumped off the bed, hair messy, eyes wide,
"BROTHER!" Her voice echoed through the night.
The man, now Lei, nearly tripped as he rushed back.
Lan saw him and her eyes filled instantly. She ran and crashed into him, hugging him so tightly his ribs complained.
"Brother… Brother…! I thought… I thought you…" Lan sobbed so hard even the new neighbors came out to check.
She cried herself unconscious.
The next morning, Lei touched the faint vertical line on Lan's left cheek. Her Glyph. It looked like a simple drawing, but it was carved into her skin, part of her body forever.
"My Lan is a genius," he said with a proud grin. "Awakened at the first chance."
Lan awakening before sixteen was unheard of. Beyond rare. It made him jealous for a moment, but he let it pass.
Lan slept the whole day from exhaustion.
So Lei took charge. He gathered the Smoky Roses to sell and prepared to leave.
But before heading out, he remembered something from the bubble he had watched in the Spector's dimension.
He walked to the neighbor's old house. Behind it was a well that no one used. Buried beside it, hidden under stones, was a sack of coins the Li family had forgotten when they ran away.
Lei dug it out.
"Jackpot."
It wasn't a fortune, but it was enough to start something. Enough to make his plans possible.
He smirked, "Good. Very good."
He glanced around and made sure no one saw him. He tied the sack and slung it over his shoulder.
Today… he planned to celebrate his new 'birthday'. His new life.
He licked his lips.
"Only one customer today. Widow Hua." He adjusted his clothes and walked like a man with a mission.
Yes, Lei wanted to celebrate in his own way. A classic degenerate way and nothing would stop him.
┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈┉
Author Here:
Please Support, Give me some Reviews and add this to your library.... Send me some stones too... You will definitely become a Banger in Next Year.... Dyamn , I am tired of my books getting rejected for contract.
Also Next Chapter is 18+ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)