Year 2025.
The sound of grinding bone was the only thing filling the silence of the cramped, one-bedroom apartment. Zhuo Fan collapsed onto his thin mattress, not even bothering to kick off his dirty shoes. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest. Being a "Dungeon Cleaner" wasn't a job; it was a slow death sentence.
He stared at the ceiling, his stomach growling with a hollow, painful ache. He hadn't eaten since morning, but the thought of another bowl of instant noodles made him want to vomit.
"How did it come to this?"
His mind drifted back to the "Accursed Day"—January 1, 2020. While the world toasted to a new year, the sky had literally shattered. Dungeons came into reality, and monsters that defied every law of biology poured out. Humanity's biggest weapon, the NUKE, had been nothing more than firecrackers against the Monsters. We lost 90% of our land and billions of lives. Zhuo Fan's parents were among the victims of that Accursed day.
Then came the Awakeners. Some could throw fire; others held the strength of giants. Zhuo Fan had waited for his moment of glory, only for the Awakening Stone to glow a dull, pathetic grey.
[Rank: F] [Talent: Mana Perception (Low)]
In a world where S-ranks are treated like gods, an F-rank is just a janitor with a slightly better immune system. To survive, he spent his days hauling monster corpses and scrubbing blood off dungeon walls—praying that a stray E-rank monster didn't wake up to finish him off.
As he began to drift into a fitful sleep, a sharp, rhythmic chirp pierced the air.
Zhuo Fan bolted upright. He was confused—his own smartphone had been crushed into scrap metal by a falling rock during today's expedition.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the culprit: an antique mobile phone. It was a bulky, plastic brick he'd found buried in a Rank-F dungeon earlier that day. He'd kept it thinking he might sell it for some money as a "relic."
There was no signal bar. No battery indicator. Yet, the screen glowed with a singular, vibrant app icon: "ANCESTRAL MOBILE."
A notification blinked at him:
[Emergency: Your descendant is calling for your aid!]
"Descendant? I'm twenty-four and single," Zhuo Fan muttered, his thumb hovering over the screen. Curiosity won out. He tapped the icon.
The screen transitioned into a beautifully detailed 2D pixel-art interface. It depicted a desolate courtyard with a crumbling stone altar. A small, pixelated figure was kneeling there, head bowed in desperation.
[System: Please bestow a name upon your first descendant.]
Zhuo Fan paused. Was this a game? Or something more? Thinking of his own lonely lineage, he typed: Zhou Yuan.
On the screen, the little figure shuddered. A speech bubble appeared: "Finally... the Ancestor has heard my cries! I, Zhou Yuan, will never tarnish the name of the Zhou Clan. I will strive until my blood runs dry to make us prosper!"
The figure then placed a glowing green stone onto the altar. "Please, Great Ancestor, accept this humble offering."
The screen flashed white. Suddenly, a weight appeared in Zhuo Fan's lap. He gasped, dropping the phone. Sitting on his moth-eaten blanket was a jagged, translucent crystal pulsing with a rhythmic green light.
[Notification: Your descendant has offered a (Low-Grade Spirit Stone).] [Accept / Decline?]
With trembling fingers, Zhuo Fan tapped 'Accept.'
The moment his skin touched the crystal, a flood of pure, cooling energy surged up his arm. The "weird noises" in his bones stopped instantly. The fatigue that had haunted him for five years evaporated. In a world where Mana was scarce and expensive, this stone held more purity than a high-rank mana potion.
"This... this isn't a game," he whispered, his eyes wide.
The screen flickered again. [System: Do you wish to bestow a gift upon your descendant?]
Zhuo Fan looked around his room. He had nothing of value—except for one thing. He scrambled to his cupboard and pulled out a tattered, yellowed manuscript. It was a "Qi-Cultivation Method" he'd been scammed into buying years ago. On Earth, the mana was too chaotic and thin for traditional cultivation; even the strongest humans could only reach the "Qi-Gathering" stage before hitting a wall.
But if Zhou Yuan was in a different world...
He held the book to the camera of the antique phone. The screen scanned it in a beam of blue light.
In the pixelated world, a book descended from the heavens. Zhou Yuan fell to his knees, kowtowing so hard the screen shook. "A Cultivation Technique! Thank you, Ancestor! I will reach the Qi-Refining stage and protect our lands!"
Zhuo Fan watched the screen, a manic grin spreading across his face. He tapped the 'Status' icon.
[STATUS PANEL]
Name: Zhuo Fan
Rank: F-Rank (Awakener)
Title: Ancestor of the Zhou Clan
Favor Points (FP): 0
[Skills]
Ancestor's Descent (Lv.1): Physically manifest in the Cultivation World for 60 seconds. (Cooldown: 24h)
Ancestor's Blessing (Lv.1): Heal a descendant's minor injuries or restore a small portion of Qi.
[Shop]
Poison Dagger (Rank E): 10 FP
Shadow Cloak (Rank D): 50 FP
Bloodline Upgrade (Rare): 100 FP
Zhuo Fan clutched the phone to his chest. The elite families, the S-rank prodigies who were fed elixirs from birth—they had no idea what was coming.
He wasn't just a cleaner anymore. He was an Ancestor in another world, and his path to the SSS-rank had just been paved in gold.