Cherreads

Chapter 1 - The Garbage Success Rate

The cold wind brushed against Lin Fan's face as he sat in his small, messy room. On his wooden table lay a pile of rusty metal scraps and broken rings. To anyone else, this was trash. To Lin Fan, this was his life.

​Lin Fan closed his eyes and whispered, "System, open."

​Suddenly, a semi-transparent blue screen floated in front of him.

​[Name: Lin Fan]

[Level: 1]

[Profession: Apprentice Crafter]

[System Talent: Basic Enhancement]

[Current Success Rate: 1%]

​Lin Fan bit his lip. 1 percent. It was a joke. In a world where everyone was born with a "System," his was the worst. While others were becoming powerful warriors or mages, he was stuck as a low-level crafter who failed at everything.

​"I have only one Upgrade Stone left," Lin Fan muttered, looking at a small, glowing green pebble in his hand. He had spent all his savings to buy it. If he failed today, he wouldn't even have money for dinner.

​He picked up a rusty iron dagger he found in a dumpster.

​[Item: Rusty Iron Dagger]

[Quality: Trash]

[Enhancement Level: 0]

​"I have to try," he said, his hand trembling. He placed the Upgrade Stone on the dagger.

​[Do you want to enhance 'Rusty Iron Dagger'?]

[Success Rate: 1%]

[Warning: If you fail, the item and the stone will be destroyed!]

​Lin Fan took a deep breath. "Confirm!"

​The screen flashed red.

​[Ding!]

[Enhancement Failed!]

[The item has been destroyed.]

​The dagger and the green stone turned into gray dust and vanished. Lin Fan felt a sharp pain in his chest. His last hope was gone. He was officially broke.

​"Why?" he yelled at the empty room. "Why give me a system if I can't even upgrade a piece of trash?"

​Frustrated, he grabbed a strange, black metal cube from his shelf. It was something he had picked up from a street market for a few cents because it looked cool. It had no description and no name.

​Suddenly, his head started to ache. A sharp ringing sound echoed in his ears.

​[System Error...]

[Detecting Unknown Object...]

[Analyzing...]

[Warning: System Overloading!]

​The blue screen in front of him started to glitch. The numbers began to spin wildly. 1%... 5%... 20%... 80%...

​Then, the color of the screen changed from blue to a brilliant, glowing gold.

​[System Reboot Complete.]

[Hidden Talent Awakened: Divine Enhancement.]

[Current Success Rate: 100%]

​Lin Fan stared at the screen, his heart racing. "100 percent? Is this a dream?"

​He looked at the black metal cube in his hand. The screen showed a new notification:

​[Target: Ancient Mystery Box]

[Quality: ???]

[Success Rate: 100%]

[Do you want to Enhance?]

​Lin Fan's finger hovered over the 'Yes' button. This was the moment that would change his life forever.

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