Chapter 1: What Good Is Being Attractive Anyway?

[Transmigrator ID: 142857]
[Name: Lin Huang]
[Gender: Male]
[Age before transmigration: 25]
[Age after transmigration: 15]
[Initial world after transmigration: Monster Paradise]
[Transmigration identity setting: Lin Huang, male, 15 years old, relies on his 13-year-old sister Lin Xin. His life wheel is shattered at birth, and the rate at which his life light dissipates is ten times that of a normal person. Remaining lifespan: 91 days.]
[Memory fusion degree: 98%]
[Number of transmigrations: 1st]
[Golden Finger status: Not activated]

Staring at the translucent interface before him, Lin Huang felt a bit dazed. He had lost count of how many times he’d opened this page over the past week.

It had been a week since Lin Huang transmigrated to this world, becoming a fifteen-year-old boy. The boy possessed exceptional talent, ranking first among graduates at the Hunter Reserve Academy, with nearly perfect scores in every subject. Unfortunately, he was burdened by a fatal flaw: a shattered life wheel from birth.

Within his body, the life wheel resembled a grayish-white stone, a crack almost splitting it in two. Out of the 360 scales of life light, only three remained lit, and even the third flickered dimly.

Three lit scales signified three years of life for a normal person, but with his life light dissipating ten times faster, Lin Huang’s remaining lifespan was only three months.

“My looks have improved since transmigrating, which is probably the only comforting thing,” Lin Huang said with a self-deprecating smile as he gazed at his reflection.

The boy in the mirror had tousled black hair and pure, jet-black eyes. His features were upright and somewhat delicate, and he was clenching his fists, appearing a bit angry.

“But what use is good looks! The Golden Finger promised before transmigration was delivered, but you could’ve at least sent me an instruction manual. It’s been a week, and I still don’t know how to activate Little Black…”

Little Black was the Golden Finger Lin Huang had drawn at random before transmigrating—a black card. Now, after a week of experimenting with every method he could think of, he still couldn’t activate it, nor did he have any idea what it was for.

“Brother, I’m home!”

Just as Lin Huang was venting to the mirror about the “unreliable game merchant,” a girl’s voice sounded from the doorway. She entered after closing the door and keying in the password.

Lin Huang closed the interface, composed himself, and turned to go downstairs. The house he lived in was a small two-story duplex, with both bedrooms on the upper floor.

At the staircase, he smiled at the girl still changing her shoes by the door.

The girl looked to be around twelve or thirteen, with black hair cropped just below her earlobes, bangs obscuring her eyebrows, and bright, dark eyes below. Her features were delicate, still carrying traces of childishness. She wore a white printed T-shirt, blue-and-white jeans, and white sneakers, giving her a somewhat boyish appearance.

“Xin’er, you’re back. Wash your hands, it’s time for dinner.”

At the dining table, the two sat across from each other, eating. Suddenly, Lin Huang felt a vibration from the ring on his left pinky finger. A translucent video projection appeared before him. On the other side, Lin Xin’s ring did the same, projecting a video almost simultaneously.

These rings, called Imperial Heart Rings, were worn by everyone after birth registration. They contained personal identity accounts, a small spatial storage function, and were the only tool for connecting to the Heart Net. Such active information prompts were rare—usually only triggered by major events.

“Hm?” Lin Huang paused, focusing on the video. Lin Xin’s expression showed surprise as well.

In the projection, a dignified-looking middle-aged man appeared, his expression serious. Lin Huang recognized him as a well-known news anchor from the Seventh Security Zone.

“Now for breaking news: At around 4:30 this afternoon, a new Phantom Eye was discovered approximately 310 kilometers southeast of stronghold 7D101. Suspected monster invasion. Residents in the vicinity, please stay inside the stronghold. Avoid going out at night.”

After watching, Lin Huang frowned slightly. 7D101—that was the current number of his stronghold.

Strongholds were graded by size: A, B, C, D, representing core, large, medium, and small strongholds. The ‘7’ indicated the security zone, while ‘101’ was the stronghold number.

As for the Phantom Eye mentioned in the video, it was the gateway for monsters invading this world. It appeared in the sky as a massive, semi-transparent human eye, hence its name.

“Brother, the Phantom Eye is so close to our stronghold. Won’t monsters break in?” Lin Xin’s face was tinged with worry.

“Don’t worry. If it’s on the news, monster hunters must’ve known earlier. Besides, our stronghold has defensive layers—it won’t be breached so easily.” Lin Huang smiled and shook his head. “Let’s eat.”

After dinner, Lin Xin went to her room to do homework. By the time Lin Huang finished washing the dishes, night had fallen.

Back in his room, Lin Huang opened the Heart Net to check the progress of the Phantom Eye incident. News articles appeared in chronological order.

“Monster hunters have arrived at the Phantom Eye site near stronghold 7D101 to track and hunt monsters.”

“Silver Hunter Li Lang has appeared near stronghold 7D101!”

“Eighteen hunters, led by Silver Hunter Li Lang, are hunting and clearing monsters.”

“After more than an hour of pursuit and hunting, all monsters above Black Iron rank within 100 kilometers of the Phantom Eye have been eliminated. More hunters join, continuing to clear surrounding areas.”

…

Reading through the updates, Lin Huang finally relaxed. His reassuring words to Lin Xin earlier had sounded logical, but in truth, he hadn’t felt confident. It was his first week in this world and the first time a Phantom Eye had opened near his stronghold. But the Heart Net showed that no powerful monsters had emerged this time, which calmed him.

Phantom Eyes opened at random times and places, and the level and number of monsters couldn’t be predicted. If monsters were too strong or too numerous, a dozen hunters would be sent to their deaths; even Gold Hunters wouldn’t survive. In the face of a colossal beast tide, a small stronghold like 7D101’s defensive layer was as fragile as paper, offering no real protection.

Over the week, Lin Huang hadn’t figured out how to activate his Golden Finger, but had mostly grasped the nature of this world.

The Heart Net had many historical videos of beast tide attacks. The first time Lin Huang saw them, only one word described his feelings—shock.

The most unforgettable was the destruction of a large stronghold, every detail burned into his memory.

A giant blood-red Phantom Eye opened in the void, unleashing endless monsters. In an instant, they shattered the stronghold’s defenses, slaughtering over a billion humans in a few hours. The ground was transformed into a sea of blood, broken corpses floated atop it, and monsters greedily stuffed bodies into their mouths…

The stronghold Lin Huang lived in was a small D-grade one, akin to a small town on Earth, with a population under a hundred thousand. It had the lowest safety rating in the security zone. If a powerful monster appeared, it could wipe out the stronghold before hunters could even arrive. Fortunately, this Phantom Eye brought only a minor monster incursion, already suppressed by hunters, so he no longer worried about safety.

Lin Huang closed the Heart Net and fell into thought.

“At the current rate of life light dissipation, I have only 91 days left. The first priority is to obtain Life Shards to replenish my life light. As for activating the Golden Finger, I have no clues and must set it aside. Life Shards can be bought on the Heart Net, but the price is exorbitant—a minimum one-year shard costs 100,000 credits, and I have less than 30,000 in my account, far from enough.”

Life Shards were rare items dropped at a very low rate when hunting monsters, containing a large amount of life light. To use them, one simply bit them—life light would automatically flow into the life wheel.

“The fastest way to earn Life Shards is to hunt monsters and sell their materials. Hunting monsters also gives a chance to drop shards. But with my current strength, not even at Black Iron rank, I can only hunt a handful of weak monsters, which are worthless… Still, I need to try outside the stronghold. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find a Life Shard. I’ll prepare tomorrow and set out early the day after!”

As night deepened, Lin Huang glanced out at the dark sky, cleared his mind, and eventually drifted into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, a crackling sound startled him awake—it sounded like breaking glass.

“Ah…”

Lin Huang, barely conscious, heard a girl’s scream nearby. He recognized it as his sister Lin Xin.

He leapt out of bed in his pajamas and rushed to Lin Xin’s room, kicking the door open.

~~~~~~

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