Chapter Thirteen: Preparations Before Entry

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The initial data of a new book is very important. Readers, remember to bookmark it, and it would be best if you could also give a recommendation vote. Much appreciated.

Hua Shier ate fried rice while typing the names “Liu Beishan” and “Chen Nian” into the search bar of a webpage. Although he hadn’t heard of these two names before, the system had already explained that the tasks all came from parallel spaces of the blueprint world, so these two people should be easy to find—surely characters from a novel or a film.

Sure enough, as he pressed Enter, rows of information about these two names appeared before him.

“Liu Beishan” and “Chen Nian” were the male and female protagonists of the movie “Better Days.”

Without reading any reviews, Hua Shier opened a certain movie website on his computer, intending to watch the plot first.

At the beginning of the film, he went to the refrigerator to get two cans of beer. Returning, he ate, drank, and watched the movie.

This film reflected the reality of school bullying. On the eve of the 2011 college entrance exam, Chen Nian’s classmate Hu Xiaodie jumped off a building due to bullying. When the police came to investigate, Chen Nian chose to remain silent, not revealing what she knew.

Being timid by nature, she only wanted to endure the final two months before the exam, after which she could escape it all and go to university in the capital city. But she never expected that she would become the new target of the bullies.

By chance, Chen Nian met the male lead, Liu Beishan, who called himself “Xiao Bei.”

Xiao Bei lived alone on the streets, making a living by stealing phones and collecting debts for others. He promised Chen Nian to protect her secretly from bullying. In the short time before the college entrance exam, the two became each other's light.

Unfortunately, Xiao Bei was caught and taken to the police station to assist in an investigation. During that time, an accident caused Chen Nian to accidentally kill her bully Wei Lai, casting a shadow over their future.

In the end of the movie, Chen Nian was sentenced to four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. Although Xiao Bei continued to protect her faithfully after her release, she missed the university life she had always longed for.

This film portrayed the beauty of youth, but even more so, the pain and helplessness faced by victims of bullying.

After watching, Hua Shier was deeply moved. Although he hadn’t experienced bullying during his school days, he had witnessed it firsthand. Such incidents were by no means isolated but longstanding problems in schools.

He didn’t want to comment much on the issue; his only question was this: Liu Beishan hoped to give Chen Nian a perfect ending, but what exactly would count as perfect?

Obviously, killing someone and going to prison was not perfect. But would simply helping Chen Nian avoid jail and smoothly enter her dream university in the capital be considered perfect?

What if, after graduation, Chen Nian couldn’t find a good job, struggled in life, and was unhappy? Would that still be perfect?

If not, then accepting this mission might mean taking care of Chen Nian for her entire life.

Hua Shier thought for a long time. Judging by Liu Beishan’s attitude toward Chen Nian in the film, it was clear he had feelings for her. This meant, very likely, what he guessed was true: completing the mission might require decades.

Just thinking about such a long time made him want to give up immediately. Yet, since this was his first mission, he felt extremely unwilling to quit.

“System, what is the time ratio between the mission world and the real world? It can’t be one-to-one, right? Also, if the mission time is too long, will I age in the mission world?”

Hua Shier voiced the concern he had been worried about. After all, if he entered some immortal fantasy world where time flowed for hundreds or thousands of years, and then came back to find everything changed, wouldn’t that be a disaster for him?

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Fortunately, the system’s reply eased his mind. From the moment he completed the trial task and successfully bound with the system, every time he re-entered the mission world, the system would lock his entry time point. This ensured that when he returned, he would still be at that exact moment in the real world.

In other words, no matter how long he stayed in the mission world, in the real world it would only be an instant.

Most importantly, the system told him that when he completed a mission and returned to the real world, any negative states on him would be removed. This guaranteed that no negative factors from the parallel space would be brought back to the real world.

The system did this to prevent viruses or spiritual entities from entering the real world through the host’s body, which could affect the original universe.

The so-called negative states included injuries, aging, and psychological or spiritual factors.

Therefore, Hua Shier had no need to worry about aging in the mission world or developing negative psychological changes—such as personality shifts—due to prolonged stays there.

In short, he would come out of the mission world just as he was when he went in.

Of course, there were downsides. For instance, if he gained some kind of enhancement in the mission world, the system would remove these enhancements upon exit.

If he wanted to strengthen himself through the mission world, he could only rely on the lottery phase after completing the task.

Another crucial point: if he died in the mission world, that would be real death, and the system would abandon him and seek a new host.

After much consideration, Hua Shier decided to accept the mission. After all, this was his first official mission, and he wanted to start with a good beginning. Quitting now would be too inauspicious.

However, he didn’t accept the mission immediately. As the saying goes, never fight a battle without preparation. Since he had three days, he planned to use this time to prepare thoroughly.

Having made up his mind, Hua Shier closed his computer and went to sleep.

The next morning, as the alarm for work rang on time, Hua Shier got up and first sent a message to Wang Li, using the phone number on his business card, telling him that he had discharged himself from the hospital and there was no need to pick him up.

Wang Li quickly replied, complaining that Hua Shier was depriving him of a chance to express his gratitude.

Hua Shier smiled. Five hundred thousand yuan was already a generous amount; he was not ungrateful.

After putting away his phone, he went out, bought two steamed buns, and hailed a taxi straight to the company.

Hua Shier’s visit to the company was not for work, but to resign.

It wasn’t that he was arrogant after obtaining the system, but because he was about to enter the mission world. Although he would return instantly to the real world, if he stayed in the mission world for one or two years, it would be impossible to resume his previous job immediately.

Moreover, now that he had over two million yuan, he was free from financial pressure and planned to focus all his energy on the missions. After all, the system was his future.

Hua Shier had a good relationship with his manager. When he resigned, the manager asked what he planned to do next. He replied, “The world is so big; I just want to sleep a little longer.”

The manager laughed and scolded him, then signed the resignation form and told him to collect this month's salary from the finance department.

After thanking him, Hua Shier said goodbye to his colleagues with whom he had worked for a year. Once outside the company, he found a café and used his phone to find a university student majoring in finance on a tutoring website, arranging to meet there.

Forty minutes later, a thin, bespectacled young man with a somewhat old-fashioned appearance arrived at the café and nervously asked, “Sir, are you looking for a tutor?”

Hua Shier nodded, pointed to the seat opposite him, and smiled, “Yes, that’s me. Please have a seat, let’s talk.”

Hearing this, the student nodded, sat down, and showed his student ID card. “Sir, I’m a finance student at XX University. My name is Han Cheng. Here’s my student ID.”

Hua Shier waved his hand, smiling, “Mr. Han, I didn’t invite you here for tutoring. I wonder if you’re open to other kinds of work?”

Han Cheng’s expression turned wary when he realized Hua Shier wasn’t looking for tutoring. He put away his ID and was about to leave.

Hua Shier didn’t stop him. Instead, he smiled and explained his purpose:

“I want stock market data from 2011 to this year, focusing on stocks with large increases, both domestic and international. You have one day, and I’ll pay you twenty thousand yuan. You can find others to help, but that’s all the money I have.”

Just as Han Cheng stood up, he sat back down suspiciously, “You’re not playing a trick on me, right?” He couldn’t understand what the other party wanted with such data.

Hua Shier took a sip of coffee and smiled, “We can sign an agreement right now. I’ll transfer half the money to you first.”

“Deal!” Han Cheng smiled broadly, not even asking why Hua Shier needed the data.

Hua Shier’s plan was simple. The story of Chen Nian and Liu Beishan took place in 2011. To complete the mission more easily, in a modern-world background, what could be more powerful than financial ability?

The movie was set in the real world. Even if individual stocks differed between the two worlds, the general economic trends would be similar. If specific stocks were different, he only needed to remember which industries were profitable at what times, so he wouldn’t have trouble making money.

After parting with Han Cheng, Hua Shier went shopping and found that the clothes Luo Yun had bought for him were not cheap—over two thousand yuan in total. He immediately opened WeChat and found a contact named “I’m a Little Fairy,” who had added him at the hospital.

He transferred the money to “Little Fairy” on WeChat, adding the message, “Thanks, fairy. Old Sun has repaid you.”

She was already grateful for following him to the hospital, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to spend more money on her.

As for any romantic feelings toward this beautiful woman? None at all. Friends, yes; lovers, no. After all, their orientations were the same... what a pity.

Luo Yun did not reply, but Hua Shier didn’t mind. The money had been sent.

At the same time, one day later, Hua Shier sat in the same café chair and received a USB drive from Han Cheng. After confirming the data on his laptop, he transferred the remaining ten thousand yuan to Han Cheng.

Han Cheng was very pleased, repeatedly thanking him and saying if there was more work like this, he should definitely call him. Before leaving, he even paid the bill to show his gratitude.

Back home, Hua Shier spent the entire night poring over the data. When the third day arrived, he chose to accept the mission.