Chapter 1: Transmigration
When Zhao Man woke up groggily, he felt a splitting headache. Someone was pinning him down, their hands still wrapped tightly around his neck. Instantly wide awake, he shoved the person away with all his might, scrambled up, and sat off to the side. He quickly realized the person was lying face down on the ground, completely motionless, their head a bloody mess.
I killed someone.
I broke the law.
I’m going to prison.
After the initial wave of terror, these three thoughts cycled endlessly through Zhao Man’s mind.
He cautiously crept forward. He nudged the person gently at first, then shoved them harder, but the man remained perfectly still. Mustering his strength, Zhao Man rolled the body over. The man’s eyes were shut tight. He reached out to check—no breath under the nose.
Certain the man was truly dead, Zhao Man’s heart pounded wildly. He sat in sheer panic for three full minutes before recalling the position the man had been in while pinning him down. A thought suddenly occurred to him: He was trying to rape me, right? So this is self-defense, right? Raping a man is still a crime, isn’t it?
He patted himself down. His clothes were still on, and his ass didn’t hurt. He pondered further: Attempted rape is still a crime, right? Does this count as excessive self-defense?
After his chaotic flurry of thoughts, Zhao Man decided to turn himself in and beg for leniency. It was then he realized he was in a dead-end alley. On both sides were five- or six-story buildings. They weren’t made of brick and stone, but rather iron frames painted the color of green trash cans, shaped somewhat like yurts. He looked around—no security cameras?
The iron alleyway wasn’t wide. With a man lying dead on the ground and Zhao Man sitting slumped against the wall, the two of them took up the entire path. There was a small backpack just ahead. Zhao Man shimmied over to pick it up, only noticing a watch on his wrist when he reached out his hand.
With a tap, the watch lit up, projecting a message: Zhao Man. Age: 18. Gender: Beta. Mental Power: 31.
Beta? What the hell is a Beta? His confusion lasted only a second; the corpse lying next to him made him too afraid to overthink it. He grabbed the backpack. The material was soft and high-quality, just like the clothes he was wearing.
Looks like these are my things. He gathered his belongings. Now, Zhao Man began to agonize over whether to call the police or make a run for it.
“Well now, where did this rich little Beta young master come from?”
A teasing voice rang out. Zhao Man’s heart skipped a beat. He looked up to see a tall man with a buzz cut walking out from around the corner, dressed in a grayish-green short-sleeved shirt, black trousers, and boots. More importantly, Zhao Man spotted a badge-like patch on his sleeve with two lines of text: Patrol Squad, Team 12 – Tang Heng.
At this moment, only one thought occupied Zhao Man’s mind: It’s over. My hopes for a reduced sentence by turning myself in are ruined.
Tang Heng had taken a shortcut to head home when he heard rustling sounds coming from the secluded alley. As soon as he walked in, he saw the corpse of an Alpha in tattered clothes, along with a fair-skinned young man who screamed “rich young master” at a glance. The young master looked heavily conflicted, then terrified upon seeing him, and finally thoroughly despairing. Looking at this scene, Tang Heng didn’t even have to guess to know what had happened.
“What to do now, young master?” his frivolous, cynical voice rang out.
Zhao Man hastily stood up and blurted, “He was trying to rape me! It was just self-defense! I wasn’t trying to run away either; I was just about to turn myself in, but you got here too fast.”
“Where did this spoiled little idiot come from?” Tang Heng scoffed. “Do you still think you’re in the Central District?”
You’re the fucking idiot. A public servant using such foul language? I should file a complaint against you. Despite his inner cursing, Zhao Man’s face remained the picture of trembling fear.
“Alright, don’t worry about it. This guy is an illegal, unregistered Alpha. I can handle this for you. Are you leaving it to me?” Tang Heng didn’t want to waste his breath. His patrol had just ended, and he only wanted to hurry back to his dorm.
“Take him, take him!”
Ha, truly a young master who knows nothing of the world’s hardships. There were many undocumented residents in the Outer Ring and the Sixth Ring. Committing crimes for the sake of points was commonplace, and if one accidentally lost their life in the process, they could only curse their own bad luck. However, the rule of thumb was ‘finders, keepers’—or rather, ‘killers, keepers’. Without permission, one could not seize someone else’s spoils of war. This was an ironclad rule of the base’s patrol squads.
Tang Heng stripped the optical computer from the dead Alpha’s wrist. After a quick inspection confirming this was an Alpha who had been dead for less than an hour, he hoisted the body onto his shoulder and said to Zhao Man, “Since you helped me make a small fortune today, come with me.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away.
Zhao Man waited until he reached the corner before slowly trailing behind. He followed from a distance, watching Tang Heng carry the corpse into a building labeled [West Sixth Ring, District 35 Police Station]. Only then did Zhao Man hurry over, squatting down against the wall outside the station to slowly sort through the information in his head.
This was a post-apocalyptic wasteland era. As for what caused the apocalypse, the original owner of this body didn’t know either. He was just the illegitimate son of a mildly wealthy family.
Oh, right—this was also an ABO world, and mental power was a thing here. He was a Beta. Although he had some mental power, it wasn’t high. Also low was his fertility rate. That’s right—even as a man, he could give birth.
Fuck.
Zhao Man could only console himself with the fact that he could now come out of the closet legally, morally, and perfectly in line with mainstream societal values. So that was nice.
This place was called Southwest Base 6. The base seemed massive, divided from the inside out into the Central District, six Ring Districts, and an Outer Ring.
The original owner was the illegitimate son of an Alpha from the Third Ring. His mother was an Omega. After raising the original owner until he was three, his mother was preparing to get married. He provided a sum for child support, paid half the penalty fine, and then dumped the kid at his father’s house.
The wasteland era had strict regulations regarding personal property. An illegitimate child was seen as a severe infringement upon the property rights of the legal spouse and legitimate children. Therefore, the moment the original owner’s existence was exposed, Father Zhao’s assets were completely redistributed.
Aside from deducting the spouse’s rightful share and child-rearing expenses, one-third of his personal assets was carved out as emotional compensation for his legal spouse, and he had to pay the remaining half of the penalty fine. From then on, aside from shouldering his family responsibilities, Father Zhao was required to pay his spouse a certain percentage annually as a “marriage breach of trust” penalty, all while solely bearing the financial burden of raising Zhao Man. After this ordeal, Father Zhao’s vitality was severely damaged, and he completely lost all financial power in the household.
Going by these memories, Zhao Man felt that Father Zhao would probably never regain his financial power in this lifetime.
Stripped of his financial power, Father Zhao was unwilling to spend a dime more on Zhao Man. Aside from meeting the bare minimum for food, clothing, and the base’s mandatory education, the original owner was essentially penniless. Terrified of losing his comfortable lifestyle, the original owner had initially wanted to find someone to marry in the Third Ring. However, as a “Triple-Zero” individual—zero property, zero mental power, and zero skills—he completely lost his mating rights in the Third Ring. The moment he came of age, Father Zhao gave him 500 points and kicked him out of the house.
After all, an adult who was single and not yet independent, but whose guardian owned property, would incur a 5% “Single Tax” on the property, alongside base citizenship taxes and various other miscellaneous Third Ring taxes, according to local regulations.
The 500 points were only given because of the base’s inheritance laws: when a child became independent, the guardian was legally required to distribute a certain portion of their wealth to them. A legitimate child could receive no less than one-third of the personal property, while an illegitimate child could receive no less than one-tenth of the remainder after the legitimate child’s share was deducted. Father Zhao’s one-tenth, after endless deductions, came out to exactly 500.
His other father transferred him another 50 points. The original owner knew he couldn’t survive in the Third or Fourth Ring on 550 points, so he headed for the Fifth Ring. However, he was scammed into going to the Sixth Ring instead. When the scammers prepared to kill him for his wealth, the original owner noticed in time and fled, only to accidentally flash his wealth again, nearly losing his virginity before losing his life entirely.
It was an experience so tragic that even an enemy’s heart would ache reading about it.
The original owner had left home with nothing but a bag and his optical computer. Inside the bag was a handful of nutrient fluids he had swiped from home. It was precisely these nutrient fluids and the clothes on his back that had exposed his wealth and drawn the fatal robbery. Fortunately, taking the attacker down with him could be considered getting his revenge.
Zhao Man hugged the backpack to his chest, feeling the hard shapes inside. Nutrient fluids… he wondered how much they were worth?
The original owner was a pauper raised in a pile of rich people. He had nothing to his name except high standards and a broad horizon. Yet, according to Zhao Man’s summary of those memories, outside the Fourth Ring, you needed absolutely everything except high standards.
Pure agony!!!
“What’s with that ugly expression!” The moment Tang Heng walked out, he saw the young master squatting in the corner, his entire face scrunched up.
Returning to normal in a split second, Zhao Man quickly caught up and walked beside him.
“What’s your name?”
“Zhao Man.”
“Where do you live?” A shake of the head.
“Got any points?” A shake of the head.
“Any plans?” A shake of the head.
Faced with three consecutive headshakes, Tang Heng immediately stopped in his tracks. “If you have nothing, then use your brain. Stop following me, I don’t have anything either.”
Zhao Man peeked at him, a thought sparking in his mind. “That unregistered criminal Alpha… don’t I get a reward for that?”
Tang Heng clicked his tongue. “Optical computer.”
Reaching out, Tang Heng fiddled with both their watches for a moment. Zhao Man watched as his balance increased by 10 points, bringing his total to 538 points.
A human life is only worth 10 points?
“He was an unregistered criminal Alpha, and he hadn’t been dead for long. Under normal circumstances, if you went to sell it, he’d only be worth 10 points. I used my own channels and sold it for 30. The rest is mine,” Tang Heng said self-righteously.
After hesitating for a long moment, Zhao Man nodded. Tang Heng thought for a second and added, “You’d better sell those clothes, that optical computer, and that bag, and swap them out for something ordinary. At a glance, you look like an easy mark just waiting to be robbed.”
The easy mark waiting to be robbed asked, “Could you take me there? For the sake of those 20 points?”
“I earned those 20 points fair and square,” Tang Heng said deadpan.
“Please!” Zhao Man looked up, trying his best to look as pitiful as possible.
Tang Heng raised an eyebrow. Even though he knew it was an act, he still said, “Let’s go.”
Following Tang Heng through a series of twists and turns, they arrived at an alleyway lined with shops on both sides. Some vendors had mats spread on the ground, some pushed small carts, some had set up makeshift stalls, and others operated out of windows carved straight into the walls.
Tang Heng led Zhao Man to a middle-aged man leaning out of a window to solicit customers. After a few brief words, a small, 1.5-meter-tall door opened beneath the window. Zhao Man ducked his head and followed Tang Heng inside.
Inside was a cramped little general store. Clothes, machetes, daggers, and hoes were piled high, filling the entire space.
“Uncle Nian, brought you some business,” Tang Heng said, pointing at Zhao Man.
Zhao Man stepped forward and extended his wrist. “Uncle Nian, I’d like to trade for some clothes and an optical computer.”
Uncle Nian reached out to feel the material of Zhao Man’s clothes before glancing at the optical computer. “Oho, a new model from the base. How do you want to sell it?”
“You can ask for just points, trade for some items, or a bit of both. It’s up to you,” Tang Heng explained.
“I want to swap the clothes, the bag, and the optical computer for inconspicuous ones. Give me the rest in points,” Zhao Man said.
Uncle Nian thought it over, then pulled a black optical computer from the cabinet behind him. “How about this one? Practically brand new. I’ll give you another twenty points. For clothes, I’ll give you six sets: three for the current season, and three for the Harvest Season. Plus this bag, three pairs of shoes, and I’ll throw in an extra two points. How does that sound?” Uncle Nian gathered the items as he spoke.
Zhao Man picked up the optical computer and tested it out using his inherited memories. He then checked the clothes. They were all matching sets: three sets of long pants and short sleeves, and three sets of jackets and long pants, along with three pairs of flat shoes. “Deal.”
Zhao Man went behind the curtain to change. Relying on his memory, he transferred his data to the new optical computer, then handed the old optical computer, clothes, and bag to Uncle Nian. Right in front of him, Uncle Nian handed Tang Heng a finder’s fee of eight points.
Zhao Man glanced at Tang Heng, grumbling inwardly: No wonder he agreed so easily when I begged him.
“Got anything else to sell?” Tang Heng asked.
Zhao Man gave him a look and asked, “Do they sell nutrient fluids here?”
Hearing this, Uncle Nian eyed the bag clutched to Zhao Man’s chest. “You’re selling nutrient fluids? What grade?”
“Medium-grade.”
“Let me see.”
Zhao Man pulled a vial from the bag and handed it over, but before Uncle Nian could take it, Tang Heng snatched it away. “Sell this nutrient fluid to me. 12 points a pop. How many do you have?”
Seeing Uncle Nian retract his hand and stand silently to the side, Zhao Man had no choice but to open his bag and fish them out one by one. In total, he pulled out 10 vials.
Watching him slowly dig them out one by one made Tang Heng grind his back teeth. Could you be any slower?
Tang Heng shoved the 10 vials of nutrient fluid into his waist pouch and transferred 120 points to Zhao Man.
Seeing the 120 points hit his account, Zhao Man looked at him and said, “Can we add each other’s contact info?”
“No.”
“I have two more vials of nutrient fluid. Medium-grade. I’ll sell them to you—can we add each other now?” Zhao Man countered.
In the end, Zhao Man successfully sold the remaining nutrient fluids for a total of 144 points and secured Tang Heng’s contact info.
Lying in a small, 20-credits-a-night motel room, Zhao Man took stock of his assets. Currently, his optical computer held 715 points and 80 credits. In this base, anywhere outside the Fourth Ring used “credits” as the standard daily purchasing currency. 1 point equaled 100 credits.
Staring out the window at a night sky as bright as day, Zhao Man once again felt the sheer absurdity of this world.
The Polar Day Season was this world’s summer season, and it lived up to its name. Following that would be the Harvest Season and the Dust Storm Snow Season.
Just thinking about the Dust Storm Snow Season filled Zhao Man with despair. He had no idea if these 700-odd points would be enough to help him survive a winter that sounded incredibly “stormy.”
