Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Skyfall System
Chapter 1: Skyfall System
“Come back early after spending some time at the library, and remember to get your father to come back too. After all, it’s a rare family day off, and we need to have lunch together on time.”
“No problem, Mom.”
Taking the backpack handed to him, Liam waved at the blonde middle-aged woman standing at the door and then walked down the sidewalk toward the nearby library.
The sky was a clear blue, with a few clouds drifting by. Since it was a holiday, many neighbors were taking advantage of the good weather to tend to their lawns or sit out in the sun. Liam greeted them as he walked by.
Looking at it all, Liam sighed inwardly. It had been ten whole years since he had crossed over.
Upon arriving at the library, Liam greeted the librarian and soon found his adoptive father, Mr. Lambert Liang, a middle-aged man with Chinese heritage, hunched over a table, writing. Mr. Liang was a popular novelist who had written several regional bestsellers.
Liam was adopted. His adoptive parents had told him the truth when he was in elementary school. Of course, there was no choice; a white couple couldn’t possibly have a pure Asian child.
For Liam, being hit by a meteor and mysteriously crossing over to find himself in the body of a one-year-old in a foreign country was a bizarre experience. But finding a couple who treated him as their own, and even having the same last name as in his previous life, was an immense stroke of luck. The ten years of care had made him consider them his true parents.
After greeting his adoptive father and relaying his adoptive mother’s instructions, Liam sat down at an empty seat to review his middle school textbooks. With the mind of an adult and the educational foundation of a college graduate from his previous life, Liam had always excelled in elementary school (though that wasn’t much to be proud of).
Following a normal path, he should have attended a good private middle and high school, then gone on to a top-tier university in the UK, ranking in the top ten. (As an ordinary person, even with two lifetimes and a bachelor’s degree from his previous life, he doubted he’d get into the likes of Oxford or Cambridge.)
All of this was the plan Liam had laid out for himself a week after being adopted, once he had figured out the situation.
Of course, once he started middle school, he could gradually use his knowledge of the future to make money. If everything went smoothly, he could achieve the financial freedom he had envied in his thirties by the time he graduated from university.
Just as Liam was diligently studying his middle school textbooks, striving for his future, a sudden "ding" echoed in his mind.
System activated—
Multiverse General Store opening—
Ding—
System first activation, Dimensional Gateway successfully opened—
Ding—
Newbie Task generated, please accept—
What’s going on???
Liam froze. He had thought his life would be a typical urban rebirth story, and the world had developed as he remembered. But why had a System suddenly appeared now?
In his previous life, as a regular college graduate working a white-collar job, he had read plenty of novels and knew about the common "golden finger" trope. But that was just fiction. After crossing over and having a complete family and a promising future, Liam had felt incredibly fortunate and never expected such a golden finger to fall into his lap.
But now…
The golden finger had really arrived.
Am I the legendary chosen one? Liam thought to himself, somewhat sarcastically.
Once he confirmed that the System was real, Liam, with the mind of an adult, quickly calmed down and began to examine the System.
The System was a crystalline remnant from the death of a crystal universe. It had crossed over to this universe, hitting Liam in his previous life (the meteor), and brought him to this world. Influenced by Liam’s physical body, soul, and the world around him, it had transformed into the System.
Due to the enormous energy consumption of bringing Liam over, the System had been dormant for ten years, absorbing energy until it was finally activated today.
Unfortunately, this System wasn’t as intelligent as the ones in novels. It couldn’t chat or make snide comments. For now, it only had a personal attribute panel and a task list, aside from explaining its origin.
Liam had to admit that the System had a modern, minimalist style, making all its content easily digestible at a glance.
However, the task at hand…
Could an 11-year-old really handle this?
The task bar read:
General Store Task - Opening
Content: Since it's a store, the first task is naturally to complete a transaction.
Hint: The Multiverse General Store, of course, needs to trade with various worlds, so please prepare for interdimensional travel. The newbie free world provided is Plants vs. Zombies.
Reward: The Multiverse General Store officially opens.
It looked like a typical interdimensional travel quest from a novel. The problem was, Liam's body was only 11 years old. Could he really complete a task that involved trading in another world? The Plants vs. Zombies world was far from peaceful and stable.
However, since he had this golden finger, ignoring it would be the worst move. Fortunately, the System gave Liam 24 hours to prepare. He decided to make some preparations and wait until his parents were asleep before starting the task, to avoid causing a commotion if he suddenly disappeared.
At this point, Liam had no desire to study his textbooks anymore. Instead, he found a few books on wilderness survival and started browsing. Although cramming at the last minute might not be very useful, it was better than doing nothing, right?
By noon, Lambert called Liam to go home together.
On the way back, Lambert asked, "Why are you suddenly reading books on wilderness survival today?"
"I feel a bit tired from studying, so I thought I'd switch to something different. Wilderness survival is pretty interesting", Liam replied, not wanting to worry his adoptive father.
"Ah, that's great. Studying all the time isn't a good thing. I just happen to have a brand-new set of camping gear. It's your birthday tomorrow, so I'll find it and give it to you as a birthday gift. Of course, I have other gifts prepared too." By this time, they had reached the front door, and Lambert was unlocking it as he spoke.
"When did you buy that? I don't remember us ever going camping."
"Well, that's because..."
"That's because your father likes to stay at home. He once promised to take the whole family camping, bought all the gear, but every time I suggested going out, he always had something to do. We never went camping, and all the gear has been gathering dust in the backyard storage room." Adoptive mother Mrs. Sally emerged from the kitchen with a tray, setting it down as she spoke to the two who had just come in.
"Now, you two should go wash your hands; dinner is almost ready."
After a hearty lunch, Liam and his adoptive father went to the backyard storage room to retrieve the camping gear and tidy up the storage room. ("Since it's a day off, you two should do some housework." "No problem, dear/mom.")
Liam took advantage of the afternoon to select some useful items from the gear and pack them in his backpack.
In the evening, after his parents were sound asleep, Liam sneaked downstairs to the kitchen. He packed a few boxes of frozen corn tortillas and some Lao Gan Ma hot sauce into his backpack. Then, he returned to his bedroom and activated the task.
A blue light flashed, and Liam vanished from his room.
At the other end of the hallway, his adoptive parents slept deeply, unaware of their son's disappearance. In fact, the entire neighborhood was asleep under the moonlight. No one saw an owl drop a parchment letter into the mailbox of Liam's house.
(End of Chapter)
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