1 Reincarnation

Jingyue Residential Area near Donghu City's Suburbs.

Inside a fully furnished house. A table carved of finest wood sat in the center of the room, surrounded by three wooden chairs.

However, one of those seats were empty.

Before, every single place had been filled, but now only two were occupied.

One of the seated people was clothed in a white fabric shirt, drenched in sweat. The shirt seemed excessively wet, and somehow stains started to form from it.

However, the young man seemed to not care at all. His eyes were tightly shut.

The person in the other seat was a woman, a sensual beauty whose lush, raven-black hair grazed over her shoulders.

She was dressed in an elegant nightshirt outfit, with a large apron.

She was 172 centimeters tall, with a slender build. Her ample bosom looked like it would burst out of her bodice at any time. Her overall appearance was attractive and gave the impression of being graceful and kind.

After about a minute, the young man's consciousness gradually awakened, gingerly opening the eyes which had been squeezed shut.

The first thing he saw was a woman preparing five dishes and a bowl of soup on the table, all of them look delicious.

The young man cannot believe what he was seeing, then pinched his thigh forcefully, but as he expected, it hurts.

"What's going on… how is it that I have not died? I vividly remember that I was killed by a truck, how can I still be alive! Somehow my body is not in pain… and I do not even feel the slightest discomfort? How is this happening?"

He knew nothing about what was going on. Nobody would help him even if he got angry.

Then, his first priority should be... looking for clues.

But then, the young man who thought this way suddenly realized that something was wrong. That was because the scene before him now was completely similar.

"Is something wrong, Yuan?"

The woman asked a question. The young man seemed did not know how to respond. As it was, there were far too many things he did not understand, so his thought processes short-circuited.

Then, several memories ran through his mind, like being hit by loose change that fell from the sky, but in the end the young man found his answer.

"Yali?"

Mo Yuan could only stare dumbly at the woman, who was sitting in front of him, waiting for her reply.

"Yes? Are you all right?"

Zhao Yali's beautiful face drew close to Mo Yuan's as she studied him. A faint fragrance entered his nostrils. The scent seemed to restore Mo Yuan's ability to think, and his mind, which had been hitherto out of commission, slowly returned to normal.

"No… nothing is wrong… no, nothing."

This confirmed his speculation. There was no mistaking it, he was reincarnated as Luo Yuan in Epoch of Twilight, an apocalyptic world.

☣ ☣ ☣

Mo Yuan placed his thumb on his chin, and looked at Zhao Yali who was worriedly eating. She was looking at the empty seat beside her filled with nostalgia.

"I see. So that's the reason for her to become like this."

Mo Yuan laughed softly at himself for forgetting that Chen Weiqiang, the boyfriend of Zhao Yali was missing, and maybe dead by now. Based on his memories, Chen Weiqiang died of being eaten by a huge King Rat snake.

He did not want to let Zhao Yali and Chen Weiqiang's memories of their golden days stay here to be a painful reminder of the past. Yet, contrary thoughts wormed their way through Mo Yuan's heart.

Mo Yuan had always decided things based on what would be good to other people. Mo Yuan might have been foolish, but this mainly gave him joy.

But now that he was in another world, for the first time, Mo Yuan thought to exercise some changes, he will be now deciding for his own good.

"...I'll make Zhao Yali as my woman then."

Mo Yuan muttered to himself as he decided. He intended not to save Chen Weiqiang, and take Zhao Yali for himself.

But, Mo Yuan could not simply ignore Chen Weiqiang without feeling bad about it. After all, he was also like a family to the previous Luo Yuan.

After finalizing his decision, Mo Yuan nodded, convincing himself that he had chosen a logical choice. Then, he reached out and grasped the bowl of soup, tasting it.

"It's really been a while since I've tasted something like this. Although this Old Duck Soup was the favorite of the previous Luo Yuan, I did not expect it to be this good."

As the Mo Yuan thought of this, he clutched his spoon and tasted the other dishes.

"How is it? Did I add too much salt?"

In contrast to Zhao Yali's nervous question, Mo Yuan seemed to be overflowing with joy. He gave her a glittering smile.

"But of course! It's delicious, it were made by you after all. I kind of envy Bro Qiang though."

Zhao Yali seemed to have recovered some of her energy, and with a somewhat more energetic laugh, she replied:

"Stop flattering me! They're just regular dishes. Have some more if they're so delicious."

The two of them spoke with the voices of joy, but compared to the voice of Mo Yuan, Zhao Yali's words lacked force, or perhaps it could be said that they lacked energy.

The topics they discussed often revolved around their jobs, and sometimes about Chen Weiqiang.

After about ten minutes, the torrent of words that flowed from them dwindled to a trickle.

"...I'm sorry for making you listen to my whining. I can't help but worry about Chen Weiqiang."

"Don't worry about it, Yali. I made you cook for me despite me doing nothing, so listening to your worries is only expected. I'll hear you out, no matter how many you have."

"Ah, I'm grateful for that, Yuan. I'm glad we met a friend like you."

Zhao Yali then took out her phone, dialing the number of her boyfriend, but to her dismay, it did not connect at all.

A pained expression crossed Zhao Yali's face as she was not able reach Chen Weiqiang.

Seeing Zhao Yali's worried reaction, Mo Yuan felt bad about his decision.

Feigning, Mo Yuan asked her, "Is something the matter?"

"His phone has been switched off."

The atmosphere now was filled with quiet solemnity.

"Don't worry about it too much, Bro Qiang might call you by in the meantime, he must have been entertaining his colleagues after the inspection. He might have passed out by now, with his poor alcohol tolerance, I do not know how long he would last. "

Mo Yuan sighed gently, as though he did not want Zhao Yali to sense the regret in his heart.

"That's true. His alcohol tolerance is the worst. All it takes is a bottle of beer to knock him out!" Zhao Yali's face softened, the anxiety was replaced by relief.

Just as Mo Yuan was contemplating these matters, he heard a beeping sound coming within his head.

He could not help but laugh at the strange situation he found himself in. After all the shocks and surprises he had received so far, this was hardly worth panicking about. It was frightening how well he had adapted to his condition.

In the corner of Mo Yuan's vision, only he could see various indicators which showed his stats.

『Character: Luo Yuan (Mo Yuan)』

『Occupations:』

「Foreign Trade Sales Representative, Qimei Trading Co. Ltd.」

『Inventory:』

『Level: 3』

『Experience: 900/1200』

『Attributes:』

「Energy: 10」

「Dexterity: 10⬆ 11」

「Physique: 10⬆ 11」

「Intelligence: 10⬆ 21」

「Sensitivity: 10」

「Determination: 10⬆ 23」

『Skills:』

「Science: 1⬆ 48, Math: 14⬆ 64, Mandarin: 19, English: 16⬆ 53, Finance: 17, Programming: 9, Dancing: 1, Painting: 3⬆ 42, Gaming: 6⬆ 58, Negotiating: 9, Socializing: 7⬆ 25, Cooking: 3⬆ 10, Driving: 1, Hand-to-hand Combat: 4」

『Special Skills:』

「Identification, Predation」

『Pending Attribute Points: 0』

『Pending Skill Points: 4』

『Pending Missions:』

「Level F: Become the Assistant Regional Manager of the Foreign Trade Department at Qimei Foreign Trading Co. Ltd. in 12 months (Cancelled)」

『Optional Missions:』

「 Level F+: Investigate the reason of Chen Weiqiang's disappearance in 5 days (Accept/Decline)」

Seeing this, Mo Yuan wanted to scold himself for having forgotten that the previous Luo Yan do have a system.

He then noticed something.

"How come the system have new features now? I can't remember it being this way before. It upgraded?"

"What are you thinking about? Am I boring to you?"

Mo Yuan stopped his pondering, then turned to the interrupting Zhao Yali.

Mo Yuan told himself that he had to leave this at the back of his mind. After the important things were taken care of, he could agonize over it later.

"...No, that's not right. I'm just tired."

"Perhaps you should get yourself a girlfriend. Don't think about work all the time. Is there anyone that you like? Do you need my help?"

Zhao was mainly concerned of Mo Yuan.

"That… er, well, I'm okay. No worries"

After several exchange of words, Zhao Yali eventually rose from her seat.

Seeing Zhao Yali rise, Mo Yuan followed suit.

"Let me help you."

"You'll break the bowls. Just go back to your games,"

"I could not remain so... seeing a pretty lady cleaning it by herself."

Mo Yuan took the bowls from Zhao Yali's hands, cleaning it himself.

Surprise flashed across the face of Zhao Yali.

After finishing all the cleaning works, Mo Yuan went to his room, and laid down on bed.