16. You only have one life

When something transcends the ordinary in life, it tends to be quite romantic.

Like an adult's fairy tale.

The Hogwarts acceptance letter you never got as a child suddenly doesn't seem so far away.

However, this vicious news was like a bucket of cold water quenching many people's enthusiasm.

Only at this time could everyone realize that the world isn't as wonderful as they imagined.

The world might change, but human nature doesn't.

Future technology is too valuable, not to mention the materials and structures of bionic mechanical limbs; just the technology for connecting mechanical limbs to neurons is enough to drive many people crazy.

This is real future technology, and rather than hoping for extraterrestrial tech, it's better to directly plunder what's close at hand.

And most crucially, those ordinary transmigrators who had returned, despite having mechanical limbs, were still no match for some of the armed organizations.

The victim died violently at home, stabbed in the heart from under the ribcage with a dagger.

Compared to mechanical limbs, this dagger had no technical significance.

This is not a fairy tale, but rather it feels more like a cynical adult fable.

Suddenly, many transmigrators who had impulsively revealed their identities due to the hype began to feel afraid.

Some who returned with mechanical limbs worried they too might be targeted.

Other transmigrators like Qing Chen, who didn't have mechanical limbs, were relatively okay, but who knew if others might covet something else?

Now, there were even speculations in the Japanese media that perhaps by killing a transmigrator, one could take over their qualification to transmigrate.

This speculation was insane!

Before it's proven feasible or not, trust between people would likely be completely erased.

Nan Gengchen, who once was eager, finally stopped thinking about where to take Qing Chen to eat.

All Nan Gengchen could mutter quietly was, "It's not easy to get a chance to change fate, why has it suddenly become a horror survival game."

It could be said that Nan Gengchen and Qing Chen were in the same boat, both suffering from fathers addicted to gambling, causing chaos at home.

Nan Gengchen fared slightly better, at least his parents hadn't divorced, and the house wasn't sold off; his day-to-day life was secure, just without any pocket money.

Qing Chen was worse off; he had lost everything.

Typically, during class gatherings, no one would call them, because they couldn't even afford the fee to play pool.

Nan Gengchen had a girl he liked, but without any spending money, he felt somewhat inferior and dared not speak to her.

So both were quite eager to make money. Nan Gengchen even tried writing stories to submit to magazines for some article fees, but it was like a stone sunk in the sea.

Seeing Nan Gengchen discouraged, Qing Chen instead felt it was a good thing, "You saw the news too. I mean, if—if you ever transmigrated, be extra careful and don't talk carelessly once you're back."

"Yeah, I got it," Nan Gengchen nodded, feeling somewhat emotional, "Why are we so poor, man?"

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, "While others' dads were working hard, your dad was playing cards."

Though Nan Gengchen complained about his father, he felt uncomfortable with Qing Chen's remarks and retorted, "What about your dad?"

Qing Chen responded, "Oh, my dad was putting in great effort playing cards."

Nan Gengchen: "..."

The two fell into a moment of silence, and after a while, Nan Gengchen asked, "How did your dad get locked up?"

"I reported him. I hope he can seriously reflect on himself in there," Qing Chen answered calmly.

Nan Gengchen was stunned momentarily: "Maybe I should report my dad too?"

Qing Chen: "???"

Just then, the bell for class rang.

The second class in the morning was English, but the teacher who entered was the geography teacher.

With "Foreign Language" in the name of the Los Angeles Foreign Language School, it certainly places emphasis on foreign languages.

English teachers hold a higher status, and virtually every English teacher for each class is outstanding. The school also employs foreign teachers, starting from middle school, students have a class taught by a foreign teacher every week.

Moreover, several classes in the school even offer specialized courses like 'Japanese' and 'German,' completely excluding English.

The middle-aged geography teacher, Chen Yandong, announced from the podium, "Your homeroom Teacher Du is off due to some matters, so we are switching to geography for the second class, and English will be moved to the third class tomorrow morning."

On hearing this, Qing Chen was momentarily stunned. Maybe the day's events had been too shocking, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the homeroom teacher's leave of absence wasn't so simple.

Could Teacher Du Yihong also be a transmigrator?

But if there were so many transmigrators concentrated in Los Angeles, how many would there be nationwide?

That's not right!

Qing Chen lowered his head so others wouldn't see his pupils, which suddenly contracted sharply.

Everything that happened today, like scenes from a movie, flashed through his mind—all the information summarized, categorized, and sorted in an instant.

The second group of transmigrators who just had the countdown appear on their arms.

The little girl panicking after learning she would transmigrate, interviewed with her parents by her side.

The transmigrator livestreamer coming out to sell products on air.

Pieces of information, like leaves falling from the sky, and Qing Chen plucked the "useful" leaves from the air with ease.

The next moment, Qing Chen looked up in astonishment. The transmigrators he discovered today seemed to be distributed in a spotty fashion, concentrated in more than a dozen cities.

Even residents of certain cities expressed their confusion online as to why they hadn't seen a single transmigrator in their city.

In other words, the distribution of transmigrators could be very concentrated!

Concentrated in just over a dozen cities!

The analysis was too overwhelming, and Qing Chen couldn't help feeling dizzy.

At five forty in the afternoon, after the last class ended, Qing Chen skipped class once again.

Before leaving, the class representative called out loudly, "Qing Chen, tomorrow is the deadline for the book fee, don't forget."

"Got it," Qing Chen waved his hand.

Then, under Nan Gengchen's envious gaze, he quickly left the classroom.

In the twilight of early evening, students who had just finished class rushed to the cafeteria for dinner, waiting for evening self-study to begin.

Meanwhile, Qing Chen swiftly moved through the crowd, climbing over the fence at a corner of the school campus.

He went home, changed out of his school uniform into clothes he didn't wear often, and then left with a duckbill cap.

He searched for the address of Silver Run Central Garden on his phone; it was about six kilometers from the school—the residential area where Huang Jixian lived.

For some reason, he felt an urge to go there, although he didn't know which building or unit Huang Jixian was in. He just wanted to have a look, to find out what had happened to Huang Jixian after his return and what he had encountered in the Inner World.

Qing Chen didn't have extra money for a taxi; he had only fifty cents in his pocket, which was all he had until his next chess game with Elder Zhang at the Fortune Supermarket.

He decided to run.

In the past, Qing Chen didn't place much importance on physical exercise; he just participated in the school's routine exercise.

But now, he suddenly realized that he had to work out. To face a dangerous world, he must have a strong physique.

You must understand.

In Chinese characters, the word for "life" has never had a homophone. Perhaps this itself suggests that you only have one life.

It must be cherished.