New World, New Life

[____] <—— Dear readers, please put your brain in this box before proceeding to the next part. With love. —<strong> Handsome Author.

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Ringgggg—

A shrill, grating ring tore Lin Yun from the comfortable abyss of sleep. He swatted blindly at the source, an old-fashioned clock perched precariously on his nightstand. He fumbled for the switch, and silence was immediately restored.

A moment later, Lin Yun's consciousness gradually returned, and his mind began to clear up. He shouldn't have had an analog alarm clock in his room!

Disoriented, Lin Yun blinked his eyes open. The sterile white ceiling of his high-rise apartment was replaced by a cracked expanse of pale yellow, adorned with a single, flickering fluorescent light.

"This…" Panic clawed at his throat as his gaze swept across the room. Gone were the sleek lines of his minimalist furniture and the soft hum of his climate control system.

This wasn't his haven of modern convenience. This was… well, it was definitely not 2024!

A worn wooden desk, littered with half-completed math textbooks and a dusty calculator, dominated the cramped space.

A single, flickering light bulb cast long shadows across the bare walls, devoid of any posters or decorations. This wasn't his apartment. This was a teenager's bedroom. A teenager who, it seemed, was him.

Lin Yun scrambled out of bed, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. The worn floorboards creaked beneath his bare feet, a stark contrast to the plush carpeting he was accustomed to.

His reflection in the dusty mirror above the desk confirmed the horrifying truth.

Staring back wasn't the face of a weary 30-year-old programmer, haunted by lines of code and fueled by lukewarm instant ramen. It was the face of a stranger, someone he hadn't seen in over a decade – himself. 18 years old, cocky, and utterly bewildered.

He wasn't in his sleek, high-rise apartment overlooking the neon-drenched cityscape of Hangzhou. This was different. This was simpler. A single glance at the worn-out calendar confirmed it – June 1st, 2008.

"Azure Star?" Lin Yun murmured as the name tugged at the edges of his memory.

The realization dawned on him — this wasn't Earth but a parallelled world, a near-identical twin planet. Here, technology had taken a different path. The advancements that had propelled Earth into a digital utopia hadn't reached Azure Star yet.

The internet had only recently arrived in people's homes, operating at the abysmal speed of a 56k dial-up modem. 

Unlike Earth, where computers were ubiquitous, here they remained the domain of government organizations and high-level businesses. Only the exorbitantly wealthy could afford them for personal use.

Meanwhile, mobile phones were bulky and expensive luxuries, with most people still relying on landlines.

"This feels like the 90s on Earth," Lin Yun muttered in confusion.

Furthermore, the giant conglomerates he knew from his past life were absent. Similar companies existed, but they weren't exact replicas.

The history of this world diverged sharply from Earth's. While wars had occurred, they weren't on the scale of World Wars 1 and 2. Instead, countries focused on competition in agriculture and culture. It was a relatively peaceful world.

This, perhaps, explained the lagging development in technology, particularly electronics and information technology.

Lin Yun sat back on the bed, calmly assimilating the information overload. 

As a veteran programmer, he couldn't help but see a golden opportunity. Here, he could leverage his knowledge to build the technology empire he'd always dreamt of in his previous life.

[Ding! Technology Library System has been activated!]

Following by a sudden chime, a flash of blue light materialized, startling Lin Yun out of his reverie. He looked up, heart pounding, to see a translucent screen hovering mid-air in front of him. 

Emblazoned across it in glowing text were the words: Technology Library System. Below it, detailed parameters of his body were listed.

[Host: Lin Yun

Authority Level: 1

Next Level: 0/10,000

Age: 18

Strength: 67

Constitution: 73

Charisma: 81

*The maximum score for humans is 100.*

Wealth: 53 Yuan

Technology Points (TP): 0]

Before he could react, a wave of information flooded Lin Yun's mind.

The information overload subsided, leaving behind a set of guidelines. The Technology Library System, or TLS for short, was a built-in system from a futuristic world. It functioned on a technology point system. He could earn points through the income earned in this new reality.

These points, in turn, could be used to purchase anything from basic coding languages to futuristic technologies from the vast library within the TLS.

But there was a catch. It wouldn't be directly injected into his mind like those novels he'd read before. Once he purchased a technology, the TLS would activate a Deep Dive Learning Space during his sleep. 

Essentially, his mind would be uploaded with the knowledge, a sort of accelerated crash course.

"How convenient." Lin Yun stared at the screen, a mixture of skepticism and a spark of excitement warring within him.

This was a whole new game. He could leverage this system to make a fortune in this tech-backward world. He could become a pioneer, a tech god amongst mere mortals!

Lin Yun forced himself to calm down. He needed to assess the situation. 

Last night, as usual, he'd been stuck late at the notorious "black company," pulling overtime. All he remembered was taking a nap. Now, here he was...

Suddenly, a female voice, long forgotten, called from outside the door, shattering Lin Yun's train of thought. 

"Son, are you awake?"

A tremor ran through him. It was his mother's voice.

In his previous life, lost in the endless code after another late night, Lin Yun had been oblivious to the car accident that claimed his parents. He only learned of their tragic passing the following day, through his tearful sister.

After graduation, Lin Yun threw himself into his job, rarely returning to his hometown. Distance and the relentless demands of overtime conspired to keep him away.

A new grad eager to prove himself, he poured his dedication into work, neglecting everything else in his wake.

Lin Yun's memories flooded back, revealing a startling truth. His parents here were identical to those in his previous life. Even his sister, 4 years older, was a perfect mirror image of her counterpart. Their professions and personalities remained unchanged.

The realization that his family mirrored his past life gave Lin Yun a newfound sense of belonging to this new world.

Lin Yun inhaled deeply, forcing his emotions down, and walked towards the door.

As he creaked it open, a familiar face beamed at him. It was his mother, Wang Chulan, her gaze filled with warmth and concern.

"What's wrong, son?" she asked gently, noticing the telltale redness around his eyes.

Lin Yun forced a smile. "Nothing, Mom. Just... tired. What do we have this morning?"

"Well, porridge and century eggs," Wang Chulan said with a knowing smile. "Do you want something else?"

"No, that's perfect," Lin Yun replied, the smile reaching his eyes this time.

"Alright. Go freshen up." Wang Chulan said gently.

A wave of gratitude washed over him as Lin Yun watched his mother turn and head back down the hall. This world, this chance encounter with his family... it felt real. Maybe, just maybe, this time things could be different.

Lin Yun splashed water on his face, the coolness a shock to his system. Stepping before the mirror, he met his reflection with a scrutinizing gaze. It was a perfect echo of his past, his youthful face staring back, down to the familiar mole on his cheek.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Yun raised both hands to scrub his face. "Since I've been given a second chance, I'll make up for all the regrets."