Chapter 1: The Gene Collapse Bullet and the World Tree
***
"The little yellow flowers in the story~"
"Have been drifting since the year I was born~"
"The childhood swing~"
"Sways, swaying along with memories all the way to now~"
The sound of a guitar accompanied by a clear, bright female voice traveled through the microphone to every corner of the bar. It was a pretty quiet lounge bar, not too many people, but almost everyone had come in pairs or small groups.
That said, if you looked hard enough, there was indeed someone who had come alone, like that dark-haired young man sprawled out on a sofa over there.
Su Ling picked up his glass and took a light sip. Whenever he felt cooped up and bored at home, he would come to a quiet lounge like this, order a single drink by himself, and slowly kill time listening to the music while nursing his glass.
As a young man whose parents had been traveling abroad year-round, leaving money behind but no real love, yet who had still managed to grow up just fine, Su Ling had already developed a pretty laid-back, go-with-the-flow attitude toward life.
Living alone wasn't so bad.
That thought had been with Su Ling for more years than he could count. No pointless socializing, no need to navigate complicated relationships, just doing whatever he felt like every single day.
Nothing to do? Read some web novels, play some games, spend a little money on something he liked, eat whatever he craved. That kind of life honestly wasn't bad at all. In fact, it was practically the definition of freedom.
"Hmm... almost time." Su Ling glanced at his phone, muttered to himself, then picked up his glass and downed the rest in one go.
Right on cue, the song 《Sunny Day》 he had requested was winding down toward its finale. The song was ending, so was his reason to stay.
Ding dong.
His phone chimed with a QQ notification. Su Ling unlocked the screen and tapped on it. It was from an online friend he had known for almost a year.
【TurtleBlackHead】: When are you logging on? Don't forget tonight's day-one run at midnight. We're definitely clearing it this time!
【Ace Striker of Trinity's Make-Up Work Club, Shirasu Azusa】: Already on my way home, chill out. I'll make it no problem.
【TurtleBlackHead】: If you're even 1 minute late, I'll slice your Lao Feng in half.
【Ace Striker of Trinity's Make-Up Work Club, Shirasu Azusa】: Absolutely no way I'm late. It's only 11, I'll call a ride home, 10 minutes tops.
【TurtleBlackHead】: You better be right.
......
Between old friends, there was never any need for formal goodbyes. Su Ling switched over to his ride-hailing app, called a car, stuffed his phone into his pocket, pushed open the door, and walked out of the lounge bar.
The late-autumn night breeze still carried a bit of a chill. Fresh out of the bar, Su Ling was caught off guard by the wind and shivered involuntarily, then stood by the roadside to wait for his ride.
But just then, a bone-deep, hair-raising chill suddenly crawled up his spine. He couldn't describe what it felt like exactly, the dread that spread up from the very bottom of his heart had already completely swallowed his mind whole.
His rational mind screamed at him to run. But his body refused to obey. And in the next instant, a gunshot rang out from somewhere in the distance.
Bang!
Even muffled by a silencer, the shot still rang out crisp and clear in the dead of night. A bullet travels faster than the sound it makes, by the time Su Ling heard the bang, the bullet had already buried itself in his body.
How... did this happen?
Bewilderment spread across Su Ling's eyes. But he was startled to find that being shot hadn't killed him instantly, the pain of impact had felt more like a needle prick. Just as he was beginning to feel relieved, however, a searing agony, as if every single cell in his body were being torn apart, suddenly swept through him all at once!
【...Gene Collapse Bullet detected.】
In an instant, everything ground to a halt. Even the agonizing pain in his body was completely frozen in place. The shadow of death receded like a tide, but Su Ling felt little of the relief that came with a narrow escape, because he knew: this was far from over.
【Performing data matching on the target...】
【Match complete.】
【Current matched gene: Silver Dragon.】
【Locking vital signs...】
【Lock complete.】
【Remaining survival time: 1.5 seconds.】
【Would you like to form a contract with the World Tree?】
【Upon forming the contract, you will have the opportunity to obtain the Silver Dragon Gene to complete your genetic structure. Once the gene is fully integrated, the collapse effect of the Gene Collapse Bullet will be nullified, and you will no longer be in danger of death.】
A chance to save myself, huh...
Su Ling took a slow, deep breath. He could tell that this entity calling itself the World Tree wasn't bluffing. That sensation, like his body was on the verge of dissolving, he hadn't forgotten it for even a second. If this unknown presence calling itself the 【World Tree】 hadn't shown up when it did, he'd probably already be a corpse.
Did he even have a choice? Obviously not. Sure, the repetitive grind of his everyday life was dull and pointless, but Su Ling had never once had any thoughts of ending it all. And right now, at this very moment, a road leading somewhere extraordinary... seemed to have appeared right in front of him.
This was a way to survive. And perhaps, also — the beginning of the end of a boring life!
【Would you like to form a contract with the World Tree?】
"Yes."
【Contractor 13085 — 'Su Ling' confirmed.】
【Initiating selection for the initial trial based on starting provisions...】
【Detected that Contractor 13085's matched gene is Silver Dragon.】
【Initial trial confirmed.】
【Destination: Planet Isha.】
【World Level: Lv31~Lv59.】
【Main Quest (Stage 1) Lv3~Lv59: Find the White Saintess.】
【Time Limit: 3 days.】
【Quest Reward: Silver Dragon Gene.】
【Failure Penalty: Loss of Contractor status.】
【Transfer commencing.】
The emotionless mechanical voice faded out, and before Su Ling could even react, a powerful pulling force yanked him off balance. Then came a sensation exactly like being thrown into a high-speed spinning drum washing machine, his stomach churned, his head went weightless, and his vision spun into a dizzy blur.
By the time his feet landed on solid ground again, he immediately spun around 3 more times on the spot, grabbed the nearest tree for support, and proceeded to throw up everything he had.
It wasn't just the alcohol from earlier, Su Ling felt like he'd heaved up his breakfast from that morning too. His vision was all warped and wobbly, and his whole body swayed back and forth like he was standing on a pirate ship.
"What in the actual hell kind of teleportation was that..." Su Ling took several deep breaths before he could barely pull himself together. Any self-respecting person who could go a full second without complaining about that kind of teleportation was definitely mute.
Every other story's teleportation was either a blink-and-you're-there deal, or at worst some blunt-force knockdown, but what the heck was this? Who in their right mind teleports someone by tossing them into a spinning washing machine drum? Were they not worried about scrambling someone's brains into a smoothie?
With the venting out of the way, Su Ling finally had the headspace to take a look at his surroundings. He appeared to be standing at a T-shaped intersection. The horizontal road stretched in both directions to some unknown destination, while the road behind him led deeper into a dense forest.
Which raised the question: should he go left, should he go right, or should he turn back and head into the forest?
Su Ling pinched his chin with one hand and furrowed his brow in thought. The 【World Tree】's mission details were frustratingly vague, just "find the White Saintess," no other clues. But he was completely new to this place, with no idea where anything was. So where was he even supposed to start looking?
【The personal status panel is now available. Contractors may check their status at any time via the panel.】
Oh? A personal status panel?
The main quest could wait, with a total time limit of 3 days, a few minutes here and there wouldn't make or break anything.
Su Ling thought about it for a moment and pulled up his personal panel. A long string of text immediately unfolded in front of him.
【Name: Su Ling (Reserve Contractor No. 13085)】
【Gender: Male】
【Race: Human】
【Strength: 4 (Note: average value for a normal adult is 5)】
【Agility: 3】
【Stamina: 4】
【Intelligence: 7】
【Charisma: 8】
......
As expected, nothing fancy. After all, he was still just an ordinary person. Even though he had now been chosen by the World Tree, he hadn't truly stepped into the realm of the extraordinary yet. Maybe once he obtained that 【Silver Dragon Gene】, his stats would change beyond recognition.
Closing the personal panel, Su Ling tried to pull more information from what the World Tree had given him, but unfortunately, that was truly the extent of it. The one thing that might have contained important clues, 【World Summary】, was grayed out and locked.
No summary available, so was he supposed to just wander around and get lucky?
Su Ling's gut told him that probably wasn't the case. The difficulty range for the main quest varied wildly, the minimum was only Lv3, and the time limit was 3 whole days. If the World Tree hadn't intentionally set him up to fail, then logically, there had to be some relevant clue somewhere near his starting location.
With his thoughts sorted out, Su Ling walked briskly to the center of the intersection. Sure enough, on the closest dead tree near the crossing, 2 directional signs were hanging.
One pointed toward the forest path and read 【Exit】. The other pointed toward the road on the right, and what it said was... 【Tainted Town】?