(Brain storage, please remember to retrieve it after reading...)
Blue Star, 2016 AD, Yanhuang Country, Zhou City.
Inside a rented room in an urban village.
Qin Hao, having finished a tiring day of work, was just about to lie down and rest when his phone rang.
He picked it up and saw it was his girlfriend of three years, Tang Xiaolin, calling.
So, without resting, Qin Hao quickly answered and said:
"Hello, Linlin, didn't you say you were going shopping with your best friend? Why are you calling me? Do you miss me again?"
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, then Tang Xiaolin's apologetic voice came through:
"Qin Hao, let's... break up!"
Hearing this, Qin Hao felt as if he had been struck by lightning, instantly stunned.
"Wh-why?" His voice was a bit dry, with a barely perceptible tremor.
"No reason, we're not suitable."
Tang Xiaolin's voice now sounded unusually calm, but her words were like a blunt knife, cutting into Qin Hao's heart, slice by slice.
"My mom doesn't agree. She said... you can't give me the future I want. She introduced me to someone whose family is very well-off, with a house, a car, and a high salary."
"Future? Just because I don't have money, a house, or a car?"
Qin Hao's voice unconsciously rose, carrying a hint of suppressed anger and a deep sense of powerlessness.
He knew Tang Xiaolin's mother had always looked down on him, a poor boy who grew up in an orphanage.
"Qin Hao, don't be like this. Can't you be more realistic?"
Tang Xiaolin sighed, "I don't want to live this kind of hopeless life anymore. Every time I go out with you, I have to consider if this is expensive, or if I can buy that. I'm tired, truly tired."
Qin Hao opened his mouth, wanting to retort, wanting to say he had been working hard, wanting to say he could give her a better life, but the words caught in his throat and he swallowed them back.
Yes, what could he guarantee with? Just the few thousand yuan he earned a month screwing in bolts?
Or this rented room that was only a dozen square meters?
"I understand."
Qin Hao's voice dropped, carrying a resigned hoarseness, "Xiaolin, I wish you... happiness."
After hanging up the phone, Qin Hao felt all his strength drain away. He slumped onto the bed, his eyes vacant.
Slowly, he recalled the bits and pieces of their three years together.
"Sigh! In the end, it was still defeated by reality."
After a long while, Qin Hao scoffed at himself, then came to terms with it and began to pull himself together.
Looking at his phone with little battery left, he picked up the charger, preparing to charge it.
But he noticed the socket was a bit loose.
So he reached out to straighten the socket. The poor-quality socket casing had already aged, and the edges were somewhat damaged.
The moment his finger touched the exposed copper plate inside the socket and the metal edge of his charging phone, a strong current surged through his entire body!
"Ugh ah—!"
Qin Hao felt an intense numbness and stinging throughout his body, his vision filled with flashing stars, and his body twitched uncontrollably.
The strong current prevented him from even crying out for help, and his consciousness gradually blurred, finally falling into a coma.
Qin Hao felt himself floating in an endless dark space.
After an unknown amount of time, a soft white light abruptly appeared deep within his consciousness.
Immediately after,
A series of cold, mechanical prompts rang out in his mind.
【Wanwu Fuzhi System (All Things Replication System) activating...】
【System activation successful, binding host: Qin Hao】
【Replication function enabled. Please check specific information yourself, host...】
Qin Hao suddenly opened his eyes, panting heavily, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
He was still in the posture he had been in when he was electrocuted, his body somewhat numb from being stiff for so long.
"I remember I was electrocuted, but I was lucky enough not to die? And those voices just now... what was that about?"
Shaking his still groggy head, Qin Hao tried to recall everything that happened before he lost consciousness.
The pain of the electric shock still lingered in his body, and the series of mechanical voices in his mind felt incredibly real.
He struggled to get up, immediately feeling soreness all over his body, especially his right hand, which had been struck by the current and was still slightly trembling.
He looked around. The rented room was still the same rented room; nothing had changed.
Had he been electrocuted into idiocy, causing him to hallucinate?
Qin Hao gave a self-deprecating laugh. Perhaps he had read too many web novels recently, and his thoughts during the day manifested in his dreams at night.
He rubbed his temples, his gaze inadvertently falling on the wallet on the bed.
Suddenly, an absurd thought popped into his mind.
Wait... what if that system was real?
Once this thought appeared, it grew like wild grass and could no longer be suppressed.
Qin Hao's heart pounded uncontrollably. He took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm.
Then, mimicking the plot in novels, he called out in his mind: "That replication system, are you there?"
The next moment, a virtual panel, visible only to Qin Hao, appeared before his eyes.
【Wanwu Fuzhi System (All Things Replication System) Host: Qin Hao, Age 21】
【Primary Replication Function Description: Can scan and replicate any non-living object it comes into contact with. Replicated items are identical to the original.】
【Each replication consumes Energy Points, depending on complexity and value.】
【Remaining Energy Reserve: 1 point】
【Hint: Energy Points can be replenished by contacting a power source. When energy accumulates to ten billion points, the next stage of functions will be unlocked. Specific details will be known upon unlocking.】
"So this isn't a hallucination, I really have a Wanwu Fuzhi System (All Things Replication System)?"
Looking at everything on the system panel, Qin Hao was overjoyed.
He quickly took out a fifty-yuan banknote from his wallet and, following the system's instructions, performed a scan first.
Soon, the system's prompt sounded:
【Target item: Fifty yuan Renminbi banknote. Replication requires 1 Energy Point.】
Qin Hao didn't hesitate and directly ordered the replication.
The next instant, he felt something extra in his hand. He looked down, and his pupils suddenly contracted, his breath catching.
Because in his palm, besides the original fifty yuan, there was now an identical fifty-yuan banknote.
Whether it was size, pattern, color, or even wear and tear marks, no difference could be seen.
"This... this..."
Qin Hao's lips trembled, too shocked to speak.
He picked up the newly appeared banknote, carefully examining it over and over. The real tactile sensation told him that this was absolutely not an illusion!
It really... replicated a fifty-yuan Renminbi banknote!
The Wanwu Fuzhi System (All Things Replication System) truly did it!
A huge surge of joy swept through his heart like a tsunami, washing away the sadness brought by the recent breakup.
Qin Hao fiercely pinched his thigh. The clear pain told him that none of this was a dream!
"I'm rich! I'm going to be rich!"
Qin Hao whispered, suppressing the wild ecstasy in his heart.
His eyes shone as he looked at the banknotes in his hand, as if he saw countless sums of money beckoning to him.
He could replicate countless amounts of money, buy big houses, luxury cars, and live a life he never dared to dream of before!
However, just as he was immersed in his beautiful fantasies, he suddenly noticed a detail.
He picked up both banknotes and carefully compared their serial numbers.
"The serial numbers... they're the same!"
Qin Hao's smile instantly froze. The two banknotes, the most crucial minting serial numbers, were completely identical!
What did this mean?
It meant that the money he replicated could not be circulated normally at all!
If used too much, it would easily be discovered by banks or interested parties. At that time, what awaited him would probably not be wealth and glory, but cold iron bars.
This discovery was like a bucket of cold water, dousing the flame of excitement that had just ignited within him from head to toe.
Qin Hao slumped onto the edge of the bed, looking at the two banknotes with identical serial numbers in his hand, his heart filled with helplessness.
To possess such a heaven-defying ability, yet be unable to use it to replicate banknotes, was simply the biggest joke in the world.