YA Ch1: Transmigration
Click, Click.
In the university dormitory, Lu Yu was swiftly typing on his keyboard, his ten fingers almost forming afterimages.
He had been making money writing novels online lately and was currently writing a scene where the protagonist was exacting revenge and killing his enemies. The built-in keyboard of his laptop was making loud crackling noises, as if it would shatter any moment.
Suddenly, his phone on the desk rang.
Lu Yu glanced at the annoying and glaring “Call from Cousin,” and silenced it with a tap.
A roommate poked his head out from the desk next to him: “Lao Lu, you should get a better keyboard. If you want to become a god through writing, you need divine tools first, right?”
Without looking, Lu Yu pushed his roommate’s head back: “Only weaklings rely on external things. True masters can kill with a mere flower or leaf.”
Just as he was about to continue typing, his silenced phone, now face down, buzzed once, then again, and then vibrated non-stop, almost bouncing off the desk.
Lu Yu grabbed it and saw messages popping up rapidly on the screen.
[Lu Yu! Why aren’t you answering my calls?]
[Do you know how heartbroken Uncle and Aunt are? How can you be so heartless!]
[The Lu family raised you for eighteen years, providing you with luxury and food. Instead of being grateful, you compete with your younger brother for favor. And now you act like this, what are you trying to show?]
Lu Yu frowned as he read each message, then quickly replied:
[供’ is a verb, and you used the wrong form of ‘的’ ‘地’ and ‘得] 1In the context of Lu Yu’s response, he points out that “供” (which means “to provide” or “to support” and is a verb) should be correctly associated with “地” (de) to form an adverbial phrase describing how something is done.
After sending the message, he blocked the person.
The world quieted down, but his train of thought for writing was also interrupted.
Lu Yu clicked his tongue irritably, ran his hand through his hair, and stared at the last line he had written:
[The identity of the merman hybrid was revealed. He was no longer the exemplary student everyone praised, but an outcast, a freak, to be eliminated by all.]
This was about the novel’s protagonist, Lu Dongdong. Lu Dongdong was originally an ordinary high school student, but one day his identity was exposed: he was not human, but a merman blending in with humans. From then on, he was betrayed by all, with the world as his enemy.
Just like Lu Yu, who had lived in the Lu family for eighteen years but was never truly part of it. Once that facade was torn down, the fake warmth vanished into thin air.
Clenching his fingers, Lu Yu took a deep breath and continued writing:
[He wanted and deserved to tear apart this hypocritical world. He didn’t need warmth or pity. He was the god of the seven seas and the king of hybrids. His claws could shred mountains, and his tail could stir up colossal waves. Tremble, foolish and insignificant humans!]
“Ding dong dong,” the chat app suddenly chimed, a pleasant sound reserved for special contacts. The flashing chat box was labeled “Idol.”
The idol had sent a picture, courteously stating that any dissatisfaction could be corrected.
The picture depicted a chubby chibi merman. With round little hands holding a blunt trident and a glowing blue tail so short it could barely curl into a hook, it was adorably cute.
Lu Yu, who had been immersed in his writing mood with a grim face, found his mouth uncontrollably stretching into a grin, his entire face twisting.
Seeing this, his roommate shrank back in fear: “Lao Lu, are you okay?”
Without adjusting his expression, Lu Yu pointed at the screen with a trembling finger: “Ming Yan…”
It was as if he suddenly snapped out of it, feeling that the computer screen couldn’t do justice to the beauty of the picture. Lu Yu quickly found his tablet, opened it, and raised it up like the baboon holding up the newborn lion king in a cartoon, proud and reverent: “Ming Yan drew a picture for me! He must like me too.”
The roommate, faced with the tablet shoved in his face, was speechless: “Didn’t you pay him three hundred yuan to draw this character design for your novel?” It was a straightforward business deal, nothing to do with liking.
Lu Yu slapped his roommate’s messy head: “What do you know? He’s a rich young master. Three hundred yuan is nothing to him. Have you ever seen him take other commissions? No!”
The roommate scratched his head: “When you put it that way…”
“Besides, this isn’t just any picture. I wrote it, he drew it. This is practically our child,” Lu Yu declared confidently. “With our child already here, would he reject my pursuit? No way!”
Roommate: “Is that how it works?”
Lu Yu shoved the tablet into his roommate’s arms: “Here, hold your little nephew. He’ll grow up and honor you.”
The roommate dumbfoundedly held the freshly created two-dimensional nephew, watching Lu Yu excitedly bounce around the dorm, even doing a backflip with a running start.
He knew Lu Yu had liked Ming Yan for a long time and that getting a response from that aloof and handsome art school idol was rare, but he still couldn’t understand Lu Yu’s overly dramatic excitement.
“Lu Yu!”
The exhilarated Lu Yu heard his roommate’s shout.
The next second, everything went black, and all sounds disappeared.
What was happening?
Could he have landed on his head and damaged it?
Lu Yu felt like he was thrown into a tumble dryer, being tossed and turned countless times. His head was squeezed and bumped, and his neck was twisted and stretched.
“Ha!” The intense pain forced Lu Yu to let out a hoarse cry, struggling violently in the dark suffocation, and suddenly opened his eyes.
He saw a richly decorated ceiling and felt a thick, soft carpet beneath him.
Lu Yu was sure that his university, notorious for its poor and stingy reputation, would never put up such an extravagant ceiling in the dormitory.
Something was very wrong.
Lu Yu tried to spring up like a carp… but failed.
His body felt extremely heavy, completely lacking its usual strength. His limbs responded to his brain’s commands with nearly a second’s delay, as if they were rusted.
“Damn it, who kidnapped me?” Lu Yu had to prop himself up and slowly sit up while looking around and shouting, “I’m telling you, kidnapping me is useless. I’ve already cut ties with the Lu family; you won’t get a cent from them.”
No one responded.
This was a luxuriously decorated mansion, and the current location seemed to be a study. The walls on both sides were floor-to-ceiling built-in bookshelves, and the entire wall behind him was projecting a news broadcast on a loop.
[Recently, Shen Yu Technology’s IPO plans were forcibly halted, and the domestic market still lacks confidence in Shen Yu Technology. The competition in the smart brain personal assistant sector is fierce, and Shen Yu Technology hasn’t released a new hit product in a year. Many believe that Lu Yu has exhausted his creativity…]
“Nonsense!” Lu Yu grabbed his slipper and threw it at the screen, “I just wrote a hit that’s about to…”
Wait a minute, what is Shen Yu Technology?
He was just a sophomore and had never started any tech company.
Looking closely at the screen, the news showed the reception area of a company called “Shen Yu Technology,” with a small window displaying a photo of a successful businessman in a suit. It was an older version of himself. The bottom right corner of the screen showed the date: “November 9, 2033.”
2033!
It must be a joke. It should be 2023 now, and he had just entered the first semester of his sophomore year. It would take ten years to reach 2033.
These kidnappers were really bored, even playing escape room games with him. Lu Yu scoffed and turned to check the furnishings in the room, but he was highly alert. If they had gone to such lengths, it was definitely not an ordinary kidnapping.
Then, he saw a mirror.
Lu Yu stared in disbelief at the mature and haggard version of himself in the mirror, wiping away the dark circles under his eyes and the scruffy stubble: “If this is makeup, the technology is way too advanced.”
His breathing suddenly became rapid, and he yanked off the wine-stained pajamas, revealing a chest marred with fireworks-shaped scars.
This was Lu Yu’s body, but not his eighteen-year-old one.
He had traveled through time, ending up ten years in the future.
As a well-read online novelist, Lu Yu knew that traveling ten years into the past was a golden opportunity, but traveling ten years into the future was pure misfortune. He had less information than others and had lost his young and strong body!
“One somersault and I’ve crossed time and space. Even Sun Wukong wasn’t this amazing. Ten years of my youth, gone with one flip.” Looking at his only remaining abdominal muscle and the vanishing mermaid lines, Lu Yu couldn’t help but feel sorrowful.
As a strong alpha male, he couldn’t even bring himself to take out the trash without having at least six-pack abs!
“Ding dong ding dong!”
The doorbell suddenly rang, pressing urgently twice. The agitated Lu Yu immediately fell silent, standing upright in alert.
Before Lu Yu could go to the door, the person outside started entering the password. After a few beeps, the door clicked open, and a square-faced man in a black suit vest and white gloves walked in.
The man was visibly taken aback upon seeing Lu Yu: “Mr. Lu? I’m the butler of this building. Your husband called, saying you seemed to have fainted and gave us permission to come in and check on you. Are you alright now? Do you need us to take you to the hospital?”
Lu Yu didn’t quite understand the term “your husband,” but it was obviously not something he could ask about: “I just have low blood sugar and fell. It’s nothing.”
The apartment butler breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, nodding: “Alright, then I won’t disturb you. Please confirm on the smart brain.”
Smart brain?
Lu Yu raised an eyebrow. The future world was indeed advanced. He had an idea of what a smart brain was; it should be a more advanced electronic device than a phone or computer. But the problem was, where was it?
Seeing his lack of action, the apartment butler glanced at Lu Yu’s left wrist in confusion.
Following the butler’s gaze, Lu Yu saw a round device on his left wrist that looked like a smartwatch. He mimicked pressing the watch face and mumbled, “Confirm…”
A stream of light flashed across the watch face, emitting the voice of a young man: “Father, are you confirming that the butler has checked in and the alarm should be deactivated?”
Lu Yu breathed a sigh of relief: “Yes.”
“Alright, Father.” The smart brain responded, connecting with the butler’s smart brain for confirmation.
The butler’s mouth twitched, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating.
Lu Yu relaxed and assumed the demeanor of the master of the house: “Is there a problem?”
The butler smiled: “No, it’s just that your smart brain’s way of addressing you is quite unique.”
Lu Yu waved his hand, ready to close the door: “What’s the big deal? My phone also calls me Father.” Every time he got a new phone, he told the smart assistant his name was “Father.”
The butler was stunned.
Realizing that mentioning phones might not have been appropriate, since to people in 2033, phones could be as outdated as pagers were in his time, Lu Yu quickly added: “My friends also call me Father. It’s quite normal. You can call me that too if you like.”
Butler: “…”
Lu Yu: “Ahem.”
Although it was quite rude, it successfully made the butler forget about the phone.
The butler was silent for a moment: “I should notify your husband to return quickly.”
Footnotes:
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