Su Yu gave a faint, cold laugh.
Practical experience made it clear: even with only three days of training before going to the front line, compared to being sent straight into battle without training, the difference in mortality rate was 87%!
“I didn’t awaken any memories, nor did I receive professional training, so of course it was extremely difficult.”
“Failure was only natural!”
“You can’t blame the native for being incompetent!”
“Whether it was an accident or an assessment, this was completely unfair to the native!”
Su Yu’s expression darkened.
Therefore, to pass, one either had to possess intelligence far beyond the ordinary, or extraordinary luck—but ninety-nine percent of people in the world had neither.
It was precisely this failure that caused the native’s originally decent talent in mysticism to lose more than half of its potential, turning him mediocre.
“Actually, even if his aptitude declined, he still had a chance. There were clubs at school, and the host joined one too, learning a few things.”
“But his mother was depressed at home, and the native had to take care of her often. On top of that, he was immature back then and didn’t train desperately… In the end, he fell just a little short and could only attend an ordinary high school.”
“Even after entering an ordinary high school, there was still one final sliver of hope. But at the time, his mother’s illness worsened, and he had to work part-time constantly. Even his studies were neglected, let alone mysticism…”
Letting out a breath of pent-up gloom, Su Yu’s gaze grew increasingly sharp.
“One step behind, every step behind!”
“In the end, he had no choice but to sell… the invitation letter his father traded his life for, and for a mere fifty Gold Sea Dragons. That was truly the greatest mistake.”
Gold Sea Dragons, Silver Sea Demons, and Copper Starfish were all legal tender, corresponding to gold, silver, and brass respectively. Each coin weighed five grams, with a purity of ninety percent. According to his memories, the current exchange rate between gold, silver, and copper was 1:20:2000. Therefore, 1 Gold Sea Dragon equaled 20 Silver Sea Demons, which equaled 2,000 Copper Starfish.
1 Gold Sea Dragon was similar to 2,000 yuan in his previous life, 1 Silver Sea Demon was similar to 100 yuan, and 1 Copper Starfish was similar to 1 yuan.
Fifty Gold Sea Dragons equaled 100,000 yuan.
When he sold it back then, although the host thought fifty Gold Sea Dragons was not a small sum, he had also faintly regretted it. But for the sake of money, he had no choice but to make that decision.
Looking back now, that invitation letter was probably worth no small amount. It had been sold far too cheaply.
“After graduating from high school, his studies were mediocre, and his mysticism was neglected. But fortunately, he still had some foundation. After going around in circles, he could at least make ends meet, and in the end, he met the boss.”
In his memories, a pair of eyes immediately surfaced.
“Heh…”
His hands clenched unconsciously, gripping tightly. The warmth vanished from Su Yu’s eyes.
“The boss was a merchant of mystical materials and had been involved in this trade for decades. There was no way he didn’t understand how to protect himself, yet he never told me at all…”
Mysticism was dangerous.
For ordinary people to rashly involve themselves with the mystical without sufficient protective measures, the outcome was basically predetermined.
But the boss completely ignored that point.
From this, it seemed that the host back then, as well as his mother, had been doomed to be unable to escape misfortune.
This could also be considered a Kong Yiji-style test of the character “hui,” but the price was life.
However…
“She shouldn’t have gotten into trouble.”
In his memories, a graceful figure surfaced again, and a few traces of warmth appeared in Su Yu’s heart.
“At that time, she should already have formally taken up a profession, enough to resist the erosion of the mystical.”
She was the girl from the neighboring family who had grown up with him. Their families had been friends since their fathers’ generation, and back then, there had even been a vague, innocent affection between them.
Even in the final few years, she had never given up on him. When his mother got into trouble and was hospitalized, it was she who helped bring her to the hospital and paid the medical fees in advance.
Unfortunately, when he rushed over, what he heard was the news that she had been robbed and stabbed to death.
And after that, a speeding carriage came hurtling over, knocking him to the side of the road and impaling him on the spikes of a fence…
A haze appeared in the depths of his eyes. The pain in his heart spread like ink seeping into water.
He clutched his chest, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe, as if he had returned to that very moment.
Only after a long while did he squeeze a few words out from between his teeth.
“Impossible.”
Su Yu was so certain for a reason.
Even a half-baked person like himself had been able to use a tiny bit of mysticism, along with a high school diploma, to enter a trading company, obtain a position, get promoted, and change jobs.
Let alone her, who had received at least six full years of training.
And besides, the teacher would certainly have arranged protection for her himself… She was his own daughter!
She might perhaps encounter a robbery, but being robbed was almost impossible, and being killed was even more impossible.
What kind of robber could rob her?
Ridiculous!
“The boss who deliberately set me up, the robber who stabbed her to death, the carriage that killed me…”
Closing his eyes, one incident after another flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern, linking together.
In the end… they pointed toward a single scene.
The elegant woman who had delivered the invitation letter, that meaningful gaze, and a single word of warning.
“You must cherish it and keep it safe. This is something your father wanted to leave you even after exhausting the last of his life!”
At the time, he had not felt anything unusual, but that warning and that gaze seemed to carry some kind of insight.
Unfortunately, he had been too young back then, and before long, he had forgotten it.
“Thinking about it now, going out to sea did indeed carry risks. But Father had been in the profession for many years and never entered dangerous areas. He shouldn’t have lost his life so easily.”
“But that time, he abnormally gave instructions as if arranging his affairs after death, and later, sure enough, he never returned.”
“Then, that invitation letter, which Father traded his life for—what value did it actually have?”
“And why didn’t they tell me clearly?”
If one probed deeper, there were mysteries everywhere.
Unfortunately, ever since his father died, his mother’s condition had worsened. Her mind was often unstable, and she had not explained anything to him either.
Gradually, it had been forgotten.
“No, it’s not just that!”
“Everyone’s life is different. Something exchanged for my father’s life alone might be used to scheme against me, but it shouldn’t have gone so far as to kill her!”
Su Yu browsed through the host’s memories.
“The teacher was definitely a professional, and a senior one at that. For the sake of one invitation letter, offending a senior professional and killing a professional—wasn’t that too exaggerated?”
With experience and insight far beyond the host’s, Su Yu immediately perceived this point.
“Street thugs might be brainless monsters, but they are not!”
“There must be secrets here that I don’t know!”
“But it doesn’t matter. The hourglass has given me a second chance. I’ve returned to the year I was fourteen.”
Su Yu clenched his fists tightly.
“And now that I’ve awakened my memories, I can set all of this right!”
“Let’s start by initializing the system.”
His gaze turned toward the hourglass. As he moved, something around him seemed to change. A dark, discordant aura surfaced.
At the same time, a faint breeze arose. Within the wind came a mournful voice, like weeping and lamentation.
“So… cold…”
Su Yu frowned slightly and lowered his gaze. He saw a screen drifting in his field of vision, carrying a faint cyan glow.
“Initialization mission activated—whether through oversight or intent, you have encountered danger—resolve the evil spirit you have encountered!”
“Whether through oversight or intent?”
“Hmph, as expected!”
Suppressing that conjecture, Su Yu leaned back against the chair and turned sideways to look around. His gaze fell behind him.
There was a very small window there, covered by black curtains. Through the faintly visible gap between the drapes, thick white fog outside could be seen.
Holding his breath, he calmly and slowly drew the curtains open. The fog outside was deathly pale, slowly churning, without the slightest change.
“According to the mystical knowledge the native host learned, evil spirits aren’t frightening.”
“Citizens of the kingdom, residents of the county city, even the district and the house itself all possess protection in a mystical sense!”
“Otherwise, a single evil spirit could kill all ordinary people!”
“If something exists, there is a reason for it. Since ordinary people can exist, and even live normal lives, there must be a cause!”