******
—Qingnan University, Haiteng City—
Computer science department, class three.
The classroom was a chaotic mess. Students chattered in clusters, a few danced at the front, some played on their phones, while others dozed off at their desks. Among them, only a handful bothered with textbooks.
At the far end of the room, tucked away in a dim corner, a solitary student slouched over his desk. His head rested heavily on his folded arms, utterly still—as if detached from the raucous world around him.
Then, without warning, he stirred.
A soft groan escaped his lips, raspy and uncertain. His eyelids quivered before parting slowly.
"…I'm… I'm still alive?" Shen Tian muttered hoarsely to himself, his voice dry with disbelief.
He jolted upright, adrenaline surging as his frantic eyes darted around the unfamiliar yet familiar surroundings.
He patted his arms. His chest. His torso. No searing pain. No fractures. Not even a bruise.
'What the hell is happening?' his mind reeled, thoughts crashing like tidal waves.
The last thing he could remember was the violent glare of the car's headlights, the crunch of bone and metal, his body flung into the air like a rag doll, a choking metallic taste, the icy numbness of blood draining from his body. Darkness. Silence.
(He didn't remember the voice for the time being.)
He should have been dead like a rabbis dog on the street.
And yet…
Here he was.
Awake, breathing, and whole.
His confusion was suffocating, his thoughts spiraling. But since no logical explanation presented itself, he forced the perplexity and questions down and shelved the matter temporarily.
One thing, however, was certain. Not even a shred of joy surfaced within him.
He didn't rejoice at his survival—because he knew exactly what survival meant.
His agony was merely beginning anew.
He didn't know how much time had passed since the accident, but the bitter sting of betrayal—the moment he was expelled from the Shen family and left to rot still lingered, raw and vivid in his mind.
Despite the emotional storm swelling inside him, Shen Tian inhaled deeply and forced himself to remain composed.
Then, cautiously, he lifted his head—and froze.
His breath hitched.
"This… this place…" he murmured in a daze, his voice barely audible as he took in the room. The sights. The faces. The aura of youth and familiarity.
'What… is this?'
Panic warred with disbelief as he blinked rapidly, trying to convince himself he was hallucinating.
But the scene did not vanish.
The classroom looked exactly like it had five years ago. Not similar. Not reminiscent.
Identical.
The same peeling paint on the walls. The same cracked windowpane near the back. The same group of students—young, unaged, untouched by the passage of time.
'This is… before I dropped out. Before everything fell apart.'
His thoughts raced, trying to construct an explanation that didn't sound like madness. His breathing quickened.
Was this a dream?
A delusion?
Or something far more surreal?
His brain worked like a machine on overdrive, filtering through a flood of memories and sensations.
Then, suddenly—clarity struck him like a bolt of lightning.
'I see… this must be the final vision they always say appears before death takes someone. A glimpse of their past… their soul's final flicker before it fades into the void.'
That thought, however grim it may appear, instantly settled him.
For the first time in years, a fragile stillness swept over Shen Tian.
He let out a long breath and bowed his head, prepared for the vision to dissolve.
But fate wasn't done with him because suddenly—
"Hey everyone! Look who finally woke up just to doze off again!"
A boisterous voice sliced through the ambient noise like a blade, jerking Shen Tian violently back to the present.
He didn't need to glance to identify that irritatingly familiar tone.
Li Xu.
He remembered everything about that voice.
Li Xu—muscular, obnoxious, with a smug swagger and crimson-dyed hair that made him stand out like a sore thumb.
He strutted in shiny, ill-fitting pants and a rolled-up T-shirt sleeve that flaunted his biceps and screamed 'wannabe thug.'
He was nothing more than a classic campus tyrant.
He was a persistent tormentor during Shen Tian's college days, one of the most sadistic and unrelenting bullies who had made his university life a living nightmare.
Even before the formal withdrawal from school, Shen Tian had considered dropping out just to escape him. If only he'd had the means—he would've transferred long ago.
And now, this same tormentor stood before him again, grinning like a predator circling its prey.
But Shen Tian… he felt nothing.
No fear. No dread.
Only a strange, cold detachment.
Maybe it was because he believed this wasn't reality. Maybe it was because of everything he'd endured in the years that followed. Either way, his gaze didn't flinch as Li Xu approached.
Li Xu loomed over him, arms crossed arrogantly, his smirk condescending.
"No more naps for you, trash," he sneered. "You've already slept through your humiliation enough today. Aren't you embarrassed?"
The classroom quieted. Conversations dwindled. All eyes turned toward Shen Tian, their expressions twisted into masks of glee and disdain.
It was a performance they knew well—and they loved every second of it.
Some students chuckled darkly. Others grinned with malicious anticipation, as though watching a rerun of their favorite drama.
Shen Tian, however, didn't move.
He could feel their gazes—judging, jeering, reveling in his degradation.
But would he flinch?
Not anymore.
Instead, a ghost of remembrance flickered in his eyes as realization dawned.
This exact day…
He remembered now—this was the first day of the semester before his mother's tragic death.
The realization clutched his heart in a vice grip, causing pain to lance through his chest, sharp and unforgiving—but he gritted his teeth and stayed calm.
He kept his expression unreadable, staring at Li Xu without a word.
He just wanted the illusion to end, to let go and fade into the afterlife.
But Li Xu wasn't finished.
The bully leaned in, his voice dripping venom and ridicule.
"Why don't you be useful for once and grab this daddy a snack from the cafeteria?" he taunted. "I don't care where you find the money. I'm in the mood for something sweet this morning."
In the following second, laughter erupted around them… explosive, cruel, contagious.
It echoed like thunder in the room.
Shen Tian shifted his gaze, sweeping across the faces of his classmates.
All he saw was ridicule.
They didn't hate him for anything he'd done.
They hated his very existence and why?
He was poor. Silent. Powerless. And in their eyes, he didn't belong.
Qingnan University may not have been the pinnacle of elite institutions in Haiteng City, but it was still a place where students from decent or wealthy backgrounds gathered.
And Shen Tian?
He was here on scholarship. A boy from a prestigious family that had abandoned him like garbage.
The irony was cruel—he should've been in a top-tier school, one that these brats could only dream of stepping into. But reality had robbed him of that.
He had never declared his background aloud before, knowing full well that no one would believe him if he claimed to be part of the illustrious Shen clan.
To them, he was just a stain.
They had always thought he was from an extremely poor background and had always mocked him for sharing names with the illustrious Shen family, when in fact, his background was the stark contrast.
They had always assumed their background was millions of times better than his, that he was just a useless pauper, lucky enough to gain a scholarship into their school.
Thinking this, Shen Tian smiled wryly.
'Even after death… I'm still the joke in someone else's story,' he thought bitterly as his clenched fists trembled.
But instead of anger, he remained calm and unyielding.
"Hey, I'm talking to you, idiot!" Li Xu's voice rose with fury. "Are you deaf or just dumber than I thought?"
Shen Tian looked up slowly, his expression still unreadable.
'Let this pathetic charade end already,' he thought. 'I've had enough of living. And dying feels just as empty.'
He pressed his fingers to his temples, exhaling.
And then—
[ Ding! ]
A crisp, foreign chime exploded inside his mind, causing his eyes to widen in shock.
But before he could react, a chilling, robotic voice echoed in his head:
[ Supreme Spending System activated. ]
Shen Tian blinked rapidly.
'System? What the hell was that?' He wondered instinctively.
But before he could process further, the voice spoke again, clearer this time.
[ Welcome, host. Supreme Spending System is now online. You will receive rewards for spending extravagantly and humiliating those who look down on you. There is no limit to what you can give—because the more you spend and awestruck others, the more power, fortune, and status you shall obtain. Crush those who dare trample you, and be lavish in your vengeance. Your path to supremacy begins now. ]
[ Ding! ]
[ System binding complete. ]
[ Rejection is not an option. ]