"Did you hear? Someone died downstairs yesterday!"
"I saw it. When I came to work this morning, there was still police tape down there and unwashed blood on the ground..."
"Wasn't it someone killed by a falling object from a high-rise?"
"Lu Chen, what are you spacing out for? The manager isn't here yet. Why don't you slack off a bit and chat?"
Lost in thought in front of his computer, Lu Chen jumped when a colleague patted him on the shoulder. Regaining his wits, he saw his male colleague Qiao Weizhao leaning against the wall behind him, discussing the morning's news with a few female colleagues. Lu Chen let out a sigh of relief and offered an embarrassed smile.
"Oh, I didn't sleep well last night. You guys go ahead, I'll sit this one out."
"Don't tell me you were up all night playing games again? Look at you—a young man who doesn't even want to find a girlfriend. What kind of life is that? Want me to set you up with someone?"
Qiao Weizhao was a notoriously big mouth who had once used his smooth talk to string several women along at the same time, and he always loved teasing shy young guys like Lu Chen.
As soon as he said this, several of the older female colleagues nearby chuckled, casting teasing and ambiguous glances in Lu Chen's direction.
In the past, Lu Chen would have at least shot back a few remarks, but last night he had genuinely been working overtime.
Right now, however, he had no energy to deal with any of this.
Because a countdown was currently ticking away inside his head.
[Flashback Countdown: 10 minutes, 21 seconds...]
[Destination: 12 hours ago. Duration: 30 minutes.]
[Hint: Any changes made by the host may affect the evaluation and reward tier.]
The System?
He never expected that he—someone who had lived a totally ordinary life for over twenty years—would suddenly awaken a cheat.
According to the introduction, he could return to twelve hours in the past and stay there for thirty minutes.
The System would then evaluate his performance based on the worldly shifts caused by his actions as this little butterfly.
The higher the rating, the better the reward.
Seeing a message from his parents on his phone urging him to go on a blind date, he silently closed it.
I'm sorry, Mom and Dad, but your son is destined for greatness now—no time for romance.
Taking advantage of the remaining few minutes, he carefully considered how to alter his destiny.
He grabbed a notebook and began scribbling shorthand abbreviations that only he could understand.
"1. Buy the lottery."
"2. Buy stocks."
"3..."
Aside from these few points, time traveling back twelve hours didn't seem to afford him many other valuable actions.
Besides, given this little time, he couldn't accomplish much else anyway.
On second thought, stocks weren't reliable either.
It was currently 7:40 in the morning. Twelve hours ago would be around 7:50 in the evening—definitely not trading hours.
"The most recent Lotto draw was last night at 9:15, and ticket sales close at 8:00 PM."
"I can just memorize the lottery numbers and rush over right before the deadline to buy a ticket..."
With that thought, he immediately searched for the winning numbers from last night's draw.
He stared unblinkingly at the digits on the screen, reciting them over and over for fear of missing a single one.
"05, 11, 18, 20, 26, 28, 12..."
Repeating them until he was certain he had them memorized, he felt a little more confident and checked the countdown—
[5 minutes, 10 seconds]
Just then, a loud voice suddenly echoed from the office entrance.
"Everyone remain calm, we're here to investigate a few matters."
He quickly closed the lottery page and looked up toward the door, only to see a team of uniformed officers walk in, their expressions solemn as they began questioning the employees one by one.
He was still somewhat dazed by the time they reached him.
"Where were you last night at around 8:30?"
The officer questioning him was a middle-aged policeman with a square face, holding a notepad and wearing a police badge and a law enforcement recorder on his chest.
Lu Chen felt an instinctive wave of nervousness, glanced at the recorder twice, and answered honestly: "I should have been right here working overtime at that time. Several colleagues can vouch for me..."
After verifying the time and place and finding no suspicious points, the police officer soon left, and Lu Chen finally exhaled in relief.
At that moment, Qiao Weizhao behind him started bragging to the female colleagues again.
"See, I knew the police would come. According to my inside sources, that person killed by the high-rise falling object last night was none other than Zhou Manyin, the powerhouse businesswoman from the design firm downstairs!"
"Ah! It was her?!" A female colleague covered her mouth in shock.
Qiao Weizhao adopted a mysterious yet deliberately booming tone so that most of the office could hear him, as if showing off his intelligence network.
"I heard from employees at her company that they recently landed a huge project and had to work overtime until eleven or twelve every night. Yesterday, she finished up the rush work and planned to go home early, and then this accident happened."
"That's such a shame!" another female colleague sighed. "I saw her just a couple of days ago. She was so gorgeous, with that alpha queen aura. Even as a woman, I feel like a maid standing next to her."
"And the key is that she built her fortune from scratch all by herself—worth hundreds of millions now. Her future was definitely boundless!"
"Yet she just died like this, so cluelessly. What a waste..."
Lu Chen had a rather vague impression of this formidable businesswoman.
After all, they worked in the same building, and he occasionally bumped into her arriving, leaving, or grabbing lunch at noon. It was just that they seemed to live in two different worlds, so he hadn't paid her much attention.
In his few memories of accidental encounters, she had a tall figure and an outstanding presence, with long black hair reaching her waist. She always walked briskly with files in hand, and when others greeted her, she would only nod slightly without intending to look up, carrying a certain arrogance that ignored everyone else.
Yet, considering her capability, that pride was entirely understandable.
Just then.
A piercing beeping sound rang in his ears.
It turned out the countdown had reached its final three seconds.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Flashback begins!]
Lu Chen felt as though the entire world before his eyes instantly stretched into strands of colored yarn, transforming into a vibrant oil painting.
Yet after lasting merely a few seconds, everything rapidly returned to normal.
He shook his head to shake off the motion-sickness-like nausea, looked up, and blankly surveyed his surroundings.
Time: 7:50 PM.
Location: The office, where only a handful of people were still working overtime.
The fluorescent lights overhead cast a pale glow across the room. The quiet environment was occasionally broken by the rustle of papers, the hum of the printer, soft coughs, phone rings, and the clicking of mice and keyboards.
Even this late, there were still five or six colleagues working overtime.
His scattered focus gradually coalesced.
The unfinished spreadsheet on the screen before him seemed to continuously tug at his already taut nerves.
Below the computer monitor sat his phone, broadcasting a live esports match. A bowl of leftover roasted pork takeout was still steaming, and that cheap aroma tickled his nose, producing a strange sense of dissociation in his brain.
"The first kill breaks out in the top lane... the jungler comes to gank, but it's a trade—one for one."
As if seeking to verify something, he stared intently at the shifting situation on his phone screen while the commentators' voices echoed through his Bluetooth earphones.
Sure enough, before the words had even faded, the director shifted the camera focus to the top lane as the commentators' tones grew increasingly intense.
"Whoa, the red side's top laner didn't expect the jungler to rotate so quickly! Oh man, Flash is already used, there's no running away!"
"Let's see who they're going to hand the first kill to... wait, he's still outplaying them!!"
"Wow, what a brilliant play! He actually pulled that off and traded one for one before dying! Not a bad trade at all!"
...
"D-did I really return to last night?!"
Lu Chen saw everything unfolding exactly as he remembered, his fingers gripping the phone trembling unconsciously.
Signed in advance; looking for investment, collections, and everything else.