In the pitch-black night, a sudden flash of brilliant light pierced the sky, dazzling like lightning.
Immediately following came the piercing screech of car tires, as if tearing the entire world apart, echoing deafeningly through the air.
Yet this was merely the beginning. The sound of the truck collision that followed was even more bone-chilling, seeming to strike straight into the depths of people's souls, terrifying enough to scatter their wits!
The sound roared like a fierce, colossal beast, and swept across the mountain forest like a violent gale, carrying endless destructive force and lethality that made everyone who heard it tremble with fear.
Chén Nuò was an eighteen-year-old young man living alone in this bustling metropolis. He had neither a house of his own nor a car to call his own, but these material conditions mattered little to him. Yet fate played a cruel joke on him: today, he had simply stepped out to buy some instant noodles.
Never could he have imagined that this would be the last time in his life he would ever buy instant noodles. He hadn't even been in a relationship yet; he hadn't even touched a girl's hand!
Upon death, Chén Nuò's soul drifted out of his body. Accompanied by a string of super-codes in his mouth that seemed thoroughly encrypted, his soul drifted far away into the sky.
"Ah! Where am I? Why do my eyes feel like they've been glued shut with something?"
Chén Nuò spent some effort struggling to open his eyes, only to see a large, pink egg right after he did.
That's right, a large, pink egg!
Chén Nuò fell silent.
"Damn, my silence is deafening!"
Unable to speak aloud, Chén Nuò could only chant silently in his consciousness.
"Have I been reincarnated, but what on earth is this pink egg? Ah, she moved!"
"Surely I haven't failed to remain human in this lifetime, have I?"
"I haven't committed any grave sins; how did I end up in the realm of beasts?"
Chén Nuò kept up a steady stream of mental muttering.
However, as that large pink egg turned its head around, Chén Nuò abruptly realized that this large egg looked somewhat familiar.
"Ah, Blissey!"
Chén Nuò recognized it.
Having grown up watching Pokémon, this familiar large egg was impossible not to remember. Back when he used to play Pokémon games, he had even been shown plenty of "care" by Chansey.
"It seems I am now in the world of Pokémon!" Chén Nuò thought to himself, pondering.
"Hey, wait a minute, that's not the main point. The main point is whether I'm still human or not!"
Chén Nuò immediately cut off his own train of thought. The Pokémon world was certainly wonderful, but if he weren't human, that would be far too miserable!
Chén Nuò could already feel that he must have just been born. His entire body was sticky, and being able to open his eyes this quickly was already a testament to his own great effort. Many newborn children found it quite difficult to open their eyes.
Sensing his senses, Chén Nuò gently moved his fingers, feeling them one by one, and discovered that he had five fingers. Then he tested and felt that he had five toes as well.
"I suppose I'm mostly human!"
Chén Nuò felt considerably relieved. As his mind put down its worries, his thoughts gradually grew hazy—a sensation of profound drowsiness.
"It seems a baby's body cannot support me thinking like this. My physical strength is somewhat exhausted; time for a nap."
Chén Nuò slowly closed his eyes and then drifted off into a baby's sleep (doge face).
At that very moment, a woman who had just endured the agony of childbirth and remained physically very weak reached out with great effort to gently stroke Chén Nuò beside her. Her movements appeared labored, yet her gaze was filled with tenderness and love. That hand seemed to carry all her emotion and strength—feeble, yet unyielding.
"My child, my child, what name should I give you? That unreliable father of yours is still on a plane, rushing over!"
The woman extended a pair of jade hands to gently stroke Chén Nuò's tender face, her eyes brimming with maternal love and gentleness. This woman was none other than Chén Nuò's mother, Píng Kāngjìng. At this moment, she appeared incomparably weak, yet even so, it failed to conceal her breathtaking beauty and extraordinary temperament.
"It's all your father's fault. He promised to come and ended up late. He can even be late for a matter this major—I'm not letting him name you. Mommy will name you instead. Hmph, since he can't keep his word, you mustn't be like him. Well then, you shall be called Chéngnuò! Shàngshān Chéngnuò!"
Chén Nuò was still fast asleep at this point and had no idea at all that his new mother had changed his name. Although the pronunciation of the name hadn't changed much, a Japanese surname had mysteriously been added.
Meanwhile, his father finally arrived fashionably late at night.
"Huff, huff..."
Standing at the doorway and panting heavily was Chén Nuò's father, Shàngshān Píng. His chest heaved violently, clearly having just run frantically.
"Hmph, you still know how to come back? When I'm giving birth to your child—such a huge deal—you actually dare to drag your feet."
Seeing the father return, the mother's tone instantly turned very unkind.
"Oh, I was wrong, honey. The flight was delayed."
After catching his breath for a couple of seconds, Shàngshān Píng immediately slid to his knees to apologize to the mother.
Looking at him, the mother let out a chuckle: "Look at you, still acting like a dissolute old fool."
"Come, honey, look—I've already picked out a good name for our son. Look, I wrote down a whole sheet of paper, take your time picking."
Shàngshān Píng pulled an A4 sheet of paper from his pocket, densely covered in numerous characters—every single one of them a name for his son.
"No need to look, I've already named him."
Píng Kāngjìng didn't even glance at the densely packed names. Having just given birth, she was dizzy with fatigue and certainly didn't care to read through all those characters.
"Ah, you've already named him!"
Shàngshān Píng's hand holding the A4 paper stiffened. He never expected that simply arriving a few hours late would strip him of his right to name his son.
It wasn't that he was unhappy or anything, just that feeling like it was his own son yet having zero participation in giving him a name made him feel like something was missing.
"Well? Don't you even want to know what your son is called?" Píng Kāngjìng asked with a smile, looking at Shàngshān Píng who was kneeling half-upright by her bed in a daze.
"Ah, ah, honey... what is the son called?" Shàngshān Píng asked instinctively, before feeling that something wasn't quite right. As the father, he actually had to ask his own son's name...
That was an utter failure, hey!
The corners of Píng Kāngjìng's lips curved upward into a faint, ambiguous smile, though she remained silent.
She knew very well in her heart that this move of hers was intentionally meant to give this father of his a profound lesson of self-reflection.
However, she didn't keep the boy's name a secret; although she wouldn't let this father name him, she was certainly going to tell him.
"His name is Shàngshān Chéngnuò!"