"Welcome to the Soul Transfer Center. I am hp. How may I help you?"
Li Buyan blinked his eyes in a daze, his hands still frozen in the posture of furiously pounding a keyboard. In the blink of an eye, he had arrived in a place whose interior decoration closely resembled a bank lobby from the early 2000s.
"Great, just great, love playing like that, don't you? I called out that A-site had a blinding flash coming, and you idiots throw it right in my face. Wonderful, everyone's playing like that now, huh? If you suck, practice more, don't sit here talking trash to your daddy. Step up to a 1v1 if you've got the guts..." After a barrage of such colorful language, Li Buyan slowly opened his eyes, which were slightly dazzled by the all-white glow, only to find himself slumped in an armchair in the lobby in a remarkably undignified posture.
"What is going on here?" Li Buyan looked around, then looked down at his own ethereal, somewhat translucent body. "No way. Are you serious?"
As an avid reader of all kinds of traditional transmigration web novels, Li Buyan easily accepted the fact that he had most likely died at a young age, while simultaneously feeling deeply mortified.
After all, dying by getting run over by a truck, sacrificing oneself to save others and getting stabbed, being worked to death by an unscrupulous boss, being driven to despair by a cliché female lead, or even dying heroically to support one's various concubines—any of those would have given him something to brag about and throw his weight around among the big bosses in the transmigration community later on. But getting blinded and killed by a flashbang while playing a game with four worthless teammates? Was this supposed to be a joke about how he couldn't even afford a proper death? Help him up! Pay him extra! Young master here wants to change into a dignified way to die!
Li Buyan straightened his posture, moved his illusory body around a bit, and asked, "Um, excuse me, what should I call you, and where is this?"
Standing before him was not a sharp, professional bank clerk, but a mass of something resembling glowing mist. It replied: "Mr. Li Buyan, I am designation hp, and you may also call me the System. This is the System Binding Service Center. To provide you with a satisfactory experience, this system offers one-on-one personalized service, will match you with a suitable system, and will assist every protagonist in fulfilling their dreams."
*That sounds so high-and-mighty for a place decorated like a dump,* Li Buyan thought to himself, while his face remained completely expressionless, even curving into a hint of a flattering smile.
"Then I'm really putting you to the trouble. Could you explain the service details to me in detail?"
The glowing mist in front of him showed no emotional fluctuations whatsoever, and its synthesized robotic voice replied somewhat rigidly: "The system will randomly select a universe for you to travel to and provide every host with five card-drawing opportunities. Each card represents a talent the host can carry along. You may choose three cards from the five, and then embark on your brand-new journey."
The light paused for a moment, then continued: "Also, Mr. Li Buyan, the layout here depends entirely on your own subconscious and has nothing to do with the system."
Li Buyan scratched his head a little sheepishly, thinking to himself, *Holy crap, it can read my mind! Well, no wonder—since I ended up here, it probably knows how many times I wet the bed when I was a kid. There's no hiding anything from it.*
"Your memories will also be brought along automatically. Do you have any other questions now, Mr. Li Buyan?"
"Just one small question."
"Please go ahead."
"Um, I didn't really get blinked out of existence by a flashbang, did I?"
The glowing mist clearly paused, and through its rigid voice, one could actually detect a hint of awkwardness and even embarrassment.
"Mr. Li Buyan, your death was an unfortunate accident during the operation of the massive system, so hp is here to provide you with humanitarian compensation."
"I knew it—wait a minute, holy crap, you guys are the ones who killed me?" Li Buyan propped himself up on the desk to stand—though standing wasn't quite the right word; it was more like he floated up.
"Mr. Li Buyan, we have already provided you with compensation. We hope you can understand the operational glitches of the system. Do you have any remaining questions? If there are no further questions, we will now initiate the card-drawing phase."
"Wait a minute, let's get this straight—"
"Wonderful, thank you for your cooperation. Now transferring you to the card-drawing interface."
Before his words could even finish, the glowing mist darted away from the counter at lightning speed, and the entire scene started spinning wildly.
*So it was an extra question after all. But why did it run away so fast? In my current state, I'm completely at its mercy—how come it acts like it's afraid of me?*
Watching the dizzying spin around him, Li Buyan could only wonder in confusion. But a minute later, a familiar card-drawing interface materialized before him.
*Oh man, yuan?* Sure enough, it was a card-drawing system made in his great China. After waiting forever, it was finally booting up.
At least it was somewhat decent—giving him a pity pull after five tries. Look at certain other games; opening one costs a fortune, and pulling something worth a single yuan is completely normal. Tsk tsk tsk, look at this—now that's a conscientious merchant.
Without dwelling too much on the confusion he felt just moments ago, Li Buyan rubbed his hands together, instinctively brought his hands together to pray, and with the utmost piety, pressed the single-draw button. As for a five-pull? Not even a dog would use that, thank you very much.
True to form, a flash of white light appeared before his eyes. This tradition certainly ran in the family. Li Buyan didn't flip it over right away, and instead pressed the button a second time.
White.
Ghastly white.
Li Buyan refused to believe his bad luck and pressed it a third time.
White. Still white.
Heh, you little brat, you really inherited the family tradition.
All the top streamers had taught Li Buyan that if you fail to draw a card after three tries, you should just stop. Pressing your luck any further with draws like this was completely pointless.
Did Li Buyan think he could just take that lying down? As the protagonist of this text, he had to do something about it.
He dropped to both knees and began to pray with pious devotion.
It was all just a little misunderstanding caused by his own lack of sincerity, he told himself. Would the great gods of gacha please not hold a grudge? Little Li's very life and livelihood were riding on these last two draws this time. He couldn't not thank them for their immense grace; once he got back, whether it was Balenciaga or Valentino, he would personally have top-tier replica items burned properly as offerings—none of that cheap knock-off garbage—and he humbly begged the great gods to show mercy, and so on.
Li Buyan felt as though the God of Europeans had possessed him at that very moment. Channeling all his luck into his dantian, he slammed down on the button! "Give me something good!"
Perhaps the sincerity of the Balenciaga offerings had moved that mysterious God of Gacha in the nether realms. Peeking through his fingers, a flash of purple light burst forth, scattering its radiance all across Li Buyan's face. Striking while the iron was hot, Li Buyan pressed the button again, launching a sneak attack without any regard for martial honor. To make a happy occasion even happier, a flash of golden light flickered past and appeared directly in front of Li Buyan.
"Whoa, actual pity pulls, holy crap!" Li Buyan didn't waste a single second clicking on the several cards lined up in front of his face.
**White: Neatness Supreme (General)**
*Description: Your facial features will remain in a healthy state, and you will permanently retain the ability to rapidly recover your face to its normal condition (however, damage cannot be avoided; this only accelerates healing and applies exclusively to the face).*
**White: Affinity (General)**
*Description: You will always make a good first impression on others, but this favorability has no effect on enemies.*
**White: Sense of Direction (General)**
*Description: You possess an innate ability to discern directions, but this ability is limited to your visible range. You will still lose your way in a fog.*
**Purple: Dumbledore's Bloodline (Specialized)**
*Description: You are a member of the Dumbledore family. You possess an innate affinity for phoenixes, and at the same time, the magic in your blood is much more powerful than that of wizards of your age group. Given time, you will inevitably reach a terrifying level.*
**Gold: Spell Mastery (Specialized)**
*Description: You are an exceptional spellcaster. Even the most difficult spells can be quickly mastered, and with a little extra practice, you can achieve non-verbal casting. Wandless casting may simply be a matter of time. (Note: Your talent in the Transfiguration branch of spells will be partially weakened, though still superior to ordinary people).*
This practically shouted that he was heading to the magical world. The last two were must-picks, and out of the first three, he just needed to choose one. Li Buyan felt quite relaxed. The gold and purple ones were absolute dragon-riding-in-the-face setups, so whatever remained could literally be chosen at random.
*Neatness Supreme* felt pretty good, and this *Affinity* also seemed like it had its practical uses. The *Sense of Direction* was a bit of a gimmick; once he reached the magical world, could he really be lacking in just that little thing? He could just ride on Dumbledore's coattails to stand tall and unfallen, snatch up a few magical items along the way, hunker down when Voldemort showed up, and wait until the protagonist group cleared all the landmines before cheerfully planting a new flag under the grand banner. Living a life that comfortable could also be considered compensation for his massive losses.
"Then I'll take Affinity, Dumbledore's Bloodline, and Spell Mastery."
The moment Li Buyan finished speaking, the remaining two cards vanished into the void, and the three selected cards slowly melted into Li Buyan's mind. Then came the familiar all-white expanse, followed by the system's intermittent voice: "This service has now concluded. Have a pleasant journey, goodbye."
Li Buyan's consciousness quickly faded away amidst the blinding white light. At that moment, a long night was just beginning in another world. For many people, tonight was no different from any other night, but for a certain old man, this night was destined to be restless.