Chapter 1: System Awakening
In the bustling, noisy city of Jiangcheng, Lin Li was an utterly ordinary young man. Since graduating from college, he had been unable to find a satisfying job, drifting between various cheap rental rooms and struggling to make ends meet through odd jobs.
One day, Lin Li was wandering the streets as usual, hoping to find some temporary manual labor. Suddenly, a strange light flashed across the sky, followed by a sharp pain in his head, as if countless pieces of information were being forcibly crammed inside.
"Ding! Urban Super System binding complete! Host Lin Li, from this day forward, you shall have the opportunity to change your destiny." A cold, mechanical voice rang out in Lin Li's mind.
Lin Li was stunned at first, then overcome with ecstasy. As a veteran fan of web novels, he naturally understood what a system meant. "System, what are your functions?" Lin Li asked impatiently.
"This system possesses a variety of functions, including but not limited to task issuance, attribute enhancement, and skill exchange. Upon completing tasks, the host will receive corresponding System Points, which can be used to improve personal attributes or exchange for various miraculous skills," the system explained.
Just then, the system issued its first task: "Newbie Task: Earn 10,000 yuan within three days. Task reward: 100 System Points and one random basic skill."
Looking at the task, a fighting spirit ignited in Lin Li's heart. 10,000 yuan was no small sum for him right now, but with the system, anything was possible. He began to ponder ways to make money in his mind. Handing out flyers or delivering takeout—those conventional odd jobs certainly wouldn't work; there wasn't enough time. Suddenly, he thought of the little bit of stock market knowledge he had once studied. Although he wasn't an expert, he might be able to try his luck.
Lin Li hurried back to his rental room, opened his dilapidated laptop, and logged into a stock trading application. He carefully studied the trends of various stocks and, relying on his meager knowledge and intuition, picked a few that seemed to have potential, investing all the few hundred yuan he had to his name.
Staring at the computer screen, Lin Li's heart was in his throat. The stock trends were like a roller coaster, rising and falling. Time ticked by slowly in the tense atmosphere.
When the market closed in the afternoon, one of the stocks Lin Li had chosen suddenly began to soar. Lin Li was so excited he almost jumped up. As he watched the funds in his account continue to grow, his heart rate accelerated.
By the end of the first day, the funds in his account had more than doubled, reaching over 2,000 yuan. Although there was still a large gap to the goal, this gave Lin Li immense confidence.
Over the next two days, Lin Li focused even more on researching stock trends, while also utilizing some simple analytical techniques provided by the system. On the afternoon of the second day, he successfully caught a stock that hit the daily limit, and his funds broke through 8,000 yuan.
On the third day, Lin Li knew he couldn't afford to risk everything on stocks again. He recalled some information he had seen online about live-stream shopping and had a flash of inspiration. He prepared a few small items he had at home and started a live stream on a short-video platform.
Although Lin Li had no experience with live streaming, his sincerity and detailed introduction of the products attracted quite a few viewers. People began placing orders for his goods, and by nightfall, he had successfully gathered 10,000 yuan.
"Ding! Newbie Task completed. Congratulations to the host for obtaining 100 System Points and one random basic skill." The system's prompt rang out. Lin Li was thrilled and immediately checked his rewards. He first added all 100 System Points to his Intelligence attribute, and suddenly felt his mind become much clearer; problems he hadn't been able to figure out before were now easily resolved.
Next, he opened the random basic skill. A light flashed, and an ancient-looking book appeared before him with the words "Speed Reading" written on it. Lin Li opened the book, and knowledge instantly flooded his mind. He had mastered Speed Reading, and from now on, his speed of reading and learning would increase dramatically.