The Only Player in 'Child of Stardust'

"Open the package! Open the package!!"

After a brief moment of dumbfoundedness, Zhou Yuan seemed to grasp at a lifeline and hurriedly opened the newbie gift package.

[You have opened the newbie gift package and received: Mini Life Potion*3, Mini Spirituality Potion*3, Star Coins*1000, Common Quality Skill Scroll*1, Common Quality Item Pack*3, Fine Quality Item Pack*1, Weapon Pool Lottery Ticket*1, Universal 20% Off Coupon*1, Lucky Big Wheel 10-Draw Ticket*1.]

With a thought, a finger-long round glass bottle appeared out of thin air in his hand, containing half a bottle of bright red liquid.

[Name: Mini Life Potion]

[Quality: Fine]

[Special Effect: Instantly restores 150 HP upon drinking and continuously restores a total of 50 HP over 15 seconds.]

[Note: An alchemist initially aimed to create a powerful explosive disguised as red wine to send his cheating wife and her lover to heaven, but accidentally concocted a universal healing potion instead, thus reaching the pinnacle of his life.]

The item description popped up before his eyes, and Zhou Yuan unhesitatingly pulled off the cork and drank it all in one go.

In an instant, all the pain in his body dissipated. His broken left leg snapped back into place with a "crack," the bones healing and the flesh regenerating.

Boom!

Not far away, a huge fragment of reinforced concrete was thrown into the air. The black wolf emerged from the rubble. It was indeed not an ordinary creature, showing no signs of injury.

The black wolf shook off the dust from its fur and let out a low growl at Zhou Yuan, revealing its bloodstained fangs.

"Skill Scroll, Item Pack..."

Zhou Yuan quickly got up from the ground, his heart racing and his body tense. His mind rapidly scanned the items in his backpack, finally stopping at the weapon pool lottery ticket.

——Use!

At the same time, the black wolf charged forward.

In his backpack, the slot where the lottery ticket had been located flashed, and a silver revolver appeared, adorned with intricate and elegant rose patterns.

[Name: Steel Rose]

[Quality: Rare]

[Special Effect: Requires self-made spirituality bullets, offering 12 types of bullets to choose from, with a maximum of 6 bullets in the cylinder.]

[Bullet Types: Normal Revolver Bullet, Explosive Bullet, Armor-Piercing Bullet, Freeze Bullet, Electric Bullet, Flame Bullet, Paralysis Bullet, Healing Bullet, Sonic Bullet, Anti-Magic Bullet, Flash Bullet, 100% Headshot Bullet.]

[Note: Twelve wishes, fulfilled all at once.]

The black wolf leaped into the air, its bloody maw wide open as it lunged at Zhou Yuan.

He decisively pulled out the revolver and aimed at the wolf's head.

When he joined the Stars Network, he underwent a one-month professional training session in the training camp, where he learned skills like firearm shooting, hand-to-hand combat, and counter-surveillance.

Although his marksmanship was not excellent, at such close range, there was no reason to miss.

With adrenaline pumping, Zhou Yuan's focus reached an unprecedented peak. Time seemed to slow down.

The flying dust, the short-circuiting wires, the ruptured pipes, and even the hair on the black wolf's body—all froze in that instant.

A large amount of spirituality was drawn, condensing into an explosive bullet in the cylinder. As the trigger was pulled and the hammer struck, a faint spark burst forth, and the spiritual bullet spiraled out of the barrel.

Boom!

The gunshot roared, and the black wolf's head exploded like a watermelon, with blood and flesh splattering everywhere.

Zhou Yuan sidestepped, and the headless wolf carcass flew past him, skidding across the ground before coming to a stop.

"Huff... Huff..."

Breathing heavily, Zhou Yuan felt dizzy, as if he were oxygen-deprived. His limbs were weak and trembling.

Spirituality was akin to a blue bar, and firing a single explosive bullet almost drained it completely. However, the power was substantial, killing the black wolf instantly.

He quickly took out a Mini Spirituality Potion and drank it. Just like the Mini Life Potion, it restored 150 spirituality points and continued to restore a total of 50 spirituality points over 15 seconds.

His head gradually cleared, and he hastily looked for an exit, soon spotting a fire escape in the distance.

After running a few steps towards it, Zhou Yuan suddenly thought of something and returned to the black wolf's corpse.

"Pick up."

The headless black wolf's corpse immediately vanished, absorbed into his backpack, accompanied by item information.

[Name: Headless Corpse of the Nether Wolf]

[Note: A low-grade nether wolf from the Monster Breeding Farm. It got up, and one bullet killed it. Not much else to say.]

[Sale Price: 100 Star Coins]

"It really can be picked up, just like in the preview of 'Child of Stardust'..."

Zhou Yuan's mind was in turmoil. Too many incredulous things had happened tonight, making it hard to think clearly.

"Get out first."

Zhou Yuan raced down the fire escape, bursting out of the office building in no time. Outside, a crowd of escapees had already gathered, everyone looking terrified and shaken.

[Mission "Survive" completed]

[Performance Rating: B (Experience Points and Star Coin rewards increased to 110%)]

[Comment: The best way to deal with a threat is to eliminate it. Congratulations on surviving.]

[Mission Reward 1: Experience Points*110]

[Mission Reward 2: Star Coins*550]

[Mission Reward 3: Random Quality Item Pack*1]

[LV0 → LV1!]

A series of system notifications rang in his ear. Zhou Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a surge of post-crisis relief mixed with lingering fear.

He looked up, seeing the building engulfed in flames. The fire illuminated half the night sky, with thick smoke billowing into the air.

Suddenly, the sound of helicopter rotors echoed through the sky as three armed helicopters roared in, hovering above the building. Several figures leaped down.

Seconds later, boom!

A horrific explosion occurred inside the building, sending a wave of flames bursting out from the middle floors.

The crowd retreated in alarm, and someone noticed a convoy of over ten pitch-black armored vehicles approaching, followed by several buses. More armed helicopters with giant searchlights and weapons were flying overhead.

Countless faces showed fear. Was this the start of a war?

Zhou Yuan blended into the crowd of survivors, watching the approaching armored convoy.

Since supernatural power existed in the world, there must also be organizations to handle it. These people should be one of those.

Which raised the question: Would the "Child of Stardust" Player System he just acquired be discovered?

"Hmm? It has this function too?"

While Zhou Yuan was worrying, he suddenly noticed an "Invisibility Mode" option in the system settings.

Activating this mode would render all detection, psychic, divination, and prophecy methods ineffective against the "Player System."

"Activate!"

Zhou Yuan decisively turned on the option and then checked his personal panel.

[Name: Zhou Yuan]

[Level: LV1]

[Experience: 60/100]

[Spirituality: 900]

[Title: None]

[Buff: None]

[Aoneng Power: Not Awakened]

[Skills: None]

[Equipment: Steel Rose]

[Backpack: Headless Corpse of the Nether Wolf, Mini Life Potion*2, Mini Spirituality Potion*2...]

[Attributes:

Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Constitution: 5

Intelligence: 3

Perception: 6

Charm: 7]

[Usable Attribute Points: 1]

[Star Coin Balance: 1550]

Zhou Yuan's expression turned peculiar, seeing that his intelligence was only 3 points, which was quite low...

Well, given that he went to work right after junior high and spent years as a security guard, his brain had probably rusted from browsing videos on his phone all day—it's no wonder even a zombie would shake its head at him.

However, he hadn't expected his perception to be so high, second only to the charm that brought him good luck for a miraculous turnaround.

A moment later, the armored convoy arrived, with fully armed soldiers jumping out of the vehicles, bypassing the crowd and charging towards the building.

"Everyone, board the buses and cooperate with the follow-up investigation."

A long-haired woman in a bulletproof vest approached the crowd. Her unremarkable voice seemed to carry some sort of magic, causing everyone to behave like enchanted puppets, losing the light in their eyes and mechanically lining up to board the buses.

On the bus, Zhou Yuan had just sat down when he jolted awake from a daze, his awareness instantly cleared, filled with astonishment.

"Another transcendent, with mind-control abilities?

How convenient, to quickly and orderly evacuate the survivors while aiding in subsequent interrogation.

But why was I able to break free from mind control? Was it due to my high perception attribute or something else?"

Zhou Yuan remained quietly seated like the others, not wanting to cause any trouble by showing he had broken free from the control.

Ten minutes later, the bus took the crowd to an office building. Zhou Yuan recognized it as a self-media internet company, though it now seemed like a facade.

The group was led into the lobby and taken in batches by elevator to the basement. Those with injuries were sent to the medical department, while the uninjured were taken to interrogation rooms.

[Event detected, generating mission...]

[Mission Name: "Protect Your Memory"]

[Mission Objective: Use any means to protect your memory.]

[Mission Reward 1: Experience Points*50]

[Mission Reward 2: Star Coins*500]

[Mission Reward 3: Common Quality Item Pack*1]

"Protect Your Memory?"

Seeing the mission, Zhou Yuan's thoughts churned. He silently opened the system shop.

Before long, he found an appropriate item and immediately spent 500 Star Coins to purchase it, just as the questioning began.

The questions were nothing more than "What did you see?" and "What do you know?" Pretending to be clueless was relatively easy. Zhou Yuan answered the staff's questions dully, explaining that he encountered a collapse while patrolling, nearly got buried alive, and barely escaped.

After recording this, the staff took out a pair of sunglasses and a metal stick, flashed a red light at Zhou Yuan, and calmly said:

"The Stars Network accident was caused by a gas leak. Once you get home, you'll feel exhausted and fall asleep immediately. When you wake up, you'll forget everything that happened here."

Zhou Yuan nodded blankly.

·

Later that night.

Zhou Yuan and the other survivors were gradually sent home. Following the staff's advice, he fell asleep without even changing his clothes, waking up naturally the next morning.

"Hmm?"

Rubbing his eyes, Zhou Yuan thought he was seeing things, as some strange objects appeared in his sight.

"What the hell? The system!"

Seconds later, he realized this was the legendary system!

As he delved deeper, a "One-Time Super Dream Chip" in the backpack piqued his curiosity.

[Name: One-Time Super Dream Chip]

[Quality: Common]

[Special Effect: Stores a memory segment less than two hours long. Using it provides the stored memory.]

[Note: By 2077, experiencing the memories of others through Super Dream is a well-known entertainment. From society's elite to the poorest slums, everyone seeks the fleeting illusions yet extremely realistic and vivid fantasy dreams that Super Dream offers.]

"What is this? Click it."

Instantly, the erased memories flooded back, accompanied by a series of system notifications in his ear.

[Mission "Protect Your Memory" completed]

[Mission Rating: C (Experience Points and Star Coin rewards unchanged)]

[Comment: Your performance was unremarkable.]

[Mission Reward 1: Experience Points*50]

[Mission Reward 2: Star Coins*500]

[Mission Reward 3: Common Quality Item Pack*1]

[LV1 → LV2!]

[Experience: 10/150]

[Usable Attribute Points: 2]