Chapter Two: Why Are You Still Alive

In front of the washbasin.

Lin Lei’s razor-sharp nails and fangs retracted, his eyes returning to their usual black, transforming him once again into the frail, cold, and ordinary young man he had always appeared to be.

Since his father had transferred to a university in another city as a professor after his mother’s unexpected passing, Lin Lei had begun living on his own.

Money was never a problem at home, yet the original Lin Lei had been so thin as to be nearly malnourished. Though he was tall and had delicate features, his excessive thinness gave him a strange, unsettling look.

Then there was the thick, heavy hair that concealed his eyes entirely, creating a curtain that blocked out the world.

Lin Lei was speechless within: “If you don’t want your eyes, you might as well donate them to someone in need.”

Eyes, of course, couldn’t be donated—but one’s hairstyle could certainly be changed.

He lifted a hand to brush aside the heavy fringe covering his eyes, but as he did so, he squinted slightly.

There on his forehead were four or five shallow brown scars.

“These look like… cigarette burns?”

As he gazed at the marks, fragmented memories flickered through his mind once more. His expression gradually grew colder as he pieced together the truth of their origin.

The original Lin Lei, withdrawn and eccentric, had few friends. Despite his frail body, his family was well-off—his living allowance exceeded even the salary of an average office worker. Naturally, this attracted the attention of certain lowlifes.

This world was not as safe as the one he’d known before. Biyang City could be counted among the big cities, but its actual security left much to be desired. Behind the glittering façade, the alleys hid filth and darkness.

A name flashed through Lin Lei’s mind.

“Liu Ping…”

Liu Ping was a member of a local gang. He treated Lin Lei as both a wallet and an easy target to bully. The cigarette burns on Lin Lei’s forehead had come from Liu Ping and his cronies.

In fact, when Lin Lei "devoured" that monster earlier, his limbs had all regenerated, and many of his minor wounds had completely healed; some of the lighter scars vanished altogether. Had it not been for that, there would likely have been even more burns on his forehead.

Lin Lei raised an eyebrow and turned away.

Returning to the bedroom, he surveyed the chaos left behind.

He abandoned the idea of calling the police. With the monster’s body already consumed and only the wreckage left behind, he would have no way to explain things—unless he wanted to expose his “gluttony” ability outright.

He shook his head.

"My priority now is to absorb the original host’s memories as quickly as possible, to understand the true background of this world… and to find out exactly why that monster targeted me. Was it mere coincidence, or was there a deeper reason…?"

With monsters like that, and his own awakened abilities, Lin Lei understood that this world was far from ordinary.

A faint light glimmered in his eyes.

Whether it was his newfound strength, the power of gluttony, or simply his combative instincts, Lin Lei felt little fear toward such creatures.

Why should a predator fear its prey?

On the contrary, recalling the taste that monster had left on his tongue, his hunger only grew.

"I want more…"

He fetched a broom and mop and spent considerable effort cleaning up the room.

Afterward, he began testing his gluttony. Since he could “eat” that monster, surely he could eat other things too?

After experimenting, he discovered that within a radius of about one meter, he could activate gluttony to create an “invisible mouth.” Although he couldn’t trigger “plunder,” he could consume any living or non-living thing he tried.

Tissues, building blocks, a phone stand, a garbage bag, lipstick, eye drops, flies, ants…

But no matter what he ate—even an entire 20,000mAh power bank—it hardly accumulated any gluttony energy at all. The gain was less than the cost of using the “invisible mouth.”

And the taste feedback from ordinary things was mediocre—not exactly unpleasant, but utterly bland and tasteless.

Clearly, the gluttony energy he needed had little to do with ordinary forms of energy.

“Could it be that only consuming special things related to those monsters will increase my gluttony energy, or let me use ‘plunder’…?”

He licked his lips. With limited items at home, all he could do was guess.

Suddenly, a clear ringtone chimed from his computer desk. He got up and picked up the flip phone that was charging there.

The alarm note read “morning class.”

As he picked up the phone, memories of school surfaced in his mind.

“The original host was withdrawn, with few friends at school, but his grades were excellent—always among the best students…”

“Freshmen at Biyang University had a tradition of attending morning self-study sessions…”

He washed up simply, changed into clean clothes, grabbed the shoulder bag from the sofa, and left for Biyang University.

…

Lin Lei’s residential complex had stood for twenty years. The buildings were low and the environment unremarkable. Many longtime residents had already moved away, replaced by migrant workers and students renting rooms for cheap.

The hallway walls were plastered with all manner of flyers: offers of high payments for surrogacy, locksmiths, impotence cures—everything imaginable.

"This place is too old; the property management does nothing…" Lin Lei shook his head. Just as he descended the stairs, his nose twitched and his steps paused.

He glanced toward a nearby breakfast shop, where the owner was frying buns on a large griddle at the entrance.

A rich aroma wafted over, and Lin Lei’s stomach rumbled in response.

"Ten yuan’s worth of buns! And a cup of soy milk!"

He walked over, found a seat, and while waiting, gazed at the TV in the shop.

The morning news was airing, reporting an explosion at a research institute called “Black Serpent” in the neighboring Beiyuan Prefecture—many had died, and it was causing quite a stir.

"Your buns are ready!"

A plate was set before him. Each fried bun cost one yuan for two. Lin Lei devoured all twenty in a single sitting, then downed a cup of soy milk in one gulp. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he still felt unsatisfied.

"Another ten yuan’s worth!"

Perhaps it was a side effect of awakening gluttony, but Lin Lei always felt ravenous.

As he ate, a three-legged tabby cat limped from the shadows beneath the table, searching for scraps on the ground.

Stray cats like this were a common sight in the complex.

Lin Lei’s eyes flashed; he reached down and picked up the cat by the scruff, hefting it in his hand.

He tried to activate gluttony, testing whether he could use “plunder”—

The answer was no!

"Insects I can understand, but not even a cat?"

Cats, after all, were agile and almost liquid in their movements. If he could “plunder” them, it would be a significant power boost.

The cat seemed to sense something terrifying and struggled frantically, meowing all the while.

Lin Lei smiled and set the cat down, tossing a bun in front of it.

"Don’t worry, I’m a good person… I won’t hurt you."

The cat bolted away as if escaping for its life.

…

Biyang City was the second largest city in Qinghe Prefecture, surpassed only by the prefectural capital, Ningcheng.

Lin Lei had grown up here, and after graduating high school, had enrolled in the local Biyang University.

Biyang University was a national key institution, with excellent faculty and campus environment.

After breakfast, Lin Lei boarded a bus and reached the university in less than half an hour.

With memories streaming through his mind, he soon arrived at a white teaching building—the very place where he, as the original host, attended morning self-study every day.

As he stepped in front of the building, more memories surfaced.

He climbed to the fourth floor.

"Room 404—this is it."

He pushed the door open.

A student in the front row, who looked a bit older and sported a moustache, glanced up and, upon seeing Lin Lei, immediately averted his gaze as though confronted by something unspeakable.

This left Lin Lei—now with Ning Fan’s soul inside him—feeling even more exasperated.

The original host’s personality had been too reclusive and odd.

He had no intention of acting out of character, so he turned his head and looked to the back of the classroom.

There were only a handful of students present; morning self-study had not yet begun, and attendance was sparse—after all, it was university, and few were willing to come so early.

But as soon as he entered, Lin Lei felt his mood inexplicably lift.

Indeed, even though his soul had changed, upon entering the study hall and contemplating the prospect of study, a sense of happiness surged up from the original host’s instincts.

For the original Lin Lei, studying was a genuinely joyful thing.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the window seat in the last row—his own spot.

He strode over and sat down, picking up the thick stack of books on his desk. Memories of the original host flooded his mind.

Most were scenes of him sitting alone in the classroom, silently studying.

Much of the academic knowledge overlapped with Lin Lei’s former life; but the original host was no ordinary scholar—while he completed his coursework, he had also devoted a great deal of time to studying other subjects.

His major was materials science, yet as memories poured in, Lin Lei absorbed a wealth of knowledge from medicine, human biology, and more.

He could close his eyes and sketch a detailed anatomical diagram of the human body, complete with all its intricacies.

“This kid—no, ‘I’—am truly a genius!”

As Lin Lei slowly absorbed this torrent of memories, more and more students trickled into the classroom as morning self-study approached.

Suddenly, a fragrant breeze swept past his face.

"Why is this happening?"

A voice laced with confusion, almost as if talking to herself, sounded at Lin Lei’s side.

He looked up.

Standing before him was a girl with short, stylish hair and delicate features, a lollipop in her mouth, her eyes fixed on him intently.

There was no shyness or flirtation in her gaze—only curiosity and subtle intrigue, as if she were pondering something.

"What?"

Lin Lei was momentarily taken aback, but as he looked at her, memories of her surfaced in his mind.

Due to his reclusive nature, there were fewer than five people in his class whose full names he even knew.

This girl was Li Xueshu—one of those five.

It wasn’t just because of her looks—though she was certainly beautiful, even rumored to be the belle of the department.

His deep impression of her was not so superficial.

It was because of her excellence.

The original Lin Lei’s sole advantage was his academic performance. Yet even that was a step behind Li Xueshu.

Their GPAs were both 3.9, but hers edged him out past the decimal point.

And it wasn’t just academics—she excelled in every area visible on campus, from sports to the arts, leaving no weakness at all.

Her abilities were so remarkable as to be almost unnatural, yet she had never shown any sign of unusual effort; it seemed to be pure talent.

Despite this, Lin Lei found no special memories between them except for a faint trace of envy, suggesting the original host had little interaction with her.

If this world were truly ordinary, Lin Lei wouldn’t have thought much more of her. But after what he’d experienced a few hours earlier, he understood this world was far from what it seemed.

Did her abnormal brilliance mean she herself was not normal—perhaps even belonged to some extraordinary circle?

Li Xueshu’s gaze met his, her expression thoughtful and perplexed. After a long moment, she drew a deep breath, her sharp eyes flashing coldly as she leaned in close and whispered in his ear:

"Lin Lei, why… are you still alive?"