“Did you hear? Another person in our Great Xia unlocked a Mythic-tier class yesterday!”
“The news is everywhere. That guy used to be nothing more than a third-rate class holder, but the Mythic class-change book he got sent him straight to the top. It won’t be long before we have another War God-level powerhouse!”
“I heard the higher-ups have already placed him under protection. They even moved his whole family to the Imperial Capital, put them up in Skycloud Pavilion, and granted them a thousand years of life!”
“Damn, I can’t take it anymore. I’m going home today to buy one and open it too!”
...
The classroom was filled with noisy chatter, and Lin Ye felt a sharp pain in his head.
When he opened his eyes, he realized that he was sitting in a classroom.
Had he... returned to his high school days?
It didn’t take long for Lin Ye to realize that he hadn’t been reborn. He had transmigrated.
Because he couldn’t understand a word of what his classmates were talking about!
Just then, a cold snort rang out, and the entire classroom instantly fell silent.
A middle-aged woman stood at the classroom door. She pushed up her glasses and swept the room with a sharp gaze. In an instant, no one dared to say another word.
“Go on, keep talking! Why did everyone stop?”
“Our class is the noisiest in the entire year!”
“Zhang Liang, Feng Yuanshan, get out and stand in the hallway!”
At the teacher’s command, Lin Ye watched as the two students who had been the most excited, spouting words and saliva everywhere, slunk out of the classroom to stand punishment.
By now, the memories of his predecessor had begun to merge into his mind.
The teacher before him was their homeroom teacher, Chen Cuixia, of Senior Class Seven.
Chen Cuixia walked up to the podium and tapped the countdown in the upper-left corner of the blackboard.
Sixty days remained until the college entrance examination!
Beside it was an even more eye-catching slogan:
Minors are prohibited from opening boxes!
“I know some of you have already turned eighteen, but you’re still students. And you’d better think carefully about whether your families can afford this!”
“What you should be doing now is keeping your feet on the ground and leveling up!”
“Next week will be the final practical secret-realm training session. The week after that is the citywide youth training camp selection. Time waits for no one!”
...
By then, Lin Ye had completely absorbed all of his predecessor’s memories. He finally understood what everyone had been talking about.
This was an era of universal class advancement and universal box opening!
Three hundred years ago, an unknown game invaded Earth overnight, digitizing the entire world.
After that, countless spatial rifts and unclaimed treasure chests appeared across the globe.
Treasure chests could contain basic supplies such as food, water, and potions.
They could also contain skill scrolls, skill points, class-change books, talents... and even the divine essence of a god!
To this day, countless people who possessed classes and supernatural abilities had become the backbone of society.
As long as the rifts remained, treasure chests would continue to appear.
It could be said that the fundamental workings of society revolved around finding treasure chests and becoming stronger by opening them.
Treasure chests naturally came in different grades. According to the knowledge his predecessor had learned, the worst were the ruined chests, whose spirit patterns were damaged and whose contents had even leaked out. These ruined chests could basically only produce supplies and other useless consumables.
Above them were Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Jadeite, Diamond, Legendary, Epic, and, at the very top, Mythic-grade treasure chests.
However, only three Mythic-grade treasure chests had ever been discovered.
If the rules governing box opening in this world ended there, people wouldn’t be so crazy about it.
The problem was that every treasure chest had a hidden rule:
The items obtained from a chest did not necessarily match the chest’s own grade!
A Black Iron chest had a tiny chance of producing a Gold-grade item.
And after opening a Gold-grade chest, one might find nothing but a pile of Bronze- and Silver-grade trash!
There had even been cases of people with heaven-defying luck opening a Silver chest and finding a Mythic-grade item inside.
Although the probability was infinitely close to zero, as long as it wasn’t actually zero, there would always be people willing to go insane over it!
Lin Ye sneered inwardly.
What bastard had designed this system?
Why were all those trashy game mechanics from his previous life still chasing him even after he crossed worlds?
...
As evening approached, Lin Ye was walking home after school when someone suddenly bumped into his shoulder.
The man was dressed in rags, his eyes vacant, his body thin and emaciated.
After bumping into Lin Ye, he didn’t apologize. He merely limped away.
Lin Ye heard him muttering to himself.
“One more... just... just one more...”
Along the way, Lin Ye noticed quite a few people like him.
They weren’t necessarily homeless, but their eyes were all just as empty.
“Don’t miss out as you pass by!”
“Dessert-grade treasure chests, half price! Every one guaranteed intact, absolutely no damage!”
The sales pitch came from nearby.
Lin Ye followed the sound and looked over.
He saw a luxurious shop with a banner hanging above its entrance:
“Congratulations to Mr. Zhang for successfully opening a chest at our store and obtaining a Platinum-grade reward!”
Inside the shop, the staff had lined up treasure chests of various sizes. Their surfaces were all gray and lifeless, with barely any luster.
Dessert-grade treasure chests were actually ruined chests.
There was practically no chance of obtaining anything good from them.
They had simply been given a more attractive name.
In an instant, countless people crowded around, their eyes blazing with excitement.
Even the homeless man who had bumped into Lin Ye earlier was watching from a distance, madness burning in his eyes as his entire body trembled.
“Handsome, want to try one?”
“We’re half price across the store today! We’re clearing out the bottom stock. A small dessert-grade chest is only five thousand copper coins!”
After the Age of Treasure Chests began, the world underwent tremendous changes.
The Class Holder Alliance was established, creating a new order and a new monetary system.
The entire world now used three currencies: gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins. The conversion rate between each tier was one to ten thousand.
Based on the purchasing power in his predecessor’s memories, five thousand copper coins was roughly equivalent to a family’s food expenses for an entire week.
To put it more precisely, it was about the same as one 648-yuan top-up in the mobile games of his previous life.
Faced with the shopkeeper’s invitation, Lin Ye simply turned around and left.
There was no way he was going to open a chest. He might as well work for a living.
That thing was a bottomless pit. Once you tried it even once, you’d never be able to stop.
...
After passing through several alleys, Lin Ye arrived at an old, run-down residential block.
His family lived in the old district.
The area was cramped and chaotic, with mountains of garbage piled everywhere. The municipal workers only came to clean it up once every half a month or so.
Lin Ye climbed to the fifth floor.
Before he even opened the door, he saw through the window that his mother, Yu Xiuying, was applying medicine to his father, Lin Xianlong, who was lying face-down on the sofa.
“Ah...! Easy, Xiuying!”
Yu Xiuying sighed. “You can’t keep going like this. Tell your foreman you need a few days off and go to the hospital for a checkup!”
Lin Xianlong gritted his teeth through the pain, but still shook his head. “It’s an old problem. Nothing serious. It’s just flaring up these past few days.”
“We finally have a project now. If I take time off, someone else will take my place.”
“Xiaoye is at the age when he needs money.”
“Ugh… No, I have to find another job too.”
“Xiuying, don’t do anything reckless. It’s too dangerous outside right now!”
Lin Ye’s expression darkened.
Even though he was a transmigrator, after merging with his predecessor’s memories, he had decided to live out this life under this identity.
Besides, his family was harmonious, and his parents’ love for him was obvious without needing to be spoken.
Lin Ye pushed open the door and entered. Lin Xianlong instantly put away the expression of gritting his teeth and forcing himself to hold on. He struggled to get up and smiled at Lin Ye.
“Xiaoye, you’re back. Xiuying, start dinner!”
“Come here, Xiaoye. Today’s your eighteenth birthday. Your dad bought you something!”
Lin Xianlong turned around and brought a treasure chest out of the room, placing it on the table.
The chest wasn’t very large. It was a medium-sized treasure chest, and its spirit patterns were incomplete, making it a defective chest.
Even so, it had cost at least three silver coins.
“Dad, why did you buy this?”
Lin Xianlong smiled. “Haven’t you wanted one for a long time? Your dad isn’t very capable, and I can’t afford to let you open chests every day. But today is your most important eighteenth birthday, so consider this your coming-of-age gift.”
Yu Xiuying poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled. “Your dad bought it for you, so go ahead and open it. We’re not expecting you to pull out some priceless treasure and rise to greatness. We just don’t want to see all your classmates and friends have one while you don’t.”
Lin Ye was stunned.
His self-control told him that he shouldn’t touch the thing.
But honestly, who could resist opening a blind box and trying their luck?
He had never expected his parents to think of him and buy one for him.
Looking at the treasure chest before him, Lin Ye knew this thing was sold on a no-returns basis.
In that case… open the chest!