C1 The Memory System Was Fully Loaded

"Huo Xuan, once you leave, don't ever come back."

The hoarse voice reverberated through the backstreets.

"Qian Zhenbo, you're despicable," she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Fu Guo Sheng, you've destroyed my youth."

"Ye Chen, where are you?"

"At last, I, Zhang Xiao Lai, have made something of myself."

"Hmph, life and death are merely the stakes of a high gamble. If today is my defeat, then I, Wu Yong, will have died an honorable death."

"…"

Yuh Wenming suddenly rose to his feet. Since the car accident, his mind had been flooded with memories that weren't his own.

A montage of life's many facets, each person's history marked by either brilliance or darkness.

These foreign memories had been replaying in his mind for the ten days following his accident, like episodes of a TV drama that he couldn't switch off.

Sometimes, he'd catch glimpses of his own fragile existence.

Yuh Wenming, a kid from the mountains, was the first from his village to make it to university.

But the cost of city life was overwhelming.

Living in constant poverty, he had to resort to scavenging for trash to secure his place in the urban landscape.

His parents, back in the mountains, didn't own a cell phone, making contact impossible.

Yuh Wenming would write letters home, enclosing a few hard-earned yuan.

Despite the hardship, he never grew weary. He even harbored dreams of one day earning enough to build a better life for his family.

But ten days prior, while collecting plastic bottles, Yuh Wenming was deliberately targeted for harassment.

On the street outside a commercial building near the university town, Jiaang Han and his cronies cornered Yuh Wenming. They shoved him around and tossed his collected bottles into the gutter. As Yuh Wenming bent to retrieve them, Jiaang Han delivered a swift kick.

*Beep! Beep! Beep!*

A car horn blared, and in the next moment, Yuh Wenming was sent flying by the impact.

For a split second, he thought his life was over, yet a part of him resisted that bitter end.

Had his parents in the mountains ever witnessed the city's grandeur?

The village elders in the mountains had yet to see him join the construction crew to carve a road through the rugged terrain.

Had the mountain children ever had the opportunity to venture beyond their peaks to learn?

He hadn't yet confessed his feelings to the girl he fancied.

Nor had he sought retribution against those who had tormented him.

All these unfulfilled moments played like a film of regrets in Yuh Wenming's mind.

Upon awakening, Yuh Wenming realized he was still alive, overwhelmed by a sense of unresolved yearning.

Eight days prior, Yuh Wenming had been expelled from the hospital due to a lack of funds, forcing him to return to his school dormitory despite his severe injuries.

When his dormitory brothers learned of Yuh Wenming's plight, they approached Jiaang Han and the school authorities. Ultimately, Jiaang Han offered a mere five thousand yuan for medical expenses.

Aside from Xing Lei, their class teacher, who was advocating for additional compensation, the school had done little.

For ten days, Yuh Wenming languished in a haze, bombarded by a cacophony of voices within his mind.

His thoughts were a jumble, yet the memories that surfaced were vivid, as if he had lived each one.

"You're awake, Laosan," came the anxious and caring voice of Zhang Xiao, the eldest of his dormitory brothers.

Zhang Xiao hailed from the most affluent family among them, with his parents owning a city apartment and holding well-paying corporate jobs.

"Laosan, you..." Zhang Xiao's initial joy was quickly replaced by shock at the intensity of Yuh Wenming's stare. He halted, his eyes wide with disbelief, feeling as though a wolf had fixed its gaze upon him, ready to pounce at any moment. A chill sweat trickled down his forehead.

A killer's instinct flashed through Yuh Wenming's mind, prompting an involuntary reaction. His icy, unforgiving stare had startled Zhang Xiao.

Regaining composure, Yuh Wenming softened his expression to his usual gentle smile. "Big brother, I owe you all a great deal of thanks for these past days."

Upon seeing Yuh Wenming's gentle smile, Zhang Xiao blinked twice, almost questioning his own senses. The look in Wenming's eyes moments ago felt like it could have killed him.

But he quickly reassessed. Having shared a dorm with Laosan since their freshman year, Zhang Xiao knew him well enough.

With a dismissive chuckle, he shook his head, "Why worry over nothing?"

"Polite for what? You've got it the roughest in our dorm. If we don't have your back, who will? And as for Jiaang Han, that jerk, his comeuppance is overdue."

Clutching the lunch he'd fetched, Zhang Xiao grumbled about Jiaang Han. If it weren't for Han's deliberate torment of Wenming, he wouldn't have ended up in that accident.

Thankfully, the driver of the Mercedes was decent, rushing Wenming to the hospital and covering two days of hospital fees. Otherwise, Wenming's fate could have been uncertain.

As Zhang Xiao spoke, a dark thought of wanting to end Jiaang Han crept into Wenming's mind.

"Ding! Host's brain development has reached 15%. Binding Memory System."

"Ding! Memory System loading..."

"Ding! Memory loading at 10%."

"Ding! Memory loading at 40%."

Yuh Wenming's head throbbed with unbearable pain, his face contorting in agony as he doubled over the bed, heaving as though he were experiencing morning sickness.

Seeing Wenming in such distress, Zhang Xiao quickly fetched a glass of water and called out urgently, "Hang in there, Laosan. I'm going to get the school doctor right away."

"Ding! Memory loading at 90%."

"Ding! Memory loading complete."

With Zhang Xiao gone, the system finished uploading into Wenming's mind, leaving him in sheer disbelief.

He had been bound by the system, specifically the Memory System.

"Ding! Congratulations, host. The Memory System has successfully loaded. Your predecessor was a renowned antique appraisal expert. You have fully inherited all of your predecessor's memories, along with a key to unlock the memories of the host before them."

Yuh Wenming shut his eyes tightly, intently absorbing the complete memories of the former Treasure Appraisal Master, Mr. Wenn Zheming.

The esteemed gentleman had taken over his predecessor's vast business realm, thanks to the Memory System and his exclusive Treasure Appraisal Ability. He also commanded the globally influential Antique Conventions: the National Antique Appraisal Convention.

Yuh Wenming's mind was still struggling to fully awaken.

Was this the mythical golden finger everyone talked about?

It all seemed a bit too miraculous!