"Mmm..."
Yu Jin woke up groggily on the hotel king-sized bed.
He was woken up by the "buzz buzz" of his phone vibrating by his pillow.
"Who the hell's ruining my 'Superman' dream in the middle of the night?"
Yu Jin's mind was still fuzzy. He mumbled as he rolled over to grab his phone.
Brring brring—
The call connected.
"Old Yu!"
"Where the hell are you?"
"The club recruitment event's about to end and you still haven't shown up!"
"Senior Sister Yin and I have been waiting for you here forever!"
Tang Yunxuan's barrage left Yu Jin confused.
Recruitment?
What recruitment?
Swoosh—
Yu Jin shot upright from the bed like a carp, grabbed his phone and checked it.
[September 3, 2025]
[18:25]
"Tsk—"
Yu Jin sucked in a cold breath on the spot.
He'd actually slept for a whole day and night, from last night all the way to the evening of the next day?
His memory was still stuck at the system prompt: [You have become a Tier Three Evolver].
"Club recruitment ends at 19:00, less than half an hour left!"
Yu Jin realized how serious this was.
Club recruitment was the key to getting the system's 'Dawn City Lord' reward!
Even though recruiting a hundred new members was basically impossible, he still had to try...
Yu Jin didn't have time to check what changes becoming a 'Tier Three Evolver' brought him. He shot up from the bed and rushed toward the room door.
The next second.
BANG—!
A deafening crash, Yu Jin froze on the spot.
He was clutching the door handle—and attached to the handle, the whole freakin' door.
Crashhh—
The door fell apart, loose drywall dust raining from above.
"Crap."
Yu Jin knew this was bad.
His physique had obviously improved massively after reaching Tier Three.
So much that a single tug nearly made him 'break out, door and all.'
Not far away—
The cleaning lady from the room opposite heard the noise and turned to look.
Their eyes met.
After a moment of silence—
The cleaning lady pressed the pager at her waist—
"Front desk, front desk."
"The guest in room 405 just yanked the whole door off."
...
...
Jiangcheng University.
Buxue Building, lecture hall.
The club recruitment event venue.
Compared to yesterday, since today was the last day of recruitment, way more freshmen showed up looking for clubs. The place was packed, nearly bursting at the seams.
Except, of course, for the Environmental Protection Club's area.
Even with Yin Yao—the star campus beauty upperclassman—in the mix, the Environmental Protection Club's booth was still cold and deserted, not a soul in sight.
Though plenty of freshmen—especially the guys—just couldn't help sneaking peeks at Yin Yao, but…
It was all just sneaky looks; none of them would actually join. No way in hell, not in this lifetime.
The news about club president Yu Jin leading Yin Yao around picking up litter on campus yesterday had already spread everywhere.
The freshmen admired that...but it also made the club even more 'respected from afar.'
"The hell!"
"Old Yu just hung up on me!"
Tang Yunxuan stuffed his phone away, grumbling furiously.
Yin Yao heard him and spoke in a gentle voice:
"He probably just got busy and forgot."
"But since you called to remind him, he should be here soon."
"Don't worry, we'll just wait a bit longer."
As soon as she said this—
Tang Yunxuan nodded, relieved that Senior Sister wasn't blaming Yu Jin for being late, but then frowned, something felt off.
These lines…
Weren't these exactly what he was going to say?
Tang Yunxuan shook his head hard, forcing himself not to overthink it.
But to keep Senior Sister from getting bored while waiting for Yu Jin, he decided to start a conversation:
"Senior Sister, you don't look so great today. Feeling tired?"
"Did you not sleep well?"
As soon as he said this—
Yin Yao turned and gave Tang Yunxuan a look.
"Mm."
Her answer was kind of cold.
Tang Yunxuan scratched his head. He was just telling the truth—compared to yesterday's radiant vibe, today Yin Yao had huge dark circles, skin pale, and even her lips were a bit purple.
"If you have insomnia, you should try melatonin. I've personally tested it—it works!"
Tang Yunxuan added helpfully.
Yin Yao nodded, dropping the topic.
She really hadn't slept well last night. Actually, she hadn't slept at all.
She'd spent the whole night trying to awaken using a Pollution Crystal.
She couldn't even count how much pain she'd been through. By the end, she was almost numb...
In the Wasteland game's beta, everything is absolutely realistic—or instead, it IS reality. Pain feedback is totally authentic too.
At least, unlike the real crossover in six days, here she could 'die fearlessly and just restart'.
"Thirteen tries."
Yin Yao's gaze dropped.
Last night she'd tried awakening thirteen times—and 'died' thirteen times too!
The worst part—
Even after all that, Yin Yao still hadn't succeeded in awakening as an Evolver.
"Keep going tonight."
"As long as I can awaken, it'll all be worth it."
Yin Yao's resolve remained unshaken.
As long as she could awaken as an Evolver, she could use her foresight and edge to grow strong, fast.
At the same time—
She was really curious about Yu Jin's progress in Wasteland World now.
She'd come to club recruitment today mostly to dig for info. If she could find out where Yu Jin had spawned in the game, even better.
Maybe...
There would be the secret to Yu Jin's future game-breaking superpower around there.
Yesterday she'd specifically arranged for someone to deliver a helmet to Yu Jin with just this idea in mind—partly to build connections, partly to rack up favors owed.
"Eh?"
Yin Yao's train of thought was interrupted by Tang Yunxuan's surprised exclamation beside her.
"What is it?"
Yin Yao looked over at the vice president of the Environmental Protection Club.
Tang Yunxuan's expression was beyond weird right now.
"Is it something to do with Yu Jin?"
Yin Yao narrowed her eyes.
"Uh..."
Tang Yunxuan hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and handed his phone to Yin Yao.
The screen showed a WeChat chat.
Yu Jin—
[Old Tang, SOS!]
[Lend me some cash, I'll pay you back!]
Tang Yunxuan—
[What?]
[How much you need?]
[Transferred 1,500 yuan]
[That's my entire living expenses for the month]
Yu Jin—
[Real bros, all in the heart!]
[I'll ask Old Cui and the others, see if I can gather enough.]
Tang Yunxuan—
[Dude, what are you doing?]
[Why you need so much all of a sudden?]
Yu Jin—
[...I accidentally broke the hotel room door. Gotta pay five grand.]
Tang Yunxuan—
[???]
...
...
"Whew—"
Yu Jin walked out of the hotel, letting out a long heavy breath.
He looked back for a second.
The hotel manager was all smiles, waving enthusiastically: "Come again, come again!"
Yu Jin's face darkened a few shades.
Broke a door, and got fined five grand!
At first, Yu Jin refused to accept it.
He wouldn't mind paying, but five thousand? No way.
But then the manager just whipped out the invoice.
Yu Jin was helpless—could only borrow cash from Old Tang.
After all, his monthly living expenses were only two thousand, even everything together wasn't enough.
But what he didn't expect—
Was that it ended up being Senior Sister Yin who bailed him out.
And Yin Yao, as soon as she moved, wired five grand straight up.
"Superhuman with zero cash—still living off others."
"What kind of Superman is that, really?"