Chapter 1 Where the Hell Am I

Chapter 1: What Kind of Mess Did I Get Myself Into?

At 7:30 in the morning, raindrops as big as beans hammered against the windowpane.

It was the first heavy rain of summer, punctuated by occasional rumbles of thunder.

Wen Yuchen stirred, then poked his head out from under the covers.

The dim, gloomy room already cast a pall over his mood for the day.

He lay sprawled on the bed like a frog for a few minutes before finally getting up, slipping on his sandals, and shuffling out of the bedroom.

On a day like this, staying home to watch a movie and sleep in would have been perfect.

Unfortunately, Wen Yuchen had to go to work.

He earned 750 yuan an hour, which added up to 6,000 yuan for an eight-hour day.

Who could pass up the chance to make 6,000 yuan in a day?

Wen Yuchen was an ordinary person—he couldn’t.

He heated two meat buns, each as big as his face, in the pot and boiled two farm-fresh eggs.

Then, he headed to the bathroom to groom himself.

Wen Yuchen was 22 years old and had been out of college for over a year.

He was never much of a scholar, barely scraping into a university. In this cutthroat era, without further education, finding a job was nearly impossible.

Fresh out of college, Wen Yuchen was brimming with confidence. He sent out over a dozen job applications, but all of them vanished without a trace. It was a harsh slap of reality, shattering his dreams of a bright future.

After moping around at home for three months, Wen Yuchen was literally swept out the door by his father wielding a broom.

During the first month of his slump, his mother was sympathetic, and his father showed concern.

By the second month, both parents offered gentle encouragement.

By the third month, his mother had stopped paying attention.

His father said, "We told you to take the postgraduate exam—you refused. We told you to take the civil service exam—you refused. You said you weren’t cut out for it. But if you want to work, you’ve got to pull yourself together instead of lazing around at home, mooching off us."

Then, with a sweep of the broom, he added, "Go on, get out and find a job. Anything is better than being a couch potato at home."

Wen Yuchen rubbed the tip of his nose, took the 30,000 yuan his parents gave him, and headed to the big city.

At first, he shared an apartment with others and bought an electric scooter to work as a food delivery rider.

He delivered food for two months, gradually adapting to the pace of life in the city.

During those two months, his electric scooter had two flat tires, which led to over a dozen complaints and negative reviews.

Unable to stomach the humiliation, he decided the job wasn’t for him. He returned to his old skills and found work as an instructor at a small martial arts school.

Then, while scrolling through social media, he came across a job opening for a motion capture artist at a studio owned by a famous company.

Wen Yuchen had loved martial arts films since he was a child. Because of this, his grandfather convinced his father to enroll him in martial arts classes at the age of five and a half.

He trained for 14 years straight and even became the captain of his college’s martial arts club in his sophomore year.

Chinese martial arts, with their focus on combat techniques, routines, sparring, and conditioning exercises, are a traditional form of physical culture.

The training was grueling, but he loved every minute of it.

When he saw the job posting, his instincts told him to seize the opportunity.

He immediately returned to his rented apartment, recorded two videos, and messaged them to the company.

One video featured him practicing Tai Chi, and the other showcased his sword skills.

Well, never mind the rough edges.

With a youthful face brimming with vitality and confidence, a height of 186 cm (6'1"), and a well-built physique—broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and powerful legs—Wen Yuchen successfully landed the job as a mocap artist.

He was now working on motion capture for an upcoming open-world martial arts game.

The buns in the pot were almost ready. Wen Yuchen turned off the heat and decided to change his clothes first.

With the heavy rain, the temperature had dropped several degrees from previous days. He put back the half-pulled-out short-sleeved shirt and opted for a wine-red long-sleeved hoodie instead.

He took off his pajamas and took a moment to admire his well-defined abs.

Then, he touched a scar on his abdomen and sighed, thinking it marred the look.

According to his mother, the scar was from surgery following a car accident two years ago.

He had no memory of the accident, blaming it on a head injury that caused amnesia.

Wen Yuchen was quite pleased with his outfit—a wine-red hoodie paired with black cargo pants.

Today’s work mainly involved capturing motion for the game’s protagonist during story cutscenes, which included many complex sword-fighting moves.

It was going to be physically demanding, so he needed to eat well.

The buns were made by his mother, who had visited him the day before, and the eggs were laid by the chickens back home.

After finishing breakfast past 8 a.m., he left the dishes to soak in dish soap.

He changed into sneakers, put on a cap, threw on his backpack, grabbed his keys, and headed out.

Usually, Wen Yuchen rode his mountain bike to work (he’d sold his electric scooter).

But the heavy rain made that impractical today. Umbrella in hand, he left the apartment complex and waited for his Didi near a small convenience store at the entrance.

A flash of lightning cut across the gloomy sky, making him uneasy. A bad feeling shot from his feet to the top of his head.

Wen Yuchen pulled out his phone, tempted to call and say he wouldn’t be coming in today—that they should wait for clearer weather.

But the temptation of earning 6,000 yuan in a day was too strong. After a moment’s thought, he slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"It’s just the weather affecting my mood," Wen Yuchen reassured himself. "Nothing to worry about."

Another, even brighter flash of lightning followed.

Wen Yuchen squeezed his eyes shut against the glare.

A sharp blaring horn pierced the air. When he opened his eyes, he saw a massive dump truck with its hazard lights on, barreling straight toward the convenience store.

His heart leaped into his throat, and he quickly tried to dodge out of the way.

However, he remained motionless.

Wen Yuchen's scalp tingled with numbness. Why? Why did his legs feel as if they had no sensation? Why couldn't he lift them? Why couldn't he move away?

The red front of the semi-truck drew closer and closer, and Wen Yuchen let out a despairing sigh.

If only he had gone back earlier.

The blinding white glare of the headlights hit him, and Wen Yuchen closed his eyes.

The sharp sound of the horn still echoed in his ears, but there was no pain at all.

Wen Yuchen couldn't help but think: That driver had skills—he had killed him instantly, without any pain.

He had intended to rest in peace with his eyes closed, but the rustling sounds in his ears made it impossible to ignore.

Wen Yuchen couldn't resist opening his eyes, and the bright light stung them, making them water.

"I'm not dead!" Wen Yuchen exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

A tiny, childlike voice sounded beside Wen Yuchen's ear, making his hair stand on end.

He stiffened his neck and turned his head jerkily, bit by bit. A furry little head poked out from the yellow blanket beside him.

The little one made a few sleepy sounds before falling back into a deep sleep.

Wen Yuchen's joy at being alive vanished completely.

It was then that he realized he was lying on a bed. Something felt off, so he quickly tried to sit up and figure out the situation.

Before he could even get to his feet, a searing headache slammed him heavily back onto the bed.

Wen Yuchen had never imagined in his life that he would encounter something as bizarre as transmigration into a book. Worst of all, he hadn't even read the book—why should he be the one to transmigrate into it?

Wen Yuchen raised a middle finger toward the heavens.

This was an ABO novel. Wen Yuchen hadn't transmigrated as the dominant alpha male lead or the gentle, adorable omega protagonist. Instead, he had become a minor beta character who had even given birth to a little villain beta.

The original host was a minor celebrity widely disliked online. After being supported by a handsome, wealthy sugar daddy and giving birth to a child, he was abandoned. He took the child to the patron's home to cause a scene, only to find that the family refused to acknowledge the grandchild. If the child had been an alpha or omega, it might have been different, but unfortunately, the little one took after the original host and was a beta. The patron's family kicked both the original host and the child out, with only a monthly child support of 200,000 Chinese yuan from the patron, who never showed his face again.

After that, the original host completely lost it. Not only did he mistreat the child, but he also targeted the omega protagonist relentlessly online. After being arranged by his agent to participate in a reality parenting show, he made no effort to hold back in front of the cameras, becoming a stark contrast to the omega protagonist.

After the show, the omega protagonist's career blew up, and he eventually ended up with the alpha male lead.

The original host, on the other hand, became universally hated, and even the child was scorned as having "bad roots."

Growing up in such an environment, the child gradually became warped and unhinged. As an adult, he embarked on a point of no return.

In the book, anyone who crossed him was killed. He eliminated two-thirds of the characters in the story.

The first person the grown-up child targeted was the original host. The second was his biological father's entire family, a powerful clan that once dominated C City, which subsequently fell into decline. In the end, the child was taken down by the omega protagonist's own child.

There was no other choice—the omega protagonist had nearly been killed.

The book also had an interesting setting: every character had an animal form. For instance, the original host was a tabby cat, the child was also a tabby cat, and the omega protagonist was a bamboo pit viper.

Wen Yuchen sat on the bed in a daze, his soul seemingly having left his body.