Chapter 4: The Berserker System

The man with the gun was still waiting outside. Clearly anxious about losing his weapon, the moment the door opened, he eagerly approached Song Shi, eyes glued to the gun in her hand.

Song Shi tossed the gun back to him and headed toward the elevator.

Clutching his gun, the man dutifully pressed it against Song Shi’s back and followed her to the elevator.

The two entered the elevator one after the other, with Song Shi standing in front.

The man pressed the floor button. Song Shi glanced at him through the reflective glass. 

"Can I leave now?" She asked.

The man nodded.

Song Shi pinched the corner of her dirty shirt with two fingers, displaying the filthy fabric to him. 

"Is there a place where I can change? I need a clean set of clothes."

The man was silent for a moment. 

"Awakened ones are sent directly to the hospital. The hospital provides clean clothes. As for those who haven’t awakened..."

His eyes met Song Shi’s, and he stopped speaking.

Those who didn’t awaken usually died up there, so they didn’t need a change of clothes.

Song Shi: ...

So, she was going to parade home in this outfit. Besides, she still didn’t know where her home was.

"But I’ll take you back. Chairman Qin instructed me." The man with the gun said.

Song Shi remained cautious and probed, "Chairman Qin sent you my address?"

If not, she would be exposed for not knowing where her own home was.

The man glanced at his wrist. 

"Yes, she did."

Song Shi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The elevator descended straight to the underground parking lot. After Song Shi got into the back seat, the man finally removed the gun from her and let it hang at his side. 

He opened the car door and sat in the driver’s seat.

The SUV reversed quickly, leaving the dim garage.

As sunlight flooded in again, Song Shi squinted uncomfortably before reopening her eyes. They were now driving along a mountain road.

The experimental base was located deep within the mountains, surrounded by a desolate, barren landscape. Yellow sand filled the air as far as the eye could see.

One off-road vehicle after another roared past them, occasionally joined by large transport trucks with black waterproof covers over the cargo. 

All were headed to the experimental base.

The gunman occasionally glanced at Song Shi sitting in the backseat through the rearview mirror. 

She remained with her face turned to the side, calmly looking out the window.

He briefly shifted his attention to the view outside but noticed nothing unusual, so he refocused on driving.

Song Shi was staring at her own reflection in the window.

Earlier, during her confrontation with the pink-haired woman, the moment their hands collided, her entire right arm went numb. 

At that moment, a few lines of text had suddenly appeared in her mind.

In the heat of the moment, she didn’t have time to think about the content of the text. Now, as she recalled it, the words reappeared in her mind.

[Pain Tolerance Unlocked]

[Pain Tolerance Progress: 1%]

[Counter-Abuse Ability Unlocked]

[Counter-Abuse Progress: 1%]

[Do you want to survive in this cannibalistic world? As an equivalent exchange for your arrival here, you are gifted an opportunity to awaken. Make the most of it.]

She had a chance to awaken!

The person reflected in the window curved her lips slightly in a fleeting smile. 

By the time the gunman looked over through the rearview mirror, she had already returned to her usual expression.

In less than half an hour, the view ahead had shifted from barren mountains to towering skyscrapers. 

After passing through a checkpoint, the vehicle officially entered the city.

Song Shi’s gaze was completely captivated by the buildings before her. The towering structures rose high into the clouds, with suspended rail tracks weaving among them. 

Small airborne vehicles of various shapes soared through the sky, while diverse types of cars filled the streets below. 

Massive advertising billboards on floating airships bombarded her senses, and even the narrow gaps between the buildings were crammed with brightly colored signs.

After her initial shock, Song Shi was left with just one thought: How suffocated the people living here must feel.

The off-road vehicle sped through the narrow streets and finally stopped in front of a run down old building.

"This is the location Ms. Qin gave me, 703 on the seventh floor." The gunman said, turning off the navigation system. 

He turned to the backseat to confirm with Song Shi, "Is this the place?"

Song Shi nodded, opened the car door with her left hand, and jumped out.

"Then, I'll leave you here." The gunman said, waving at Song Shi as he revved the engine and drove away.

Song Shi looked up at the old, dilapidated building in front of her, counting up to the seventh floor. Some of the rooms were lit, while others remained dark.

She wasn’t sure what kind of family awaited her.

From the malnourished face of the original owner and the sight of the dilapidated building in front of her, it seemed that the original family wasn’t in great shape.

Song Shi didn’t mind this. After all, her family in her previous life wasn’t well off either, but she still managed to live a successful life and even helped her parents enjoy better days.

As she stepped onto the staircase, someone called out, "Song Shi?" 

She turned her head.

It was a girl in a light green dress, exceptionally beautiful, walking toward her with a look of surprise.

She clearly knew the original owner. Song Shi didn’t say anything, opting to stay silent and observe.

The girl was coming from the direction of the trash bins, obviously having just thrown something away, and she had likely seen Song Shi being dropped off from the vehicle.

"Did you successfully awaken?" The girl asked as she reached Song Shi, glancing at the off-road vehicle as it drove away.

Song Shi didn’t answer directly, as she didn’t know who this person was. "I’m tired. I’d like to rest."

"Oh, right, I was too eager." The girl said, her bright face softening into an apologetic smile. She affectionately wrapped her arm around Song Shi’s. 

"Let’s head upstairs. My father just finished cooking, and we’ll be just in time for dinner."

Song Shi let the girl link arms with her, but the girl’s hand froze about three centimeters from her arm. "Sister, your clothes..."

Song Shi's clothes, stained with blood and dirt, had not been changed. The girl in front of her had been so focused on whether she had awakened that she hadn't noticed her clothing.

"Sister, are you hurt?" The girl's delicate voice suddenly trembled, her eyes reddening. Paired with her innocent face, even Song Shi felt a bit sorry for her.

However, after the tough experiences at the base, Song Shi found it hard to trust anyone in this world, even if this person might be her body's younger sister.

"No, I'm fine. I'll head upstairs first." Song Shi said, stepping around her and heading into the building.

The elevator had a sign saying Under Maintenance, so Song Shi turned toward the stairwell.

Seventh floor, room 703. After climbing the stairs to the seventh floor, the door facing the staircase was 703. Song Shi pressed the doorbell.

The girl, who claimed to be her sister, followed closely behind, panting slightly after the climb.

"Sister, your stamina has improved so much. You must've awakened, right? Are you from the berserker system?"

Just as she finished saying berserker system, the door opened, and the person inside happened to overhear those words.

Song Shi immediately sensed a wave of malicious resentment hitting her. She looked at the person who had opened the door, but the other party had already lowered their head.

"Chi Chi, change your shoes." With those four words, the person turned and walked back into the house.

The girl claiming to be her sister squeezed past her and hurried inside, her sweet voice coming through the wall, "Dad, the food you made smells as good as ever! Mom, look at Dad's nose! I don't know where he got all this dirt, hahaha..."

Song Shi stood at the door, pondering how things might have been in her previous life. 

If she had returned from a near-fatal experience, what would her parents' attitude towards her have been?

They would probably have pulled her aside, asking her all sorts of questions, if she was hurt, if she was hungry, if she needed a shower, and so on.

But now... could it be that she wasn't their biological child? Was she just fostered here? Did her parents belong to someone else?

Once she changed her shoes and entered the house, she passed through the foyer to see a warm scene of a family of three happily wiping their noses together.

Song Shi's gaze landed on the man's face in the middle; his age was hard to discern, but his daughter likely inherited his appearance.

The man also saw Song Shi and quickly pushed his daughter aside, smiling as he approached her. 

"Xiao Shi, you’re back. Are you hurt?"

Song Shi's eyes flicked over the checkered apron he was wearing. 

"No."

"That's good. Go change your clothes; put your dirty clothes in the laundry basket, and I'll wash them for you."

"Wash what? Just throw it away." The woman sitting at the dining table spoke coldly.

The man glanced back and then hesitated when he looked at Song Shi. She nodded in agreement. 

"There’s really no need to wash it. It was just a temporary outfit, throwing it away saves time."

The man smiled. 

"Then we'll listen to Xiao Shi. I've already prepared clean clothes for you, they’re in your room."

Following his gaze, Song Shi spotted a closed door and confirmed that it was her room.

"Change your clothes quickly and come out to eat. Today, we have your favorite meatball soup,  it won't taste good if it gets cold. Chi Chi, don’t start eating yet; wait for your sister."

Song Shi agreed and quickly walked into the room.

She took a moment to look around, discovering that this small bedroom even had an attached bathroom, complete with a shower head.

Immediately, she took off her clothes and rinsed her body repeatedly, especially her hair, which was sticky and gross. It took three washes before she felt clean.

Dressed in the neatly folded clothes at the head of the bed, Song Shi rummaged through the corner of the bookshelf and found a bag. 

She crumpled up the bloodstained clothes she had changed out of and stuffed them inside, tying it tight and placing it at the door.

Only then did she start to carefully examine the room.

On the desk, there was an overturned picture frame. When she flipped it over, she found a family photo of four people: Herself and the three people outside.

In the picture, she was still very small, standing on the far right, while the other three stood hand in hand together, one hand's distance away from her.

So they truly were a family of four.

Song Shi turned the frame back over and began looking for useful information on the bookshelf.

She needed to understand this family, but more importantly, she needed to comprehend this world.

A book with dark red letters on the spine that read Guide to Human Differentiation caught her attention, and she pulled it out.

Guide to Human Differentiation — 27th Edition

"Humans develop extraordinary abilities or talents beyond the norm between the ages of 13 and 18, which can be hereditary or a mutation."

"Differentiation is the only weapon humans have evolved to face harsh environments. Every human with a differentiation value above 25% is a hope for the Federation. Please abide by Federation laws, regularly conduct genetic testing, train yourselves, and awaken as soon as possible."

Song Shi turned to the next page of the table of contents and briefly skimmed through it, finding a wide variety of abilities, numbering at least in the hundreds.

She found the ability she was most interested in and checked the corresponding page.

[Berserker System: A type of enhancement ability.

Violent factors permeate their genes.

Muscle strength comparable to that of exotic beasts, super-fast reaction speed, exceptional combat power; berserk, unethical, fast recovery, and tenacious vitality.]

The following section listed several famous individuals categorized under the Berserker System and their notable deeds.

Song Shi quickly read through it, gaining a preliminary understanding.

She was a high-probability candidate for the Berserker System, but the stimulation experiment hadn't successfully awakened her abilities, she thought she was unable to awaken.

However, the system gave her a chance, but it did not specify whether the ability she ultimately awakened was indeed from the Berserker System.

The progress bars for the pain tolerance value and counter-abuse value were still displayed, and Song Shi inevitably linked them to the abilities she might awaken in the future.

From the term counter-abuse value, it seemed to align well with the characteristics of the Berserker System: Violence.

But the pain tolerance value, she found difficult to connect. Perhaps it was related to the description of tenacious vitality?

If one endures more abuse, does that mean their vitality becomes naturally resilient?

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