March 12, 2027 — 12:01 PM
"No… no…"
Fan Hao suddenly opened his eyes.
His chest rose sharply as he gasped for air, his body drenched in cold sweat. For a brief moment, his mind was blank—then memories crashed into him like a tidal wave.
He was lying in a small, familiar two-room apartment.
"This…?"
His gaze swept across the room, confusion quickly turning into shock.
"This place… isn't this my old apartment?"
His pupils shrank.
"Did I… return to the past?"
"That's impossible…"
But then—
A thought struck him like lightning.
"The Return Clock…"
His breathing slowed.
"It actually worked…"
What happened was something unbelievable.
On March 22, 2029, a strange event occurred.
A game called Against the Guardian suddenly connected to the real world.
In this game, the entire world was built on cultivation, blending both Eastern and Western elements—kingdoms, knights, and empires—where power came from Qi, not magic.
Mana and Qi were essentially the same type of energy.
At first, everyone thought the system would control everything.
But that didn't happen.
After three days, people discovered how to use their in-game abilities in the real world.
At the same time, the entire world expanded several times in size.
New lands appeared everywhere.
Different kingdoms, cultivators, towers, and portals began to emerge across the world.
The towers stayed fixed in one place, so they were not a problem.
But the portals were dangerous.
If they were not cleared in time, monsters inside them could come out at any moment.
Because of this, fear spread across the entire world.
Ten years later…
The world had become a living nightmare.
Earth's humanity was struggling to survive.
Even so, Fan Hao became a powerful cultivator and a skilled fighter.
But in the end…
He died.
Not at the hands of enemies—
But because of betrayal.
His own girlfriend, Lin Yue, killed him.
She had fallen in love with a rich second-generation heir.
To protect her relationship with that man, she chose to kill Fan Hao.
Fan Hao's expression turned cold.
"I was not killed by my enemies…"
"I was killed by someone I trusted…"
In his past life, he also possessed a priceless treasure—
The Return Clock.
It was a unique item.
The only one of its kind in the entire world.
Because of this, countless people wanted to kill him and take it.
But with his intelligence and strength, no one succeeded.
Until the very end…
He was betrayed.
Fan Hao clenched his fists tightly.
"I lost everything…"
"My power…"
"My closest people…"
He took a deep breath and calmed himself.
"There are still ten days left before the game launches."
"I need money."
"A lot of money."
The best option right now—
Lottery tickets.
In his past life, he lived a very difficult life.
He had to rent a VR gaming pod just to play the game.
He saved money little by little—
Only to buy expensive things for his girlfriend.
But in the end…
Lin Yue still betrayed him.
She had secretly cheated on him for almost ten years.
Even so, Fan Hao still managed to become one of the strongest cultivators in the world.
He slowly stood up.
"What's done is done…"
"That was my past life."
His eyes became calm and determined.
"This time…"
"I will change everything."
After that, Fan Hao took out his mobile phone and sent a message to Lin Yue.
"From today onwards, our relationship is over.
I know you are at a hotel with Lou Mang."
A reply came quickly.
"I've wanted to say this for a long time too."
"Fine. Break up."
"You're too poor anyway."
"Haha…"
Fan Hao looked at the screen and smiled coldly.
"Good."
"Now I need to arrange money."
"First… the lottery."
He clearly remembered—
There was a lottery worth 10 million yuan.
Without hesitation, Fan Hao took the 1,200 yuan he had and left the apartment.
After walking for a while, he arrived at a lottery shop.
He stepped inside.
"I want to buy a lottery ticket."
The shop owner looked at him.
"Which one?"
"The 10 million yuan lottery."
"And I want to choose a specific number."
The owner raised an eyebrow.
"Alright. What number?"
Fan Hao spoke calmly:
"13… 3347… 50… 01."
The owner nodded while writing it down.
"Wait a moment."
Then he suddenly asked,
"Kid, why this specific number?"
Fan Hao didn't hesitate.
"Someone told me my luck is very good today. If I use this number, I'll win."
The owner sighed and shook his head.
"Stay away from those kinds of people."
"How much did you pay for that 'luck'?"
Fan Hao replied casually,
"Not much. Just 9,999 yuan."
The owner laughed.
"Then your money is already gone."
"These lotteries happen once a year. The chance of winning is extremely low."
Soon, he handed over the ticket.
"That'll be 599 yuan."
Fan Hao took the ticket.
"Thank you."
Just as he stepped out—
His phone rang.
It was Han Yueli.
His childhood friend.
He answered the call.
"Hello, Yun'er."
"Where are you?" she asked.
"I'm at the market."
There was a short pause.
"I just saw your girlfriend… with another guy."
Fan Hao replied calmly,
"I know."
"We broke up."
"…Okay."
After a moment, he said,
"Can you lend me 20,000 yuan?"
"I still owe you 100,000 yuan, but I'll return 200,000 this afternoon."
There was no hesitation.
"Don't worry. I'll send it now. Call me if you need anything."
"…Thank you."
Fan Hao lowered his phone slowly.
In his past life, no one was willing to lend him money.
He was already in debt—over 1 million yuan.
Almost everyone he knew had already lent him money before.
Four years ago, his parents died in an accident.
Since then, he had spent all the money they left behind.
Now, at just 17 years old, he was completely alone.
An orphan.
In his previous life, he did everything for his girlfriend.
Even if he wasn't the richest—
He had given her everything he could.
Ding!
A notification sound rang.
[Bank Notification: 20,000 yuan has been credited to your account.]
Fan Hao smiled slightly.
"Thanks, Yun'er…"
After that, he headed toward the antique market.
His eyes became sharp.
"I remember…"
"There's an antique here…"
"Worth 3.4 million yuan."
There are also many other items, all of which are very valuable. I remember all of them. If I buy and resell those items, I can earn around 7.8 million yuan.
After that, Fan Hao started searching for items everywhere. After a while, he found it.
A ring.
This ring was once given by the First Emperor to one of its favorite scholars.
This antique ring is made of Hetian jade from the Qin Dynasty. I remember that after some time, someone will buy this ring and sell it at an antique shop for 3.4 million yuan. At that time, due to the rising popularity of new games, no one paid much attention to this. But Fan Hao always kept up with the news and even small daily updates at odd times—it was like a hobby for him. That's why he knows so much.
"Hello Boss, how much is this hairpin?"
"Young brother, you have a good eye. This is an antique hairpin, one of the best items in my shop."
"Boss, what's the price?"
"It's made of jade, so of course the price is a bit higher than usual. Alright, I won't ask for too much—12,000 yuan."
"Boss, that's too expensive. At that price, I can't even buy it as a birthday gift for my wife. Forget it, I won't take it. Let's do one thing—how much is this jade ring?"
"Oh, that one is 5,000 yuan."
"Boss, 2,500 yuan."
"No, 4,000 yuan."
"Boss, final—3,000 yuan."
"Final price, 3,300 yuan."
"Okay, deal."
After buying it, Fan Hao went to a well-known antique collector.
"Oh! This is a ring from the Qin era. This is Hetian jade, prized in the Qin era for its purity. Look—there are tiny engraved symbols inside the band, possibly a phoenix or a scholar's seal. The craftsmanship is incredibly rare. This type of carving was reserved only for the emperor's personal scholars. In all my years, I've never seen this exact pattern outside the royal court. This is a genuine link to the Qin Dynasty. I can give you 3.9 million yuan."
"Kid, you really have a sharp eye. Where did you find this?"
Ding!
A notification sound rang.
[Bank Notification: 3.4 million yuan has been credited to your account.]
"That's a secret. But everything was done through legal channels."
"Also, whenever I find something valuable, I'll bring it to you."
"Alright, kid. I'll remember that."
"Bye."
After leaving the shop, Fan Hao immediately sent back all the money he had borrowed from others.
Meanwhile, Han Yueli was exercising inside a gym.
Ding!
A notification sound rang.
[Bank Notification: 100,000 yuan has been credited to your account.]
"Wait… where did this come from?!"
Ding!
"Yun'er, I've sent all the money."
"Where did this guy get so much money?"
"Fan, did you rob a bank?"
"No."
After repaying everyone, people started messaging him one by one.
Ding!
"Fan, you sent me 5k extra!"
"No problem, just keep it as thanks."
After that, Fan went out to eat something good.
He ordered a hot pot for himself.
While waiting for the hot pot, he thought—let's order some things online.
"My parents died in a car accident five years ago. Since then, I've been living alone in the apartment they bought. You could say it was their final gift to me. There was some savings left, but I spent it all on that bitch. Now I basically have no money left… but thanks to my luck, I'm still standing. Now it's time to order a VR gaming pod. Everyone uses VR headsets these days—but now I finally have the money to buy a VR gaming pod."
"Sir, your hot pot."
After finishing dinner, Fan went back home.
Over the next two days, Fan visited the antique market again. He bought a jade cup for 20k and sold it for 900k yuan. Then he bought a jade token for 8k and sold it for 1.2 million yuan. Finally, he bought an incense burner for 14k and sold it for 650k yuan.
Three days after placing the order, the VR gaming pod arrived at his home.
Finally, on the fifth day, Fan also won 10 million yuan from the lottery.
Now Fan had 16.15 million yuan. But he didn't stop—he invested all his money in the stock market.
Then, one hour before the game launched, he withdrew everything.
Now Fan had 60 million yuan.
Fan was finally fully prepared.
The game launched.
"Welcome to the game…
Against The Guardian."