Volume One, Chapter Two: Deity? Demon?

Nangong Yun’s expression shifted through myriad shades.

Just as Gu Xinian had known, this was his family heirloom.

On his parents’ deathbed, they had entrusted it to him, admonishing that unless there was absolutely no other choice, he must never sell it.

But now, his little sister’s life hung by a thread. If he couldn’t scrape together the money for her treatment, and the therapy was interrupted, he would be parted from her forever.

He’d heard that some wealthy people had a penchant for rare and storied items like this.

Composing himself, he stared at Gu Xinian and spoke gravely.

“Boss, this is a family heirloom. I don’t know its exact origins, but I’m asking a high price.”

Gu Xinian merely smiled, then produced a gold necklace—one he had given Lin Qingxue in his previous life—and placed it before Nangong Yun.

“This gold necklace is worth eight thousand. I’ll add three thousand in cash. That’s my utmost sincerity.”

Nangong Yun was momentarily stunned, then overcome with joy. He had only been hoping for a stroke of luck, but to think he’d actually found it!

Eleven thousand, plus the ten thousand he already had—his sister’s medical expenses were finally covered.

His sister was saved!

“Deal!” he blurted, hastening to bring out the mask, eager to exchange it with Gu Xinian for the money as quickly as possible, terrified the offer might vanish if he delayed a second longer.

Though the commercial street was neither bustling nor deserted, their transaction soon attracted a crowd.

Just as in his previous life, when Nangong Yun, driven by desperation for his sister’s sake, brought out the family treasure at his street stall, many had come to inquire about the price.

Most assumed it was an oddity he’d picked up somewhere cheap. Yet, when they asked, he named an exorbitant sum.

So, word spread throughout the street. People mocked him, saying he’d lost his mind for money.

But who could have guessed, today the foolhardy customer had actually appeared!

The onlookers stared at Gu Xinian as if he were an utter fool.

To spend eleven thousand on such a thing! What else could he be but a fool?

Some even whipped out their phones, snapping photos and recording videos to post online, treating Gu Xinian as a clown to entertain their followers.

A few kind souls, however, stepped forward to gently advise him.

“Young man, even if you like this item, you must think carefully. It’s not worth nearly that much.”

But Gu Xinian paid them no mind.

He understood the value of the Mask of Enigma better than anyone.

After receiving the mask and handing over the money, he was nearly trembling with excitement.

Obtaining the Mask of Enigma marked the first step—the most crucial step—toward rewriting his fate in this new life.

He put the mask away carefully, flashed a grateful smile at those who had tried to warn him out of kindness, and then glanced at the watch on his right wrist.

The timing was perfect.

By now, the sun had set. Night had fallen.

Just as before, at the stroke of eight in the evening—

A torrent of light burst forth from the depths of the stars, violently ripping apart the darkness.

And so began the great upheaval.

The world lurched. Countless people lost consciousness in the seismic shift.

Gu Xinian among them.

...

Gu Xinian awoke, just as he had in his previous life.

Ruins, shattered cities, and innumerable people awakening, dazed, surrounded him.

All stood upon a vast open field.

The rules had changed. After the cataclysm, the modern civilization humanity had painstakingly built had been nearly obliterated.

Everyone was being pulled by the power of these new rules into separate regions, sorted into factions.

Those who had lived within several blocks of Qinghe University—including Gu Xinian—were all gathered here.

The reactions of those around him matched his memories exactly: shock, bewilderment, confusion.

“I was just in the dorm playing games with my girlfriend—how’d an earthquake knock me out, and now I’m here?”

“This… This looks like Qinghe University, but where are the dorms? The classroom buildings? And what about all the commercial streets, the food stalls, the bars?”

“Damn it, this has to be a dream!”

Panic swept through them. Some slapped themselves, hoping to wake up.

Gu Xinian smiled faintly, shaking his head.

He hadn’t reacted much better in his past life.

His gaze then shifted, settling coldly on a nearby figure—sexy, beautiful—Lin Qingxue.

She was here, just as she had been last time.

He kept scanning, and soon found Nangong Yun, whom he hadn’t noticed at first in his previous life.

Just as in the river of time he had glimpsed, Nangong Yun, after slapping himself to confirm it wasn’t a dream, red-eyed, began scouring the crowd for his sister.

After a moment, Gu Xinian looked away, turning his attention to the ruins not far off.

That one—he should be appearing soon.

Sure enough, when his eyes fell upon a pile of rubble, he saw it: a figure, impeccably dressed in a suit, but three meters tall—a humanoid creature.

Humanoid, yes, but with the head of a ram.

Brown markings and vivid red fur covered its arms and hands, which protruded from its suit sleeves.

Its beard writhed like black, slime-covered tentacles.

Thick blood oozed continually from beneath its feet.

Terrifying—grotesque—unnatural.

It looked down upon the crowd as a farmer might gaze upon livestock.

“Silence!” it intoned, its slow, grating voice scraping through the air like a demon gnawing on bones.

The crowd turned, and nearly lost their minds in terror.

“My god—what is that monster?!”

After a moment, a woman with nerves of steel—a beautiful, mature teacher in a suit and glasses, her looks in no way inferior to Lin Qingxue’s—forced down her fear and asked in a trembling voice:

“W-what… what are you?”

Gu Xinian recognized her at once—Xiao Ran, one of Qinghe City’s most remarkable survivors in his previous life, the famous internet celebrity teacher.

“Well, well,” the creature sneered, “You divide your time by my name, you made me one of your so-called zodiac animals, and yet now that I stand before you, you don’t even recognize me? How disrespectful!”

“Let me introduce myself. I am the very Goat of your Twelve Zodiac Signs. You may call me the Man-Goat.”

A twisted smile curled its lips; madness, apathy, and savagery flashed in its eyes.

Shockwaves rippled through the crowd.

“What? The Twelve Zodiac Signs are real?!”

“This… This thing can’t be telling the truth, can it?”

Gu Xinian’s eyes gleamed, and he smiled.

Yes, just as before, he had once more been assigned to the Zodiac—specifically, the Man-Goat’s faction.

Only, in his past life, he’d been as unable to accept it as everyone else.

Until—

“What kind of bullshit zodiac nonsense is this!?” a burly gangster, arms covered in tattoos, a gold chain around his neck, stood pointing at the Man-Goat, swearing furiously. “Who the hell do you think you are, playing tricks on us! I don’t know how you got us here, but you’d better send me back right now or I’ll kill you myself!”

The Man-Goat only laughed.

“How amusing! A dog dares speak to its master this way?”

“Oh, wait. You’re not even fit to be called dogs. You are nothing but pitiful worms who, for ages, sacrificed to us and begged for our favor!”

“Seems I need to teach you a lesson.”

Its eyes now drowned in violence, the Man-Goat rose to its full height.

With a snap of its fingers, the gangster’s head exploded like a watermelon.

Blood and brains splattered everywhere, mingling with shredded flesh.