NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: The Mysterious Multiplier
Chapter 1: The Mysterious Multiplier
Lu Yuan stared at the ancient map spread before him, his head pounding with disorientation.
“This is definitely a map of the Ming Dynasty,” he whispered, certainty in his voice despite his confusion.
As a Ming Dynasty enthusiast before his mysterious arrival here, he could easily recognize its distinctive territorial boundaries. The map appeared to date from the Hongwu period, when the Northern Yuan had been pushed back to the desert and imperial borders were being established.
Yet as Lu Yuan searched his memories, something felt wrong. Instead of historical knowledge about Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang or the Northern Yuan, his mind filled with the terrifying image of a dripping wet ghost rushing toward him. The phantom memory was so vivid he could almost smell the rank, fishy odor.
A cold sweat broke out across his body as a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his mind:
[Eye of Insight has been activated]
Then silence.
Lu Yuan collapsed into an armchair, breathing heavily. This place… it wasn’t the Ming Empire after all. It was called the Shenling Empire.
Yet the longer he examined his new memories, the more confused he became. The Shenling Empire’s founding, its history, and its development mirrored the Ming Dynasty with uncanny precision. Historical figures like Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang existed here too—under different names, but following identical paths with identical outcomes.
This was the Hongwu era, ruled by an Emperor Hongwu—but not Zhu Yuanzhang. Here, the imperial family bore the surname Gu.
What perplexed Lu Yuan most was the water ghost. The memory felt intensely real—something he had witnessed firsthand. As more memories integrated, he realized the truth: this body had been literally frightened to death by that apparition, creating the opportunity for Lu Yuan’s consciousness to inhabit it.
The original Lu Yuan had been a scholar, physically weak. Perhaps he’d been reading “Spring and Autumn Annals” all night before encountering something that stopped his heart with fear.
Looking around his sparse accommodations, Lu Yuan took inventory: a few chickens in the yard, some silver coins under his pillow, and a collection of books that might fetch enough for a few meals if sold as scrap. Not an ideal starting position, but not hopeless either.
As he sat contemplating his situation, the door burst open. An elderly man with leathery skin and deep wrinkles rushed in.
“The matchmaker has brought your bride! Why are you sitting here daydreaming? Hurry up!”
Before Lu Yuan could protest, the old man hoisted him up like a sack of grain and carried him outside. Despite his disorientation, Lu Yuan’s vision sharpened, allowing him to observe his surroundings.
He found himself in a village of mostly mud-brick houses. His own dwelling, made of fired brick, stood out as slightly more prosperous—though he knew the rice jar inside stood empty.
As he studied the old man carrying him, something extraordinary caught his attention: floating text appeared above the man’s head.
[Magnification: 2]
Lu Yuan blinked in disbelief. The glowing white text remained.
A system? Had he acquired some kind of supernatural interface? But what did “Magnification” mean? Was it like a multiplier in a game? Were these villagers NPCs?
Before he could make sense of it, they arrived at the village ancestral hall, where a crowd had gathered. To his astonishment, each person had similar text floating above them:
[Magnification: 0] above most, appearing dull and gray. [Magnification: 2] above a few, glowing white. [Magnification: 3] above only one man—the village chief, Li Guanghan—glowing green.
Lu Yuan was still puzzling over the meaning when Li Guanghan addressed him directly.
“What took you so long?”
The old man who’d dragged Lu Yuan there grinned. “This kid was napping at home. Found him practically sleepwalking.”
Someone in the crowd laughed. “Knowing a bride was coming today, were you up all night entertaining yourself?”
Some elderly women tittered until the speaker’s wife silenced him with a glare, clearly remembering some recent incident.
Li Guanghan studied Lu Yuan thoughtfully. “Sit down. You were struck by evil spirits recently. I’ve chosen a good wife to bring you fortune and perhaps restore your health.”
Lu Yuan’s confusion deepened. These people spoke of encounters with ghosts as if they were commonplace occurrences. What kind of world had he entered?
Taking a seat, Lu Yuan stared at the ground, desperately searching his newly acquired memories for answers, when a brilliant rainbow light caught his attention.
He looked up and froze.
An exceptionally beautiful woman stood before the assembly, and above her head floated text that made Lu Yuan’s heart stop:
[Magnification: 9]
The text shimmered with dazzling rainbow light, clearly denoting something extraordinary.
Though Lu Yuan still had no idea what these multipliers signified, he recognized instinctively that this must represent the highest possible level.
But what in heaven’s name did these multipliers actually mean?