THE REJECT SYSTEM

# Chapter 1 Ye Lingtian was walking down South High Academy with his backpack, his eyes darting around as if he was expecting someone to jump him. He almost breathed a sigh of relief only to be tripped. He flew forward with a momentum that sent him crashing into the class pillar. Laughter rose among the students in the hallway. "What a loser," a girl with blonde hair snickered. "Yeah, I pity Su Wanqing for dating such a loser." "He doesn't even compare to Chu Junmo," another girl said, her voice filled with pure admiration. "He's just a scholarship loser. So frustrating." Ye Lingtian stood up from the floor, clothes dirty and head filled with blood. He shuffled through the gathered crowd as he made his way to the school clinic. "Ye Ling, what happened to your head, oh my goodness," Xie Wuchen, the school beauty, shouted as she guided him to the bed. "I'll treat your wounds since the school nurse hasn't arrived." "Ye Lingtian, you're called to the principal's office," a chubby girl burst into the clinic and announced. "Okay," Ye Lingtian whispered as he gathered his bag and left the clinic. He was serving Chu Junmo tea as the boy practically preened in front of him. "Sir, you called me?" "Oh, you. Ye Lingtian, your scholarship has been revoked and given to Chu Junmo," the principal said with a dismissive air. "What! That can't be — you know how much that scholarship means to me," Ye Lingtian shouted, his eyes reddening, his lips trembling with bottled rage. "He doesn't even need it." "And so you think everyone else is a pathetic loser like you? If not for the scholarship, do you think you'd be fit to shine Young Master Chu's shoes?" the principal shouted at Lingtian. "Don't shout at him like that," Junmo said, his lips curling into a smug expression. "Kneel, and I might consider giving you back your scholarship." "I won't. A man's knees are worth more than gold," Ye Lingtian shouted, his hand clenching as he fought down his rage. The shouting had drawn a crowd of students in front of the principal's office. "Just kneel — maybe Young Master Chu will be kind enough to spare you." "Yeah, what an i***t, still claiming dignity when he's about to be expelled." "Some people just don't know when to bend." Xie Wuchen rushed forward and pulled Lingtian behind her. "Junmo, you've gone too far. Do you think just because your family is rich, you can trample on students however you please?" Xie Wuchen shouted at Junmo as she stood protectively in front of Lingtian. Junmo's face darkened as he looked at Xie Wuchen with anger. He had asked her out several times, and she had refused every time — she even looked at him as though he were beneath her. She was the most beautiful girl in South High, followed closely by Su Wanqing, who was also Lingtian's girlfriend. "You want to save him?" Junmo asked with a smile. "Spend the night with me," he said, looking at Xie Wuchen lewdly. "Over my dead body, you p*****t," Xie Wuchen shouted as she backed away from him. "What, you'll stay and defend this loser, but you won't sleep with me?" Xie Wuchen clenched and unclenched her fist. Lingtian punched Junmo with deadly precision, then ran out of the principal's office, pulling Xie Wuchen along with him. They stopped running once they were outside the school. "Thanks for helping me," Xie Wuchen said shyly, looking down at her hands, which Lingtian was still holding tightly. Lingtian quickly let go when he realized he was still holding her. "You don't have to thank me — I should be thanking you for standing up for me," Lingtian said, smiling gently at Wuchen. "Don't worry about your scholarship. I'll tell my dad — maybe he can help." "Forget it. I don't think I can go back to school anyway. My grandfather is sick, my dad still can't stand, and we can't depend on my mom's income for long," Lingtian said, a bitter smile playing on his lips. "I'll do what I can to help you," Xie Wuchen said, trying to comfort him. "I have to go," Xie Wuchen said as a black car pulled to a stop beside them. Lingtian said his goodbyes as Xie Wuchen's car pulled away from the school. Lingtian was walking home, dejected, when he reached an alley. The back of his head was struck, and voices blurred around him before his vision went black. "Young Master Chu will be here soon. I already called and told him we've got the bastard," a burly man with a python tattoo on his right hand said to a group of young punks. "How dare he mess with Young Master Chu — does he have a death wish?" one of the boys asked, looking at the unconscious Lingtian with disgust. "He even dared to covet the girl the young master likes." "He's just dumb," the burly man interjected. "Where is he?" Chu Junmo asked, dressed in designer clothes, as he walked toward the group. "Young Master Chu, you're here." "Young Master Chu, have a seat. We've tied him up — he's still unconscious. Do you want us to wake him?" "Yes. Wake him up." A bucket of cold water was dumped on Lingtian's head, and he jolted awake. "Where the hell am I?" Lingtian shouted, his eyes taking in the dim warehouse around him. Fear crept into his eyes as he saw Junmo surrounded by three men. "Junmo, what are you trying to do? I'll report you to the police the moment I get out of here," Lingtian shouted. "The police?" Junmo burst into laughter. "The head of the local police is my uncle. You're doomed — there's nothing you can do to me." "You dared to hit me and embarrass me today. Since you know how to throw punches, I'll let you fight them instead. Let's see what you can do," Junmo said, looking at Lingtian with open excitement. "Guys, beat him up." The men immediately started hitting Lingtian. He shouted and screamed while Junmo laughed. "Hit him more, but don't kill him — it would be too easy for him to just die," he said as he left the dusty warehouse. Lingtian was beaten until he could no longer move, then thrown back into the alley where he'd been taken. Lingtian crawled home with every bone in his body aching. The house was surprisingly quiet. He entered the compound only to find his father sitting with his face down and his mother crying silently in a corner. His grandfather lay in the middle of it all, still, covered in white cloth. Despair washed over Lingtian in waves. Tears dropped rapidly from his face as he tried to rush forward, only to fall. His battered body wouldn't obey him. He crawled with all the strength he had left, his trembling hands reaching for his grandfather's face — cold and pale. "Grandpa," Lingtian's voice trembled. His mother stood and came to hold him. "He's gone, Lingtian. He left us," his mother said, trying to comfort him. Lingtian cried bitterly in his mother's arms. His grandfather was buried that night. They burned incense and kowtowed before the grave. The clouds, as if sensing the family's overwhelming sorrow, poured down heavily. His mother wheeled his father back into the house to seek shelter, leaving Lingtian alone in front of the grave. His face was pale, his eyes empty, as though all the life had been drained out of him. In the silent night, a voice rang out, clear in Lingtian's ear. *The system has bound to its host successfully.* *Host: Ye Lingtian.* *Starter pack reward: Eye of the God, and 100 points in reserve.* Whether from the pain or the grief — or both — Lingtian fainted immediately.