Novel Bin
Chapter 2: The Long Wait
When Jin Yu woke up the next morning after discovering the Evolution System, he was ready. Ready to conquer the world. Ready to upgrade his way into godhood. Ready to—
[System Notification: Evolution Point Generation in Progress. Time Remaining: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.]
"..."
He blinked at the floating text in front of him. "Wait, what?"
Scrolling quickly through the system panel, Jin Yu found the same cold, heartless truth he had skimmed over last night:
One Evolution Point generates every seven Earth days.
"SEVEN DAYS?!" he shouted, flopping back onto his creaky, suspiciously wobbly bed. "That's like... one hundred and sixty-eight hours! Ten thousand minutes! SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND SECONDS!"
The bed let out a tragic groan under his weight, as if sympathizing with his suffering.
"System! Can you at least make time go faster?!" Jin Yu pleaded.
[Answer: No. Host must patiently await natural passage of time. Suggestion: Engage in normal human activities to avoid existential despair.]
"...That's so rude," Jin Yu muttered.
The first day was pure misery.
Jin Yu kept staring at the countdown like a lunatic. He even set his alarm to check it every hour.
Nothing changed except his growing despair.
"Should've known getting superpowers would come with a patience test," he grumbled.
Out of boredom, he opened the Scan Function the system provided.
Apparently, he could scan objects around him to see their current quality and potential upgrade paths, but without any Evolution Points, he couldn't actually upgrade yet.
Still, it was something to do.
First victim: His microwave.
[Item: Old Microwave]
[Current Quality: Trash]
[Potential Upgrade: Functional Microwave → High-Performance Microwave → Smart Microwave → Spiritual Food Warmer (Requires Lower Plane upgrade)]
"...Spiritual Food Warmer?!"
Jin Yu’s eyes widened. He pictured a legendary microwave that could cook immortal dumplings. His mouth watered.
But then he looked again at the sad 0 Evolution Points in his account and sighed. "Someday... someday."
He scanned more things around his dingy apartment:
His torn sneakers (potential upgrade: Self-Repairing Shoes).
His broken fan (potential upgrade: Weather-Controlling Fan).
His thin, suspicious mattress (potential upgrade: Dream Realm Bed — what the heck?!).
By the time the second day rolled around, he had a full list titled "Upgrade Dream Board" pinned on his fridge. Complete with doodles and little hearts around "Immortal Microwave."
By Day Three, Jin Yu tried to distract himself by going back to his part-time job at a convenience store.
It was not glamorous.
He spent eight hours slouched behind a register, dealing with cranky customers, nosy aunties, and one guy who tried to pay for gum with a half-eaten sandwich.
All while the System kept politely reminding him:
[Remaining Time: 4 days, 10 hours, 21 minutes.]
"Thank you for your emotional support," Jin Yu muttered dryly.
If anything, he thought, the Evolution System had the emotional range of a rock.
He also noticed small weird things happening.
The old cash register he used suddenly felt... faster? Sometimes, Jin Yu could swear the air felt lighter around broken electronics.
Nothing dramatic — just enough to make him suspicious.
"Maybe it's just me hallucinating from boredom," he said, rubbing his eyes.
Still, he made a note:
"Possibility: Evolution energy leaking?"
He was starting to realize: once he had real points and upgrades, things around him might really change.
By Day Five, Jin Yu had spiraled into full-on delusional planning mode.
He sat at his kitchen table (a glorified cardboard box) with a notebook, creating:
Upgrade Strategy #1: Fix vital things first (shoes, phone, fan).
Upgrade Strategy #2: Upgrade food? (Maybe a rice cooker that makes heavenly meals?)
Upgrade Strategy #3: Upgrade himself?? (Could he?).
[System Reminder: Direct Self-Upgrade unavailable until Host upgrades the plane to Tier 1.]
"Upgrades unavailable... huh?" Jin Yu scratched his head.
He scribbled it down in his notes too: "Find out what cultivation stages are."
Meanwhile, he ate instant noodles for the fourth time that week.
If anyone saw him — in boxers, scribbling mad genius plans, hair like a bird's nest — they’d think he was plotting world domination.
Technically, he was.
On Day Six, something even stranger happened.
While walking home from work, he saw a flash in the night sky — like a shooting star, except it moved weirdly, zigzagging like it had a mind of its own.
Nobody else seemed to notice.
Jin Yu stood frozen on the sidewalk, mouth open.
"...Uhhhhh... was that normal?"
The System remained frustratingly silent. No alarms, no warnings.
Still, Jin Yu added it to his growing list of "Weird Crap Since Getting System."
And then... finally...
At the end of Day Seven.
Jin Yu flopped onto his bed, exhausted and slightly delirious.
He checked the System one last time, not expecting anything.
[Ding! Evolution Point Generated! +1 Evolution Point Earned.]
Jin Yu bolted upright, wide-eyed.
"YESSSSSS!!"
He punched the air like he had just won an Olympic gold medal in patience.
[Reminder: Host may now upgrade eligible objects once per Evolution Point spent.]
He opened his upgrade menu eagerly. His eyes roamed over the list.
"So many choices... my shoes? My fan? My microwave??" he whispered.
He clenched his fists.
"No, Jin Yu. Choose wisely. This is your first evolution. You must pick something truly life-changing... something that will shape your destiny—"
His gaze fell on his squeaky old electric fan, lazily spinning half a blade.
"...Maybe not that life-changing."
Instead, he locked eyes with his poor battered sneakers, now more tape than shoe.
"These babies carried me through college," he said solemnly. "They deserve it."
He opened the upgrade interface — his finger hovering dramatically over the [Upgrade] button.
And just before he pressed it...
[System Notification: Warning — Upgrade irreversible. Proceed?]
"YES!" Jin Yu shouted before the system could change its mind.
A bright light enveloped the sneakers.
They shimmered... twisted... reshaped...
When the light faded, they looked almost the same, just... sturdier, newer, and somehow cooler.
There was a small logo now glowing faintly on the side:
"[Superior Sneakers (Tier 0).]"
Jin Yu put them on.
They fit perfectly, light as feathers, and when he jogged in place, he felt like he could fly.
Tears pricked his eyes.
"This is it... this is only the beginning," he whispered dramatically.
Cue the fanfare in his mind.
The world... his destiny... everything was about to change.
One Evolution Point at a time.
[End of Chapter 2]
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