Chapter One: The Father of the System
Victory Evil Calendar, Year 35, July.
Shelter No. 364, Room 304.
Fan Bei sat before a pale gray desk in his study, his upright, fair face taut with nervousness and anticipation. His brows arched like swords, and his slightly reddened eyes focused intently on the space directly ahead.
Before him on the desk rested a blue-black radio, polished clean but still bearing inevitable traces of rust. Yet his gaze did not settle on the radio itself, but rather above it—where a phantom white book hovered, emanating a faint, ghostly glow, as if it were a holographic projection.
The study was entirely silver-white; the door tightly shut, no windows, no lights—darkness enveloped the room. The pale radiance from the book seemed to reach only his eyes, leaving the rest untouched by its light.
He had discovered this spectral book just ten minutes prior, upon entering the study to once again try to receive signals from the outside world with the radio. Immediately, he abandoned his plan, secured the door, and began to study the apparition in earnest.
A voracious reader of web novels, he recognized this as the benefit of his transmigration—the reward he had awaited for so long, finally appearing.
Though the boon arrived fifteen years late, he felt grateful nonetheless. At least he would not continue to struggle alone in this bleak and desolate world.
Thirty-five years ago, the first Evil Tide inexplicably erupted on Earth. After initial discoveries on how to resist it, numerous shelters were constructed worldwide.
The Evil Tide was a catastrophe comprised of a host of indescribable gray-white entities, later named Evil Spirits by humanity.
That year, Shenzhou marked the beginning of the "Victory Evil Calendar."
"Victory Evil," as a verb, carried the shallow hope of "defeating the Evil Tide"; as a noun, it was also the name of an ancient, supremely evil sword. The one who named it seemed to possess a mysterious intent.
He transmigrated in the 20th year of the Victory Evil Calendar, just as this shelter was completed.
His soul merged seamlessly with the original; he was himself, so there were no obstacles.
But while he remained himself, the world had utterly changed.
When he first awoke in the shelter, there were over three hundred people—now only he remained, and a foolish dog.
He shook his head, banishing these stray thoughts, and continued his research on the phantom white book.
On the cover was a peculiar image: a tiny figure lying in a coffin and a single line of characters: "Father of Systems."
At first sight, he was both delighted and apprehensive.
He worried it might be a book about the "father of computer operating systems," chronicling the legend of some tech giant. That would drive him mad…
But since it appeared in such a mysterious form, he reassured himself—it was unlikely to be that absurd.
After ten minutes of study, he found himself at a loss. No matter how he reached for it or stared, the book remained unmoved.
The only thing he could control was its appearance and disappearance: close his eyes for five seconds and it vanished; repeat, and it reappeared.
At last, he thought of a solution.
He recalled the daily practice he performed—spiritual meditation.
Long ago, at least ten years prior, when the radio could still occasionally receive broadcasts from the outside, he had listened to a program called "Spirit Control Classroom."
Someone had declared that by concentrating one's will and meditating in a certain way, one could awaken the mysterious power within the mind—so-called spiritual power.
With spiritual power, humanity could resist their current nemesis—the Evil Tide…
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Unfortunately, after listening to the program, all the survivors in the shelter tried the method, but with little effect—some even suffered adverse reactions.
In the end, most perished in successive outbreaks of the Evil Tide, leaving only him behind. He, however, was the most skilled, with the best results.
Fan Bei knew why: he was reborn from transmigration, his souls fused and doubled, giving him an advantage ordinary people lacked.
He now smoothly repeated the meditation he practiced daily: closing his eyes, focusing his mind, sitting cross-legged, hands raised, forming a posture where five points faced heaven.
After a period of concentration, he slowly opened his eyes, directing his purified will toward the phantom white book, letting all other thoughts fade.
Gradually, the white cover finally opened.
The first page appeared before his eyes.
Success!
Fan Bei could not help but cry out silently in excitement, then cautiously looked around—the dark study remained still, and no dreadful Evil Spirit appeared.
Now he could see the inside of the cover and the face of the first page.
Upon seeing the inside of the cover, he was stunned—both surprised and delighted.
"Number of systems created: 0."
"Active hosts: 0."
"Spiritual power: 10,011 points."
He understood these three metrics at a glance.
After all, he had transmigrated from 2019, an era where web novels were rife with such tropes—systems, hosts… everywhere.
The third metric, spiritual power, was equally familiar, omnipresent in novels.
Be it faith power or soul power, all could be considered forms of spiritual power.
Humanity in this world had truly discovered such power, unlike his previous life where it existed only in fiction.
As for the final unit—"points"—he remembered it being mentioned in the "Spirit Control Classroom" as a provisional measure for quantifying spiritual power.
Having clarified the cover's three metrics, Fan Bei began to examine the first page in earnest.
[Current system creation level: Ordinary—Low Magic.
Current system types available: Martial Arts, Wizard.
Current system creation limit: 3.
Current usable spiritual power: 10,011 points.
System creation method: please fill in the template below or make your selection.
System type: ——.
System name: ——.
System tendency: Good/Evil.
Host share ratio: 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, custom——.
System features: Starter Package (yes/no), Level-up Points (yes/no), Quest Guidance (yes/no), Premium Recharge (yes/no), System Space (yes/no), System Shop (yes/no), Lottery Wheel (yes/no), Skill Exchange (yes/no), Host Management (yes/no)…
Sub-features: Starter Package includes: Starter Equipment (yes/no), Starter Funds (yes/no), Lottery (yes/no)…
…………
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Start creation immediately? (yes/no)
Notes:
1) Each additional system feature increases spiritual power consumption; the total cannot exceed current available spiritual power.
2) The Father of Systems cannot equip the systems he creates. All initial knowledge, skills, techniques, treasures, equipment, pets, funds, etc., must be provided by the Father of Systems.
3) Book grades: Ordinary (white), Rare (green), Precious (blue), Legendary (purple), Epic (orange), Mythic (dark gold).
4) The book will be updated and improved with new system creation methods and notes as it levels up.
]
The further Fan Bei read, the more excited he became—it was truly the "Father of Systems," not some overused clickbait!
From today onward, I shall be the creator of systems—their fate shall be mine to dictate!
Let it not be a hallucination, he thought, closing his eyes for a moment before reopening them—the phantom white book had vanished…
He immediately closed his eyes again, waited, and reopened them. The book appeared once more—the method for opening and closing it worked perfectly.
Relieved, Fan Bei exhaled. He would never allow the mountain of gold he had finally found to revert to a bamboo toothpick.
He concentrated his will and opened the phantom white book again, not missing a single word.
He found only the first page and the inside of the cover contained content; the rest were blank.
It seemed he would have to create his first system before anything else would appear.
This research had taken nearly an hour. Overcome with excitement and mental exertion, he felt utterly exhausted, dizzy even.
At that moment, a strange warmth surged through his mind, and all fatigue and dizziness vanished instantly.
He immediately realized—the phantom white book was giving him positive feedback.
Sure enough, upon flipping to the inside cover to check the "spiritual power" metric, he saw the number had changed.
From "10,011" points, it now read "10,010," a decrease of one point.
It works!
Fan Bei wanted to shout with joy—no one could understand the thrill of receiving such a chance for redemption in the midst of despair!
Yet his rationality, forged through two lifetimes, kept him calm, suppressing any outburst.
He needed to accomplish more, not waste precious time on meaningless venting.
Every resource, every second must be utilized efficiently—unless one no longer wishes to live.
This was the most important lesson he'd learned in fifteen years within the shelter.
He quickly realized what he must do next.
First, he needed to investigate the "spiritual power" within the phantom white book, uncovering more of its uses.
His prolonged isolation had left him lacking knowledge; he would have to seek answers on his own.
Second, he must find ways to increase the number of active hosts in this world.
Deciding which system to grant to which host would become one of his primary tasks from now on.