Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 1 Car Accident Transmigration

"Your resume did not pass the initial screening. Thank you for your interest."

Zuo Cheng stared at the cold words on his phone screen, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

This was the seventeenth rejection letter he had received this month. Thirty-eight years old, laid off from his company, his wife left him, and his parents were still waiting for him to send money back home. His bank account balance was emptier than his face, but the debt of 541,513 yuan popped up as a reminder every day, more dedicated than an alarm clock.

He put his phone in his pocket and walked along the curb, his mind a complete mess.

Where will I find my next job? How will I pay next month's rent? How many boxes of my dad's blood pressure medication are left?

Lost in thought, I found myself stepping onto the road.

A piercing horn blared from the left, and Zuo Cheng jerked his head around; the car's headlights were blindingly white.

Then the world went dark.

……

"Cheng-ge! Cheng-ge, are you still sleeping? It's already eight o'clock!"

Someone was shaking his shoulders with such force that it felt like kneading dough.

Zuo Cheng suddenly opened his eyes, and what came into view was a big face that was blurred in front of him—round head, stubble on his chin, and a set of white teeth when he smiled.

Zhang Lei.

His bunkmate from college, Zhang Lei.

Zuo Cheng's mind went blank for a moment. Zhang Lei hadn't died in an accident three years ago; he was already...

"What are you standing there for?" Zhang Lei yanked the blanket off him. "Hurry up, we're going to Xingchen Technology to volunteer today, or we won't get paid!"

Zuo Cheng sat stiffly on the bed, his breathing suddenly becoming rapid.

He looked down at his hands—smooth, without the scar from the cut he'd made while moving goods. He touched his face again; his jawline was firm, without the sagging of middle-aged weight gain. The phone on the bedside table was lit up, the date clearly displayed:

2016 9 Month 14 Day.

He is back.

I'm back to my senior year of college.

Zuo Cheng's heart was pounding like a drum, but he forcefully suppressed the emotions welling up inside him. The memories of his previous life were too vivid—unemployment, debt, being lost in thought on the street, and then that white light. Regardless of how it all happened, he was indeed sitting on the lower bunk of room 402, Building 7, North Campus of Huaxia University.

"Brother Cheng, are you alright? You don't look well." Chen Hao, on the opposite bed, pushed up his glasses, clutching a copy of "Introduction to Microelectronics" in his hand.

"It's nothing." Zuo Cheng took a deep breath, rolled out of bed, and said, "Of course I'll go."

He opened his mobile banking app and glanced at his balance—237 yuan.

The same number in my previous life. A penniless senior in college, he even had to carefully budget his meals at the cafeteria.

"What exactly does that volunteer project at Star Technology involve?" Zuo Cheng asked as he put on his clothes. He had participated in the project in his previous life, but his memories of it were somewhat hazy.

"Brain-computer interface patch experiment." Chen Hao, the tech geek in the dorm, knew this kind of project inside and out. "Starry Sky Technology is one of the top three technology companies on Earth. This project has passed the review of the China Science Ethics Committee. It uses nanoscale micro-neural patches, non-invasively implanted, simply placed on the surface of the skull. Afterwards, you report your experience to the company monthly for three consecutive months, with a monthly stipend of 5,000 yuan."

"Fifteen thousand!" Liu Wei, from the upper bunk, poked his head out, his eyes shining. "That's enough for me to eat chicken leg rice for a whole semester!"

Five thousand yuan a month. For Zuo Cheng, who only had two hundred and thirty-seven yuan left in his bank account, this money was a lifeline.

He went there in his previous life too, and nothing happened to him. Just posting a picture is like posting nothing at all.

The four of them tidied themselves up and left the dormitory building. The campus in September still carried the lingering warmth of late summer, and the edges of the plane tree leaves were beginning to turn yellow. Zuo Cheng walked along the road, his gaze sweeping over every young face, a mix of indescribable emotions churning within him.

Let's try again.

In this life, I must never live like that pathetic person I was in my previous life.

Star Technology has an independent R&D center next to Huaxia University Town. It's a magnificent twelve-story glass curtain wall building. The LED screen at the entrance displays the words "Blue Star Neuroscience Pilot Program - Volunteer Special".

More than thirty students were already seated in the reception hall. Zuo Cheng glanced around and saw that most were from engineering departments, with a few from medical schools as well. The receptionist smiled professionally and handed over informed consent forms and medical examination forms.

Zuo Cheng read through the consent form line by line. In his previous life, he had signed it hastily, but in this life, he read it carefully—the NX-07 nano-neural patch was non-invasive, designed to fit the temporal lobe region of the skull, primarily collecting neural signals for data modeling. The patch was 2.7 millimeters in size, undetectable after implantation, and could degrade on its own after three months, or it could be retained.

The risk warning states: In rare cases, mild dizziness may occur within 48 hours, which will resolve on its own without treatment.

Zuo Cheng signed the document.

The operating room was small, but the equipment was clearly top-of-the-line. The surgeon was a woman in her forties, whose movements were clean and efficient. Zuo Cheng lay down, a curved instrument covering the back of his head, and a slight buzzing sound could be heard in his ears.

"Relax, it'll only take three minutes."

I felt almost nothing, just a slight ant bite near my temple.

"It's over. Just go back to your normal life." The female doctor took off her gloves and smiled at him.

When Zuo Cheng came out of the operating room, Zhang Lei and Liu Wei had already finished and were leaning against the chairs in the corridor, comparing whose patch placement looked better. Chen Hao was the last to come out, thoughtfully touching his temple.

"How does it feel?" Zuo Cheng asked.

"I didn't feel anything." Chen Hao thought for a moment. "Maybe I shouldn't have felt anything in the first place."

The four of them received their first month's allowance—five thousand yuan deposited directly into their bank accounts. Zuo Cheng watched his balance jump from 237 to 5237, feeling a little more at ease. At least he had his living expenses for this month.

It was already evening when they returned to the dormitory. The setting sun slanted in through the window, bathing half the room in a warm orange hue. Zhang Lei and Liu Wei went downstairs to buy dinner, while Chen Hao put on his headphones and read some academic papers. Zuo Cheng sat on the edge of his bed, closed his eyes, and began to organize the things he needed to do after his rebirth.

First, survival. The money problem needs to be solved first.

Second, his graduation thesis. In his previous life, he barely passed his thesis, so he has to work hard on it in this life; it's his first stepping stone to turn his life around.

Third, protect those around you. He must never let the accident that happened to Zhang Lei in his previous life happen again.

As he was thinking, a "ding" sound suddenly went off in his head.

It wasn't a phone notification sound; it rang directly in my mind.

Zuo Cheng suddenly opened his eyes.

A pale blue light screen appeared out of thin air in front of them. In the center of the light screen, a huge virtual tree slowly rotated—its trunk was thick, its branches stretched out in all directions, and each branch had a dark gray leaf hanging at its end, densely packed and countless.

Only the bottommost leaf gleamed faintly with a green light, as if it could be lit up at any moment.

At the top of the light screen, a few words appeared:

The dimensional technology tree system has been activated.

[Host: Zuocheng]

Current points: 0

[Unlocked blades: 0/???]

Zuo Cheng's pupils suddenly contracted.

"System?" he murmured.

"What did you say?" Chen Hao took off one of his earphones and turned his head.

"It's nothing," Zuo Cheng quickly lowered his voice, his heart pounding wildly.

He quickly manipulated the light screen with his mind—and it actually worked—to turn to the next page.

[System Core Capabilities]

[I. Mission System: Missions are generated based on the host's circumstances and learning direction. Completing missions unlocks technology blades and earns points.]

[II. Technology Radar: Automatically scans for technological capabilities possessed by individuals within a ten-meter radius of the host. Consuming points allows for the replication of the target technology; cooldown time is 72 hours. Replication skill and origin are identical.]

[III. Points Redemption: Points can be redeemed for real-world currency (1 point = 10000 Huaxia Coins), or vice versa. Redemption is irreversible. Points can also be used to represent physical technological achievements; the higher the difficulty, the greater the cost.]

Zuo Cheng's hands trembled slightly.

What is this? Is it related to that nanopatch?

He took a deep breath and looked at Chen Hao on the opposite bed. Chen Hao had undergone surgery with him, using the same batch of patches.

"Haozi, do you... have anything strange going on in your head?"

"Strange things?" Chen Hao looked bewildered. "Like what?"

"Never mind, it's nothing."

Zuo Cheng withdrew his gaze, already certain of one thing—the same surgery, the same patch, yet he was the only one who activated this technological tree.

This is no coincidence.

At the bottom of the light screen, a new message is slowly appearing:

[Host detected to be in a critical period of academic development; first task about to be generated...]

Zuo Cheng stared intently at the line of text, his fists clenching unconsciously.

In his previous life, he lived the life of a failed middle-aged man.

In this life, he has an additional technology tree at his disposal.

Let's start over from tonight.