The convenience of Huawei phones isn’t just hype—the preset shake-to-open default music playback function really works. But right now, Peter Bolton would rather be holding a ceramic-shell Xiaomi; at least the latter could be used as a brick in an emergency.

Both feet hit the ground, but he slipped on leaves and wild grass, stumbling awkwardly. Luckily, his left hand managed to brace against a tree trunk in time, preventing Peter Bolton from falling flat on his back.

“Hit here, poke there, animals don’t necessarily need sharp teeth…” The phone’s volume was automatically set to maximum, making him want to cry.

The wild wolf was clearly startled by this bizarre sound, halting its advance toward Peter Bolton. Then, its front legs crouched low, hind legs tensed against the ground, the whole body arched like a bow.

“Go, go, go, get away, get away!” Peter Bolton’s voice was already tinged with tears, his arms continuing to flail mechanically.

The muscles in his thighs, stimulated by adrenaline, tightened one by one, trembling slightly.

In terms of body length, he was one and a half times the size of the wolf. In terms of weight, he was three times heavier. In the animal kingdom, such a size difference should have given him a crushing advantage. Yet, in a standoff between human and beast, it meant nothing.

Whether the wolf had gotten used to the music or sensed the weakness in Peter Bolton’s voice, it began to inch forward again—fifteen meters, ten meters, five meters… It stopped, front legs shifting side to side, its massive head pressed low to the ground like a bulldozer, eyes fixed on Peter Bolton’s Adam’s apple, glistening drool dripping from the edges of its teeth.

“System, activate!” Suddenly inspired, Peter Bolton shouted loudly!

He’d managed to walk into a strange world while looking at his phone—he suspected he’d transmigrated, and the system that came with him was supposed to be one of the perks.

No pop-up appeared before his eyes; the evening sunlight was dazzlingly bright. Northern temperate mugwort, dove trees, and willows swayed gently in the early autumn breeze.

“Grandpa, save me!” Flipping his right hand, he pointed the phone screen at the wolf’s eyes and shouted again, hoping for a miracle.

The legendary transmigrator’s grandpa didn’t appear, but his right thumb accidentally brushed the phone screen, abruptly cutting off Joker Xue’s singing.

The wolf stopped moving, crouched even lower, its body once again taut as a bow, two ghostly green lights flickering in its triangular eyes.

“Ka!” Peter Bolton barked sharply, decisively unleashing his final move. Twisting his waist, exerting his whole body, circling around the tree trunk—his movements were as smooth as flowing water, his legs spinning like windmills.

“Help—!”

Weeds, trees, and rocks flashed past behind him.

The wolf hesitated for a moment, then sprang after him on all fours.

Volume One: A Stranger in a Strange Land

Chapter One: Who Says Knowledge Isn’t Power

“System, activate!”

“Grandpa, save me!”

“Help—!”

Man and wolf, in the glow of dusk, chased and fled, startling countless birds.

“System, system, hurry up and activate!”

“Grandpa, come out!”

“Help—!”

……

Still no system window, still no legendary grandpa, only the human’s footsteps growing heavier, his breathing like a bellows.

“Heavens, screw your ancestors!”

Five minutes later, cries for help had turned into curses.

Peter Bolton was certain he had really transmigrated.

Not because the mountain path beneath his feet was getting rougher, nor because the vegetation around him was far denser than that near Chang’an University Town in the twenty-first century.

But because, after sprinting for over fifteen hundred meters, he hadn’t found a single brick, a broken tile, or even a human shadow along the way!

This was definitely not the twenty-first-century Chang’an University Town, nor could it be twenty-first-century human society.

Even though Chang’an University Town in the twenty-first century was a bit remote, at dusk, senior and junior students dating or on their way to dates were as numerous as fish in the river.

Even though human society in the twenty-first century had made great strides in hygiene, broken bricks and tiles could still be found everywhere in the grass.

But now, he couldn’t find a single fellow human to help, nor any handy brick or tile for self-defense.

He hadn’t even seen a plastic bag or a scrap of waste paper along the way, let alone the Durex and James Bond condoms he used to avoid like the plague when strolling through the grass.

And having grown up in an orphanage, only able to attend university thanks to the help of kind people, he had never used those last two items to this day.

To make something of himself, he’d focused on studying from the moment he could understand things. As an adult, he juggled school and tutoring jobs, with neither the time nor the money for any “rebellious” activities.

The worst thing he’d ever done was look at his phone while walking. As a result, ten minutes ago, when he looked up from his phone, he found himself in this completely unfamiliar place.

“Heavens, screw your ancestors—” His anguished cry continued to echo across the wilderness, followed by ever heavier, ragged breaths.