When he was a child, he stayed up late doing homework; after starting work, overtime became the norm.

Enough.

Really, enough.

Living so seriously, working so hard, so diligently, all he got in return was a body full of occupational diseases, and meeting God before the age of forty.

This lifetime, he wanted to live a little more easily.

……

Luke Johnson's mother's home was located in the Ino Community.

On the east side of the community, there was a small commercial plaza—not large, but it had a supermarket, convenience store, fast food restaurant, and gas station, all the essentials.

Luke Johnson didn't want to stay at the police station, nor did he want to go back to his mother's house too early.

He just wanted to find a quiet place to sit for a while, that's all.

Luke Johnson parked his motorcycle in front of a milk tea shop.

It was Luke Johnson's first time drinking milk tea in Los Angeles, and the clerk recommended the boba milk tea.

"Oh yeah."

Luke Johnson was very interested, but after getting the milk tea, he realized it was just regular pearl milk tea with bigger pearls.

"Fuck!"

Luke Johnson felt like he'd been tricked.

He found a seat by the window, took a sip of the milk tea—it was sickeningly sweet, even worse than the milk tea back home.

Then, he started to zone out.

This was Luke Johnson's favorite thing to do since crossing over.

He still couldn't figure out why he had ended up in Los Angeles.

When he first crossed over, Luke Johnson felt a sense of disconnection and was desperate to contact friends and family back in China.

But out of professional caution, Luke Johnson knew he couldn't do that. He forced himself to suppress the urge and tried to learn about China through other channels.

This was a parallel world. Although it was also 2022 here, there had been no pandemic, and he couldn't go back.

He tried to accept his new identity, but adapting to life abroad was not as easy as he'd imagined.

Unknowingly, half a month had already passed...

"Buzz..."

Suddenly, a voice sounded in Luke Johnson's mind: [Host matched successfully, Detective System is starting... First-time trial reward: one 'Adventure Card'.]

"What the hell is this?"

Luke Johnson thought he was hallucinating, but then a menu appeared in his mind, with a warehouse interface on the left.

Luke Johnson patted his head and took a big gulp of milk tea, but the interface in his mind was still there.

Soon, Luke Johnson calmed down. As unbelievable as it was, compared to crossing over, this was nothing.

He ruled out the possibility of a mental problem.

Luke Johnson's first concern was whether this so-called "Detective System" would harm him.

Luke Johnson checked himself for abnormalities—there was nothing unusual, no discomfort, and for now, he hadn't found any harm from the "Detective System".

Next, he studied what the "Detective System" could do.

In the warehouse interface, there was a card labeled "Adventure", with a small note below: [Passive card, function unknown]

In his mind, Luke Johnson asked, "System, what does this card do?"

No response.

He asked a few more times, still no reaction.

He could only interpret it literally—a passive trigger for some kind of adventure.

Sounded pretty good. Maybe he could make some money with it?

Suddenly, Luke Johnson's occupational habits kicked in.

He had the feeling of being "watched".

Luke Johnson snapped back to reality and scanned his surroundings. There weren't many customers in the shop, and he didn't see any suspicious figures outside the window.

"Maybe I'm just being paranoid..."

Suddenly having a system, it was natural to feel a bit anxious.

Luke Johnson calmed himself. The system was invisible and untouchable; as long as he didn't do anything reckless, no one would find out.

He was just a broke nobody in Los Angeles—aside from being good-looking, there was nothing about him worth spying on.

As for that Harley motorcycle, strictly speaking, it still belonged to the bank.

The Harley was bought by the original owner on a loan, costing $20,000, with a $4,000 down payment and a $16,000 loan. The annual interest on the loan was $600.

The monthly payment was $1,400.

Luke Johnson's current monthly salary was about $6,500.

By rights, his income wasn't low, but after taxes, he actually took home less than $5,000. Besides the motorcycle loan, he also had credit card debt and other liabilities.

At the beginning of the month, after paying off the car and credit card loans, he was left with only a few hundred dollars for living expenses.

Right now, Luke Johnson just wanted to make money and rent a place of his own.

He didn't want to keep living under someone else's roof.

After work, lying on his own sofa, watching TV, drinking beer, eating fried chicken—that was what he called living.

For now, he could only live that kind of life in his dreams.

He hoped this card could bring him some luck.

……

Thursday morning, 8:58.

Luke Johnson hummed a little tune as he walked into the "Robbery-Homicide Division".

With a new system, he was in a pretty good mood.

The bald white man, David Smith, looked over. Before he could say anything, Luke Johnson flipped him the finger.

David Smith wasn't offended. "Congratulations, you hit the jackpot."

"What do you mean?" Luke Johnson grew alert. Had the "Detective System" been exposed?

Impossible.

That thing was invisible and untouchable—how could anyone find out?

David Smith pointed at the captain's office. "Susan Smith the Queen wants to see you."

"Childish trick. I'm not stupid enough to walk into a trap." Luke Johnson had just breathed a sigh of relief, but now he had a bad feeling.

"I've passed on the message." David Smith shrugged, looking like he didn't care whether Luke Johnson believed him or not. "Good luck."