Chapter 1: The Inn System

Thud!
In the quiet room, a muffled sound was followed by a groan.
On the ceiling, the broken rope swayed back and forth.
Lying on his back, staring at the swaying rope, Lin Dong was stunned. This scene seemed so familiar! It felt like someone was hanging themselves.
A burning pain came from his neck. Lin Dong instinctively raised his hand, but before he could touch his neck, what he saw made him stop. He was actually in a quaintly styled room.
A delicate wooden bed, a small dressing table, neatly arranged teapots and cups… All of this made Lin Dong feel as if he were in a dream.
Just moments ago, he had been playing a game, trying to talk to each guest in the inn to see if he could get a hidden task. Then, suddenly, he felt dizzy and found himself here.
Puzzled, a massive amount of information surged into his mind. It overwhelmed him, leaving him dizzy for a long time before it subsided.
The moment he regained his senses, an idea flashed through Lin Dong’s mind—time travel.
He rushed to the dressing table and looked into the bronze mirror. A thin face appeared. This face was one Lin Dong saw every time he looked in the mirror; the only difference was a red mark on his neck, and instead of a shirt, he was wearing a blue coarse cloth robe.
Staring at the mirror for a long time, Lin Dong finally calmed down.
Not bad. Not only did he share the same name and surname, but his appearance was identical too.
Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it. Lin Dong had a strong ability to adapt to such situations. Although he felt somewhat guilty toward his parents, he had an older brother in his past life who did well. Though he wasn’t completely unburdened, since he had traveled through time, he had to face reality.
The room wasn’t large, but it clearly resembled an ancient lady’s chamber. Lin Dong sat on the wooden bed and slowly sorted through the memories flooding into his mind.
Lin Dong had been sold into the Yang family’s household in Qiufeng City as a slave since childhood. As a child, he served as a scribe for the sixth young master of the Yang family. At the age of fourteen, he was driven out of the house along with the sixth young master. Later, using the silver they had before going to Fanchen Sect to seek a master, they opened a small inn in Qiufeng City. It lost money for three years until it was on the verge of closing. The spoiled and willful fourth young master of the Yang family, dissatisfied with her family’s arranged marriage, angrily forced an ordinary man to marry her. That ordinary man was Lin Dong.
For daring to marry the fourth young master of the Yang family, Lin Dong had his legs broken by the Yang family’s servants the next day. Realizing this plan didn’t work, the fourth young master thought of eloping. Out of some conscience, she took Lin Dong along in the carriage.
The two fled to Xilan City, a hundred miles away. The fourth young master funded the opening of an inn there. After hiding for a year, thinking the storm had passed, they returned to the Yang family.

Then, Lin Dong lost money for five consecutive years. Relying on the silver left by the fourth daughter of the Yang family, the inn barely managed to turn a profit, only to attract the attention of local hooligans. Facing the threat of closing down again, in a moment of despair, Lin Dong wrote a suicide note, tied a rope around the beam, and ended his life.

With a life that was simple yet somewhat peculiar, after figuring out his current identity and the world he was in, Lin Dong touched his burning neck and stood up from the wooden bed.

This was a world where strength ruled. In this world, aside from nations, there were also powerful warriors and sects. Since fate had sent him here, it would be unacceptable not to achieve something. As for rebelling or causing chaos, Lin Dong knew he didn’t have the ability for that. Thus, becoming the strongest warrior in this world quickly became his goal.

His predecessor had also learned cultivation under the sixth young master, but his talent was mediocre. Not to mention becoming the strongest warrior in this world, even after ten years of hard training, he could at most qualify as a guard for a small family.

Things were different now. There were pills that could help unblock meridians despite poor talent. Although his predecessor couldn’t afford them, Lin Dong believed he could.

Of course, the top priority was to reopen the inn. Only with income could he plan further.

Scanning the room, Lin Dong’s gaze settled on the vase on the desk. If his predecessor’s memory was correct, this vase had been bought by the fourth daughter of the Yang family for ten taels of silver from an antique shop. It should be worth at least one or two taels if pawned.

His predecessor had been infatuated with the fourth daughter of the Yang family. Even though she had been gone for four or five years and the room hadn’t been touched, he hadn’t dared to sell any valuable items inside—let alone touch the tables, chairs, and benches, aside from cleaning them daily.

Lin Dong, of course, didn’t have such concerns. In his eyes, the fourth daughter of the Yang family was just a selfish rich girl. He wouldn’t even bother to take her as a concubine, let alone be infatuated with her.

One or two taels could easily buy some ingredients. To reopen the inn, they would need to replace the tables and chairs damaged by the hooligans in the lobby, which would likely cost another one or two taels.

His predecessor had left two taels in the counter—enough!

There were also the chef, servants…

Lin Dong tapped his head, a faint smile appearing on his lips. His precious daughter was a money pit—he would find a way to squeeze some out of her.

Although the former and the fourth daughter of the Yang family were only married in name but not in reality, in the former’s eyes, the fourth daughter was a sacred goddess. Being able to see her every day was enough to fill him with contentment. Thus, he had no improper thoughts and was satisfied to live like this for the rest of his life. As a result, less than half a year after opening the inn, the former adopted two young beggars who were only five or six years old.

The two beggars were about the same age. The older one was a boy named Lin Tianhao, who often got into fights with wealthy kids. The former almost had to apologize to them every two or three days, and on a few occasions, he was even forced to kneel.

In the former’s eyes, this son was a spoiled troublemaker. In Lin Dong’s eyes, the boy was exactly like him when he was young.

From elementary school to university, Lin Dong’s fists were invincible. After entering society, after two years, he realized that fists weren’t useful and finally settled down.

The younger one was a girl named Lin Shuang, who also posed quite a problem in the former’s eyes. Perhaps having suffered poverty as a beggar, she had learned from a young age to save money. The former thought sending her to an academy would make her behave like a proper girl, but instead, she became even more determined, always trying to earn silver. A few days ago, she was even taken back by the academy’s principal because she sold kites everywhere, causing kites to float all over the academy whenever the wind blew.

If not for the former’s repeated pleas, she would have been expelled from the academy at least six or seven times. Although not as often as Lin Tianhao, it still gave the honest former a huge headache.

In Lin Dong’s eyes, this girl was a business genius. Even if the Earth were thrown away, in ten or twenty years, she would surely become either the world’s richest person or one of the wealthiest women.

If not for her extreme stinginess and hiding her money, Lin Dong would have gone to her room right away.

The inn was a two-story wooden building with a yard behind it. The first floor was where guests ate, and the second floor housed the guest rooms. The yard was used to park guests’ carriages and goods, while several brick-and-tile houses served as the living quarters for Lin Dong’s family of three and the staff.

Carrying the vase, Lin Dong left the yard and entered the inn through the back door.

The inn was already closed for the night, with the doors tightly shut, making the interior dim. Lin Dong glanced at the piles of broken tables and chairs and strode over to the counter.

On the counter, aside from account books and an abacus, there was also a letter of farewell. It contained little information—only that there were two taels of silver left in the counter, and that Lin Tianhao should take his sister to the Fanchen Sect to seek refuge with the sixth young master of the Yang family. It also instructed Lin Tianhao to take good care of his sister now that their father was gone and to stop fighting with others.

Lin Dong casually tore it into pieces.

Taking out the key, he entered the counter area and plopped down on a chair. Before his hand could even touch the rusty copper lock, a ding sound echoed in his ears: “Please choose whether to activate the inn system.”
Lin Dong was stunned. The inn system?
After a moment, he was overjoyed. Could this be the inn system from the game he played before crossing over?
Without hesitation, he immediately said, “Activate it!”
Ding: Congratulations on activating the inn system.
Lin Dong silently thought of “inn” in his mind, and a set of attributes appeared in his thoughts.
Lin’s Inn: Level 1, 0%
Daily Revenue: 0
Spirit Stones: 0/100
Defense: 0/100
Rooms: 20
Dining Tables: 10
Employees: 0
Cooks: 0
Lin Dong swallowed hard, took a deep breath, then silently thought of “rooms.”
Rooms:
Occupancy Rate: 0/20
Cultivation Bonus: ×1
Comfort Bonus: ×1
Furnishings: 30
Seeing the “Cultivation Bonus” line, Lin Dong’s smile became even brighter. In the game, players could cultivate while staying at the inn before logging off. If the cultivation bonus was ×1, the speed would be the same as normal cultivation; if it was ×10, the speed would be ten times faster.
The cultivation bonus for rooms increased as the inn’s level rose. To raise the inn’s level, one had to increase experience points through occupancy rates.
In other words, once the inn’s level was raised, talents became unimportant. With a room offering a ×10 cultivation bonus, even geniuses would have to bow in admiration.
Bang bang bang…
As he was enjoying himself, the door began to shake—someone was clearly knocking, probably even kicking it.
“Lin Dong, get out and open the door!”
A shrill voice came through the crack. If it were his former self, he would have trembled instantly. The voice belonged to Wang Liuzhi, the troublemaker. But Lin Dong just sneered. He had fought since elementary school through college. Even after realizing money was more powerful than fists during his two years at work, he still practiced with sandbags regularly. Fighting five opponents was no problem for him; if they were timid, even ten or eight wouldn’t be hard.
Although he had crossed over and his current body wasn’t great, he had trained under the sixth young master, so he was still stronger than ordinary people.
He pulled out the bolt, removed a piece of the door, and five fierce-looking youths streamed in.
The leader wore a blue short jacket and had a fairly decent appearance, though six large black moles on his face ruined the look.

Behind him, the four henchmen trembled, glancing at Lin Dong sideways.
“How about it? Time to pay today’s protection money, right?”
Wang Liuzhi touched the mole on his chin and stretched out his right hand.
Lin Dong didn’t bother with talk. Though it wasn’t these guys who forced his predecessor to hang himself, nor could he have traveled to this world himself. But since he had taken his predecessor’s inn without hesitation, he naturally had to take on his resentment and troubles as well.
Reaching out with his right hand, Lin Dong grabbed Wang Liuzhi’s wrist and pulled hard, then drove his knee mercilessly at the vital spot beneath the other man’s abdomen.
Bang!
A pig-like scream erupted from Wang Liuzhi’s throat as he clutched his abdomen and rolled on the ground.
The pain from that kick might be temporary, but the aftereffects would surely not go away in half a year.
Having fought for over a decade, Lin Dong knew only one thing—be ruthless!
After knocking Wang Liuzhi down, Lin Dong took advantage of the other four’s shock and slammed his right fist into the temple of a tall, thin man.
With a loud thud, the tall man fell to the ground.
How could someone with such slow reflexes even be a thug? Lin Dong sneered coldly, picked up a door panel from the ground, and swung it like a war god, knocking the other three to the ground in an instant.
Now that they were all down, the outcome was no longer in doubt!
Unable to help but sigh again at how poor the fighting skills of these thugs were, Lin Dong replaced the door panel, then grabbed one of them and smashed his head against the ground several times. When blood flowed, the man fainted, and Lin Dong moved on to the next.
In the blink of an eye, all five lay bleeding on the cold ground. Lin Dong went back to the kitchen in the backyard, fetched a bucket of water, gathered the five men together, and sat down on a bench.
Everything was ready. It was time to retrieve the protection money his predecessor had paid.
He’d even have to add some interest…
Lin Dong fetched an abacus, fiddled with it for a while, then poured a bucket of water over the five men.