Chapter 1: Midnight Bar

The night was exceedingly quiet. Moonlight streamed in through the window, falling across the cluttered desk and illuminating the face of Li Mingxing, who sat behind it. He frowned and instinctively shrank further into the shadows, as if trying to avoid the moon’s gaze.

As he moved, the business card on the desk glinted in the pale light. It was one he’d received earlier that day from an old man he’d met at the talent exchange market while job-hunting. The old man had claimed to be impressed by Li Mingxing’s abilities, but Li found that hard to believe—after all, he’d been frequenting the job market for nearly half a year since graduating college, and never before had he encountered a company that would hand over their card after just a single glance. Even the scam outfits at least set up a few tables in decent corners, so Li Mingxing had been ready to toss the card away.

In the end, though, the card’s design was elegant enough that he decided to keep it. Only after bringing it home and examining it more closely did he realize something was off. The card bore nothing but a roulette-like emblem and the words “Inner World”—not a name, not a number, nothing else.

While Li Mingxing had enjoyed reading fantasy novels during college, the pressures of job hunting had long since kept him away from such mystical tales, and he was out of touch with what was popular in those circles now. He certainly didn’t believe he was about to stumble into some otherworldly adventure. So he simply tossed the card onto his desk and went off to shower.

When he returned, however, he discovered that the card shimmered with a strange light beneath the moonbeams. Whenever he stood in darkness, a silver thread seemed to stretch from the card off into the distance. He’d gingerly touched the thread once, and immediately a voice echoed in his mind: “Go? Or not?”

The eeriness of it all nearly made him throw the card away, but for reasons he couldn’t quite explain, he kept it, retreating into a corner to see what else might happen. He found himself wondering: If he said “go,” what would become of him? Would he be sent to ancient times, a magical western era, or perhaps into one of those endless worlds so popular in the stories during his graduation?

The more he considered it, the more frightened he became, yet the thought of his ongoing unemployment and the way protagonists in novels always became invincible in new worlds made his heart race with excitement. At last, he carefully placed his hand on the silver thread and whispered, “I’ll go.”

In the next instant, Li Mingxing realized he was no longer in his cramped ten-square-meter room. He now stood in what seemed to be an old yet oddly modern bar. The patrons, while perfectly human in appearance, gave him an uncanny feeling—something about them didn’t quite match what he saw.

Suppressing his fear, Li Mingxing forced himself to study his surroundings. He understood that in unfamiliar places, finding a safe path was always the wisest course.

As he surveyed the bar, a woman’s voice sounded behind him: “If you’re not going in, get out of the way. Don’t block the entrance for nothing.” Turning, he saw a golden-haired young woman standing behind him, her demeanor radiating arrogance. From her attire, she appeared to be a Western European noble.

When she noticed Li Mingxing staring, she snorted dismissively, brushed past him, and sneered, “Cowardly man.” She strode toward the bar’s center, and her disdain sparked a hint of pride in Li Mingxing. Ignoring the strangeness of his situation, he marched boldly after her.

A few steps later, he spotted the old man who had given him the card, sitting at the bar and beckoning with a glass in hand. Relieved to see a familiar face, Li Mingxing hurried over, eager to unleash a barrage of questions. But before he could speak, the old man addressed the bartender, “See, I told you he’d come. It’s your treat tonight.”

Li Mingxing looked up to see the old man conversing with the bartender, who, without a word, set two drinks before them. Yet Li Mingxing’s attention was utterly captivated by the bartender herself—despite being shrouded in a peculiar black robe, he was certain she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Merely looking at her soothed him, dispelling the last vestiges of unease he felt about this strange place.

Entranced, he absentmindedly picked up his drink. The moment he did, a chorus of wailing spirits seemed to shriek within his mind, and icy chills poured from the glass into his hand, nearly making him drop it in fright.

The bartender and the old man burst out laughing at his reaction. After a while, the old man said, “Alright, enough of that. Let’s get down to business. Are you ready to work for me?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I came out of curiosity, just to see what this is all about,” Li Mingxing replied, realizing something was amiss.

“Curiosity, is it? That’s good!” the old man laughed, extending a hand. “My name is Raymond, and from now on, I’ll be your mentor.”

“My mentor?” Li Mingxing was taken aback. “You must be joking. I’ve already graduated college—if I don’t find a job soon, I’ll be homeless in a few days.”

“No need to worry about that,” Raymond explained, still smiling. “Those who become apprentice heroes don’t starve.”

It turned out that Raymond, the beautiful bartender, and the entire bar were not of Earthly origin. They hailed from an advanced interstellar alliance. This alliance was not formed through technology or spirituality, but through mastery over the Inner World.

According to alliance law, anyone who unified the Inner World of a planet could become a member and earn one vote in the alliance’s decisions. Thus, the opposing factions of Light and Darkness within the alliance were constantly searching for planets with both Inner Worlds and humans, seeking to find and control them. Earth, it seemed, was one such planet.

“So you’re here to conquer Earth?” Li Mingxing’s expression shifted from shock to confusion, then to indifference. “Why me? I doubt you need a translator.”

“Silly boy, that’s your good luck. The alliance forbids any force from disrupting the lives or development of humans on planets with Inner Worlds. We cannot directly intervene. All we can do is find those with enough potential, let them become apprentice heroes, and through them, unify the Inner World,” Raymond replied, clearly indicating Li Mingxing was his chosen candidate.

“So you want me to be your puppet?” Li Mingxing asked, shaking his head.

“Not a puppet—an apprentice hero,” Raymond declared. “Or rather, one of the apprentice heroes. I can only offer you tasks and the opportunity to enter the Inner World. Whether you survive and manage to unify it is up to you.”

“There’s one more thing you should know. Even if you manage to become the master of your planet’s Inner World, that’s your own business. We won’t use any help we’ve given you as leverage to demand anything from you.”

Hearing this, Li Mingxing finally relaxed. What he feared most was being branded a traitor to Earth. Now that he knew that wasn’t the case, his wandering thoughts even began to consider what life as the ruler of Earth might be like.

Perhaps the prospect was too far removed from his current reality, because Raymond had to call his name several times to snap him from his reverie.

But the next thing Raymond said instantly chilled Li Mingxing’s heart: he was not the only one chosen. Both Light and Darkness had each selected a hundred apprentice heroes from Earth. To become Earth’s ruler, Li Mingxing would have to survive the battles of the Inner World, grow stronger, and also face off against apprentice heroes from both factions.

If he succeeded, he would indeed be Earth’s sovereign. If he failed, only two fates awaited him: to become another hero’s subordinate, or to die.

With his newfound ambition quickly dampened, Li Mingxing found himself pondering a new question—could he still choose to leave?

But seeing the expressions of Raymond and the bartender, he ultimately kept the question to himself. Instead, he began asking earnestly about the Inner World, knowing that in a place where escape seemed impossible, understanding his circumstances was the key to survival.