Chapter 10: Unwelcome Guests

[The system suggests that you investigate the situation.][At this point, gathering as much information as possible from the outside world would benefit both your upcoming life and our cooperation.]

Without needing to be reminded by the system, Chen Fan was well aware of this. The issue was... who could predict the consequences of acting rashly?! This wasn't a game—there were no save points or reload options in real life!

[Based on the information available, the system believes that your identity as the Chosen One could effectively reduce the risks of this action.]

After a brief hesitation, Chen Fan gritted his teeth and made up his mind. He was going for it!

He looked at his mother, who stood beside the door with a vigilant expression, and his mind shifted slightly. First, he needed a convincing excuse to "deceive" her!

...

A few minutes later, with his words planned, Chen Fan reached for the door handle with a determined expression.

"Xiao Fan!"

Noticing Chen Fan's action, his mother snapped back to her senses. She grabbed his arm, her eyes full of panic as she stared into his eyes. "What are you trying to do?!"

"I'm the Chosen One."

Seeing his mother trying to stop him, Chen Fan said calmly, "God loves the world. The Church teaches that the Chosen One must lead by example and spread God's light to the people."

This wasn't something he was making up on the spot! In the original owner's notes, this was what he had learned during the first class at the Church after becoming the Chosen One. It was essentially the Chosen One's guiding principle.

Under Chen Fan's unwavering gaze, his mother hesitated for a moment, then slowly let go of her hands, which were now wrinkled with age.

She didn't speak but looked at her son with a complex expression.

Chen Fan couldn't read that look, but he knew she had stopped trying to stop him.

Hearing the increasing noise from outside the door, he took a deep breath and turned the handle.

...

Outside, the sun was shining brightly.

The warm sunlight illuminated the concrete hallway, making the air feel somewhat stifling.

This was Chen Fan's first time stepping outside since he came to this world.

Instinctively, he turned his gaze toward the world outside—the low, scattered concrete houses spread across the land, the sky a brilliant blue, and at the horizon, a bright, dazzling light. Surrounding it were four similarly glowing spires.

What were those things?

A sense of confusion arose in his mind, but now wasn't the time to explore this further.

He pushed the thoughts aside and turned his attention back to the hallway.

There were a lot of people milling about, gossiping and observing the commotion.

This seemed to be a universal human trait—no matter the world, there were always people eager to be part of the drama.

Chen Fan scanned the crowd and then his gaze fixed on a house not far away where the door was wide open.

The door was damaged, leaning crookedly against the frame.

In a split second, Chen Fan mentally reenacted the scene: a group of uninvited guests had barged into the building and brutally kicked open the not-so-sturdy wooden door.

Shouting, crying, and gossip filled the air, creating a chaotic atmosphere in the hallway.

Perhaps because the "drama" was so intense, no one noticed Chen Fan at first.

Just as he was about to squeeze through the crowd to get closer to the scene, something caught his eye—a large, open door next door.

More precisely, it was the sight inside the door that caught his attention—a statue of a deity.

Unlike the tall statue of God at his own home, this one was casually placed on the cement floor.

The statue sat facing the open door, its exquisitely crafted eyes reflecting some of the sunlight.

Chen Fan instinctively furrowed his brow.

Though he didn't fully understand the beliefs of this mysterious religion, he knew one thing—placing a statue casually on the floor was definitely not a normal practice!

His mind stirred slightly, and he recalled that the original owner had mentioned this neighbor in his notes.

Xu Huai, or Sister Huai, as the original owner called her.

In the notes, after the original owner became the Chosen One, Xu Huai's attitude toward him had turned negative!

Chen Fan silently marked this clue in his mind, then stepped forward toward the "incident site."

...

"This is Sister Shen's place, right?""Yeah, who else could it be?""Tsk, tsk... what did Sister Shen do now to get these people riled up?""You don't know?! I heard she owes a lot of debt!""Ah?"

The sound of noisy chatter reached Chen Fan's ears.

He couldn't help but sneer, not taking these rumors seriously.

Based on his past experience, gossip like this was usually unreliable.

The hallway wasn't very wide, in fact, it felt a bit cramped.

Chen Fan struggled to move through the crowd.

Perhaps his movements were a bit too vigorous, as some of the onlookers cast annoyed looks his way, including a middle-aged woman who was gossiping earlier.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing—"

But before she could finish, her voice suddenly stopped.

As soon as she turned and saw Chen Fan, her cheeks trembled as she stuttered, "Y-You... you're here?"

"Who's here? Who's here?"

Nearby, a woman, still facing away, asked absentmindedly, "Your useless deadbeat of a husband?"

Hearing this, the middle-aged woman's face turned red with embarrassment. She turned around and slapped the woman beside her. "What are you saying?!"

"It's the Chosen One!"

With that, the crowd went silent.

The middle-aged woman's hushed exclamation immediately made the surrounding onlookers react.

In an instant, all eyes were on Chen Fan.

Excitement, thrill, but most of all, deep reverence.

Chen Fan was familiar with this kind of gaze—it was the same way his mother looked at the statue of God.

At that moment, he felt the weight of his position as the Chosen One in this world more than ever.

As he felt a stir in his heart, he took a slow step forward.

As he moved, the crowd spontaneously parted, giving him a clear path.

At the same time, the system's voice came into his mind. [I have to admit, this is the most distorted technological civilization I've ever seen.]

Chen Fan's expression shifted slightly. He silently questioned, 'You've seen a lot of technological civilizations?'

[... So far, just two.]

Chen Fan's lips twitched.

He finally understood that this so-called intelligent terminal was completely unreliable!

[But my database contains many social models of civilizations!]

The system continued, [I just ran a search through the database of recorded social models. Guess what?]

... What?

Chen Fan's emotions were becoming a bit unhinged.

[Not a single technological civilization in the database has a society like this one!]

[You're going to be famous!]

The system's voice held an odd excitement. [Trust me, let's gather as many samples as we can. We don't need to say much—this civilization's social structure alone could lead to at least ten papers at the Institute of Civilizational Sociology!]

Hearing this, Chen Fan could feel his temples throbbing.

So high-tech civilizations also care about publishing papers?!

Wait... this might not be the main issue right now!!

Realizing that his focus had been lost to the system's diversion, Chen Fan quickly pulled his thoughts back and turned his attention back to the crowd in front of him.

"…Ch-Chosen One, this is just a small matter. You don't need to get involved."

The middle-aged woman who had been gossiping earlier now had a flattering smile plastered on her face as she explained softly, "It's just some debt collectors, nothing major."

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow.

Just some debt collectors?

Since when did debt collectors cause this much of a scene?

He tried to maintain a calm expression and continued moving forward.

Seeing that Chen Fan didn't stop, the middle-aged woman's face showed a hint of panic. "Chosen One, those people... they aren't easy to deal with!"

"You should be careful!"

"If something happens to you, we..."

Before she could finish, someone nearby yanked her sharply. "What nonsense are you saying?"

"The Chosen One is protected by the divine. How could anything happen?!"

As Chen Fan overheard the murmurs, his heart sank.

It seemed like the uninvited guests didn't fear his identity as the Chosen One?

And if something happened to him, it might be disastrous for the onlookers?

The latter was understandable—anger from the Church or God could be a problem.

But the former?