Chapter 12: A Song as the Beginning

If a person were to acquire the ability to travel freely across multiple dimensions, their entire mindset, worldview, and values would undergo a profound transformation.

At present, the banknotes in the world of Infernal Affairs differed from those in his original dimension, so Ma Jun had prepared some valuable gold, silver, and jewels in advance—worth approximately seven or eight hundred thousand. During the next few days of military training, Ma Jun found time to visit various gold shops and other places in Yanjing, using different methods to exchange the contents of his spatial ring for a total of seven hundred thousand in cash.

After all, he had spent four years navigating all of Yanjing, mingling in the entertainment industry and gaining exposure to all sorts of situations. A mere seventy thousand was hardly worth mentioning in Yanjing; it didn’t even cause a ripple. He hadn’t encountered any melodramatic situations like being robbed or double-crossed.

To Ma Jun now, money was little more than wastepaper. But for Yan Rong, fifty thousand was a fortune! In modern society, even ten thousand would have countless men and women scrambling for a single night’s favor—let alone fifty thousand.

Sure enough, no sooner had Ma Jun transferred the money to Yan Rong’s account that morning than, by afternoon, Dong Tianhai had called off his pursuit. The Yanying online forum posted a clarification, and the video platform deleted the latter part of Yan Rong’s accusatory video against Ma Jun.

Thus, a minor annoyance for Ma Jun was resolved with effortless ease!

For some people, even if their own son were killed in a hit-and-run, fifty thousand would be enough to buy their forgiveness for the perpetrator.

The last five days passed, and military training came to an end!

All the boys and girls were sentimental, even tearfully gathering around the instructors. Whether it was genuine innocence or some other reason, who could say?

Within the school, Ma Jun’s reputation was still not particularly good, but his classmates wouldn’t criticize him openly. So, on the final night of military training, Ma Jun stood before everyone, guitar in hand, and sang a song. His classmates gave him due respect, applauding together.

The dormitories at Yanying never lost power. After such exhausting days, the brief holiday that followed saw Ma Jun and his roommates pull an all-nighter gaming session.

By now, Ma Jun’s gaming skills were no longer hopeless, so his roommates pulled him in to play as well, but he went to bed at four.

When Ma Jun got up at nine in the morning, the rest were still sound asleep. With plenty of time before lunch, he skipped breakfast, washed up, lit a cigarette, and turned on his computer.

In this dimension, Ma Jun planned to treat it as a place for leisure and relaxation in the future, so he still had to pursue his plan of becoming a superstar.

Even without the system, with the world randomly altered, Ma Jun could still rely on the songs, scripts, and novels in his mind to struggle his way to stardom through years of effort. Now, with the Xiaohua system, the future promised to be even more dazzling, but Ma Jun would not let his advantages go to waste!

Having studied vocal music and taken acting classes, Ma Jun could recall many songs and film scripts.

Of course, writing original scripts was beyond him, but he could at least transcribe the songs he remembered.

He booted up his computer and, from memory, started a new document, jotting down the titles of various songs, preparing to select and record them in a studio for release.

In this world, there was a music website that allowed individuals to upload their works, and it was rather popular.

To become a star, one needed fame. Ma Jun had no connections or network at present, so he had to work things out step by step himself.

"Uncle, you’re so shameless, claiming all these songs as your own!" Xiaohua said with disdain.

"What do you know, brat?" Ma Jun replied indifferently. "Given my special circumstances, should I just virtuously abandon all this great music?"

"Hmph! Back then, you were so innocent, but now you’ve become utterly shameless!" Xiaohua chattered on. "My database also has those songs, and plenty from Infernal Affairs, too. Believe it or not, I could publish them first!"

Ma Jun was speechless. Why did this brat always have to go against him? Was she still holding a grudge for failing to conquer his dimension before? Still brooding over it?

Suddenly, inspiration struck Ma Jun. "Xiaohua, aren’t you a bit like Iron Man’s AI assistant?"

"You underestimate me!" Xiaohua retorted indignantly. "How could that little thing compare to me? I’m countless times more powerful! I can compute everything across multiple dimensions. That emotionless AI isn’t even fit to carry my shoes!"

Just how long had Xiaohua been hanging around in his previous dimension, that she called herself “granny” at every turn—she really had mastered the role!

"Since you’re so capable, you’ll be my personal AI housekeeper from now on! For starters, select ten songs for me to record and release!"

"Not a chance!" Xiaohua blurted out. "Granny won’t bother with you!"

"Wow, so cocky?" Ma Jun exclaimed theatrically. "Don’t you want to fulfill your old master’s dream? If you don’t help me, I might just stop traveling through dimensions!"

"You’re threatening me!" Xiaohua fumed.

"Not at all, we’re helping each other. We’re good friends!" Ma Jun said with a grin.

After grumbling at Ma Jun for a while, Xiaohua gave in reluctantly. "Fine, you bully!"

Ma Jun laughed heartily. Xiaohua was just a simple child—bantering with her was truly entertaining. In the future, whenever he was in a bad mood, he could always chat with Xiaohua for a while.

With Xiaohua’s help, Ma Jun no longer needed to compose the music himself. She uploaded the lyrics and compositions of ten songs directly to his computer, complete with instrumental tracks!

At first, Ma Jun was uneasy, so he double-checked and listened to the tracks, finding everything flawless. He couldn’t help but admire Xiaohua, though he refrained from praise—otherwise, the brat would only get smug.

At noon, after bringing lunch back for his three lazy roommates, Ma Jun copied the music files, printed out five of them, and called a recording studio.

Actually, there was a recording studio on campus at Yanying, and Ma Jun, having spent some time in this altered world, knew quite a bit. But the campus studio wasn’t open to him, unlike outside studios, where you could record as long as you paid.

Ma Jun didn’t seek perfection in his recordings; he was a beginner singer, equivalent to an ordinary contracted artist. So he finished quickly—five songs all recorded in one afternoon.

Money made things easy; all the tedious procedures were expedited. By the time he returned in the evening, Ma Jun already had the complete digital versions of his songs.

As he reached the school gate, his roommates called, demanding he bring back food! Ma Jun was speechless—they must be busy gaming again!

So he made a trip to the cafeteria and brought dinner back.

In the dorm, Ma Jun turned on his computer, registered a Weibo account under the name “Galloping Junma,” and then registered the same name on a music site called “NoteCut Guide.”

He had recorded five songs: “Love Is Unwilling,” “Crying Sand,” “Actually, None of It,” “Still on the Road,” and, lastly, an English song called “NB.”

He didn’t upload them all at once—first, he uploaded only “Love Is Unwilling,” and then went to Youtu Video Network to promote himself in the comments under his singing video.

Over the next few days, Ma Jun uploaded a song every day. Many netizens listened for free, and some paid to download.

By the time all ten songs had been recorded and uploaded, his Weibo had gathered several thousand followers, and the number was still growing. Now, he could be considered a minor celebrity.

Classes resumed at the university, but Ma Jun, familiar with the coursework, paid little attention. He had already decided to conquer the next dimension.