“Damn system, you're useless! Remove the binding!”
“Trash system, didn’t you hear me? Unbind now and get lost. What good are you anyway?”
Rogers Cole had crossed into this world and waited twenty freakin’ years for his system to finish loading.
And the crap it gave him after all that? A bunch of garbage rewards from years of check-ins.
He was done.
“Remove system binding. Confirm?”
The system’s voice rang out.
“Confirm!” Rogers snapped.
Having this pathetic excuse of a system was an absolute joke for a transmigrator like him.
“Unbinding Fánsú Sign-In System…”
“Unbinding complete!”
“Congratulations. Host has triggered hidden system. Supreme Sign-In System loading… load complete!”
Rogers froze.
He’d just cursed the system to hell and back, and now a new one popped up?
At least this one didn’t take two damn decades to finish booting.
[Notice: Supreme Sign-In System rewards are tied to sign-in locations. The more unique the place, the better the reward.]
[You can sign in three times a month.]
[Unused sign-ins will boost chances in the next month.]
Rogers looked off into the distance—to the towering Imperial Palace.
This was Tiānyǎn Imperial City of the Jiuxiao Continent, under the rule of the mighty Tiānyǎn Empire.
Its Empress, Scarlett Emerson, governed a hundred billion souls.
She also topped the Jiuxiao Beauty Rankings.
And right now, she was picking a consort.
“With this face of mine, there’s no way I won’t make the short list!” Rogers chuckled to himself.
Scarlett was selecting ten thousand handsome men to enter the palace. She’d personally pick her consort from among them.
Rogers didn’t care about becoming emperor-consort.
He was only here to sign in.
Check-in rewards from a place like the Imperial Palace had to be over the top.
If this new system flopped like the last one, he’d kick it to the curb too.
…
Three days later, Rogers made it into the palace along with a crowd of fine-looking men.
The Tiānyǎn Imperial Palace put any building from his past life to shame.
But it made sense.
This empire had stood for over eighteen thousand years. A population in the hundreds of billions.
“They say Empress Scarlett’s talent is unmatched. Not even twenty-two, and she’s already at the sixth level of Divine King Realm.”
“Me? I’m just in the Postnatal stage. No way I’m getting picked as consort.”
“But hey, just stepping into this place is worth it for the sign-in.”
Rogers was fired up.
New system, and three chances this month—he was ready.
Rewards from a spot like this had to be massive.
He moved with the tide of men into a grand hall.
The pillars alone were over five meters in thickness, shooting up more than a hundred meters into the air.
This place—the Chaotian Hall—stretched over a hundred thousand square meters.
Even with ten thousand men inside, it didn’t feel crowded.
This was where foreign envoys were welcomed during state rituals.
“Silence!” “The Empress will arrive shortly. No one is to be disrespectful!”
The voice of the ceremonial officer rang sharp and loud.
“She’s not here yet. Let me get a check-in done first.”
“System, execute.”
Rogers Cole muttered in his mind.
[Sign-in at Chaotian Palace successful. Acquired SS-level reward: Holy Veil Cloak. Can be hidden within the body. Absolute concealment. Masks cultivation. Undetectable even to Semi-Saints.]
The system’s voice echoed in his head.
Rogers’ chest tightened with excitement.
Damn, an SS-level reward?!
All those past years, the best he’d gotten was E-level. Most check-ins were G-level garbage.
This was real loot.
He immediately scanned his item list. A golden cloak sat right at the top.
“Jackpot! This thing alone’s worth more than all my past rewards put together!”
Rogers almost trembled with joy.
“Her Majesty arrives!”
“Kneel!”
The ceremonial officer barked once more, his tone solemn.
Rogers knelt down with the rest. In a place like this, not kneeling could cost you—perhaps literally—your head.
“All hail the Empress! May Her Majesty’s life be as eternal as the heavens!”
Officials and soldiers inside the hall chanted in unison, their voices spilling outside to where tens of thousands of Black Dragon Guards stood in formation.
“You may rise.”
Her voice was cool and quiet. Everyone stood.
Rogers used the moment to glance at Scarlett Emerson.
And then he froze.
She was breathtaking. Beyond anything he’d ever seen. That face… it would crush every beauty he’d ever laid eyes on, filters or not.
And that regal aura—like a goddess descended into the world.
“Guess those Nine Skies Beauty Rankings weren’t lying. Scarlett really is the top beauty under the heavens.”
He muttered inwardly.
He wasn’t alone; others were sneaking peeks too. Some were already red-eyed from envy.
Becoming Empress’ consort meant sudden rise to power. And when she looked like that? Who could resist?
“I have a few questions,” Scarlett said, her tone calm and distant. “First, raise your hand if you come from a humble background.”
About one-third of the ten thousand men fit that description.
Hearing her ask this, many of them lowered their heads.
They knew—they’d likely be culled in the first round.
Coming from poverty meant fewer shared values.
“Damn, this again?”
Rogers sighed, raising his hand.
No choice. Among this bunch, no one had it harder than him.
No family, no home. Parents gone.
Only about a fifth raised their hands.
Some hesitated—they were poor too but didn’t want to risk immediate elimination.
“That’s enough.”
“Those with hands raised, stay. The rest may leave.”
Scarlett’s voice remained even.According to imperial law, Scarlett Emerson was supposed to choose an empress now. But truth be told, she didn’t want to pick anyone at all—especially not someone from a powerful noble clan. Letting in an in-law like that? It’s asking for trouble.
“Huh?”
Everyone was stunned. Those with modest family backgrounds, who hadn’t raised their hands, were even more shocked.
“No noise! Anyone eliminated, leave immediately!” the officiant barked. He was surprised too, but Scarlett had already agreed to hold the selection. She made the rules—he wouldn’t dare question them.
Out of ten thousand candidates, only about two thousand remained.
Rogers Cole, of course, was one of them.
“The second question: which marriage system do you support—polygyny, polyandry, or monogamy?” Scarlett asked.
“If it's polygyny, raise one finger; polyandry, two fingers; monogamy, three.”
Rogers rolled his eyes. “What kind of nonsense is this?”
“Whatever. If I get eliminated, so be it. No way I’m betraying myself for a dumb question,” he muttered, raising one finger.
Over sixty percent of the men chose two fingers—after all, the empress was a woman. Another thirty-plus percent chose three. Less than a hundred chose one.
Rogers mentally saluted them. "Bold bastards, choosing polygyny right in front of the empress."
Scarlett’s gaze swept across the crowd. Calmly, she said, “Those who chose one, stay. The rest, leave.”
“As men, were your answers honest?”
Most of the men left, faces bitter with regret. They couldn’t say a word—it had been a test, and they’d failed.
“This woman’s got some layers,” Rogers thought, surprised he made it through another round.
“Give them each paper and a brush,” Scarlett ordered.
Only a bit over a hundred were left. The materials were passed out quickly.
Rogers let out a quiet sigh. He’d been born in this world but didn’t plan on sitting imperial exams. He could write, just not well.
“Might as well play a funeral tune for myself,” he thought, glancing at the others who seemed confident.
“Listen up,” Scarlett said.
“There are chickens and rabbits in the same cage, totaling thirty-five heads and ninety-four legs. How many chickens and rabbits?”
“First five correct answers pass.”
Before her words fully landed, Rogers had already written the answer. It was just basic math, something from elementary school—and he had finished college.
Scarlett’s eyes landed on him, a flicker of surprise flashing in her gaze.
Half a minute later, the second person finished. The fifth took over two minutes.
“All right. Those without answers can leave. The correct answer is twenty-three chickens, twelve rabbits. Those who got it wrong, leave as well.”
Scarlett’s voice was steady.
“Sigh…”
Nearly a hundred others walked away, full of frustration. Getting eliminated at the start would’ve been easier to swallow. This late cut hurt more.