Su Chen’s Notes on the Art of Living

After dying from overwork under the 996 schedule, Su Chen is reborn just before graduating from college and unexpectedly binds himself to the [Life Experience Settlement System]. It doesn't hand out money directly. Instead, it assigns “life experience missions” and awards rewards based on the quality of his completion. So while his classmates are cramming into job fairs, Su Chen is pondering: “Should I go to Switzerland to learn watchmaking today, or to Hokkaido to study sushi?” While his roommate frets over the rental deposit, the System prompts him: “Please experience a million-yuan night's sleep this week. Aman Tokyo or Hoshinoya Tokyo is recommended.” While people his age debate which milk tea shop is best, Su Chen tells the chef in a three-Michelin-star kitchen: “The truffle slices are 0.2 millimeters too thick. It's affecting the layers of flavor.” There are no villains to face-slap, only an uncompromising pursuit of the art of living. There is no mindless spending, just an elegant demonstration of “why you can't imagine the joys of being a billionaire.” From a bowl of Ichiran ramen perfected down to the last detail, to the humidity requirements when commissioning a private jet; from the accordion pieces played aboard a Venetian gondola, to the ideal serving temperature for champagne while whale-watching in Antarctica... Su Chen gradually comes to understand that true wealth isn't the number in your bank account, but the ability to appreciate life's finest experiences in all their subtlety. And Gu Qingci, the literary bookstore owner he keeps “running into” during System missions, seems to have a past of her own... “System, isn't this mission a little too easy?” [New mission: Host, please experience ‘admiring the Mona Lisa alone for three hours after the Louvre closes,’ and name the third blue pigment used by Leonardo da Vinci.] “...What kind of ‘easy’ is that?”