The next morning, Ning Shuyin was awakened by the gentle vibration of her Light-brain.
Outside the window, the sky had already brightened, simulating a beautiful dawn.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, the first thing she did was open the system panel in her mind to check in for the day.
[Check-in successful. System points earned: 1.]
[Current total points: 2.]
Below that was her personal panel:
[Host: Ning Shuyin]
[Age: 21]
[Potential Assessment: No potential whatsoever (recommended to focus on logistics and support work)]
[Core Module: Insufficient permissions]
And then…
And then there was nothing else…
“No potential whatsoever,” “logistics and support.”
Ning Shuyin stared at the panel and laughed in frustration. “I flew into a rage, and sure enough, all I did was rage a little.”
Where were the legendary stat points? All those cheat-like functions? It was basically just there for companionship, wasn’t it?
Below the personal information was the system store, with a dazzling array of products flashing before her eyes.
[Gene Repair Fluid (Basic)]: 1,000 points.
[Portable Spatial Warp Device]: 50,000 points.
[Paradox Bomb]: 999,999 points.
…
She silently closed the panel.
Even setting aside these bizarre items, she couldn’t even understand what they were for.
Relying on the 1 point per day from check-ins, there were some items she could never afford even if she checked in until the end of the world.
After hurriedly washing up, Ning Shuyin opened her wardrobe, her gaze settling on the corner where her few decent outfits hung.
Going on a date with the big demon lord—even with an easygoing personality, she still had to consider what to wear.
Ning Shuyin picked out a light blue dress.
She took it down, carefully folded it, and placed it in the inner pocket of her backpack.
Only after doing that did she change into a durable set of staff uniform, jog out the door, and squeeze onto the crowded public rail car.
She finally made it to the “Rose Society” building.
As the only ordinary person in the Technology Department who had yet to undergo Awakening, Ning Shuyin’s position was rather awkward.
In the interstellar era, Special Ability was almost an invisible standard for dividing social classes.
Not having Awakened meant being “defective.”
Most of her colleagues couldn’t help but show sympathy in their eyes when they looked at her.
“Shuyin, you look a bit pale. I have an Energy Drink here—go ahead and have it.” Supervisor Lily handed her a glass bottle filled with orange juice, her tone as gentle as if she were comforting a wounded little animal.
Ning Shuyin quickly waved her hand to decline. “Thanks, Sister Lily, but I’m fine. I just haven’t woken up yet.”
Energy Drinks were supplements used after expending Special Ability, and they were extremely expensive.
Lily was an Awakened C-rank Navigator.
Her fiancé was the president of the Sixth District Energy Food and Beverage Group, so an Energy Drink was nothing to her.
But for someone who hadn’t Awakened, drinking one would be a complete waste.
So Ning Shuyin declined Lily’s kindness.
Not far away, a sneering laugh rang out.
The striking green-haired beauty Bi Fei crossed her arms. “Sister Lily, you’re just too kind-hearted. Some things are innate. No matter how high-grade the Energy Fruit juice is, it can’t fill the gap in someone’s genes.”
Bi Fei was an E-rank Navigator from the neighboring department, and she had always been sharp-tongued.
Lily was about to snap back, but Ning Shuyin pulled her back.
“Sister Lily, it’s fine.” Ning Shuyin’s tone was calm.
It wasn’t that she was easy to bully.
In her heart, she was keenly aware of a “script”—in this world constructed by plot, she didn’t want to stir up unnecessary trouble over trivial matters.
She was kept on the run the entire morning.
First she was sent to calibrate the old server array, then to the ventilation ducts to retrieve stuck nano-cleaning bees.
Fine metallic dust mixed with sweat clung to her temples, and her clothes had picked up several smudges of grime.
By the time she finished and returned to the office, it was already lunchtime.
She collapsed into her chair and finally had a moment to check her Light-brain.
The screen showed several unread messages.
She tapped open the first one. The sender’s avatar was a fleet insignia.
[Situ Linchen: Date today. I’ll come pick you up.]
Brief, direct.
Through the words alone, Ning Shuyin could already feel that person’s need for control and oppressive presence.
The second was from an avatar of a minimalist hospital logo.
[Luo Lan: For the date, you can come to my clinic. I’ll give you a physical examination.]
The words “physical examination,” spoken by a medical genius who lacked any reverence for life, immediately conjured in Ning Shuyin’s mind a terrifying image of herself strapped to an operating table, about to be dissected for research.
She couldn’t help but shudder.
The third had an avatar of a glittering gold coin.
[Zhou Zhiheng: Whatever you want as a meeting gift, just say it. I can afford anything.]
The words were full of the arrogance of a tycoon—not quite contempt, but hardly respect either.
The fourth had an avatar of a constantly shifting nebula.
[Caesar: ?]
Just a single question mark.
What was he trying to express? Dissatisfaction with the Date Matching result? Or asking how she wanted to go about the date?
Ning Shuyin couldn’t figure it out.
She only knew that four messages pointed to four different hells.
In the novel, after these four vicious male side characters were thoroughly rejected by Su Qianqian, they would sink into self-destructive corruption.
They began matching and dating other women.
Those date “styles” were glossed over by the author with the most obscure vocabulary.
Trembling beneath velvet restraints;
A symphony of pain that did not cease until dawn;
Cold metal instruments;
The sound of a leather whip sweeping across skin…
—All of them were extremely explicit, insane acts.
Ning Shuyin’s fingertips went cold as she read.
Just as she was feeling uneasy, her Light-brain chimed again with a “ding.”
She opened it nervously, and the sender’s name made her freeze.
It was the original male lead—Gu Lei.
His message was simple, just two words:
[Interesting.]
Interesting?
Ning Shuyin was baffled.
Why would Gu Lei message her? What did he find “interesting”?
Could he have discovered that the Date Matching results had been tampered with?
Ning Shuyin read those two words over and over a dozen times, trying to analyze something from them—so much so that she didn’t even notice the Rose Society’s vice president walking up beside her.
“Ning Shuyin! Is work time for checking your Light-brain and flirting?”
Ning Shuyin jolted and put away her Light-brain. “Sorry, Supervisor, I…”
The vice president was a pot-bellied man.
“I’d say you’re too idle. Perfect timing—tonight’s 24-hour maintenance shift, you’re covering for Ajie.”
Everyone knew that Ajie was the vice president’s relative, and every time it was his turn for the night shift, he always found some excuse to get out of it.
Ning Shuyin frowned.
A 24-hour shift? Then what about her six o’clock date?
“Vice President, I can’t tonight,” she could only bite the bullet and refuse. “After work I have… a date.”
“A date?”
The vice president looked as if he’d heard the funniest joke of the Star Era. “An ordinary person who hasn’t even Awakened—what date could be more important than work? Either take the shift, or pack your things and get out!”
A duty log recorder was slammed heavily onto the desk.
Just as the vice president was pointing at her nose, about to continue his “lecture”—
“Rumble rumble!”
A rumbling sound, as if coming from deep within the earth, made the entire building tremble.
Ripples spread across the water in the cups on the desk.
“What’s going on? Is it an earthquake?” someone shouted in panic.
The rumbling grew louder and closer.
The entire sky darkened.
A massive shadow fell over the entire block where the Rose Society was located.
The oppressive force was overwhelming.
Almost everyone was startled into rushing to the windows.
When they saw the scene outside, they all gasped in unison.
An enormous interstellar warship was hovering in midair right in front of the Rose Society!
The exhaust from the flagship’s engines had already sent the entire commercial street into chaos, leaving it a complete mess!
“Oh my god… is that… the flagship of the Alliance Fleet Marshal, the Star Universe?”
“Why would it come here?!”
The Rose Society’s upper management instantly fell into chaos.
The president didn’t even have time to put on his coat properly before scrambling out with a group of executives.
A particle bridge shot down from the flagship.
A man in a black military uniform, surrounded by a squad of personal guards, walked slowly toward the Rose Society.
The people in the office fell silent with fear, as if they had seen Death himself.
Situ Linchen entered the office area, his gaze sweeping across the room.
Finally, he precisely locked onto that delicate, pale-faced figure.
He strode forward, his military boots striking the floor with steady, resounding echoes.
Step by step, he walked up to her.
“She, Ning Shuyin—I’m taking her with me.”