For the past month, Li Tong had been having the same dream over and over again.
It was a dream about the coming apocalypse.
In her dream, natural disasters struck, the insect race invaded, and in the end, she and her four older brothers all died tragic deaths.
Every time she dreamed of her brothers dying, she would jolt awake in terror.
Her brothers had dangerous occupations. They were all mercenaries who lived with their lives on the line.
They had found her deep in the forest while carrying out a training exercise with their guild.
All five of them were orphans who relied on one another to survive.
Li Tong had always been frail, and because they doted on her, they spent a fortune hiring private tutors to teach her at home.
As a result, her world had always revolved around only the four of them.
That also allowed the men to leave for work without worrying about all kinds of flies and pests buzzing around their little sister.
She was simply too beautiful.
She possessed striking, glamorous features, captivating fox eyes, and a tear mole beneath the outer corner of her right eye that made her irresistibly alluring. Her nose was small and elegant, her lips soft, full, and rosy, while her figure was flawless, curving in all the right places. Her fair, delicate skin was so smooth and tender that it seemed almost fragile.
The four men earned excellent money and spoiled their little sister endlessly. She lived in a luxurious villa, wore expensive designer goods, and lacked for nothing.
As long as their little sister wanted something, even if it were the stars in the sky, the four of them would find a way to bring them down for her.
In truth, Li Tong had never cared much for any of those things.
The only thing she worried about was her brothers.
More than once, she had subtly tried to persuade them to stop taking on such dangerous work.
The four of them only came home once every long while, and every return left them covered in wounds. Several times, they had come frighteningly close to losing their lives.
She stayed by their hospital beds, crying without end until her eyes became so swollen that she could no longer open them, eventually collapsing from exhaustion.
It broke their hearts every time.
They would hold her, comfort her gently, and coax her for a long time before the girl finally calmed down.
…
At that moment, Li Tong sat upright in bed, drenched in a cold sweat from fear.
Once again, the only thing that had changed in the dream was the countdown to the apocalypse.
Ding!
【Host selected successfully. Connecting…】
A mechanical male voice suddenly echoed inside her mind.
「Master~ I’m your System 09.」
「Hm? Why aren’t you saying anything? Hey, can you hear me?」
“Uh… what?”
「Good, you can hear me. Anyway, everything you’ve been dreaming about is real. The apocalypse is almost here!」
A flash of white light enveloped her, transporting Li Tong into a small world that resembled a heavenly paradise.
The miniature world was dreamlike and ethereal, as though it had been lifted straight out of a fantasy game.
「I’ve prepared three cheats for you, Master. The first is a system interface with unlimited supplies. The second is this small world, which you can only enter for twelve hours at a time. The third is inside the villa. Go in and have a look.」
The moment Li Tong opened the door, she saw a small wooden box floating in midair.
She reached out and carefully caught it.
Inside were five medicinal pills.
The one in the centre shimmered faintly with soft light, while the remaining four looked perfectly ordinary.
「Eat the one in the middle, Master. It’ll grant you an absurdly powerful healing ability. Even bringing the dead back to life is possible.」
「The pill will cleanse your meridians, remove impurities… （Insert the usual cliché explanation here.）」
After swallowing the pill, Li Tong followed 09’s instructions and drew a cup of well water from the well outside the door before drinking it.
A split second later, an agonising pain exploded throughout her body, as though countless blades were slicing through her flesh while giant hammers shattered every bone she possessed.
Thud!
The pain overwhelmed her, and she collapsed unconscious onto the grass.
Fine beads of cold sweat covered her body, her brows tightly knitted as she lay completely motionless.
When she awoke again, twenty four hours had already passed.
Still groggy, she realised she was back in her bedroom.
The time limit inside the small world had long since expired, and it had automatically ejected her.
The unbearable pain had completely disappeared, replaced by a body that was utterly flawless.
Li Tong hurried to the mirror.
She had become even more beautiful, like a divine maiden who had descended from the immortal realm into the mortal world, flawless from every possible angle.
Her skin had become so fair and supple that it looked as though water could be squeezed from it.
Only then did she truly realise…
None of this had been a dream.
She glanced at the time.
There were only three days left before the prophecy from her dreams came true.
Li Tong wanted to call her brothers, but she worried they might be in the middle of a mission, so she settled for sending a VX message instead.
Three minutes later, her eldest brother called.
“Hello? Baby? What’s wrong? Are you sick? Are you feeling unwell somewhere? Big Brother will be home very soon.”
From the other end of the line came chaotic, continuous gunfire mixed with crackling bursts of static caused by poor signal reception.
“Brother, come back quickly! I have something incredibly important to tell you! It’s really, really important!”
“Did you get hurt, sweetheart? Big Brother will call the family doctor first. We’ll be home soon. Just wait…”
Beep, beep, beep…
A deafening explosion abruptly cut off the call.
Li Tong was terrified.
Her trembling hands clutched the phone tightly as her eyes reddened, crystal tears falling one after another without stopping.
「They’ll be fine. Master, you should hurry and familiarise yourself with the system first.」
「Try summoning the interface in your mind.」
Li Tong wiped away her tears and did exactly as 09 instructed.
It was incredibly simple.
The moment the thought crossed her mind, a pale blue system interface appeared before her eyes.
She tapped the Personal Information button at the top.
Name: Li Tong
Height: 170 cm
Age: 18
Beauty: 109 （Maximum: 100）
Health: 100 （Maximum: 100）
Ability: Absolute Healing and Purification （Only effective on herself and those bound to her）
Bound Connections: 0 people （Maximum: 4）
「You’re the only person in this world with supernatural abilities, Master. Whatever you do, don’t let anyone discover them, or you’ll end up being captured as an experimental subject.」
She opened the other menus and discovered that they contained every imaginable item, many of which she had never even seen before.
A red infinity symbol marked every entry, signifying an endless, inexhaustible supply.
“How do I form a bound connection?”
「Simple. Interlock all ten fingers with the other person. As long as their affection towards you reaches the passing mark of sixty out of one hundred, the bond can be established.」
「Once the bond is formed, they’ll also gain access to the small world, though they won’t be able to see the system interface.」
Li Tong nodded.
She sat cross legged on her bed and spent the entire day studying the system. That evening, she sent countless more VX messages to her brothers.
None of them replied.
Even though 09 insisted they would be fine, she simply couldn’t stop worrying about them.
“09?”
「Hm?」
“Why did you choose me?”
「Haha, don’t you remember? Back in the heavens, you were already my master. You were the one who created me~」
“The heavens? What are you talking about?”
「It’s nothing~ Stop asking~ I can’t tell you about those things~」
Li Tong pouted but wisely chose not to press the matter any further.
…
She remained alone in the villa, waiting until the third day.
The four of them still hadn’t returned.
Dark storm clouds had gradually gathered overhead, threatening an imminent torrential downpour.
Anxiety gnawed at Li Tong as she once again sent several text messages to her brothers.
She waited until the middle of the night before she could no longer hold back her tears, silently crying to herself.