【System connection successful. Energy conversion system activated. Current rate: 100 heat = 1 hr of survival. Current heat: 0.】
【Beginning settlement...】
【...】
The splash of tactical boots striking puddles drew nearer and nearer as You Shuo's teammates caught up.
"Shuo-ge—"
When they reached the mouth of the alley, all they saw was You Shuo cradling You Ling's ice-cold corpse, his fingers brushing aside the rain-soaked hair plastered to her forehead — as though he were simply tucking away unruly strands for his still-living sister.
All they could hear was his suppressed, choked sobbing: "I was deceived after all."
He had been willing to trade his soul, but perhaps his soul was too cheap — unworthy of buying back his sister.
For a moment, no one in the alley spoke. There was only the rain plummeting from the sky, splattering across everyone's hearts in a wave of cold.
"You Shuo... our condolences." His colleague lowered his voice.
He wanted to say that the dead were dead, and the living had to look forward.
When they chose this profession, they had to be prepared for the possibility of never coming home. It was just that — compared to not making it back themselves — none of them wanted it to be the person beside them who left first.
But what could they do? None of them had the power to change reality—
Just then, the speed of the falling rain shifted for a single instant.
As if time itself had frozen. And then — the rain reversed.
The anomaly appeared only here, as if God had let a few grains of miraculous sand slip through the cracks between His fingers, descending upon this one corner alone.
You Shuo froze for an instant, then whipped his head around to stare at the blood-filled puddle beside him. Within it, the blood and rainwater were gradually separating, dividing into two sharply distinct layers.
The sight reflected in his pupils — blood defying gravity, rising from the puddle. It traced an arc through the air, flowing back into the wounds of the You Ling cradled in his arms.
The red staining her white scarf faded away, and the coppery tang of blood soaking her toggle coat dissipated bit by bit.
As the crimson receded, dozens of wounds began to heal in unison.
Blood returned to the body; rain flowed upward — as if time itself were rewinding, reversing the tragedy that had unfolded here until it was as though nothing had ever happened.
Sharp intakes of breath sounded from behind him. You Shuo lowered his gaze. Beneath his fingers, cheeks that had been stiff and rigid began to flush with warmth. You Ling's pale lips gradually regained their color.
He heard breathing.
You Shuo stood rooted to the spot, like a weathered stone statue.
The devil had honored his promise. With his soul as the price, You Shuo had finally received the mercy of a miracle.
In his arms, You Ling's eyelashes trembled, and in his widening pupils, she slowly opened her eyes.
The miracle of resurrection awakened in his embrace.
"...You Shuo?" Her voice was groggy, as though she had merely taken a nap and had no idea what had happened.
A droplet fell from the tips of his hair, tracing along the rim of his eye before sliding down. You Shuo drew a deep breath, reining in his trembling fingertips, then cradled the back of her head and positioned his body to block You Ling's line of sight.
At that same moment, the colleagues behind him slipped away in silent, wordless understanding.
You Shuo never wanted his sister to have anything to do with them. He wanted her to live forever in a peaceful world, a carefree little princess. He had split his life into two halves, and his work was the half that could never appear before his sister.
"It's fine. Nothing happened at all." You Shuo's voice betrayed none of his emotions. He made no mention of anything to do with blood. Just as his colleagues always noted, there was still that telltale clip in his voice — his clear, gentle tone seemingly filled with the same concern as always. "Your blood sugar dropped. I've already asked your counselor for a few days off." Only at the very end did a faint tremor slip into the trailing syllable. "Let's go home."
"Mm." You Ling hummed in acknowledgment. You Shuo couldn't see her eyes, nor could he see the lingering fury within them — emotions that set her entire gaze ablaze.
...
【Beginning settlement...】
【Searching for new related bullet comments.】
【Search complete.】
【Searching for new related forum threads.】
【Search complete.】
【Searching for new big data discussion volume across the internet.】
【Search complete.】
【Current heat: 2047】
【100 heat = 1 hr of survival. System automatically deducts heat required for host activity.】
"Only twenty hours? That's so little." You Ling rubbed her hair with a dry towel, picked up the blow dryer, and flipped the switch — then suddenly realized something. One eyebrow arched upward in amusement. "A dead person is talking?"
System: 【Host is indistinguishable from a living person upon resurrection.】
You Ling blow-dried her hair while shaking it out in front of the mirror. Rising steam fogged over what had been a clear reflection, and her eyes, hidden behind the thin mist, resembled the blurred visage of a specter.
She honestly couldn't be certain anymore whether she was truly alive. Perhaps she really was "You Ling" — a phantom.
"Things aren't that bad. Sure, I died, but I'm alive again!" With a touch of novelty, You Ling stretched out her index and middle fingers in a V, pressing them beneath the corners of her mouth and pulling upward to force a grin. "Soft — no rigor mortis. A perfect resurrection!"
She didn't harbor any desperate attachment — no obsessive conviction that a person simply must stay alive, must be able to savor good food, anything like that. That was just what happened when you'd lived through enough hard days. You could accept anything as long as it didn't cross your bottom line.
They had both gotten soaked with grimy water in the rain earlier. You Shuo let You Ling use the bathroom first, and she guessed he was in his room holding an online meeting with his teammates.
You Ling figured he had no intention of leaving tonight. After something like this, You Shuo wouldn't consider the matter settled until he'd spent the whole night clutching their parents' memorial tablets in self-reproach — and beyond that, he almost certainly wouldn't dare leave her side.
Tonight's events had scared him.
But You Ling couldn't let You Shuo stay home. She only had twenty hours and needed to build up some heat before the countdown hit zero.
Otherwise, once the twenty hours were up, she'd tearfully tell You Shuo, "Take care of yourself from now on," then drop dead again with a snap, and You Shuo would be kneeling beside her corpse, weeping his eyes out...
Yeah, let's not do that.
The thinking could wait. A plan needed a sufficient foundation of information to stand on. First, You Ling had to get a clear picture of her current situation.
Humming a cheerful little tune, she activated the system's manga forum module. In an instant, a pale blue rectangular screen — visible only to her — appeared in her field of vision. The manga module, the bullet comment module, and the forum module were all listed.
"Let me see what this so-called forum looks like..." She tapped the forum module.
Although You Ling claimed to know a thing or two about manga character design, she wouldn't stake her life on understanding the market. Humility was the key to longevity, and You Ling considered herself a humble, eager learner. It never hurt to hear what the outside world had to say.
The very first thing to catch her eye was a bolded, red-highlighted, pinned trending post:
【He Might Be an Incubus】 HOT
OP
Who says an incubus isn't a devil? Look at that body — hoo boy! Look at that face — hoo boy! Look at that tiny waist — the new character is absolutely an incubus!
You Ling's mood at that moment could be summed up by a certain five-word frog meme: What the hell, that's vile!
Everyone had their own logic, and the mommy fans' logic was simple: "I will mother you." This was mothering beyond the bounds of reason. You could be built like a double-door fridge of solid muscle and you still wouldn't escape being babied. In the eyes of a mommy fan, all things were motherable — to say nothing of the character You Ling had manifested as.
You Ling didn't read any further, because she was a person of dignity.
Growing up both poor and wise enough to grasp a few of life's bigger truths, self-respect was the only thing You Ling could hold onto. That hadn't changed even now.
Thankfully, they weren't talking about her real self. You Ling wouldn't fully project herself onto the character — otherwise she'd genuinely combust from toe to crown. Even as it was, she couldn't help pressing a hand to her forehead, her cheeks burning beneath her palm.
"Let's just check whether the character design held up." She gave herself an excuse and turned to a power-analysis thread instead. As it happened, there was a featured post right on the front page, titled: 【Power Scaling Collapse? Does Fat Fish Even Remember His Own Settings? Retcon?】
You Ling's gaze sharpened, and she read through the thread with painstaking care.
【Power Scaling Collapse?! Does Fat Fish Even Remember His Own Settings? Retcon?】 HOT
OP
In Volume 1, Chapter 3, when Clip Bro first entered the Hidden World, the manga explicitly laid out its power system through a side character's dialogue.
[manga_screenshot.jpg]
It was written in black and white, clear as day. The weakest rank on the ability power ladder is F, and even the current highest SS-tier combat level can't bring the dead back to life! That touches on the level of the soul — no one can defy the laws of life and death!
Now a character shows up, and you're telling me he can reverse life and death?
The power scaling's collapsed, hasn't it?! What about balance?!
1L
Who's Clip Bro? Don't know him.
2L
Stop playing dumb and stop derailing! OP actually has a point here!
If life and death can be reversed, are we doing Edo Tensei now?
If a character's death can just be undone over and over, then what meaning does life and death even have in this manga?
3L
Fat Fish, we know you want to push the new character as the top dog, but could you rein it in a little? How does breaking the power scaling benefit you?
Fine, if you want to hype up the Trisolaran then go ahead, but if you dare give us a botched ending, I'll send someone after you!
4L
Netizens really are creative — and just like that, the new character's already got a nickname. TOP 1 Bro~
5L
Still not as good as what the mommy fans are calling him...
...
You Ling fell into thought.
Indeed, she had laid it on a bit too thick with that bluff. Supernatural abilities couldn't actually reverse life and death. The fact that they were already invoking balance issues meant she might have oversold herself.
"It's perfect that they think I'm TOP 1." You Ling had wanted to slap a label on herself from the start, and the strongest was exactly what she had in mind.
Her heartbeat quickened for a few seconds. On the other hand, she was a little worried.
If this manga were only serialized in the so-called "real world," then it wouldn't matter how much she bluffed or how outrageous her boasts were — as long as she could back it up within the manga's storyline, everything would be fine.
But this manga existed in her own world, which meant she had to be prepared for the possibility that ability users could see it too.
What if someone truly believed that ability users could raise the dead and came to her seeking a miracle?
What if someone genuinely thought she was incredibly powerful and deliberately came looking for trouble?
She tilted her head, one eyebrow dropping while the other rose — hesitant, uncertain, and just a touch conflicted. "Nobody would actually believe a manga... right?"
It was just a manga. A little artistic license was perfectly normal... right?