It was evening.
The horizon was dyed a warm orange-red by the setting sun.
Students leaving school and workers getting off work, along with cars and bikes, merged into a noisy symphony.
But the young woman Baida seemed separated from all that noise by an invisible film.
She leaned in the shadow of a bus stop, her fingers swiping quickly across her phone screen.
On it, the icon for Honkai: Star Rail stood out clearly.
She had just finished Herta’s daily missions.
Watching the purple-haired puppet girl on screen comment on “fools” with a tone of slight arrogance and boredom, Baida felt a strange tenderness rise in her heart.
“Are geniuses all lonely?” Baida muttered to herself, her fingertip unconsciously tracing Herta’s character art.
“If I could be by her side, even just to hand her a cup of coffee during her research breaks, or hug her when she thinks everyone’s a fool, so she wouldn’t feel so alone…” The thought carried the fanaticism of a fan, but also mixed in a deeper pity and yearning.
She was just an ordinary office worker.
Her life was like a glass of lukewarm plain water.
But the universe in that game, those Aeons and Paths, those vibrant and unique souls, held a fatal attraction for her.
Just as these thoughts drifted through her mind, her phone screen went black without warning, then suddenly lit up again.
A text message, with no caller ID and a slightly odd font, abruptly occupied the entire screen:
[Yearning for another world?
Choose “Yes” to start a new life.]
Below it were only two cold option buttons: [Yes] and [No].
Baida’s heart missed a beat.
A chill crawled up her spine.
Urban legend?
A new kind of scam?
Various thoughts flashed through her mind at high speed.
The temptation was huge.
That bizarre and colorful universe seemed to be waving at her.
But in her mind appeared the image of her mother wearing an apron, busy in the kitchen, and the words she heard every day: “Baida, come back early.
Mom made your favorite sweet and sour ribs.” The ties of the real world, like the strongest silk threads, firmly held back her about-to-take-off heart.
She took a deep breath, gave a bitter smile, and with a finger that trembled almost imperceptibly but pressed with unwavering determination, she clicked [No].
“Better to go home for dinner,” she said to herself, trying to dispel the strange feeling with a light tone, and shoved her phone into her pocket, quickly walking away from the stop.
However, once fate’s track is nudged, it’s hard to return to its original place.
She hadn’t even taken ten steps when an inexplicable chill made the hairs on her neck stand up.
First step!
Right in the middle of the sidewalk ahead, a manhole cover was missing.
The dark opening was like a giant beast’s mouth, bottomless, giving off a damp, cold, rusty, and rotten smell from below.
“Tch, city maintenance is really slacking!” Baida complained, but her body had already reacted instinctively.
She didn’t even slow down, just pushed off skillfully with her foot, her body as light as a feather, and did an elegant little jump.
Her skirt drew a clean arc in the air as she precisely leaped over the trap that could have broken her leg, landing without even a wobble.
Second step!
Above her came a teeth-grinding, metal-twisting sound.
She looked up instinctively and saw a huge billboard, printed with the bright smile of a popular celebrity, its support bars clearly broken at several points, falling straight toward her with a shrill whistle!
Shadow instantly enveloped her.
“Are you kidding me?!” Baida’s pupils shrank, but her body reacted faster than her brain.
She suddenly stopped, the soles of her shoes screeching against the ground.
Almost at the same time, a huge crash deafened her ears.
The heavy billboard smashed into the ground less than half a meter in front of her, sending rubble and dust all over her.
That celebrity’s smile shattered at her feet.
She could even feel the violent vibration from the ground.
Before she could recover from the shock, the third step followed!
At the street corner, a dump truck that clearly had brake failure, like an unbridled steel beast, swerved onto the sidewalk, its huge front filling her entire vision, the engine roaring like the roar of death!
It was aimed right at where she stood.
“Is this never going to end?!” At this moment, that stubborn, reckless spirit within Baida was fully ignited.
She didn’t retreat but advanced instead, judging the truck’s trajectory, at an almost impossible angle, her body like a fish slipping through an extreme side-step that would make anyone gape.
She brushed past that cold steel beast!
The wind from the truck blew her hair into disarray, the dust almost choking her, but she ultimately dodged without a scratch.
Three calamities in a row, resolved in a flash.
Baida stood on the messy sidewalk, patted the dust off herself, looked at the shattered billboard in front, the dump truck that had crashed into a roadside green belt and finally stopped, and the sewer hole behind her that was still gaping.
A mix of relief from surviving and an inexplicable confidence in her own skills filled her, and she couldn’t help but put her hands on her hips and laugh up at the sky: “Hahaha!
Disaster is always one step behind me!”
The laughter was especially abrupt and arrogant amidst the chaos.
However, before her laughter completely faded, a clear, pleasant, yet lazy and teasing girl’s voice sounded from extremely close behind her:
“Disaster may be one step behind you, but no one said it won’t find you anyway, girl.
Time to transmigrate.”
Baida’s laughter stopped abruptly, like a duck being choked.
She whipped around, her heart almost jumping out of her throat.
Behind her, a strikingly pretty young girl stood.
She looked young, wearing an exquisite short dress that mixed modern and fantasy styles.
The most eye-catching thing was a pair of crimson fox ears with white tufts on her head, twitching gently with her breath.
The girl wore a smile that seemed to know everything and found it amusing.
In her hand, a revolver of an old design with a cold metallic shine was steadily and undeniably pressed against Baida’s heart.
The touch of the muzzle was cold and hard, clearly felt through her thin summer clothes.
The threat of death was so real and direct.
Baida’s scalp went numb, adrenaline spiking again.
She forced down her fear, quickly sifting through countless classic scenes from movies and shows in her mind.
She pretended to be calm, even forcing a stiff smile, and said, “I bet your gun has no bullets.”
The fox-eared girl, upon hearing this, showed a clear hint of surprise in her crimson eyes, then smiled even more deeply.
She actually did as Baida “wished,” skillfully flicking open the revolver’s cylinder with her free hand, looking down at it.
“You’re right,” said the fox-eared girl, looking up with an innocent and harmless smile.
“So.”
Before the words finished, she tilted her wrist slightly, almost pressing the muzzle against Baida’s ear, and pulled the trigger.
A deafening gunshot exploded on the narrow sidewalk.
The hot blast of the bullet grazed Baida’s hair, cutting off a few strands, and finally embedded into the wall behind her, leaving a clear bullet hole.
Baida stood frozen, her ears ringing, her cheek feeling the faint heat after the bullet passed.
She could clearly smell the faint gunpowder scent spreading in the air.
“…That was a joke,” said the fox-eared girl, blowing on the non-existent smoke from the muzzle, her tone as casual as if discussing the nice weather today.
“But what about my parents?” Baida instantly dropped all probing and joking, switching her expression to one of tearful, pitiful charm, looking at the other with pleading eyes.
She knew well that against a being beyond normal logic, direct confrontation was useless; playing weak to gain sympathy was the way to go.
“Of course, I’ll send them to block bridges…
no,” the fox-eared girl seemed to slip up, nearly revealing something, and quickly cleared her throat to cover it.
“What I mean is, I’ve got it all arranged for you.” She put away the revolver, hands on her hips, looking reliable with a “leave it to me” demeanor.
“National security work, official staff benefits, a monthly salary of twenty-five thousand, maximum social insurance and housing fund contributions, deposited into your parents’ bank account on the first of each month until they pass away.
How about that?
The organization’s thoughtful, isn’t it?”
Hearing such an “iron rice bowl” treatment with such detailed benefits, Baida’s eyes instantly lit up.
All previous fear and hesitation vanished.
Whatever risks of transmigration, whatever difficulties of another world, in the face of “national security work” and “twenty-five thousand a month,” they were paper tigers.
She immediately, without any dignity, leaned forward into a nearly kneeling posture, clasped her hands, and said with utmost sincerity: “If you, sir, will not abandon me, I would like to take you as my sworn father!”
The fox-eared girl’s mouth clearly twitched, and what seemed like a black line dropped from her forehead.
“…I’m not Dong Zhuo, and I don’t want to play any tragic couple entrusting family drama.
Keep it simple.
Let’s do this the easy way.”
Seeing this, Baida immediately seized the opportunity, hugging the fox-eared girl’s thigh tightly through her delicate stockings, looking up with her eyes instantly misty, her voice cracking with tears (though fake): “Sworn Father!
In the transmigration…
will there be a System?
You know, the kind that goes ding!
gives quests, rewards, and lets you pull for gacha?”
“No.” The fox-eared girl answered crisply, trying to pull her leg out, but found Baida holding on for dear life.
“Waaaaah!” Baida immediately broke into loud wailing, burying her face in the girl’s leg, howling with genuine-feeling sorrow.
“How can I live without a System?!
I’m so dumb!
Going there would just be feeding the wolves!
Sworn Father!
No System, I’m not going!
Boohoo…”
“Tch…” The fox-eared girl was annoyed by the noise, rubbing her temples and wearing a disgusted expression that said, “really, you’re such a handful.” “Fine.
Since you’re so sincere (and so annoying), I’ll give you two chances at Life Simulation.
That’s much more practical than any lousy System.”
“Really?!” Baida instantly stopped crying and looked up, with not a trace of tears on her face, her eyes shining brighter than stars.
“Then I want one with Herta and one with Silver Wolf!” She unhesitatingly named the two she had been longing for.
“Alright, off you go!” The fox-eared girl seemed tired of wasting words.
She flicked her fingers, and two particles of light, containing indescribable information and glowing with soft light, like living things, instantly sank into Baida’s forehead.
Then, the fox-eared girl casually slashed the air beside her.
The air tore like cloth, revealing a spatial gate with flowing rainbow light at its edges and a deep swirling interior.
Before Baida could say anything more, the fox-eared girl ruthlessly raised her foot and kicked her in the rear.
“Wait—!” Baida only managed one short syllable before being sent flying into the light gate by an irresistible force.
Her figure was instantly swallowed by the chaotic light.
The spatial passage quickly contracted, closed, and disappeared, as if it had never existed.
Only the messy accident scene and the distant approaching sirens remained.
The fox-eared girl stood there, dusting off her hands, looking at the spot where Baida vanished.
A complex emotion flickered in her crimson eyes.
She sighed softly, her voice barely audible:
“Sigh…
what a pain.
Now I have to modify the world’s perception again, and come up with a reasonable ‘disappearance’ excuse for her…
This batch of ‘volunteers’ is getting harder and harder to handle.”
She shook her head.
Her figure slowly faded like ink dissolving in water, finally disappearing completely into the evening twilight, unnoticed by any passerby.