Song Cheng stared blankly at her body, crushed beneath a heavy truck. Well, there went another blind date. She wondered if her aunt would gossip behind her back again, saying she was too picky. She wondered when the court would repossess the house she’d bought with a sixty-percent down payment—and what would happen to the five-figure balance in her bank account…
Her thoughts wandered until they settled on the mother of the little boy she had saved.
The young mother’s face showed relief, sorrow, and anxiety. At last, she collapsed to her knees beside the body, calling someone as she sobbed uncontrollably. Yes, the body on the ground was a corpse. Song Cheng was dead. She had died saving a little boy on her way to the park for a blind date.
Song Cheng had never known she had it in her to be so selfless. She wondered if dying while doing a good deed would get her into heaven…
So it was true: people really did have souls after death. Looking back on her thirty years of life, Song Cheng felt nothing but regret. She had been an average student, with an unremarkable personality and an ordinary social life. After graduating, she’d landed an administrative job at a foreign-owned company. Repeating the same work every day had long since worn away the enthusiasm she’d felt as a new graduate. At thirty, she had achieved nothing in love or in her career.
For the past couple of years, her relatives and friends had been nagging her constantly:
“Stop being so picky. Find someone decent, get married and settle down. That way, your parents can worry a little less.”
“Oh, you’re this old and still unmarried. Are you trying to become some career woman?”
“A woman should settle down and start a family early. You’ll get married eventually anyway, so just find someone decent.”
It wasn’t that Song Cheng wanted to stay single. She simply hadn’t met anyone she wanted to marry. The feelings she’d had as a student had been sincere, but they had all come to nothing. After she entered the working world, everything seemed to revolve around houses, cars, and money. The innocent, tentative feelings of young love were gone, and the years had slipped by until now.
With so many people around her gossiping, even her parents—who hadn’t been in a hurry before—started asking everyone they knew to introduce her to potential partners. But none of her many blind dates had worked out. It wasn’t that Song Cheng was too picky. She wasn’t ugly; she was a pretty, delicate-looking young woman. Yet because she was the age she was, she was expected to put up with men’s disdain and criticism. They would start by asking how much she earned and how much she had in savings. They expected her to help pay off a mortgage after marriage, but as soon as they heard Song Cheng had taken out a loan to buy a home of her own, the conversation went nowhere.
As the saying goes, you never know whether tomorrow or an accident will come first. It wasn’t until the accident actually happened to her that Song Cheng realized how much regret she carried. She regretted not studying harder when she was in school, regretted not finding work she truly liked, and most of all regretted never having found a happy, fulfilling love.
She couldn’t imagine how heartbroken her parents would be. For parents, burying their child was the greatest grief of all.
As Song Cheng agonized over it, she didn’t notice a broken glass bead beneath her body. It gave off a faint, intermittent glow before slowly sinking into the space between her brows. Song Cheng’s vision went dark, and gradually she could no longer hear the sounds around her. In a haze, she saw the little girl’s mother kowtowing to her parents again and again…
Cicadas chirred incessantly in the branches outside the window. The blazing sunlight filtered through the window screen and fell across the face of the person in bed. The fine down on her face was clearly visible. The girl seemed to be having a nightmare: her willow-shaped brows were tightly furrowed, her long, curled lashes trembled slightly, and she murmured unconsciously. Fine beads of sweat had appeared on her forehead.
Then the girl suddenly opened her eyes. She gazed silently at the ceiling fan, listening to it creak and squeak. She raised both hands, letting the sunlight fall on them, and looked at her fair, youthful hands with a quiet smile. The warm breeze from outside brushed her face. It all felt so real.
Song Cheng had been reborn.
As Song Cheng had fallen into darkness, a voice had asked her, “Would you like to go back to the past?”
Go back to the past? Of course she would. If she had another chance at life, she thought, she would study hard, live wholeheartedly, and make the most of her life…
She’d never imagined she would really be reborn. Even now, Song Cheng still felt dazed.
“Host, I am Fulfilling Life System A55.”
Song Cheng jumped. It was the voice from the darkness. After calming herself, Song Cheng asked, “Can you tell me what’s going on?”
【I am System A55, a system for collecting the mental energy of planets in lower planes, developed by researchers from a high-level plane on Planet Y. You may also call me the Fulfilling Life System. When you saved someone, your body fell on a black glass bead. It was actually my carrier. Many experimental carriers like me were deployed on different planets. Because they consume too much energy, they can only be activated under special conditions. I had already been on Blue Star for a long time. Your blood covered the bead and awakened me. And since you died while performing a good deed, you met the conditions for binding, so I brought you back to start your life over. After we bind to a host, we issue missions from time to time. As long as you complete them, you can earn energy and points. Points can be used to buy things in the System Mall. Energy is the positive influence you have on yourself and others through your studies, work, and daily life. By continuing to learn and becoming stronger and better, you can achieve success in both love and career. Once you complete a mission, we send back the energy generated in the process to our planet to treat our injured soldiers.】
“That’s incredible. Are there really other life forms in the universe? And how can the energy you collect supposedly treat your soldiers?”
【Our soldiers were injured protecting our planet. Research has shown that energy converted from positive emotions can treat their brain waves. The energy collected from lower-plane life forms is purer and has a better therapeutic effect.】
“Are you sure you’re only collecting our positive energy and won’t harm Blue Star? Your plane is so advanced. You’re not gathering information about us so you can invade our planet, are you?” Song Cheng asked worriedly.
【No. When our system was first developed, it was explicitly stipulated that harming any living thing on a planet under study would incur punishment. If such a tendency emerged, the system would be destroyed. Besides, your planet’s resources are of little use to our plane. Our purpose is to treat illness, not plunder resources.】 The system answered patiently.
“You’re so powerful. Can’t you bring me back to life?”
【By the time I was activated, you were already dead and your face was unrecognizable. Bringing you back to life would require much more energy. Besides, would you want people to study you?】 The system sounded a little helpless.
Song Cheng imagined someone who had been thoroughly dead suddenly coming back to life, full of energy. Forget everyone else—her parents would probably faint from shock.
【Host, is there anything else you’d like to ask?】 the system continued.
“Um, what was that mall you mentioned?” Song Cheng asked.
【Just think “System Mall” or “Personal Panel,” and it will appear in front of you. No one but you can see it.】
After hearing that, Song Cheng silently thought, “Personal Panel.” A panel the size of a computer screen appeared directly in front of her, displaying her stats:
Name: Song Cheng
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Height: 16 (a little short)
Stamina: 40 (the average person scores 60; maximum 100)
Appearance: 58 (the average person scores 50; maximum 100; a little above average)
Intelligence: 60 (normal; maximum 100)
Skills: None
Points: 0
Energy: 0
Affection Level: (feature not yet unlocked)
“System, why is Affection Level grayed out? Does it show how much other people like me?”
【Host, once the Affection Level feature is unlocked, it can detect how much members of the opposite sex like you. It mainly checks the feelings of the person whose genes are the best match for yours.】
“What does ‘best genetic match’ mean?”
【That’s what we call it where I’m from. Here, you could call it a fated match. It means two people are the best fit in terms of appearance, personality, the way they handle things, and even their inner physiological compatibility. People meet many others in a lifetime. Some never meet the right person at all, while others meet them at the wrong time, so don’t take it too seriously. As you say here: “If you bloom, the butterflies will come.” If it’s fate, you’ll meet naturally. And if the System hasn’t detected the best match, you can choose someone you like yourself. The system won’t force you into a match.】
“You sure know a lot.” This system was so humanlike.
【My carrier has been on Blue Star for a long time. So I can complete missions better in the future, I’ve been taking in all kinds of information about Blue Star and learning its languages and writing systems.】 A55 sounded a little proud.
“Mm, good job!” Song Cheng gave it a thumbs-up.
【Host, would you like to take a look at the System Mall?】
“I almost forgot you mentioned that.”
Song Cheng silently thought, “System Mall.” Just like before, something appeared in front of her, resembling the panel she’d just seen. Only this one was lined with rows of product pictures, each labeled with the number of points needed to redeem it. There were twenty-five products on the page in total: hand cream, face cream, body lotion, body wash… Only three pages were currently available, and they were all beauty and skincare products. Hmm, it was like browsing a certain online shopping site. There wasn’t much to choose from, Song Cheng thought.
【I’ve already used up too much energy bringing you back. Once you complete missions and I collect energy, I’ll be able to upgrade. Upgrading the system will unlock more features.】
“Can you monitor my thoughts anytime, anywhere?”
【…Host, this System will be your most loyal partner and friend. Even if I know what you’re thinking, I can still serve you better. Of course, you can block me if you want. This System is quite democratic.】 The system sounded a little aggrieved.
“If you hadn’t said that first part, I might have believed you,” Song Cheng thought. Then she said, “Why does the Mall only have beauty products? Is there nothing else useful?”
【For the host to live a fulfilling life and reach the pinnacle of success, beauty is indispensable. Don’t you have a saying, “Looks are everything”?】
Song Cheng nodded. “Still, this is our first time meeting. Don’t you have some kind of beginner’s gift pack or special cheat ability for me?” she asked with a beaming smile.
【…】 Were all hosts so savvy these days?
【Yes. Since you were the one who activated me, your gift pack is already in your backpack. Just think of it, and you can take it out.】
Song Cheng checked the gift pack in her backpack: two bottles of medicine and one pill.
【The large blue bottle is an energy potion. Drinking it will eliminate fatigue. It’s also sold in the System Mall. The small white bottle is gene optimization fluid. It was designed for life forms on Blue Star. After you take it, it can bring your genes to their fullest potential and raise all your stats to their maximum values. For example, if your intelligence was originally 60, it could reach 100. Your appearance is 58; after the optimization, it can reach 100 by the time you’re eighteen. Your other stats will also increase. The black pill is a Purification Pill, which removes impurities from your body. It’s sold in the Mall too.】
“Don’t you have anything like portable pocket dimensions? A space where time passes faster, or spiritual spring water, spiritual herbs, that sort of thing?”
【…Host, you should read fewer cultivation novels. Things that shouldn’t exist in this world won’t appear. If someone had some huge cheat, are you sure they’d be a person of upright character? If things from other worlds crossed over into yours, the energy balance of your planet would be disrupted.】
【Why don’t you rest for a while? You’ve only just returned, so take some time to get used to your surroundings. I’ll rest for a bit too.】
…Song Cheng seriously suspected that A55 had made itself scarce because it couldn’t take any more of her chatter.