When the morning sunlight fell through the window, the room turned a pure, pristine white.
Zhou Meng’s reflection stood in the mirror, bathed in the rising sun’s glow, her features softened by the gentle morning light.
As she changed clothes, she couldn’t help but stare at herself in the mirror for a moment.
“…My neck is so long.”
Zhou Meng sighed for the ninth time.
The Light Orb drifted beside her: [That’s because you’re a character in a dance manga—your head-to-body ratio is a bit exaggerated.]
Zhou Meng stared at her slender neck, which looked at least 2cm longer in the mirror, and gently wrapped her long fingers around it. Her throat bone pressed into the web of her thumb, and her carotid artery pulsed slowly beneath it.
Wearing an ordinary hoodie, it wasn’t noticeable, but once she put on a dance dress, the beautiful lines of her limbs and body suddenly stood out.
Besides her neck, her arms and legs were also long, and she was quite tall.
The mirror reflected her current appearance.
Her black, somewhat thick hair was tied into a low ponytail at the back of her head. Her eyes were black and lusterless, and her face had no distinctive flaws. Aside from her smooth skin and long limbs, there was nothing about her that left any particular impression.
This is what a background character looks like, isn’t it?
No need for any presence, no need for any charm.
Zhou Meng pulled on her hoodie and slowly let out a breath amid the soreness in her ligaments:
“System, can you play the intel for me again?”
[Okay—]
The familiar manga content quickly surfaced in her mind.
She needed to complete the storylines of three manga.
All three were serialized works by a new phenomenal manga artist called “Heigu.”
The first was a dance manga—the one she had lost eight times in a row.
The task was a single panel: her holding the women’s championship trophy, standing beside the men’s champion.
The narration explained:
[Before turning 18, Ning Qing had won the Latin singles national championship six consecutive times.]
The youth was slim, wearing a black V-neck Latin dance costume that revealed a stretch of fair chest. He held the trophy in one hand, eyes slightly lowered, expression calm and composed, as if he paid little attention to the camera or the people around him.
His body lines, his face, his stance—all drawn beautifully… This was the caliber of a manga artist with solid skills.
[After that, he never competed again.]
In the competitions Ning Qing no longer participated in, a young woman won the national championship.
That was the background character she had to play.
In the manga, her depiction was rough—just a few strokes outlining her features, easy to overlook if you weren’t paying attention.
The System’s explanation for this was [Insufficient energy; even a background character’s face can’t be fully drawn.]
The more complete the manga world and the more energy available, the more information could be seen, and the more detailed the visuals would be.
But none of that mattered right now.
Zhou Meng packed her Latin dance shoes into her shoe bag.
Ning Qing was currently 18. Her task was to win a national singles championship once before Ning Qing turned 20. Whether it was in his 18th or 19th year, it didn’t matter—she just needed to win once.
But… winning a national championship within two years… no matter how she trained, it was impossible.
She had already looped eight times. It was like being a cleaner for 16 years—she now had 16 years of dance experience, equivalent to having danced Latin since infancy…
And last time, she hadn’t even placed second.
This was absolutely not a matter of attitude, but of talent.
Unlike other manga characters, Zhou Meng had always known her abilities were limited.
To win the championship trophy as effortlessly as a genius like Ning Qing, then gracefully tell an opponent, “It was a pleasure having a rival like you”… That was far too distant a reality.
Even after repeating the Cycle eight times and training for 16 years, she had only polished her technique to its limit. Yet she still failed to move the audience and judges, dismissed with reasons like “Your dance lacks emotional impact.”
“‘Your dance lacks emotional impact,'” Zhou Meng mimicked the judge’s harsh expression in the mirror and curled her lip. “Hmph.”
She truly didn’t know what “emotional impact” meant.
Expecting a corporate drone from a criminal syndicate to have the emotional vitality of a living person…?
Zhou Meng watched herself in the mirror—her muscles twitching slightly from dancing all night.
She was the same age as Ning Qing.
He had already been champion for six years. His strength and flexibility must be smooth, his muscles firm, his legs and hips powerful. High-intensity training probably never left him looking this ragged.
“How nice…”
What got reset wasn’t just the events in the manga, but also her physical condition.
Two years of muscle mass gone to zero—she still needed time to adapt.
[Ning Qing is positioned as a prince-type pretty boy, so his muscles definitely aren’t as developed as Xiao Meng’s cleaner build.] The Light Orb comforted her.
Zhou Meng pulled out her phone from her bag and opened her messages: “Right, I’m the wild-style cleaner.”
The kind who washes the blood off her hands after cleaning up a crime scene, then dances wildly in the dead of night because she’s exhausted from overtime.
She pushed open the door of the changing room, paid no attention to the phone ringing on the other side of the dance studio, and walked out with her bag slung over her shoulder.
“Ah, wait—”
When the person who had hung up the phone hurried out, her figure was already nowhere to be found.
…
As Zhou Meng went downstairs, she spotted a familiar black commercial vehicle parked by the roadside not far away.
Could it be that he hadn’t left since driving her to the dance studio last night…
…How frightening.
Zhou Meng hesitated for a moment, then, without much thought, stepped forward and approached the car. Before she could even speak, the door automatically opened, revealing the interior to her.
The young man in the driver’s seat leaned against the window and waved at her. “Yo.”
Yo, what was that supposed to be.
“Good morning.”
Zhou Meng cautiously returned the greeting, bending down to get into the car while discreetly sizing up her colleague.
She finally got a look at the suspicious man in the trench coat’s face.
The young man was no longer wearing the mask from last night, and his trench coat had been swapped for a well-tailored jacket. He held the steering wheel with one hand, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, watching her get in with a quiet, composed air. He looked like a refreshing, clean-cut young man.
He seemed to like smiling.
But his eyes were very dark, and his gaze didn’t seem to match the smile—it made him feel somewhat inscrutable.
Zhou Meng’s eyes met his for a moment, and the murder scene she had just cleaned up last night surfaced in her mind, blood spreading across her thoughts. She looked away.
“Have you been waiting here all along?”
She spoke up to ease the tension, but the young man beside her seemed completely oblivious, holding out a paper bag with the sides of his index and middle fingers. “Hm? No, I had things to do too. But I’ll come whenever you need me.”
Zhou Meng instinctively reached out and took the item from his hand, but the young man’s hand didn’t retract, still extended toward her.
Zhou Meng looked at him. He was smiling warmly, his voice light. “Self-introduction—my name is Sun Zhen. Nice to work with you, partner.”
“…Mm.” Zhou Meng looked at his hand.
Sun Zhen’s hands were beautiful.
He wore black fingerless gloves that left the lower half of his palms exposed. Only his middle, ring, and pinky fingers were covered, while his index finger and thumb were bare… The pale skin against the black gloves was oddly stirring.
…When those hands had gripped her head and rested on her shoulder, her heart had raced too.
Zhou Meng reached out and gave his hand a light squeeze, meeting his eyes as she replied politely, “My name is Zhou Meng.”
The young man looked at her for two seconds, his eyes curving into a smile. He released the handshake after a measured three seconds and started the car.
“Do you want to go home, or somewhere else?”
“Home first.”
Zhou Meng answered while rifling through the paper bag. Inside was a bag of soup dumplings.
Still warm.
Huh.
This guy…
“Sun Zhen,” she said solemnly, “you’re definitely going to be popular.”
“Hm? Is that all it takes to be popular?” Sun Zhen glanced at her with mild curiosity. “Those are my leftovers—I didn’t like them, so I gave them to you.”
Zhou Meng: “…I was too hasty. I take back what I just said.”
“Haha.” Sun Zhen was pleased, holding the steering wheel with one hand as he said cheerfully, “Just kidding. I haven’t touched them. Still want to eat?”
Zhou Meng stared at the paper bag in her hand for a second, scrutinizing it.
If Eden wanted to get rid of her, they wouldn’t resort to poisoning.
This subtly cheerful guy didn’t seem like the type to do something as low as spitting in a coworker’s food either.
She picked up a soup dumpling and took a bite.
As the wrapper broke, savory meat juice blended with the dough, releasing a warm, gentle saltiness in her mouth. The firm texture of the dough, combined with the tender, springy filling, quickly made her salivate.
She belatedly realized she was hungry.
The warmth of her stomach being filled was comforting.
Zhou Meng took another one.
Delicious!
Her eyes slowly narrowed with contentment.
Sun Zhen glanced at her with a faint smile, then held out a card between two fingers.
“Here.”
Zhou Meng set down the soup dumpling. “What’s this?”
“Your leave slip,” the young man said casually. “You worked 10 hours of overtime, so you get 5 days off.”
Zhou Meng: “?”
She unfolded the white slip of paper, which read [5 Days Paid Leave].
Her phone let out two “beep” sounds, signaling a new message.
She opened it and saw a payment notification.
[Bank account ending in **** received a transfer of 90,000 yuan. Payer: Eden]
…Huh.
Her salary had been tripled.
Zhou Meng had a vague feeling about what was coming.
She opened the messaging app, and almost at the same moment, as if her boss had surveillance on her, a message came through.
[Mikhail: Well done.]
[Mikhail: Sun Zhen will be working with you.]
Ah.
[Zhou Meng: I haven’t paid back my father’s debt. Is that okay?]
The reply came quickly.
[Mikhail: It’s fine.]
The boss was just like always.
There was always that calm, composed air about him.
Even lying in the base with burns… he could still give orders with cool gentleness.
For a villain, he had an unexpectedly human touch.
Zhou Meng calmly typed out a series of replies.
【Zhou Meng: I understand.】
……
The sedan drove off smoothly.
The scenery of city roads and streets swept past along with the breeze. After her sweat had dried, her cheeks, flushed from exhaustion, gradually cooled down as well.
Twenty minutes later, she got out of the car. Sun Zhen, sitting in the driver’s seat, watched her enter the apartment building before slowly turning the steering wheel and driving away.
Zhou Meng glanced at the departing commercial vehicle, breathed in the crisp morning air, and pulled open the front door.
Her body was still radiating heat, and the muscles that had been exercised for so long felt sluggish and limp.
Sometimes she almost forgot she was living inside a comic.
But this subtle sense of dislocation would quickly ease the moment she saw her neighbor.
The elevator let out a “ding” as it stopped on the 21st floor. The moment the doors slid open, she met eyes with the young man standing outside.
His appearance wasn’t particularly striking.
The young man carried a bag, wearing a well-fitted turtleneck long-sleeve shirt, with slim pants hugging his long legs, making him look even taller and leaner. He was neatly groomed, though his black hair was slightly tousled and a bit long, half-covering his eyes—a length that seemed deliberately kept to shield both his own gaze and others’ from seeing him clearly.
Seeing someone inside the elevator, he paused slightly.
Ah.
Zhou Meng tugged at the strap of her shoulder bag, momentarily stunned.
Her neighbor was heading out.
Her neighbor was the protagonist of the last comic.
In other words, the protagonist of the fantasy series.
Don’t let his current aloof demeanor fool you… Usually, he was an unremarkable shut-in, but once home, he transformed into an omnipresent genius hacker.
Zhou Meng had a strong impression of his scenes in the comic—
The protagonist sat on the clean floor, black strands of hair half-covering his eyes, revealing only the pale lower half of his face. The glow of electronic screens reflected on his face as the young man silently stared at the dozen or so monitors that nearly enveloped him.
Generally speaking, the protagonists of shonen comics were cheerful, sunny characters…
But Your Disaster was an otaku comic.
Meaning the protagonist was a shut-in.
Since the very first loop, Zhou Meng had lived in the same apartment as him, because that was her role in the comic—to be the neighbor and background character of the protagonist.
…Logically speaking, anyone could fill this neighbor role, but the mission wasn’t that simple—
The protagonist’s character profile contained this line:
【Doesn’t socialize much.】
【Works part-time jobs to fill his stomach when going out. Work history: delivery boy, delivery team leader, convenience store clerk, convenience store manager, firefighter, fire captain, plumber, plumbing team leader, taxi driver, taxi fleet head… (Somehow always exceeds performance targets.)】
【Has high standards for neighbors. Will move away if they don’t meet expectations.】
Yeah, a weirdo with eccentric vibes (?)
And on top of that, a part-time job champion.
To avoid being disliked, for all 8 loops so far, Zhou Meng had been careful never to strike up a conversation with him.
It wasn’t just because she worried he didn’t like socializing…
Zhou Meng glanced outside the elevator. The eyes beneath the young man’s black hair were hard to make out, but there was always a feeling of his gaze landing on her.
—It was also because she always felt her neighbor might have some shady, damp tendencies.
The Japanese-style gloomy otaku type.
Too attractive.
She was worried she might make a mistake with her neighbor—by which she meant, she might do something bad to him… no, anyway, that was just how it was.
It was better to keep her distance after all.
All she needed to do was maintain respect.
“…”
Zhou Meng held the door-open button, exchanging a two-second gaze with the silent neighbor, then spoke softly:
“Are you going to be late?”
Overthinking was useless.
She’d just walk out like she normally did.
After all, he was the kind of guy who could go out and become a part-time job king—he probably wouldn’t be at a loss just because he ran into someone in the elevator…
Zhou Meng decided to face this person with her usual attitude.
The neighbor paused, then let out a delayed “Mm,” his half-covered face revealing no particular emotion as he quietly stepped into the elevator.
Throughout the entire movement, the dark pupils beneath the young man’s black hair seemed to linger on her faintly, and only after entering this small space did his pale lips curve slightly: “Thanks.”
…His voice was nice too.
“Mm.”
Zhou Meng released the button, nodded politely, and took two steps out of the elevator.
Entering the hallway, Zhou Meng didn’t look back at him, but until she was out of his line of sight, that faint sensation of being watched never disappeared.
“…”
Zhou Meng calmly pulled out her keys, unlocked the door, set down her bag, and walked into the bedroom.
She stopped by the window, silent, staring down at the apartment building through the gap in the curtains.
Light Orb: […Xiao Meng, what are you doing?]
Zhou Meng’s eyes beneath her thick black hair stared unblinkingly downward as she smiled:
“I want to see if my neighbor is planning to move. If he moves, where he moves to—I’ll follow him there.”
It was fine if he hated her. But failing the mission was not acceptable.
Don’t abandon me, neighbor!!
She would follow her shut-in neighbor forever, forever.
Light Orb: …
Why don’t you calm down for a second? This attitude of yours is anything but normal!!