TN: I’m re-translating this novel. From chapter 1-140, the update schedule will be 3 chapters/day. After that it’s 1 chapter/day.
"Ding, system reloading..."
Jiang Mo was awakened by an unfamiliar voice, but in her drowsy state, she couldn't clearly make out what it said. After waking up, she blinked and looked around, but didn't see a single person.
To be precise, forget about people—apart from the towering trees, she couldn't see anything else.
Indeed, the newly awakened Jiang Mo found herself in an unfamiliar place with moist soil, thick fallen leaves, and ancient trees that blocked out the sky. Even though it was a bright, sunny day, the brilliant sunlight that entered the forest was cut into tiny specks by the branches and leaves, scattered haphazardly across the ground like decorative accents.
Jiang Mo blinked, then blinked again. She closed her eyes and opened them several times, but nothing around her changed. Even when she closed her eyes, the crisp air and fresh scent of soil plainly told her that everything before her was real.
Having grown up in a city of concrete and steel, Jiang Mo had rarely been this close to nature except during vacations. Looking at her surroundings, rather than feeling peaceful and beautiful, she was startled into a shiver—what was happening? Where was this place? Who had brought her here?!
The sudden alertness made Jiang Mo instinctively try to leap up, only to discover her limbs were weak. She managed to jump halfway before falling back down. Though not a large movement, it left her completely disoriented.
It didn't hurt, but her vision kept darkening, making Jiang Mo realize she was in an extremely weakened state.
She closed her eyes helplessly, but her mind began racing...
Unfamiliar place, weakened body—without a doubt, she was in danger. Had someone kidnapped her? No, she was just an ordinary person; kidnapping her wouldn't yield anything, and no one would risk the trouble. Could it be revenge? That didn't seem right either. She had always kept a low profile, rarely got into arguments with others, let alone offended someone badly enough to warrant such revenge.
If not this, not that, then why had she suddenly appeared in such a place, completely weakened? As she pondered, a vague fragment suddenly appeared in her mind.
A busy road, flashing green lights, a speeding sports car... and the vast blue autumn sky.
Oh, now she remembered. She had been in a car accident. While crossing the street, her mind had wandered momentarily, and she happened to encounter a sports car in a hurry to reincarnate, so she was struck and sent flying. So what was happening now? Had the hit-and-run driver thought she was dead, so they brought her to this rural forest to dump her body? That seemed the only explanation, but this wasn't decades ago—there were surveillance cameras everywhere. Could the driver really escape?
It seemed laughable, but Jiang Mo couldn't bring herself to laugh. After all, who wouldn't sigh at such misfortune? Besides, she was still young with a bright future ahead—she couldn't die here!
With that thought, Jiang Mo quickly pulled herself out of her musings, just as her darkened vision began to clear. Everything had happened so suddenly that she hadn't considered why she felt no pain after being hit by a car. Her mind was filled only with these thoughts—hopefully the driver had only "dumped her body," hopefully her phone wasn't damaged in the crash, hopefully there would be a signal here so she could call for help!
As she thought this, she reached toward her pants pocket, but the moment she lowered her head with effort, she froze completely.
No phone, no pocket, not even a hand!
What she saw instead was a furry paw, with snow-white fur marked by several faint black stripes. In disbelief, she moved her hand, and the furry paw moved accordingly. Turning it over, she could see coffee-colored paw pads.
This, this, this...
Jiang Mo was so shocked her eyes widened instantly. She wasn't inexperienced, and her imagination was even more vivid than most people's, so she quickly realized that she might have actually died in the car accident. But instead of going to the underworld or drinking the soup of oblivion, she had somehow been reincarnated in a daze and become... a cat?
Yes, Jiang Mo believed she might have turned into a cat. Although she had never kept one as a pet, cloud cat lovers were numerous these days, and she was one of them. Looking at these furry little paws, these soft paw pads—what else could she be but a cat?
Jiang Mo quite liked cats, but becoming one herself made her feelings complicated, especially since she realized she might be a stray.
In the middle of nowhere, without parents, and in such a weakened state—would she even survive?
She tried to "meow," hoping to summon companions, but her voice sounded strange somehow. The milky call naturally failed to bring any companions, and Jiang Mo felt that this reincarnation was truly miserable—she had lived an ordinary previous life, hadn't done any great good deeds, but had obeyed the law. Becoming a cat was bad enough, but she wasn't even the free-spirited type. At the very least, couldn't she have been reincarnated as a house cat?!
Jiang Mo grumbled inwardly to dispel the sudden panic that had arisen, her thoughts jumbled, already imagining her arduous journey to find a caretaker.
Just then, in the quiet forest, she suddenly heard an abrupt sound.
"Ding, system loading complete."
Jiang Mo paused, thinking she might be hearing things.
"Ding, game system installation complete, initializing data..."
Jiang Mo realized she probably wasn't hallucinating. Her round eyes grew wide, and her heart suddenly began racing.
"Data initialization complete. Hello, host. I am System 223. I sincerely apologize for the accident caused by my mistake. But please rest assured, the system has made amends for you..."
"Wait!" Before the system could finish, Jiang Mo suddenly interrupted, her round pupils contracting into black vertical slits at that moment: "Are you saying it's because of you that I've become like this?"
The system paused, its mechanical voice somehow conveying sheepishness: "Yes, host. Because when the system was binding, you were crossing the road. The binding process affected your spirit, and you happened to encounter a sports car running a red light, so..." So she was hit and died quite tragically; her body was crushed beyond recognition. The system wasn't willing to waste energy to repair it, nor could it make anyone believe that someone so mangled could still be alive.
So while the host was unconscious, the system simply took her soul and fled.
The binding had already been completed, and after causing such a disaster, unbinding was impossible. The system's remaining conscience made it expend extra energy to specially select a new body for Jiang Mo—one that was not only compatible but also powerful!
Look at this white tiger cub that had just breathed its last—with pure bloodline and great potential, wasn't it perfect for the host?!
Worried that the host might fixate on its mistake, System 223 had even taken out a loan to install a game upgrade system—reportedly with a 99.99% approval rating, a host favorite that sold for extortionate prices in the mall—to help the host better cultivate and level up, to quickly reach life's pinnacle... as long as the host didn't report this new system.
The system selectively told Jiang Mo the cause and effect, finally shouting a slogan: "Game upgrade system loading complete! With this system's assistance, we guarantee Foundation Establishment in one month, Golden Core in three months, Nascent Soul within a year is not a dream!"
Jiang Mo was silent for a long while, then suddenly asked: "Are you saying I'm not a stray cat?"
The system was even more surprised than her: "Host, why would you think you're a stray cat?!"
Jiang Mo looked down at her furry, tender little paws, not feeling that a white tiger cub's situation was much better than a stray cat's. She asked again: "How old is this body?"
The system transformed into a ball of light that only Jiang Mo could see, circled around her once, and gave an answer: "One day."
A white tiger cub that died after just one day of life was either congenitally deficient or had no one to care for it. Based on Jiang Mo's assessment of her current situation, she had probably encountered both unfortunate circumstances. How was she supposed to survive like this?
The system read the host's thoughts, its light flickering as it quietly opened the mall. However, being a newly produced system that had taken out a loan, it couldn't afford anything. It wanted to help but was powerless. So it cautiously suggested: "Host, why don't you kill a monster and level up first? Once you reach level one, you'll recover full health, and any congenital deficiencies will be minor issues."
Lying flat on the ground, too weak to even stand up, Jiang Mo: "..."
Kill monsters? What could she kill? Insects?!