"Host, you're about to start your first mission, look excited!"
Before she could even change the subject, the air in front of her shimmered. The temperature seemed to drop, and the faint scent of iron reached her nose.
A chubby figure materialised. Her cheeks sagged, her eyes were sunken, and her skin was mottled with bruises and scratches. Bloodstains streaked across a worn blouse, clinging to her round frame as though the fabric itself had absorbed years of neglect and pain.
She smiled, a brittle, weary smile.
"I'll give you all my soul energy. Take care of my parents and... give me a good life"
System 419's voice rang out, light and unbothered.
"Host, this is your first mission! Do you accept?"
Well that was quick.
Jia Li studied the girl's plain face, the broad nose, the thick fingers roughened by fieldwork, the air of a small-town life written into every part of her. Something in those eyes, tired but yearning, made Jia Li's decision simple.
"I accept."
"Binding in progress… Target world synchronization complete! Host, entering mission in three… two… one…"
The white void collapsed.
The first thing Jia Li felt was pain. A sharp yank at her scalp, the sting of hair tearing from her head. Her body was pressed against a cracked sink, the porcelain digging into her lower back.
The second thing was the voices."Look at you, Zhang Rui,"
Chen Xiaomei sneered, fist tangled in her short, damp hair.
"Still acting all loyal to Lin Xue like she even cares about you. Country bumpkin."
Li Fang, tall and sharp-faced, slammed her palm into Jia Li's shoulder, forcing her harder against the sink.
"Your friend's too busy playing queen bee to save you now. Guess that means you're all ours."
The third, Huang Qian, stepped forward with a bucket of filthy mop water, her lips curling into a nasty grin. "Time for a wash."
The reek hit Jia Li's nose a second before the icy water crashed over her face, plastering Zhang Rui's too-tight blouse to her soft, heavy frame. She gasped, not from shock, but from the simmering rage rising in her chest.
A boot connected with her shin. Something in her snapped.
Jia Li moved before her attackers could react. Her right fist shot up in a tight arc, connecting with Chen Xiaomei's jaw. Crack. The girl stumbled back, eyes wide, before collapsing to the tile, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
Li Fang lunged, but Jia Li twisted, hooking Zhang Rui's thick leg behind the bully's knee. The taller girl's balance broke. She hit the ground hard, her head smacking against the floor with a dull thud.
Only Huang Qian was left, frozen in place, mop bucket clattering beside her. Jia Li turned on her slowly, wiping a smear of blood from her lip.
"You next?"
Her self-defence classes could finally start paying off.
The tremor in Huang Qian's hands betrayed her. She grabbed Li Fang under the arms, dragging her toward the door.
"You poor freak!"
Within seconds, the bathroom was empty except for the unconscious Chen Xiaomei, the stench of mop water, and the sound of dripping from the cracked faucet.
Jia Li leaned against the sink, chest heaving. Her breath rattled, each inhale a struggle as sweat rolled down her flushed cheeks. The mirror showed a round face slick with perspiration, lips pale, eyes ringed with exhaustion.
Her arms trembled under her own weight, and her legs felt like they might give out at any moment. This body was soft, sluggish, and frighteningly unfit, a shell that made even standing still feel like climbing a mountain.
Jia Li stood in front of the cracked mirror, water and blood dripping down her face.
Zhang Rui's face.
She pressed her palms to the edge of the sink, breathing hard. The unfamiliar weight of the body, the softness around the middle, the broadness of the shoulders, all of it felt strange. This wasn't her, yet it was her. At least for now
"System," she muttered shakily under her breath. "Give me her memories."
A chime echoed faintly in her mind.
"Acknowledged, Host. Integrating original body's memory data… three… two… one."
Her vision blurred as the memories came flooding in.
Zhang Rui.
Broad shoulders. Heavy hips. Hands calloused into permanent roughness. A body built for fields, not hallways. Her skin carried the sun the way bark carries seasons, darkened, toughened, cracked by winter wind until her cheeks burned raw. Her nose spread flat across her face.
Her cheekbones were blunt. Her hair, thick and unruly, was always twisted into a careless knot that came undone by noon.Her mother liked to joke that she'd been built sturdy for field work, a girl who could carry a full bucket from the well without spilling a drop.
In the village, this was called sturdy.
In the city, it became big-boned.
Then heavy.
The word changed. The contempt did not.
Her saving grace, the one thing that softened the laughter, was Lin Xue.
Lin Xue, who looked like she had never known dust.
Slim. Straight-backed. A swan's neck rising from narrow shoulders. Skin pale and smooth, like steamed tofu fresh from the pot. Lips with a natural red that needed no help. Even in faded clothes, she moved with a quiet grace that pulled eyes toward her without effort.
The two had been inseparable since before they could speak, chasing each other barefoot under mango trees, roasting sweet potatoes in winter, and trudging the same dust road to school each day.
When both were admitted to Jiangcheng No. 1 High School, a place of polished stone benches, marble floors, and a library larger than their homes, Zhang Rui thought nothing between them would change.
Lin Xue changed.
Her posture sharpened. Her speech softened. Her grades soared. She slipped among the children of tycoons as if she had been born there.
Zhang Rui felt no jealousy.
Only pride.
So when students mocked her rough hands, shoved her into lockers, slapped her books from her arms, she endured it quietly. If Lin Xue was near, Zhang Rui stepped forward on instinct, blocking trouble before it reached her.
Sometimes, though, Zhang Rui noticed Lin Xue's eyes.
Not the color.
Something behind them.
A thinness. A sharpness. Warmth stretched too tight to be real.
But she dismissed it. Lin Xue had always been kind to her.
Hadn't she?
Yet the kindness felt different these days. Colder. Measured.
Sometimes, Lin Xue would stand back until Zhang Rui was humiliated beyond repair, then step in with a gentle, almost pitying voice.
"She's from the countryside. Don't be too hard on her."
But wasn't she also from the countryside?
And people listened to Lin Xue. They always listened.
The story shifted without Zhang Rui realizing it. Whispers spread, that Zhang Rui was a bad influence. That she clung to Lin Xue for attention. That she was jealous of her.
That she was trying to use their friendship to climb into circles she did not belong in
The boys who admired Lin Xue hated Zhang Rui most.
In their eyes, she was a toad staring at swan meat.
The bullying worsened.
The bullying escalated. Physical, ugly, relentless. The worst of it happened in empty hallways, behind the gym, or in bathrooms where teachers wouldn't step in. And Lin Xue? She never saw, or pretended she didn't.
By second year, it followed her home.
Parents of wealthy students began calling her a bad seed. A few went to her mother's grocery store and told her to control her daughter.
Then came the rumor.
Vicious. Fabricated.
Zhang Rui had stolen from a classmate's purse.
Legal action was threatened.
Her mother's store was vandalized. Shelves overturned. Goods slashed. Customers stopped coming.
And through it all, Lin Xue's only response was a sad gaze and a soft,"I told them not to blame you… but you know how people are."
The words were gentle. The eyes were not.
Lin Xue played the elegant victim flawlessly.
She collected admirers with effortless precision.
Armed with knowledge of the future, she moved like she was following a script no one else had read.
The aloof top student.
The conglomerate heir.
The student council president.
The notorious sports captain.
One by one, they circled her.
All the while, she let Zhang Rui's name curdle into poison. She let the bullies hone their cruelty on her back, feeding the narrative that Zhang Rui was unworthy, ungrateful, and beyond saving. And when the relentless torment finally drove Zhang Rui to the old bridge, to the cold black water.
In her mind, the dead girl had simply stepped aside.
By the time she graduated, Du Miaomiao had reached a height so ridiculous it was almost comical. Every one of the school's so-called male circled her like planets caught in her gravity.
Rivals said it was impossible.
Men like that would never share.
But Lin Xue made them believe they were each the most special.
Her web of charm and calculated affection was so intricate that none of them left.
Worse.
They accepted each other.
It was obscene.
The day Zhang Rui stood on the old bridge, fingers white against the rusted rail, Du Miaomiao followed.
Wind howled over the water. The river below moved dark and slow.
Zhang Rui's eyes were swollen. Her voice shook with a deep sadness. "Xue… I don't understand. What did I do wrong?"
She wasn't stupid; her friend hated her for some reason, and she didn't know why.
Before she died, she just wanted to ask her why.
Why?
Lin Xue stepped closer. Close enough that only Zhang Rui could hear.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"You still don't get it?"
Zhang Rui blinked at her. A pure smile that could render a man weak graced her face.
"Lin Xue is dead."
Silence.
Zhang Rui stared at her as if she had misheard.
Lin Xue leaned in, her lips almost brushing Zhang Rui's ear.
Her voice was soft. Almost amused.
Lin Xue smile widened.
"Your best friend has been dead for a long time. I think you already knew this but you couldn't accept it"
The words slid in gently.
And destroyed her.
Zhang Rui's face drained of colour. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Then, who is this person wearing Lin Xue's face?
Suddenly, a vicious sneer appeared on Lin Xue's face as her arms outstretched, and she gave Zhang Rui a swift push.
Zhang Rui fell backwards.
The last thing she saw was the twisted smile on Lin Xue's face.
The hit crashed into Jia Li all at once.
Her stomach twisted when the truth slid into view. Lin Xue was long gone.
The person wearing her face now was some imposter from the future who had stepped into this life without a second of hesitation.
The knowledge was like ice water down her spine.
Jia Li's chest felt tight. It must be this body's innate reaction to the memories
By the time she saw the last memory, the still, grey water swallowing Zhang Rui whole, Jia Li's vision blurred. She pressed the heel of her hand to her eyes, but it didn't stop the wetness there.
Her voice cracked on the last word. She gripped the sink until her arms trembled, not from rage, but from the weight of everything she had just inherited. This wasn't her pain, but now it sat heavy in her chest, impossible to ignore.
I just want to live a happy life this time.
Jia Li took a shaky breath. "Alright… then I'll try."
Her voice wasn't steady. Her heart wasn't sure. But it was all she had.