"So I'm a lower consort here? Consort Su… Su Yanyu," she muttered, tasting the name on her tongue. "Nice. Not a bad name."
She leaned against the table, letting out a dry laugh. "Grounded because I tried to see His Majesty? Damn, all these ancient ladies are always fighting for a man. No way. Absolutely not."
Her laughter turned bitter. "And yesterday, a eunuch slapped me. A eunuch. Can you imagine that? Even a dog eunuch dares to slap me. Me — Gu Renxi. A whole politician's daughter. A whole me is now some man's concubine, grounded and fighting for his attention. I don't even do novels, but why does this feel like one of those annoying ancient Chinese dramas?"
She threw her hands up, pacing back and forth. "Don't tell me the man's name is Yu Fan, Chu Fan, or—ugh—Fan Fan or something."
Then, out of nowhere, a flat, almost metallic voice echoed inside her head.
[The name of the protagonist is Bai Yu.]
Su Yanyu froze. "What was that?" she said, her heart skipping a beat.
Her eyes darted around the room. "Who are you? What are you? And where are you hiding?"
The voice came again, calm and slightly smug.
[I am System 07-A, your Aiding Interface. Hello, user. I don't know you, and you don't know me, so let's just work together peacefully—]
"Wait, system?" she interrupted, her voice rising. "System? Are you saying I'm now some novel character?"
She clutched her head, half laughing, half crying. "No. No, no, no! How did I get to this level? What kind of delusional fantasy world have I dropped into?"
She took a deep breath, then screamed silently in her mind.
"NOOO!"
The voice crackled again.
[Calm down first, Consort Su—]
"Don't call me that!" she snapped. "I get goosebumps every time I hear that name. I'm not anyone's consort!"
[Understood, user Gu Renxi.]
"Better," she muttered under her breath, rubbing her temples. "I'm losing it… talking to a damn voice in my head."
For a moment, silence filled the room again. Then the system's tone softened.
[You've been chosen for a mission, user. Complete it successfully, and perhaps… you can go home.]
Her eyes widened. "Wait—what do you mean, go home?"
But the voice didn't answer. It faded out, leaving her staring into empty space, her heart pounding.
Suddenly she froze. Going home isn't a bad idea, she thought. Then her eyes narrowed. "Wait—'perhaps'? Are you saying you're not even sure?"
[Yes, User, I'm not sure.]
She blinked. "You're not… sure?"
[You see, I don't even know how I got here with you.]
Su Yanyu stared into the air as if she could throttle the invisible voice. "So you're saying you lost your way—the same way I lost mine?"
[That appears to be the case.]
She sank to her knees, shoulders sagging, face blank with defeat. "We're doomed," she whispered, expression somewhere between despair and disbelief.
Her voice dropped to an eerie calm. "So, System… you're telling me you don't know if I'll ever go back?"
A pause. Then the voice came again, hesitating.
[Y-…yes, User. I am not sure.]
Her eye twitched. "Then why the hell did you say it like you're some god-damn powerful system with all the answers?"
[Host, I am just a new system. This is my first mission. I was still under construction and somehow got separated from the other systems.]
"You mean you're a rookie?" she said, voice rising.
[Correct. I can only be your aid.]
Su Yanyu threw her hands up. "Great. Absolutely great. To think I got a newbie system. I feel plotted on."
"Fine then," Su Yanyu sighed, glaring into the air. "You're a newbie, I'm a newbie. So what do you even have? How can you aid me? What's on you? I mean, what did you even come with?"
[User can buy anything she wants from the system,] the voice said proudly.
She raised a brow. "Hold on a minute—what else can you do for me? Or can I do with you?"
The system, completely missing her suspicious tone, puffed up proudly again.
[User can shop anything she wants from me. I have everything in the world here.]
Su Yanyu squinted. "Everything in the world? You mean… you have cars?"
There was a pause. Then the voice hiccuped slightly.
[N-no, User. I am an ancient-time system… not a modern-day system.]
Her jaw dropped. "So practically, you're useless."
[If User completes tasks, I can upgrade, and we can—]
"Shut the fuck up."
The system immediately went silent.
Su Yanyu crossed her arms. "So you don't have anything on you except a stupid shop? You claim you have everything in the world but no cars? What kind of useless shop are you?"
Before the system could answer, a sharp voice rang from outside.
"Consort Yun here!"
Her head snapped toward the door just as it creaked open.
She hissed under her breath. "Such a useless system—it couldn't even detect someone coming. I feel extremely plotted on."