"Butterfly's Guide to the Afterlife? What a strange name for a local specialty," Ji An thought.
The name, combined with the eerie surroundings, sent a slight chill down his spine.
[Randomly allocating attribute points and talent skills...]
Attribute Points:
[Appearance]: 5
[Physique]: 5
[Intelligence]: 5
[Family Background]: 5
Ah. Thoroughly average stats, he mused.
Ji An then glanced at his talent skills—the standard three:
[City High-Rise]:You were born in a town.
[Jade Pendant]:It might offer some protection.
[Coming of Age Ceremony]:Happiness +1 at age 18.
Just like the attribute points, the talents were utterly ordinary.
It seems in this life, I'm a rather ordinary person. I hope I can live a peaceful and good life.
Holding onto this hope, Ji An clicked 'Start New Life'.
The system whirred to life:
[Age 0: You are born, a boy.]
[Age 1: You grow up living in a town.]
[Age 2: Your vocabulary reaches 100 words. Though fewer than other children, your parents are still proud of you.]
No matter how ordinary a person is, in their parents' eyes, they are the most unique treasure...
The thought of his own parents made Ji An's nose sting.
[Age 3: The shop next door moved away.]
[A few days later, a family running funeral services moved in. Your parents plan to take you to greet the new neighbors.
A few days later, next door, you meet the neighbor grandfather and his little granddaughter. You hide behind your mother, but your eyes remain fixed on her. You feel like you've never seen such a cute creature before. To become friends with her, you decide to let her pet your favorite kitten, Little Mi.]
[Age 4: She burned the fur off Little Mi's tail again. Over this, you decided to ignore her for a whole week. But when she appeared before you, lively and clever, you blushed, and all your anger vanished into thin air.]
[Age 5: Because she kept bullying Little Mi, the kitten started avoiding her.]
[Annoyed, she went to the Ministry of Civil Affairs entrance, marked two stone lions, and named them Big Mi and Second Mi, dubbing them the Mighty General and Second General. As her little subordinate, you were tasked with claiming the stone lions, often getting chased by the guards while she held her stomach, laughing on the side.]
Tsk, such a mischievous little girl.
[Age 6: Her mischievous ideas were more numerous than the sands of Yaoguang Beach.]
[Having just started attending the old-style private school, she dragged you out to skip class, going to Heyu Tea House to listen to the Yun-Han Troupe's opera. The head of the Yun-Han Troupe already knew you two. Every time he saw you come, he'd have his daughter play with you.]
[Age 7: Lately, she hasn't liked going to Heyu Tea House.]
[When you asked why, she said the Yun-Han Troupe head's daughter wasn't cute at all and always clinging to you, which made her unhappy.]
Tsk tsk, the little girl is learning to be jealous.
[Age 8: Recently, she started learning funeral rites from her grandfather, as she would later take over the family's sizable business.]
[However, traditional funeral rites involve numerous intricacies – keeping vigil, burial methods, memorial tablets and utensils...All these steps have strict rules. Even someone as bright and quick as her had to focus most of her mind on the funeral rites, so she somewhat neglected you. You felt a bit sad, but silently endured the loneliness.]
Well, there's no helping it, Ji An reasoned. The little girl is busy with serious matters. No matter how much you miss her, not disturbing her is the right thing.
[Age 9: She noticed you hadn't been happy lately, often sneaking out of her house at night to pull you up onto the roof to look at the stars. You found the twinkling stars cute, but still not as cute as the girl beside you.]
Hehe, beauty is in the eye of the beholder... perfectly normal...
A smile unconsciously crept onto Ji An's face.
[Age 10: For your important 10th birthday, she had prepared a gift for you days ago, keeping it a secret.]
[On your birthday, she put on a beautiful new dress, very fitting for her. You were staring too intently, accidentally bumping into the little pangolin out for a stroll from Wanmin Restaurant. It didn't get angry, and even patted your head to comfort you.]
[...]
She pulled you out of the city to a small pond in the suburbs. Proudly telling you she had found a fake loach there a few days ago and wanted to catch it as your birthday gift. You said you didn't even like keeping fish, so why catch a fake loach? She righteously declared it was for stew. This fool, clearly couldn't swim herself, yet the moment she saw the fake loach, she recklessly plunged straight in with a splash, undoubtedly relying on your good swimming skills to fish her out. However, after you entered the water, you found the pond was very deep, so it took more effort than usual to lift her up onto the bank. Seeing she had choked on water scared you badly, so you stayed with her all night, not returning home until the next day.]
These kids, how can they be so careless about safety! Ji An mentally scolded. Didn't the teacher at the private school teach them 'Be safe, don't play in the water'?
[Age 10: When you returned, the families were frantic with worry. Her face was pale from fright; your parents were also terribly worried, perhaps thinking you were sick, and broke down crying on the spot.]
Ah, a child's journey worries the mother, he thought. Parents' hearts are tied to their children; they must have been frantic...
Hmm?
Wait a minute... Age 10?
Ji An suddenly realized, Why is it still Age 10? Was the previous entry not finished?
A cold sense of foreboding dawned on him.
It couldn't be... not again...
[Age 10: She hadn't smiled in a long time and was getting thinner. You were very worried, making funny faces in front of her, hoping she would laugh like before. But she didn't smile.]
"..."
Don't do this... bro... Ji An's heart sank. Do you know the feeling of happily eating candy, only to be suddenly told, 'Actually, it's hiding a knife inside!'?
He was about to be crushed.
[Age 10: She is 12 years old this year. You watch her becoming more and more beautiful, yet you feel somewhat sad.]
[Because you know the time you can spend with her is growing short. Some time ago, she read from some book that if she could awaken a Vision, she could go to the Wuwang Hill to seek the "border between life and death." Legend says people can meet deceased relatives and spirits with unfulfilled wishes there. You think to yourself, this fool still doesn't know that you've actually been by her side all along.]
[Age 10, you died.]
[Aged 10 years.]
[Click to view Life Summary.]
"...tf"
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A/n: Hey over on my patreon there are currently two for the time being exclusive books which are
Zenless Zone Zero: Loving Daily Life Starting in New Eridu
Honkai Impact 3rd, I Can Transform into a Valkyrie!
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