This all began in An Jin's past life.
The 23rd-century Earth An Jin came from was an era of immense technological prosperity. Spatial and artificial intelligence technologies had reached an unprecedented, unparalleled peak.
The research team An Jin led was at the forefront of spatial dimension studies. However, at a critical moment, a small parameter error caused a dimensional expansion, resulting in a massive explosion.
An Jin thought the experiment had failed.
In reality, however, the experiment was a partial success. While it didn't achieve its intended outcome, it coincidentally created another small pocket dimension—the very space she was in now.
Unfortunately, due to the experimental error, this space was unable to develop life. It retained only the most primitive material conditions: soil, sunlight, and air.
This small space traveled with An Jin through the explosion, attaching itself to an inconspicuous spot on her body, where it lay dormant, waiting to be discovered.
As for this... thing that called itself Mirror Mirror (a smart screen?).
Ahem. To be honest, it didn't even know where it came from.
Why was it in this space?
By the time it was activated by the main system, it was already like this, and the "Master" profile had been specifically set to An Jin.
At this thought, Mirror Mirror glanced at An Jin, its gaze filled with sorrow and indignation.
It gazed at the ugly, dark-skinned little person before it, and tears streamed down like rain.
'So what if I'm an AI? An intelligence can have thoughts and a sense of aesthetics, you know! Forcing a looks-obsessed simp like me to face such an ugly master every single day... I could get sad enough to crack my own screen, okay?!'
'But the master was already set. Barring death, the binding could not be changed.'
After agonizing over it for a good long while, Mirror Mirror finally accepted its miserable fate.
'Sigh... I just have to get used to it. Once I'm used to her, she won't seem so ugly anymore...'
"Master, Mirror Mirror is an intelligent growth system that can help you better survive in the harsh Beastman World."
"My mission is to help you, Master, improve your survival skills and grow more quickly."
"Now, please choose your growth objective, Master~"
[DING—Growth System activated. Host, please choose your primary life path.]
Several lines of text appeared on the main screen.
[① The Path of Construction: Become a construction magnate in the Beast World. Master farming and commerce, become the world's wealthiest individual, and have anything and everything you desire.
② The Path of Conquest: Seduce a variety of characters and become the ultimate heart-stealer. Capture the hearts of all kinds of handsome men and enjoy all the world's mortal splendors.]
After taking a moment to process everything, An Jin found it rather interesting and chose option ① without hesitation.
"?!!"
Mirror Mirror was stunned. 'Is there something wrong with my master's head?'
'Why didn't she choose what I expected? Shouldn't any normal girl choose option ②?!'
'Farming is tiring, dirty, manual labor.'
'But being surrounded by handsome men and reaching the pinnacle of life... isn't that every young girl's romantic fantasy?'
'Emmm... could it be because Master thinks she's too ugly to stand a chance, so she was forced to choose option ①?'
'Hiss... Looking closely at Master's gravely serious, dark-skinned little face, that's a real possibility.'
An Jin's mind was linked to its artificial brainwaves, so when she perceived its inner thoughts, the corner of her mouth twitched. A vein throbbed on her temple as she fought the urge to shatter the thing's screen.
"Men, men... is that all you think women have in their heads? Building an empire is better than chasing men! A career is better than a partner! There's no future in romance. The only way to get to the top is with cold, hard cash in hand!"
Seeing its "ugly" master's anger meter about to fly off the charts, and considering how difficult it would be to replace its own screen, Mirror Mirror quickly backpedaled and offered a sincere apology.
A series of announcements rang out.
[DING—Host has selected option ①. Selection successful. Life path confirmed: primary focus on construction and farming, with conquest as a secondary objective. Hidden quests are awaiting discovery.]
[Now dispatching quests. Quests will be randomly assigned based on the Host's choices. Please complete quests within the specified parameters to receive mysterious rewards.]
[Main Quest (Novice Difficulty): In the real world, reclaim a single plot of wasteland.
Time limit: Three months.
Conditions: None
Reward: Unknown]
[Side Quest: Successfully treat the Wolf Beast Ling Hong's snake venom.
Time limit: Seven days
Reward: Unknown]
[The higher the Host's quest completion rate, the faster the system will level up. At that time, more gameplay modes, such as Territory Mode, will be unlocked. Please look forward to it~]