(Brain Check-in: Before Chapter 60, it's my own social death. After Chapter 60, I'm letting loose. As long as I'm not embarrassed, someone else will be.)
(Spy-Leave ur brain here at the door folks)
-
Earth, Jiangnan Prefecture.
June. The sweet fragrance of gardenias saturated the prosperous City.
The national college entrance exams had ended, and a restless energy fermented in the air.
At the school gate, Lin Qingyue leaned against a stone pillar. Despite her impressive 175cm height, she slumped as if she might slide down the pillar at any moment.
She looked utterly limp, as if her bones had been removed.
She wore a loose white blouse and a sea-blue, ankle-length pleated skirt.
A gentle breeze rustled the hem, hinting at the graceful curves hidden beneath the fabric.
She should have been the most stunning sight in the crowd.
Unfortunately, her exquisite, onee-san-like face was marred by a pair of "life isn't worth it" dead-fish eyes, transforming all potential allure into sheer laziness.
The top two buttons of her collar were undone, and stray strands of hair blew across her cheek. She couldn't even be bothered to lift a hand to brush them away.
"Sis! If you keep standing there like a statue waiting for your husband, my ice-cold Coke is going to turn into herbal medicine!"
A clear voice, carried by the wind, rushed toward her. Before Lin Qingyue could turn, someone gently bumped her waist.
She turned sideways, a beat too slow. Her twin sister, Lin Xiyue, had already bounced before her like a little fawn, holding two bottles of Coke that fizzed and misted with cold vapor.
They had identical faces and were both tall and striking.
However, their different Professions made Lin Xiyue's figure appear more upright and agile.
She wore a short-sleeved shirt emblazoned with a Paladin's emblem, her entire being radiating energy like a fully drawn bow.
Lin Xiyue tapped her fingertips at her waist, and with a flash of faint golden light, a pack of tissues materialized out of thin air.
"Wipe yourself," she said, stuffing both the Coke and the tissues into her sister's arms. Then, she twisted open her own bottle and chugged a large gulp. Gulp, gulp, gulp.
"Your written exam scores are solid, right? Why the long face?"
Lin Qingyue bit down on her straw, her gaze drifting toward the combat training grounds in the distance.
The clang of armor, the explosion of fireballs, and the full-throated shouts of the teenagers mingled in a chaotic yet fervent symphony.
She pulled her gaze back. The icy liquid slid down her throat, and her voice emerged hoarse and lazy, as if she hadn't fully woken up.
"It's nothing. I was just wondering... has our future been set in stone since the day we awakened our Professions at age six?"
Two boys passing by heard her and paused, unable to resist stealing a glance at her.
After all, she was the only one in the entire school who could so seamlessly blend the face of a regal beauty with the vibe of a total slacker.
Over thirty years ago, games had invaded reality, and Professions and Status Panels had become the new rules of the world.
Lin Qingyue's Profession was Priest.
The rarest and most valuable of the Healing Classes.
But Lin Qingyue's style was so rare it had veered completely off course.
Lin Xiyue, long accustomed to her sister's intermittent bouts of eccentricity, hooked an arm through hers and started dragging her home.
"Set in stone? Priests are treasures! Remember the last Simulation Dungeon? If you hadn't pulled us back from the brink of death with a Circle of Healing, would those brutes from the Warrior Class be chasing you around, shouting 'Qingyue-jie is our eternal God'?"
She patted her waist, and the phantom image of a Paladin's shield flickered in her Equipment Space.
"From now on, just stay safe behind my shield, healing and buffing. I'll protect you. It'll be totally stable!"
"Stable, sure..."
Lin Qingyue let herself be dragged along, her body leaning back like a giant keychain, relying entirely on Lin Xiyue's superhuman strength to move.
"...but also mind-numbingly boring."
"Look at them—Charge, Whirlwind, Fireball, Ice Arrow—so cool. And me?"
She pouted, raising her hand with exaggerated flair and drawing out her words in an aria-like tone.
"In my sister's eyes, I'm just a life bar that never grows up..."
"And then, 'Power Word: Shield,' 'Renew,' 'Flash Heal,' 'Prayer of Healing'!"
"For the next few decades, it's just this same routine on an endless loop, maybe swapping in a few higher-level healing spells. I could close my eyes and calculate the exact number of Merit Points I'll get at retirement."
Her laziness was a form of giving up after seeing reality too clearly.
At fifteen, a new set of memories had appeared in her mind out of nowhere.
Memories from Earth, belonging to a male streamer known for his stubbornness, ruthless tactics, and flashy skills.
He—a hardcore gamer who lived for extreme maneuvers, speedruns, and the thrill of dancing on the edge of a blade—was now "her."
Right after awakening, her biggest problem was instinctively heading for the men's restroom, thankfully always stopped by her sister...
By the time the memories awakened, her Priest level was already 16.
All her free attribute points had been dumped into Intelligence and Faith to boost healing output, following the meta build.
Want to switch to DPS now?
She couldn't learn offensive spells, her Strength and Agility were pitifully low—she couldn't even beat a newly awakened Warrior apprentice.
The flashy maneuvers were all planned out in her head, but her body, like rusted machinery, refused to obey.
Her attacks couldn't even break through defenses; her dodges relied solely on prediction.
The immense gap between her mind and body had extinguished all her passion.
Her current character panel clearly displayed:
[Lin Qingyue - Priest Lv. 20]
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 10]
[Constitution: 70]
[Intelligence: 70]
[Faith: 80]
[Free Attribute Points: 0]
(Combat classes start with 10 points in each attribute. Each level-up grants 10 attribute points: 8 are automatically assigned based on the class, and 2 are free to allocate.)
A standard cloth-wearing support. Her only attack skill, [Smite], dealt less damage than Lin Xiyue hitting someone with her shield.
The future was suffocatingly clear: get into a top university's Healing Class, graduate, join an official or freelance adventurer team, and hide behind teammates, healing, shielding, and dispelling—day after day, until retirement.
"Hey, don't overthink it!" Lin Xiyue said, thumping her chest with a resounding thud that radiated rock-solid reliability. "The Martial Exam hasn't even started yet, right? Just breeze through the Arena Tournament. The real focus is the Dungeon Score Competition. With us sisters teaming up, I've got your back!"
Back home, their parents were still on duty in a Dungeon.
Lin Qingyue threw herself onto the sofa. The soft cushions instantly swallowed her, perfectly demonstrating the excellent "impact resistance" granted by her 70 points in Constitution.
She stared at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling as memories from her past life grew sharper.
The crisp clatter of the keyboard, the abrupt stop of the mouse, the dazzling special effects exploding across the screen, and herself, screaming with excitement in the dead of night after pulling off a perfect parry.
Then she glanced at her current skill bar—so dull it felt like mushrooms were about to sprout from it.
She rolled over irritably, burying her face in a cushion. Her muffled voice seeped out.
"Two lifetimes... I don't want to spend this one so boringly..."
An absurd thought bubbled up from the deepest corner of her mind, completely unbidden.
It was a memory from a game in her past life—the followers of the Aeon of Elation, who relentlessly stirred up trouble just for the fun of it.
She suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh.
In a tone that was half-joking, half-serious, she murmured to the empty living room:
"Life's so boring... Why not... praise Aha?"
The words fell, and the world remained as silent as ever.
The cicadas still chirped outside the window, and the refrigerator compressor hummed steadily.
"As expected."
The curve of her lips deepened with self-mockery. Looks like I was overthinking things.
Pushing herself up, Lin Qingyue habitually reached into her Equipment Space for a piece of chocolate, only to find it empty.
The pitifully small storage space of a Cloth Armor class, already crammed with robes, a staff, and potions, had long been cleared of the snacks she'd stuffed inside.
"Tsk."
Resigned, she shuffled toward the kitchen in her slippers.
However, in the unobservable depths of the void, a twisted, red mask—caught between a smile and a sneer—quietly materialized.
It spun wildly, its very motion a hymn to chaos and elation.
"A place even Akivili never reached, and someone's praising Aha! Aha is so honored!"
"Let Aha see which little cutie... Oh? This little girl... In the game she played in her past life, there was actually an Aha... Ha! Interesting! So interesting!"
"A little Priest who finds the future boring? Craving the unexpected? Aha admires you! You've given Aha a brand-new source of fun!"
"But mere praise isn't enough... Aha must give you a red envelope! I hope you'll bring Aha even more fun, little girl..."
A thread of power—formless and intangible, yet brimming with ultimate elation and chaos—pierced through countless barriers and silently merged into Lin Qingyue's soul just as she reached for the refrigerator door.
Lin Qingyue froze, a distinct ding echoing in her mind.
Auditory hallucination?
She shook her head, pulled open the refrigerator, and grabbed a carton of milk.
Just then, a gaudy, eye-searing interface exploded before her eyes with a resounding BOOM!
The interface's background was an iridescent black, its edges adorned with tacky red masks and a flurry of streamers, looking exactly like a discount flyer from a third-rate amusement park.
[Ding! Detecting Host's strong desire to "stir up trouble" and call for "Elation." Elation System loading complete!]
Lin Qingyue's hand trembled, nearly sending the milk carton flying.
A System!?
[Welcome to the Hall of Elation, Host Lin Qingyue! This System is dedicated to collecting, creating, and spreading all forms of fun! By creating Elation Events, you can earn Elation Value!]
[Elation Value can be used for gacha pulls! The prize pool is linked to worlds from your memories, such as Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, offering wondrous rewards from countless realms!]
[Friendly Reminder: 160 Elation Value for a single pull, 1600 for a ten-pull! As for the pity system... hehe, how could a troublemaker ever have bad luck? (smirking_mask.jpg)]
[Newbie Mission has been issued! Come claim your first taste of fun!]
Lin Qingyue stared, dumbfounded.
She glared at the bizarrely styled, smugly toned system interface, feeling like her CPU was about to fry.
This style is way too much!
It's so over the top, it feels like it was personally crafted by Aha, the Aeon of Elation from Honkai: Star Rail.
She knew all too well about that cosmic-level troublemaker—the one who'd turn other Aeons into punchlines and use himself as a stepping stone, all for the sake of a good laugh.
If this System really was Aha's handiwork, the traps hidden within probably outnumbered the laugh lines on his face.
He'd probably shove her, the Host, right into the center of the stage—under the brightest spotlight and in the most ridiculous costume—just to watch a good show.
But...
This stagnant, predictable life, where she could see her entire future stretching out to her grave...
Her fingertips curled unconsciously, her heart pounding in her chest.
Half of it was caution in the face of unknown risks.
The other half was the burning anticipation of seeing a spark of change after being suffocated by mundane routine for so long.
It was like spotting a treasure chest on a cliff's edge. Even knowing it might be rigged with a trap, she couldn't resist the urge to open it, just to see if it held the key to escaping mediocrity.
Focusing her mind, she mentally tapped the Newbie Mission icon, which was flashing with a comical emoji.
[Newbie Mission: First Taste of Elation]
[Mission Description: Elation hides in every awkward twitch of the lips, every silence born from misunderstanding, and even in a minor "social death" scene! Please, Host, create an Elation Event.]
[Mission Reward: 100 Elation Value.]
Create an Elation Event? How?
Should I run to the balcony and scream "Ultraman, transform!" at the people below?
Or maybe put a jack-o'-lantern that barks like a dog on my neighbor's doorstep?
Just as Lin Qingyue stared blankly at the System interface, wondering if her understanding of "elation" was completely off, her doorbell rang.
"Who is it?"
She called out instinctively, slightly annoyed at the interruption, and walked over to turn the doorknob.
Standing outside was a boy from her class, his face flushed bright red, fingers clutching a pink envelope.
He was a Warrior—they'd teamed up for practical combat drills before. His skills were decent, but he was a bit quiet and rarely dared to look her in the eye.
"Lin... Lin Qingyue..."
The boy took a deep breath, as if mustering a lifetime of courage, and thrust the letter toward her. His voice trembled with nervousness.
"P-Please take this! I... I've liked you for a long time!"
The System interface hadn't fully faded from Lin Qingyue's mind. The words "Create Elation" still flashed insistently.
Faced with a confession scene so classic it could be recorded in the annals of history, the streamer mindset from her past life—with nerves thicker than steel rebar—instantly took control of her body.
No blushing. No racing heart.
She instinctively reached out, but not for the letter.
Instead, she gave the boy's tense, muscular shoulder a solid, "bro-like" slap.
Smack! The sound was crisp and loud.
"I thought we were bros, and you're trying to hit on me?"
She stared at him with a complex expression—a mix of shock, disbelief, and "How dare you betray the organization?"—her tone dripping with heartbroken disappointment.
The boy: "...???"
The blush on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a deathly pallor.
His expression shifted from nervous anticipation to utter confusion, then to an overwhelming wave of embarrassment and shame so immense it threatened to drown him.
A "Bro Card"—even more abstract and devastating than the "Nice Guy Card"—struck him like a bolt of heavenly tribulation, right on the crown of his head.
He felt his very soul being blasted out of his body.
[Ding! High-quality awkwardness/misunderstanding detected, triggering intense emotional fluctuations in the target (Shame Level: MAX).]
[Onlooker (Void Observer Aha) feels extreme elation! Laughter pierces through dimensions!]
[Newbie Mission "First Taste of Elation" Complete!]
[Reward: Elation Value +100!]
[Bonus Newbie Reward: Weapon [Black Tassel] ×1]
[Special Reward: [Millelith Soldier's Experience Book (Five Years)] ×1]
[Special Reward: [Glamour Charm - Elysia's Staff] ×1]
A barrage of notifications exploded in Lin Qingyue's mind.
She blinked slowly, belatedly realizing the boy before her had practically petrified, cracked, and was about to crumble into dust.
Did I just... instinctively pull off a social execution?
And it was so effective it dropped loot and an experience book?
"Uh... hey..."
She opened her mouth, trying to salvage the situation.
But the boy shot her one last look—an expression of pure despair, as if his youth had just ended—then turned and fled downstairs, his arms and legs moving in stiff, uncoordinated unison.
The love letter lay forlornly on the ground, a mirror of its owner's shattered teenage heart.
Lin Qingyue bent down and picked it up.
Her feelings were... complicated.
On one hand, she felt a tiny sliver of guilt for the innocent young man.
About... the size of a fingernail.
On the other hand...
Her gaze fell upon the items in her System inventory:
100 sparkling Elation Value points.
The phantom image of a long spear, plain in appearance but radiating a heavy sense of power.
An experience book with an ancient cover, seemingly soaked in sweat and gunpowder.
And a talisman in shades of pink and white, its edges adorned with floating crystal petals, exuding a dreamlike aura.
The corners of the mature beauty's usually languid lips slowly, uncontrollably, curved into a dangerous yet captivating smile.
The door to a new world... seems to have just opened, hasn't it?