Chapter 3: The System Appears

Pain!

Pain, pain, pain!

Beyond the pain, there is only the abyssal fear: I'm going to die, I will die soon. What does death feel like? It surely won't be like crossing into another world. From now on, no matter which world it is, there will be no "me" anymore. Even this thought, this fear, will vanish along with me.

No!

I don't want to die!

Gao Yang desperately tries to open the one eye that isn't crushed by the tentacles. Something seems to be floating in front of him.

He sees it clearly now: a translucent, faintly glowing golden hexagram. It spins quietly, seemingly waiting for someone to touch it.

Gao Yang doesn't know what this is, but his instincts tell him that this is the only struggle he can make before he dies.

With all his strength, he raises his left hand, inching closer to the hexagram floating in the air.

Almost… almost there.

"Ah!" A sharp pain empties the strength from his body, and his left arm falls limp.

"Is this human? The taste of human blood, the flavor of humanity…" Li Weiwei's voice is filled with excitement, with a breathless gasp. "So beautiful! So wonderful!"

Gao Yang's head feels like a raw egg in Li Weiwei's hands, one squeeze and it will shatter.

She doesn't want to destroy him so quickly. She struggles to control herself, holding back the exact moment she could crush his skull. She wants to savor the fear and despair of a human's final struggle.

These emotions are too precious.

This might be her only chance in her life.

Finally, the moment of climax arrives. Li Weiwei's body trembles with excitement. "Gao Yang, you're a good person. I like you… I love you..."

"I want you!"

"Give it to me! Please, give me everything!"

The pressure of the tentacles loosens for a brief moment—this is the sign of force building up.

Gao Yang seizes the opportunity, suddenly raising his hand and hooking his middle finger around the hexagram in the air.

[Beep—]

[System Activation]

[User information loading...]

[Loading complete]

[Name: Gao Yang. Age: 18.]

[Gender: Male. Species: Human.]

[Status: Awakened.]

[Talent: Luck. Serial number: 199. Rune type: Miracle.]

— Are you the system? Or a cheat code? Doesn't matter! I'm using my talent!

Gao Yang can't speak, but the voice in his mind is still recognized by the system.

[Luck is a passive talent and cannot be used.]

— What's the point of you then?! I'm about to die! Help me! Someone save me!

[Access finished, system hidden.]

[Beep—]

The system disappears.

Everything happens in an instant. The hexagram in front of Gao Yang vanishes, and he still can't do anything. It's so frustrating, but there's no hope left.

He closes his eyes, waiting for death.

…

Strange! Why am I not dead yet? Why is the pain starting to subside? Why is the pressure from the tentacles on my head slowly diminishing?

"Shwa—" The tentacles loosen, retracting into Li Weiwei's arm.

Gao Yang collapses to the ground, freed from the suffocating pain. He holds his throat and coughs violently: "Cough, cough… cough, cough!!"

While coughing, he lifts his head.

Li Weiwei's arms have returned to normal. Her eyes are wide, filled with confusion, tears welling in them. "Wh-why…?"

Gao Yang's gaze moves down her body, and he sees that her chest is covered in blood.

Li Weiwei stares at Gao Yang with disbelief, her hand reaching out toward him. "You… are mine…"

Shing! A long, narrow Tang Dao (a traditional Chinese sword) pierces Li Weiwei's heart from behind, and her body arches backward like a fish impaled by a harpoon.

"Move aside." A voice comes from behind Li Weiwei.

Gao Yang trembles as he stands up. He finally sees who it is—it's Qing Ling, standing behind Li Weiwei, holding the Tang Dao with both hands in the posture of a quick assassination.

"Qing Ling? How… how are you here?"

"Move aside!" Qing Ling repeats coldly.

"Okay…" Gao Yang quickly steps aside.

"Stand behind me," Qing Ling orders.

Gao Yang follows her instructions.

Qing Ling swiftly withdraws the sword. Li Weiwei's chest is gushing blood, spraying everywhere. The road in front is splattered crimson.

Gao Yang holds himself back from vomiting, then notices that Qing Ling's sword remains pristine, not a single drop of blood staining it.

Qing Ling holds the black hilt with one hand, and with her slender index finger, she gently traces down the edge of the blade. The nearly 150 cm Tang Dao instantly vanishes, as though folded into another dimension.

Gao Yang stares, stunned.

Is this magic? A supernatural power? Or some sort of ability?

Qing Ling doesn't even look at him. "Don't ask anything. Go home immediately. I've destroyed all the nearby surveillance. Everything here has nothing to do with you."

"But—"

"You don't know anything, do you?" Qing Ling's gaze is as sharp as a knife.

"I… don't know anything."

"Say it again."

"I don't know anything."

"Again."

"I don't know anything."

"Good." Qing Ling lightly jumps, flipping over a two-meter-tall courtyard wall, disappearing into the darkness.

…

Late at night, Gao Yang quickly leaves the scene and runs home.

His parents are already asleep, but his little sister is still on the sofa, scrolling on her phone. She sees Gao Yang's face covered in wounds and jumps in shock.

"Wow, what happened to your face?"

"Oh, this..." Gao Yang, in a hurry to get home, forgets about the injuries on his face.

"Ah, I know!" His sister's eyes light up. "You're cosplaying as a zombie!"

"Ah, yes… exactly!" Gao Yang quickly agrees. "The special effects makeup is so realistic, right?"

"Very realistic! It looks real!" His sister smirks.

This girl... Who knows what's true and what's fake with her?

Well, everything that happened was so sudden and absurd, Gao Yang's mind is in turmoil, and he doesn't have the energy to deal with it. He'd be in even more trouble if their parents woke up and saw him.

Gao Yang rummages through the medicine cabinet in the living room and heads straight for his bedroom.

He closes the door, calms down a bit, takes out some disinfectant and cotton swabs, cleans the wounds on his face, and applies band-aids. He then disinfects the wounds on his arm and wraps them in gauze, gritting his teeth and sweating from the pain.

After hastily treating the wounds, Gao Yang collapses exhaustedly onto the bed.

Fear and shock have replaced sadness. Gao Yang feels like everything that happened tonight is incredibly unreal.

Li Weiwei… his childhood friend, someone he's known and trusted for over a decade, suddenly turns into a man-eating monster?!

Gao Yang would rather believe she was eaten by a monster and that the monster is impersonating her, like in the story of Little Red Riding Hood, where the wolf eats the grandmother and pretends to be her.

But is that really the case?

Why does the person who tried to kill him still speak with Li Weiwei's voice, as if she is Li Weiwei herself? Perhaps it's her second personality.

There are so many things that don't make sense.

The wounds still hurt faintly. Could I have been infected? What if I wake up tomorrow and turn into a man-eating monster too?

Gao Yang's mind is uneasy.

The hexagram appears again, quietly floating in front of his eyes.

Gao Yang sits up and reaches out to touch it.

[Beep—]

[Entering system]

[Congratulations! You have survived for 3 hours.]

— What's there to congratulate? I almost died!

[You have earned 3 luck points.]

— Why?

[Talent: Luck. Serial number: 199. Rune type: Miracle.]

[Effect: The talent holder gains 1 luck point for every 60 minutes of survival.]

— So that's it. What do I do with luck points?

[The attribute panel has various attributes. You can use luck points to permanently increase any attribute.]

— Open the attribute panel.

[Stamina: 10 Endurance: 10]

[Strength: 10 Agility: 10]

[Mental: 10 Charm: 10]

[Luck: 0]

…

Gao Yang studies the panel. He's played games before, so he knows that these six attributes probably correspond to health, defense, attack, speed, magic, and control. As for "Luck," it might correspond to evasion or drop rates.

He only has 3 luck points, which isn't much, so his gaze returns to that glaring number.

[Luck: 0]

— Luck? My talent is Luck, right? What's the difference?

[Luck is the talent. Luck is the attribute value.]

— That's basically saying nothing.

— This talent doesn't seem that great. Can I change it to another talent?

[No.]

— Open the