The System Appears

Pain!

Pain, pain, pain!

Other than pain, there was only abyss-like fear: I was going to die, and I would die soon. What does death feel like? It definitely wouldn't be like transmigration. From now on, no matter which world, I would no longer exist. Even my current thoughts, this fear, would vanish along with me.

No!

I don't want to die!

Gao Yang struggled to open his half-crushed eye under the constriction of the tentacles. In front of him, something seemed to be floating.

He took a clearer look—it was a translucent hexagram, emitting a faint golden glow. It spun quietly as if waiting for someone to touch it.

Gao Yang had no idea what it was, but instinct told him that this was his only chance to struggle before death.

He mustered all his strength to lift his left hand, inching it toward the hexagram in the air.

Almost there… just a little more…

"Ah!" A sharp pain drained all his strength, causing his left arm to drop limply.

"So this is a human? The blood of a human, the taste of a human…" Li Weiwei was too exhilarated, her voice tinged with moans. "So beautiful! So wonderful!"

Gao Yang's head was like a raw egg in Li Weiwei's grasp—it would shatter with a single squeeze.

She couldn't bear to break him too quickly. She restrained herself, maintaining just the right amount of pressure to keep his skull intact. She wanted to savor his struggle, his fear, his despair to the fullest.

These emotions were too precious.

She might never get another chance like this in her lifetime.

Finally, the climax was approaching. Li Weiwei trembled uncontrollably from excitement.

"Gao Yang, you're a good person. I like you… I love you…"

"I want you!"

"Give yourself to me, please, give me everything!"

The constricting force of the tentacles loosened slightly—it was the prelude to the final burst of strength.

Gao Yang seized the fleeting opportunity and jerked his hand upward, hooking his middle finger onto the hexagram in the air.

[Beep—]

[System Activated]

[Loading User Information...]

[Loading Complete]

[Name: Gao Yang. Age: 18.]

[Gender: Male. Race: Human.]

[Status: Awakening.]

[Talent: Luck. Serial Number: 199. Rune Type: Miracle.]

—Are you a system? Or a cheat ability? It doesn't matter! I want to use my talent!

Although Gao Yang couldn't speak, the system still recognized his thoughts.

[Luck is a passive talent and cannot be manually activated.]

—Then what use are you?! I'm about to die! Save me! Someone, please save me!

[Access terminated. System hidden.]

[Beep—]

The system vanished.

Everything happened in an instant—the hexagram before Gao Yang's eyes disappeared, and he remained powerless.

So unwilling… but there was no hope left.

He closed his eyes and waited for death.

---

Strange! Why am I still alive? Why is the pain subsiding? Why is the force strangling my head weakening bit by bit?

"Whoosh—" The tentacles slackened and retracted into Li Weiwei's arms.

Gao Yang collapsed to the ground, finally freed from suffocation and agony. He clutched his throat, coughing violently.

"Cough, cough… cough, cough!!"

As he coughed, he looked up.

Li Weiwei's arms had already returned to normal. Her eyes were wide open, filled with confusion and tears.

"Why…"

Gao Yang's gaze moved downward—her chest was soaked in blood.

Li Weiwei looked at Gao Yang, unwilling to accept reality. She tried to reach out to him.

"You… are mine…"

"Shing—"

A long Tang blade pierced through her heart from behind. Li Weiwei's body arched backward, like a fish impaled by a harpoon.

"Move."

A voice came from behind Li Weiwei.

Gao Yang trembled as he stood up. He finally saw—Qing Ling. She stood behind Li Weiwei, gripping the hilt of the Tang blade with both hands, maintaining a stabbing stance.

"Qing Ling? Why are you… here?"

"Move!" Qing Ling repeated coldly.

"Okay…" Gao Yang hurriedly stepped aside.

"Stand behind me," Qing Ling ordered.

Gao Yang obeyed.

Qing Ling swiftly withdrew her blade. Blood gushed from the wound on Li Weiwei's chest, splattering onto the ground, staining it a gruesome red.

Gao Yang barely managed to suppress his nausea. Then, he noticed something unusual—the silver-white Tang blade in Qing Ling's hands was spotless, without a single drop of blood on it.

Qing Ling held the black hilt in one hand and placed her slender index finger on the blade tip. She gently slid it downward along the edge, and the nearly 150 cm long Tang blade disappeared, as if she had folded it into another dimension.

Gao Yang was dumbfounded.

Was this magic? Sorcery? Or some kind of supernatural ability?

Qing Ling didn't even glance at him. "Don't ask anything. Go home immediately. I've already disabled the nearby surveillance. Everything that happened here has nothing to do with you."

"But—"

"You know nothing. Say it." Qing Ling's gaze was as sharp as a blade.

"I… know nothing."

"Again."

"I know nothing."

"One more time."

"I know nothing."

"Good."

Qing Ling leaped lightly, flipping over the two-meter-high courtyard wall, disappearing into the darkness.

---

Late at night, Gao Yang rushed home.

His parents were already asleep. Only his sister was still curled up on the sofa, scrolling through her phone. When she saw Gao Yang at the entrance, his face covered in wounds, she jumped in shock.

"Wow, what happened to your face?!"

"Oh, this…" Gao Yang had been in such a hurry to get home that he had forgotten about his injuries.

"Ah! I got it!" His sister suddenly realized something. "You were cosplaying a zombie!"

"Uh… yeah, exactly!" Gao Yang went along with her assumption. "This special effects makeup looks real, huh?"

"So real! Almost like the real thing." His sister smirked mischievously.

This girl… he could never tell when she was being serious or joking.

Forget it. The events of tonight were too sudden, too absurd. His mind was in chaos, and he had no energy to deal with her. If their parents saw him like this, it would be an even bigger hassle.

Gao Yang rummaged through the living room cabinet for a first aid kit and went straight to his bedroom.

He shut the door, took a deep breath to calm himself, then grabbed disinfectant and cotton swabs to treat the wounds on his face. He applied bandages, gritting his teeth through the pain, sweating profusely.

After taking care of his injuries, Gao Yang collapsed onto his bed, utterly exhausted.

Fear and shock had replaced grief.

Everything that had happened tonight felt so unreal.

Li Weiwei… his childhood friend. They had been inseparable for over ten years, trusting each other completely, sharing everything.

But suddenly, she had turned into a man-eating monster?!

Gao Yang would rather believe that she had been eaten by a monster, and the monster was merely impersonating her.

Like in the story of Little Red Riding Hood, where the wolf devoured the grandmother and then disguised itself as her.

But was that really the case?

Why did the Li Weiwei who tried to kill him still speak in her own voice, as if she was Li Weiwei herself—just another personality of hers?

There were too many things he couldn't understand.

His wounds were still aching. Had he been infected? Would he wake up tomorrow morning and find himself turned into a man-eating monster too?

Gao Yang was restless.

At some unknown moment, the hexagram reappeared in the air, floating quietly before him.

Gao Yang sat up abruptly and reached out to touch it.

[Beep—]

[Entering System]

[Congratulations! You have successfully survived for 3 hours.]

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

[You have earned 3 Luck Points.]

—Why?

[Talent: Luck. Serial Number: 199. Rune Type: Miracle.]

[Effect: For every additional 60 minutes the talent holder survives, they gain 1 Luck Point.]

—So that's how it works. What can Luck Points be used for?

[The attribute panel contains various stats. You can use Luck Points to permanently enhance any of them.]

—Open the attribute panel.

[Stamina: 10 Endurance: 10]

[Strength: 10 Agility: 10]

[Spirit: 10 Charisma: 10]

[Luck: 0]

…

Gao Yang examined it carefully. Having played games before, he understood that the first six attributes likely corresponded to health, defense, attack power, speed, magic, and control. As for "Luck," did it affect dodge rate? Or maybe item drop rates?

He only had 3 Luck Points—too few to make a difference in any stat. His eyes returned to that glaring number.

[Luck: 0]

—Luck? Isn't my talent called Luck? What's the difference between the two?

[Luck is a talent. Luck is also an attribute.]

—That tells me nothing.

—This Luck talent doesn't seem all that great. Can I switch to a different talent?

[No.]

—Open the talent list. Let me see.

In an instant, a densely packed table of talents appeared before Gao Yang.

His eyes were immediately drawn to the top—[Serial Number: 199]—his own talent, "Luck."

Strangely, all the talents from Serial Number 198 to 1 were hidden, their names and descriptions completely obscured.

—Why can't I see anything?

[The system cannot display unexplored information.]

—This system is so damn useless! It's nothing like the ones in web novels.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Someone was tapping on the window.

[Access terminated. System hidden.]

[Beep—]

Gao Yang sat up with a jolt as the system automatically shut down.

A shadow had already opened the window and leaped into the room with ease.

It was Qing Ling. She was dressed in the same athletic shorts and short-sleeved shirt she wore during training. Under the moonlight, her long, slender limbs were as pale as jade.

She swiftly kicked off her sneakers and, with one hand, loosened her ponytail. Her soft black hair cascaded down, resting against her full chest.

"You…" Gao Yang had just opened his mouth to speak.

Qing Ling jumped lightly onto the bed, her bare foot pressing against Gao Yang's chest, pinning him down onto the mattress.

"I ask, you answer."

"Okay…"

"Do you like men or women?"

"W-Women."

"Good."

Qing Ling crossed her hands at the hem of her shirt, gripped the fabric, and in one swift motion, pulled it off.

"Come."