Chapter 2

Liu Yue was--Seen by most people--a sweet, obedient, well-raised modest young girl of 16. She lived by a pleasant stream, and if you were to ask the nearby residents of what they thought of her, they'd say she was a mommy's girl, ready to smile and laugh to lighten the mood. If you wanted to ask more, they'd either tell you to f*ck off, or simply stare, contemplating whether a stranger like you had business with their affairs.

But if you were sharp enough, there was one common point; They'd all, whether cursing or staring at you, have sympathy in their eyes, nervously shifting her bodies as if inevitability and shame dawned on them.

Her mother was blind. Years after working on handkerchiefs and dresses under the moonlight wore her vision, and being the stubborn person she was, continued until she couldn't see her daughter's face. Her nimble fingers and layered strength as a rural woman dissipated in ruins. The power of her ancestors, the ability to call upon swallows; just a fragment of the past.

For the last few years of her life, she spent it all in the space of her noisy mind, sensing nothing but sound. And, unable to bear it anymore, the old lady went mad.

Her hysterics only ended at her death.

Of what she remembered of her father; he was a woodsworker, at least until he left to work as a labourer. She knows nothing of him. He left when she was young, sending money every year on her birthday. He had a grizzly beard. That she still knows.

She doesn't speak of it. Not that anyone dares to bring it up either way.

However, her life never truly broke until that winter of that year.

During a cool, bright evening, she bought some scallion pancakes from one of the grandmas downtown, walking up the trail towards her home. Feeling dreadful having tied up her frenzied mother to prevent her from running away, Liu Yue silently strolled back to her bitter cabin. There was nothing good about it, about anything.

Such a pity, she thought. The sky shone in a silky allure, the dainty stars embedded within it glittering with clear light, all while the earth beneath her crunched with gravel and stone. She didn't have the mood to appreciate it.

Slowly, she approached her house, step by step. Just before she could touch the knob, she stopped.

Glistening blood seeped out from the door, dripping onto the soil from inside.

All her worst fears washed on her. She frantically opened the door, the room before her without an open lamp, the couch empty, and the chair her mother was bound to--Thrashed apart in the corner.

As she felt a sense of dread crawl over her scalp, she slowly lowered her gaze. A blob, something dense was in front of her. Liu Yue tried with all her might to shut her eyes, to accept that it was a dream.

But that was impossible. Her mothers oddly calm, dying, muttering body splayed on the floor by her feet. Miscellaneous sounds came out of the mad woman, who lost her sanity so long ago that she seemed unaware. It was as if reality had lost her grasp on her.

Tears couldn't even come out of her daughters eyes.

She felt relief that her mother died.

--

[Present time]

That female voice rang in her head, quiet and vague like a thought. It was like having another person softly comment behind your ears: But she too occupied with something else to fully realize that abnormality. Her last moments, bleeding out in sharp pain under the dark sky, alone, afraid, continued to play like a nightmare. She remembered everything.

[Please name yourself, player 348]

How the wind blew so nicely, the leaves dancing while she slowly withered away.

That man's eyes; how cold they were.

[Please name yourself, player 348]

Liu Yue held her breath in tension. What's happening now? Ok, organize, organize.

She's alive now, yes. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10 fingers all on her hands. What about her neck?

Her fingers touched around her neck. Yep, it was in place.

[PLEASE NAME YOURSELF PLAYER 348]

Liu Yue flinched back, only now seeing a translucent, white panel before her.

"Uh."

She backed away.

The panel followed.

She tried touching it and her finger went through.

"What are you?" Liu Yue whispered, talking to the voice. She felt like an idiot; talking to a weird thing (that she almost believes as a hallucination), in the middle of a bright, isolated cemetery.

[Information Locked]

"... Ok... Damn you're secretive."

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"What did you want me to do?"

The voice sighed (somehow), and repeated again.

[Please name yourself, Player 348]

"Name myself?"

"First though."

"How about you explain yourself first? I'm not-"

[Yes, ok, Player 348]

[This is the Fide System. Abbreviated "Fi"]

[The Fide System aims to help Players, like yourself get stronger]

"Be more clear. You speak like a kid."

[The system is on Preschool mode. Please humble yourself Player 348]

"Ya. Are you looking down on me because I-"

The system ignored Liu Yue and continued.

[The Fide system contains a special money thing that you can use to buy stuff for more super strong stuff]

"Just speak regularly."

[The Fide system exchanges the currency for rewards. Currency can be gained through achievements or through other methods]