Reward received!
Ling Xiaoyou shouted at the System in her mind, and immediately, the words ‘Received’ appeared on the panel before her eyes.
She waited quietly for a while, during which passersby occasionally cast curious glances at her, wondering why this cute little girl was standing motionless in place.
Huh?
Where’s my reward?
Feeling somewhat embarrassed by the constant stares, Ling Xiaoyou stopped lingering and continued walking toward Home, all the while pondering why the reward hadn’t been distributed yet.
It was always delivered instantly before, so why is it so slow this time?
Ling Xiaoyou weaved through the crowd, pinching her smooth little chin as she thought.
Could it be that the System is stuck?
It can’t be this lame, right?
With that in mind, Ling Xiaoyou opened the System panel again, looked at the reward name ‘Crosshair Correction’ under the rewards section, and then glanced at the ‘Received’ status displayed beside it.
She pondered for a moment, then a guess suddenly popped into her mind:
Could it be…
That I need to be holding a weapon for any changes to show up?
The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
After all, the reward was literally called ‘Crosshair Correction’.
It probably didn’t work if she was empty-handed.
Growing more convinced, Ling Xiaoyou glanced around, found a quiet alley, and slipped inside.
After making sure no one was watching, she took out her Huànlíng Yúnshuǐ Bow and held it in her hand.
The moment the bow was in her hand, Ling Xiaoyou froze.
Because she saw something very familiar appear before her eyes.
It was a white dot, with short lines extending up, down, left, and right…
That’s right, it was the crosshair from a game!
At this moment, Ling Xiaoyou finally understood what ‘Crosshair Correction’ really meant.
So, it was just about fixing the problem of not having a crosshair, huh?!
Ling Xiaoyou was speechless.
She’d been expecting so much, and in the end, it was just this.
She sighed softly, put the Huànlíng Yúnshuǐ Bow back into her Space Ring, and didn’t bother testing the effect of this ‘Crosshair Correction’ any further.
Anyway, it’s probably just like in games—it improves accuracy, but not by much.
“Guu, whatever, better than nothing.”
Even though this reward wasn’t great, what else could Ling Xiaoyou do?
She couldn’t exactly pull System-chan out of her body and give it a beating, could she?
Not to mention whether she could even hit it—she couldn’t pull it out to begin with!
Stupid bird, stupid bird, life’s tough all around.
With that, Ling Xiaoyou trudged back home in disappointment.
Having been tired all night and already eaten a late snack, she was too lazy to eat again, so she simply changed into her pajamas, washed up, and lay on the soft, comfortable bed, ready to sleep.
Pulling up the covers, Ling Xiaoyou placed her hands flat on her chest, assuming a peaceful sleeping pose, preparing to drift into dreamland just like that.
But even with this peaceful posture, she figured the bed would still be a mess by the time she woke up.
Although lying in bed, Ling Xiaoyou didn’t feel sleepy.
She was the type who couldn’t fall asleep if she counted sheep, so all she could do was wait out the night.
“Ding dong!”
Suddenly, the Message Notification from her phone rang out by her pillow.
Ling Xiaoyou blinked.
Who would message her at this hour?
No, I shouldn’t have set any special notification sounds for anyone, right?
Puzzled, Ling Xiaoyou opened her crimson eyes, picked up the phone, and tapped open the message.
She saw that a pure white icon had sent her a message.
And the contact name she’d set for this icon was…
Bai Shuanglian?
Why was she messaging at this hour?
Ling Xiaoyou scratched her little head, opened the chat, and Bai Shuanglian’s message appeared in her view:
What are you doing?’
It was just a short sentence, and Ling Xiaoyou couldn’t figure out what she wanted to convey, so she replied:
Getting ready to sleep.’
“Oh.”
Bai Shuanglian’s reply was quick.
Ling Xiaoyou waited a while longer, and when there was no follow-up, she thought Bai Shuanglian had just messaged her to ask what she was doing.
She tilted her little head in confusion, not wanting to think too much, set the phone down, and prepared to sleep.
Only a few minutes after closing her eyes, another ‘Ding dong’ sounded from the phone by her pillow.
Opening her eyes again, she picked up the phone and saw that Bai Shuanglian had sent another message:
‘Are you asleep?’
What does Bai Shuanglian want to ask?
Confused, Ling Xiaoyou replied:
Not yet.’
“Oh.”
A short answer appeared at the bottom of the chat box, and after that, there was nothing more.
Ling Xiaoyou waited again.
When no further messages came, she assumed that was the end, set down her phone, and prepared to sleep.
But this time, before she could even pull up the covers, Bai Shuanglian’s Message Notification sounded again, leaving Ling Xiaoyou speechless.
What does Bai Shuanglian want after all?!
She opened the message and replied to Bai Shuanglian:
Did you eat?
‘Not yet.’
So what exactly do you want to say?
We’ve gone back and forth several times!
This time, Bai Shuanglian didn’t reply immediately.
Ling Xiaoyou glanced up and saw the message ‘The other party is typing’ displayed.
Ling Xiaoyou waited for quite a while before Bai Shuanglian’s message finally appeared: ‘I just wanted to chat with you.’
That’s all?
‘That’s all.’
This whole exchange left Ling Xiaoyou utterly speechless.
‘If you wanted to chat with me, your topics really are hopeless, Bai Shuanglian.’
If I didn’t know who you were, I’d really think you were some negative-EQ idiot!
Bai Shuanglian was silent for a while, then finally replied:
Sorry, I’m not very good at starting conversations.
For some reason, this sentence made Ling Xiaoyou imagine Bai Shuanglian standing pitifully in front of her like a little puppy who’d made a mistake.
A faint smile tugged at her lips, and she replied:
I’m not blaming you. I get it—given your ice-cold beauty persona before, you don’t look like the type to start conversations.’
After sending her reply, Ling Xiaoyou pinched her smooth little chin in thought for a moment, then tapped on the video call.
Instantly, Bai Shuanglian’s side showed ‘Connected’—almost as if she’d been waiting eagerly.
The next moment, Bai Shuanglian’s figure appeared on Ling Xiaoyou’s phone screen.
She was lying in bed as well, but the difference was that Ling Xiaoyou was lying on her back, while Bai Shuanglian was lying on her side.
Bai Shuanglian was wearing pure white pajamas.
The collar wasn’t high, and from Ling Xiaoyou’s angle, she could clearly see the deep, delicate valley formed as Bai Shuanglian lay on her side.
Ling Xiaoyou’s little face turned slightly red, and she tried to cover her embarrassment with a light cough.
Ling Xiaoyou was about to say something when she looked at Bai Shuanglian, only to see the other girl staring intently at her, eyes deep and unwavering.
Ling Xiaoyou froze, then lowered her little head, her face flushing bright red.