Chapter 3 : Who Are You Talking About?!

“What happened to her?”

“No idea. She just fell over during class.”

“You mean… fell off her chair?”

“Maybe miner girls are more used to ropes than chairs.”

“That’s weird.”

The other classmates thought it was strange too.

Since the awakening of spiritual energy, people had become much healthier.

Plus, students were well protected inside this elite academy, so nobody could understand why something like this happened.

Only Xu Chuyao rushed over immediately, telling the dazed Teacher Li to call a doctor.

In that split second, Xu Chuyao was nervous — even feeling a bit guilty.

That scene hadn’t been in the book at all.

She wondered if she’d accidentally triggered it by bullying the heroine too much.

But then she thought again.

That couldn’t be it.

If she’d really caused the heroine serious harm, the system would’ve given her at least 8,000 villain points.

Getting only 80? Clearly this wasn’t a big deal.

And besides, the original story never mentioned this event, so it probably wasn’t important.

“Hello, is this Director Luo? Shen Ning fainted during class… oh, okay.”

After making the call, Teacher Li put down the phone and glanced around the classroom — most of the students weren’t even paying attention.

Her gaze fell on the only one who seemed to care, Xu Chuyao.

She hurried over and lowered her voice.

“Xu Chuyao, could you give me a hand? The doctor told us to take Shen Ning outside and then stand back.”

Xu Chuyao felt like telling her it wasn’t necessary — Shen Ning was probably fine, her “radiation level” was normal.

But she held it back.

It was fine to joke around with her little followers, but when dealing with real academy staff, she didn’t want to reveal too much.

Together they carried Shen Ning out of the classroom.

Medical staff had already arrived surprisingly quickly, which left Teacher Li a bit dumbfounded — she was probably the only one here who had no clue what was going on.

Xu Chuyao watched as a female doctor in a white coat stepped off the medical truck.

After a brief discussion with the others, they seemed to conclude that Shen Ning simply hadn’t rested well and needed some sleep.

They loaded her into the truck and took her to the infirmary.

Ah, so she’d stayed up too late like some small fry.

Perfect.

Xu Chuyao chuckled to herself — next time she wrote a note, she’d have one more reason to mock her.

“Will Shen Ning be okay?” Teacher Li stared in the direction of the departing ambulance, sounding guilty.

“Is this my fault? Maybe I shouldn’t have made everyone read A Memorial to the Emperor aloud.”

She had only wanted to motivate the students who weren’t paying attention.

“Don’t worry, it’s not your fault,” Xu Chuyao replied, patting the teacher’s shoulder.

“Think about it this way — if she passes out during your class, imagine if it were P.E. class. She’d probably spiral up into the sky like a helicopter. Come on, let’s go back to class.”

“Mm… thank you, Xu Chuyao.”

Teacher Li felt warmth in her heart, though something about those words felt a bit off.

It was like sinking into deep water.

The pressure rendered her body immobile, and through a shimmering veil of ripples, she saw slender figures surface one after another — faces blurred, fleeting before disappearing.

Shen Ning didn’t know who they were, until a strand of white hair drifting through the water made her realize that those figures might all be versions of herself.

A flood of bizarre information rushed into her mind.

Afternoon and evening passed by in a blink.

Staff took shifts at the infirmary as Shen Ning slowly emerged from her coma.

Familiar figures surrounded her — familiar, yet utterly unlikable.

They were the wardens and researchers of the White House.

“You’re awake,” the female doctor in a white coat standing nearby said.

“What happened? Why did you suddenly faint?”

That interrogating tone made Shen Ning feel extremely uncomfortable.

Her reply was vague and indifferent: “I don’t know. Suddenly felt tired and just fell asleep.”

That female doctor was none other than Helena — a mixed-race woman who had been attaching electrodes to her body ever since she’d arrived at this school three years ago.

Helena was the head of the researchers.

Helena stared at Shen Ning for a while, seeing nothing obviously wrong.

“If anything happens again, report it promptly,” she instructed.

“Got it,” Shen Ning answered calmly.

Although she hadn’t truly recovered, Shen Ning didn’t return to class.

Instead, she went straight to her dorm room, closed the doors and windows, and leaned against the pillow at the head of her bed.

She closed her eyes and softly called out in her mind: “System.”

[Ding-dong~ The Life Regret Compensation System at your service. Host Shen Ning, welcome.]

That was what she had acquired in the dream of rippling water — a gift of fate.

[System Introduction: Due to your single-minded pursuit of strength in the future, you overlooked many other things, including your family, and accumulated numerous regrets. This system will issue related tasks to help you make up for these regrets. Complete tasks to receive rewards.]

The girl tugged the corner of her lips slightly.

She didn’t believe she had any regrets — and if she did, it would only be that she hadn’t gained enough strength.

[Please do not question the system. To look at the present through the eyes of the past is like looking at the past through the eyes of the present — what you consider naive in yourself today will also seem naive to your future self.]

Shen Ning was momentarily at a loss for words.

Although she didn’t quite understand the middle part, which sounded like some archaic proverb, she still grasped the logic of the latter part.

Even so, there was one other thing she was more interested in:

“What’s the reward?”

[The power you most desire — which is also the power you will possess in the future. Complete the task, and you will obtain that power ahead of time.]

My own power? That actually sounded great.

Not to mention, if she could obtain her future strength early, then she’d have even more time to grow stronger than that future self.

Suddenly filled with enthusiasm, Shen Ning couldn’t wait to ask: “What’s the task?”

[Tasks will randomly refresh within a certain scope. But right now, you need to complete the beginner quest. Once you finish that, the milestone system will also unlock. Generating today’s task—]

Staring at the small spinning circle on the glowing screen before her, Shen Ning felt a surge of nervous anticipation.

A task related to regrets about family? But she didn’t have any family at all. Could it mean that she’d form one in the future?

Before long, new text appeared on the light screen —

[Today’s task: Have dinner with your future beloved wife, Xu Chuyao.]

“…Who?!”

Shen Ning’s eyes instantly widened in disbelief.

She thought she must have misread it and wanted to rub her eyes — then remembered they were already closed.

Those words weren’t appearing in front of her eyes, but directly in her mind.

There was no way she could have misread that.

The name that showed up was exactly the one that always made her grind her teeth.

[Task Description: Many things will happen in the future — you will become so busy that you never stop moving. In those days, you might long for a simple meal and carefree youthful days. Task Requirement: Share a dinner with your beloved wife Xu Chuyao. Location is up to you. If you do not cook the meal yourself, make sure the cost is at least 66 yuan.]

“No, wait… you must have made a mistake.” Shen Ning shook her head repeatedly.

“There’s no way it’s her… Maybe it’s someone with the same name?”

[No mistake. It’s the Xu Chuyao you often see.]