Chapter 1: First Encounter with the Divine?

[“Hey, do you find this world boring?”]

A sudden pop-up window appeared on the computer screen, displaying perplexing text that gave off the vibe of some shady scam. 

“Ugh, have clickbait ads for mini-games really stooped this low now?”

Xia Mengxi sighed in exasperation as he moved the cursor to the top-right corner of the window, clicking the close button.

But to his shock, every time he closed one window, twice as many identical ones would pop up on the desktop.

“What the did that new anime I downloaded today come with a virus?”

Frowning, he tried to run an antivirus scan, but the computer was completely unresponsive-neither the mouse nor the manual restart button worked.

Seeing no other option, he decided to force a shutdown by yanking the power cord from the outlet. 

What happened next made his jaw drop. 

“Holy crap! Ghosts are real!”

Staggering back a few steps, Xia Mengxi stared wide-eyed at the impossible scene before him. 

Despite having no power, his computer was still running. 

This wasn’t just bizarre—it was straight-up next-level insane.

What terrified him even more was that the text on the screen had now changed:

[I asked you a question. If you didn’t want to answer, fine—but why unplug me?]

What the hell?  How did it know he’d pulled the plug? Was it watching him?!

At that moment, every shred of common sense shattered for Xia Mengxi. 

His entire body trembled. 

He wanted to run, but escape was impossible the room had transformed into four blank walls with no doors or windows, like a white prison cell.

[Relax, kid. I just wanted your undivided attention. Didn’t mean to scare you that much~.]

“…Who-no, what are you?”

[What I am doesn’t matter. What does matter is… do you find this world boring?]

Xia Mengxi didn’t need to think hard about his answer.

His family was happy, he never worried about food or shelter, and thanks to their comfortable financial situation, he could coast through life without much effort. 

With a “better-than-some, worse-than-others” existence and zero ambition, he’d never once found the world boring.

Yet it seemed deeply dissatisfied with his response.

“I… I don’t think it’s boring…”

[But I do. This world… is so boring! Excruciatingly boring!]

The moment those words flashed on the screen, the entire room began violently shaking. 

Panicked, Xia Mengxi whipped his head around— only to see the four walls and ceiling peel open like a giant gift box.

Above him, in the now endless void, loomed an enormous rectangular frame. 

And beyond it… stood a colossal, faceless girl.

Was… was it a god?

That was the only explanation Xia Mengxi’s overwhelmed mind could conjure for this surreal nightmare.

“O Great Deity! Y-You’re right! This world is boring—so boring!”

[Oh? Really?]

“Truer than pearls in the sea!”

“In that case, I suppose I have no choice but to reluctantly grant you the opportunity to travel to another world.”

Travel to another world?!

Seeing the words appear mid-air, Xia Mengxi’s emotions shifted from panic to excitement. 

After all, any modern person would know how this scenario would unfold, so even someone as indifferent as him couldn’t help but feel thrilled.

“Thank you so much for your generosity, great deity!”

Hehe, don’t worry, young one. 

You will receive a very powerful golden finger—its purpose is to assist you in making choices at critical moments.

Perfect! This was his ticket to success!

Since you’re so eager, I’ll cut to the chase. 

The world you’re about to enter is a parallel one, similar to your original world. 

Once there, you’ll have a mission: before exhausting your chances to rewind time, you must successfully romance five designated beauties—while in the form of a girl yourself.

“Huh?”

Xia Mengxi could understand the words floating in the air, but the latter half left him utterly baffled.

What did it mean to ‘romance five beauties as a girl’ before ‘exhausting rewind chances’?

It means exactly what it says! 

Oh, and one more thing-take good care of your necklace, as it’s the tool you’ll use to rewind to key moments. 

By the way, you only have five rewinds available!

Rewind? Why would he need to rewind? 

Could it be that after crossing over, he might face life-threatening dangers?

Oh no! His head… his head hurt so much!

Before Xia Mengxi could fully process this overwhelming information, an intense pain surged through his mind. 

At the same time, his body felt as if it were sinking into water, the heaviness making him extremely uncomfortable. 

As these sensations gradually faded, ‘his’ consciousness stirred awake.

“Where… Huh? I really crossed over?! Wait-my voice… why does it sound like…?!”

Xia Mengxi glanced around the unfamiliar room and, spotting a full-length mirror beside the wardrobe, hurried over.

As ‘he’ stood before the mirror, the reflection revealed a sweet, long-haired girl with delicate features her every movement perfectly synchronized with Xia Mengxi’s actions.

There was no doubt about it: the girl in the mirror was now Xia Mengxi.

“So that’s what ‘in the form of a girl’ meant…”

For a moment, Xia Mengxi stood frozen in place.

Not only was she bewildered by her transformation, but she was also utterly confused by everything that had just happened.

However, a sudden knock at the door left her no time to dwell on it.

Knock knock

“Mengxi, time to wake up. Xue’er from next door has been waiting for you in the yard for ages.”

The familiar voice outside the door quickly reminded Xia Mengxi of what the ‘deity’ had said—she had crossed into a parallel world, so the person outside must be her mother.

But the problem was… who was this ‘Xue’er from next door’ her mother mentioned?

Just as Xia Mengxi was puzzling over this, lines of text slowly materialized in the air before her.

Target identified: Romanceable beauty Lin Xue’er. Choose your next move, young lady!

Option A: Greet her normally.

Option B: Greet your childhood friend enthusiastically.

These options may appear normal at first glance, but they’re actually outrageously absurd. Beneath each choice was a glaringly conspicuous prompt:

[Select Option A: You will maintain your frail constitution for one week]

[Select Option B: ??% increase by 10%]

What’s more, this pop-up multiple-choice question came with a time limit, accompanied by a warning: 

“Failure to select within the time limit will result in a random choice.”

This… wasn’t this forcing her to make a selection that clearly carried ominous consequences?!