Chapter 1 : Yaoyao is Worried About You

On a quiet late autumn afternoon, the campus path was hushed.

A girl pulled off the hood of her gray hoodie, revealing long white hair and a delicate, innocent face.

Her slender legs, dressed in black over-the-knee socks and shorts, paused briefly as she gazed at the shadows cast by the dorm building in the sunlight, her eyes slightly dazed.

Shen Ning still remembered the day she first arrived three years ago.

Coming from Mining Zone 13 by rail, she was picked up at the station by a teacher from Ling Awakening Academy.

The teacher seemed kind enough at first, but after they returned to school, Shen Ning was immediately locked in a small white room.

Ever since the eruption of spiritual energy, the world had gradually become what it was today.

Awakening to spiritual energy was a one-in-ten-thousand chance—a divine gift for most people, but to Shen Ning it felt more like a curse.

Female doctors pasted electrodes all over her body.

Every day was a routine of stress tests, or lab workers in radiation-proof suits.

After two long weeks like this, the white-haired girl was finally let out to live with other students and begin campus life.

Yet Shen Ning had always felt that she was different from her classmates—not just because of her unusual enrollment process or her place of origin, though both had earned her teasing and strange nicknames.

Deep down, what truly set her apart was her inner desire.

For instance, no one else would stay behind after class to train in the gravity chamber, often skipping lunch entirely.

That day, after grabbing her takeaway order from the cubby by the dorms and returning to her empty room, Shen Ning was about to eat when she noticed that the seal on the package was loose.

Her heart sank.

Hurriedly opening the bag, she checked carefully—her meal box was intact, the rice was there too… but the utensils were missing.

A note was tucked inside:

【Silly fish~ Eating takeaway again? Poor quality chopsticks can splinter and hurt your hands, so Yaoyao kindly took them for you. Say thank you to Yaoyao~ ❤】

Furious, Shen Ning trembled with anger.

“Xu! Chu! Yao!”

…

Meanwhile, in another girls’ dorm, Xu Chuyao was toying with the stolen utensils, an innocent smile on her sweet face.

Her soft, long black hair draped over her shoulders, and her generous chest pressed against the desk.

Though she looked like an obedient good girl on the outside, she had never once behaved like one.

“Xu Chuyao,” her roommate Mi Xiaolu said, scratching her short blue hair, “where did you get those utensils?”

“Of course from Shen Ning’s takeaway,” Xu Chuyao replied smugly.

“If she’s going to order delivery, she doesn’t deserve to eat it too!”

Imagining Shen Ning sitting alone in her room, gnashing her teeth, frustrated and helpless before her food, Xu Chuyao couldn’t help but let out a satisfied hum.

Mi Xiaolu nodded in understanding.

“Ah, so it’s that ‘miner girl’ again. But why do you keep teasing her?”

Xu Chuyao had spent years at school hardly paying attention in class or making much progress in training.

Nearly all her energy went into tormenting Shen Ning.

Besides stealing chopsticks, she’d also taken buttons off Shen Ning’s shirts, the lid off her water cup, laces off her sneakers, and once even grabbed her instant noodles’ seasoning packet while she was getting hot water.

Nothing was too petty or mean for her.

“Why?” Xu Chuyao replied casually.

“Well… half business, half hobby.”

A transparent interface appeared before her eyes — a box only she could see. On it was written:

[Your interference with the heroine’s energy-absorbing behavior was moderately successful, greatly reducing her enjoyment and leaving her flustered and furious. Villain Value gained: +80. Total accumulated: 1020.]

Only 600 more points to go before she could do another ten-draw!

Xu Chuyao was not a native of this world.

Three years ago, she was an ordinary person on Blue Star, going through a boring job and leading a monotonous, solitary life.

Her biggest source of entertainment was jumping into group chats online to call people “trash fish.”

Perhaps this less-than-virtuous hobby was to blame: one day, while out buying groceries, she was struck by a recklessly driven truck.

On the brink of death, she met a villain system that sent her into a novel she was reading before dying — into this very world.

That novel told the story of a high-martial-arts urban world after a spiritual energy eruption.

The heroine, Shen Ning, had been through a traumatic event at fifteen in her hometown, which set her on the path of seeking strength.

Along the way, she encountered all kinds of conspiracies and crises and eventually overcame them one by one.

Most people, upon becoming a villain in a novel, would probably be upset and rack their brains for a plan of escape.

But not Xu Chuyao — this was exactly her kind of fun.

The role fit her perfectly, so she embraced it without hesitation.

By coincidence, she’d transmigrated into this world three years ago at the very moment fifteen-year-old Shen Ning was leaving her hometown for Central City.

And ever since, Xu Chuyao had thrown herself into her “work,” gleefully messing with the heroine every chance she got.

“Work?”

Mi Xiaolu, her roommate, clambered into bed and pulled up her blankets, blinking in confusion.

“What does that mean?”

Xu Chuyao also climbed into her bed — nap time was approaching.

It was always a bit of a struggle with her generous chest to climb the ladder, but once she was finally up there and peeling off her socks, she replied, “It basically means that if you work hard, you’ll be rewarded.”

Every time she messed with the heroine, Xu Chuyao earned villain points.

The amount varied for all kinds of reasons, and even after so long, she hadn’t fully figured out all the mechanics.

Villain points could be spent on a gacha draw — most of the time for trivial items, and very rarely for “make you into the perfect beautiful girl” rewards.

The reason she was so well-endowed at a young age? That was one of those rewards.

“Anyway,” Xu Chuyao said as she wriggled her toes and admired her dainty feet, “as long as you understand that I enjoy doing this, that’s enough.”

And really, look at these lovely little feet — they were the fruits of her effort!

Besides that, if she was lucky, she could draw rewards that boosted her strength.

Xu Chuyao had pulled a few times already, so she was on par with the heroine — at least for now.

In this world, the first stage of spiritual cultivation was about enhancing one’s body — strength, stamina, recovery, all-around physicality.

Everyone’s roughly equal at this stage; whoever trained faster and hit harder would come out on top.

But once they advanced to the second stage — where spiritual energy could be released and used creatively — then raw talent and insight determined the difference.

Next semester, Shen Ning would advance to the second stage and leave most of her classmates in the dust — including Xu Chuyao.

“Before that happens, I’d better rack up a few more evil deeds,” Xu Chuyao muttered to herself, pulling the blanket up.

As for an exit plan? She could always slip away while the heroine was distracted.

After all, Shen Ning had an entire story to go through — surely she wouldn’t have time to chase Xu Chuyao forever… right?

Meanwhile, Shen Ning had no idea about Xu Chuyao’s scheming.

Without utensils for her takeaway, she had to jog all the way down to the shop.

To make sure some big-breasted thief didn’t steal them again, she bought two sets — one to use and one to hide under her mattress.

“Phew.”

Finally finishing her lunch, Shen Ning pulled off her hoodie and knee-high socks, ran her fingers through her long white hair, and lay down for a nap.

And as she drifted off to sleep, she braced herself for the dream that always greeted her — trapped forever in that nightmare from when she was fifteen.

…

“Oh yeah,” Mi Xiaolu yawned, “why do you call her ‘the miner girl’ anyway? Did Shen Ning really come from some mining area?”

“Mm, Mining Zone 13,” Xu Chuyao replied sleepily from her nest of blankets.

“That’s the truth.”

Mi Xiaolu looked puzzled.

“That’s odd. Why would someone like that be kept hidden all this time?”

Normally, anyone who awakened would be sent immediately to one of the special academies in the main cities, regardless of where they were born.

“Because Shen Ning is special,” Xu Chuyao explained.

“Her power was awakened later. You probably haven’t heard of it, but listen closely — this is top secret.”

Her drowsiness vanished, and she turned to Mi Xiaolu, eyes bright with energy.

“Three years ago, deep inside a mine in Zone 13, twenty-eight miners were working as usual. Just an ordinary day. But then one of them dug up a strange stone — its official name is X-crystal. In a flash, the X-crystal released a strange light that filled the entire mine. Twenty-seven of the miners mutated and went berserk. And one of them, bathed in that light, had her spiritual power awaken. That was Shen Ning.”

Staring into her roommate’s eyes, Xu Chuyao continued in a low voice, “Then, she picked up her pickaxe and smashed everyone’s heads!”