Reaching down, Su Yao touched her underwear.
Her hand came away with something wet and sticky, making her frown.
Bringing her hand closer to her face, she peered at it, but the dim light made it impossible to see clearly. She sniffed—it had a faint, metallic scent, thick and viscous.
Turning on the bedside lamp, the soft yellow glow illuminated her fingers, where the bright red stood out starkly.
Su Yao’s pupils shook with shock—
…
Under the moonlight, the streets were cold and deserted in the dead of night. It was normal for this hour—only 24-hour convenience stores and streetlights remained active. The roads, bustling during the day, were quiet, with only the occasional car passing by and not a single soul in sight.
A frantic girl, breathing heavily, hurried into a convenience store.
The bell chimed as she entered. The middle-aged clerk on the night shift looked up from the drama playing on his phone. Seeing the disheveled girl with messy long hair, he stood up, his expression serious. “Hey, kid, what’s wrong? Did someone hurt you?”
But Su Yao, as if she hadn’t heard, was focused solely on what she needed. She quickly found the shelf with “little bread” and grabbed three packs. As she headed to the counter, she nearly bumped into the clerk.
Ignoring him, she detoured to the register and placed the sanitary pads down. The clerk’s eyes widened, glancing between the three packs and Su Yao’s pale face, momentarily stunned.
Su Yao glared at him. *What are you looking at? Ring it up!*
His rare moment of concern deflated, the clerk sat back down, watching Su Yao’s retreating figure after she paid, sighing, “Kids these days.”
Carrying her plastic bag, Su Yao walked slowly down the street, letting the cold wind blow past her.
The night felt especially chilly. Shivering, she hugged her clothes tightly. With the dual debuffs of internal injury and blood loss, she couldn’t walk quickly. It took her a while to get from the convenience store outside her complex to its entrance.
Just as she was about to knock on the security booth’s window to have the gate opened, it lifted early. A young man stepped out, looking drained, his legs shaky. He gave Su Yao a weak smile and a nod.
Puzzled but returning the nod, Su Yao recognized him as someone with a complicated connection to the family downstairs.
Her most urgent task, though, was getting home to put on a pad.
At home, Su Yao pulled a pack of nighttime pads from the bag. Without pausing to open it properly, she rushed to the bathroom, stripping off her pants.
She’d meant to wash up, but exhaustion overwhelmed her. Instead, she used a towel dipped in warm water to clean the stained areas.
Afterward, Su Yao wiped the sweat from her forehead and brushed aside the hair clinging to her face. Her heart pounded faster than usual, and her slightly swollen, sore eyes drifted to her lower body.
For so long, she’d avoided confronting her changed body, unwilling to accept the drastic transformation.
But today, the arrival of her period forced her to face the truth: she was undeniably a girl now.
Biting her lip, her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, but she held them back.
Crying wouldn’t help.
Using a pad was simple enough—anyone with half a brain could figure it out. She removed her underwear, opened the pack, placed the pad in the right spot, and pulled her underwear back up.
Easy!
Dressed again, Su Yao stumbled out of the bathroom in a daze. Back in her room, she collapsed onto the bed, but before she could relax, a stabbing pain gripped her abdomen, like countless needles piercing her.
The agony twisted her delicate face into a grimace. She moaned and panted on the bed, sweating profusely. The pain came from within, and pressing on it only worsened the torment. Powerless, she could only endure it, the wave lasting about three minutes.
When the pain subsided, Su Yao lay limp for a few more minutes, catching her breath. Staring silently at the ceiling, she mocked herself, “Is this punishment for a child who lies about love?”
She suddenly remembered the painkillers left over from when she sprained her ankle.
Propping herself up with both hands, the shift in position caused a heavy, sinking sensation in her abdomen due to gravity, triggering another burst of pain.
Her head throbbed with the intensity.
“That’s harsh…” she muttered, rubbing her forehead.
If some being had turned her into this, they must be incredibly bored, using her as entertainment, cursing her with a body that suffered three to five agonizing days each month.
*You sneaky jerk, be kinder!*
No sooner had she vented in her mind than another wave hit, forcing her to curl up on the floor, sweat beading on her forehead.
*It hurts! I get it, I was wrong!*
Tearless and regretful, Su Yao wished she hadn’t complained.
If she had a status panel, it would surely list three debuffs: internal injury, bleeding, and heightened pain, she thought.
Grabbing the medicine, she fetched a cup and went to the water dispenser, filling it with cold water—
Su Yao drank cold water year-round.
Three pills, two big gulps, and they were down. Shivering from the cold, she returned to her bedroom since the living room had no AC. She turned up the heater, wrapped herself in a blanket, and sat against the headboard, staring blankly.
After all that, sleep was impossible.
Unable to sleep, she turned to her phone, but the group chat was silent in the middle of the night. Even if someone was online, she didn’t know what to say. Opening her chat with OysterSauce, she typed something cryptic: “What does it mean to be a girl?”
After a moment, she retracted it.
Su Yao didn’t understand much. Living alone, with no one to guide her, she relied on instinct or the internet.
*If only someone like OysterSauce liked me…*
She thought of the person who cared for her in-game, but that was just a game. The attention she got was from deception. To them, she was probably replaceable—there were plenty of others.
When the painkillers kicked in, Su Yao fell into a deep sleep.
…
Monday, 10 a.m., during a break. Yun Qing found Su Yao curled up in a corner.
“The teacher wants to see you.”