Chapter 3: You Weren’t Like This Before

Su Yao woke up from the cold.

At some point during the night, she’d instinctively wrapped herself in the blanket—but it was already late October, almost November. 

The nights were starting to bite.

Her thoughts cleared quickly. 

From foggy to fully alert, it only took a few seconds. 

Not bad—probably fast enough to rank in the top 70% of human reboot speeds worldwide.

She ran her fingers through her hair.

Still long. Still soft. Still unmistakably feminine.

With a quiet sigh, Su Yao turned to look for her phone. 

She found it on the floor. 

The old model she’d been using for nearly three years lit up with a flicker.

“Four in the morning again… huh, what a coincidence.”

She hadn’t eaten much the day before—barely anything for lunch and nothing at all for dinner. 

She even skipped evening classes. 

Came home, showered, and passed out. 

Eight full hours of sleep, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.—technically normal. 

But she still felt sore all over, especially in her legs.

She glanced at her feet.

Soft, pale, and thankfully blister-free.

Just as she was about to get out of bed, she suddenly realized—she wasn’t wearing anything.

She stood on the bed, completely bare, exposed to the chill in the air. 

The dim light of dawn illuminated the room just enough for her to glance downward. 

Her skin was fair and delicate, still visibly youthful… but that youth was now unmistakably taking shape.

A girl’s shape.

That one glance made her cheeks flush pink.

She didn’t even know why, but her hands moved on their own. 

She opened the closet… and pulled out that box.

And then she was standing in front of the mirror.

A girl in a sky-blue sailor uniform looked back at her.

Su Yao adjusted her hair, brushing the strands behind her ears. 

The girl in the mirror mimicked her, of course. For some reason, the whole thing made her laugh—and the mirror girl smiled back too.

By all logic, if a guy like her looked into the mirror in the middle of the night and saw a pale-faced girl staring back at him, mimicking his every move… he should’ve been terrified.

But she wasn’t.

She laughed.

“…Honestly, kinda cute.”

Then again, Su Yao had read online that what you see in the mirror isn’t necessarily how others see you. 

There was a difference between your reflection and your real-world appearance.

“If someone saw me like this… what would they think?”

She didn’t expect an answer. 

From the beginning, she never intended to let anyone find out about her transformation. 

For all she knew, this was just a hallucination. 

A vivid dream. A twisted misunderstanding of reality.

Maybe tomorrow—or the day after—she’d wake up back to normal.

So she shouldn’t get attached.

Otherwise, it’d only hurt more when it ended.

Leaving the mirror behind, Su Yao went to make some instant noodles and plopped down in front of her computer.

The old thing sat in the corner of her room. 

A second-hand unit that had cost her more than it was worth. 

A lemon, if there ever was one. 

But now that it was hers, she had no choice but to live with it.

She launched that one game—the one filled with bittersweet memories.

She still couldn’t let go.

Of course, she didn’t dare log in with her main account. 

That character was probably blacklisted across the server by now—maybe even a wanted criminal in the player forums.

So she logged in with a side account. 

A healer alt she only used during limited events.

The map was nearly empty. 

No big surprise—4 a.m. was a dead zone for most players. 

Relieved, she began casually grinding mobs.

Then a message notification popped up.

The red dot startled her. 

Honestly, seeing anyone online at this hour was surprising, let alone someone initiating contact.

Did they figure out I’m on a side account? 

Are they coming to pick a fight?

Panicked, she immediately changed channels.

But a moment later, the same player followed her in.

This time, though, they didn’t DM her. 

They spoke in the public chat so everyone nearby could see.

“You didn’t clear your weeklys. It’s hard finding healers at this hour. Wanna party up?”

Su Yao blinked.

Right… this alt was basically dormant. 

She rarely touched it outside special events, so she had skipped most dailies and weekly content.

After thinking for a bit, she decided to play along. 

She typed a reply—complete with a properly placed period.

“Sure.”

When talking to strangers in-game, Su Yao didn’t tense up like she did in real life. 

Her mental CPU stayed steady. She could interact like a normal person.

After accepting the party invite, she pulled up the player’s gear details.

Yep. Another whale.

Her fight-or-flight instinct kicked in again.

“Your gear’s kinda average. Newbie?”

“Nah, I just don’t play much…”

“Oh, okay. You seem to know the mechanics though. Doesn’t feel like your first run.”

“…”

“Are you a girl?”

“No. What girl’s playing this kind of game at 4 a.m.?”

“Fair point… hey, you don’t have a guild, right? Wanna join mine? It’s small, but the perks are nice. We could play together more.”

“No thanks. I don’t play often.”

“It’s a new guild. We’re just trying to fill the roster. You can leave anytime.”

Chatting while grinding dungeons, Su Yao somehow ended up joining the swordsman’s guild. 

When he sent her a “support fund for underprivileged newbs,” she dumbfoundedly logged off.

And then she saw it—the new QQ group notification.

That’s when it hit her.

“AAAAHHHHH!!!”

“Why didn’t I refuse…”

—Because she was soft-persuaded into it.

Now she had a headache.

Looking at the flood of group chat messages, Su Yao was completely lost on what to do next.

Maybe… just stay silent?

Bei Zhi: Welcome, new member!

And below that—line after line of cheerful greetings.

There were at least a dozen people welcoming her.

Su Yao sucked in a sharp breath.

What the heck is with these night owls?!

It felt rude not to say anything with so many people greeting her, so she hesitated… then cautiously typed a response.

LoveToSeeWhiteBuns: Thanks, everyone!

LoveToSeeWhiteBuns: 🐼 Salute.jpg

ILoveIceCream: Is the newbie a white-thigh loli? 🤤.jpg

ILoveIceCream has been muted for 1 day.

Su Yao curled her toes under her chair and shuddered. 

The group wasn’t large, but it was… very active. It reminded her of the one she’d been in just a few days ago.

She stayed silent after that—lurking, watching.

Eventually, as the sun crept in and the early birds began to stir, the lively group fell quiet. The chat slowed to a trickle.

She peeked outside her window. 

The sky had lightened; it was already past 6 a.m.

“Ah—!”

Her instant noodles had puffed up into a swollen, soggy mess.

Her stomach growled. 

Reluctantly, she decided to go downstairs and buy food.

Lost in the game, she hadn’t eaten. Worse—she forgot she was still in full unmasked girl mode: sailor uniform, long hair, pale thighs completely exposed to the chilly morning air. 

She even spoke to the breakfast stall owner without lowering her voice.

It wasn’t until she noticed the way a group of school kids stared at her that she realized—crap.

Face flaming, she bolted all the way home.

“What are you looking at… I’ll fight you all, I swear!”

It was just an empty threat, of course. 

Su Yao was a textbook pacifist—never fought, never argued, never raised her voice.

She grumbled about their leering stares while chowing down on her dumplings.

Then she choked.

Took several gulps of water before the food finally went down.

She thought to herself—

“I wasn’t like this before…”

No one used to look at her. 

She used to be able to finish two trays of dumplings. 

She didn’t used to choke on her own breakfast.

It’s all because of that dream!

If only she hadn’t run away. So what if it was a fake in-game marriage…!

***

Meanwhile, as a third-year student, Wang Jing didn’t usually need to attend evening classes. Still, she’d gone back to campus yesterday.

Predictably, Su Yao hadn’t been in the study hall.

After sitting around bored for a bit, she left—only to catch a glimpse of Su Yao sneaking out of the teaching building. 

She leapt off the flower bed in a flash.

She was still salty about being ditched yesterday. Even worse—she didn’t manage to catch Su Yao.

So today, she was going to ambush him.

***

That morning, Su Yao had left the house in a rush. 

She hadn’t even cleaned up her room—the sailor uniform lay tossed on the bed, her phone almost forgotten.

Her campus was a fair walk away, and normally she’d bike. 

But her key came home yesterday… without the bike.

So walking it was.

Thankfully, she arrived just in time. 

After suffering through two mind-numbingly boring lectures, she waited until the crowd dispersed before leaving class.

And then—

She saw someone walking toward her at the campus gate.

Straight at her.

Oh hell no.

She recognized her instantly—Wang Jing-senpai!

Su Yao flinched. She tried to turn and walk away, but only made it a few steps before being caught.

“Hey, Su Yao~ where are you heading?”

“S-S-Senpai! I-I-I’m going h-h-home!”

Wang Jing raised an eyebrow.

…Am I really that scary?

She sighed.

“Relax. I’m not going to hit you.”

“…Senpai… you considered hitting me?”

She said it reflexively—and instantly regretted it.

“……”

Wang Jing took a deep breath and grabbed her by the arm.

“I said I’d treat you to dinner yesterday, right? Let’s do lunch today. Just the school cafeteria. That okay?”

“Uh…”

Su Yao glanced toward the cafeteria.

Her face instantly paled.

It was noon. 

A third of the entire school was packed in there right now. 

If she went in, her social anxiety might just kill her.

Wang Jing saw the reluctance in her eyes and sighed again.

“Okay… the snack shop, then?”

“Still too many people.”

Wang Jing was tempted to unleash a body blow out of pure frustration.

Just tempted, of course.

Seeing the silent resistance in Su Yao’s posture, she relented.

“Where do you usually eat, then?”

“…Find a quiet shop, pack it up, then eat behind the hill.”

Wang Jing stared at her like she was a cryptid.

Su Yao didn’t see the problem.

Eating alone wasn’t illegal, right?

Facing Wang Jing’s you’re-not-normal expression, she turned her head.

If I don’t see you, you don’t exist.