One day, Zhuo Nian was drinking herself into a stupor as usual when a white light floated into the demon realm's grand hall and landed on her.
"Little sister, little sister."
"Little sister, wake up quickly, little sister..."
"Mmm..."
Years of heavy drinking made Zhuo Nian somewhat unable to distinguish reality from illusion. She vaguely heard someone speaking but saw no one, so she assumed it was a hallucination and was about to go back to sleep.
"Little sister, stop sleeping! Emperor Star Time Management Bureau's 1888 Grand Celebration, not 888, not 88, only 8.8, take home a mysterious grand prize!"
"What are you?"
"8.8, you can't be fooled, 8.8, you can't be cheated... Little sister, you're awake!"
"I am the ninth generation portable system of the Emperor Star Time Management Bureau, codenamed 007. We are having a grand celebration. With 880 million merit points, you can win a luxurious grand gift package. Little sister, are you tempted? Bind with us during the event period and receive free plane snacks, cookies, melon seeds, and nut gift boxes with unlimited supply. Heartwarming service accompanies you through your journey. 8.8, you can't be fooled, 8.8..."
"Shut up."
So noisy.
"What are you?"
007: "...I am the ninth generation portable system of the Emperor Star Time Management Bureau, codenamed 007..."
"I asked you, what are you?"
"System."
Is there a problem with his answer, or is there a problem with little sister?
"What do you do?"
"I follow the host through time and space to complete missions. Little sister, are you interested in our 1888th anniversary mysterious grand prize? Don't just think about it, act!"
"Not interested."
"Okay, little sister, we will immediately enter the beginner plane. Please prepare yourself, little sister. Countdown ten, nine, eight..."
Zhuo Nian: "..." Her temper flared, and she almost tore the little thing in her head apart.
However, before she could tear it apart, she was pulled into an unknown world by an irresistible force. It felt as if something was suppressing her abilities, preventing her from resisting, allowing her to drift with the current, traveling through time and space with that force.
Tearing through time and space?
What on earth is this?
A heavy sleepiness washed over her, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier until she could no longer control them and they drooped, closing completely.
—
"Master, if Nian'er doesn't want to marry, then don't. Why are you forcing her? Prince Yan is now a cripple. How can you bear to send her into such a fiery pit!"
A woman's tearful cries sounded in her ears. Her thoughts gradually awoke, and recalling what happened before she fainted, Zhuo Nian furrowed her brows.
Where had that thing brought her?
"Do you think I want her to jump into a fiery pit? This is an imperial decree. If we disobey, our entire family will be executed. What can I do!"
Another slightly older man roared. The man in the room immediately fell silent. The woman who had just spoken sobbed, unsure how to retort. Su Dan Novel Network
Zhuo Nian opened her eyes and looked at the gauze canopy above her head. Her mind inexplicably gained the memories of another person, which informed her of her current surroundings and what was happening.
"She" was named Song Nian, the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Rites, the head of the Six Ministries of the Great Sheng Dynasty. She was eighteen years old and originally betrothed to her cousin, the eldest son of the Prime Minister's mansion, with whom she had grown up together. However, an imperial decree from the Emperor betrothed her to Prince Yan, a crippled man who could not walk. She refused to marry and threatened to die.
And then she arrived.
Hearing Minister Song's distress, Madam Song immediately wailed, "My Nian'er, to be a widow at such a young age, sob sob... Prince Yan is brutal and merciless. What kind of life will our daughter have if she goes there..."
Suddenly, Madam Song seemed to think of something and exclaimed in surprise, "Master, don't we have other daughters in the mansion? Song Fanghua is also your legitimate daughter. Let her marry! If my daughter doesn't marry, let her marry!"
Minister Song did not respond for a moment.
Madam Song continued to speak, making a great fuss. Minister Song said, "Let's talk outside. Let Nian'er rest well."
Everyone in the room retreated, and finally, it became quiet.
Zhuo Nian sat up, feeling slightly unwell, but fortunately, it was still her body, which did not make her too passive.
"Where is this place?"
"Little sister, haven't you received the memories? This is a mission world. The mission in this world is to clear the villain Baili Chongyan's blackening value, prevent the Battle of Yudu, and obtain merit points. When you accumulate 880 million merit points, you can win a special luxurious gift package from this game."
"Chongyan?" This name...
Her memories from thousands of years ago were not very clear, but this name, Zhuo Nian would never forget.
That person had a relationship with her, a very... intimate relationship. Later, Rong Jin betrayed her, making her forget many things, but she still remembered her betrayal, and this name.
"It's Baili Chongyan. He is the villain in this world. He is very pitiful, unloved by his father and mother, and was crippled by his own brother. The people of the world fear him and slander him. Over time, he became a bad person. Blackening value is the degree of his transformation into a bad person. It's already over sixty percent."
He was a tragic figure.
Hearing this, Zhuo Nian couldn't help but frown and ask, "Then what will happen if his blackening reaches full?"
"This also depends on the situation. If nothing is done, he will trigger the Battle of Yudu, causing immense suffering and displacement of people. The Great Sheng Dynasty will fall into a hundred years of war, during which there will be widespread misery and no one will be spared. He will be reviled for eternity and will not rest even in death."
So tragic.
Then, as he said, he was indeed a bit pitiful.
"Then how do I help him?"
The system's eyes lit up with surprise. "Little sister, you agree! That's great. By the way, little sister, I don't know your name yet. Let's refresh your information panel first."
Zhuo Nian understood every word, but put together, she understood nothing. She could only respond, "You decide."
"Okay."
The system quickly refreshed her information panel, and a new item appeared in Zhuo Nian's mind, a screen displaying her "information" from top to bottom.
"Name: Zhuo Nian"
"Gender: Female"
"Race: God"
"Merit Points: 6388800000"
"Faith Points: 8963000000"
"Mission Department: Strategy Department"
"Portable System: 007"
Before the system could even look, it stopped at the two strings of numbers above, counting them back and forth more than a dozen times, completely disbelieving its eyes.
Over 6 billion merit points. What kind of big shot had it bound itself to?
It could directly carry the mission to success. What was there to do a mission for?
Zhuo Nian also "saw" the strings of numbers and said, "Merit points? Is this what I need? Is it enough?"
Enough, enough, more than enough!
The system almost shouted out loud, but then it remembered that this mission had been stuck for who knows how many years. It was said that the Time Management Bureau was established for this mission. Over the years, no system or host had ever succeeded.
But no system was like it, having bound a big shot with billions of merit points.
So, should it try?
"Is it enough or not?"
The system immediately snapped back to its senses, its eyes darting around. It quickly made up its mind: "The numerical value is enough, but what we need are merit points obtained during the mission. This doesn't count."
Zhuo Nian frowned, but ultimately said nothing.
"Then do I have to do the mission now? How do I do it?"
"The mission is to protect the villain from harm. Give him whatever he wants, satisfy his inner desires, let his wishes come true, let go of his obsessions, give up revenge and harm. When he truly lets go of everything, you will gain merit."
It sounded quite easy.
Zhuo Nian was confident that she could complete it, so she nodded and agreed, "Okay, I'll start now. Where is he now?"
"In the prince's mansion." The system thought of something and reminded her again: "One more thing, little sister, what you do in the small world cannot be too outrageous. That is... you can't fly around, you can't reveal your true identity, and what you do should conform as much as possible to the original Song Nian's identity. In short, you can't break character."
She understood the former part, but what "character" meant, she was confused again.
However, imitating someone else's behavior was something Zhuo Nian was confident she could do. "En, I understand. So what should I do now?"