VAP - Chapter 28
Chapter 28: The Sleeping Beauty Whose Words Are Law (27)
Half a month later, the Recovery Mist, swirling like clouds and smoke, arrived as scheduled.
This time, everyone understood the nature of the mist. In every military district and residential area, people rushed indoors as quickly as possible, watching with numb expressions as the mist swept over everything.
The higher-ups and researchers, however, were on high alert, analyzing what changes this new round of mist would bring—
Of course, once the Recovery Mist dissipated, they would discover it was merely the second wave of awakenings.
The power levels and number of Espers increased, but so did the number of mutated creatures. It was hard to say whether this was more beneficial to humanity or if it would push the situation in an even worse direction.
At Qi Jiu’s home.
By the floor-to-ceiling window, Yue Du was comfortably half-reclining on a beanbag chair, and Qi Jiu was opposite her.
Each occupied a beanbag chair, looking as lazy as two authentic salted fish lying belly-up.
“The Recovery Mist has arrived,” Yue Du said, glancing out the window.
With her eyes lowered, Qi Jiu lazily turned her head. “Yeah. Good luck.”
Yue Du smiled. “Coming from you, I’ll take that.”
Auspicious words from a Word Spirit user were truly auspicious.
Yue Du closed her eyes.
A fine, sharp pain began to radiate from deep within her body, gradually intensifying, as if sharp needles were piercing and churning through her blood vessels, muscles, and marrow.
Her head began to throb as well.
This was the shock of an Esper Ability awakening. Yue Du’s breathing grew ragged, and she couldn’t help but recall Qi Jiu’s condition when she had awakened her own ability.
Her mental space had clearly been in turmoil, yet her face had shown no sign of it. How had she managed that?
Speaking of mental spaces, did a System even have one? If so, was hers also in turmoil at this very moment…
As Yue Du’s thoughts ran wild, Qi Jiu rose and came to stand before her, leaning down.
Deep black eyes met deep amber ones, their faces very close. Qi Jiu’s slightly curled long hair slid from her shoulders, the ends just brushing against Yue Du’s waist.
Yue Du subconsciously held her breath.
Qi Jiu smiled and said softly, “Let your pain disappear.”
Due to its constraints, Qi Jiu’s Word Spirit ability normally couldn’t affect beings from outside the world. However, since Yue Du’s current body was in this small world, she naturally fell within the ability’s permissible range.
And so, the pain from the shock of the awakening receded like a tide.
Yue Du was genuinely impressed. “Wow, it can even do that!”
Qi Jiu said, “What did I tell you? I said I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. You wouldn’t even feel a thing.”
Yue Du was likely the world’s first and only painless awakener. Although the shock still affected her mentally, that bit of turmoil was nothing to her.
So, it really was easy to slack off with Qi Jiu around… Yue Du mused while playing Gomoku with her host. She lost this round, which meant she’d have to carry Qi Jiu back to the bedroom later.
About half an hour passed. The mental turmoil gradually subsided, and Yue Du suddenly had a feeling:
By my calculations, the shock of the awakening should be almost over. Does that mean I have an Esper Ability now?
Following her instinct, she raised her hand, spread her fingers, and focused her will.
A white glimmer suddenly condensed in her fair palm.
Yue Du entered analysis mode.
This ability should be elemental. Since it’s manifesting as white, it’s either light or metal. It has a sharp feel to it, so it’s most likely met—
Before she could finish her analysis, the color of the light changed to green.
Yue Du felt the words catch in her throat.
Then it turned red, then black, then yellow. The five colors flowed into one another, shining brilliantly.
The combination of these five colors was too classic for her not to recognize it. Yue Du quickly figured it out: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
“The Five Elements,” Qi Jiu said, giving a perfunctory clap beside her. “Well now, not bad at all.”
For a moment, Yue Du didn’t know what to say.
She knew that with Qi Jiu’s blessing, her ability was bound to be good. She had anticipated the best-case scenario would be a powerful offensive elemental type—at the very least, it wouldn’t be useless.
But she had never imagined she’d get such a deluxe package!
Besides, aren’t the Five Elements attributes usually reserved for the protagonist? Was it really okay to just give them to a System?
Yue Du’s expression was conflicted.
Qi Jiu, however, saw nothing wrong with it. “I told you it would be fine. Your ability is much more useful than Xing Qingcang’s.”
Yue Du remained noncommittal. It was true that her ability was comprehensive, but for that very reason, controlling it properly would be no easy feat.
If she couldn’t master each element because there were too many, it would be a huge problem.
With a complex expression, she watched the light fade away, then silently began experimenting—igniting a small flame, condensing a ball of water, manipulating a potted plant…
As she played around, she found it quite interesting.
After all, who hadn’t read a few fantasy novels? And that was before she’d even entered the entertainment industry.
As an agent’s assistant, she had read scripts along with her artists. Once she became a full-fledged agent, she had to vet even more of them.
Many of those scripts had fantasy settings. After reading so many, she couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to have superpowers. Now that she could finally experience it for herself, how could she not be thrilled?
—And so, Qi Jiu was, as a matter of course, ignored.
The young lady was not pleased. “Hmph. Women. Always chasing after new things.”
Without looking up, Yue Du corrected her, “I’m not a person, I’m a System.”
Qi Jiu raised an eyebrow. “A she-stem?”
Yue Du was so taken aback by the term that she looked up. After a moment of picturing it, she said with a headache, “Let’s just stick with woman.”
Qi Jiu laughed. “She-stem or woman, you’re still fickle. Case closed.”
The ‘old’ was her host, and the ‘new’ was her Esper Ability. She was so preoccupied with her new power that she ignored her poor, lonely host standing right beside her. If that wasn’t being fickle, what was?
Yue Du was speechless. “…” You? Lonely and helpless? Really?
In the end, Yue Du had no choice but to explore her ability with Qi Jiu. This time, she wasn’t casting aside the old for the new; she was enjoying the new with the old.
Not long after, the Main System issued a new main quest: subdue several mutated creatures.
A list followed, detailing their nicknames, species, and locations.
Compared to the chaos factions, the mutated creatures offered a higher reward: 200 points each.
Qi Jiu remarked, “Well now. The system is dead set on making me steal the protagonist’s role, isn’t it? What’s next? A fight against the stubborn higher-ups who oppose Espers?”
In the original plot, confronting the chaos factions and eliminating mutated creatures that threatened humanity were all jobs for Xing Qingcang and his protagonist team.
She had already casually wiped out the most troublesome chaos factions, and the few that remained had gone into hiding to keep a low profile.
The mutated creatures… would likely meet the same fate.
Qi Jiu’s plan was to continue being a salted fish until the world restored some semblance of order. At that point, she could blend into society disguised as an ordinary teleportation Esper. Wouldn’t that be nice?
In fact, someone in charge of recruiting Espers had contacted her online, hoping she would report to the Shengjing City Military District and put her teleportation ability to good use.
But Qi Jiu had no intention of responding. She just pretended she’d lost her phone and was unreachable.
After a few attempts, the recruiter on the other end stopped trying, likely assuming the girl had already met an unfortunate end…
Thus, Qi Jiu was able to happily continue her salted fish lifestyle.
However, things don’t always go according to plan, not even for the world’s only Word Spirit Esper.
The day after the quest was issued, Qi Jiu teleported behind a mutated black tiger while holding her system’s hand, only to unexpectedly come face-to-face with the protagonist’s team, who were fighting the very same tiger.
Qi Jiu: “…”
Yue Du: “…”
Running into people during a mission wasn’t the problem. The problem was running into acquaintances.
Although Qi Jiu didn’t consider herself familiar with Xing Qingcang, he certainly was familiar with her!
They had kept in touch for nearly three years. For Professor Xing, who loved his experiments far more than socializing, Qi Jiu could be considered a friend despite their age gap—a ten-year gap, to be precise.
Besides, this young lady was the shining hope of traditional martial arts in his father’s eyes, and she was the communication bridge between him and that legendary genius next door—the one who was “so rich he could fund any physics experiment he wanted but preferred to remain unknown.”
Therefore, upon seeing Qi Jiu appear behind the mutated black tiger, Xing Qingcang’s first reaction was: “Qi Jiu? What are you doing here? It’s dangerous, get out of here quickly!”
Glancing at the black tiger, which was clearly a powerhouse, and then at the battered and bruised members of his team, Qi Jiu said coolly, “I think you’re the ones in more danger.”
Hearing the movement behind it, the black tiger whipped its head around. It let out a deafening roar, a vicious glint in its enormous eyes.
Although its intelligence wasn’t high, it was indeed much smarter than before its mutation.
At the very least, it could tell that the two delicate, fair-skinned, and pretty young women behind it would be far more appetizing than the tough, thick-skinned men before it.
“Roar—”
Its tail swept toward them like a long whip, a single blow powerful enough to snap an ordinary person in two.
Lightning gathered in Xing Qingcang’s hands. “Watch out!”
Qi Jiu’s reaction was incredibly fast. She spread her arms, swept Yue Du into a princess carry, and retreated a few light steps, neatly dodging the attack.
Having missed its target, the tail regretfully retracted.
Seizing the opportunity, Xing Qingcang unleashed a bolt of lightning, but the black tiger dodged it nimbly.
It realized the protagonist’s team was a tough nut to crack and had no intention of tangling with them further. It just wanted to snatch the two tender, delicious-looking morsels and call it a day.
Its massive black body turned to face them, its head lowered in a clear sign of attack.
Qi Jiu: “Tsk.”
Just as she was about to use her Word Spirit ability, Yue Du stopped her, whispering, “Let me do it.”
Qi Jiu raised an eyebrow, a flicker of interest in her eyes. She took a step back. “Alright. It’s a good opportunity for some practical training.”
For the past several days, Yue Du had been practicing her Five Elements ability. Her training methods included, but were not limited to, downloading and studying information about superpowers, expending her energy until her ability was completely drained, and sparring with Qi Jiu.
It wasn’t easy to get such a lazy person to be her sparring partner.
Even without using Word Spirit, Qi Jiu’s physical strength was astonishing. Most Espers would probably have a hard time defeating her.
Yue Du’s progress was plain to see.
Before the protagonist team’s shocked eyes, Yue Du used only the fire element to beat the black tiger until it was completely disoriented. It lost consciousness and collapsed with a thunderous crash.
In truth, the fact that Xing Qingcang had already injured the black tiger was a contributing factor; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy to knock out one of the creatures on the list.
But that didn’t stop the protagonist’s team from seeing Yue Du as a hidden master. The sight of a slender, fair-skinned young woman taking down a giant beast in a few swift moves was simply too stunning.
With the threatening black tiger gone, everyone on the protagonist team breathed a sigh of relief.
Xing Qingcang stepped forward hesitantly. “Student Qi Jiu, long time no see. Is this… your friend?”
Qi Jiu beamed, linking her arm through Yue Du’s. Her tone was intimate. “You need to add a word to that. She’s my girlfriend.”
Xing Qingcang: “?!!!”
Yue Du: “…”
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