VAP - Chapter 7
Chapter 7: The Sleeping Beauty Whose Words Are Law (6)
Binding meant that before they left this small world, Yue Du's system data would reside in Qi Jiu's mental space until the final mission was either successful... or confirmed a failure.
Qi Jiu raised her wrist, looking at it in the sunlight. On the side of her wrist, which was as white as frost and snow, a small, black seven-pointed star had appeared.
This was the shape of Yue Du's identity brand, and for the duration of their contract, the same seven-pointed star would be engraved upon Qi Jiu's consciousness, like proof of their pact.
Qi Jiu watched it for a moment, blinked, and then said softly, "Does this mean you can only stay in this mental space from now on?"
Yue Du said seriously, "Yes—I can't leave until I have a body."
Qi Jiu hummed thoughtfully and added, "Then how are you supposed to be my housekeeper?"
The implication was clear: You promised to be an all-powerful housekeeper, but what good are you if you can't appear in the real world?
Useless!
Yue Du was unconcerned. "A voice-activated housekeeper. Although I can't leave your mental space, we can still communicate after you leave here. You can think of me as a smartphone's voice assistant, only smarter."
Qi Jiu felt deeply deceived and muttered to herself, "...So, everything you said a few minutes ago was just to trick the consumer."
"You're not a consumer, either. We're both employees of the Main God now. The only difference is that you're a temp worker who signed a contract with me, while I'm an indentured servant who signed a contract with the Main God himself."
Yue Du made a small joke, her deep amber eyes curving slightly, filled with a smile as clear and bright as fine sake. No one could stay angry after seeing it.
Qi Jiu shook her head and let out a soft laugh.
Their wrists were very close, the two identical seven-pointed stars facing each other, glinting with a dark luster.
After the binding, they could feel a subtle connection between them, as if an invisible thread now linked these two lives that had never crossed paths before.
The feeling wasn't bad.
Qi Jiu thought, closing her eyes to feel the warm light spilling down from above the temple, the curve of her lips never fading.
This world is so boring. To find such an interesting diversion amidst the daily laziness... that's not so bad.
Since this world's major turning point—the mass Esper Ability outbreak—wouldn't happen for another three years, the Main System didn't issue a mission immediately.
But that didn't mean there were no points to be earned.
Both hosts and systems received initial points in every small world. Qi Jiu had one hundred, while Yue Du, as a system, only had fifty.
In addition, even without completing missions, one point would be dropped every twenty-four hours.
The distribution for these naturally dropped points was a thirty-seventy split: Yue Du received thirty percent, and Qi Jiu seventy.
"This is a classic case of long-term workers being treated worse than short-term ones, and external hires getting better benefits than internal staff. It's completely unreasonable," Yue Du summarized.
Of course, this was just a joke. The distribution model set by the System Space was quite reasonable; there were no problems with it from any perspective.
After all, during most missions, the host took the lead while the system played a supporting role—a fact Yue Du was well aware of.
Qi Jiu clearly had no intention of saving these points for later.
Just as Yue Du had said, the system store contained countless fine items, many of which were luxuries that only the top figures from various small worlds were qualified to enjoy.
Qi Jiu, a patient in the terminal stages of laziness, used her points to buy many comfort items.
For example, exquisite dishes with the freshest and most beautiful flavors, extremely comfortable soft beds and sofas, and even fully automated smart grooming tools—a must-have for lazy people, hailing from a highly advanced technological world.
Yue Du wasn't surprised by this at all.
Anyway, these things weren't expensive. They were all little gadgets with no practical use, serving only to improve one's quality of life.
A table of top-tier cuisine cost only one point, and Qi Jiu's beloved fully automated grooming set was a mere five points. She spent them without feeling the pinch.
The most expensive thing Qi Jiu bought was a puppet talisman for twenty points. It had no special abilities, could only perform simple actions and dialogue, and was very stiff.
According to the description, the puppet talisman came from a cultivation world, but its price was very low, as it wasn't very useful.
But for Qi Jiu, it was very useful, because it could transform into a puppet with an appearance identical to the user's. If it stood next to the original, even their own parents wouldn't be able to tell them apart.
What was this? A divine tool for skipping school!
Normally, Qi Jiu kept to herself and would fall asleep as soon as she got to school. The other students had a natural reverence for such a mysterious figure and rarely spoke to her, so no one would notice anything amiss.
It all sounded wonderful.
However...
Watching the host eat, drink, and sleep all day was truly torture for a system!
In her previous life, Yue Du could be described as diligent, a model worker in her industry. From the big boss down to the junior assistants, no one could say a bad word about her.
But she would also secretly envy those who lived carefree lives.
There was once a junior agent at Star Media, the company next door, who went through a belated rebellious phase. He quit his job to "seek poetry and the distance," embarking on a spontaneous trip, only to then go home and inherit a multi-million-dollar fortune.
A junior assistant under Yue Du had mentioned this to her while they were chatting, her face full of envy.
Although Yue Du had calmly advised the junior assistant that "work has its own sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, and people must strive to realize their own value"—she knew in her heart how insincere those words were.
If they had the means, many people would just want to lie in bed like a salted fish, or spend their days eating, drinking, and having fun.
Times had changed. Now, Yue Du no longer had to work herself to death, but she couldn't enjoy much, either.
As a system, she naturally didn't have a sleep function. While Qi Jiu was sleeping in the real world or lying back and sunbathing in the mental space, Yue Du would sit beside her and watch movies.
To be honest, it was really a bit boring.
Although she hadn't seen any of this world's movies before, they all followed the same old tropes. In the end, all she could do was critique the actors' performances.
With her eyes closed, Qi Jiu scoffed:
"It's fine if you have bad taste, but don't poison my eyes and ears."
Yue Du: "..."
She silently switched to heavy metal rock.
Of course, Yue Du also did proper work.
She accessed the internet to understand this world the way a system does, recording all sorts of useful information—history, culture, technological level, the current situation—into her data.
No one knew when or what kind of mission the Main System would issue, so she had to be fully prepared.
After all, her host was a salted fish.
After the system's on-and-off efforts and the host's complete and utter laziness, the Main System finally issued a mission.
"Ding—"
"Issuing the first main quest: Go to S-City, find Xing Qingcang, and become his student."
"Time limit: one month. Reward: 500 points."
Author's Notes
Yue Du's evaluation of Qi Jiu evolves:
Sleeping Beauty → Koala → Salted Fish → ?
Is that really an evolution and not a devolution?!
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