Chapter 57: I’m a Vibe of Delicate Weakness (26)
Space travel was both interesting and boring. For long stretches, the scenery outside the window was monotonous, but occasionally, they would see beautiful, unique space scenery, and everyone would gather by the windows to watch.
During this time, fewer and fewer people were resistant, mostly filled with anticipation for their new lives. Living day-to-day was too painful, no one wanted to go back.
Jiang Zhiyan could clearly sense Si Xu’s desire to separate, she could even feel it about to happen, but for some reason, every time it reached its peak, Si Xu would pull back.
“Do you still have any attachments to this world?”
“Attachments?”
“Or any unfulfilled dreams or regrets?” Jiang Zhiyan continued.
Si Xu stroked her chin: “Can you take me with you next time you cause trouble for them?”
Jiang Zhiyan: ?
“I thought your wish would be related to me.”
“Since I’m asking you to take me with you, it’s related.”
Jiang Zhiyan snorted softly.
Jiang Zhiyan took Si Xu with her the next day. Those people, unconcerned, glanced at Si Xu.
“You know we don’t hold back, if something happens to her, it won’t be good.”
“I don’t hold back either, and haven’t you all still got your arms and legs?” Jiang Zhiyan held up her knife.
Then they discovered that Si Xu was also a monster.
At first, she was on the receiving end, but Si Xu improved too quickly, soon able to fight them to a draw. They had originally planned to go easy on her to avoid angering the psycho watching the fight, but now they had to take her seriously.
And they felt like Si Xu wasn’t learning, but remembering. Many things clearly weren’t learned from them.
They came to cause trouble for Jiang Zhiyan, but it ended up being a sparring session.
Fortunately, they would arrive tomorrow, and when they reached their destination… they had already prepared a “grand gift” for Jiang Zhiyan. They had received permission, upon arrival, Jiang Zhiyan would be taken away separately.
They looked at Jiang Zhiyan and Si Xu leaving, exchanging glances.
It had been a long time since they felt this sense of anticipation.
However, the next morning, when they gathered to disembark, they noticed that Jiang Zhiyan and Si Xu had changed. Although they were still holding hands, they felt completely different.
And their friends didn’t seem to notice anything wrong.
“We were played, how did they leave?”
“Should we still deal with them?”
“Heh, do they even look like they know anything? I told you Jiang Zhiyan was a monster from somewhere else.”
…
“Host, they’re furious.”
“Really dead, or fake dead?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
“I was just exaggerating.” The system was speechless.
Jiang Zhiyan sat cross-legged on the bed, carefully merging the newly acquired soul fragment with the previous one. She stared at it for a while, the corners of her lips curling up slightly.
“Host, I’ve applied for a mental health check-up for you, please go.”
Jiang Zhiyan: ?
“I’m perfectly normal.” Jiang Zhiyan frowned.
“Normal my ass! Host, don’t avoid seeing a doctor, many taskers develop psychological problems, it’s okay.”
“I’m not going.” Jiang Zhiyan lay down on the bed. “Take me to the next world directly.”
“Then aren’t you going to look at the settlement for the previous world?”
“Don’t want to, it’s boring, next one, please.” Jiang Zhiyan closed her eyes. “There’s no need to come back here if it weren’t for putting the soul fragment back.”
System: …
“Doing missions frequently might cause problems.” The system was a bit worried about Jiang Zhiyan’s physical and mental state.
“It won’t, don’t waste time, hurry up.” Jiang Zhiyan took a deep breath, eager to see her wife.
Every minute and second without her wife by her side was a waste of time.
Opening her eyes this time, she was met with chaos again.
Jiang Zhiyan saw a familiar face stab her with a sword, and she froze for a second, but quickly reacted. This must be fake.
“Although it’s fake, Host, why did you base your judgment on that?” The system didn’t understand.
Jiang Zhiyan clutched the wound and slowly knelt down, looking at the person opposite her with a sad and pitiful expression.
The other person stared at her, stunned.
“Yan Yan, are you okay?” A man quickly ran over, trying to help Jiang Zhiyan up.
Jiang Zhiyan nimbly dodged: Where did this annoying man come from?
“Jiang Ciqiu, I told you, Yan Yan isn’t very good at this, can’t you be gentler?”
“Didn’t she set her pain receptors to zero? She begged Qiu Qiu to teach her, and now she’s acting like this, I’m speechless, Qiu Qiu, let’s go, don’t bother with them.”
“Jiang Zhiyan’s pain receptors are at zero, what are you even feeling pain from?” Another person said, checking Jiang Zhiyan’s data panel.
“My heart aches from being hurt by my sister.” Jiang Zhiyan replied.
System: What a drama queen.
While they were arguing, Jiang Zhiyan had already absorbed the entire plot.
This was a cliché, old-fashioned, full-dive VRMMORPG novel, with many elements, including amnesia, switched-at-birth, and mistaken identity.
Jiang Ciqiu and the female supporting character were both from the Jiang family, but Jiang Ciqiu was the true daughter, while the female supporting character was adopted later. Her parents were the Jiang family’s benefactors. Because she was good with words and sweet-tongued, coupled with the Jiang family’s guilt towards her, they treated her even better than Jiang Ciqiu. However, they would later discover that Jiang Ciqiu wasn’t actually a Jiang either, she was the daughter of the richest man, switched at birth.
Liang Yan was Jiang Ciqiu’s fiancé. The female supporting character was interested in everything that belonged to Jiang Ciqiu, so she was also interested in Liang Yan. Liang Yan was saved from drowning by a girl when he was little. Due to the female supporting character’s insinuations, he thought it was her, so he sided with her. Of course, he would later discover that it was actually the female lead who saved him.
The male lead was someone else, someone Jiang Ciqiu met while playing the game. Yes, this game she was currently in. The in-game drama was no less intense than the real-world drama.
The female supporting character’s ending was tragic. The Jiang family’s true daughter had a terrible temper and didn’t fall for her tricks. Later, the Jiang family gave her some money and kicked her out. Although she could have lived a comfortable life, she went to find Liang Yan and was eventually killed by him, who blamed her for ruining his relationship with Jiang Ciqiu.
“Here we go again, Jiang Zhiyan, aren’t you disgusted with yourself? If you don’t want to play, then don’t. This is how the game is.” The girl speaking directly dragged Jiang Ciqiu away.
Before leaving, Jiang Ciqiu glanced at Jiang Zhiyan, who was still looking at her with a strange expression.
The game was called “Cultivation Online,” the world’s first full-dive VRMMORPG, extremely popular, focusing on a realistic cultivation experience, similar to cultivation novels.
“Pay-to-win and grind-heavy.” Jiang Zhiyan commented after glancing at the game introduction.
Jiang Ciqiu and the others were among the first beta testers and had been playing for two years now, their cultivation at the Spirit Severing stage, all ranking among the top players. Jiang Zhiyan joined recently, begging them to play with her, complaining that she was too weak, and asking Jiang Ciqiu to spar with her, hence the scene just now.
“Yan Yan, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Liang Yan standing beside her and smiled politely. “I’m a little hungry, I’ll log off first, you guys have fun.”
After saying that, without waiting for Liang Yan to respond, she disappeared on the spot.
Jiang Zhiyan took off the VR headset.
“Is my relationship with Jiang Ciqiu very bad?” Jiang Zhiyan leaned back in her chair and frowned.
“You unilaterally treat her as an enemy, but she actually looks down on you, most of the time she just goes along with what you want because you’re annoying when you throw a tantrum.” The system said. “However, the female supporting character thinks Jiang Ciqiu’s compromise is her own victory.”
“Most of the time she goes along with what I want?” Jiang Zhiyan smiled mysteriously.
System: ???
“What are you planning to do?”
Jiang Zhiyan glanced at the time: “I’m scared, so I want to sleep with my sister, is there a problem with that?”
System: …
Both Jiang Zhiyan and Jiang Ciqiu were students at the same university, same year, neither living on campus. The Jiang family arranged apartments for them near the university.
Actually, Jiang Ciqiu preferred living on campus, but whenever she mentioned it, the female supporting character would ask her at family gatherings if she had done something wrong. In the end, she was trapped in this apartment, tortured by the female supporting character.
Jiang Ciqiu was truly tolerant.
Thinking of Jiang Ciqiu living next door, Jiang Zhiyan’s smile widened.
System: Mommy, there’s a pervert, run!
Jiang Zhiyan knocked on Jiang Ciqiu’s door. After ten seconds, the door opened. Perhaps because she was used to being tormented, her expression was calm.
Jiang Ciqiu looked very different from her in-game avatar. She was plain-looking in the game, but in real life, she was a cool beauty with striking features. However, being plain-looking in the game was even more conspicuous than being beautiful, after all, they could customize their appearances, most people made themselves handsome or beautiful.
“What’s the matter?” Jiang Ciqiu asked.
“Come have dinner with me.”
Jiang Ciqiu frowned.
“And go shopping with me after dinner.”
“Out of money?” Jiang Ciqiu asked. “I’ll transfer some to you.”
“Not short of money, short of company.” Jiang Zhiyan tugged on the hem of Jiang Ciqiu’s clothes.
Jiang Ciqiu frowned, glancing at Jiang Zhiyan’s hand, and subtly took a step back, letting the fabric slip from Jiang Zhiyan’s grasp.
Jiang Zhiyan looked at Jiang Ciqiu with a pitiful expression.
“What time?” Jiang Ciqiu asked patiently.
“Whenever you’re free. Is six okay?”
“Six?” Jiang Ciqiu glanced at her watch, it was already 5:30. “I see.”
She didn’t say when she was free because she knew Jiang Zhiyan was just being polite, and she wasn’t actually asking for her opinion.
Although she didn’t know what Jiang Zhiyan was planning, it was better to avoid trouble.
Jiang Ciqiu went back to her room to change, then went out with Jiang Zhiyan.
Because it was rush hour, driving would take who knew how long, so they chose to take the subway. Although the subway was also crowded, at least they wouldn’t be stuck in traffic.
As they entered the subway station, Jiang Zhiyan automatically looped her arm through Jiang Ciqiu’s.
Jiang Ciqiu frowned and looked at Jiang Zhiyan again. She was holding on tight, and Jiang Ciqiu tried to pull her arm away, but couldn’t.
It was fine, at least she wouldn’t get lost and call the others, accusing Jiang Ciqiu of deliberately leaving her behind.
Jiang Zhiyan sighed inwardly. At least in the previous two worlds, they started from zero, this time it was a negative number. Although Jiang Ciqiu hid most of her emotions, Jiang Zhiyan could still sense her utter rejection, from head to toe.
“Host, you can’t force someone to like you.” The system said, suppressing its laughter.
“You don’t understand.” Jiang Zhiyan didn’t want to talk to it.
They squeezed onto the train with the crowd. There were no seats left, but they were lucky enough to find a corner to lean against.
Jiang Zhiyan held Jiang Ciqiu’s hand and, when the person in front bumped into them, she put her arm out to block the impact, then put her hand down after the person steadied themselves.
Jiang Ciqiu noticed her actions and looked at her.
“Thank you, but you don’t need to do that.” Jiang Ciqiu said.
Jiang Zhiyan glared at Jiang Ciqiu, who didn’t understand what she meant, but she wasn’t interested in figuring out Jiang Zhiyan’s intentions, so she looked away.
They got off the train at their stop, following the crowd.
Their hands hadn’t separated the entire time.
Actually, Jiang Ciqiu had several valid reasons to let go, but she held on every time, either pulling Jiang Zhiyan closer or moving closer herself.
Jiang Zhiyan smiled at Jiang Ciqiu: “Sister.”
“Don’t call me that.” Jiang Ciqiu’s skin crawled whenever she heard this address. “Just call me by my name.”
Whenever Jiang Zhiyan called her that, it meant trouble.
“Okay, Sister, what do you want to eat?”
“Anything, I’m not picky.”
“Oh, then I’ll choose.” Jiang Zhiyan operated her phone with one hand, her other hand swinging Jiang Ciqiu’s hand.
Jiang Ciqiu leaned against the wall, opening her phone.
[AAA Professional Lotus Root Hole Puncher: Why did you log off? Weren’t you going to the secret realm today?]
[AAA Professional Maple Leaf Dyer: She asked me to go out for dinner and shopping with her.]
[AAA Professional Air Polluter: And you went? Couldn’t you just refuse? She’s just taking advantage of your good nature.]
[AAA Professional Maple Leaf Dyer: Our family owes her.]
…
Jiang Ciqiu glanced at Jiang Zhiyan, who had already chosen a restaurant, and without asking her, dragged her away.
They went to the top floor of the Haishi Building.
Jiang Ciqiu: ?
“Here?” Jiang Ciqiu asked.
“Yes.” Jiang Zhiyan nodded.
Nice view, private rooms, delicious food, it met Jiang Zhiyan’s requirements. Most importantly, this was a well-known couple’s restaurant, even though it wasn’t explicitly stated, all the couples were sitting by the glass wall.
They ordered many dishes; the portions weren’t very large.
Jiang Zhiyan took a picture of the night view, then leaned closer to Jiang Ciqiu and took several pictures with her.
Jiang Ciqiu looked at the camera, her expression unchanged, she smiled, nothing wrong with it, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t genuine.
Every time they went out, Jiang Zhiyan would insist on taking pictures with her and posting them on social media, showcasing their sisterly love. Those who didn’t know better would think she adored her “sister.”
Jiang Ciqiu looked out the window, resting her chin on her hand.
Jiang Zhiyan looked at Jiang Ciqiu, also resting her chin on her hand. She looked down at the pictures she had just taken, Jiang Ciqiu’s body language screaming “rejection” and “resistance.”
She turned off her phone.
Jiang Ciqiu, feeling Jiang Zhiyan’s gaze, turned her head: “Is there something?”
Jiang Zhiyan rested her chin on her hand: “Nothing, just wanted to look at Sister.”
“I’m sorry about what happened this afternoon. Sword Cultivator might not be suitable for you, you could try Medical Cultivator.” Jiang Ciqiu said tactfully.
Jiang Zhiyan frowned: “Then I can’t be in the same sect as Sister, and we can’t do sect missions together.”
The sect Jiang Ciqiu chose was purely for Sword Cultivators, Medical Cultivators were hired externally.
“Even if we’re in the same sect, I can’t bring you along, your level is too low, the secret realms we go to are too dangerous for you.” Jiang Ciqiu said.
Jiang Zhiyan bit her lip: “Sister, do you not want to play with me?”
Hearing Jiang Zhiyan speak like this made Jiang Ciqiu’s head hurt.
“Then I’ll be a Medical Cultivator. Every Sword Cultivator can partner with a Medical Cultivator, you…” Jiang Zhiyan started to say.
“But I’ve already partnered with Lin Qian. She’s been my partner for a long time.” Jiang Ciqiu said apologetically. “You can partner with Liang Yan.”
“No.” Jiang Zhiyan frowned. “Sister doesn’t need me, then I’ll figure it out myself.”
She lowered her head, staring at her plate.
“Hahaha, Host, look who’s getting rejected now, after having it so easy before, hahahahaha.” The system laughed.
Jiang Zhiyan ignored it. It was a bit troublesome, but not too troublesome.
The dishes arrived.
Jiang Zhiyan didn’t speak much after that, clearly feeling down. Jiang Ciqiu glanced at Jiang Zhiyan several times, but didn’t ask anything.
Jiang Zhiyan, feeling Jiang Ciqiu’s glances, lowered her head further and wiped away a tear.
Jiang Ciqiu felt irritated, but she still said: “You can practice for now, I have an alt account.”
“Oh.” Jiang Zhiyan responded.
After the meal, Jiang Zhiyan paid. Jiang Ciqiu glanced at her; Jiang Zhiyan usually paid.
Jiang Ciqiu watched Jiang Zhiyan walk towards the subway station and looked back at the mall: “Weren’t you going to go shopping?”
“I’m full, I don’t want to shop anymore, let’s go back, don’t you have something to do?”
The subway was still crowded, but Jiang Zhiyan didn’t hold her hand this time.
They were quickly separated by the crowd. Jiang Ciqiu, frowning, looked at the back of Jiang Zhiyan’s head and quickly caught up.
“Host, I found out that I can access that full-dive VR game, I want to play too.” The system said excitedly.
“Have you even created an account already?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
“Heehee, I created a virtual identity, I’ll carry you, Host. Let me tell you, in this kind of world, I’m incredibly powerful, hohoho.”
Jiang Zhiyan scoffed.
“Don’t underestimate me, I’ll reach the top of the server rankings in no time.”
“Do you have money to spend on the game?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
The system was silent, then said after a minute: “Using one point to exchange for some money to play games, it’s not a big deal, right?”
“Once you start, you can’t stop. Hopefully, there’s still something left in your piggy bank after this.”
“Ha, I’m an AI, you know? I still have some self-control.” The system said unhappily. “What should I play? Let me see… Sword Cultivator, it’s cool, dual cultivation of swordsmanship and magic is also good, but it’s very expensive.”
The system rambled on.
Jiang Zhiyan entered the station, queued at the subway door, and Jiang Ciqiu finally caught up. They didn’t speak, entering the train in silence and standing in a corner.
Jiang Ciqiu looked down at her phone, Jiang Zhiyan spaced out.
“Host, what are you planning to do now?” The system wanted to see things go wrong, but it didn’t want a bad ending.
“No rush.”
Back home, Jiang Zhiyan poured herself a glass of water and went back to her room. Jiang Ciqiu looked at the closed door.
[AAA Professional Maple Leaf Dyer: Logging in, I’m back.]
[AAA Professional Lotus Root Hole Puncher: So fast? Doesn’t that young miss always shop until closing time?]
[AAA Professional Maple Leaf Dyer: Accidentally annoyed her, so I came back.]
[AAA Professional Air Polluter: Ah? Is she going to cause trouble for you again?]
[AAA Professional Maple Leaf Dyer: No, she’s just not talking to me.]
[AAA Professional Air Polluter: I hope she never talks to you again. Come on, log in, it’s getting late, who knows how much loot is left in the secret realm.]
Jiang Zhiyan also logged into the game after returning to her room, but turned on invisibility, she couldn’t be bothered to deal with others. Seeing the system appear beside her, she froze: “Didn’t you say you had self-control? Why did you buy so many outfits?”
“They were too beautiful, I couldn’t resist.” The system, using the name Jiang Xitong, twirled around. “How is it? Do I look good? Is my face pretty? I spent an hour customizing it.”
“It’s okay, so how much did you spend?”
“Two points.”
“One point exchanges for 10,000 yuan, two points is 20,000 yuan.” Jiang Zhiyan was speechless and transferred 100,000 game currency to the system.
System: ???
“Host, you’re such a nice person.” The system jumped up excitedly.
“Liang Yan transferred 1,000,000 to me.”
“If you give me a tenth of that, I’ll be satisfied.” The system had always considered Jiang Zhiyan a miser.
“Why did you choose this name?” Jiang Zhiyan stared at its name.
“Jiang Zhiyan’s system, short for Jiang System, I thought it didn’t sound very nice, so I changed it a bit. Let’s go, Host, let’s do some missions, don’t waste time, let’s at least reach the Foundation Establishment stage today.”
“How is your bone structure level ten? And a Heavenly Spiritual Root?” The system looked at its own stats, bone structure level three, three spiritual roots.
“I spent money to reroll it.”
“Wait, let me cheat a bit.”
Jiang Zhiyan: …
Thirty seconds later, the system’s stats were also bone structure level ten, Heavenly Spiritual Root.
“Ridiculous.”
“Don’t underestimate me, I can actually directly ascend to immortality.” The system said proudly.
“Boring, me too.”
Jiang Zhiyan still joined the Medicine King Valley sect. She had a wood-elemental Heavenly Spiritual Root and was directly accepted as a direct disciple of an elder without needing any tests. The system, following the principle of proximity, joined the Jade Flower Sect next to Medicine King Valley and was also accepted as a direct disciple because of its spiritual root and bone structure.
They each took on sect missions and started wandering around.
In the book, the female supporting character would follow behind others and gain experience by just hitting monsters, and those monsters were far above her level, so she leveled up very quickly. Now, starting from basic missions, even with the bonus from her bone structure and spiritual root, although faster than most people, it still couldn’t compare to her speed in the book.
“Too much grinding.” Jiang Zhiyan complained. “Just let it run on auto-pilot for me, I don’t want to play anymore.”
System: ?
“I just gave you 100,000.”
System: …
As expected, there was no such thing as a free lunch.
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