Ye Ruo opened her eyes and found that she had returned to a familiar space.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the task. Receiving 500.000 experience points and 30 attribute points.]
A familiar mechanical voice echoed inside her mind, but Ye Ruo didn't seem to care. She just blankly stared at the starry sky above her.
It was as beautiful as always. Long ago, the first time she woke up and saw the scenery, she thought that she would never feel bored staring at it for eternity. As a lost soul came from a high polluted plane, she almost forgot what the color of the sky was. That was the reason why she loved looking at those stars so much, even though she knew that everything in this space was only strings of data.
But today, just a sight of it caused a chill inside her heart.
She had completed so many tasks that she had lost count and returned to this place was just another beginning of another nightmare for her.
Ye Ruo clenched her fist so hard, but she couldn't feel anything.
'Ah, I forgot, I am just a soul here...'
In this system space, she didn't have a physical form. She was only a soul chained to the central system and her sole purpose of existence was to repair those planes that almost collapse by completing various tasks.
Ye Ruo felt a slight pain in her soul as virtual chains tightened around her core. She rigidly looked at her chest.
The previous task was categorized as 'S-grade' and the difficulty couldn't be compared with another task she ever took before. Although she got a lot of experience points after so much effort, still she felt bitter as she had to pay such a high price to the point that her soul almost vanish completely. Yet she couldn't reject the task.
Completing more tasks would only strengthen her soul. The stronger her soul to be, the higher the grade of the tasks she must complete. The higher the grade of a task was, the more dangerous it would and the percentage of completion would be also reduced significantly.
Just look at her soul right now!
Ye Ruo cringed at how dim her soul was at the moment. In the center of her chest, she saw virtual chains flashed as it wrapped tightly around a crystal-like deep purple core as big as a baby's fist. She could even see some little cracks on it.
'I wounded my soul quite severely this time. ', she thought in frustration.
"6RD, show me the stats panel!"
She estimated that her current soul stats had reduced a lot, but still wanted to check for certain, so she could calculate how long would it take for her to fully recover.
[Ding! Opening statistics panel.]
The moment that flashing transparent book-sized panel appeared in front of her, Ye Ruo was slack-jawed.
Name: Ye Ruo <6RD>
Rank :S
Experience Points : (500.000/4.300.000)
Soul: 12 (-59)
Intelligence : 25 (-46)
Health : 23 (-48)
Charm : 10 (-61)
Luck: 20 (-51)
Language: Auto
Abilities :
Basic Cooking
Intermediate Cooking (Locked)
Advanced Cooking (Locked)
Master Cooking (Locked)
Basic Crafting
Intermediate Crafting (Locked)
Advanced Crafting (Locked)
Master Crafting (Locked)
Basic Combat
Intermediate Combat (Locked)
Advanced Combat (Locked)
Master Combat (Locked)
Additional Attributes: None
All her stats...
reduced by approximately more than 60%!
And all her hard-gained abilities and additional attributes were back to default.
Impossible!!!
Ye Ruo blinked several times. She thought that her eyesight might have a problem but those red numbers were so bright to the point of hurting not only her eyes but also made her heart bleed continuously.
'These numbers... I can't even compare to a novice task-taker.'
She couldn't be any more frustrated. The damage to her soul was more severe than she expected. Even though she had prepared for the impact, but after seeing it for real, she still felt terribly shocked.
'S***!! I knew it! They all schemed against me. At this rate, I will forever be chained to this shitty system without being able to regain my freedom!'
As she cursed the central system in her heart with every foul word she could ever think of, another notification from 6RD came.
[Ding! Recommending automatic points allocation and statistics update. Yes/No?]
Ye Ruo inhaled heavily before she chose the 'Yes' option.
Fortunately, she got 30 attribute points...
[Ding! Automatic allocating attribute points, completed.]
[Updating statistics. 1%...]
2%
3%
4%
5%
...
[...100% statistics update completed. Opening panel.]
Name: Ye Ruo <6RD>
Rank: E
Experience Points : (500.000/500.000)
Soul:12
Intelligence : 30
Health: 28
Charm: 20
Luck: 30
Language: Auto
Abilities :
Basic Cooking
Intermediate Cooking (Locked)
Advanced Cooking (Locked)
Master Cooking (Locked)
Basic Crafting
Intermediate Crafting (Locked)
Advanced Crafting (Locked)
Master Crafting (Locked)
Basic Combat
Intermediate Combat (Locked)
Advanced Combat (Locked)
Master Combat (Locked)
Additional Attributes: None
Ye Ruo sighed dejectedly. As expected, her rank dropped right from S to E. That meant, she had to start all over again.
'It is good that I didn't lose that 500.000 experience points. I can convert it into some attribute points rather than using it to upgrade my rank to D.'
"6RD, I want to convert my 500.000 exp into attribute points.", she immediately gave her order. The most important thing right now was to gain as many attribute points as possible. With her current stats that was still below the standard, entering a plane was basically a suicidal act.
[Ding! Execute order. Converting experience points, completed. Gaining 18 attribute points. Automatic points allocation. Yes/No?]
"No. I will do it manually."
Automatic allocation was not a wise choice for the current situation. After experiencing many lifetimes, Ye Ruo couldn't be more familiar with the basic requirements to complete a task. Since every task required a different approach, she had to be more careful with her choices.
Ye Ruo allocated all the points into soul, as after automatic allocation, it didn't get even a single point. Her current soul was too weak. To successfully entered a plane, it needed quite a large amount of soul force. Just merely 12 points wasn't enough for her soul even to endure the frictions inside the space tunnel. Not to mention to penetrate the world's barrier...
'Only an additional of 18 points, I hope it is enough.'
Ye Ruo didn't want to waste any more time. Waiting in this space wouldn't bring her any advantages after all.
"6RD, send me to the next plane!"
[Ding! Sending host to the next plane. Have a safe journey!]
A light vortex formed, thoroughly engulfed Ye Ruo inside it before completely disappeared.
Ye Ruo felt a huge force almost ripped her soul into shreds. It was unimaginably painful.
'As expected, just 30 points is still not enough!', she was panicked. Certainly, the frictions would weaken her soul even more.
Hopefully, she could penetrate the world's barrier and successfully entered the plane, or else all her efforts would be wasted.
----------------------------
"Shen ZhongMing! You owe us an explanation! How could Ruo'er fall from the 2nd-floor balcony? She is just a 10 years old disabled girl. She is in a wheelchair and her body is weak, how could she jump off by herself?"
Ye Ruo slowly opened her eyes. The first thing entered her sight was a white ceiling.
'I did it.'
She was relieved that she could get through the first hurdle. But she also had to admit that it really was not a pleasant experience. In the future, every time she remembered about it, she would feel deeply relieved as she wiped the cold sweat on her forehead.
'That was so close. I almost couldn't hold it. A little bit more and my soul would completely vanish.'
Ye Ruo was still absent-minded when another angry roar was heard from outside.
"Ruo'er is usually very obedient. Since the car accident 3 years ago, she becomes a lot more quiet. Even the police said that it was impossible. How could you say the opposite? Do you treat all of us here as fools? We are aware of how you dislike her. Just because you have no feeling for her mother, no matter what, Ruo'er is still the child of your legal wife. But you pamper that bastard son of yours and that mistress more. Do you still have your conscience?"
Ye Ruo turned her head stiffly, looking at the door in confusion.
'Is this... in a hospital?'
She looked at her surroundings. She was lying in a hospital bed with some wires attached to her body. IV drip needle pierced through the skin of the back of her hand. For the first time since she woke up, she felt pain all over her body.
She hadn't asked 6RD about the storyline yet. So, after finding her body's current condition, she was quite vexed.
"6RD, show me the storyline!", she ordered impatiently.
She hadn't been in such a bad condition for a long time. And from the 'conversation' outside, she could guess the story quite a bit.
[Ding! Start transmitting the storyline. 1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
...
100% Transmission completed.]
Ye Ruo felt a terrible headache as fragments of memories entered her brain. Her face instantly turned pale.
Is this an E-grade task?
It can't be!
Ye Ruo was currently occupying the body of 10 years old disabled young miss of Shen family, Shen Ruo. Her father, Shen ZhongMing was the current head of the family and also the C.E.O of Shen Group, a giant business entity in Y country.
Shen family had taken root in the capital city for more than 100 years and since 20 years ago, its influence had reached deep into the military.
Shen Ruo's birth mother, Han LuoYa, was the only daughter of the old general Han. She didn't possess a beauty that could destroy a nation, but everybody could see that she was graceful and had a good personality. 20 years ago, she married Shen ZhongMing as his legal wife.
The 20 years old Shen ZhongMing was a very handsome young man. In addition to his capability as the heir of Shen Group, it was not weird if Han LuoYa became so infatuated with him.
Unfortunately, Shen ZhongMing only treated their marriage as a form of transaction for the mutual benefits of both parties. He never loved Han LuoYa.
For 10 years of their marriage, the couple was still not blessed with an offspring. Shen ZhongMing didn't seem to mind and still treated his wife with care and respect, but Han LuoYa was very anxious. She found many doctors and became devastated when the result said that she couldn't give birth to a child.
After that, it was a cliche.
As expected, Han LuoYa couldn't stand the pressure. She fell ill and had to be bedridden. On another hand, Shen ZhongMing because of business matters had to often travel to C country where then he met Yan Mei, a poor art student who worked part-time in a coffee shop where he usually bought his breakfast. Because of this frequent meeting, both of them fell in love with each other.
The moment Han LouYa got wind of her husband's affair, it was too late as Yan Mei had already pregnant for more than 4 months. With her personality, it was obvious that she didn't dare to confront her husband. She could only keep all the sadness inside her heart. Shen ZhongMing was still in the dark of the matter his wife knowing about his cheating. He still treated her like usual, acted as a gentle and caring husband for people to see.
In the 9th month, Yan Mei gave birth to a baby boy. Shen ZhongMing was elated and gave him the name Shen Zhen. Since then, he showered both mother and son with more love and spent more time with them in C country.
But then news came from Y country.
Han LuoYa finally got pregnant.
For the first time, Shen ZhongMing felt an enormous headache. On one side was his legal wife. Her personality was mild and lately, her health wasn't good, but her background couldn't be underestimated. Although he didn't love her, he had to keep this marriage for the sake of both families' interests. Even with his capacity, he couldn't afford to offend the old general Han.
The other side was his beloved woman and his newborn son. He loved them so much and deep down he wanted to give both mother and son the status and care they deserve to get. In addition, he had already decided to make Shen Zhen as his righteous heir.
As Shen ZhongMing was in dilemma, bad news came from the Han family. The 80 years old general Han of Y country died because of sudden illness.