Liu Xingyou, a high school student, was sitting with her friends in the school courtyard. They were exchanging conversations and laughter, her face glowing with a smile. Those who saw her might think she was a lively spirit, happy every second, but deep within her soul, she felt an emptiness that could not be filled.
"Have you heard about that party on Saturday?" her friend Meiyumi asked her excitedly.
"Ah, yes! It sounds like it will be amazing!" Xingyou replied with delight, but in her heart, she felt a sense of not belonging. "Why do I feel like I'm just something that is not needed?" she wondered internally.
Another friend chimed in, saying, "Xingyou, don't tell me you won't attend! Just like every time, this time we'll go together. You're always so funny and amazing and a top student, but you don't come to any gatherings!"
But Xingyou politely refused, saying that she really had something on that day. Despite the compliments, she was aware that the smiles on her face were all fake and that her liveliness and energy were just for show. It was a mask that hid her wounds.
"What's the point of all this?" she thought. "Even after pretending all this time, I can't forget what happened. I can't escape those painful memories and live happily and freely."
Xingyou smiled, but inside she knew she was living a life devoid of color. Every time she laughed and joked, every time she tried to live like any normal teenage girl, the memories of that incident returned to her mind.
She was eight years old when that fateful day occurred. Her mother had fled with her from her father, who was trying to kill her. Her father had always been a good person with morals, a diligent worker, and a caring husband. But what no one knew was that he was a madman who would fly into a rage and do horrific things, only to come back crying. Her mother could no longer endure it and took her one stormy night to escape.
Her father discovered them and pursued them in a fit of madness, a knife in hand. "I love you both!" Those were her father's last words after he stabbed her mother with a knife. He had cried like a frightened child in one moment, then laughed like a cold-blooded killer in the next.
In that moment, her mother's voice echoed in her ears: "Yuyou, run!" It was a voice filled with terror.
Xingyou couldn't do anything like escape. She tried to help her mother, but she was stabbed while trying to save her, and that wound was an injury that could not heal, just like her shattered soul.
After that incident, there was only emptiness, and her mother's image turned into a painful memory. As for her father, he lost his sanity and also killed himself in front of her.
She still remembers that rainy, terrifying night, after which the police came and took her away. It seems that someone had witnessed what happened and hurried to call for help, although it was too late...
These memories intertwined as Liu Xingyou walked on her way home from school with her friends, heading towards the bus station.
"Are you really not going to the party?" her friends asked.
"Yes, it will be so much fun! Come with us!" her friend Suzi replied.
Xingyou smiled and shook her head, but inside she said, "I no longer care. Everything here is boring."
She parted ways after a few sentences with her friends, and while she was walking, a tragic scene caught her attention.
A man was threatening a woman with a knife, and that image was enough to bring back all those frustrating feelings. "Please, don't hurt me!" the woman was crying, as if her mother's screams were echoing in her ears.
Suddenly, she felt something heavy weighing on her heart. She recoiled, "No! No!" and started to run. To this day, the shock of her childhood still affects her to the extent that she doesn't even cook, and there are no knives in the house.
She even gets startled if she sees a toy shaped like a knife. But fleeing cost her her life; she ran through a red light, and a speeding car came and hit her.
Xingyou, after being struck, felt something strange. In her last moments, she didn't feel fear, but rather a sense of peace and relief, as if all the pain she had endured had finally ended.
"Hello, Xingyou." A mysterious voice came from the void. "I have chosen you to be my host."
"What? Who are you? Where am I? What do you want from me?" she whispered, feeling that she was heading towards eternal darkness and her soul sinking deeper...
The voice spoke again: "I am the system Xiao Jiu. And you are the perfect candidate I have chosen. I need you to perform a task for me that no one has succeeded at before, and you are my last hope. Your willpower and your ability to adapt, live, and pretend all make you the best candidate so far. Also, you will have another chance at life after you succeed in your task."
Liu Xingyou, who heard the words, smiled bitterly. "Strength? Will? If I were strong, I could have protected myself and my mother in the past. I am not strong, and I am tired of everything."
Liu Xingyou said, "I don't want your help, nor to work with you. I don't want a chance to live. I prefer death and rest. I am tired."
"Wait, think about it more."
The system was truly in a state of fear; it had no more energy, and all the people it had chosen before had failed miserably. The truth was, it felt that Liu Xingyou was the ideal person for this task and did not want to lose her.
"Look, you won't lose anything. You can gain so many things like gifts from every world, and abilities to complete your task, and you can also keep everything in every world."
Xingyou still hadn't opened her eyes, and it seemed that she had surrendered.
The system spoke again, "You will live more than one life, meet many people, experience new adventures, and you can also have a family."
At this point, Xingyou hesitated for a moment. "A family...?" The system continued to tempt her.
Yes, everything would be fine as long as you complete the task. You can live in that world even until a natural death, and if you successfully complete the task, you can choose any world to return and live in afterward."
Everything seemed tempting, but Xingyou was fighting within herself. "I can't. Life is meaningless."
But the voice of the system continued, "Saving the villain from every world and giving him love and attention could change the fate of each world, as well as save your life and allow you to live, and you will have a family, perhaps even a family of your own. This is your last chance."
Xingyou felt as if the chains of the past were breaking. "I need to live; maybe it won't be so bad."
In the end, she said, "Alright, I will accept. I will try. What you said is a task I will carry out."
And when she accepted, the system felt joy. "Your mission will begin now. I will transport you to the first world right away. When you arrive, you may experience a slight reaction, and then I will tell you the plot, the mission, and all the information about that world. So, let's begin…"