Yao Xiulan blinked at the cloud like being in front of her, her big eyes a bit moist and reddened from her tears a moment ago.

“You’re saying that I died?” She spoke slowly and deliberately, her voice surprisingly even as the words left her mouth.

[ Yes. You were killed in your sleep by your younger brother, Yao Fan. ]

The cloud flashed a soft yellow as it spoke, the clear and gentle voice transmitting directly into Yao Xiulan’s mind.

“Yao Fan…” The girl’s pretty face clouded over with grief, her hands wringing anxiously at an unspoken thought. After a moment, she bit her lip and straightened out her hunched posture.

“Then, this place is the afterlife?” Yao Xiulan glanced at the empty abyss, a cold and dark hole with no source of light except for the tidy collection of clouds floating in the air before her.

[ You may call it that. In truth, this place is between the line of life and death. The Lord God personally plucked you from the stream of reincarnation to offer you a chance to have a single wish granted by him. ]

“What kind of wish?” Yao Xiulan was startled by the revelation that she was being given a special opportunity. She subconsciously straightened the wrinkles in her pajamas to try and present herself better to her mysterious benefactor.

[ Anything that your heart desires. In the past, people have chosen to be revived or to start their next life with great talent or benefits. ]

“What do I have to do, then?” The girl raised her voice slightly, her hands trembling as she looked at the cloud with a hint of desperation in her gaze.

[ You must bind yourself with me. I am System 14292, one of the Lord God’s many servants. ]

After speaking, the cloud let out a low hum that lasted for a moment before it’s shape began to stretch and morph into a rough outline of a person. Stretching out an extremity that could be mistaken for a hand, it traced a small circle in the air.

[ You will have to complete all the tasks in ten different worlds, in line with the system category you are assigned. Your system category is ‘Sacrifice’. ]

“Sacrifice?” Yao Xiulan paused in her motion of extending her hand towards the entity. She eyed the system warily, frowning at it’s solemn tone. “What exactly will I have to do in these tasks?”

[ For a system category of ‘Sacrifice’, you will be required to suffer in place of the target when directed through your task. This system category does not allow the host to participate in the relaxation program, where you are allowed to stay in a task world for an extended period of time after completion of a task. ]

“Why did I receive the Sacrifice category, then?” The girl swallowed her objections and carefully asked the creature, concerned about losing her chance at getting her wish granted. “If possible, I want to change it.”

[ Changing a host’s system category is not possible. This category was specially picked by the Lord God himself, he assigns categories based upon a host’s experiences. ]

Yao Xiulan’s impression of her benefactor immediately sunk to the lowest level. She was used to enduring suffering, so he prepared for her to suffer even more before granting her wish… She couldn’t help but curse him in her mind.

“What happens if I refuse?” She broached carefully, keeping her tone as unemotional as possible.

There was a long moment before the system responded to her question.

[ Host, I would not recommend refusing. ]

Yao Xiulan felt a chill crawl up her spine at the system’s near whispered words.

[ This system does not have the authority to answer your query. Is there anything else? ]

The cloud creature spoke again at it’s normal level, the hand hanging in the air tracing yet another circle as it waited for her response.

The girl blinked slowly, her gaze flickering between the system and her feet for a moment as she deliberated. She eventually decided to ask a final question.

“If I fail a task, what happens to me?”

[ Upon failure of a task, a host’s contract with their system will be reevaluated and the Lord God will assign a punishment depending on the circumstance of the failure. ]

In theory, it sounded as though it could be a fair judgement. However, the outcome depended upon that Lord God person, a being that was malicious enough to bestow a system designed to cause suffering on someone who had suffered non stop in their last life.

Yao Xiulan wouldn’t dare give him a chance to punish her.

“I see. Then, I will bind with you.”

[ I look forward to working with you, Yao Xiulan. ]

System 14292 had a hint of something complicated in it’s tone, but Yao Xiulan had no way of discerning what it could be. In the next moment, it reached out it’s appendage and enveloped her body within a soft cloud.

Yao Xiulan wrapped her two hands around the amulet hanging off her neck, clinging to a past memory as her consciousness swiftly faded away.

“Xiao Xiulan, wake up.” A gentle woman with soft and youthful features attempted to rouse the person wrapped in her quilt with a light voice similar to the tinkling of bells. “Come on, it’s already time to be up and about.”

The girl being addressed slowly opened her eyes, an unfamiliar pink bedroom that was a bit childish filling her gaze. She surveyed the location lazily, her eyebrows raising at the woman in front of her that was currently letting out a cute giggle.

“You’re a bit slow this morning, aren’t you? Once you wake up, come and join us downstairs for breakfast!” The woman showed a beautiful smile on her face and she fussed over Yao Xiulan for a moment, smoothing the girl’s bedhead down, before exiting the room.

“System, this isn’t suffering at all.”

[ Host is correct. Each task world is different, however this one’s difficulty is lower than most, so that you can better acclimate to the system. That is why this body is also named Yao Xiulan, for host’s comfort. ]

“I see…” She nodded at the system’s voice, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and pulling the quilt off of herself. “Who was that person just now? My older sister?”

[ Yes. I will now transfer the original body’s memories to the host, along with the details of your task in this world. ]

Yao Xiulan curled in on herself as a sharp pain filled her mind. She let out a low hiss as a burst of images played like a movie inside of her consciousness.

The Yao Xiulan of this world was the spoiled second daughter of a wealthy family. Her personality was a quiet little studybug, a girl who was obsessed with grades and tests. She had a very good relationship with her family and the Yao’s considered their two daughters their pride.

This Yao Xiulan was very dedicated to her studies until the end, studying hard and entering a top university and eventually becoming a doctor. She married a husband and had a few children, living an idyllic and simple life where she wanted for nothing.

Yao Zhen, the older sister that she had just met, was a charming woman who placed a great deal of importance on family as well. She would become married not long after university to a good man and have three beautiful children.

The Yao family, before Yao Xiulan entered this world, were all slated to live very peaceful and lovely lives without much conflict or unhappiness.

Yao Xiulan’s target in this world is a gloomy boy by the name of Wu Feng, her classmate. Although they are indeed in the same class, the two did not make contact in the entirety of their time at school before Yao Xiulan arrived.

Wu Feng was ignored by his indifferent father and beaten by his gold digging stepmother. Upon leaving the house for school, he was then bullied by his classmates. It could be said that he lived a very pitiful life, until his final year of high school.

Wu Feng’s uncle on his biological mother’s side, Zhou Cheng, ended up finding out about his only nephew’s poor treatment. He took him under his wing, mentoring him to become the heir of his own company and separating him from those two ‘guardians’ to keep him safe.

If Zhou Cheng had intervened a bit earlier, then perhaps Wu Feng wouldn’t have suffered such a cruel fate as he ultimately did.

Wu Feng had experienced so little kindness in his life, he couldn’t help but to doubt this benevolent uncle of his in his heart. A malicious competitor of Zhou Cheng’s company approached him with doctored evidence that his uncle was planning to frame him for embezzlement, convincing the reluctant Wu Feng to aid him in his efforts to destroy Zhou Cheng.

Wu Feng single handedly caused his only ally’s downfall and his conspirator immediately revealed the two’s collaboration, mocking him and Zhou Cheng for their stupidity.

Zhou Cheng truly cared for his nephew, but he couldn’t help being angry over losing his empire due to the boy’s intentional sabotage. He kicked the helpless Wu Feng onto the street and disappeared overseas to start a business again, leaving the disgraced in the business world Wu Feng with no backing or money to live.

He moved back in with his two parents, who treated him even more poorly after all his failures. In the end, he was killed by his enraged step mother over a small matter and his body was hidden somewhere. The killer never received justice for her crime, continuing to live a normal life even after murdering her stepson.

“Wu Feng is the target, really?” Yao Xiulan came back to herself with a sneer, rubbing her sore forehead. “I understand that he suffered a lot of injustice, but he is the one that worsened things for himself. If you ask me, Zhou Cheng is the one who was treated unfairly...”

[ The target is not Zhou Cheng, but Wu Feng. Are you ready to hear your first task in this world, host? ]

Yao Xiulan nodded, swinging her legs over the bed and bringing herself to her feet with a quick stretch. She had an idea of what sort of tasks she would be given, naturally she was supposed to improve Wu Feng’s situation by stopping him being abused at home and bullied at school.

[ WORLD 1, TASK 1: In place of Wu Feng, become bullied at school. ]

“What?” She questioned immediately, narrowing her eyes at nothing. “Shouldn’t it be to stop him from being bullied?”

[ As dictated by the rules for the ‘Sacrifice’ system, Host must suffer whatever fate awaited the target. ]

The system reminded quietly, a trace of reluctance in it’s tone. It naturally held no desire for it’s host to suffer either, but the rules were exactly what they were. The Lord God didn’t allow the systems the authority to bend them, no matter how ridiculous.

“Then, being beaten to death by his stepmother?” Yao Xiulan buried her face into her hands and swallowed hard, her head aching as she felt a sense of dread settle over herself.

[ Yes, that is also something that the Host must experience in order to complete all the tasks in this world. ]