Eyes of Innocence

Eyes of Innocence

Noticing that the system was angry, Su Qi no longer had the nerve to tease it.

After all, she had tricked it first.

At the same time, she could tell that the system was good in every way except when it came to money. It was downright stingy.

After a moment, the system spoke first. "If the response to the photos is good this time, perhaps more players will be drawn in to buy the game, creating a positive cycle."

Su Qi retorted, "That makes so much sense, but what am I selling? A product? It's a virtual game."

A game would have been one thing, but it was an H-game.

Are you sure I'll actually make money once I become famous? It feels like the cops are waving at me. So scary!

Meanwhile, the system was still painting Su Qi a rosy picture:

"Look, Host. If you really sell 10,000 copies of the game, wouldn't you be able to stream? The protagonist in that transformation novel you read yesterday made a fortune through streaming. Earning ten million a month wouldn't be a dream."

Su Qi picked out the key phrase from the system's words. "You read novels like I do too? Then look at his system, and look at yourself. In the middle of the night, you've got a bottle in your left hand and a cigarette in your right, taking two sips of booze and two puffs of smoke. Ask yourself—doesn't your conscience hurt?" As she spoke, Su Qi took out her phone and tapped on the balance.

System: "Host, I am an independent Heroine System entity. Secondly, I have neither a heart nor a mouth. One final reminder, Host: smoking is harmful to your health. Besides, I have abilities too. I'm very good at making clothes."

Ignoring the system's jab, Su Qi continued:

"Leaving aside whether the police will find me, even if I stream, I don't have any special talents. I can write a bunch of gibberish and draw some 18+ art. Are you sure anyone would watch that? Would any platform even air it? And I'm introverted. If you really make me sit in front of a screen by myself, I think I'd die of embarrassment!"

System: What she said made so much sense that I was speechless.

When Su Qi heard no follow-up from the system, she began studying the items that had just been issued.

Only after holding them did they feel even cheaper. Aside from the staff, which looked like it might be worth a few hundred yuan, the other four items all made Su Qi feel like she had paid an idiot tax.

She spread the yoga mat on the floor. Her delicate, fair little feet stepped onto the purple mat. It was soft, with a faint warmth to it, and felt wonderfully comfortable. If she had to describe the feeling, it was like stepping on poop.

She placed her other little foot down as well, then bounced a few times without making a sound. The soundproofing was excellent.

The purple color made her two little feet look even more delicate and dainty. If one only looked at those feet, Su Qi would have assumed their owner was an adorable little girl cherished by her parents.

Her former self could never have imagined they would grow on her own legs! And could such tiny feet really walk steadily? Su Qi always had this fear that, when she walked, those glass-like little feet would shatter.

She set the height-increasing insoles aside first. The reason? Naturally, her shoes did not fit. Size 42 shoes were practically boats for her current little feet.

And the system currently would not let Su Qi buy clothes, including shoes and underwear, so she could only put it aside.

However, Su Qi had learned before that trying on clothes came with complimentary shoes, so she could use them when the time came!

The soft sword looked hard, but the instant it touched anything, it became as soft and squishy as a lump of slime. Its technology was several notches better than the flexible materials on the market that could not hold their shape.

Last was that manual, Flower Dummy Sword Mastery. It looked ragged and worn. Su Qi opened the first page and felt a huge amount of information forcibly crammed into her mind. All she could see was a figure practicing swordsmanship before her eyes.

Her hands and feet then moved beyond her control, picking up the soft sword beside her and beginning to dance across the yoga mat with convincing form.

Su Qi: ??

Two hours later, Su Qi was drenched in fragrant sweat. She plopped onto the yoga mat in a duck-sitting position, panting heavily. Her little lilac tongue greedily peeked out from the corner of her mouth, greedily breathing in the oxygen around her. Twin blushes bloomed on her cheeks, and even her delicate earlobes were tinged pink, making her look ripe for the picking. Looking at herself in the mirror, even Su Qi felt the urge to pounce on herself.

This was a little too seductive!

At that moment, Lingering Fragrance took effect. There was no sweaty odor at all; instead, the faint fragrance on her body became even more alluring.

When Su Qi tried to turn over, her knees went weak from not exercising for so long, and she collapsed face-first onto the yoga mat. Then she actually fell asleep!

Before falling asleep, Su Qi had only one thought: Am I really this weak?

When she woke up, it was already midnight. With no lights on, she could not see her hand in front of her face. Su Qi was completely surrounded by darkness. She could not see anything.

That wasn't right. Usually, when I went to the bathroom, I could still see even without turning on the lights! But now it felt like... like... I'd gone blind??

"System, system, what's going on?"

Su Qi stretched out her hands, intending to feel for the room's light switch. But unable to see where she was going, she kicked the coffee table—and hit her pinky toe.

That sensation was exquisite. Su Qi had done this before, but perhaps because her feet had become smaller, this time it truly hurt.

She crouched down, hugged her little foot, and rolled around four or five times before the pain eased. Just thinking about her dainty little feet getting bruised made Su Qi feel sorry for them.

Only then did the system speak. "Host, what's wrong?"

For some reason, even though the system voice was always emotionless, Su Qi felt like the thing had just been asleep. So she asked, "Were you sleeping just now?"

"How could I be? Hahaha, how could a system possibly need sleep!" Faced with the system's blatantly guilty behavior, especially with that added "hahaha," Su Qi felt she had cracked the case.

But the urgent matter was why she had gone blind.

"What's wrong with my eyes?"

The system thought for a moment before answering, "Since the Host was asleep, I did not disturb you. Today's change concerns the Host's eyes. The Host may choose one set of eyes from the following options. Rest assured, every one of them will make you look beautiful."

Su Qi wanted to complain about why the system had not told her something so important sooner, but she was drawn in by the pairs of eyes before her.

There was no need to worry about eyes not matching her face. After all, according to Su Qi's definition of a Female Protagonist, if the Female Protagonist had an ordinary appearance, readers or players definitely would not buy it.

Although people always said looks were only one aspect, in Su Qi's line of work, appearance was the first priority. Only after that came personality, plot, expressive faces, and so on.

Imagine a doujinshi that was perfect in every regard except appearance. Would you have the patience to search for the Female Protagonist's shining qualities?

That was why there was a saying in the industry: if your looks could carry you, you had already won half the battle.

Su Qi browsed through the many pairs of eyes, each one with an annotation beneath it.

Just like in a game, there were attribute bonuses.

They were charm, sophistication, innocence, frivolity, sensitivity.

Su Qi first eliminated every set of eyes with Frivolity Points. After all, she was a man and did not want to make seductive gestures. That crossed out more than half of them.

After much deliberation, Su Qi chose the Eyes of Innocence.

Eyes of Innocence: Grants you a pair of pitiful, fawn-like eyes that can greatly reduce the malicious thoughts bad people have toward you, while making them feel the urge to protect you.

However, it may cause a very small number of people to want to imprison you and dye you in their colors. These innocent eyes not only make you appear naive and like an adorable beautiful girl, but also make your body increasingly innocent, raising sensitivity.

Innocence +4, Frivolity -1, Charm 0, Sophistication 0, Sensitivity +20%

Though there were minor issues, such as the increased sensitivity, Su Qi felt that as long as she protected herself and did not get caught by men, it would be fine.

As for getting caught, Su Qi's mission would not be short by that twenty percent anyway. After all, if her Female Protagonist got caught with leverage against her, then...

And what satisfied Su Qi most was that these eyes neither added Frivolity Points nor charm. Based on Su Qi's gaming experience, the higher one's charm, the faster affection rose.

Just thinking about increasing her charm on top of that Lingering Fragrance buff...

The consequences spoke for themselves.

Scared.jpg

After choosing the eyes, Su Qi's vision finally returned.

She limped toward the light switch, turned on the light, and tucked the strands of hair covering her eyes behind her head.

Looking at those eyes in the mirror, Su Qi could not help drawing in a breath.

Oh my god, these were way too pitifully adorable! Her large eyes were brimming with childlike innocence. As she blinked, lashes long enough to sit on fluttered, brushing against one's heart until it itched.

Perhaps because her eyes had grown larger, Su Qi felt that even her field of vision had widened considerably. As her gaze shifted left and right, her eyes rolled around, making her seem like an elf scattered into the mortal world—tempting people to reach for her, to selfishly imprison her.

Because of those eyes, Su Qi's whole aura changed from somewhat gloomy to far more lively. At least she no longer looked lifeless; instead, she had gained a touch of spiritual charm.

Staring at her eyes in the mirror, Su Qi unexpectedly thought of a once wildly popular doujinshi. Its Female Protagonist had equally clear eyes.

It was a happy story about a young, innocent elf captured by humans. That doujinshi had been so good, a true classic—

The system studied the Host fantasizing in front of the mirror. Listening to her words and thinking of the Eyes of Innocence she had just selected, with their Sensitivity +20%, the system reached a conclusion. So the Host still liked being a dirty Female Protagonist?

I knew it—