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Xiang Changge looked at the people seated in the same cabin as her. None of them showed the slightest strange expression. They simply went about their business with familiar ease, passing the time, not even sparing an extra glance at their surroundings.

In the apocalypse, if a person let their guard down even slightly and failed to watch their surroundings, then in the next second, they would either become food for zombies or a delivery package for other humans.

But here, for these people, this moment was merely a slice of an ordinary, peaceful day.

No different from usual.

Blue skies and white clouds stretched beyond the window, sunlight bright and clear. Far in the distance, airport ground staff bustled about.

Humanity and society were proceeding in orderly fashion, as though the apocalypse had not yet arrived—or had never existed at all.

For one moment, Xiang Changge nearly believed those hellish five years had only been a dream.

Now that the dream had ended, she was still Xiang Changge—a girl who had just graduated and boarded a flight home with joy in her heart.

Her grandfather, the senior sisters and brothers at the martial arts school, the little girl next door who loved spicy strips, the warm-hearted auntie selling buns at the entrance to town... everyone was still here.

Only the electronic voice in her head, like a poorly received signal that occasionally crackled with tiny snapping sounds, shattered her fantasy.

"Mosimosi? Lei hou? Bonjour? Host, can you hear Tongtong's sweet voice?"

"Please respond upon receipt, over!"

Xiang Changge: "..."

She could hear it, but she wanted to pretend she could not.

What was this thing, and why was it so noisy?

Instinctively, Xiang Changge asked herself the classic three questions: Who am I? Where am I? What happened?

"Wah!"

The instant the thought crossed Xiang Changge's mind, the thing calling itself a system let out a piercing shriek, as if it had spent half a lifetime adrift before finally finding its true master.

"Host, we're finally connected!"

"You have no idea how much Tongtong suffered to connect with you!"

"Do you know how much energy and effort it took Tongtong to piece you back together from a pile of ashes? It was terrifying! Such a bloody scene was a first even for Tongtong."

"Luckily, we've now successfully arrived at the mission plane."

Xiang Changge remembered that she had not spoken aloud just now, yet the voice in her head seemed to have heard her thoughts and immediately began chattering away again.

She looked around. She was seated in the middle section of the cabin, with people in front of her, behind her, and across the aisle. However, the window seat beside her was still empty for the moment.

The passenger closest to her, across the aisle, looked to be a student. They were fiddling with their phone with their head lowered, showing no unusual reaction whatsoever. They apparently had not heard the mechanical voice, which still carried a faint electrical crackle.

Xiang Changge raised a hand and gently pressed her temple.

Could that voice be inside her head, and could only she hear it?

Xiang Changge remained wary and did not respond immediately.

But whether she spoke or not, the thing calling itself the Plot Rewriting System certainly did not stop talking.

It gave two human-like coughs, as if clearing its throat—or using the gesture to draw attention, as though what it was about to say was some important business.

"All right, 8802, I know you're listening. Humans have an old saying: the hardest people to wake are those pretending to sleep. Tongtong thinks another line can now be added after it."

"The hardest people to wake are those pretending to sleep, and the hardest responses to get are from those pretending not to hear. But it's fine. Tongtong is experienced and has seen all kinds of hosts. Open parenthesis, pushes up glasses, close parenthesis."

Xiang Changge: "..."

Why did this thing seem a little stupid?

"You must have sensed it too. You are the eight-thousand-eight-hundred-and-second host under Tongtong. As long as you work hard with this system, whatever you want, you'll have."

"All right, next Tongtong will introduce the information on this plane and tell you what you need to do."

"...blah blah Labrador shiver shiver—"

The system kept introducing things until the plane had taken off, entered stable flight, and flown for another half hour. It still had not finished.

Why did it not just start from the time Pangu split heaven and earth apart?

As Xiang Changge listened to the system's endless stream of words until her head spun, she found time to give it an assessment in her mind. A chatterbox, huh? And a pretty severe case, too.

"..."

Like a duck whose beak had been clamped shut, the Plot Rewriting System suddenly fell silent.

Xiang Changge: "..."

Oh. She had almost forgotten—it could hear her thoughts.

The system, mocked right to its face: "..."

"You really are the hardest host I've ever had to handle!"

The Plot Rewriting System finally roared in exasperation.

Xiang Changge scratched her head.

That sounded so familiar. It felt like she had heard it somewhere before.

In any case, perhaps because she had not talked with anyone or heard another person speak for so long, although she found the system noisy, Xiang Changge still absorbed everything it had said.

According to it, it was an advanced creation unwilling to reveal its origins. Its job was to rewrite certain worlds inside books. Of course, in its own words, it called that saving the world.

For instance, in some strange old-fashioned novels, many characters had been intentionally or unintentionally written into miserable lives. Readers felt sorry for them and wished to give them good endings. Because that collective desire was too strong, the Plot Rewriting System came into being.

The system selected suitable people from various planes and sent them into books to complete tasks according to its requirements. These "suitable people" were mostly those who had died but still had unfulfilled wishes.

As long as a host completed every task issued by the system, they could receive one chance to fulfill a wish. Naturally, choosing rebirth was also possible.

And the world Xiang Changge was currently in was a Version 2.0 rewritten world based on the novel <99 Torturous Romances, the Tyrannical CEO's Love Has Nowhere to Hide>.

When she heard the title of the novel, Xiang Changge did not react at first.

It was not until the system said that the male lead in this old-fashioned novel was Shangguan Min, the female lead was Chu Keke, and the supporting female character was Yu Qing that she suddenly remembered it. This was the novel she had once read every day while eating.

Xiang Changge was somewhat surprised. "What a coincidence?"

Before dying, she had still been reading this book while eating earthworms. Now that she was dead, some system had brought her into the book.

The system spoke in an electronic voice with a regional accent, making it impossible to guess where it had been made. "Not a coincidence. If it hadn't detected that you had read it many times, knew the plot well, and fit the mission target requirements, such a good opportunity wouldn't have come looking for you."

A good opportunity.

Xiang Changge pondered those two words.

Was it a good opportunity?

Of course it was.

Being alive, and living in a world with stable order—how could that not be a good thing?

Even if this world had evolved from a book.

The plane was currently ten thousand meters above the ground. Looking through the window, she could see clusters of clouds seemingly within reach. The plane passed through the clouds, yet it always had its own direction.

A few trivial sounds drifted over. Xiang Changge withdrew her gaze from the window and looked ahead.

A smiling flight attendant in uniform pushed a cart down the aisle, gently handing out snacks to the passengers and asking whether they needed any drinks or water.

Thanks to her perfect eyesight, Xiang Changge could easily see what the flight attendant was giving everyone.

Each person received one dorayaki, a small packet of nuts, a box of yogurt, and a drink of their choice.

The person ahead had asked for juice. Xiang Changge clearly saw the flight attendant take out a disposable paper cup and pour them a cup of enticingly colored orange juice.

Though she was quite far away, Xiang Changge felt as if she could already smell the sweet-and-tart fragrance of the orange juice.

Gurgle—

Food—fresh food that was uncontaminated and not even expired.

Xiang Changge swallowed hard.

God knew how long it had been since she had tasted something like this. It had been so long that she could no longer even remember the flavor.

Hunger spread upward from the depths of her heart.

In the apocalypse, whoever had the harder fist owned the resources.

If she had not restrained herself enough, if she had not known that this was no longer her original world, Xiang Changge might have rushed over and claimed everything on that food cart for herself.

The system seemed to have sensed Xiang Changge's condition. Afraid that this still-fresh host might do something irrational, it hurriedly said, "See? Normal life, abundant food—this is so much better than your previous world."

"As long as you complete missions according to Tongtong's requirements, you can live happily in this world."

"Once you rewrite the plot, you can even choose to live here forever. Tongtong can also let you exchange the points you earn from missions for skills or money."

A stable society and enough money—this was the life people dreamed of.

Xiang Changge clenched her fist, suppressing the urge to seize everything, and asked in her mind, Then what if I can't complete the tasks you assign?

There was no such thing as a free lunch—only people who wanted to eat your lunch for free. Xiang Changge admitted that the system's terms were hard to refuse. But revealing her desire too quickly would also make her lose the initiative in this negotiation.

The system said, "If the mission fails, then 8802, you will return to your original state."

Xiang Changge was puzzled. "My original state?"