[Ding! Congratulations, host!]
A mechanical voice sounded in her head out of nowhere. Li Xiang thought she was hearing things. She cut off half the fish, skewered it on a branch, and set it over the fire to roast.
Exhausted after a full day of work, she began salivating uncontrollably at that primal aroma.
[Please collect your prize. Thank you.]
"Wahaha! Smells so good, so good! I think it's ready!" Li Xiang pulled out the branch and took a deep breath. Even without any seasoning, it gave off a heavenly fragrance of fresh grass.
[Stop eating and collect your prize, will you?]
She took a bite. The roasted fish's crisp exterior and sweet, tender flesh burst across her tongue, tantalizing her taste buds. She kept taking huge bites, chewing nonstop.
[Woman! Collect your prize!]
The electronic voice finally lost its patience. Its explosive shout startled Li Xiang so badly that she nearly dropped her fish.
"What the fuck was that?"
[I'm your system! Your system! Please stop eating, I'm begging you. Can you listen to me? You have absolutely no respect for me!]
The electronic voice rose and fell as though it had suffered some monumental injustice. Li Xiang set down her roasted fish. "Don't be mad, okay?"
Just as the system thought she might offer a few comforting words, Li Xiang said,
"This was my fault, but you're partly to blame for being too quiet. What was I supposed to do if I couldn't hear you? Besides, you almost made me drop my fish, and I haven't even complained. This is the fruit of a whole day's hard work! Shouldn't you apologize for being so careless, too?"
[I'm begging you... stop talking and accept your mission...]
Li Xiang's relentless barrage had broken the system. Suddenly remembering something, she looked up and asked with complete sincerity,
"So you're a system... can you give me cheats?"
[No.]
That was way too blunt! Hey, come on!
Just as her fantasies shattered, the system dropped a bombshell.
[Ahem. You're actually a character in a manga. That manga has now been adapted into an anime, but according to the database, there's no character named "Li Xiang" in this anime.] [In other words, this anime barely depicts China at all. Perhaps some turbulence in spacetime disrupted the plot and created you.]
"You're kidding! I'm in a manga? Then what do all those years I spent in school count as?"
[Hard work on your part.]
Li Xiang: ...
"Heh." Li Xiang quickly composed herself and planted her hands on her hips. "Since you say I'm a manga character, I must be the protagonist, right?"
[You're not.]
"...What is your problem?"
Unable to take it anymore, Li Xiang loudly challenged the damned system. "What the hell do you want? Did you come just to tell me all this? Whether I'm a manga character doesn't matter anymore. I don't want to die right now, understand?"
"That bullshit beam left me petrified for who knows how many years. All I want now is to stay alive. If you've got nothing else to say, leave. I don't need you."
[Don't get mad. I haven't told you what I want yet.]
"Then spit it out. If you've got nothing, fuck off!" Li Xiang crossed her arms, thoroughly pissed off by the damned system.
The system wasted no more time and hurried to explain, [Although I don't know what happened to rewrite the plot, I hope you can save all humanity and restore Earth.]
[Become a savior and bring this world of life back to prosperity!] The system grew increasingly excited, its pitch climbing. [Aren't you a doctor? Save more people with your own two hands. Don't you want to see them have a better future?]
"No."
[Wha... ?] The system froze. [Then what's your dream? Isn't that why you became a doctor?]
Li Xiang paused and lowered her head without a word. Just as the system thought it had her figured out, she looked up with an indifferent expression. "Not doing it. My dream is to do less, get paid more, and get something for nothing."
Li Xiang waved a hand dismissively. "I studied all those years just to save people? You're kidding. Sure, I had selfish reasons for becoming a doctor, but my own interests come first."
"I'm not a god. I can't save everyone. Of course I'll help if I can, but only when I have the ability and energy. I don't save just anyone, either."
"Even if doctors are supposed to be compassionate, I couldn't save someone who tried to kill me. Not sneaking in a couple of stab wounds would already be generous of me."
Li Xiang turned to look off in a particular direction. "Besides, the Petrification Beam has already turned all humanity to stone. I don't know whether I woke up out of luck or what. If none of them wake up, then I won't have to save them, right?"
Seeing that persuasion wasn't working, the system changed tactics. [How about this? This anime will air at the same time, too. As a member of the main cast, Li Xiang, you can earn popularity points and use them to fulfill one wish. What do you say?]
Just as the system thought such a flimsy offer wouldn't work on Li Xiang, she agreed without a second thought.
"Deal!"
Obtained [Demon Contract]
Li Xiang had acquired a system, but it wasn't all-powerful like the systems in Red Persimmon's novels. All it could do was report popularity points, occasionally produce a gold-tier reward or something, and let her read comments on the anime.
Li Xiang imagined herself as the protagonist. Even with the advantage of waking up early, she was certain there was absolutely no way she could restore Earth with her own abilities.
"You're kidding, right? I still have to figure out how I woke up!" Li Xiang said.
The system said there was a reward. Li Xiang thought little of it, but when the reward actually appeared in her hands, it still felt a little unreal.
Item obtained: [Underwear] Item description: Modern people surviving in the wilderness are bound to feel a little bare and uncomfortable T^T, so use underwear to cover up those embarrassing bits *^O^* You can do it!
"Are you sick in the head...?" Li Xiang had expected a knife, a lighter, or something. Failing that, even rope would have been fine.
What the hell am I supposed to do with underwear?
She put it on in the end... She had to admit that, although it offered no practical advantage, a little boost to her morale wasn't bad.
While there was still light, Li Xiang climbed onto a tree branch. Grateful that no mosquitoes or other insects bit her during the night, she kept her eyes half-open and made it safely through until morning.
Sunlight spilled over the world. Listening to the lovely sound of flowing water, a bleary-eyed Li Xiang rubbed her eyes and sat up.
First, she stared blankly into space for nearly ten minutes. Eventually, the system couldn't stand watching anymore and roused her.
Once awake, Li Xiang found the charcoal left from yesterday's fire, scooped some wood ash into her mouth, and rubbed her teeth with her finger before washing up nearby.
After washing, Li Xiang cut yesterday's remaining half-fish in half again. She would save the rest for lunch.
As the fire caught, Li Xiang tilted her head toward the sky at a forty-five-degree angle and sighed. When will these days... finally end?
If only heaven would lend me a hand.
Rustle, rustle. Sounds kept coming from the woods. Li Xiang immediately went on alert. Clutching a sharp stone in front of her, she sank into a half-crouch and fixed her eyes on the source of the noise.
Rustle...
A bird or two flew out, followed by a bunch of scallions. Wait, scallions?
While she stared, the scallion's entire head emerged. Ruby-red eyes, hair sticking up like a scallion, and two symmetrical black cracks above the eyes. So it was a man.
Oh, not a scallion...
[What are you disappointed about? That's the male lead.] [Oh, okay.] Li Xiang indicated that she understood. *So I'm supposed to save the world with him?*
Yes.
Then I refuse...
[?]
The stranger spotted Li Xiang, too, and raised a hand in greeting. "Yo!"
Li Xiang stared, surprised to find another living person in a place like this. Judging by his gear, he must be way ahead of me.
But that gibberish sounds like Japanese?
Scallion Head approached and took a closer look. Li Xiang had black hair, black eyes, and a sharp gaze. Judging by her skeletal development, she was probably between nineteen and twenty-two. Her build was slender, and the dark circles beneath her eyes were pronounced. She was most likely someone who did mentally demanding work.
Of course, there was another possibility.
Before you continue