The first simulation

[Born with a Rebellious Bone (White)]: The back of your skull protrudes slightly more than an ordinary person's.

[Precisely Miss the Target (White)]: None of your ranged attacks can hit their targets.

[Standing Still (White)]: Allows you to reduce your walking speed by 50%.

[Generating simulation world...]

[Generation complete.]

[Welcome to your first simulation!]

[Equipped traits: Simulator (Gold), Thick-Skinned (White), Chickens and Ducks Can't Understand Each Other (White).]

[Current identity: Great Xia-Dingbei Marquis Manor menial maid-Jiang Mi (16 years old)]

[You were eight when you were sold to the Dingbei Marquis Manor. Of the seven girls from your village, you are the only one still breathing.]

[Under the matrons' slaps, you learned to lower your eyes and look obedient, to play deaf and dumb, and to obligingly turn your head when struck. After all, you are thick-skinned, so it doesn't hurt, but you have to make others think it does.]

[Year one, age sixteen.]

[You know that you are now inside the Simulator's world.]

[You badly want to carry out the idea you had before being slapped and climb over that wall. But you know there is a Houtian Fourth Stage expert in the Marquis's Household. He could crush a maid like you with the twitch of a finger.]

[Before beginning the simulation, you made up your mind.]

[Starting today, work hard and coast through life! The longer you live, the more times you can chop the tree, and the more traits you can obtain. A softshell turtle lives a thousand years, a tortoise ten thousand. As long as you stay alive, you believe you will eventually see a turn for the better.]

[You return to your workplace. The matron asks why you took so long to come back, and you get past her with your face.]

[At night, you lie on the communal bed, unable to fall asleep. Bichun, who sleeps beside you, not only snores but constantly punches and kicks you in her sleep. With hunger gnawing at your stomach as well, you cannot muster even a trace of sleepiness.]

[The rustling overhead starts again. You know it is the family of rats living in this room, which has just had a litter, coming out to forage again. Even the humans have nothing to eat, let alone the rats.]

[Perhaps the luck that brought you a gold trait has not yet left, or perhaps it is fate.]

[You suddenly hear whispers outside the door.]

["Will this really work?"]

[On the communal bed, Bichun's snores thunder, and the other maids are sleeping like the dead. Yet despite being kept extremely low, the voices outside still reach you clearly.]

["We've come this far. What's the point of all this nonsense? If we don't do it, we'll both die! Whether we accept our fate or take a gamble is up to you!"]

[The other woman falls silent for a moment, then finally grits her teeth, her voice ruthless. "Let's do it! Only by killing these girls will we have a way to survive!"]

[You lie on the communal bed, your entire body rigid, not even daring to breathe too heavily.]

[Perhaps desperation sharpens your wits, for you suddenly realize something! You remember those two voices outside! They belong to the menial women who help in the kitchen, one surnamed Zhou and the other Li. They are always smiling and occasionally even slip you maids a piece or half a piece of leftover steamed bun.]

[How could they do something like this?]

[You have no time to dwell on it, because the footsteps outside have already drawn near. They are very, very soft, like bare feet treading on dirt.]

[You close your eyes, maintaining your previous position on your side, and steady your breathing. You hear something gently nudging the door bolt, then the wooden door giving an almost inaudible creak.]

[Someone has come in.]

[You feel a gaze sweep over your face, then move away.]

["This one's fast asleep." It is Zhou Pozi's voice, pitched extremely low.]

[The footsteps move toward Bichun beside you.]

[Bichun's snores thunder. Never mind someone coming in-even if you shouted right now, she would probably need three breaths to react.]

[You peer through narrowed eyes and, by the faint moonlight filtering through the window, see Zhou Pozi's movements.]

[She takes something out of the front of her robe, walks to each maid's head in turn, and reaches out to set something beside her pillow. Her movements are very gentle, as though she is afraid of waking them. But you see her hesitate when she reaches Bichun.]

[Bichun snores far too loudly, and her sleeping posture is unrestrained, one leg draped over Cui'er beside her and one arm stretched far out. The area beside her pillow is covered in wet patches from her drool.]

[Zhou Pozi frowns, seemingly unsure where to put the thing. In the end, Li Pozi squeezes forward from behind her and carefully tucks it beneath Bichun's pillow.]

[Finally, they approach you.]

[With your eyes closed, you feel someone crouch beside you. The smell of cheap hair oil enters your nose. It is Zhou Pozi. Her hand reaches toward your pillow, moving very, very gently-]

[Just then, Bichun suddenly rolls over!]

["Thud!"]

[Her leg swings off Cui'er and slams heavily into the bed boards, making the entire communal bed shudder.]

[Zhou Pozi's hand trembles, nearly touching your face.]

[You feel even her breathing stop.]

[One breath. Two breaths. Three breaths.]

[Bichun has merely rolled over. Her snoring resumes, even louder than before.]

[Zhou Pozi lets out a long breath, carefully slips the thing in her hand beneath your pillow, then silently retreats with Li Pozi.]

[The door is gently pulled shut, and the footsteps gradually fade.]

[You lie there, your heart pounding like a drum, forcing yourself to keep lying motionless as you listen to Bichun's snores, Cui'er's occasional sleep talk, and the distant clacking of the night watchman's clapper.]