Chapter 1: I Truly Am a Pitiful Soul

Chao Xu woke up.

Chao Xu had a bit of a headache.

Chao Xu realized she had lost her memory.

She was so panicked right now that she even found herself eating a melon.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?

In the midst of dead silence, confusion, and a complete blank, a strange voice sounded in her mind.

“O lost maiden, would you like to become a host for the Milky Way Corporation? No need for 9,998, or even 998, not even 9.99! I’ll even give you points to secure you the center spot!”

The crisp yet slightly desperate voice rang out. After half a day without seeing a single soul in this godforsaken place, Chao Xu turned her head to look and saw a plump, round dumpling.

The dumpling was pure white, soft and glutinous, and when it plopped onto the ground, it would flatten itself into a little pile.

Raising her eyebrow, Chao Xu swallowed instinctively.

It looked like a rice cake—adorable and appetizing.

Unaware that it was already being sized up as food, the furry ball, not noticing the green gleam in its potential host’s eyes, pleaded tearfully, “Miss over there, yes, you! Look at me! I can protect you! And I can give you points to spend!”

If it failed to bind a host again today, it would be eliminated by the Lord System.

But hosts who disdained a bottom-tier system like it were everywhere. Left with no choice, it wandered off hoping for luck, but even after offering points for free, it had been rejected multiple times today.

Eyeing the dumpling’s fluffy body, Chao Xu wiped her mouth and said, off-topic, “I’m hungry.”

The dumpling paused, its eyes brightened, and it quickly pulled out its stash.

“Here! Take it, all of it! As long as you’re willing to sign a contract with me, milk tea and hotpot are all yours! Even a full imperial banquet!”

As Chao Xu munched on bread and chips, the dumpling frantically displayed all sorts of food images, desperate to entice her.

Her chewing slowed, saliva pooling in her mouth, and her heart was moved.

Wiping the corner of her lips, she pointed at the pictures and asked seriously, “If I sign with you, I’ll get all of these, right?”

Determined not to let the chubby, fair-skinned girl slip away, the dumpling nodded so hard it left afterimages.

“I see…” Chao Xu mused, looking up at the dumpling, then declared resolutely, “I’ll sign!”

After a whole day of waiting, finally finding a willing and adorable host, the dumpling’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Really!?”

Chao Xu nodded solemnly. “Really!”

Overjoyed, the dumpling rummaged around, and after producing a pile of useless items, finally found the contract.

Holding the slightly crumpled contract, the penniless dumpling coughed awkwardly, then tried to cover its embarrassment by formally introducing itself: “Miss, you see, our Milky Way Corporation is a legitimate system company. Once you sign, you’ll get a fifty-fifty split for every task. If you perform well enough, there are full attendance bonuses and rewards every month!”

The dumpling chattered on for a while, while Chao Xu obediently sat there, gazing at it intently.

Being the center of attention like this, when usually she was invisible to everyone, made the dumpling feel quite flattered, even a little lightheaded.

Before it could fully indulge in the sensation, the docile-looking girl blinked, then suddenly spoke: “It seems there’s something dirty behind you. Let me get it for you.”

Before she finished her sentence, Chao Xu had already reached behind the dumpling.

With a snap.

The dumpling heard something break.

Stretching out its furry little paw to touch, then touch again, the dumpling froze, despairing as it realized—the inseparable link with the main system had been severed…

With tears welling in its beady eyes, the dumpling bit its tiny handkerchief and wailed, “Miss, do you know what you’ve done? By cutting the link, I’ll never be able to submit points to the Lord System again…”

Chao Xu shrugged, hands in her pockets, unconcerned. “That’s just as well. I don’t like middlemen taking a cut.”

Even with her memory gone, she still instinctively resented being under anyone’s thumb, though she couldn’t say why.

Having received formal system education since childhood, the dumpling continued to sob. “But if I can’t submit points, I’ll definitely be punished. If it’s serious, I might even be eliminated, boohoo…”

There were countless predecessors who had been eliminated, all of whom vanished without a trace. The dumpling was instinctively terrified of being next.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Chao Xu rested her chin in her hand, looking at the dumpling. “Then what would keep you from being eliminated?”

The crying dumpling paused, touched to its core. It never expected its newly contracted host to show concern for it—how wonderful.

But what it didn’t know was that Chao Xu simply thought this ugly dumpling still owed her a lot of food, so it couldn’t die just yet.

She was just a cold-blooded debt collector.

Wiping away its tears, the dumpling sniffed and said, “There is a way. As long as I can get on any of the leaderboards—the partnership board, the system board, or the host board—I’ll get a one-time pardon. But…”

Before it could finish, the dumpling wilted.

It knew its own worth: as an incompetent bottom-feeder, avoiding last place was already lucky. Being number one was a distant dream.

And its host… didn’t look too strong, either.

Thinking this, the dumpling became even more dejected.

Just then, Chao Xu spoke: “Isn’t it just getting first place on a leaderboard? I think we can give it a try together.”

Hearing this, the dumpling’s eyes lit up, looking at Chao Xu with hope. “Host, are you so confident because you have a trump card? Are you an assassin, a master thief, an esper, a cultivator, or some other powerful figure?”

Only top-tier systems usually encountered such golden or silver-ranked hosts. It never imagined it would stumble upon one today!

Listening to all these bewildering titles, Chao Xu rested her chin on her hand, thought seriously for a while, then shook her head solemnly.

“None of those, I think. I must have amnesia. I don’t know why I’m here or who I am, just that my name is probably Chao Xu, probably.”

She added, uncertain.

The light in the dumpling’s eyes faded little by little, until it finally slapped its forehead in despair.

It must have lost its mind, thinking that this naturally dazed girl was some mysterious big shot.

After a moment, it gave up struggling. “Forget it, let’s just do our best. Maybe the Lord System will give us a consolation prize.”

“All right.” Chao Xu nodded obediently, then, recalling the dumpling’s words, added, “Before I lost my memory, I was probably just a weak, pitiful, helpless ordinary person. If I run into danger, you have to take care of me.”

The despairing dumpling said nothing, glanced at its own pitifully empty experience bar, and thought with despair that now it would have to carry a bronze rookie along. In utter hopelessness, it activated the task-jumping space.

At that moment, the little dumpling, having lost all hope for the future, could not have known that this small action was about to deliver a mighty kick to its otherwise plain and uneventful fate.