Chapter 27: The Order of Chaos

The fluffball was stunned.

"I don't know about that, but it seems like other systems and their hosts all do it that way..."

It scratched its head, looking bewildered.

Rules that had existed for so long—no matter how flawed—had never been questioned by anyone.

And precisely because of this, when someone voiced the correct idea, they were instead seen as a heretic.

Yet Chao Xu had never liked the established order.

Her name was Chao Xu: dawn at dusk, order in chaos.

If there was a rule she didn't like, she would personally shatter it and then establish the order she preferred.

"Oh, is that so?" Her tone was unreadable.

The fluffball braced itself. "Yes."

After a pause, Chao Xu asked, "There are mission points for completing tasks. Can you tell me exactly what these points you keep talking about actually are?"

She had been curious for quite some time.

If her guess was correct, the immense resources that sustained the entire system relied on these so-called "points" the fluffball mentioned. Yet she still didn't know their origin.

The fluffball blinked, momentarily at a loss.

For the sake of amassing enough points to exchange for what they wanted, countless hosts risked life and limb doing tasks—but never had anyone asked where those points came from.

Still, just because it was caught off guard didn't mean the fluffball didn't know the details.

"I've looked into it," the fluffball said, stroking its chin as if it had made a groundbreaking discovery. "If I understand correctly, our systems function by helping main characters become children of destiny, and then earning a share of the destiny luck that surrounds them!"

"So, in other words, these points are essentially what you call destiny luck, right?"

Skipping the convoluted explanations, Chao Xu went straight to the heart of the matter.

"Exactly." The fluffball nodded emphatically. "The foundation for keeping a world running is so-called 'destiny luck.' Even the main system relies on it to operate."

"Is that so? I see."

Chao Xu nodded thoughtfully, dropping the subject. Casually tucking her hands into her pockets, she gazed at the now fully darkened sky and said, "It's getting late. Let's go back."

She said nothing more, and the fluffball let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright, Host."

As the two left the school, Shen Lu—who had been frightened out of her wits—scrambled back to the teaching building in a panic.

Only when she reached the safety of the building did she finally breathe a sigh of relief, slumping against the wall, panting heavily.

Once she had calmed down, the anger previously masked by fear surged back, and she pounded the ground fiercely, her face twisted and menacing.

"What's with that stupid maniac! How dare she lay a hand on me! If I don't make her pay back double, I'm not Shen Lu!"

Rubbing her still-aching wrist, Shen Lu pulled out her phone and sent a message to a few people.

"That idiot from Class Four is back. She's in the little woods on the south side of the school. Go teach her a lesson. I'll pay you once it's done."

Money talks. The moment she hit send, the response came instantly.

"Leave it to us, Lu-jie. Don't worry, we'll beat that reckless fool until she's begging for mercy, and we'll send you a video of her kneeling and barking like a dog."

Even through the screen, the malice and cruel amusement on the other end were obvious—they saw someone else's dignity as nothing more than entertainment.

Seeing this, Shen Lu felt a measure of satisfaction, but then as if remembering something, she quickly added:

"Go ahead and beat that idiot, but make sure you don't leave any marks. Use needles if you have to! Jab her hard where it won't show! That way, no one will be able to tell even if she's hurt."