C1 Chapter 1

“Ding! Congratulations! You’ve successfully linked to the Pegasus System!”

“Miss, would you like to start your very first trial mission with me?”

Ling Xiao was alone in a mysterious space, completely bewildered—though her face stayed calm, like nothing could rattle her.

After a brief pause, she said, “Pegasus System? Like that cockroach-who-won’t-die anime guy? Since when did he get a system?”

Was this some kind of sequel—jumping straight from mythology and forcing its way into… sci-fi?

The System sounded smug. “Because I’m a huge fan of Masami Kurumada! Miss, don’t let my advanced tech fool you—I’m also really into old-school, blood-pumping shonen manga!”

Ling Xiao scanned the area, but there was no source of the voice—no clue, no trace, nothing.

“Miss! Stop looking! This is a soul contract. Totally different from some physical ‘binding.’”

“External binding? That’s low-rent. We’re aiming for full spiritual integration!”

Look at it—so dedicated.

Step one: educate the beautiful young lady it had chosen on the basics every system user should know.

Ling Xiao really wanted to roll her eyes.

Was this some kind of scammy séance routine meant to freak people out?

“Miss! You’re not saying it out loud, but your heart doesn’t lie! I can hear your inner thoughts!”

Ling Xiao’s expression turned cold, suspicion flickering in her eyes. “Where are you? Hiding under a car or something?”

And the most serious issue was this: this mysterious space didn’t look anything like the world-class limited-edition luxury car she usually drove.

“I should be under the car, not in the car—seeing how sweet you two are!” the System suddenly started singing, in awkward, not-quite-right English.

Ling Xiao irritably rubbed her bangs. “Did the cockroach send you? Are you here to clown around?”

“…” On its first encounter with Ling Xiao, the System somehow understood instantly. “Waaah! I just love shonen manga, okay? That’s why I gave myself the super badass name ‘Pegasus’!”

“A fancy name? Oh, come on—don’t make me laugh!”

Lingxiao couldn’t help but sneer. “You’re kidnapping a girl. That’s crossing the line!”

Then she added, “You know exactly who I am. The second I track your location, I can have someone take you out in no time.”

The system was like: terrified. Is it too late to return this host and get a refund?

“Hey, miss, you’re from a good, respectable family. You’re supposed to have your head on straight—be a quiet, well-behaved young lady. Why are you trying to kill little old me? I’m adorable!”

Lingxiao went back and forth with the chatty, cutesy, rogue system for ages. It sounded like it was rambling about nothing, but in reality, it kept its mouth shut tight.

Even when Lingxiao pulled out every psychological trick she’d ever learned, she still couldn’t pry anything out of this mysterious system—

If it even had a mouth.

In the end, she could only compromise a little and try to make peace with it.

“Ding! Trial mission successfully assigned! Miss, get ready—you’re going in!”

Lingxiao felt completely blindsided. In all her life, this was the first time she’d been set up, and she didn’t even know how or why.

“Ding! In light of Miss Lingxiao’s intelligence and beauty, outstanding talent, kindness, team spirit, willingness to help others, countless good deeds...”

“Shut up!” Lingxiao rubbed her forehead as a dull ache started to throb.

“Fine! I’ll spare you the two-thousand-word speech,” the system said, surprisingly tactful. “Since we’ve successfully bonded, I’ve prepared a generous gift for you: unlimited item shopping and an anytime-anywhere app function. Whatever you want, you’ve got it. Do whatever you feel like.”

“Items? What kind of messed-up nonsense is that?” Lingxiao didn’t even have time to dig deeper before her vision suddenly went black.

“You… deserve it,” the system snickered slyly.

Could I just tell you to go to hell?

When Lingxiao finally woke up out of the darkness, she couldn’t help wondering if her optic nerves had been hijacked by some aliens.

However… the well-dressed woman in front of her suddenly lifted a scalding cup of coffee and hurled it at Lingxiao with all the force she could muster.

Lingxiao was sharp as a tack. Driven by pure instinct, she shifted aside in a split second!

Then, quick as lightning, she shot her hand out—almost helpfully—nudging the cup midair and “adjusting” its trajectory.

The coffee cup that should’ve smashed into Lingxiao spun with a deft twist, reversed course, and with a loud crack, slammed straight into the woman’s carefully maintained, perfectly made-up face!

Lingxiao slowly settled back into her seat across from her, her expression cool and unreadable as she stared her down.

Showing up and chaos breaks out—like it’s my fault.

The woman reeled, seeing stars. Her pretty face had been knocked crooked.

Her lip swelled up almost instantly!

Worse, the half-cup of piping-hot coffee left inside splashed dead-center onto her chest, making her hiss and grimace, completely unable to keep up the polished, high-society act.

“Call the cops! Somebody—call the cops! Arrest this reckless little tramp!” the woman shrieked, her voice sharp with fury.

Lingxiao lounged back into the sofa. “Ma’am, you ordered that coffee. That means it’s yours to drink. You threw it at me without thinking—there’s no way I’m drinking it for you.”

Was she… mocking her for “accidentally” losing her grip?

The woman’s expression turned vicious. She’d arranged to meet Lingxiao privately at this café today, and to avoid drawing attention, she hadn’t brought any bodyguards or an assistant.

Left with no choice, she snapped her fingers and summoned the café manager, demanding he call the police immediately.

“This is assault—plain and simple! You saw what happened, didn’t you? That little bitch had the nerve to smash me with a cup. She’s up to no good!”

The café manager put on a flattering, eager smile. “Ma’am! Now that she’s been taken in, do you want her to pay up, or do you want her locked up?”

The socialite immediately shot a look of pure contempt at Ling Xiao, who sat across from her, pretending to stay silent.

“She’s just a broke college kid. Her parents are useless, out-of-work nobodies—how could she possibly pay? If she has any sense, she’ll confess and do her time!”

Hey—aren’t we taking this way too far? I was just trying to be nice and return her coffee cup!

Ling Xiao scrambled to figure out what to do next, but before she could, the System popped up out of nowhere.

“Item Shop is now open. You’ve obtained the Truth Serum skill. Uses remaining: three.”