Inside System Space, the cold mechanical voice of the system bristled with rage.
“Executor... what you’ve done is a serious violation.”
“All this just for a player—is it really worth it?”
“You must be out of your mind, tampering with the mechanics and trapping me in this body of yours.”
No matter how the Survival System tried to correct Lin Qingyue’s actions, there was no response.
...
On Blue Star, Su Bai rushed back to Ye Shu’s residence at the fastest speed.
She scooped up the person sitting on the couch in a fierce bear hug, her eyes rimmed red. “You’re something else! I thought you were dead for sure. All thanks to that damn Lin Shuya. I took care of her for you—she dared drug you!”
“Not necessary.”
Ye Shu brushed away her hand.
“Shu, listen to my advice: when it comes to your enemies, you must be as ruthless as autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves. You can’t grow soft just because that madwoman was your foster mother. Lin Shuya dosed you once—she could easily do it again. If you can’t end it, I’ll do it for you!”
Su Bai knew Ye Shu cherished the last scraps of affection with her family—she was afraid Ye Shu might let Lin Shuya off the hook just for that.
After all, that was an inducer...
Even if she hadn’t seen Ye Shu chased for her life by the horrors of the Abyss, Su Bai knew those creatures’ strength.
“No need. Lin Shuya is dead. I killed her.”
“Shushu, I know you yearn for a mother’s love, but you can’t lose your head—wait, what did you just say?”
Su Bai almost thought her ears were playing tricks on her.
“Lin Shuya is dead. I killed her.”
“Killed?”
“Dead!”
Ye Shu was honestly speechless. Wasn’t killing someone who had hurt her the most normal thing? Why make such a fuss? Hmm... The original Ye Shu had exhausted every means to please the Ye family, and Su Bai knew it all. Maybe she ought to play it down a bit?
“Beautifully done. I’ve had enough of that family. Treated you like a maid every day... But, Shushu, you actually killed so many of those ghastly things. I’m officially a rich woman, riding your coattails! Got so many points to splurge!”
On the flight back, Su Bai had seen the leaderboards. As soon as the game ended, Ye Shu skyrocketed to the top, her points securing her place as number one.
But somehow, the top player’s name seemed oddly familiar. Where had she seen it before...?
While they bantered, the system chimed in again:
[Ding! Survival System 2.0 is now online!]
[Dear player, to enhance your experience, the system proudly introduces a shared points feature: add friends and you can share game points between accounts.]
[New products in the Survival Game Shop—System Space is now available! We look forward to serving you!]
Su Bai waved it off. “It’s just space. Our little Shushu has had it for ages. There are tons of space ability users in Huaxia—what’s special about this? Hardly worth an announcement.”
But Ye Shu’s heart skipped a beat. She opened up the shop at once. She remembered: the system had said ‘System Space’, not an ordinary ring’s storage space. Instinct told her this space meant something—and someday it would matter.
[System Space, price: 10 points per square meter. Countdown: Reverts to original price in 24h.]
No description, just a price.
Ye Shu didn’t hesitate—a clean 5,000 points for 500 square meters. And she roped Su Bai into buying as well.
In her past life, Survival Game was never updated to a second version; there had never been point sharing between friends. She couldn’t rely on past memories. But Su Bai still chose to trust her.
Su Bai had only played three rounds—a veteran newbie with hardly any points to her name. She nervously spent enough for two square meters, explaining sheepishly, “Um... Shushu, you know how tight I am on cash lately.”
Ye Shu grinned, transferring her 2,000 points with a flourish.
“Wow! I’ve never seen so many points in my life!”
Of course, even in her previous life, she’d barely scraped together this much. How many Abyss ghosts had Ye Shu killed by now? She handed out thousands of points as though it were nothing.
Ye Shu spent 1,000 points on System Space, picked a few other items, and was left with 300 points in the pocket.
A quick glance at the leaderboard reminded Su Bai she’d gotten ahead of herself: normal dungeons gave maybe ten points if you cleared them. How could she feel like 300 was small?
[Beep. System Space not yet available. Please try again later.]
“Xiao Bai, the System Space won’t open yet.”
No matter how Ye Shu tried, it was locked. The system kept repeating: please try again later.
“Huh? My precious points just vanished into thin air?”
Su Bai yelped, trying over and over to open the new feature. No luck. That very day, “players getting scammed by the system” was trending on Doujia.
Players vented in the world channel:
[Sakurakusa: I acted too fast and bought space for 100 points. Can’t even open it, and can’t get a refund... That was my last 100 points! My luck’s been bitter as gall. Couldn’t even get a revival card because of this space nonsense.]
[Star Kirby: Lucky me, I’m broke. Only ten points for a single square meter—doesn’t even sting.]
[Old Baby of the Motherland: Ten points is still ten points! That’s earned with my life, and the dog system took my 30 points—want to file a complaint.]
[System response: Player 'Old Baby of the Motherland' has been muted for three days. First warning; on a second offense, 100 points will be deducted (credit available).]
[Get Angrier the More I Back Down: Hah! You guys haven’t suffered. Player 10096 really got it bad. I was watching the leaderboard when I heard the announcement—suddenly lost thousands of points. Even I feel the pain, and I’m just a bystander.]
[Black Cat Chief: Hiss—thousands of points? Is that even humanly possible?]
[Bai Qingqing: Damn, this guy’s loaded! Throwing thousands of points away like it’s pocket change.]
[Strike It Rich, Lose Weight: How many dungeons do you have to clear for that? I still only have twenty points to my name.]
Ye Shu told herself she didn’t mind losing thousands of points. But the system never did anything for nothing. That space was definitely important for something yet to come.
...
With the Survival Game back online, Blue Star’s players flooded back to the platforms, and martial arts dojos regained their former bustle.
Ye Shu and Su Bai spent their days practicing swordplay and marksmanship—and added physical training to their schedule as well.
One day, on the training grounds, they unexpectedly ran into a familiar face—Lin Qing.
Ordinary in every way, the kind of face you could never remember, no matter how many times you saw it.
But seeing Lin Qing in the real world proved he was just a regular player—not that person.
The moment Ye Shu glanced over, Lin Qing happened to turn his head. Their eyes met, quietly, across the bustle of the training hall.
Ye Shu hadn’t intended to acknowledge him. Yet to her surprise, he approached directly.
“Sister Ye, long time no see!”
The youth offered a gentle smile, but his predatory gaze never left Ye Shu for an instant.
Being watched by him made Ye Shu uneasy, but out of courtesy, she held her silence.
Su Bai recognized him at once—the player who’d identified the inducer. Her dark mood eased up a bit.