“Hundred Ghosts’ Samsara?”

Nana Toki murmured, breath a drifting mist. Wasn’t that the dead-people event from the Protagonist Lord’s data she’d just read?

How was it showing up in the next version?

Don’t tell her those leaked events were real, and the hidden class was real too.

No way. That stuff was one search away online. The company wouldn’t cut its own road that dumbly.

[Ding! Side Quest Triggered: Dimensional Breakthrough]

[Quest: Escape from Hundred Ghosts’ Samsara.]

The System’s notice rang in her skull like a cold bell. Nana froze in front of Never Surrender.

Wasn’t that storyline locked?

Why publish the quest early? Did this crappy System just learn to predict?

Crappy System: “...”

The System refused to speak. It posted the quest, then dipped like a shadow at dusk.

“...”

“What’s wrong?”

Never Surrender, who’d waited for her in the Giant Lizard Forest, frowned. This Treasure Imp got stranger by the day.

“It’s... nothing. Just thinking.” Nana settled her face like a mask, then cleared her throat. “When the event starts, I’ll team with you.”

“But you’ll owe me one condition.”

“R-really?”

Joy burst from him like sunlight through clouds. One condition? He’d take ten.

“Can I hug you?” he asked, hopeful as spring grass.

Nana: “?”

“If you’re not afraid of dying, go ahead and try.” Her smile was bright, like a blade catching light.

“...”

Forget it. Her trip skill was too busted. A hug would be a free death.

“What’s your condition?”

“Not urgent. When it happens, I’ll call you.” Her tone was calm, the water smooth, the depth unknown.

Never Surrender: “...”

Felt like he’d stepped into a very deep pit.

Elsewhere, the Goddess Selection ran for a week. Out of tens of thousands of female players and NPCs, the charm leaderboard shocked everyone.

Yep. Two champions.

One was Yanyu Jiangshan. The other was the server’s bug-tier NPC, the Treasure Imp—Nana Toki.

Nana: “...”

She hadn’t expected it either. She’d planned to grab the participation prize and vanish. Who knew a wave of players would hoist her to the top beside the heroine?

She was... out of words.

The data team at the company probably got whiplash. No wonder the rewards lagged.

Who’d expect a bugged NPC to match a real player’s popularity?

No one.

The company huddled fast. Verdict: the bugged Treasure Imp was still “one of ours.” Hand out the rewards now. When higher-ups fix the bug, they can claw the stuff back.

No loss. Easy wind.

So that day, co-champion Nana got her prizes: a flashy, gaudy Goddess outfit and piles of gold like spilled sunlight.

She didn’t wear it. She checked the stats. Fixed values, no scaling. Tsk. Trash.

She flicked it onto the auction house. Neither players nor devs saw that coming.

An NPC can list on the auction house? Why not just ascend to heaven while you’re at it?

[World] Jiangchengzi: Damn! You see that Goddess outfit on AH? Over three hundred thousand gold. I couldn’t buy it if I sold myself!

[World] Shuidiao Getou: Bro, you got two kidneys. You know what I mean.

[World] Tianjingsha: For real. Never thought an NPC could sell on AH.

[World] Jingyesi: Wild part isn’t the listing. It’s the price. Is the Treasure Imp a shill from Aoto?

[World] NightRain Jibai: Only a dumbass would buy it.

[World] World’s Cutest: Wait, did something weird slip into your line Σ( ° △ °|||)︴?

As the channel crackled like dry bamboo, a strange voice cut in.

[World] Qiqi Cancan Qiqi: Hahaha, I bought the Treasure Imp’s Goddess outfit off AH! /laugh /laugh

[World] Jiangchengzi: (°ー°〃)?

[World] Shuidiao Getou: (￣△￣；)

[World] Tianjingsha: ∑(￣□￣*|||）

[World] Jingyesi: (°o°；)

[World] NightRain Jibai: w(ﾟДﾟ)w

[World] Qiqi Cancan Qiqi: Eh? ∑(°Д°；≡；°д°) What? Why the faces?

“...”

Truth hit like cold rain on stone.

You’ll never parse the new shapes inside world-chat slackers’ brains.

Staring at the 300k gold rolling in, Nana Toki fell into rare silence. A windless lake.

This plane really birthed fools.

She’d listed it on a whim. Sell or not, whatever. Minutes later, it sold.

She was stunned. Wasn’t this Qiqi the one who winced paying for Divine Demon Tower runs? How’d he drop 300k on a dress without blinking?

[World] LoveIsALight: Question. Big bro, you’re on a male account. Why blow a fortune on a dress?

Seconds later:

[World] Qiqi Cancan Qiqi: /laugh It’s a full-dive game, right? If the Treasure Imp listed it, it must carry her scent. I’ll keep it as a memento. A sniff a day, haha.

[World] Treasure Imp: ?

Bro, did you just expose your kink?

Honestly—big problem, red flag flapping in the wind.

In a heartbeat, Nana saw it: this plane’s players weren’t just fools. Some were hidden pervs.

If the weird stopped there, she’d have shrugged. She’d stirred the pond; the mud was on her.

But.

A week later, the player-voted custom title showed this world’s deepest malice.

Other servers’ Goddess titles read like moonlit couplets: Sinks Fish and Lures Geese. Shames the Moon and Hides Flowers. City-toppling Beauty. Or like our Yanyu Jiangshan—just “Goddess.”

Only her custom title was absurd: [Wife].

The nastiest part? It was bound. You couldn’t change it. It would float above her head like a stubborn cloud.

When she received it, her eyes almost rolled skyward.

This passed review?

Are the planners mad?

Ever seen an NPC with [Wife] over her head carrying people through the Divine Demon Tower?

Insane.

Aoto’s planners said, “We wanted to reject it. But these players’ money is too easy. Sorry for the trouble.”

For the first time, the bugged Treasure Imp generated revenue. The planners were moved to near-tears, like drought meeting rain.

Heaven keeps score. After looping through several planes, Nana Toki finally got her karma.

The crappy System nearly died laughing in her head.

Nana: “...”

Fine. You win. I’ll swap planes by suicide, okay?

She happily reached for Thorn to end it. Then froze—here, she was only a string of data.

Suicide wasn’t possible.

“...”

As expected, her mindset cracked like ice.

Cao! (in Chinese)

After that, nicknames for Nana multiplied like spring weeds. Treasure Loli. Loli Wife. Basic stuff.

Newbies soon saw bizarre chats on world channel.

[World] A Cool Handsome Pigeon: Wife, carry me through the Divine Demon Tower!

[World] Treasure Imp: Scram.

[World] A Cool Handsome Pigeon: /glare Say that again!

[World] Treasure Imp: Crawl.

[World] A Cool Handsome Pigeon: /glare Say that again!

[World] Treasure Imp: Crawl for Grandpa.

[World] WhatKindOfCookieAreYou: Hiss—so good. Wife, scold me harder!

[World] LiangliangziIsNumberOne: Wife, curse me! Curse me! Harder!

What can you say?

The scene was feral, sparks in dry grass. Lurking newbies froze, then huddled like chicks in rain.

They found the fun, then piled in.

Together they bullied the sputtering loli here. Ahem.