Night.

Yexing Lan dragged his exhausted body home and flopped straight onto the bed.

“I have to work every day. I’m at my limit. My heart’s so tired.”

His murmur rang out in the silent room. No one answered.

Lonely and empty.

Yexing Lan was a twenty-three-year-old man, one year out of college.

His parents had died when he was very young, leaving him with nothing but a small house.

Raised by relatives, he went to college, found a job after graduating, and lived an ordinary, uneventful life from then on.

By today, he’d accumulated so much stress and so many grievances that all he wanted was to hide under the covers and have a good cry.

Yexing Lan shifted onto his back. His eyes were dim, as if the light called hope had gone out.

“I wish I had someone to keep me company.”

Since graduating from college, his classmates—the ones he could still call friends—had all gone their separate ways. They barely kept in touch.

The work environment wasn’t exactly easygoing, either.

The people he worked with weren’t real friends. They were just coworkers who nodded to each other when they crossed paths.

Outside the occasional team-building event, they had almost nothing to do with one another.

Then again, maybe it was partly because he was a bit of a shut-in.

“Hmm...”

Yexing Lan sank into thought.

Fine. The workplace really wasn’t a good fit for him.

He couldn’t adapt, couldn’t fit in, and couldn’t bring himself to just put up with it.

Maybe that was why he’d had no friends since graduating.

There was a reason he’d been lonely ever since college.

Maybe finding people online to play games with was already his greatest comfort.

The internet really was a great thing.

These days, Yexing Lan lived a simple life.

He was a little lonely, sure, but at least he could get by.

He liked ACG culture. After work, he’d usually come home and watch anime and stuff. Basically, he was a pathetic anime-watcher—not some kind of 2D-world fanatic.

Day after day, life was fairly full.

If he could, he’d even quit his job and go home to laze around.

But if he quit, he’d have no source of income.

If he just gave up and did nothing, there was a good chance he’d end up:

Huddled under a tiny blanket beneath a bridge, wiping away tears in secret. Once the tears were gone, he’d go back to sleep, and agree with whatever anyone said.

In short, he wouldn’t even have enough to eat.

He’d thought about writing novels, too, but he just didn’t have the talent.

He’d tried writing. His stories had bombed so hard even a dog would’ve shaken its head.

Even the editor told him to go ruin some other website.

He was cooked.

“Whatever. I’ll play for a bit, then take a shower and go to bed. I’m going to be happy!”

Even when no one answered, Yexing Lan still talked to himself.

Maybe saying whatever was on his mind gave him a strangely wonderful feeling.

For all he knew, something weird might be listening in that empty room.

Some kind of unreliable ghost, for example.

But when he thought it through, that seemed impossible.

Sometimes Yexing Lan wanted to buy a pet and tell it everything he wanted to say.

But then he remembered he could barely take care of himself. Getting a pet would probably ruin a little life, so he decided against it.

“Hey, I’m a nationally protected waste of space.”

In the past, Yexing Lan might’ve thought being a waste of space was a terrible thing.

But now...

Whatever. A waste of space is a waste of space. As long as I’m alive, that’s enough.

Yexing Lan sat down at his computer desk, turned on the computer, and muttered:

“Technology’s so advanced these days, and I’m still using this old relic. That’s me for you.”

Recently, he’d found an online friend he really clicked with.

They’d been playing games together online for a while now, and it was pretty fun.

But they hadn’t added each other on social media.

Yexing Lan was too embarrassed to bring it up, and the other person hadn’t said anything either. So whenever they logged off, he felt reluctant to part ways.

Maybe that was love. Probably.

Not that Yexing Lan had ever been in a relationship.

He looked decent enough. With a little effort, he could even be handsome. But he’d never been the type to take initiative, so he’d never hit on a girl.

Maybe it was because he liked ACG culture and the beauty of the 2D world, so he wasn’t all that interested in girls in real life.

“Whatever. Time to log on!”

As soon as Yexing Lan logged into the game, he saw that his gaming friend was online.

Their ID was “What’s Wrong with Just Wanting to Live?”

“They’re online every time I log in. Do they not have to work? Damn, I’m jealous!”

After muttering to himself, Yexing Lan messaged them.

“Want to play together?”

The other person replied quickly.

“Sure.”

Their conversations were simple. Neither of them bothered with much small talk.

So they teamed up and entered the game, chatting over voice chat as they played.

“By the way, are you a guy or a girl? Your voice is kind of androgynous. I can’t really tell.”

“Guess.”

“You’re keeping me guessing again. You really have a mean streak.”

“Heh. We’re just gaming friends, anyway. What difference does it make if you know?”

“Fair enough.”

Meeting up in person was out of the question. He’d never do that in this lifetime.

Otherwise, some scammer might lure him off to harvest his kidneys, and then he’d be done for.

Yexing Lan was always very cautious about that kind of thing.

Guys have to protect themselves when they’re out and about, too.

After playing for a while...

Yexing Lan said goodbye to “What’s Wrong with Just Wanting to Live?” and logged off.

“Let’s play together again next time.”

“Mm.”

They’d played for two hours.

Yexing Lan sat up and stretched, feeling refreshed.

Then he grabbed a change of clothes and went into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, he came back out, faint wisps of steam rising from his body.

“Time for bed. I’ve got work tomorrow. If my boss catches me nodding off, I’ll get my pay docked again.”

Yexing Lan climbed into bed and curled up under the covers.

“Ah...”

For some reason, he felt terribly hollow and tired.

“I wish life could be a little easier.”

Maybe the thought had just come out of nowhere.

“Being a carefree little girl might be nice. But if some creep got his hands on me and trained me into a helpless little ball, that’d be awful. I’d definitely need a way to protect myself. I don’t need to be unbeatable in a fight—just fast enough to run away when there’s danger.”

As for why he wanted to be a little girl, maybe it was because they were cute and could get taken care of by a rich older woman. (Not that he actually meant it.)

Anyway, it definitely wasn’t because he was into that sort of thing.

“Wait, what kind of nonsense am I thinking about?”

Yexing Lan snapped back to himself with a look that said he was questioning his whole life. He even wondered if something was wrong with his brain.

“Whatever. I’m going to sleep.”

Curled up under the covers, Yexing Lan tucked his chin in and suddenly felt a little cold.

“If only I had a soft, warm body pillow.”

After murmuring to himself, Yexing Lan’s consciousness gradually blurred, and he drifted off to sleep.

A little while later, a mysterious light suddenly glowed from the body beneath the covers, but it didn’t wake him.

Yexing Lan curled up peacefully beneath the covers, as if lost in a beautiful dream.

......

Meanwhile, inside a mysterious organization...

The energy sphere at the center began to shine brilliantly, shocking all the staff around it.

“That’s a huge reaction. What’s going on this time?”

A middle-aged man reacted at once. He worked the computer to retrieve the information captured by the anomaly-detection orb, converting it into text on the screen.

“The vessel of an Outlier-class Supernova Star has awakened. Designation: [Wish Machine]. Conditions for use: unknown. Location: unknown. Threat level: unknown. Contain it immediately.”

The middle-aged man’s pupils shook as he read the message, and he was left utterly stunned.

“H-holy... crap!”

The big one was coming.

That night, all the organization’s key higher-ups gathered to discuss the emergence of an Outlier ability.

The meeting had been going on for half an hour.

“I’m sure you all know what an Outlier-class Star means. In the past, one went out of control and caused horrific damage, resulting in catastrophic losses that could never be reversed. We have to contain it before it runs wild.”

A middle-aged man with a commanding presence spoke. His grave expression showed how seriously he took the matter.

Another man, a little younger, spoke up.

“Boss, we all know how serious this is. But the problem is, we know nothing right now, and Zhixing’s information is just a bunch of ‘unknowns.’ What are we supposed to do with that?”

The man named Wang Chao sat in a relaxed slouch. Compared with everyone else’s serious, solemn expressions, he looked like he was there for a day out.

The woman sitting beside him looked thoroughly displeased.

“Wang Chao, can you take this seriously? We’re discussing something very serious. Stop making comments with that careless, flippant attitude of yours.”

“Sure, sure~”

“I hope you take your life that seriously, too.”

“Sure, sure~”

The woman was furious, but she held it in instead of lashing out.

“Hmph!”

She knew Wang Chao’s flippant personality well enough. Nothing she said would change him.

Knock, knock, knock!

The man they called Boss—Xiao Jin—rapped on the table, signaling for everyone to quiet down.

“Tell the branches in every city to keep an eye on their surroundings. If anything unusual happens, investigate immediately.”

Wang Chao sighed. “Will that even help?”

“It’s better than doing nothing.”

“All right.”

The meeting broke up.

Everyone returned to their posts and began mobilizing for the situation.

But one person stayed behind. A silver-gray-haired girl walked up to Xiao Jin.

“Uncle Xiao, can the Wish Machine... make wishes come true?”

“I don’t know.” Xiao Jin shook his head. “But I can say for sure that trying to use it to achieve something might come at an unbearable cost. It’s best not to dwell on that possibility.”

Bai Tu’s gaze gradually went distant. Then she came back to herself and nodded.

“Mm. I understand, Uncle.”

“Good.”

Then the two of them went their separate ways.

Bai Tu walked back, distracted the whole way.

“A cost, huh? I’d be willing to give up anything...”

......

The next morning.

Daybreak came.

In a little house...

The alarm clock rang, “Ding, ding, ding!” and woke the little one in bed.

“Mmm~ Ugh~ I don’t wanna go to work...”

Half-asleep, Yexing Lan let out a mournful cry, making his intense resistance to the miserable grind of work crystal clear.

As his mind gradually cleared, Yexing Lan suddenly felt something in his arms.

It was soft and warm, and so comfortable to hold.

“Huh?”

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was an incredibly cute little girl’s face, framed by beautiful silver-white hair and a pair of gorgeous, jewel-like wine-red eyes.

The other girl looked just as confused as he felt.

His heart stopped!

“Waaah—!”

Who was that!?

Two figures scrambled out of the covers and put some distance between themselves in an instant.

“Wait, something’s wrong!”

After scrambling away, Yexing Lan suddenly realized that his voice had become much higher.

“Huh?”

Then she noticed something was wrong with her body, too. She felt like she’d shrunk quite a bit.

Yexing Lan hurried to the mirror to check and saw something that filled her with terror.

The reflection was a petite, adorable little girl, almost identical in appearance to the silver-haired girl not far away.

There was one small difference: her hair was black.

“I’m screwed!!!”

The moment this life began with him turning into a little girl, it was already completely over.