Then wouldn't that mean this world is full of people from my hometown?
The realization struck Yue Ling all at once, and a flicker of secret delight rose in her chest.
[No, Host. A single small world can only accommodate one citizen from the main world. Otherwise, the small world would completely collapse.]
Not everyone was granted the ability to cross between worlds.
Those who lived out their natural lifespan in the main world would simply enter the cycle of reincarnation.
Only those like the host—who died young and violently—were sent to a world uniquely suited to them. This, too, was fate.
So in the vast Beast World Continent, she was the only modern human.
A strange, indescribable loneliness welled up inside Yue Ling's heart.
System 999 sensed the sudden wave of solitude and quiet sorrow from its host.
[Host, you still have me. More importantly, you must hurry and seduce high-quality beastmen to accumulate affection points. This body of yours cannot hold on for long. If you die again, your soul will be forcibly extracted once more. At that time, your soul will drift into the Chaos Realm, wandering in a daze for decades—or even centuries—before being allowed to reincarnate.]
[The Chaos Realm?]
[Did you think reincarnation didn't require waiting in line??? If you die of old age, you might at least get to cut the line.]
Yue Ling: What the hell… so that's how it works?
How am I supposed to tell which beastmen are "high quality"? she asked, anxiety creeping into her thoughts.
What if she worked so hard to seduce someone she thought was top-tier, only to find out in the end he was just… mediocre?
System 999 replied calmly:
[Don't worry. I will judge that for you.]
Yue Ling felt a wave of relief. This little system actually seemed pretty reliable.
System 999 urged her on impatiently.
[Alright, Host. Don't waste any more time. Set out now.]
If Yue Ling failed to win over anyone—or died prematurely in this small world—System 999 would be erased by the main system. It, too, wanted to live long enough to "die naturally."
Yue Ling nodded, but the moment she stood up, her vision darkened.
Her head felt heavy, her feet unsteady. A wave of dizziness crashed over her, and her body swayed as though it might collapse at any second.
An overwhelming emptiness spread through her limbs.
Hungry…
So hungry…
Hungry enough to eat an entire cow.
She picked up a wooden stick lying nearby and leaned on it, barely managing to stay upright. At the same time, she continued speaking to 999 in her mind.
[999, I think before I start seducing anyone, the most urgent thing is to fill my stomach.]
System 999 sounded puzzled.
[The gender ratio on the Beast World Continent is severely imbalanced. Females are extremely rare and highly respected. Even if the original owner of this body was mentally unstable, she shouldn't have starved to death.]
[Then I really don't know either.]
She was new here—how was she supposed to know? Besides, everyone kept calling the original owner a crazy female. Maybe she had her own reasons.
After only a few steps, pain shot up from the soles of her feet. She sucked in a sharp breath and looked down.
Her feet were dark and grimy, completely bare. Sharp stones dug into her skin with every step.
Following her gaze upward, Yue Ling examined her current body.
She was wearing a crude skirt made of animal hide. The fabric was stiff, pitch-black, and strangely glossy—clearly unwashed for an unfathomably long time.
Her arms and legs, exposed to the air, were coated in layers of old grime. Not a hint of her original skin tone could be seen.
Worse still, a nauseating stench wafted from her body.
She was basically a walking biological weapon.
The more she thought about it, the more curious she became about her own appearance. Drawn by the sound of flowing water, she slowly walked toward the stream.
The moment she saw her reflection, she was utterly shocked.
Staring back at her from the water was a disheveled, filthy, wild-eyed madwoman—hair tangled into a mess, face blackened with dirt.
The sight struck her like a thunderbolt.
This scavenger-like appearance left her not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"You crazy female—why are you running around again?!"
A sudden shout rang out, startling Yue Ling so badly that she nearly fell straight into the stream.
Someone roughly grabbed her arm, yanking her back before she could tumble into the water.
Yue Ling looked up and saw two tall beastmen standing before her.
Their figures were imposing, both nearly six feet two tall, with sharp, rugged features. Their faces were filled with undisguised irritation, and the way they looked at her was no different from how one might look at a piece of trash.
The beastman who had shouted earlier pulled out a rope made of animal hide and, without a word, bound Yue Ling's wrists together.
"What are you doing?! Let me go!" Yue Ling struggled desperately, but her feeble strength was like tickling to him.
The beastman didn't understand her mother tongue. To him, the crazy female was just babbling incomprehensibly, so he ignored her entirely.
His grip was strong. Pain shot through Yue Ling's wrists, and she gasped sharply.
The other beastman frowned slightly. "Lang You, be gentler. She's still a female."
The beastman called Lang You curled his lips into a cruel sneer. "Gentler? If I am, she'll just run off again."
Listening to their conversation, Yue Ling's heart pounded violently. Inside her mind, she screamed at System 999.
[They aren't beast-world human traffickers, are they?!]