If the transformation sequence had come with a fast-forward button, He Wuning would already have hammered it repeatedly.
“La la la—” An excessively sweet and cheerful hum rang out. He Wuning’s brows knitted together, and his heart sank. He had a feeling his ominous premonition was about to come true.
His expression dark, he looked toward the thing emerging from the light with the last shred of hope he had left—a pink mechanical sphere.
The sphere appeared to be made of metal, colored in dark and pale shades of pink. It even had fluffy trim around its waist, pink gauze trailing behind it, a pink magic wand in one hand, and a tiny crown on its head studded with enough pink rhinestones to blind a dog. Altogether, it looked like a counterfeit doll from a corner shop designed to trick little girls into buying it—the kind that had tried so hard to be sweet that it had become cloying instead.
The pink sphere seemed completely unaware of just how gaudy and knockoff-like it looked. It confidently spun in a circle in front of He Wuning. “Hello, hello—hello, baby! Congratulations on completing your Awakening Mission! You’ve gone from Level 50 to Awakening Level 1! Amazing!”
Its stubby little arms were physically incapable of clapping. Otherwise, He Wuning strongly suspected the thing would have given him one of those encouraging rounds of applause used for kindergarteners.
“It must feel scary to suddenly become Level 1, but there’s no need to worry! All your abilities have been carried over! You can think of it as simply breaking through the level cap! You’ll just have to level up again from the beginning before you can enter higher-level areas. Don’t look so upset—this is all for your safety, baby!”
It spun as it spoke, periodically wasting special effects by sending kisses and floating hearts at He Wuning.
He Wuning used one finger to physically smooth the crease between his brows. With his last remaining trace of hope, he asked, “What exactly are you?”
Maybe it only looked ridiculous. Maybe its ability would still be useful…
The pink sphere seemed completely oblivious to the teeth-gritted edge in his voice, still immersed in its own little world. It spun again, the pink gauze behind it nearly brushing He Wuning’s face. “I’m the System you received after Awakening! You can call me Q-chan. I know you must be dying to see what I can do, baby, so let me introduce myself!”
The magic wand in its hand spun and released an even larger burst of light. The System calling itself Q-chan shot into the air with brilliant pink radiance behind it, then went “Duang!” and stamped itself onto a signboard, transforming from a three-dimensional counterfeit doll into a flat, two-dimensional counterfeit-doll sticker.
He Wuning stared expressionlessly at the thing that had emerged from the holy light in front of him… a pink street-vendor cart?
He Wuning looked at it several more times, uncertain. It really did resemble one of those streetside carts that sold crepes or ice cream. They were relatively uncommon on ordinary streets in China and appeared more often in amusement parks. Combined with the same outrageously gaudy color scheme as Q-chan, He Wuning was certain the thing belonged in only two places: an amusement park or a garbage dump.