Stifling heat and stuffiness suffocated her the moment she regained consciousness. A heavy scent of sandalwood all around made it even harder to breathe. It did not help that the breaths she took were already shallow and weak.

Luna tried to open her eyes, but it took significant effort before her eyelids finally lifted.

Ugly dark yellow draperies and a wooden bed frame was all that she could see. It took a while for her to register that it resembled the top of a traditional Chinese bed frame.

‘What in the world… What happened? What's happening? Am I dying again? Where am I?’

As if in response to her questions, she experienced a migraine attack that was so painful it made her nauseous. At the same time, memories and knowledge that were not hers flashed before her eyes.

Everything she saw was from the eyes of a girl named Chen Xinyi.

Xinyi was the only child of the second concubine to a high-ranking court official. As early as she could remember, her father had three concubines in addition to the main wife.

It seems that her father had the habit of finding someone new to add into his harem when the first child turns one. However, this stopped after he met the third concubine whom he still claims to be his true love.

As recompense, he impregnated his main wife with another child for her to love and who would love her back. As for the other two concubines, he did not bother paying attention to them if they did not come asking for it.

This knowledge was, of course, gathered over the years. After all, with her weak and sickly constitution that disallowed her to do much and earned her the reputation of being a waste, she could only study, drink tea, and listen to the gossip in the wind.

Xinyi moved into her own courtyard the moment she turned 12 years old. Not only was this meant to give growing children some due privacy, but it was also a form of practice for managing their own living space before they would get married, which could happen as young as they were 16 years old.

Unfortunately, her health deteriorated not long after she moved into her courtyard, causing her to become almost bedridden. As such, the responsibility of managing her courtyard and health fell onto her mother.

She heard from the gossips how her mother had accepted the burden graciously and lovingly. Being left alone with her thoughts so often, she could not help but wonder why her mother never treated her just as kindly whenever they were alone. Each time she harboured such thoughts, she berated herself for being an ingrate. Her mother was her only companion.

Xinyi comforted herself with the fact that her mother never stopped inviting different physicians in a bid to improve her health. It was her own fault for being so weak despite the help of all the herbs and tonics.

At present, she was already 15 years old. She had been wholly reliant on her mother for three years. No maid or servant was assigned to look after a girl who spent most of her days and nights sleeping.

The memories stopped flashing before her eyes as if they reached the end of a playback, then she heard the same childish voice speak.

[Your mission in this world is to survive. Because this is our first world, I'm allowed to reveal major developments that you should avoid or change to ensure a successful clearance. The first tip is to keep your immune system from being permanently damaged.]

As her head was still hurting from the migraine that had not subsided, her response was delayed.

Before she could search for the source of the voice or ask any questions, she heard the door to her room open.

She turned her head towards the sound with much effort and felt the cool and refreshing breeze that entered the room together with a pretty woman who looked elaborately dressed. The breeze carried the scent of her strong perfume to Luna's nose.

Luna easily recognised the newcomer as the mother of the girl called Xinyi.

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"Oh, you're awake. That's good. It's time for medicine."

‘Medicine?’

After she processed her current condition and situation, it eventually clicked in Luna's mind that she was the girl called Xinyi in the memories she just saw.

As if for confirmation's sake, she was then addressed by that very name. "Xinyi, what are you still dilly dallying for? Get up."

The woman's voice sounded quite sweet to listen to, but Luna knew better than to let that fool her impression of the woman. Not to mention what she saw in the memories, this woman was currently standing by her bed with the small bowl in her hands without showing a single intention to help her sit up.

Just sitting up felt incredibly laborious yet as soon as she leaned against the bed frame, she found a small porcelain bowl being chucked into her face. "Quick, drink."

Luna pretended to not be able to manage beyond a few sips before weakly pushing the bowl away.

Xinyi's mother looked at the bowl’s contents before saying, "At least you drank a bit. That's fine. You can rest now."

Luna watched as the woman left the room without a single glance back. She waited for the door to close before she spat out the tonic that she was holding in her mouth.

Luna wanted to be careful before she properly found out what she was dealing with in this world. She had watched and read enough Chinese dramas and novels in her world to know the kind of politics and scheming that occurs not only outside of the family but within it too.

‘Damn it…’

Luna could no longer hold herself back from cursing. Every part of her, inside and out, mentally and physically, felt like they were put through a wringer.

Knowing full well the reason for the mental part of her suffering, she could only suspect the cause for the physical part of it.

‘There must be some poison involved. Can a naturally weak constitution really become this bad?’

Luna sighed inwardly.

‘I really pity Xinyi. She was too isolated and broken to dare doubt her own mother and only caregiver.’

Because Luna was not bogged down by Xinyi’s thoughts and feelings, she had no qualms about pegging Xinyi's mother as the main suspect. It would be extremely easy for her to poison Xinyi and Luna could come up with a motive for doing something so horrible to her child. Earlier, her suspicions increased when she noticed the little bulge at Xinyi's mother's lower abdomen.

‘Speaking of which, what can I do about it? The mission is to survive? To do so I must change or prevent certain events from happening? Those were the very things I failed to do when I was still alive. Why else am I here? How smart…’

Before she could continue her rambling, the childish voice spoke up.

[Of course!]

Luna's eyes widened in surprise. She scanned the entire room for the source of the voice but found that no one else was there. It was an empty room that was decorated sparsely with one large Chinese painting.

Meanwhile, the voice in her head continued to speak.

[I didn't choose my soul willy nilly, mind you. I've gone through your memories and seen the way you look at the world around you. I believe that the skill you have should prove to be useful in your journey through the different worlds. See? it sounds like you’ve already found the person responsible for your long-standing condition.]

‘… You can hear me?’

[Yes. The moment I bound with your soul, I can hear your each and every thought.]

‘All the time?’

[Each and every thought.]

‘... I see. Well, what use is this skill you speak of when I can't do anything to change what is bound to happen?’

[That's for you to figure out.]

‘And I'm saying-! Ah, never mind.’

‘...By the way, you do realise that my comment about you being smart was me being sarcastic, right?’

[Sarcastic?]

After a short pause, the system mumbled. [So that's sarcasm…]

Hearing the system sound a little down made Luna feel bad. She had not meant for her pessimistic rumination to hurt anyone. She definitely had not expected that someone would be privy to her thoughts. It did not help that she had momentarily lost control due to her current circumstances.

‘Sorry.’

[What? Why?]

‘I wasn't nice and I guess you were just… Doing your job? ... I hurt you, didn't I?’

[Hurt? I don't think so? I can't get hurt.]

‘Okay... Then... Unhappy?’

[Unhappy? Me? Impossible. Systems don't have emotions.]

‘… Is that so? I thought you sounded a little down earlier.’

[That can't be. That's not good. Emotions are bad. Feeling is bad.]

‘Who told you that?’

However, she no longer got a reply from the system.

‘Hello? ...Forget it.’

There was still so much that Luna wanted to find out about her situation and the entity that pulled her into this. Everything that was happening to her now felt even more unreal than how her original life had felt.

Now that her mind was no longer occupied with interacting with the system, the stuffiness of the room and smell got to her once again. The dryness of her throat also became apparent.

Her entire body was so weak and numb that every move she made felt like pins and needles were poking her, but she resolutely moved her limbs. She slowly but surely made her way to the wooden table that was not too far away from the bed.

She heaved a small sigh of relief upon reaching the table only to be disappointed to find the water jug empty and cup dusty.

She got up once more to walk to the nearest window and pushed it wide open.

Feeling completely drained, she slumped over the windowsill and laid there with half of her body hanging out. She almost looked like a rag being hung out to dry.

She was not afraid that she would be spotted by her mother. Based on the memories she had received, that visit was the last visit for the day that her mother would pay her.

She kept her eyes closed and focused on the soothing feeling of the cold breeze against her skin.