"Hello everyone, my name is Chu Lian. I hope I can get along well with everyone from now on." The previous students had all included details about their talents in their introductions, but when it came to Chu Lian, her self-introduction was this simple. Other than her name, she said nothing at all.
However, after her introduction, her sweet smile and polite bow were so adorable that it melted quite a few hearts. At the very least, Wang Tingsi and the chubby boy with glasses were already staring blankly at her.
Unbeknownst to them, she was inwardly exasperated: "Ugh, why am I acting all cutesy again? It's all Ayase's fault for exchanging that 'Loli Heart' skill after I completed the task! So annoying, being looked at like this..." Despite her inner discomfort, she still wore a friendly smile as she walked to her seat.
Third row, fourth seat—practically the very center of the classroom. Whether intentional or not, seated to her left was another transfer student, the even more famous, beautifully wavy-haired girl Cai Ya. To her right was the chubby boy with glasses.
Chu Lian nodded and smiled at everyone who looked her way. As she sat down, she suddenly noticed a persistent gaze from her right. Pretending to look casually, she turned her head and saw the chubby boy nervously peeking at her.
"Don't tell me this kid likes me?" With the experience of a past life, she knew all too well what such things meant. The chubby boy clearly had a crush, but was too shy and insecure to look at her directly.
"Forget it, just ignore it... ignore it... ignore it..." Though she told herself that, being stared at like that still irritated her. Why were there always people like this wherever she went? Didn't they know she was only thirteen and not even an adult yet?
It was bad enough at her previous school, but why was it happening here too? Couldn't teenage boys control their restless hearts? Did they really not know that staring at someone like this was rude?
With these thoughts, she turned and gave the chubby boy a glance, then straightened up without saying anything.
But that one glance was enough to scare the boy into looking away. He no longer dared look at her and quickly pulled out a book to read.
Although the chubby boy had looked away, Cai Ya, on Chu Lian's left, continued to study her with curious interest. Clearly, Chu Lian's earlier reaction had piqued her curiosity.
Noticing the behavior of the people on either side of her, Chu Lian sighed with both relief and helplessness. Being stared at by a beautiful girl was better than by a boy, sure—but her gaze was way too intense.
There was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't exactly ask her to stop looking. So she pretended not to notice and looked around the room. She spotted Wang Tingsi surrounded by a group of girls, chatting happily.
"Exactly, boy—you should be choosing them. I have no interest in any males, so please don't bother me." Rolling her eyes, Chu Lian turned her attention to the others in the room.
She also noticed that many people were looking at her and Cai Ya. It was obvious they wanted to approach and get to know them, but since the two had just transferred, everyone was still unfamiliar and hesitant to initiate conversation.
"Typical boys' mentality..." Chu Lian sighed inwardly but said nothing. Instead, she focused on the book in her hands and pretended to read seriously. Seeing her like this, the others gave up on the idea of disturbing her. After all, they were all serious students who understood that not interrupting someone reading was a basic courtesy.
Fortunately, those students who wanted to get close were the minority. Most of the class remained quietly reading or doing exercises, even during break time, unaffected by their surroundings, as if their world consisted solely of books.
"With this kind of atmosphere, no wonder the school's academic performance is so impressive." She recalled her teenage years in another world—though the memories were a bit fuzzy, she couldn't remember the details. Still, she knew that back then, she was probably no different from these students.
"Maybe this is the cycle of fate. No matter how it goes, it's a new beginning..." As she was thinking this, a snickering voice echoed in her mind: "You're thinking too nicely. This is just your fate—it won't change."
Just then, the class bell rang. She pulled out her textbook and appeared to be fully immersed in the lesson. But in reality, her thoughts had drifted far away.
"Ayase, why are you popping out now? Is there a new task?" Ayase was the steward of the mysterious "Goddess Development Plan" system that had somehow become attached to her.
She didn't remember how her past life ended—her last memory was of a blood-red moon in her eyes.
She had lain on the ground, staring out the window, before closing her eyes. And when she next woke up, she found herself no longer a man in his twenties, but a twelve-year-old girl—right in the prime of her loli phase.
The system had activated at that very moment. Before she could even figure out what was going on, the first task was issued:
"Due to certain reasons, many literary classics are missing in this world. Now, you—coming from another world—are tasked with restoring these masterpieces, making this world whole again."
"Goddess Development Plan Main Quest ①: Beginner Task Issued—Debut of the Literary Girl. Although you are technically a loli by age, the saying 'a woman is a girl until her death' applies to you as well. So, young lady, pick up your pen and bring beautiful stories to the world."
"Please choose one of the following novels to be your debut work. (Note: Completing the task will grant generous rewards. However, if the task is not completed, there will be corresponding punishments. Failure to complete main quests may result in death or memory loss, and the system will detach from the host.)"
At the time, she had asked curiously what the rewards and punishments were. The system's reply had left her both excited and anxious: "Completing a task will grant rewards such as abilities, stats, talents, money, and more. As long as you complete main and side quests, you can use earned points to exchange for anything you like. Some tasks also come with bonus rewards beyond points, though they'll be harder. Failure will result in punishment based on your completion rate."
The punishment system was explained with just one sentence, which somewhat eased her anxiety. With her fear subsiding, her fighting spirit began to rise.
At the end of the day, she was just afraid of dying. Death was indeed terrifying. She had died inexplicably in her past life, and she didn't want to repeat that in this one.
Even though her previous life had been a failure, wasn't this a chance to start over? Even if she'd become a loli, it still counted as reincarnation.
"The Harry Potter series: This globally popular fantasy novel has not yet appeared in this world. J.K. Rowling does not exist here either. It's a novel suitable for all ages and perfectly fits your current age."
She, someone who had once been in the entertainment industry, knew better than anyone just how massive the potential of the Harry Potter series was. But no matter how much she wanted to pick it, she couldn't.
Her current identity had never even been to the UK. If she chose this series, how could she possibly explain the intense British flavor it carried?
This kind of detail would be impossible to explain and would only make her writing career more difficult. Public opinion wouldn't let it go either. Once rumors started to circulate online, affecting her future reputation, it would be a loss not worth taking.
"The Sherlock Holmes series..." That was even worse. The meticulous Victorian atmosphere and the complex reasoning involved weren't suitable for someone her age to write. The reasoning was the same as before.
"The Chinese Paladin series (novel)..." Too many romantic entanglements. She had never experienced any, and she wasn't old enough. Maybe she could consider writing it later after completing her first novel, but it wasn't suitable as a debut.
"The Qin's Moon (novel)..." She loved the anime and was really drawn to the novel adaptation, but it involved many elements not appropriate for her age. Moreover, its heavy historical setting would require extensive knowledge and time to convincingly pull off.
There were initially seven novels to choose from for her debut. Later on, the number of options available for each Literary Girl task would decrease, eventually becoming fixed at three choices—so the first novel was especially important. Thinking about Ayase's words, she looked at the last three options.
The final three books were The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng, I, Robot, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The first two were out. The former was full of wandering swordsman charm and mystery-solving elements, which didn't suit her female identity and current age. The latter was deeply philosophical science fiction, far beyond the realm of believability for a preteen author.
So in the end, she was left with only one viable option: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Of course the system wouldn't make it easy. It gave the illusion of choice, but considering her situation, there was really only one that she could pick.
And so, under the occasional reminders from the system steward—reminders that failure would result in being abandoned and left utterly alone—she stumbled onto the path of becoming a literary girl.
Luckily, her parents were both executives at a cultural media group. Her father was a senior manager at a publishing house, and her mother was the editor-in-chief of a magazine, both of whom could provide tremendous support.
With their help, her debut novel for the Literary Girl task was finally published after a few months of hard work.
This publication not only completed her mission, earning her the reward Ayase had specifically chosen—"Loli Heart"—but also made her instantly famous in Sucheng.
After all, there were many geniuses, but a beautiful girl who could publish her own novel at twelve or thirteen with solid sales? That was exceedingly rare.
In recent years, she was likely the only one. Even if it was with help, a subpar work wouldn't even make it to print, let alone sell.
Even if it got published, the sales wouldn't be impressive. Yet her novel had sold hundreds of thousands of copies in just four months. That was no small number. With media coverage in abundance, her fame had rapidly grown.
However, after completing the mission, she started to regret it. Just what was the deal with this bizarre reward?
"Loli Heart: As a loli, a prime-quality loli in her best years, how could you not have a loli heart? Ability: After obtaining Loli Heart, you will unconsciously display your youthful cuteness, while enhancing your innocent aura—making you all the more eye-catching. You say this is forced cuteness? Wrong! Moe is truth, moe is justice. A loli being cute isn't malicious—it's just natural!"
After learning the effect of this so-called "Loli Heart," the otherworldly maturity and strange aura left from her soul transmigration gradually faded.
Her behavior, speech, and expressions slowly aligned with what was expected of her age—maybe even more appealing. Her looks, already top-tier among her peers, were now even more striking. For kids her age, she was practically a walking weapon.
Though this thing was indeed effective and quite useful, she still couldn't forgive Ayase. After all, it had been applied to her without her consent. What was up with that? Because of it, she didn't even know anymore—was she a boy, a girl, or just a loli now?
"I heard you talking bad about me, Little Lian'er. As punishment, the system has decided to issue your next main quest. Look forward to it, okay?" Her wild thoughts, of course, didn't escape Ayase's perception. But Ayase had her own logic—next time, she'd let Chu Lian choose the reward herself. For now, while she was still in her loli stage, they should complete tasks suited to it. Otherwise, things would get more difficult later on.
Without giving Chu Lian a chance to argue, Ayase dumped a ton of information into her mind for her to review.
"Side Quest Complete: Transfer to Sudi High School Class 1 of Grade 7. Reward: 3,000 Culture Points. Your fame has increased again, which will boost the sales of your work."
"Main Quest ② Issued: Master Cosplay and Song Covers."
"While others are still adoring your literary girl persona, don't hesitate—go shatter that image. You're not just a literary girl. You should be an all-around goddess."
"Quest Requirements: Cosplay 18 famous loli characters, and cover 10 songs."
"Quest Completion Criteria: Cosplay images must reach a combined total of 5 million reposts, downloads, or saves. Song covers must reach a combined 3 million views on M Station."
"Quest Time Limit: Six months."
"Uh, Ayase, are you seriously forcing me to shamelessly act cute? You're totally doing this to get back at me, aren't you? And what's with those absurdly high standards—are you trying to make my life difficult?" Only after she processed everything did she realize how ridiculous this latest mission was.
Meanwhile, her alternating expressions of joy and distress were just too adorable. Watching her from time to time, even Cai Ya found herself fighting the urge to scoop Chu Lian up and cuddle her senseless—let alone the boys.
But Chu Lian could swear—this was definitely not her trying to act cute on purpose. She was just being tortured by that system.
She hadn't even gotten a proper taste of her new school life today. It had all passed in a blur of stress over the system's tasks.
No matter what, figuring out how to complete the mission was now her top priority.