Yu Lan was woken up by her phone ringing. In a daze, she picked it up and answered. Instantly, her agent's roaring voice blasted through the receiver.
The last of her sleepiness vanished, and the original owner's memories finally flooded back to her. Today was supposed to be the day she signed her very first contract for a variety show. But on her way there, the accident had happened.
"Yu Lan! Where on earth are you?" her agent barked. "After so much effort, I finally landed you a chance to join this show, but you actually stood us up! Do you have any idea how badly the director scolded me? Do you even want to stay in the entertainment industry anymore?!"
"Stop, stop... I'm in the hospital," Yu Lan cut in.
"The hospital?!" The anger vanished, replaced by instant worry. "Are you okay? What happened? Tell me your address or share your location. I'm coming right now."
"Okay," Yu Lan said, hanging up the phone.
It seems this agent genuinely cares for the original owner, Yu Lan thought. What happened to her after the original owner died? She recalled that the agent had tried to get justice for her, but was subsequently fired, and no other entertainment company would hire her. Later, she even died in a car accident.
Was that really an accident, or... "This is a plot error," the system chimed in. "The host will have to investigate and find the truth firsthand."
Let's focus on building a reputation and a career first, Yu Lan planned. Then, I'll take care of Grandma, gather evidence, and sue them into the ground. As for the original owner's biological family, I'll just let nature take its course.
Making money? For her, that was easy. Yu Lan pulled up her phone, checked the stock market, and bought a few shares. The original owner only had 10,000 credits to her name; she was truly dirt poor. Frustrated by the lack of funds, she irritably tossed the phone aside.
A click echoed from the door as her agent, Su Ruo, rushed in. "Oh my goodness, what actually happened to you?"
"Nothing major. I just passed out for a bit."
Su Ruo looked at Yu Lan's divine face, sighing inwardly. She couldn't understand how a girl with a face that could easily make millions could be this unlucky. Just when they finally caught a break, disaster struck again.
"I brought you some food. Eat up while I go handle the discharge paperwork and pay the bill," Su Ruo said kindly.
"Okay."
Yu Lan was genuinely starving. Having gone almost eighteen hours without a single bite, she wolfed down the food without any pretense.
When Su Ruo went to the front desk, the hospital staff informed her that the bill had already been settled. Puzzled, she walked back into the room. "Who paid your bill?"
Thinking of those two exceptionally handsome faces from earlier, Yu Lan's eyes flickered. "The two men who brought me here."
"Two men? Do you know them?" Su Ruo's strict professional morals flared up. "We can't just accept money from strangers for free. Did they make you sign anything?"
Looking at Su Ruo—who managed to maintain her strict morals in an industry where people routinely devoured each other alive—Yu Lan felt a stroke of luck. Her agent was incredibly naive, but fiercely protective.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Su Ruo asked, blinking.
"Nothing. I'll pay them back later once I earn some money."
"Alright. Let's get you home then," Su Ruo replied, dropping the subject since Yu Lan didn't seem inclined to elaborate.
Su Ruo drove her to a small, rented single-room apartment before rushing back to her own work.
Yu Lan looked around the tiny space. It was a decent size for one person, but it was an absolute disaster zone. Sighing, she rolled up her sleeves and cleaned the entire apartment until it sparkled. By the time she finished, the food she had eaten at the hospital was entirely digested, and she was hungry again.
Sitting down, she spent hours searching the internet to gain a thorough understanding of this new world. She fully intended to recreate the luxury of her previous life; she had no desire to treat herself poorly. Step one: buy a villa.
In her past life, she possessed a photographic memory. Aside from her lethal combat training, she had mastered medicine, hacking, and various cultural arts—including multiple styles of dance, singing, and languages.
She didn't want to spend this life killing. However, as a cold, murderous intensity flickered in her eyes, she thought: ...unless someone provokes me first. Still, assassination as a career was off the table.
As for medicine? The original owner didn't have a medical license, so that was out.
The entertainment industry? It was far too slow at generating the massive amounts of cash she needed right now.
That left technology. Fortunately, the original owner was a computer science student at university, which provided the perfect cover. Let's see what the gaming market looks like in this world, she thought.
After doing some research, she began programming an advanced AI game. It took her ten consecutive days of focused work to complete it. The moment she launched it, a massive wave of curiosity swept the globe over this incredibly realistic game called Assassin Hunting. The mechanics were so lifelike that professional programmers worldwide were left in absolute awe of the mysterious developer.
But during those ten days, her past was being actively dug up by others, and a trap was already being set for her.
Meanwhile, in a prominent nightclub in S City, the young masters of the city's most powerful families were gathered in a luxury VIP suite, drinking, laughing, and networking.
"Young Master Huo Yun, what are you looking at so intently?" one of the men asked.
Huo Yun was staring fixedly at his mobile phone. On the screen was a trending article about the car accident and the mysterious girl who had single-handedly saved the plunging bus. The girl was none other than Yu Lan.
Huo Yun didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he pointed to the screen and asked, "Do you notice anything unusual about this photo?"
"What? No, looks normal to me..." the man replied, looking at Huo Yun suspiciously.
Ignoring him, Huo Yun turned his head to exchange a meaningful look with Bo Li. Bo Li silently shook his head.
It was clear that no one could see the anomaly except for the two of them.
Huo Yun and Bo Li had grown up together from childhood. They had initially bonded because of their unique tattoos—tattoos that they could see perfectly, but remained completely invisible to everyone else. Years ago, the two had visited a renowned temple to test an old abbot. To their shock, the abbot could see the marks clearly. He had smiled and explained their mystical origin.
According to the abbot, they had been a Dragon and a Phoenix in their previous lives, and the tattoos were a manifestation of their souls. In the modern era, who would actually believe such mythological stories? They had brushed it off, only half-believing it.
Until that fateful day.
The dragon and phoenix tattoos on their arms had suddenly burned with light. Instinctively, their very souls had urged them to drive out into the city without a destination, hunting for a missing piece of themselves. That was how they found her—a girl with matching dragon and phoenix tattoos glowing brightly across her back as she single-handedly dragged a bus out of a river.
When she had fainted, they had rushed her to the hospital and immediately launched an investigation into her background. They discovered a tragic file: an unfortunate girl saddled with massive debt, a critically ill grandmother, and a corrupt agency that stole all her career resources.
They also remembered the moment she had briefly opened her eyes in the hospital room. For a split second, a terrifyingly sharp, murderous aura had flashed in her gaze before melting back into calm indifference. A simple, ordinary girl could never possess eyes like that. They knew instantly that Yu Lan was anything but simple. And frankly, an ordinary girl would never have caught their attention anyway.
After leaving the hospital, Huo Yun and Bo Li had returned to the temple to recount the incident to the abbot. For the first time, they saw genuine shock register in the old monk's eyes.