Chapter 1: A Hundred Pulls to Start
Stelle was crossing the street, earbuds in, the world a muffled beat against her eardrums. There was a comic convention downtown, and she was on a mission: to find her favorite Kakashi cosplayer.
Just as her feet touched the opposite curb, a bicycle shot out of nowhere, its rider flailing as it lost control and barreled straight for her. Stelle's expression didn't even flicker. It was just a bike. She shifted her weight, preparing to sidestep the clumsy collision.
But her body suddenly felt as if it were bound by invisible shackles. She couldn't move an inch.
The bicycle slammed into her, face-first.
Hey, hey, I'm actually getting taken out by a bicycle? The thought flashed through her mind with absurd clarity. They're not going to think this is an insurance scam, are they? What am I supposed to tell the traffic police? "Officer, I was assaulted by a two-wheeler"?
What she failed to notice was the space behind her twisting like heat-haze, warping and expanding until it silently swallowed her whole.
When Stelle awoke from the suffocating darkness, she was standing on a high, ethereal platform. Below her, a vast plain churned with a massive brawl. Hordes of strangely dressed people were locked in a life-or-death struggle.
The two sides clashed with brutal ferocity. Bodies, broken and unmoving, already littered the muddy ground.
One second, she'd been on a city sidewalk. The next, she was here, in a place that looked like a primeval forest torn apart by war. As an avid reader of transmigration novels, Stelle knew the signs. She'd crossed over.
'But there's a problem,'she thought, a deep sense of injustice welling up.'Isn't transmigration usually handled by a big, reliable truck? Why me? Why a bicycle? What kind of self-respecting protagonist gets isekai'd by a ten-speed? Did that thing have a truck engine hidden in its frame?'
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
The shout cut through her spiraling thoughts. She watched, stunned, as a man with wild, spiky hair sucked in a great breath and spat out a massive sphere of roaring flame.
His opponent blurred, retreating several steps in a flicker of motion. His hands formed a complex seal. The very air seemed to ripple as a furious dragon of pure water materialized, slamming into the fireball. It not only extinguished the flames in a cloud of steam but also sent the fire-breather flying backward with a bone-jarring impact.
Holy crap. The realization hit her like a physical blow. This is the world of Naruto! No wonder the warring factions looked so familiar—those were the Senju and the Uchiha, locked in their legendary death-match.
If she were discovered spectating here, she'd die a horrible, anonymous death. Hell, even a random wolf from the surrounding forest could probably kill her. Other people transmigrated to the safety of Konoha village. Even being snatched up by Danzō to serve in Root would be better than being dropped, completely defenseless, onto a battlefield in the Warring States Period.
What was she supposed to do?
Someone, save me!
Wait. The transmigrator's essential, life-saving cheat.
'System! System, save me!' Stelle screamed in her mind.
[Hello, Host. The Mood Value Collection System is at your service. Please do not worry. You are currently within the System Space, and no one can perceive your existence.]
Her life was saved. Stelle let out a shuddering sigh of relief.
'System, what are your functions? How do I collect this "mood value"?'
[Mood value is the emotional energy of others. Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are all forms of this energy. The Host can gain the mood value of others and use it to draw prizes in the System Shop, thereby acquiring various abilities to protect yourself.]
Stelle immediately opened the System's interface, her eyes scanning the shop. It was filled with incredible things. The Tenseigan, the Rinnegan… even the fruit of the God Tree was listed as a possible prize. Then there were the stranger items: "Read this book and you'll lose weight," "Comment and you'll become beautiful"... Unfortunately, as a newly transmigrated nobody, her balance was a flat zero. She couldn't afford a single thing.
Stelle glanced at her status panel.
Name: Stelle
Gender: Female
Mood Value: 0
Lifespan: 1 year
Evaluation: Even a roadside beggar is stronger than you. You are a piece of trash.
'Well, I'm a beginner. That's fine.'Wait.'System,'she demanded, her voice rising in panic.'What does that lifespan on my status panel mean? Why do I only have one year to live?!'
[Because the Host has already died in your original world, you are technically a dead person. The one-year lifespan was a complimentary gift from the System. The Host must now rely on herself to exchange mood value for more time.]
The System's voice was disarmingly cute, but the words it spoke made her grit her teeth.
'Fine. Fine.'Stelle almost laughed, a sharp, bitter sound.'So that's how we're playing.' Other protagonists got to become invincible just by signing in every day, but she had to work to even stay alive. What backwards era was this System from?
She frantically tapped at the screen. After a rapid series of flashes, the interface stopped on a page titled "Loan System."
"I can actually take out a loan?"
She immediately clicked into the loan page. The interest rates were frighteningly high, but when she saw the rewards on offer, she was shamelessly tempted. Various gacha-pull chances and their required credit amounts flashed before her eyes until a brilliant red page appeared, dominating the screen.
It read: "Loan the mood value for 100 consecutive draws. Guaranteed to produce three Golden Legend-tier rewards. As this is the Host's beginner protection period, no interest will be charged."
This was it! If she pulled the God Tree Fruit right now, wouldn't she be invincible? Failing that, a Rinnegan or a Jōgan would do. Even the worst-case "Golden Legend" had to be at least on the level of an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Risk it for the biscuit.
She jabbed her finger down hard on the 100-pull loan option.
[Wait, Host—]
The System's voice was completely drowned out by the deafening whir of the lottery wheel spinning. Stelle didn't hear a thing. When the wheel finally ground to a halt, the System's voice chimed in again.
[Loan successful. Congratulations, Host, you have acquired three Golden Legend-tier abilities.]
[1: You are immortal. No matter what ability or method is used to attack you, you will not die.]
[2: You possess the most perfect physique and complete chakra nature affinities, allowing you to unlock any Kekkei Genkai, provided you have the ability to control it. The body is the foundation of the revolution, dear, and you have already obtained the optimal choice.]
[3: You have gained unmatched talent in creation, invention, and learning. You can create any ninjutsu you can imagine.]
[For the 100 consecutive draws, the first 10 draws cost 100 mood value each, the second 10 draws cost 1,000 mood value each, and so on. Host, you have received a loan of 1,111,111,111,000 mood value.]
Stelle didn't hear that last sentence at all. She was practically drooling as she stared at the three rewards. Wow. Wow! She'd struck it rich!
Just that first ability alone made her invincible! It was the ultimate survivalist's trump card. Combined with a perfect body and a genius-level brain, give her a little time and she could tear a path straight through the entire Shinobi World.
Scrolling through the other 97 rewards, she saw that everything was there. From the low-level Shadow Clone Technique to high-level arts like the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style and the Reaper Death Seal. She even saw Uchiha Madara's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in the list. The sheer volume of loot made her head spin.
What does it feel like to get rich overnight? This. This was it.
But Stelle didn't let the hundred rewards go to her head.
'This immortal body,'she asked cautiously,'it's not like Hidan's, right? Where being dismembered and sealed away still renders you useless?'
[Please do not compare the System's rewards with such low-grade products. Besides, the Host just completed 100 consecutive draws. If you're still weak enough to be dismembered, you might as well just die of old age.]
That made sense!
"Let's go, let's go! First, I'll wander around the capital of the Land of Fire. When I've got some free time, I'll head to the pleasure districts to listen to some music. I'll hire a whole troupe of handsome young men, hehehe..."
As for the loan? She was a woman with a hundred top-tier rewards. It wasn't too much to ask to enjoy herself a little after being thrown into another world, right?
Stelle was ready to leave the System Space when her eyes caught something. The "Lifespan" section on her status panel still displayed "1 year." She froze.
'Holy crap, System, what's the deal?! Didn't I just become immortal? Why do I still only have one year to live?'
[You are only immune to death from attacks; you have not gained eternal life. Your lifespan is still only one year. Please earn mood value quickly to exchange for more time. Otherwise, you will die when your lifespan runs out.]
So she was going to die of old age... in one year? That had to be the most niche weakness in a battle-focused world.
'Are your settings really that cunning?'she asked, suspicion dawning.'Was there a previous Host who became invincible after taking out a loan and then just slacked off, so you specifically added the lifespan restriction to motivate our work ethic?'
[The Host is very clever. That is exactly the case.]
So, the most urgent thing for her now was to go out and start collecting mood value. Fast.
But she had no idea where to even begin. She asked the System, which, to her surprise, was quite agreeable and answered every question.
[Mood value is diverse; shock, sadness, and joy all count. Simply put, any strong emotion will do. The Host can also experiment from various angles to develop more ways to earn it.]
Stelle propped her chin on her hand, staring at the damning lifespan counter for a long time. The rewards were generous, but the terms were utterly terrifying.
'Wait a minute. Other people's Systems give them a Novice Gift Pack right after binding. Why do I only have a loan shark?'
[There was one originally, but the Host didn't ask.]
What?!
'You scammer System! Give me my Novice Gift Pack right now!'[May I ask if a Host who has already drawn a hundred rewards and is richer than the final-stage versions of other transmigrators still qualifies as a novice?] The System's cute voice was laced with an obvious tone of speechlessness.'But the Novice Gift Pack is my rightful benefit!'
It did seem that way. Stelle felt a little embarrassed by the System's point.
[Fine. Novice Gift Pack: Host, please receive the Three Basic Academy Jutsu.]
[, because the Host has taken out too large a loan, the Shop Exchange interface is temporarily suspended. It can only be reopened after the loan is repaid.]
'Why?!'
The System sounded like it was holding back a sigh.
[Host, let's just say, if you borrowed ten billion from a bank, would they lend you more money before you paid it back?]
'No, but they would worship me like a god, terrified that I wouldn't pay them back.'
[Exactly! I will strive to make the Host happy every day., the loan interface will automatically deduct one thousand mood value daily from the Host for repayment. If the loan is not repaid within 100 years, the System will automatically unbind and will no longer be able to serve the Host.]
Stelle was so incensed by this whole operation that she laughed.
She transmigrated, and she still had to repay a loan—with daily installments, no less. It looked like she couldn't escape the life of a corporate slave after all. Other protagonists followed the rules, developed cautiously, and achieved godhood through sheer patience. But her? On day one, she was already saddled with crippling debt and a daily payment plan.
'If I can't exchange things in the shop, what good are you?'
The System chuckled, sounding genuinely happy.
[I can still exchange for lifespan, activate the world map, open the System Space, forge documents, help you cheat, provide false testimony, and assist in committing crimes. Most, I can cheer the Host on and shout "Awesome!"]
'Awesome!' she shot back sarcastically.
It seemed she had no choice. She needed to find a way to infiltrate the Shinobi World and start earning.
Should she go to the Senju Clan or the Uchiha Clan?
She was relatively familiar with both families. She could probably cater to their preferences.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]