Chapter 1 The Sickly Girl

The lazy afternoon sun streamed through the window, scattering across the bedroom floor in a patchwork of light.

It was clearly a girl’s room. Pink wallpaper adorned the walls, the bedding had a cute rabbit pattern, and a patched-up brown bear plushie sat on the bed. An ajar wardrobe revealed dresses hanging in a neat row.

Wind chimes on the windowsill tinkled in the breeze, a sound that made Su Xiaoyu feel strangely dazed.

She was sitting in a wheelchair. Her long black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and her face was delicate and tender, yet it also revealed a hint of frailty. Combined with her slightly thin frame, she looked as if a gust of wind could knock her over.

She wore a white spaghetti-strap dress, her smooth shoulders and arms exposed to the air, gleaming with a healthy sheen under the sunlight from the window.

Further down, her legs were also bare, equally fair-skinned, but these legs could not stand.

Looking at her own legs, Su Xiaoyu murmured to herself, “Is this why you chose to leave the world?”

She was not from this world.

Not long ago, she had been on another world called Earth, working as a low-level web author, rushing to meet her word count.

In the writing profession, you either earn by quality or by quantity.

She had no real talent; saying she was mediocre wasn’t an exaggeration. To earn more, she had no choice but to win by volume. This often meant spending more time typing, and over time, it inevitably led to various health problems.

A short while ago, she had felt a heart problem but forced herself to keep writing. The result of that behavior was sudden death.

By the time she realized something was wrong and tried to do something about it, it was already too late.

With a blink of her eyes, she had left her original world and arrived in this parallel world, remarkably similar to her own, becoming another Su Xiaoyu.

However, compared to her own situation, the original host’s life seemed even more difficult.

The original host was born with paralyzed legs. There was no chance for a cure with current medical technology, meaning she would likely be bound to a wheelchair for life—a burden for anyone. As a result, she was abandoned by her impoverished family and grew up in an orphanage.

Unable to stand, it was difficult for her not to be bullied in the orphanage. Years of this had fostered a timid and self-deprecating personality. She could only escape reality and place all her hopes in the virtual world of the internet.

That was how the original host became a web author.

Unlike Su Xiaoyu’s mediocre talent, the original host surprisingly had a gift for this profession. She earned a significant sum of money from her very first book. So, at eighteen, she moved out of the orphanage and rented a place of her own.

By all normal accounts, the original host could have continued living like that. But living alone was hard.

She wasn’t able-bodied; she could only sit in a wheelchair. Yet she had to handle everything herself. Coupled with the fact that she stayed in her bedroom for long periods without going out, she became depressed.

What was the point of such a life?

What could change by just barely surviving?

What did it matter if the world lost one person like her?

Perhaps she should never have come into this world.

As these thoughts kept surfacing, her depression unknowingly worsened. So today, the original host bought sleeping pills, swallowed them all, and chose to leave the world this way.

But the original host probably never imagined that when she chose to leave, someone from another world would arrive.

Creak, creak.

The not-so-well-made wheelchair made an unpleasant sound as it was pushed, taking Su Xiaoyu in front of a mirror.

Looking at the reflection of the frail girl with her pale face and haggard expression, Su Xiaoyu said softly, “From now on, I am you, and you are me. Alone, we are both too fragile. But when we become one, I think we can carve out a new future.”

Su Xiaoyu intended to live her life well.

She closed her eyes and began to sort through the original host’s memories.

No family, no friends. The trajectory of her life was simple and clean, yet filled with loneliness.

It was a life without any emotional anchor.

It was a struggle without any hope.

That was why the original host had stopped struggling and chose the eternal darkness.

As she sorted through the memories, Su Xiaoyu suddenly felt something was off.

“Did this thing not exist in the original host’s memory?”

Su Xiaoyu turned her head to look beside her.

The bedroom was modestly sized. Besides the standard bed, wardrobe, and desk, there was a diorama box in the corner, one meter long, half a meter wide, and half a meter tall.

From a distance, the diorama box had miniature mountains and water, a pleasant scene that looked exceptionally beautiful.

But when had this diorama box appeared?

Su Xiaoyu searched her memories, a look of confusion appearing on her delicate face. No matter how hard she thought, there shouldn’t have been anything like this in the original host’s bedroom.

Had it crossed over with her?

But she didn’t have this diorama box on her side either.

Puzzled, Su Xiaoyu pushed her wheelchair, the creak, creak sound taking her to the side of the diorama box.

Getting closer, she could see it more clearly. The landscape inside was crafted with outstanding skill; such a diorama box was probably quite expensive.

“Hm? What’s that?”

Suddenly, Su Xiaoyu’s gaze locked onto one of the miniature mountains. Many pavilions and towers were built upon it, looking exceptionally elegant. But there seemed to be something else.

Vaguely, she thought she saw some tiny figures, but they were so small she couldn’t see the details clearly and wasn’t sure if she was imagining things.

Immediately, Su Xiaoyu wheeled over to her bedside table, opened the drawer, took out a magnifying glass, and returned to the diorama box.

With the magnifying glass, Su Xiaoyu could finally see the details clearly.

“This is…”

Su Xiaoyu was a bit surprised.

The tiny figures she had seen earlier were not an illusion. On the mountain inside the diorama box, a group of ancient-costumed miniature people were actually confronting each other. They even seemed to be talking amongst themselves, looking like they were about to fight.

Seeing this, Su Xiaoyu had to lean in closer, wanting to see even more clearly and hear what the tiny people were saying.