Chapter 1: My Name is Di Qiu

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“My name is Di Qiu, and I am a transmigrator.

In the novels I read before crossing over, every transmigrated protagonist comes equipped with a golden finger—a cheat granted by the author to finally live out their dream life.

If I hadn’t actually transmigrated now, I’d almost have believed it!”

Fresh from the examination hall, Di Qiu clasped her hands behind her back and gazed up at the azure sky. Though only eighteen, her face bore the weariness and solemnity of someone eight decades old.

“Crazy,”

The young man beside her, of the same age, shot her a sidelong glance and spat out the word in utter deadpan.

But recalling the result of the final ability assessment after the college entrance exam, he figured she must have suffered a mental blow. Understandable, really—after all, with someone like him, a child of destiny, right beside her, a little imbalance of the heart was inevitable.

He deeply understood Di Qiu’s attempt to find joy amid bitterness.

With a sigh, Sikong Lu offered a word of pity: “Don’t be too down. Take it easy. Not everyone is born with a fate as grand as the protagonist in a novel, like me.”

“After all, I’ve got the top-tier setup of being a true orphan at the start.” He folded his arms, fingers making a V on the bridge of his nose, assuming an air of inscrutable profundity.

“……”

As they spoke, a black sedan pulled up at the school gates, and a young man stepped out.

Black trench coat, black sunglasses, black leather boots—no other color could be seen on him.

He raised his wrist, and the black watch projected a small frame displaying Sikong Lu’s ID photo and name, his gaze then settling on the two students standing nearby.

Sikong Lu hurriedly grabbed his backpack from the ground and turned to bid his classmate farewell:

“Little Qiu, your big brother’s off now. If you ever can’t make it out there, come find me. For the sake of our old schooldays, I could let you be my sidekick.”

“……”

Di Qiu watched silently as Sikong Lu dashed enthusiastically toward the car, embarking on a life destined for greatness.

So enviable.

She clenched her back molars so hard beneath her blank expression that they nearly shattered.

The boy had just tested SSS-level abilities, and in the next instant, the national team had whisked him away.

As for the type of ability, anything at that level was strictly confidential—even the person in question didn’t know yet.

As the car drove off and disappeared from view, Di Qiu’s thoughts drifted back.

Unhurriedly, she pulled a crumpled paper from her pocket.

On the wrinkled sheet, clearly written:

Dandan Hope Middle School Student Ability Assessment Report

[Name] Di Qiu.
[Gender] Female.
[Age] 18.
[Class] Senior Three, Class One.
[Ability] None detected; no ability fluctuation found in subject.
[Ability Level] None.
[Life Advice] The world out there is dangerous, child. It’s best you stay in the village.

What a damned life.

Ten years ago, with a blink, she’d awakened as the sole eight-year-old left-behind child in a desolate village of this ability-wielding world, an orphan by age nine.

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Fortunately, this world’s welfare for unaccompanied minors like her was decent—the state would support them through college, which was why they weren’t sent to orphanages.

Compared to her previous life on Blue Star, this world was a kind of parallel reality, only slightly more advanced in some aspects, with many similarities in daily life and habits. Because of this, Di Qiu adapted quickly.

But this was no ordinary world.

Here, danger and strangeness lurked everywhere.

The greatest threat to humanity was the uncanny—these entities usually parasitized ruins, stone statues, rocks, ornaments, and other inanimate objects.

In simple terms, this was a world driven by supernatural abilities.

Of course, not everyone awakened such powers.

Di Qiu glanced again at her assessment slip—she had two others from elementary and middle school.

Aside from changes in age and grade, the result and life advice had never changed.

She was simply one of those ordinary, unawakened people.

The first two times, Di Qiu hadn’t taken it to heart. From her thorough knowledge of webnovel tropes, she was sure—

This was going to be a classic underdog tale.

But now, watching classmates just as ordinary as her suddenly awaken during the final ability test after the college exam and soar to new heights—

This time, Di Qiu was truly defeated.

Three years and three years and three years again—she comforted herself over and over: don’t worry, just wait, the golden finger will come soon.

Ten years had passed. Now, at eighteen, Di Qiu finally accepted her reality as a nobody.

She had awakened no ability.

Forget hidden powers—these days, lifting a hundred-kilo stone was as impossible as flying to the heavens.

Let go of fantasy; accept reality.

Di Qiu pulled herself together.

She figured it was time to leave the village and forge her own path.

She turned for one last look at the rusted sign above the school gate—Dandan Hope Middle School.

The school that had been her companion for ten years.

The “Middle” character used to be “Elementary,” changing as the school became a middle school, then a high school—since high school was also “middle” in the language, the sign never changed again.

There were only two students in the village, and as neither had scored high enough to leave for schools outside, in accordance with national policy, the school remained.

Di Qiu gazed solemnly at the gate and sighed deeply.

She turned, pushing the government-subsidized bicycle parked there. One foot on the pedal, the other lifted, and just as she settled onto the seat—

[Beep—Loading complete! Would you like to bind to the Ultimate Support System?]

A thunderous voice sounded in her ear. Di Qiu’s dazed expression shifted to delight as she exclaimed,

“Yes, yes, yes! Bind it, bind it!”

[Congratulations! You have bound the Ultimate Support System. This system will assist you as you rise to the top in this new world: punching out the dragon-born, kicking the chosen ones, helping you reign supreme above and below, ascend with a single step, become invincible on earth and in heaven.]

“System! You finally came!”

Di Qiu was so moved she nearly wept, leaping off the bike. Heaven knew how long she had waited for this day.

Ten years!

Three years and three years and three years again, plus a whole year.

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Do you know what I’ve endured these ten years?!

“You really made me wait for ages.”

“Damn it, System, if you’d come earlier, I could have been in that car too!”

Suddenly, a panel appeared before her eyes.

[Character Information]
[Name: Di Qiu]
[Gender: Female]
[Talent: None]
[Ability: None]

A brief panel, only four short lines.

Di Qiu’s gaze lingered on the “Talent” and “Ability” fields, and she sank into deep thought. It seemed that even if the system had arrived earlier, it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Beneath the panel, two bold words flashed:

[Inventory] [Tasks]

Di Qiu tried to open the inventory with her mind—empty.

Fine, not even a starter pack.

Nor was there any exchange shop as she’d imagined.

As for the tasks tab, before she could check it, the system’s voice rang out:

[In your first year in the cultivation world, you—]

Halfway through, the system’s voice clearly stuttered.

Di Qiu froze too. Had she misheard, or did the system just say “cultivation world”?

While she was still marveling at this strange turn, after a two-second pause, the system’s voice resumed:

[You have spent ten years traversing the cultivation world, beset by hardship and disappointment, enduring disdain from your elders and bullying from your peers. To this day, you remain trapped at the Qi Refining stage. Enough—break free from your fate! With your Qi Refining body, challenge those above your rank. Your target—ten Foundation Establishment demon beasts!]

[Main quest triggered!]

[Quest One: Novice’s Journey! Defeat ten marauding demon beasts.]

[Quest reward: Random talent.]

“Huh?”

Di Qiu calmly listened to the stirring system prompt, then voiced her confusion.

She opened the quest panel, confirming once more that she hadn’t misread the words “cultivation world.”

Ten years—no mistake there.

She really had just spent ten years here.

But what was this cultivation world?

“Wait, wasn’t I supposed to be in an urban supernatural story? Where did this cultivation stuff come from? Where did you send me?!”