Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 1

【Host, wake up!】

【The aloof Master, corrupted Eldest Senior Brother, romance-addled Second Senior Sister, drama-queen Third Senior Brother, yandere Fourth Senior Brother, and insufferable show-off Fifth Senior Brother you must win over are currently respawning—ahem, I mean, on their way. Host, prepare yourself at once!】

【Targets won over: 0/100,000,000】

Inside the bamboo cottage, the sleeping girl frowned at the voice. Without opening her eyes, she dragged the quilt over her head.

Not listening. Not listening. Just a bastard chanting scripture.

【Host, as cannon fodder destined to die before surviving even one full chapter, you must approach this mission with the proper gravity and solemnity.】

【Completing the mission will allow you to escape your cannon-fodder fate!】

【Only three days remain before the events of Chapter One begin. In other words, you have three days left to live. Unless you raise at least one target’s Awakening Value above fifty within that time, you will be erased!】

Yuan Yao flung back the quilt and lay staring at the ceiling. A long, despairing sigh escaped her.

What on earth was this idiotic System 250?

It had been yammering inside her head for ages.

According to it, she was a cannon-fodder character in a book called *The Domineering Immortal Venerable’s Ruthless Devotion*. As the Little Junior Sister of the Xiaoyao Sect, Yuan Yao would eat ten bird eggs in one sitting three days from now—and choke to death.

Afterward, she would become the pure, unattainable first love whose name no one in the sect dared mention. Then the heroine, Lu Xiangxiang, would arrive at the Xiaoyao Sect. Her looks and temperament would remind everyone of the dearly departed Yuan Yao.

Master would break precedent to accept her as a personal disciple, then fall in love with her. Eldest Senior Brother would succumb to demonic corruption for her. Second Senior Sister would fall for the same man she did and meet a gruesome end. Third Senior Brother would become a rent boy for her and suffer at the hands of countless men. Fourth Senior Brother would castrate himself and cripple his own legs for her. Fifth Senior Brother would tear out his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and both kidneys for her. Her fellow disciples would lose their minds, lose all reason, and fling themselves bodily at walls for her sake.

And because everyone in the Xiaoyao Sect treated the heroine well while secretly regarding her as Yuan Yao’s substitute—without ever harming so much as a hair on her head—the heroine wiped out the entire sect.

When Yuan Yao first heard this plot, the corner of her mouth had twitched.

The noble, untainted heroine took every advantage they offered her, then decided she had suffered a mortal insult and exacted insane revenge on the Xiaoyao Sect.

So every last person in the sect was one spectacular fool.

And now Yuan Yao got to be the first.

This wretched mission wanted her to win over a hundred million people. Was she supposed to work her way through the entire cultivation world?

Was she some compulsive people-pleaser?

Was Yuan Yao the sort to grovel?

A thought occurred to her. “By ‘Awakening Value,’ do you mean the characters gradually breaking free of the roles the book assigned them and developing minds of their own?”

【Correct, Host,】 System 250 replied in its mechanical voice.

“Then what roles do Master and the others play in the book?”

【Your Master, Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Sister, Third Senior Brother, Fourth Senior Brother, and Fifth Senior Brother are, respectively: Devoted Male Number Nine, Devoted Male Number Eight, Vicious Supporting Woman Number Eighteen, Devoted Male Number Seven, Devoted Male Number Six, and Devoted Male Number One Hundred and Eighty-Eight.】

Yuan Yao stared. “Hold on. My Youngest Senior Brother is that handsome, and he tears out every organ in his body for her. How did he only make number one hundred and eighty-eight?”

【Your Youngest Senior Brother shows off too much. His displays repeatedly eclipse the hero’s and heroine’s protagonist halos, making them feel inferior and causing them to dislike him.】

Yuan Yao was speechless. The leads were a little narrow-minded, weren’t they?

“Who’s the hero?”

【Apologies, Host. You do not yet possess the clearance required to unlock information about the male lead.】

Yuan Yao tried another angle. “He isn’t someone from our Xiaoyao Sect, is he?”

System 250 did not respond.

Since she clearly wasn’t going to pry anything loose, Yuan Yao stretched, climbed out of bed, and walked over to the weapon rack. She selected a sword in a riot of gaudy colors and drew it.

Clang!

Cold light flashed across her delicate features. Yuan Yao studied the blade thoughtfully. “System 250, do you think I could run the heroine through with one strike three days from now?”

If the heroine died, wouldn’t that spare them all this trouble?

System 250 detected the sudden spike in its host’s murderous intent. Its voice turned stern.

【Host! Correct your thinking at once and refrain from extreme behavior! If the heroine dies, the order of the entire cultivation world will collapse, space itself will warp, and the Heavenly Dao will begin erasing every living creature except the male lead!】

【And Host, please do not call me “Two-Fifty.” You will address me respectfully as System Two-Five-Zero.】

Yuan Yao sheathed the sword and picked at her ear. “I’m not deaf. You don’t need to shout.”

Just then—

Knock, knock.

Someone rapped on the door.

【Host, one final solemn reminder: you have only three days left to live. If you fail to raise one target’s Awakening Value above fifty during that time, you will once again fulfill your role as cannon fodder and be permanently erased.】

Something unreadable flickered through Yuan Yao’s eyes.

“Little Junior Sister, are you in there?” It was Eldest Senior Brother Song Yan.

“I am.” Yuan Yao swiftly composed herself and walked to the door as if nothing were wrong.

She opened it to find a lone figure waiting outside.

The young man wore white. Tall and straight as bamboo, he carried himself with the open dignity of a clear wind beneath a bright moon. His face was a little lean, his features finely cut, and his eyes stern.

“Little Junior Sister, have you comprehended sword intent yet?”

The question immediately reminded Yuan Yao of the excuse she had invented several days ago so she could sneak off and sleep. She smiled guiltily.

“Almost. Almost…”

“You’re the laziest person in the entire Xiaoyao Sect. You’re fifteen, yet you still haven’t broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.” Song Yan’s expression chilled, though inwardly he felt helpless.

Anyone who didn’t know better would assume Little Junior Sister possessed abysmal talent. The truth was precisely the opposite. Her aptitude was excellent.

She was simply extraordinarily lazy.

And terribly delicate.

She would practice her sword for a few moments, complain that she hurt and was tired, then slip away to sleep.

Ten years had passed, and she was every bit as lazy as ever.

She had no ambition to speak of, either. Almost every year, her birthday wish was the same: *May Master and my senior brothers and sisters work hard, grow strong, and protect me for the rest of my carefree life.*

Yuan Yao lifted her head. Her bright eyes met Song Yan’s, and she said with a soft laugh, “Eldest Senior Brother, I’ll cultivate diligently from now on.”

To “awaken” the targets and extend her life, she had no choice but to train in earnest.

After all, she couldn’t possibly reform a hundred million people with love.

She would raise her cultivation instead—and hammer them awake by force.

Song Yan arched a brow in genuine surprise, but he did not believe her for a moment.

He tapped her forehead with one finger. “I’ll settle for you not shirking. Don’t start talking about diligence.”

“Eldest Senior Brother, one day I’m going to be stronger than you. Believe me?”