I, the Guide to the Omniverse, Usher in Blue Star's Great Ascension! - chapter 1

“Sheng Ai, you stepped into the company with your left foot this morning. The president is unhappy, so you’re fired.”

“According to the N+1 severance policy, go to Finance, collect your compensation, and leave directly.”

When HR said this, she kept her head down, not daring to meet Sheng Ai’s gaze.

Clearly, she knew just how absurd the president’s reason was.

Sheng Ai took a sip from her thermos cup and then sighed deeply. “Alright.”

According to the compensation process, she was dismissed-nothing more to say.

Who told her to witness, just yesterday, the greasy president-rumored to have studied abroad, barely thirty and already balding-flirting with the department manager’s wife?

Those two were afraid she’d spill the secret.

The moment she saw them, Sheng Ai knew that even if she didn’t leave this lousy company, her days wouldn’t be easy.

Besides, she’d long had enough of doing the work of an ox for a measly three-thousand-yuan monthly salary.

At least the compensation would tide her over for a while.

This damn company was, at least, reasonable about that.

Carrying the box she’d packed herself, Sheng Ai stepped out of the company’s front door and looked up at the brilliant, blazing sun outside.

It was so bright she could barely keep her eyes open.

The voice ringing in her ears felt almost like a hallucination.

[Congratulations on being fired. You now meet this System’s definition of an unemployed person!]

[You have successfully bound to the ‘The Omniverse Travel Agency’ System!]

[Please begin your newbie task as soon as possible.]

Who?

Who’s talking?

The words “unemployed person” are an insult to me!

[It’s me, the System!]

[Yes, that’s right, just like the System in those novels you read. Today you’ve had a stroke of luck-no, a pie has fallen on your head. Are you happy?]

Sheng Ai thought she was hallucinating.

A burning sensation came from her wrist. When she looked down, she realized that the string of beads she usually wore-a family heirloom supposedly blessed by the Buddha, though Sheng Ai strongly suspected her mother had bought it from a cheap street stall-had vanished, replaced by a tattoo of beads on her wrist.

It actually looked pretty trendy!

Sheng Ai was shocked. “Where are my beads?”

[It’s me. Since you meet the criteria, this System has been activated.]

The incessant chatter in her mind proved that, under the blazing sun, Sheng Ai was not hallucinating.

She froze. “System?”

[Yes, it’s me, Host!]

[Let me introduce myself again: I am the ‘The Omniverse Travel Agency’ System. I know you have lots of questions, but don’t ask-if you ask, you won’t understand, and I won’t answer. I’ll only respond to task-related questions.]

[Hurry up and start your task!]

The System announced this in a very domineering tone.

Sheng Ai: “…”

She wasn’t unfamiliar with travel agencies-her family actually ran one.

-But ever since her parents disappeared five years ago, the Travel Agency had gone bankrupt.

Her family’s Travel Agency was always small. Her parents used to run it, taking tourists to visit local farms and doing similar small business.

It wasn’t anything special, but life was decent enough.

Five years ago, when her parents disappeared, Sheng Ai’s world nearly collapsed. After one trip, her parents vanished without a trace.

She reported it to the police, but all she got was “under investigation”-no clues at all.

From the initial devastation to eventual calm, even the police could only advise her to accept that her parents might have died in some accident somewhere.

Maybe Sheng Ai was naturally resilient, or maybe her parents had always taught her to stay optimistic and live well if anything happened.

So Sheng Ai truly accepted that her parents were gone.

After graduating, she found a job and became a proper corporate drone, muddling through life.

She thought she’d spend her whole life this way, mediocre and uneventful.
She didn’t become a Travel Agency guide because she simply wasn’t cut out for it-how could she possibly have the eloquence to introduce beautiful scenery?

But unexpectedly, she really did come into contact with the legendary System.

Sheng Ai raised her wrist. Perhaps a miracle had already happened, because she actually accepted it calmly: “What’s the task?”

[The Omniverse Travel Agency, as the name suggests, is all about travel tasks!]

As soon as the System finished speaking, a huge light screen popped up before Sheng Ai’s eyes-one that no one else could see.

The task requirements were clearly listed on it.

[Beginner Task: Invite ten tourists to the ‘Journey to the West Pilgrimage Route’ to enjoy the scenery]

[Local Guide: Toad Spirit]

[Travel Duration: Three days]

[Price: 200 yuan per person]

[Departure Preparation Time: 24 hours]

[Note: Extra benefit for beginner task-if fewer than ten tourists are gathered within 24 hours, the journey is canceled with no penalty]

[Reward: Complete the task to unlock the Host’s Spiritual Root cultivation]

Sheng Ai’s eye twitched sharply.

Journey to the West Route!

Spiritual Root!

Just these two things were enough to make anyone’s breath run hot.

Sheng Ai felt dizzy and hurriedly hugged her suitcase, taking a cab home.

On the way, she was like a child with a hundred thousand questions, constantly asking about the task.

“Why me? Are there more benefits if I complete future tasks?”

“Is the Journey to the West Route the pilgrimage route I’m thinking of? Will I get to meet the Great Sage and Tang Monk?”

“Where are they now? And who is the Toad Spirit?”

“Why is the Toad Spirit the guide?”

Except for a few questions it couldn’t answer, the System patiently explained most of them: [You will receive a reward for every journey you complete. Yes, the Journey to the West Route is exactly what you think it is.]

[As for the specifics of the journey, I can’t answer-you need to experience it yourself with your tourists.]

[The Toad Spirit is the local guide. Their responsibilities are different from yours; the local guide will only show you the sights and introduce the local culture.]

[As for where I came from, don’t ask. I’m not one of those human-trafficking systems. If you don’t want to do the tasks, there will be no punishment at all. At most, you’ll grow old and die, I’ll leave, and you’ll lose out on a magnificent new life.]

It had to be said, the points the System made really did make it easier for Sheng Ai to accept.

If she refused, there would be no punishment, and the System couldn’t leave. But at the same time, Sheng Ai would lose the chance to start an exciting new life.

And there was something even more important: [If you complete all the tasks, you might even get to see your parents again.]

Sheng Ai’s nerves instantly tightened.

Even though she had accepted the fact that her parents were gone, now that the System said this, there was a chance she could see them again.

How could she possibly refuse?

Sheng Ai slapped her thigh, excitedly saying, “I’m in!”

“Screech-”

The taxi braked sharply. The driver in the front seat looked at Sheng Ai strangely and said cautiously, “We… we’ve arrived.”

It turned out Sheng Ai had been so excited that her internal dialogue had slipped out as spoken words.

Sheng Ai touched her face, calmly got out of the car with her suitcase.

Just as she closed the car door, she suddenly walked up to the front and said to the driver, “Sir, I run a Travel Agency. For just two hundred yuan, would you like to join me on a trip to the West to experience the Great Sage and his pilgrimage route…”

Before she could finish, the taxi driver slammed on the gas pedal.

He fled in terror.

Leaving Sheng Ai standing there, silently watching the direction the driver had gone.

Still too impulsive.

Maybe her words were ambiguous, and the driver just couldn’t accept it for now.