Advancing Despite Known Dangers

The Special Compound.

Li Guanqi sat quietly in her living room, holding her phone in both hands, her gaze calm as she read the message that had just arrived.

Not a Fan of Oranges: "I keep thinking about this and find it really strange, so I wanted to come to you for confirmation. Otherwise, I just can’t get over it."

She didn’t know how to respond.

After sitting still for a while, she finally stood up and slowly walked over to the window.

Outside, the sky was a clear, deep blue. A gentle breeze brushed her cheeks, causing her silky hair to sway gracefully. She exuded an ethereal and lively beauty. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then raised her slender, fair hand and conjured a cigarette out of thin air.

“When you hand this to someone and light it, saying ‘do me a favor,’ they’ll agree to one request of yours.”

As she held the cigarette, Gu Ruoxue’s words echoed in her mind. She pressed her lips tightly together, lowered her eyes to the cigarette, and fell into silence.

“Guanqi, I’ve found a two-player game I’m dying to play!” Suddenly, a sweet, soft voice called up from downstairs. It was her sister — Li Zhaohao.

Dressed in a white dress and matching white sandals, her long black hair cascading over her shoulders, Li Zhaohao’s divinely beautiful face was full of anticipation and excitement, as if she couldn’t wait to start playing.

Li Guanqi snapped back to reality, quickly retracting the cigarette back into her ring. She looked down at her sister and nodded slightly. “Go back to your room and wait for me. I’ll be down soon.”

“Okay!” Li Zhaohao blinked innocently, gave a soft “mm,” then turned and ran back to her room.

Li Guanqi watched her sister’s retreating figure, then turned to glance at her phone lying on the table. She decided to reply to Su Cheng’s message first, so as not to keep her waiting too long.

“I’m not available right now. Let’s talk another day.”

After sending the message, she set the phone down and headed out the door to go downstairs and play with her sister.

“Come on, sit down, sit down! Let’s create our characters.”

Seeing her enter, Li Zhaohao, holding a game controller, was already sitting on a cushion, eagerly waving her over. She shoved the controller into Li Guanqi’s hands with excitement and urged, “Let’s get started!”

“Okay.” Li Guanqi nodded, smoothing her skirt as she sat down on the cushion beside her. But as she gripped the controller and stared at the screen to choose a character class, she froze.

“What should I pick?”

She muttered, slightly confused.

“Of course, pick the magic healer!” Li Zhaohao didn’t hesitate to recommend instantly.

“Oh.” Li Guanqi responded softly, then, guided by her sister, chose the mage healer class.

She had never played this kind of game before, so she was very confused about naming and attribute settings. But after her sister’s explanation, she began to understand how to operate it.

However, she showed little enthusiasm for the game, perhaps because something was weighing on her mind, preventing her from fully immersing herself. In any case, she remained in a detached state the entire time.

Until—

“Guanqi, heal me quickly, I’m about to die~”

Li Zhaohao focused intently on the screen, her fingers dancing rapidly over the game controller buttons as she shouted anxiously.

“Oh, got it.” Li Guanqi heard the plea and immediately activated her skill. Instantly, her sister’s character on the screen was enveloped in a soft green glow, and her health began to rise rapidly.

“Phew~”

Li Zhaohao let out a sigh of relief and patted her chest, which was still pounding from the near-death experience. “That was close. Good thing you were here.”

She turned to thank Li Guanqi with a glance.

But the moment she looked back at the screen, her gaze froze on a particular scene. Li Guanqi’s healer character was surrounded and attacked by monsters, her health bar dropping rapidly to just over half — looking dangerously unstable.

“Heal yourself quickly! You have to heal yourself!”

Seeing this, Li Zhaohao panicked and urged her.

“Can I even heal myself?”

Li Guanqi was surprised by the question, then frantically started pressing her skill buttons. But the moment she successfully healed her own character, she suddenly froze.

Because a sudden thought struck her mind.

Could the cigarette also be used on herself?

“Guanqi, Guanqi, you’re dead.” Li Zhaohao noticed her sister zoning out and quickly interrupted her train of thought, indignantly declaring, “I’ll avenge you first!”

“Sis, you keep playing. I have something I need to deal with.” Li Guanqi snapped back to reality, hurriedly excusing herself and leaving the room.

Li Zhaohao wanted to reach out to stop her but had to hold back, focusing on finishing the game and avenging Li Guanqi first.

Upstairs.

Li Guanqi sent a text to Gu Ruoxue.

[Senior Gu, I want to ask about the exact effects, limitations, and side effects of this cigarette.]

Li Guanqi didn’t doubt the cigarette’s power — after all, she already had a space ring, so it wasn’t surprising that she now had an ability to manipulate others’ minds.

What she really wanted was to confirm the actual effects.

Most importantly, she was worried about potential side effects.

Within three minutes, Gu Ruoxue replied.

‘Looks like you’ve decided to use it after all.’

Reading this, Li Guanqi felt a twinge of disappointment, like having cleared the first and second rounds of an interview only to fail at the final stage, falling just short.

But there was no time to hesitate anymore, so she quickly replied:

‘Yes, Senior. Please tell me the specific effects and precautions regarding this thing.’

After a moment, Gu Ruoxue finally replied, "The effect lasts for a maximum of three minutes and works within the target's physiological or memory capacity. During the activation period, the target's primary consciousness is suppressed into an inactive state. As for side effects, none have been clearly identified so far. Based on observations, there are no obvious or fatal adverse effects at this time."

Reading this, Li Guanqi felt a surge of excitement and couldn’t help but ask eagerly, "What happens when the target's primary consciousness wakes up?"

"If there’s no special warning, they’ll usually first notice the passage of time. What happens next depends on the specific situation," Gu Ruoxue answered.

Li Guanqi breathed a quiet sigh of relief upon hearing this. So, theoretically, using this cigarette on herself was feasible!

Amnesia shouldn’t affect the subconscious.

She could take the risk!

"Thank you so much, senior sister!" Li Guanqi sent a message of gratitude.

Gu Ruoxue didn’t reply.

Seeing this, Li Guanqi felt the urgency of the matter and immediately contacted her older sister, explaining she had something important to handle and asked not to be disturbed. Then, she gathered some items and returned to her desk, pulling out a sheet of paper to create a test.

Considering the time limit of just three minutes, Li Guanqi decided to keep it as simple as possible.

So, most of the test questions were multiple-choice and true-or-false.

Of course, there was also an "essay question."

For example:

Question 1: What is my relationship with Su Cheng ()?

A: Good friends B: Lovers C: Classmates D: Married

Question 2: What should I do next ()?

A: Stay away from Su Cheng B: Get closer to Su Cheng

Question 3: Who among the following has helped me ()?

A: Su Cheng B: Gu Ruoxue C: Ji family’s master and servants

Question 4: What else is inside my ring?

...

Question 10: How do I recover my memory?

(Please describe briefly, within ten characters.)

More than ten minutes later—

Li Guanqi spread the test paper on the desk, her expression solemn and serious, as if she were about to make a crucial decision.

On the desk sat a mirror and an incense burner.

The mirror reflected her pure and delicate face, while two sticks of incense smoldered in the burner, releasing curling tendrils of smoke that made her cheeks look even more radiant and enchanting.

In the next moment, she opened her palm.

In the hollow of her hand appeared a cigarette and a box of matches out of thin air.

Li Guanqi took a deep breath and closed her eyes, meditating for several seconds.

Then, she opened them, picked up a match, struck it carefully, and brought it close to the cigarette, igniting it.

“Shhh—”

A wisp of smoke rose, signaling the cigarette was lit.

Holding the cigarette between her thumb and forefinger, with the other three fingers folded, she raised her hands, holding the lit cigarette level with her brows.

She closed her eyes again, visualizing the reflection of herself in the mirror. Her hand moved as if asking a question, slowly placing the cigarette into the incense burner.

The moment the cigarette was inserted—

She silently recited the command in her mind.

The instant she opened her eyes, her gaze met the eyes of her reflection in the mirror.

Suddenly, the pupils in the mirror began to blur, gradually losing focus. Just as her reflection seemed to lose consciousness and suddenly collapsed face-first onto the desk—

Her own body abruptly halted, then sharply lifted her head again.

However, the sparkle and vitality that once shone in her beautiful eyes had completely vanished, replaced by a hollow emptiness, as if she were a puppet being controlled by someone else.

Then, she slowly lowered her head and picked up the pen beside her.

On the answer sheet, she wrote a (B) next to the first question.