"Kneel!" she barked.
A thin hand flew out and caught her wrist. The palm was familiar and delicate in a way that made her flinch. The woman clamped her fingers, eyes wet and wide.
"Please," the woman whispered. "Don't—I'm not asking. Don't do anything rash."
Su Wan blinked at wallpaper she did not know and a mirror panel that reflected a stranger. The voice came from inside another throat, not from the body she now occupied. Every muscle answered an old command before the brain supplied a new reality.
"Who are you?" the woman mouthed. Her voice trembled on the same syllables.
"Tell me your name," Su Wan said. The word left the stranger's mouth without softness.
The woman opened and closed her mouth. "I'm—Su Qing. I'm Su Qing. Please. Mrs. Zhu will—"
Su Wan tightened her grip until the sound of air cut between them.
"Say it again," she ordered.
"Su Qing! I—" The girl swallowed. "I'm Su Qing, Miss Zhu—"
A cold panel of text rippled across the mirror as if someone had flicked a switch.
SYSTEM: Welcome, Host. Interface activated.
Both women froze. Su Qing's fingers left Su Wan's wrist as if burned. She took a stumbling step back and clutched at the nightdress on her own chest.
Su Wan looked at the luminous letters. Her brain cataloged them like a general reading dispatches: clear, unmoving, imperative.
SYSTEM: Mission: Rise to Top Stream Rank within 5 years
