"Welcome to the Xianxu World," the panel announced inside my head.
"What did you just say?" I snapped aloud, leaning over the basin.
"You heard me," the panel answered. A menu slid across my vision: NAME: Ouyang Qing. ROLE: Goldbell Saintess. LUCK: 0. TASKS: None. OPTIONS: Inspect / Accept Title / Reject Fate.
The basin showed a woman I did not know. Her hair was pinned in the Saintess style. Her robe carried the Goldbell crest. Her face was calm, not mine.
"Who are you?" I whispered to the basin.
"Who do you want me to be?" the panel replied without softness. A cursor blinked beside ACCEPT TITLE.
I touched the cursor in my mind because touching it with my fingers would be theatrics. The panel listed consequences in one line: "Accepting title grants social authority. Rejecting triggers martyr storyline. Early choices alter Luck flow."
"No long speeches," I muttered. I pressed ACCEPT TITLE.
A number burst into life where LUCK had been. 100 flashed and settled.
"Luck gained: 100," the panel intoned. "Reason: Initial decisive choice."
I laughed before I could stop it. The sound startled the maid who had slipped in to sweep.
"Saintess?" she mouthed, eyes wide. "Is the Saintess awake?"
"Tell Mu Rushuo I'm awake," I said. My voice sounded smooth in the basin, carrying the practiced softness of every Saintess I had watched on occasions too many to name. "Bring tea."
The maid bowed so low her forehead almost touched the rug. Her reaction wrote the first rule of
