“Do you look forward to a chance encounter with a yandere?”
Jiang Ran, who was waiting for someone in a café, suddenly had a message pop up on his phone.
The blood-red font, coupled with a pop-up background featuring special effects so cheap they looked like they cost fifty cents, resembled a virus as it took over the entire screen.
Before he could react, another WeChat message popped up right after, featuring a cartoon piglet avatar.
“Jiang Ran, sorry, but about you asking me out—let’s do it another day. I still have homework to finish. You’re a really nice guy, so please don’t take today to heart.”
Jiang Ran: ?
Since when do college students use finishing homework as an excuse?
What was even more farcical was that the previous pop-up window was like a piece of dog skin plaster—no matter what he did, he couldn’t delete it.
Perhaps having just suffered a heavy blow, Jiang Ran didn’t even stop to think and pressed [Accept].
Trying it wouldn’t kill him.
This ghost of a pop-up was clearly meant to scare people; he figured that after a few questions, it would just redirect to some shady website.
Jiang Ran had seen this kind of routine plenty of times.
Furthermore, in the intensity column, Jiang Ran selected the option for the highest possible level of morbid obsession.
The phone went silent for a good while, and then the text color of the next question became significantly more crimson than before.
[Do you long to “reform” a yandere?]
Reform…
Jiang Ran felt a momentary flash of tension.
He was willing to do whatever he wanted on the internet, but if he actually encountered a yandere in real life, he’d rather leave that “enjoyment” to someone else.
After quickly pressing [Reject, respect the destiny of others], more questions popped up.
[Hey, do you really not want to reform a yandere?]
[A yandere will only ever love you alone, you know~]
[Why are you giving me the cold shoulder and not answering the questions?]
[Accept it quickly, why won’t you accept!]
[Since you won’t accept, then I’ll just have to turn you into one of us~]
[Watch out~]
[Hunting game loading… Big brother—no, Sister—you better stay alive~]
…
Realizing something was wrong, Jiang Ran tried to close his phone, only to find the power button was unresponsive.
Even the forced-shutdown combination of the volume and power buttons wouldn’t work.
Should he just smash it?
Just as Jiang Ran was about to slam the phone violently onto the ground, his fingers felt as if they were glued to the device; even shaking it off became a luxury.
Pitch-black light burst forth from the surface of the phone, and the device twisted in an eerie fashion.
Everything around him seemed to be sucked in as the world dimmed rapidly.
His nostrils were filled with the scent of disinfectant and his eyes, for some reason, were brimming with tears.
The tears in his eyes were like water leveled with a riverbank; even the slightest movement would make them overflow.
Why was she so sad?
Why was her breathing starting to become so labored?
I… I won’t bring strangers home anymore.
Daddy… please stop hitting Mommy…
A flood of memories that didn’t belong to her was rushing in.
Jiang Ran gasped for air, struggling as she suddenly reached out and grabbed something.
The soft sensation sparked her curiosity, forcing her to open her eyes.
Before her was a snow-white bedsheet.
The medical equipment beside her emitted a piercing alarm; her heart rate was accelerating, and the reason her grip felt soft just now was because she was pinching a woman’s arm.
Her gaze fell upon a woman with blonde hair.
The woman wore a faint smile on her face, and there was a heart-shaped sticker near the corner of her eye.
Realizing she had pinched a bloody mark onto the other person’s arm, Jiang Ran quickly let go.
“Sor… sorry…”
Uncontrollably, Jiang Ran blurted out an apology in an extremely delicate tone.
By the time she realized what she was saying, it was too late.
“It’s alright. From now on, I am your mother. You can call me Su Nian.”
The beautiful woman tucked back her long hair and, amidst Jiang Ran’s shock, pulled out a report.
“As for your biological father, because he was unable to repay his debts, he sold you to our Su Group to offset them. This is your father’s personal signature.”
Jiang Ran’s expression froze for a moment.
Looking at that black-and-white document, memories of her tragic original family surfaced in her mind.
Her parents had fallen in love in their youth and ignorance, leading to her “accidental” birth.
Because they had no money and provided poor care, Jiang Ran had been sickly since childhood, eventually becoming dependent on regular hospital visits.
Medical expenses skyrocketed as a result.
And her deadbeat father naturally couldn’t afford the costs.
He squandered all the money the family had, eventually developed a gambling addiction, and borrowed huge sums of cash.
When he couldn’t borrow any more, he beat her mother and hounded his in-laws for money—until the collateral for his debts became the original owner of this body.
In the phone footage Su Nian showed her, her father didn’t hesitate for a second to sign the agreement once he heard his daughter could be used to pay off the debt.
She had been sold off just like that.
“Do I have the right to refuse? I’ll pay back whatever he… owes, and then please give me back my freedom. He didn’t consult me about this at all.”
Jiang Ran’s consciousness became increasingly clear.
She realized that her “Phone Daddy” had sent her to this strange world.
Before she could figure out why she had turned into a girl, the woman in front of her grabbed her hand and tossed the contract into her lap.
She was going to become someone else’s daughter?
What kind of strange development was this?
And why was this body so weak?
Every time she tried to resist, her dizziness worsened.
Did she really have to accept that weird message from the pop-up and “reform” a yandere?
But she didn’t even know who the target was!
Given she didn’t understand the situation, she absolutely could not acknowledge this woman as her mother.
“Are you sure?”
Su Nian used her finger to gently lift Jiang Ran’s chin, pulling a stack of bills from her bag and unfolding them before Jiang Ran’s eyes.
“As far as I know, you haven’t paid your medical bills for a week. The money in your pocket is also practically gone, isn’t it?”
Jiang Ran: !
Why was it unfolding like this?
She could still make money here by “porting” things from her original world; she didn’t necessarily have to agree, right?
But the more she thought, the heavier her eyelids became.
Even thinking about how to make money was an exhausting task.
Did this body actually have the capacity to earn money?
“I can earn it…”
“Then pay off the medical fees first. It’s not much, just 70,000 yuan.”
Su Nian pulled back the curtains, letting the sunlight stream in.
It hit Jiang Ran’s face; her long-term illness had left her skin excessively pale, with faint blue veins visible beneath the surface.
She looked like a doll that could be crushed at any moment, held together by various patches and repairs.
“From the start, your father used you as an excuse, hoping we would lend him money while also covering your medical expenses.”
Jiang Ran’s expression wavered for a second, but she quickly regained her composure.
“Thank you…”
Regardless of anything else, if Su Nian hadn’t helped cover the medical bills, she definitely wouldn’t have survived.
“You don’t need to be so distant. I sought you out because I hope you can keep my daughter company.”
“Your daughter?”
Jiang Ran had a creeping, bad premonition.
She wanted to refuse, but Su Nian grabbed her hand.
“That’s right. Strictly speaking, I’m not a good mother. I’ve been so busy with work that I neglected her growing up; now she won’t even listen to me. Maybe someone of the same age like you can make her feel a bit better. Of course, as a reward, I will cover all your future medical expenses, and you can ask me for daily pocket money whenever you need it.”
[Promise her, quickly promise her…]
[Are you really going to help that scumbag father of yours pay back his debt?]
[He’ll just sell you to the red-light district.]
An extremely seductive voice echoed in Jiang Ran’s mind.
It was the same voice from the phone pop-up!
Jiang Ran looked around but saw no strange people.
She noticed the phone on the pillow was still vibrating and pressed the volume key to mute it.
Under Su Nian’s surprised gaze, Jiang Ran shook her head:
“I’m sorry, I refuse… I can’t fulfill this request.”