Chapter 2: Muddy Star

The next morning, You Xue woke up early because she had work to do.

In Moonview City, without income, the quality of life was even worse than the distant village she remembered.

After a quick wash, You Xue looked at herself in the mirror.

She wore a cheap cotton shirt that had been washed white, but at least it was clean and wouldn’t get her mistaken for a vagrant.

Her gray hair was neatly tied up.

You Xue nodded to herself.

At least this wouldn’t leave a bad impression.

But those pale blue eyes…

They were a little lifeless, like inorganic sapphires exuding a cold light without warmth.

You Xue didn’t mind, though.

In this inherently unequal city, lifeless eyes weren’t exactly rare.

Stepping outside, her view was filled with low houses, shabby wooden doors, and rusted iron roofs crammed together in layers.

Clotheslines stretched haphazardly between buildings, the hung clothing swaying slowly in the morning breeze.

This was the slums—the place where the lowest class of the city lived.

It was a mixed bag here, with no oversight agencies, and even gangs operating within.

The city folk didn’t care about the people growing like weeds here, just like they didn’t care about the moss growing in the cracks of walls.

In short, the city was a paradise for psychics.

To achieve fame and success, you had to possess psychic powers.

Otherwise, you were just a weed—no one cared if you lived, and no one cared if you died.

Because of Magic Rejection Syndrome, You Xue naturally had no psychic powers.

But she didn’t intend to live aimlessly.

She still had many things to do that would change the world, and all of them revolved around that boy who was the protagonist.

Walking along the muddy paths of the slums, You Xue noticed that the residents avoided eye contact with her.

Someone like her should have been prey in this place—a primary target for thieves and bandits.

But the real reason was that long ago, You Xue had already beaten up those who tried to take advantage of her.

Even without psychic powers, that didn’t mean she had no other means—like seals.

Seals were a special symbolic language that could store the magic in the air and then guide it through patterns similar to seals to produce effects comparable to psychic powers.

Right now, hidden inside You Xue’s shirt were eight small knives engraved with seals.

The seals on them were [Tracking] and [Loyalty].

They could automatically lock onto enemies and, after hitting, return to the holder’s hand.

You Xue had carved these herself.

Perhaps this was the gift the heavens had given her as a transmigrator—she could easily understand this strange symbolic language.

Although seals were convenient to use, they weren’t without shortcomings.

For instance, each seal consumed its stored magic with every use, so it took a long time to absorb magic again afterward.

For You Xue’s small knives, the recharge time after a single use was about twelve hours.

Moreover, with repeated use, the seals would become rough and blurry, gradually losing their effectiveness.

They might even fail to achieve the desired effect, or worse, go out of control and harm the user.

Additionally, the materials for seals and the labor costs were extremely expensive, far beyond what ordinary people could afford.

The reason You Xue had so many seal-engraved knives was that she herself was a seal carver, and the materials came from the convenience of her job.

She currently worked at a seal shop called [Scar Workshop], located in the eastern part of the city.

She had walked this route at least five hundred times.

From the west to the east of the city was about twenty kilometers.

You Xue had to take a bus partway, then walk the rest.

Unlike the slums in the west, the buildings here weren’t ornate, but they were simple and clean.

The streets were cleaned, the streetlights were regularly maintained, and only a few shops were open along the roadside.

It was very quiet.

This was the old town—the once most prosperous area of the city, now in decline, but fundamentally different from the slums in the west.

After turning a few more corners, she arrived at a delicate Western-style building.

There was no signboard, but across the entire city, [Scar Workshop] was renowned.

You Xue walked inside.

“You Xue, morning.”

She looked at the purple-haired woman greeting her, nodded, and said,

“Good morning.”

The purple-haired woman gave a helpless smile.

“You Xue still looks so listless.”

This woman with purple hair as serene and beautiful as cherry blossoms was Sanjian Ying, the owner of [Scar Workshop] and You Xue’s direct boss.

Thinking for a moment about her wording, You Xue slowly began,

“Sister Ying…”

But before she could finish her sentence, Sanjian Ying interrupted.

“I know, You Xue was going to say you’ve always been like this, so it’s not listless, right?”

Sanjian Ying’s gaze toward You Xue softened.

You Xue lowered her head slightly, her eyelids drooping.

That somewhat tender look reminded her of her mother from her previous life.

She always took You Xue out to bask in the sun and looked at her with that gentle gaze.

You Xue felt a pang of sadness because she couldn’t repay her mother and had even left her early.

She was immensely grateful that she had an older brother.

It didn’t matter if she died—it just meant one less burden.

Her brother could take care of their parents from now on.

Back to the present.

Sanjian Ying noticed You Xue’s evasive expression and let out a soft sigh.

“I just think that a girl your age should at least smile now and then.”

You Xue tilted her head in confusion, feeling that nothing in her current life could make her smile.

If there was a time to be happy, it would probably be when she achieved her goal and completely saved Su Li, the male lead in the story.

“Sister Ying, I’ve never been one to smile much.”

You Xue shook her head and continued,

“It’s work hours now, isn’t it? I’d like to get to work.”

Sanjian Ying froze for a moment, then chuckled.

“You don’t want to work—you’re just tired of me. Let me say one last thing, and then I’ll let you go to work.”

You Xue nodded.

Her sapphire-like eyes reflected Sanjian Ying’s image.

Sanjian Ying examined You Xue carefully and sighed again.

“Maybe… you should buy some nice clothes? How long have you been wearing those? A girl should treat herself well.”

Sanjian Ying spoke earnestly.

“You’re a girl. Even if you don’t like dressing up, you should at least buy a few pretty outfits. If customers see an employee looking like this, they’ll probably think I’m a ruthless capitalist who only exploits others.”

“Did my appearance affect the shop? I’m sorry, Sister Ying.”

You Xue looked down at her clothes and felt they really didn’t match the shop’s standard.

She apologized sincerely.

Sanjian Ying shook her head.

“That’s not what I meant. I pay you a decent salary. At least spend some money on yourself.”

“I understand. I’ll go to work now.”

You Xue nodded and turned toward her workstation.

Sanjian Ying watched You Xue’s back and sighed, muttering to herself, ‘This kid doesn’t understand at all. She’s just brushing me off.’

‘Does she even live for herself?’

Back at her workstation, You Xue naturally couldn’t perceive her boss’s worried inner thoughts.

She just thought the shopkeeper talked as much as always.

Pushing aside the distracting thoughts, she focused on carving seals.

Onto another small knife.

The critical turning point of the story was about to arrive, and You Xue had to prepare early.

The seal weapons she currently possessed were far from enough to achieve her goal.

Soon, a group of terrorists disguised as ordinary people would secretly set up magic in the school, attempting to blow up the psychic academy.

This terrorist organization was called [Dark Crow].

It consisted of psychics not under government jurisdiction.

They regarded people without powers as monkeys and sought to completely eliminate ordinary people, creating a world of only psychics.

In reality, they just wanted to use violence to create a world where they could run rampant.

To achieve either goal, they needed to eliminate the resistance forces being trained at the academy.

In that incident, Su Li would learn about the city’s darkness.

He would save his companions but be seriously injured himself.

Although he would be saved by healing psychics later, the aftereffects would haunt him throughout the story.

Many of the tragedies that followed worsened because of this untreated ailment.

To prevent all of that, You Xue would take care of the terrorists attempting to bomb the academy first.