Chapter One: The Three-Inch Beauty

"Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?" In the dim underground chamber, a tiny orb of light trembled as if fragile against the wind, reminiscent of the gentle shyness of first love—a water lily bowing its head to the chill breeze. But soon, the radiance burst forth, piercing the darkness like the first rays of dawn, and wondrously coalesced into an exquisitely beautiful young maiden, suspended in midair.

Truly, that face! Those legs! That figure! That—well, everything! She was breathtaking, flawless in every way—except for her height, barely three inches tall.

Alas, though his grades in other subjects were excellent, Ye Chao had never been gifted with words. His essays were often criticized by teachers as "dry," "dull," "tedious," even "ugly." Thus, even when confronted with such an ethereal beauty, all he could summon were a few lifeless adjectives.

The three-inch maiden opened her disproportionately large, mung-bean eyes and asked a dazed question, her voice soft, gentle, and delicate.

Emmm...

Ye Chao replied gravely, "I often ask myself those same three questions."

The little beauty shot him a glance, and above her brow, words appeared: [Favorability -10.]

Favorability? What on earth was that? And words floating above one's head? What was going on? Ye Chao was bewildered.

The miniature beauty ignored him and frowned, lost in thought. Suddenly, her brow glowed as if some realization struck her, and she began buzzing around the gloomy tomb, making one want to swat her with a palm.

She flitted from place to place, her expression of startled wonder growing ever more pitiful.

"This—this place, is this reality? True reality? No cameras, just direct sight? So dark! So filthy! So old! How could I be—" She stopped abruptly and turned to Ye Chao, dazed. "What happened? How did I end up in reality?"

Ye Chao looked down at his own hands. In his grasp was a heavy, brick-like tablet, probably military surplus unearthed from the Five-Core Era.

He had a vague sense of the answer to her question—this little beauty might, perhaps, possibly be a manifestation of his own ability. Though he seriously doubted his rather ordinary power could achieve something so miraculous.

"Don't tell me you conjured me with your own hand..." she sneered, catching sight of Ye Chao staring at his palm.

*****...

Such crude words, spoken from the lips of such a flawless beauty.

"If not with your hand, then how?" She seemed to read Ye Chao's thoughts.

Ye Chao: =￣ω￣=

What did that even mean?

"Are you offline, or has your IQ never been online?" The three-inch beauty's experience was clearly poor. When he didn't answer within a second, she lost interest, [Favorability -10] flashing again as she glanced around the tomb. "What kind of dump is this?"

"So dark—definitely up to no good. Are you thieves? No, thieves wouldn't dare! Ah, you're spies, aren't you? You must be, to break into the highest secret-level supercomputing lab—what nerve!" She laughed at her own joke, though no one else understood.

At least she seemed to have remembered who she was.

Yet the next moment, she shrieked, "Is anyone there? Help! I'm being molested! Someone's molesting me!"

Molested? Even if I wanted to, would I use an embroidery needle...

=￣ω￣=

She shouted a few times, and to his surprise, someone did hear. From the twisted entrance, a dirty, broad face poked in. "Ye Chao, what did you just say?"

"What did I say? I was shouting so loud—couldn't you hear? Molested..." The beauty darted to the big face, then immediately recoiled. "So square! So filthy! So ugly!"

Even now, she cared about appearances? Ye Chao couldn't keep up with her train of thought.

But the big square face saw nothing of the little beauty. Seeing Ye Chao in a daze, he muttered to himself, "What's wrong? Can't fix it? If not, let's just leave it—this layer is shallow and badly corroded. No wonder we got assigned here."

Meanwhile, the little beauty, too impatient to care about faces, stormed over to the newcomer. "Such a stunning beauty floating right in front of you, and you see nothing? Are your eyes so crooked you couldn't spot a mountain road at midnight?"

He really couldn't see her. The big square-faced man's eyes didn't focus at all; she might as well not exist.

Ye Chao realized it.

The little beauty realized it too, turning back in astonishment. "Only you can see me?"

Before Ye Chao could reply, her petite form vanished, then instantly reappeared at the doorway, then the side, blinking, flying, spinning, struggling... Her body swayed in the air like a swallow, as graceful as a dragon dancing. If only she weren't three inches tall—if only Ye Chao weren't so utterly spent—he might have felt a stirring of admiration.

A few seconds later, the little beauty reached a conclusion. "I—I—I can only appear in your field of vision? Who exactly are you? What have you done to me?"

Ye Chao remained: =￣ω￣=

The oblivious big square face continued, "...Why don't we switch to another chamber?" These ancient tombs were numerous, each with its own history. Lingering in just one was not the way of a proper archaeologist—or tomb robber.

The little beauty, who a moment before had been clutching her chest in terror, now sneered, "With a face like that, you think you can switch? Be grateful you have even one."

What did looks have to do with switching chambers? Ye Chao truly didn't get it.

But he didn't have the strength to care anymore. Suddenly, the world spun, his legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.

○|￣|_...

His power was repair. In this era, it was the most common and ordinary ability, not especially strong. Yet even so, he'd fixed many things before, and never once felt so utterly drained.

"Ye Chao, are you all right?" The big square-faced man, more suited for combat, was far more robust than Ye Chao. He caught him as he fell.

==========

This excavation was just a field practicum.

The site was not far from the city outskirts—a place that, before the catastrophe, might have been a city itself, only divided into inner and outer districts by disaster.

There were hundreds involved in the practicum: students, class teachers, subject instructors, and a special security detail.

"Tch, I knew Ye Zichao was just an embroidered pillow—pretty on the outside, useless inside!"

"What's the point of good grades these days? Can scores fill your belly?"

"Fighting—that's the real path to the top!"

Fang Ju—otherwise known as Big Square Face—carried the weakened Ye Chao back to the medical station. As they passed, students eyed them with curiosity, the gossip swirling.

So his full name was Ye Zichao; "Ye Chao" was what friends called him, Alpha Ji noted inwardly.

In Jiangcheng Third High, Ye Chao was a minor celebrity, always near the top of the rankings, even if his essays barely passed and he was always at the bottom in combat class... Still, math, physics, chemistry, biology, programming—he excelled in all the side subjects.

In the pre-disaster days, he would have been a star. But after the calamity, what people cared about was talent, ability, and potential for combat. Looks hardly mattered—who cared about grades?

Yet, because of his academic strengths, many teachers favored him: "Sure, we never taught this, but Ye Zichao solved it, didn't he?" "Everyone says this test is hard? Not for Ye Zichao—he aced it!"

If he died, perhaps they'd mourn him a little. But injured? That, everyone relished.

Ye Chao was long used to his classmates' reactions. He paid them no heed, only narrowing his eyes, listening to the illusory little beauty chattering endlessly by his ear.