“Start.” Lu Mo answered without hesitation as she watched the text floating on the light screen.
*Hum —*
In the next instant, the space-time around her suddenly distorted.
[**The second reincarnation has begun.**]
[**The time flow adjustment function has been unlocked. The host can adjust the time flow according to their own situation.**]
[**You are a direct descendant of the Kalis Family, one of the eight major families of the Sanctum.**]
[**You have shown powerful and special talent since childhood. The members of your family placed high hopes on you, believing that you would surely shine at the Divine Blessing Ceremony and awaken Holy Power.**]
[**At the age of 7, you participated in the Sanctum’s Divine Blessing Ceremony, but you did not shine as everyone expected.**]
[**You were unable to awaken Holy Power.**]
[**There was not even a trace of Holy Power within your body.**]
[**In the Sanctum and within the Kalis Family, not awakening Holy Power is no different from being trash.**]
[**Because of this, your status in the family plummeted.**]
[**The people who were once close to you began to distance themselves.**]
[**Those who were secretly jealous of you began to mock you without reservation.**]
[**As a young child, you were not yet able to resist such malice.**]
[**All you could do was hide in a corner of the manor and process these emotions alone.**]
[**In this era, you will meet a second girl, Cecilia Herovite, and begin your story with her.**]
Space and time changed violently.
The duration was longer than that of the first Simulated Reincarnation.
Despite having experienced it once already, Lu Mo still felt a strong sense of disorientation.
Before she knew it, she had completely entered the world of the second Simulated Reincarnation.
At this moment, she was sitting under a massive ancient tree, staring blankly at the surface of a lake.
The lake was windless, and the clear water reflected her current appearance.
She was a young girl who looked about 7 or 8 years old. Her long hair was smooth and silky, her eyes were clear, the bridge of her nose was dainty, and her skin was so delicate it looked like it would break at a touch.
She sat quietly by the lakeside, wearing a pristine white dress, white silk stockings, and small leather shoes. She looked well-behaved and adorable.
‘Again, I look exactly like I did when I was 7 or 8 in the real world…’ Lu Mo thought.
She understood that the system was doing this to enhance her sense of immersion.
However, entering every Simulated Reincarnation with the same appearance and name always took her some time to get used to.
Memories began to surface.
Lu Mo recalled what had just happened.
Just now, she had been teased by her older brothers and sisters again.
They said she had failed the expectations of the entire family, that she didn’t even have the qualifications to become an Apprentice Hero, and that she had become a total failure.
The Divine Blessing Ceremony had been a heavy blow to her.
Amidst the constant mockery, she had burst out of the room in tears and eventually arrived at the lakeside.
“Holy Power…” Lu Mo murmured.
Holy Power was a unique force specific to the Sanctum.
It was said that its source was related to a certain god.
Holy Power could be understood as an elemental attribute, but its grade was far more powerful than other attributes.
Furthermore, Holy Power had a much stronger restraining effect against the Demon Race.
Only people or families loyal to the Sanctum were eligible to participate in the Divine Blessing Ceremony to awaken Holy Power.
The strength of one’s talent for Holy Power determined their future within the Sanctum.
Those with great talent could be trained as Heroes, eventually becoming Arbiters, Bishops, or even the Pope.
Those with no talent at all, just as Lu Mo’s siblings in this simulation had said, would find it difficult to even become an Apprentice Hero.
The family would also give up on nurturing such a person.
— It had always been this way.
“But is it right just because it has always been this way?” Lu Mo spoke again.
No one answered her.
She was the only one by the lakeside.
In the distance was a low brick wall.
But regardless, this start was much better than the first Simulated Reincarnation. At least she wasn’t an assassin, and she wasn’t burdened with quite so much bitter hatred.
‘Let’s look at the tasks for this time first.’
Lu Mo shook her head, putting the matter of Holy Power aside for now, and continued to look at the light screen.
“Task 1, Normal difficulty: Help Cecilia find her true self?”
The Easy difficulty task was gone, but looking at the content, it didn’t seem like something very difficult to achieve.
“Task 2, Hard difficulty… Kill the Demon King of this era together with Cecilia???”
Lu Mo almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
What kind of joke was this?
Kill the Demon King?
Wasn’t this jump in difficulty a bit too large?
As for Task 3, Lu Mo saw a string of question marks.
[? ? ? ? ? : ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ]
Was the system bugged?
Or did the system not know how to write the third task, so it simply replaced it with question marks?
Lu Mo looked at the three tasks on the light screen and thought seriously.
Task 1 seemed achievable; it was time to show her skills as a galge master.
As for Task 2, she would need to weigh her options.
A Demon King-level existence would likely be much more terrifying than someone at the level of the Shadow Moon Hall Master.
Regarding Task 3…
Forget it, she would ignore it for now.
At that moment, Lu Mo heard children’s shouts coming from outside the low brick wall.
“Cecilia is coming!”
“Hurry, give it to me, give it to me! It’s my turn to tease her this time…”
“Do you think Cecilia will cry now?”
It was the sound of a group of boys and girls bullying another girl.
They had snatched something from the girl’s hands and were arguing over who got to tease her first.
In the end, someone must have pulled a bit too hard, because the object was suddenly thrown high into the air.
The item sailed over the wall and landed within the grounds of the Kalis Manor.
“Huh?”
Lu Mo stood up and walked toward the wall, spotting a small doll that had fallen among the grass.
“Who told you to throw it so hard!”
“Hey, it went over the courtyard wall! It’s all your fault, seriously!”
The brick wall wasn’t high, and Lu Mo could vaguely see the tops of the children’s heads.
They argued over the doll for a moment before dispersing unhappily.
The figures scattered like birds and beasts.
No one cared what would happen to the doll.
No one cared if Cecilia would cry.
Not long after, Lu Mo heard footsteps approaching from the distance.
The other person ran over with a *patter-patter* sound, finally stopping on the other side of the wall.
The person was quite short; Lu Mo could only see a single, long golden *ahoge* poking over the top.
The other person didn’t make a sound.
However, that golden *ahoge* trembled in the wind. It looked lonely and a bit sad, looking as if it would droop down at any moment.
The person seemed to think it was impossible to get the doll back and was about to turn around and leave.
“Hey —” Lu Mo spoke up before the other person could depart.
The golden *ahoge* jerked upright.
“Is the doll that fell over here yours?” Lu Mo asked.
“Yes… Yes!” After a brief moment of surprise, the person nodded vigorously. The *ahoge* rose and fell, swaying back and forth.
“I’ll give it back to you. Catch —” Lu Mo said, then tossed the doll over the wall.
The sound of frantic, shuffling footsteps came from the other side.
The person seemed to be trying very hard to catch the doll, but in the next second, her left foot tripped over her right foot, and she let out a small whimper.
“Waaaah —”
She fell to the ground.
Then, with a *thud*, the doll landed right on her head.
“…” Lu Mo was silent.
For a moment, she felt as though the person on the other side might be a bit of an airhead.
“Ow, ow, ow…” The person stood up and rubbed the sore spot. She didn’t forget to politely thank Lu Mo: “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome,” Lu Mo replied.
“I’m Cecilia. Cecilia Herovite.” Thinking that a simple thank you wasn’t polite enough, the person introduced herself.
“Lu Mo Kalis,” Lu Mo replied in kind.
Cecilia Herovite.
That was the name of the girl from the task.
The two met for the first time.
And between them stood a low wall.