The goalkeeper stood alone, able to solve everything with their hands.
The blonde forward was very aggressive, scoring fiercely even when someone was guarding the goal, yet strangely losing interest when facing an empty net.
The one who sought defeat yet found none was the referee, blowing the whistle on whoever they pleased, making it impossible to resist.
Then she fainted and was carried to the infirmary by her female classmates from the field.
The school doctor said she had insufficient energy and lacked nutrition. An IV of glucose was administered, pulling Lin Yi back from unconsciousness.
In her dream, Lin Yi seemed to return to her previous life—a shut-in with no achievements, just idling away and waiting for death.
On the day of her reincarnation, on his way home, he saw a girl drowning.
Whether it was a surge of hot-blooded courage or a rebellion against his utterly worthless life, he mustered the courage to jump in and save her.
In the end, the girl was saved, but he sank.
Then, he was reborn into this beautiful girl named Lin Yi.
She had never felt happy about being a beautiful girl.
After all, she was very poor in this life. Extremely poor.
Her parents died from illness, the inheritance went to medical bills, she joined a foster family, and she studied her hardest to get into a girls’ school that waived tuition and miscellaneous fees.
Even though the community, school, and foster family all provided subsidies, Lin Yi still scrimped and saved desperately, participating in work-study programs.
The original stubborn soul in this body didn’t want to owe anyone anything and never considered her personal limits.
‘Ah, teenage girls,’ Lin Yi thought. ‘Now the body has a new owner, the mindset has changed, but reality won’t change.’
She was still poor.
Her homeroom teacher rushed over upon hearing the news.
After talking, she gave Lin Yi two pieces of news.
First, her physical condition no longer allowed her to continue the work-study program.
The teacher planned to report to the school and terminate the contract.
Second, her academic performance had dropped significantly in the start-of-term exams at the end of August. If her results in tomorrow’s monthly exam didn’t improve, the school would consider notifying her guardian.
What could Lin Yi say? She complied completely.
Stumbling dazedly back to Class 1, Grade 10, she slumped over her desk.
Her eyelids were still heavy, clearly from lack of sleep.
No money earned, studies not going well, not a single good friend, and her body was so weak.
The future truly looked bleak.
[Would you like to activate the Protagonist Comeback System?]
[This system aims to cultivate the host into a light novel male protagonist, bidding farewell to a garbage, decadent life and becoming someone pursued by many beautiful girls.]
Huh?
Lin Yi was startled and immediately looked around, but she didn’t see anyone talking to her.
‘A ghost?’
The voice in her head sounded again.
Only then did Lin Yi realize this wasn’t an illusion.
‘A light novel male protagonist?!’
‘Are you even listening to yourself? Look at me from head to toe—where do I look like a guy?’
Except for being flat-chested.
[10… 9… 8…]
Although she didn’t know what the voice was counting down, Lin Yi felt that letting it finish counting down would definitely lead to no good.
So, she responded in her mind to activate it.
[Protagonist Comeback System has been activated.]
[The host needs to complete tasks issued by the system and engage in self-training to improve personal attributes and obtain rewards.]
Then she opened the panel and discovered more information.
[Character: Lin Yi]
[Strength: D- Grade]
[Speed: D- Grade]
[Intelligence: C Grade]
[Charm: A Grade]
[Perception: D Grade]
[Skills: None]
The system divided Lin Yi’s personal attributes into five stats: Strength, Speed, Intelligence, Charm, and Perception.
Each stat was further subdivided into S, A, B, C, D grades.
D was the weakest, C was average human level, and A was the strongest level in human history.
But the human limit did not represent the system’s limit.
No one could imagine what S-grade level was like.
Lin Yi placed one hand on her chest, her gaze turning toward the distance.
She felt it necessary to strive to match the likes of Baki Hanma and Kars, to become the strongest creature on the surface.
In simple terms, to stop being human.
[Detected that the host urgently needs improvement: Approaching middle age, you have no savings, no partner. Every day, besides being obsessed with virtual idols, you just giggle foolishly at your computer, wasting tissues. This won’t do. You must be reformed thoroughly!]
[Task: No Fapping, Stay Dry!]
[Task Duration: day1 (Difficult), day7 (Hard), day31 (Extremely Hard)]
—System, are you even sane?
The system didn’t answer.
Lin Yi looked at her sportswear-style school pants. Even if she wanted to fail, it would be impossible, right?
She understood now.
This system was originally bound to her previous life’s identity as a shut-in.
It just didn’t expect that after she was reborn as a beautiful girl, the system didn’t change the gender!
That said, this kind of task was basically free rewards. Just leave it hanging there.
See, her mindset had become much more optimistic since getting the system.
After all, even being this poor, she wasn’t panicking, right?
But distant water can’t quench immediate thirst.
Her physical condition was still very poor.
She only ate one egg for lunch, which wasn’t enough to sustain her.
“Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle…”
Lin Yi’s small stomach growled. She felt secretly sad.
‘I’m hungry!’
“Um… Miss Lin.”
Lin Yi heard someone calling her from behind and slowly turned around.
The beautiful girl before her wore a navy blue blazer school uniform.
Below the black-and-red plaid short skirt were long, straight, snow-white legs.
Beyond the black ankle socks were delicate and exquisite loafers.
No, perhaps none of that was important. After all, any girl between twelve and eighteen years old would become incredibly pretty when wearing a JK uniform.
What truly determined the girl’s extremely high beauty was her pair of captivating sapphire-blue eyes, clear and sparkling, so transparent they could reflect Lin Yi’s entire life.
Her soft, light brown hair cascaded over her fragrant shoulders, the ends slightly curled.
She exuded a delightful, heartwarming girlish fragrance.
‘She’s glowing!’
Lin Yi knew who she was—Su Kui, the psychological committee member for Class 1, Grade 10.
The clever part was that Su Kui didn’t campaign for this position herself; everyone unanimously elected her.
It was precisely because she subtly radiated a certain brilliance that could be used as consumable bridge-blocking material.
“Su Kui? What’s up? Did the homeroom teacher call me over for another scolding?”
“No, no, it’s not that.” Su Kui quickly waved her hands.
“It’s… Miss Lin, you just came back from the infirmary, right?”
“Yeah.” Lin Yi nodded.
“Hey, we’re classmates. No need for ‘Miss Lin this, Miss Lin that.’ Just call me Lin Yi.”
Su Kui tilted her head and smiled.
“Okay, then I’ll call you… Lin Yi classmate.”
‘Does she have to add ‘classmate’?’
Class hadn’t started yet. Su Kui leaned against Lin Yi’s desk.
“You look like you’re not feeling well. Is something on your mind, or are you sick?”
“A bit of both?” Lin Yi rested her head on her arm.
“Too many things happened in a short time. My brain can’t process it all temporarily.”
“It seems you have worries.”
“Big, big, big worries.” Lin Yi mumbled into her arm.
“So big I don’t know how to solve them.”
As she spoke, she caught the scent of cake. Looking up, she saw Su Kui was now holding a package of tiger skin bobo cake rolls.
Sniff, sniff.
Su Kui pushed the package of tiger skin cake rolls toward Lin Yi, smiling as she said, “I won’t ask what Lin Yi classmate’s worries are. After all, with worries, the more you talk about them, the sadder you get.”
“But, personally, I recommend that if you’re feeling down, eat something.”
Lin Yi held the cake rolls and asked, “Aren’t you going to eat?”
Su Kui raised an index finger and pressed it against her full, rosy lips.
“Shh. I’m on a diet recently, can’t eat too much. It’s perfect to give to Lin Yi classmate. I hope this cake roll can cheer you up.”
With that, the class bell rang.
Su Kui waved her hand and returned to her seat.
Lin Yi felt the residual warmth on the cake roll package, tears almost falling.
‘Mom, I think I saw an angel.’
👀👀👀