Chapter 1

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Chapter 1

[Ding ding – ding ding -] Reminder sounds accompanied by a brief vibration, forming a pile of urgent sounds on the desktop.

A text message arrived… Just as the hand reached the phone placed in front, the sound stopped.

Stop it, let her sleep a while longer… [Keep striving! Those who strive are the most beautiful!] A high-pitched female voice accompanied by a strong vibration in the hand startled Fu Yue with a start, flipping herself up "clatter" from the desk.

Is it already morning? Working through the night, Fu Yue’s eyes squinted due to the inability to adjust to the bright light outside.

Blocking the sunlight with her hand, Fu Yue felt like a vampire from an old-fashioned novel.

Squinting at the screen, the note on top read "Brain has a hole, No. 12".

Understood.

Fu Yue frowned and took a sip of the overnight water next to her. She cleared her throat and answered the phone.

"Hello, Ms. Jia… Yes, I have already sent the design draft you requested last night."

"Ah, yes. You can check it in your email."

Just by listening to her voice, you wouldn’t guess that the person on the other end of the phone was actually a woman who hadn’t been home for three days, looking worn out yet still pushing through work.

They exchanged a few more words like this.

Fu Yue fell silent for a good half minute after something was suddenly said on the other end.

Then she broke the awkward silence herself, giving a few dry chuckles.

Despite the forced tone in her voice, Fu Yue didn’t feel too burdened knowing that the other person was likely just going through the motions. "Okay, I will do as you say."

After Fu Yue hung up the phone with a fake smile, her smile on the black phone screen collapsed in just one second.

When Chu Manni entered the office, she saw Fu Yue’s face buried in a pillow, frantically pulling her own hair. As she got closer, she could still hear Fu Yue softly screaming.

Poor thing.

"Is it Ms. Jia again? Didn’t you give her the draft last night?" What more does she want?

Hearing this question, Fu Yue buried her head deeper, speaking weakly, "She wants it changed back to the original."

"The original? Didn’t you already give her seven different versions?" At that moment, Chu Manni, also a workaholic, suddenly had a realization, "Could it be… she wants the first version again?"

Fu Yue nodded. Dealing with customers with strange demands like wanting the "first version" was not surprising at all.

Thinking about the amount that would soon be deposited, Fu Yue felt she needed to stay calm now.

Getting up from the pile of pillows, she turned on her computer and diligently started making changes to the first version of the design.

Looking at Fu Yue like that, Chu Manni sighed.

Taking a look around the small office with only four computers, Chu Manni walked straight in and sat down at the desk opposite Fu Yue.

Adjusting the nameplate on the desk, Chu Manni joked, "It’s 2121 already, in this age of office family-ization, perhaps we are the only ones in the whole company who have two fixed seats in the office!"

Chu Manni conveniently turned on the computer, "Oh, wait. There’s also the receptionist downstairs."

Fu Yue’s eyes were glued to the screen, her hands moving non-stop, "Since last week, the front desk has been replaced entirely by robots, so now it’s just you and me in the whole company."

Just as she finished speaking, they both fell into silence.

Why did they have to start hurting each other so early in the morning… "Ahem," Chu Manni remembered the bet they made when they left on Friday, quickly changing the subject, "Last month, didn’t you have a crush on that senior, Jiang Mo, from college… and he happened to go on a blind date? How did it go? After two weeks of dates, did you two hit it off?"

"Um…" Fu Yue hesitated for a moment, looking a bit shy, even slowing down her keystrokes, "The first date went alright."

Chu Manni immediately extended her mischievous hand, expecting money.

Suddenly, Fu Yue’s expression changed when she spoke next, "But last Saturday, Mr. Jiang’s mother heard about our family situation and personally called me, asking me to stay away from her son."

Before the words even finished, Fu Yue slyly reached out her hand to Chu Manni with a smirk.

While Chu Manni fake cried "boo-hoo", she took out her phone and started tapping away.

Fu Yue remained unaffected by her best friend’s fake tears until a big amount appeared in a red envelope on her screen. She raised an eyebrow, then tapped on [Open].

She looked across the table and said, "Manni, you didn’t have to send so much…" Chu Manni shook her head, looking sad, "Consider it compensation for Fu Yue’s emotional distress at home."

Fu Yue recognized this as Chu Manni’s way of showing kindness.

After finishing her internship in college, she found out her father had been diagnosed with stage two valve disease, a serious illness without a cure, requiring expensive daily treatments to slow down the progression. This also meant her mother had to be there every day, depleting their savings quickly.

As the only breadwinner left in her family, Fu Yue had to work tirelessly every day to cover the high medical expenses and living costs for her family of three.

Due to these circumstances, everyone who came to meet her for marriage proposals shook their heads without exception.

After giving out the red envelopes, Chu Manni looked at Fu Yue who was still daydreaming. Chu Manni remembered the mischievous smile that had appeared on Fu Yue’s face just now. Who would have thought that these two workaholics used to have such happy times in college, being called the "silly duo"?

It had been a long time since Chu Manni had seen a happy smile on Fu Yue’s face.

Chu Manni couldn’t help but exclaim, "Have we encountered something good these past few days?"

Fu Yue put away her phone, with an expression that seemed to say, "You found out about this already." She continued working while explaining, "I have been approved for a 7% medical subsidy this month."

"Such a high subsidy?" Chu Manni was a bit incredulous.

"Because I applied as one of the top 1% global Zerg Infester candidates," Fu Yue said without batting an eye.

Upon hearing this news, Chu Manni suddenly stood up. She looked at her friend across from her in shock and said, "Quick, withdraw from it now, let’s think of another way to raise some money!"

There was a Zerg Infester competition held by Blue Star five years ago.

Ever since entering the space age over a decade ago, humans discovered they were not the only life forms in the universe. Alien beings have existed in the universe for billions of years. They were diverse in race, with different personalities, and some had strong desires for conquest.

In front of these powerful alien races, the Earth, which has just entered the space age, is undoubtedly like a helpless lamb.

Among many alien races, the Zerg tribe has always had a relatively close relationship with humans. It is because of their protection that Earth has been able to develop normally and avoid attacks from other alien beings.

This is definitely a massive gift.

After enjoying ten years of protection, one day, with the strong support of the Blue Star government, they conducted a selection of Zerg Infesters on Blue Star. The number of selected candidates was scarce, and once selected, they were all taken away.

The official reason given was to promote peaceful exchange and development between the universe, sending a group of humans suitable for communication with the Zerg tribe to visit the Zerg tribe’s homeworld, Krypton Star, for friendly exchanges.

However… "The group that went five years ago has never come back!" Chu Manni said solemnly, "Everyone knows that this is definitely not just for sightseeing. There are even rumors on some forums that going there might be treated as experimental subjects!"

Seeing her best friend’s worried expression, Fu Yue nodded to show that she understood. Fu Yue made a reassuring gesture towards Chu Manni, indicating that she didn’t need to worry.

"That’s about it." Chu Manni, seeing Fu Yue’s calm demeanor, thought she had also taken it in, so she relaxed and sat back down in her seat.

After pressing the send button on the email page to send the final draft, Fu Yue finally stretched lazily. She replied to Chu Manni’s worry, "It’s okay, with my luck, which has never even won a lottery ticket since I was little, this thing definitely won’t happen to me."

Chu Manni, "Oh! So that’s what it means not to worry?!"

"And now Manny, you also have two twin brothers at home whose school fees need to be earned, so both of us are not doing well," said Fu Yue as she stood up.

After sitting for a long time, Fu Yue suddenly stood up, making her feel dizzy. She instinctively lowered her head and used her hands to support the table to steady herself.

As her vision slowly recovered, she saw drops of blood falling on the table.

Taking the napkin handed to her by Chu Manni, she cleaned up her nosebleed and the dirty table.

"Why are you having another nosebleed? You’ve been getting angry too often recently, haven’t you?" Chu Manni sounded a bit worried.

"Yeah…" Fu Yue also found it strange.

She walked to the office coffee machine, about to make a cup of coffee for breakfast, but then remembered she couldn’t have anything that causes anger, so she chose the milk next to it.

Holding her cup, she walked to the glass window and looked at the bustling crowd below the building. She then thought of a reason for herself, "The reports say that registration is just a way to filter us into the top one percent of the population."

Just this one percent alone, there are thirty million people. I heard that each person still needs to undergo a complex genetic compatibility investigation, and it probably won’t have results in the short term." "I mean, if you get picked, then you’re a hundred percent silly. And with your luck, I bet you’re in the E grade for sure!" Chu Manni was not fooled by Fu Yue’s words, "We’ll cancel it tomorrow, and I’ll make sure you go!"

Fu Yue was about to agree when the familiar sound of her phone interrupted their conversation.

Could it be that the unlucky Ms. Jia has gotten into trouble again?

Fu Yue walked back to her desk with an unpleasant mood, picked up her phone, and saw [*****] on the screen.

An encrypted number?

After hesitating for a moment, Fu Yue answered. A very pleasant baritone voice immediately filled her ears.

"Hello, Ms. Fu Yue. Since you haven’t opened the text message yet, we’re calling you directly to communicate with you." What text message?

Oh… Fu Yue’s memory from that morning finally returned to her in this moment.

"Sorry, I forgot to check it."

The person opposite was still polite and well-mannered.

"[No worries, I came specifically to inform Mrs. Fu Yue. Your genes have been chosen, congratulations on being one of the lucky ones to visit Krypton Star this time.]