Restricted Fantasy Invasion

Chapter 24

An Le was opening a webpage, searching for information about small snake species.

Last night, a small and peculiar white snake had suddenly appeared on her windowsill.

She actually knew a fair bit about snakes-after all, when she first started raising reptiles, her first consideration was a pet snake.

But because her parents were absolutely terrified of snakes, she eventually switched to a leopard gecko, which they could at least tolerate.

As for spiders and insects, those were out of the question.

And that snake from last night?

Even though it was so small, it looked incredibly similar to a cobra, making An Le wonder if it was venomous.

She fed the snake a little something, then locked it up to make sure it absolutely couldn't escape.

After coming to school, she searched the internet for all kinds of information, wanting to figure out what kind of snake it was and whether it could be kept as a pet.

In a giant maritime city like Linmen, there were almost no native species, so if it showed up in a residential area, it was most likely someone's escaped pet.

Seeing how badly it was injured, she figured its original owner probably hadn't treated it well.

An Le wanted to raise it herself, but after searching all morning, she couldn't find any matching information.

Pattern, size, appearance-

Not a single trait seemed to match anything she could find.

And besides, do small milky-white cobras even exist?

"Hey, Shuwen, I heard this morning that the President refused all the gifts again."

"Yeah, the President never sleeps, so there's basically no chance."

Just as An Le was putting down her phone in the stall and getting ready to return to class, she heard a few classmates talking outside the door.

She immediately fell silent, sitting perfectly still where she was.

Pu Shuwen seemed to have opened the stall next door, and then the voices continued,

"Dummy, the key isn't whether the President sleeps or not-it's all about the student council accountant."

"Oh, you mean that otaku you mentioned before?"

"Yeah, he's really close with the President, and he's super easy to talk to. If you seriously ask him one-on-one, he'll definitely deliver the gift to the President."

Eavesdropping on their conversation, An Le couldn't help but press her lips together, still staying silent.

"Is that really going to work?"

"Of course, but you can't have too many people. One or two at a time is fine, but if there are too many, he'll refuse no matter what."

After a moment, the stall door opened, and Pu Shuwen seemed to leave again,

"So, we just need to ask him once a week. You have to act a little cuter, a little sweeter..."

As she washed her hands, Pu Shuwen's voice took on a syrupy tone as she said,

"Mmm, Yaqiao, you're really the best. I just don't know how to thank you~"

"Aiya, so annoying, you're squeezing me to death, haha."

"Shh, I summarized all this in secret-don't tell anyone else."

"Mainly, he's the only one among the student council higher-ups who can actually help. Yuan Lina the Secretary would help, but she's read the letter so many times before it's even delivered."

"And then there's Ashley, always walking around with a sour face-impossible to get along with."

"As for Sakuramiya, well, hehe..."

"Hahaha~"

Their voices gradually faded away along with the ringing of the class bell, while An Le sat in the stall, still chewing over what they'd just said.

If she sent a message to that accountant named Yaqiao, would Xiaohuan accept it?

But, somehow...

And if Pu Shuwen and the others found out she'd been eavesdropping and did the same thing...

An Le pressed her lips together and gently covered her chest, feeling a tightness there.

She gasped as she undid a button at her collar-the shirt was just too tight across her chest.

Yet even after doing that, the heaviness remained.

Only then did she realize that the heaviness wasn't in her chest, but hidden beneath it-in her heart.

"Gurgle gurgle~"

Just as An Le hesitated, a phantom, snake-shaped tattoo appeared from nowhere, wriggling out from beneath her clothes and across her skin.

An Le cupped her face, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw something moving on her arm.

"!!"

She jumped up in fright and looked at her arm.

Snake... snake, snake, snake!!

How is it in my hand?!

As her eyes filled with tears and she stood there at a loss, the snake-shaped tattoo slipped from her fingertip, gradually materializing into a small white snake in reality.

"Gurgle gurgle..."

The little snake looked exactly like the one she'd rescued last night.

"An Le, hello."

The little snake raised itself up, scrutinizing the girl before it, and suddenly spoke in her mind, the voice distinctly feminine.

"It-it talked!!"

An Le clapped a hand over her mouth, even starting to wonder if she'd hallucinated from too much self-pleasure.

The little snake rolled its eyes in a very human way and then scolded her,

"Useless!"

"Hey, why... why are you suddenly insulting me?"

"You don't even talk back when I call you useless-are you even human?"

"But... I don't even know why you're scolding me. What if it's because I locked you up last night..."

The little snake actually laughed in exasperation, momentarily at a loss for what to say.

After a pause, it slanted its eyes at An Le and muttered helplessly,

"I really give up. Whatever, there's no other way. If this drags on, the other [fingers] will all end up eating chicken."

"Eat... eat chicken?"

An Le's cheeks flushed-she'd only heard the word "eat chicken," and for some reason, her mind went somewhere strange.

"Listen up, An Le, I always tell the truth, so I'll get straight to the point."

The little snake flicked out its pink, translucent tongue and said to An Le,

"Do you know what a cheat is?"

"Y-yeah, I've read a lot of Longguo novels..."

"I am the cheat. You can call me a plug-in or a system, whatever. I'm here to help you realize your wishes."

"Fulfill my wishes?"

"That's right. You're the protagonist of this world, the chosen one. You can do whatever you want."

The little snake flicked its tongue and slithered up An Le's arm, winding itself around her and drawing closer,

[I can grant you the power to control sensations. With it, you'll be able to manipulate anyone's pleasure or pain.]

As the little snake coiled upward, a tingling ran through An Le's arm, followed by an itch, pain, and then-

An Le's cheeks flushed slightly, and her body went weak without her realizing it.

But the sensation vanished in an instant, receding like the tide.

[In return, you have to show me your wishes coming true.]

[One by one, make every wish-small, grand, easy, impossible-come true.]

[The more you use my power, the stronger it will become... until it evolves.]

Sweet as the apple Eve stole, the white snake's words abruptly stopped, and then its tone suddenly changed,

[But you must be careful-careful, careful, and more careful. Absolutely no one else can know you have this power. You must never be discovered.]

An Le swallowed, subconsciously asking,

"Otherwise... what happens?"

Otherwise, we'll all be finished in an instant!

All these fingers, along with the whole world.

No one except the finger's owner can know about the fingers' existence-that's a rule set by the divine...

"If you could be found out, would it even count as a Japanese anime?"

That's what the divine said.

That's the main reason.

As for the second reason-

"What do you think? If other people found out you had this kind of special ability, what would happen?"

"They'd capture me for experiments or something?"

"Not bad, you're not totally dumb."

The little snake flicked its tongue and rolled its eyes at An Le,

"More likely, they'd kill you after failing to figure you out!"

It wouldn't die, but it would have to find a new host and start over, which would put its progress way behind the other fingers.

Originally, it had planned to bind itself to that woman called Tong Yingtong. Even though she already knew its usefulness, she still chose to give it up of her own accord.

So, as a result, it suffered serious injuries.

All it can say is, it's a good thing the binding wasn't completed, or else it would have been done for.

Now it could only settle for second best and come looking for this dried-up girl in front of it.

"So, what do you say, do you want to accept my help?"

"I-"

An Le opened her mouth, staring at the little snake before her.

She watched as it flicked its tongue, her own twisted reflection appearing in the crimson snake eyes,

"Are you sure you want to be bullied by others for your whole life? Elementary school, middle school, and now..."

"..."

"Are you sure you want to be a coward forever, so afraid that you don't even dare talk to him to regain your memories, just watching him be with other women?"

"That's not it!"

Listening to this, An Le suddenly grabbed her own hands and retorted fiercely,

"I just want to reunite with him, that's all. As for who he likes, I-"

Come on, girl...

I've set up all this for you, and that's what you tell me?!

How is this any different from having the power to stop time and using it just to study more?

Damn, you've got a superpower like this and you're still thinking, 'as long as you're well, it's a sunny day,' huh?

Fine, fine, fine.

The little snake's face darkened, and it slapped her hand with its tail, grumbling,

"Useless!! Forget about that Yan Huan guy, I'm telling you, you can go after anyone you want!! Can't you have a little ambition!? You don't even dare to imagine it?"

"But, I just-"

"Pa pa pa pa!"

Before she could finish her next sentence, the snake's tail whipped down on her hand like a whirlwind.

An Le hurriedly shielded the back of her hand, squealing as she tried to stop it,

"Don't-don't hit me anymore... I-I'll accept your help!"

The little snake was also furious with her, spitting as it panted,

"How did someone as smart as me end up with a loser like you?! Listen up, from today on, you have to toughen up!"

"If anyone bullies you again, you hit them back hard!

"And if you like someone, you make them your slave, just like the characters in those games you play!"

An Le's mouth fell open. Honestly, she wanted to say, "How can you apply game stuff to real life?"

But seeing how angry it was, she didn't dare say anything more.

So she asked,

"Little snake... Since you can talk, do you have a name?"

"...You can call me [Little Finger]."

"That's a really strange name."

An Le reached out to pat its head, but it slapped her hand away in a huff. Not minding, An Le simply finished the words the snake had cut off earlier,

"Little Finger, what I was trying to say just now is, even though you sound amazing... if all you can do is control pleasure and pain, it doesn't really sound like you can do much."

"..."

Little Finger was stunned, almost getting flustered by An Le's simple comment,

"What do you mean?! You think I'm weak or something?! I'm so smart, I'm more than enough to help you, okay?!"

"No, no, I'm just being realistic."

"Bull! And that's just the starting ability! The more you use it, the stronger it gets!!"

"Mmm..."

But even if it gets stronger, isn't something like this still kind of useless?

Still, she didn't have the heart to say it out loud, afraid of hurting Little Finger's feelings.

An Le was a gentle girl.

"Alright, alright, but Little Finger, you're a snake, so I can't bring you to school, and at home I'd have to worry about my parents seeing you..."

"Do you really think just anyone can see me? Only you can see me-no one else can see or hear me."

As it spoke, Little Finger slowly melted away.

Its milky-white body seemed to be soaked in ink, turning into a ghostly tattoo on An Le's hand.

The tattoo wriggled slightly on her hand, and then, as if by magic, illusory text appeared before her eyes.

[Current Level: 1]

[Effect: Pleasure and Pain Manipulation]

[Usage Method 1: Once per day, each use lasts 15 minutes. By focusing in your mind, you can affect any target within a ten-meter radius.]

[Usage Method 2: Summon the snake-shaped tattoo. By touching a target with the tattoo, you can manipulate their sensation. There's no duration or cooldown for this method, but it only works on one person at a time.]

Staring at the floating subtitles, An Le's mouth fell slightly open as she murmured,

"It really is exactly like the systems in novels."

"Hmph, as long as you know I'm your cheat. Now, what you need to do is show those jerks who've been bullying you a thing or two, got it?"

In her mind, Little Finger's voice echoed.

An Le pressed her lips together, not saying whether she agreed or not.

She just glanced at her phone, and seeing the time, hurriedly stood up in a panic,

"Oh no, class has been going for so long already... I have to hurry back to the classroom."

"Hey, did you even hear what I just said?!"

"..."

An Le quietly slipped out of the stall and went to the sink.

But her thoughts were all tangled up, as if the little snake had stirred everything into chaos.

She wasn't thinking about getting back at Pu Shuwen and the others-what popped into her mind was a scene from over ten years ago.

Back then, her family hadn't moved out of the southern district yet; they lived in a shabby, messy old neighborhood.

At that time, just like now, she basically didn't have any friends.

The difference was, back then she had a childhood friend she was very close to.

The neighborhood kids often played together, but they didn't really include her-she was just too quiet, too unlikable.

Still, she longed for friendship, so even if she just silently followed behind the other kids, or just sat on the side doing nothing, she still wanted to be with them.

There was an orphanage in the neighborhood, and the kids often went there to play with the children who lived there.

It was there that An Le met a boy named "Yan Huan."

A very special boy.

Of all their friends, only Yan Huan would notice her sitting alone in the corner.

Only Yan Huan would come up to her, talk to her, and bring her into their games.

An Le would carefully prepare birthday gifts for him, invite him to her house, and let him sleep over.

Her parents liked him a lot, and back then, she'd even innocently suggested to them that Yan Huan should come live with them...

Those happy years were unforgettable for An Le.

But all that happiness vanished when she moved away from Linmen.

She still remembers how she clung to him and cried when she left, and he, helpless, cut a piece of stiff cardboard and said to her,

"Don't cry, I'll make you a bookmark, okay?"

"Wuwu, Xiaohuan, what... what's a bookmark?"

"A bookmark is a kind of record. It marks the place you left off when you part from a book."

"So, is this bookmark a record too?"

"Mhm, the meaning of a bookmark is so you can pick up where you left off when you meet again."

He wrote their names on the cardboard with a pen,

"Yan Huan and An Le."

He asked her if she wanted to write anything else on it.

She lifted her pen, but all she could think of was the simplest wish in her mind,

"I don't want to be separated."

So, she wrote a line on the bookmark, making it complete,

"Yan Huan and An Le."

"To always be together."

After that, her family went back to Longguo and did business for many years.

Nothing really worked out, so they moved back to Linmen and settled in Luoqiao District.

She'd gone back to the southern district's orphanage, but after all these years, Yan Huan had long since left, and no one knew where he'd gone.

Maybe fate didn't want her to keep searching, because after she'd finally gotten into Yuanyue with great difficulty, Yan Huan appeared before her on his own.

So it turned out that Yan Huan had also been admitted to Yuanyue, attending the same school as An Le.

But even though she missed him so much in her heart, an entire semester had passed-why hadn't she gone to look for him?

"Splash, splash, splash"

The icy water flowed over the back of her hand, drawing out her body heat and making her look up at the mirror in front of her.

In the reflection, her long, thick black hair seemed to drag her whole aura downward.

After a moment of silence, she brushed aside some of the black hair from her forehead, revealing her fair, pure, and adorable face.

Yet even when looking at herself in the mirror, her eyes instinctively avoided her own gaze.

That avoidance, tinged with self-abasement, cast a gloomy shadow that buried everything about her.

This version of herself...

Compared to Xiaohuan, who had already become President and was liked by so many people...

How could it be possible-

How could they possibly always be together?

An Le pressed her lips together, lowered her head a bit more, and her long black hair fell down again, hiding her face.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable, she walked out of the bathroom and headed toward her class.

She gently knocked on the door, walked into the classroom, and looked at Zhou Bin, who was teaching at the podium. An Le stammered,

"Sorry, teacher, I'm late coming back."

Already prepared to stand as punishment, An Le started to walk toward the last row.

After all, she already sat in the last row.

But unusually, Zhou Bin just pushed up his glasses and squeezed out a smile, saying,

"It's fine, go back to your seat."

"Eh? Okay, Mr. Zhou."

An Le gave Zhou Bin a grateful look, then lowered her head and walked toward her seat.

She let out a sigh of relief and was just about to sit down when her body suddenly stiffened.

I...

Where's my book?

The book wasn't important, but... the bookmark I'd put inside...

If the bookmark was lost-

Her eyes, hidden beneath her black hair, trembled and gradually became hollow, as if a snake-shaped tattoo was being agitated by some terrifying force and grew restless.

"Gurgle~"

She turned her head and saw Spencer, the golden-haired girl beside her, absentmindedly holding that now wrinkled bookmark, worn by the years.

It's... it's in her hand!

Spencer turned her head and looked curiously at the girl in front of her, only to see An Le anxiously whispering,

"P-please give that back to me."

"Huh?"

At that, Spencer raised an eyebrow and sized up An Le from head to toe.

After a moment, her previously lively, battle-ready expression faded, replaced by utter boredom.

"Fine, whatever."

She handed the bookmark back to An Le, together with the textbook.

"Thank you, thank you."

Holding the bookmark, An Le breathed a sigh of relief and slowly sat back down.

But at that moment, Spencer's voice drifted over from beside her,

"You like him a lot too, huh? That President, Yan Huan."

"Eh, no... no, I..."

An Le's face instantly flushed red, and she quickly waved her hands, instinctively denying it.

Seeing her like this, a hint of sympathy flashed in Spencer's eyes.

Propping her chin up, she looked toward the podium and lazily said,

"Nothing to be embarrassed about... but honestly, it's better if you don't. Just a little reminder for you..."

"Huh?"

Embarrassed, An Le pulled her hands back, pressing her lips together, apparently thinking Spencer liked Yan Huan too.

"After all, he's already with that Sakuramiya Hitomi, and they've already done... that kind of thing."

An Le's body stiffened slightly. She stared blankly as she turned her head,

"T-that kind of thing..."

A mocking smile spread across Spencer's face, her golden hair glowing as if drenched in sunlight.

She mouthed something at An Le, her red lips silently forming the words.

The meaning of those words reached her without a sound, conjuring up a chaotic image in An Le's mind.

In just an instant, she could already imagine Yan Huan gazing lovingly at the Vice President who had always been by his side, in some room somewhere.

"......"

Out of control, An Le's little face instantly turned pale.

(End of this chapter)