Chapter 1 Alive In Another Body

• An intense pain pulled Sylvia out of the darkness.
• She gasped and opened her eyes, only for a harsh white light to stab into them. Instinctively, she shut them again. Her whole body felt heavy, and even breathing made her chest ache.
• After a few seconds, she slowly opened her eyes once more and forced herself to adjust to the brightness.
• The ceiling above her was unfamiliar. The room smelled clean, expensive, and nothing like the metal scent of a starship cabin.
• Where am I?
• Sylvia tried to speak, but her throat was so dry that only a rough, broken sound came out. She swallowed painfully and tried again.
• “Where... am I?”
• No one answered.
• The room stayed silent for two seconds, and then a mechanical voice suddenly sounded in her head.
• [Due to the emergency appearance of the void, Susu failed to preserve the host body but successfully preserved the host soul. A passage to another world has been opened. Susu will now begin importing the memories of this body to the host. Initializing memory transfer… 15%... 35%...]
• Another world?
• Before Sylvia could make sense of it, countless fragments flooded in at once.
• Another girl’s life and memories flood her with emotions.
• Joy, shame, loneliness, and countless memory fragments.
• [Memory transfer completed. Susu expended a large amount of energy bypassing the portal. Susu will now enter hibernation. Host, please absorb more energy so Susu can wake up soon.]
• The voice faded. Silence returned to the room.
• Sylvia lay there without moving, her face expressionless as she sorted through both the pain and the memories.
• So... she really had died.
• In her previous life, an apocalypse broke her life. Sylvia had been sold for food, escaped by luck, and clawed her way through a world where humanity meant nothing. When the apocalypse finally ended, the timid girl from before disappeared.
• The world has changed with unlimited technology. Earth became unfit for living, and people migrated outward.
• From then on, Sylvia became a soldier and spent the rest of her life fighting in space, surviving monsters, betrayal, war, and death itself, only to be swallowed by a black void while on a mission.
• And now, against all reason, she had opened her eyes in another girl’s body.
• Sylvia lowered her gaze and studied her hands.
• This was a young, soft body, one that belonged to a rich girl from a peaceful world.
• She lifted her head and looked into the full-length mirror. The face staring back at her was somewhat similar to the one she had in her previous life. Ebony-black hair, pale skin, but there were dark circles under her eyes that no amount of hiding could cover.
• Her complexion looked dull, and her frame was on the thin side. It was obvious the original girl had not slept well in a long time.
• Sylvia rose to her feet and walked into the walk-in closet, still sorting through the memories in her head.
• The previous owner of this body was also named Sylvia Austen.
• Her parents had died in a beast surge, leaving only Sylvia and her four-year-old brother behind. Since she was still too young to take over the family business, the company had been handed to her father’s most trusted assistant.
• If things had gone well, the company might have continued to grow under his management.
• But the original Sylvia ruined everything.
• She did not care about her little brother. She did not focus on school. Instead, she became obsessed with chasing a handsome boy who was treated like a prince by countless girls on campus.
• To win his attention, she spent money recklessly. She kept competing with girls from even richer families, buying expensive luxury gifts for the so-called campus prince.
• Little by little, she drained her parents’ company dry until it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
• And yesterday, she had finally turned herself into the biggest joke in school.
• She confessed to the campus prince in front of everyone and was rejected without a shred of mercy.
• Within hours, the video had spread all over the internet. Many of the prince’s admirers publicly mocked her and exposed her to even more humiliation. Not long after that, the school sent her an expulsion notice.
• Unable to bear it anymore, the original owner drank poison and died, and that was how Sylvia came into this body.
• Sylvia only found it a pity.
• The original owner had not treasured the one life she had and had willingly thrown herself away.
• But now that Susu had chosen this body for her, Sylvia would live well in her place.
• And she would take good care of her little brother.
• After searching through a closet full of flashy, colorful gowns for a long time, Sylvia finally found something that suited her taste in the corner: a simple black tracksuit.
• She took a quick shower, changed into it, and decided to first look around the property Mr. and Mrs. Austen had left behind.
• The moment she stepped out of her room, Sylvia heard laughter coming from downstairs.
• A little boy was hugging a round robot ball, pressing his forehead against it and grinning every now and then. This had to be Asher, the original owner’s younger brother.
• A child’s laughter was a luxury in the apocalypse.
• Sylvia stood there quietly, watching Asher until he looked up and saw her on the stairs. The robot ball slipped from his arms and rolled onto the floor. The bright smile on his face vanished at once.
• Right. Sylvia gave a bitter smile as the original owner’s memories surfaced again.
• The original Sylvia had never liked this little brother. She had even taken her anger out on him.
• She had been a terrible sister.
• Luckily, the Sylvia standing here now was far more patient and tolerant with children.
• “S-Sis...” Asher stammered, looking at her nervously as she walked down the stairs.
• Sylvia wanted to reach out and pat his head, but the moment she got closer, the boy squeezed his eyes shut and started trembling.
• “C-Can you... hit me a little lighter this time...?”
• The suppressed sob in his voice made even cold-hearted Sylvia feel a sharp ache in her chest.
• She crouched down so they were at eye level.
• Asher slowly opened his eyes, confused. Then he felt something warm and gentle on his head.
• Sylvia was patting him softly.
• “I won’t hit you,” she said quietly. “Not anymore. Never again.”
• He wanted to nod hard, but the moment he blinked, tears spilled down first.
• For the first time, he did not want to dodge his sister’s hand.
• If anything, he wished that warmth would stay a little longer.
• Sylvia wiped the boy’s tears away while trying to think of what else she could say to him.
• Her years in the apocalypse had left her painfully bad at talking to children.
• In the end, she only asked, “Have you eaten yet?”
• Asher nodded. “I was just about to. Bai is going to give me my nutrition shot.”
• “Good boy.”
• Sylvia glanced at the robot ball by his feet. This kind of home childcare robot would inject children with a nutrient serum whenever they were hungry, giving them everything the body needed each day. Strictly speaking, she did not need to worry about Asher going hungry.
• But...
• Sylvia thought of the children from before the apocalypse, sitting in restaurants with burgers and fries, laughing while they ate. Then she looked at Asher, quietly rolling up his sleeve and waiting for an injection, and she could not help frowning.
• Was this really what childhood should feel like?
• To lose the taste of food and reduce eating to nothing more than survival?
• At the very least, when she was wandering through the apocalypse, Sylvia had desperately longed for a hot, fragrant bowl of cream mushroom soup. That was also why, after the apocalypse ended, she had worked so hard on her cooking. She wanted to make up for all the hunger her younger self had endured.
• She had just opened her mouth to ask Asher if he wanted to try real food when the communication bracelet on her wrist lit up.
• A string of notifications instantly popped up.
• 237 MISSED CALLS
• 104 URGENT MAILS
• 19 ACCOUNT WARNING NOTICES
• [Incoming Emergency Call: Mike]
• The one calling her was Mike, the manager of her late parents’ company.