As Yue Ling remembered yesterday, her body stiffened slightly.
Even now, thinking about the poison episode, she still felt a trace of fear and terror.
The pain…
The way she struggled to endure it…
If the system hadn't forced her into dormant mode, she didn't know what would have happened.
Her expression turned serious.
This was not something she could ignore.
"Xiao Xiao," she said in her mind, "tell me about my poison."
The system paused before replying.
"Host, I can't tell you exactly what poison it is… because even I don't know."
"But one thing I can say—"
"You need to either find the antidote quickly… or learn the medicine and poison domain fast enough to treat yourself."
Yue Ling narrowed her eyes.
"You're right."
"I'll focus on it."
The system spoke again.
"If possible… finish it within one year."
"One year?" Yue Ling frowned. "Why the time limit?"
"Because, host… you only have one year."
"And try to complete more tasks and missions. Earn more merit points. They can give you extra protection."
Yue Ling raised a brow.
"What can they even do?"
"I can't even buy anything with merit points. What's the use?"
The system replied mysteriously,
"You'll know in the future."
Yue Ling clicked her tongue.
"Then let's research my poison first."
"I already completed basic medicine knowledge in the virtual room."
"You can't do real research in the virtual room," the system said.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean… real research needs a real lab."
Yue Ling froze.
"…Are you kidding me?"
"Where am I supposed to get a lab?"
"And what about equipment?"
"Buy them," the system replied casually.
"As a host of the Goddess System, not having a lab damages our reputation and prestige."
"Damages your foot," Yue Ling snapped.
"Do you know how much that costs?"
She immediately checked her bank balance.
4 million.
For a student, it was a huge amount.
But for building a lab…
It wasn't even a drop in the bucket.
Yue Ling frowned deeply.
If she wanted to survive, she needed equipment.
And for that—
She needed money.
A lot of it.
She opened her laptop and started searching.
After a few minutes, her eyes paused on something.
A dark website.
A place where hackers took tasks and got paid.
Her lips curled slightly.
Without hesitation, she entered.
Username: Black Rose.
At first, she could only take small tasks.
But for her, they were nothing.
Hacking phones.
Getting call details.
Chat records.
Even small company data.
She completed everything extremely fast.
Within a short time, her name started rising on the rankings.
People began to notice.
"F*ck… who the hell is this?"
"Black Rose? Never heard of it."
They checked the profile—
Created just one hour ago.
Shock spread.
"Which big shot is this?"
"Why are they playing here?"
Some hackers tried to track her.
Tried to hack her account.
But the moment they did—
Their own systems got hacked instead.
Panic spread across the forum.
Meanwhile, Yue Ling calmly continued completing tasks.
As she moved up faster and faster…
More and more people started paying attention.
And soon—
A few of them directly sent her messages.
Wanting to compete with her.
Seeing those messages, Yue Ling's lips curled into a slight smirk.
Compete with me?
"Hm… interesting."
She leaned back lazily and muttered,
"What's there to compete… but since you're offering money, I won't say no."
Messages kept popping up.
"If you win, I'll give 1 million."
"Same here."
"Count me in."
"Let's see what you've got, Black Rose."
Yue Ling tapped the table lightly.
"So noisy…"
"Fine, come one by one—no, that's too slow."
She typed quickly.
"I'll take twenty."
The chat went silent for a second.
Then—
"Twenty??"
"Is this person crazy?"
"Arrogant…"
Yue Ling didn't care.
She calmly selected twenty challengers and said,
"Five at a time. Don't waste my time."
Without waiting for their reply, she started.
Her fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard.
Lines of code flashed on the screen.
One system after another—
breached.
"Done," she murmured softly.
The first five were completely defeated before they could even react.
"What the—?!"
"That fast?!"
"No way…"
Yue Ling stretched her fingers lazily.
"Next."
Second round.
Third round.
Fourth round.
Each time, she handled five people at once—calm, precise, effortless.
For her, it wasn't even challenging.
After the final round, she leaned back in her chair.
"All done."
She checked the transfers.
20 million.
"Not bad," she said lightly.
Without hesitation, she transferred the money into a newly created account, completely untraceable.
The system couldn't help but speak.
"Host… you're really fast."
Yue Ling smirked.
"This is basic."
Then she paused slightly, her expression turning thoughtful.
"Xiao Xiao… I think I should create a new identity."
"Why, host?" the system asked.
Yue Ling's eyes dimmed slightly.
"As a fake daughter of the Shen family…"
"I don't even know when they'll throw me out."
"I can't depend on them forever."
Her voice was calm, but firm.
"If that day comes, I should already be prepared."
She leaned back, looking at the screen.
"So from now on…"
"I'll make my own money."
"I'll build my own place."
"And live on my own terms."
A faint, confident smile appeared on her lips.
"After all… relying on others is boring."