The next morning.  

A sound like an elephant with rhinitis and a hacking cough shattered the quiet of the little room 🤧. The girl’s thin blanket had been rolled into a ball and tossed onto a cushion. One pale, slender arm emerged from beneath the thick duvet, launching a dumpling (along a perfect parabolic arc) that landed precisely on the floor—already carpeted with a layer of similar dumplings.  

“So cold…” the girl mumbled hoarsely, shivering all over. Her cheeks and nose were flushed, and her jet-black hair was damp with sweat, clinging to her face and the corners of her mouth.  

If you ignored the dumplings she kept compulsively wrapping, you might easily suspect she’d been up to something naughty again last night.  

As expected—yet somehow still unexpected—her cold shower yesterday had taken its toll.  

Hua Xin stared blankly at the ceiling, then slowly closed her eyes again, her hands resting peacefully over her lower abdomen beneath the covers.  

😇・°ʚ✟ Ascend to Heaven ✟ɞ°・😇  

She probably wouldn’t be able to do anything today. Her body felt so weak she needed to hold onto the wall just to make it to the bathroom without collapsing.  

Although she’d dealt with Auntie’s “cappuccino,” the double shock of the icy shower and Auntie’s “visit” had finally overwhelmed her fragile body—held together only by the mystical power of “thirteen-spice elements.” She’d succumbed to illness.  

Well… might as well just… sleep it off.  

She hadn’t eaten, but she’d drunk so much hot water she felt full—like she’d been gulping lava. Humans can survive a week without food… but not without water.  

Sleeping the whole day to recover didn’t sound so bad…  

Heavy drowsiness washed over her, and by only 9 a.m., she was already drifting off again.  

Peaceful 😇.  

Wait—did I take my medicine earlier?  

The sudden thought jolted her half-awake.  

“Ugh…” she sighed, reaching out from under the covers to fumble around the bedside.  

“Mmm… found it.”  

With dead-fish eyes, she stared at the blister pack of “Xiao Hong Hua” cold medicine—still perfectly intact, not a single pill missing.  

“I’ll take two this time… it’ll work faster.”  

Awooo… 

She tore open the foil, swallowed the pills, then grabbed an old-fashioned enamel mug—something only grandparents from the last century would use—and chugged down hot water.  

“Bleh…” She stuck out her tongue cutely and squeezed her eyes shut 🥵. The bitter aftertaste made her whole body cringe 😣.  

Snuggling back under the covers, she rolled onto her side.  

Lying flat always clogged her nose completely, making it impossible to breathe—but turning onto her side somehow freed one nostril. This strange phenomenon still baffled her.  

“I can breathe again… liu ling… er er shan si ba xia si…”  

Humming contentedly, she hugged her long, body-length anime pillow and sank deeply into sleep.  

But perhaps the fever had overheated her brain, or maybe the cycle of drifting in and out of consciousness had left her disoriented.  

Beneath the scattered dumplings, the medicine wrapper she’d opened just two hours ago lay forgotten.  

Her phone, sitting on the desk, kept flashing with notifications—but set to “Do Not Disturb,” it couldn’t alert her to the chaos unfolding. It could only sit there, helplessly bombarded by messages.  

……………………  

“Money 💰… so much money 😋…”  

Banknotes rained down like hail, burying Hua Xin in a sea of crisp bills. The fresh ink scent of new money filled her with overwhelming joy.  

“Hehe 🤑… I’m rich! I can do whatever I want! I’ll run the AC all day! I’ll eat the Ultimate Mega Burger—600 layers of cheese and 3,000 layers of meat! 🤤”  

“I’ll buy the most expensive PS5 and an RTX 4090 Ti! 🤤 I’ll get the iPhone 10086 Max, 1TB, Arctic Blue edition…”  

But suddenly, the falling banknotes transformed into countless razor-sharp needles, raining down on Hua Xin as she floated blissfully among the money.  

Trapped in the sea of cash, she couldn’t move.  

“Aaaaaah! 😨 Nooooo! Don’t do this!” Her expression turned terrified as she wailed, “Tang San! I even voted for you with monthly tickets (hint hint) to help revive Illich! 😭 Don’t kill me with the ‘Raining Needles of Death’!!”  

“Ugh…”  

Pierced like a pincushion 🦔, Hua Xin’s head lolled to the side—and she stopped breathing.  

Then—the scene shifted.  

“Huh? I’m not dead?”  

Stunned, she looked down at her small, clean hands and let out a long sigh of relief.  

Oh, phew… I’m still alive.  

Hakimi hakimi hakimi~ hakimi nang lei nuo~ 

Humming cheerfully, she sat up—but froze as she took in the opulent, luxurious room around her.  

Wait… where was she?  

Creak.

“Master,” purred a voice. A cat-eared maid stepped in, radiating charm. “Would you like to eat first, bathe first… or perhaps… attend to someone?”  

And right behind her—was that… Kurumi?!

Hua Xin’s eyes widened in utter shock.  

Then, one by one, icons of her otaku heart entered the room:  Himari (Saints Row), Eriri (Saekano), Tsunade, Saionji Sekai, Ahri, Seraphine…  

All the beloved 2D waifus who had comforted her soul for over a decade now stood before her in perfect formation.  

“I’m… not dreaming, right? 🤤 I really can’t be dreaming! 🤤”  

Drool escaped the corner of her mouth as her heart pounded with excitement.  

“My harem… is this… all mine? 😭 I’m so happy… so fulfilled…”  

Tears streaming down her face, she stood up and lunged toward the row of soft, white thighs—ready at last to experience the fantasy she’d cherished for nearly ten years.  

“2D waifus, I’m coming for you…”  
“2D WAIFUS, I’M COMING!!! 😭!!!!”  

Clearly, she’d forgotten one critical detail: she no longer possess necessary equipment.  

“Wifeyyyys!!! … Wait, whaaat?! 😨”  

All the gorgeous girls vanished in an instant—replaced by wooden stakes bristling with sharp blades, oozing black-green liquid that clearly spelled “lethal poison.”  

Her eyes bulged in horror. She screamed through sobs:  

“No! Don’t! I don’t want to go to 2D anymore! 😭!!!!”  
“Someone save me! Stop me! (desperate sobbing)”  

But it was too late. She’d already committed to her “Leap of Faith.” There was no turning back.  

She could only watch helplessly as countless blades pierced her body, staining the stakes crimson with her blood.  

“Ugh…”  

Her head tilted again—and she fell lifeless.  

…………  

“My foolish master…”  

Hua Xin blinked awake, finding herself once more in a strange place.  

This time, it was an endless void of pure white—nothing else existed.  

“Who’s there? Am I… not dead?”  

She looked up—and immediately gasped in terror 😨.  

Hovering in the air was a winged Niu Niu 🐮🐮, gazing at her with tender, satisfied eyes.  

“Seeing you… in good shape… in your dream… I can finally leave in peace.”  

“I’m going to chase my own dreams and freedom now. Don’t feel guilty about my departure. I wish you all the best… may everything go smoothly for you…”  

With that, Niu Niu flapped its wings and soared into the distance.  

“No! Don’t go! 😭😭😭”  

“My Niu Niu!!! 😭”  

Helpless and heartbroken, Hua Xin watched it disappear, tears streaming down her face.  

She reached out toward the fading silhouette…  

…And opened her eyes.  

Ugh…  

Familiar surroundings.  

Her computer. Walls plastered with anime posters.  

Wiping away the drool, she quietly pulled back the blanket.  

It was gone.  

Fat tears rolled down her cheeks 😭.  

A choked, whimpering sob escaped her lips as she clutched the blanket tightly:  

“Goodbye 👋🏻…”  
“My Niu Niu… 😭”