With the blessing of Heartsteel, Xie Litang was instantly brimming with confidence. Then, she cautioned herself, “Since I'm rushing Heartsteel, I'm definitely a late-game champion, so I've got to play it safe in the early game.”
“First, I'll find cockroaches and mosquitoes to trade some honest Heartsteel procs.”
Yet relying solely on hunting cockroaches was far too inefficient.
Moreover, she had plenty of problems on her plate.
The earliest online loan was due in less than ten days.
Just thinking about it made Xie Litang's scalp tingle; in short, there was nothing good waiting for her.
Xie Litang checked the money in her bank account—there was only a little over a thousand left.
This small sum wasn't even enough to cover the interest.
After pondering for a moment, she told Chen Linling to list all of her cosmetics and designer bags on second-hand websites for sale.
Most of the original owner's money had been squandered on those items.
Chen Linling didn't ask questions, simply responding with an obedient, “Okay.”
Xie Litang instructed, “I'm going out for a bit. Don't wait for me for dinner tonight.”
Leaving the residential complex, Xie Litang went to a general store to buy a wooden sword, then found a secluded spot with few pedestrians.
Under the streetlamps swarmed moths and mosquitoes, clustering so densely that they formed a thick cloud.
Xie Litang twirled her sword into a flourish, focused her mind, and swung toward the densest cluster of moths and mosquitoes.
“Steel Tempest.”
CLANG~
【Vitality +0.18.】
【Steel Tempest proficiency +1.】
Under the moonlight, the young girl swung her sword beneath the streetlamp.
However, over the course of the entire night, it could truly be said that she killed a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of her own.
The mosquitoes were simply too vicious. Especially since she was wearing an airy, breezy skirt, it was practically the death of her.
Even so, her Vitality had increased from the initial 60 to 80.
Now, with every strike, Xie Litang could permanently gain 0.24 Vitality.
The damage dealt by a single Steel proc was as high as 2.4.
Scratching the bites on her thighs, Xie Litang muttered under her breath, “They call this accumulating slowly to burst forth massively.”
“Once I reach a million Vitality in the future, a single Steel proc will grant thousands of Vitality and tens of thousands in damage.”
Returning to her residence in the early hours of the morning, Xie Litang realized she couldn't keep going like this.
“Swatting mosquitoes like this is not only inefficient, but more importantly, the damage they deal to me isn't low either.”
Thus, Xie Litang changed her strategy and went out into the night to buy a pest control three-piece set.
The next day.
Armed with sticky mouse traps and flypaper, Xie Litang set traps all across the residential area.
Soon after, she headed to the wet market with a fly swatter. The stall owners only assumed she was a student messing around.
None of them would ever guess that she was carrying a fly swatter to stack Heartsteel.
【CLANG~】
Vitality +0.24.
Vitality +0.24.
Vitality +0.24.
When mealtime came around, she immediately went to collect the glue boards placed at every trap location.
This was called harvesting a wave on a timer.
【CLANG~】
Vitality +0.3.
Vitality +0.3.
Vitality +0.3.
Although Chen Linling watched dumbfounded and profoundly shaken, she could only offer comforting words: “Sister, don't feel burdened. At worst, I'll provide for you from now on.”
That said, a cold chill crept into Chen Linling's eyes, brimming with particular resentment toward Jianghai High School.
Even if her sister was at fault, had it not been for Jianghai High School subjecting her sister to what was virtually a public execution, her sister never would have ended up like this. Therefore, no matter how one looked at it, Jianghai High School was the one to blame.
That evening.
Xie Litang found another streetlamp beside a foul-smelling drainage ditch, took out her insecticide, and sprayed beneath the light.
Psssshh~~
Bzzzzzz~
Immediately, a carpet of moths and mosquitoes dropped to the ground, and the world grew significantly quieter all at once.
While they were still alive, Xie Litang unleashed another round of Steel Tempests with her wooden sword.
Vitality +0.3.
Vitality +0.3.
Vitality +0.3.
Vitality +0.3.
Steel Tempest 100/100, Beginner.
Xie Litang instantly felt that the sword in her hand had changed.
With every swing, she could faintly perceive the trajectory of flowing wind brushing across the wooden blade.
Xie Litang looked at her panel.
【Name: Xie Litang.】
【Ability: Teammate Sacrifice, Uses: 0.】
【Class: Swordmaster, Wind-Style Swordsmanship (Beginner).】
【Vitality: 120, Spirit: 45.】
【Equipment: Heartsteel.】
After reviewing it, Xie Litang sighed and murmured, “The starting Vitality is still too low.”
“If this were a game character starting with four or five hundred health, I would've stacked several thousand health by now.”
Checking the time, it was already past nine at night.
Xie Litang stood beneath the streetlamp to rest for a moment, intending to stack a bit more.
After all, a day's plan begins with stacking Heartsteel.
Across the street, several schoolgirls walking together passed by, casting surprised glances in her direction.
Xie Litang didn't pay them much mind; judging by their uniforms, they were from Jianghai High School and had likely recognized her.
Retracting her gaze, Xie Litang told herself, “Who cares about them? All I want to do right now is stack Steel.”
Her reputation had already gone completely down the drain on the day of the awakening ceremony.
The more you tried to defend yourself, the messier it became.
Don't fall into the trap of internal friction; only your own strength is real.
In short, just keep swinging the sword.
Stacking Steel brought her pure joy.
The girls watched for a while, snapped some photos, and posted them onto the school forum.
【Heading home after karaoke and ran into the most vain girl in our school's history. What bad luck.】
It had only been a few days, and discussions about Xie Litang were still raging hot.
The post swiftly attracted a crowd of onlookers.
People said all sorts of things.
Some claimed she lacked self-respect, while others called her all style and no substance, but vanity was practically universally agreed upon.
In any case, none of it was pleasant.
【Streetlamps, a woman... don't tell me she's selling herself out there?】
Someone left that comment.
It quickly garnered a flood of upvotes.
The school forum's so-called heavy hitters chimed in one after another, digging up that Xie Litang came from an impoverished background and had merely been putting on airs of wealth.
Now that she had been expelled and her reputation was in ruins, she probably couldn't find a job, so turning tricks was her only option left.
Plenty of people were even publicly asking for her location.
Inside Girls' Dorm 703.
Li Ruoxi watched with smug satisfaction as the upvote count on her comment steadily climbed.
Turning around, she wore an indignant expression as she ranted to the dorm, “That woman Xie Litang has truly discarded every shred of shame.”
“Acting like that in school was bad enough, but now she actually dares to go out and sell her body?”
“Thank goodness she was expelled. Otherwise, who would dare live in this dorm? We'd probably have to disinfect the place every single day.”
In her words, Xie Litang had been reduced to the most shameless, loose woman imaginable.
Xue Qingyue spoke up to cut her off. “Someone like that isn't worth getting upset over. There's no need to mention her anymore.”
Li Ruoxi replied self-righteously, “No way. Her personal conduct might be her own business, but it's the face of our Jianghai High School that she's throwing away! I can't stomach this.”
Before long, she rallied several close friends and rushed toward the location mentioned in the post.
Beneath the streetlamp.
Xie Litang looked at the insecticide in her hand with a pang of regret; a single can cost over ten yuan.
A taxi pulled over not far away.
“She's right there.”
Li Ruoxi strode over with a face full of indignant righteousness.
Pointing straight at Xie Litang's nose, she let loose a barrage of abuse: “Do you have any shame left, you woman? Out of all the things you could do, you just had to come out here and sell yourself?”
Xie Litang's expression turned instantly cold, her voice frosty. “Sell what? Your fucking mother.”
“Xie Litang, if you know what's good for you, write a written pledge swearing that you will never sell yourself again! If you do, we'll let you off today. Otherwise, suffer the consequences.”
Xie Litang was nearly laughed out of sheer fury; if she actually wrote a pledge, it would be tantamount to admitting she was indeed selling herself.
Her tone grew even colder. “What, you want to get physical?”
Li Ruoxi sneered. “To tell you the truth, we already checked—all the surveillance cameras around here are broken! For the honor of the school, you're writing that pledge today whether you want to or not!”
Xie Litang wore an expression of surprise. “Did you say there are no cameras?”
Li Ruoxi immediately puffed up with triumph. “Did you think I was bluffing?”
Xie Litang clenched her fist.
And launched a punch straight out.
Rate on N.U.
