TGSS - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Atonement System

"Move aside, I need to see President Chu! Don't pull me, get lost..."

The shrill, piercing female voice outside was muffled by the heavy door. Chen Qing's heart sank and her grip on her notebook tightened. She pressed her lips together and glanced cautiously at Chu He, who sat in her office chair with an indifferent expression. The woman's red lips were still curved, and beneath her gold-rimmed glasses, those cool, long eyes showed not a flicker of emotion.

"Continue." Chu He's tone was gentle. She rested her elbows on the executive desk, her slender fingers laced together, leaning slightly forward as she tilted her head to look at the HRD in front of her.

"Yes, we have dismissed everyone on the project as you instructed. It's just the compensation... I personally think we should raise it by a few more points."

"Heh." Chu He smiled lightly. Her pure black suit made her skin look luminously pale. That kind of pallor from years without sun, paired with her sharply defined features, gave her a cold, aristocratic air, almost like a vampire.

"I'm running a company, not a charity." Chu He blinked, her long curls tied back casually with a few strands falling across her chest. Her slender fingers flew across the keyboard in a blur, as if she could not stop for a single moment, until the woman before her was almost suffocated by her oppressive aura. Only then did she speak with a beaming smile. "Keep it up, Lisa, I believe in you."

Chen Qing looked into those moist, cool eyes, forced a strained smile, bent her knees aching from standing so long, and walked out of Chu He's office in a daze, gently pulling the door shut behind her.

She lowered her eyes with a sigh and looked at the crowd that immediately surrounded her as soon as she came out, shaking her head with an apologetic expression. Objectively speaking, as the boss, Chu He had not wronged anyone; she had simply cut a project that could no longer bring profit to the company. But among the people on that project were many who had stood by Chu He through thick and thin since the company's founding.

It could even be said that Chu He's company had grown to where it was today on the foundation laid by that very project, and now she was sweeping in to dismiss all those people without hesitation. As one of the company's veteran employees and a key member of its founding team, Chen Qing understandably felt some resentment.

No matter the turmoil outside, inside the office Chu He rested her fingers on the mouse wheel, squinting at the quarterly financial report. Looking at those impressive figures, a contented smile appeared on her face, and her usually cool features became much more vivid with joy.

She closed her eyes and casually took off her glasses and tossed them onto the desk, leaning back completely into the soft executive chair. She reached out to brush the money tree beside her, frowned, and carefully found a pair of scissors to snip off a leaf with yellowing edges.

As a president who had built her business from nothing at twenty to become a successful career woman at thirty, Chu He's methods and personality might have changed, but her superstitious nature had remained the same. Everyone in the company who knew her well knew that their boss loved to fill her office with money-attracting plants and feng shui ornaments, and had even invited two pixiu statues from the most famous local temple.

She closed her eyes again slightly, her fair right hand resting on the watch on her left wrist as she silently recalled her profits for the quarter, when suddenly a wrenching pain shot through her heart. Her eyes flew open, veins bulging on her hands as she struggled to clutch at her chest, crumpling her white shirt, while the fingertips of her other hand dug into the executive desk. Her body slowly slid onto the polished floor. She gasped, trying to speak, but the pain struck her speechless, her head buzzing, and Chu He lost consciousness amid the agony.

When she opened her eyes again, Chu He felt light all over, as if floating on water. Around her was pitch black with no end in sight, and a small silvery white ball of light glimmered faintly. She moved closer and poked it, and the ball of light suddenly shuddered violently.

"Aaaah! Don't poke me!"

"?" Chu He narrowed her eyes at the thing and asked coolly, "What are you?"

The white ball of light suddenly burst into a dazzling glare, and Chu He covered her eyes and took half a step back.

"I'm not a thing! I'm the Atonement System." The white sphere glimmered as it floated around Chu He.

"Atonement?" Chu He rolled the two words around in her mouth, a chill touching her lips. "What sin? Don't tell me you mean the sin of firing a few employees?"

"Host, you're overthinking it. The sin you need to atone for is the one against yourself." The white sphere landed on Chu He's shoulder and nuzzled her neck affectionately.

"Myself?" Chu He clearly had not expected that answer, her expression blank for a moment. "I've been pretty good to myself, I don't think there's anything I need to atone for, is there?"

The white ball of light flickered, bobbing up and down. Somehow Chu He saw embarrassment in a sphere. She heard the System say in a small voice, "You indeed haven't wronged yourself in this lifetime, it's mainly your next-life self."

Chu He said nothing, just waited quietly for it to continue.

"Host, at the end of last year, at the beginning of three years ago, at the beginning of five years ago... you made the same wish each time, to trade the Romantic Luck of your next life for wealth in this life..." The System stammered.

"So what if I did? What does it matter that I made that wish?" Chu He said with her arms crossed, amused. Was it all because of such an absurd reason?

The System said, "But now it has come true. Your next-life self not only has no Romantic Luck, but she doesn't even have friends. She's gloomy and withdrawn. Your wish has seriously affected her fortune, so we need you to go and atone."

Huh? Chu He was baffled. She seriously suspected she had not woken up, otherwise how could she have run into a brain dead System trying to make her take the blame. Although she was indeed a bit superstitious, fortune was just icing on the cake, life had always been in one's own hands.

"I'm not going. She can do whatever she wants." Chu He's red lips parted as she uttered extremely cold words. "When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. What the hell does my next life have to do with me now?"

She could never accept such a reason, and besides, what use was Romantic Luck? She would rather make more money than waste time falling in love.

The System sighed faintly. "Alright then, since you have no intention, we'll just arrange your death directly. I was originally thinking that if you were willing to atone, you could extend your life..."

"Wait!" Catching the key information, Chu He's expression twisted. She forced a righteous smile and said in a solemn tone, "I suddenly feel I do have a responsibility to save that poor, lost girl."

"Understood. Deploying to the mission world." The System was highly efficient and said not another word, as if afraid Chu He would bargain with it.

A dizzying sense of weightlessness swept over her. Chu He wanted to ask more about the situation, but felt herself being yanked down hard by a great force.

She was dragged into darkness, unable to breathe as if drowning. When her consciousness broke through the shackles, she jolted violently, scraping her chair with a harsh screech as she stood in a brightly lit meeting room. The person presenting the PPT and the people beside and across from her all stopped and stared at her in confusion.

"Sorry, please continue, everyone." She sat down with an awkward smile. The work badge hanging from her neck swayed with her movement, and she grabbed the red lanyard printed with the logo. Chu He saw with a start that the badge held a photo of herself several years younger, a woman in a light blue long dress smiling with curved brows and eyes.

Content Center, Chu He.

She raised her brows, calmly put down the badge, and listened to the meeting with a serious expression.

The System said, "Host, I have transported you to your next-life self and arranged a suitable identity for you."

Chu He gritted her teeth silently. "Thank you."

Almost the instant the System finished speaking, countless memories flooded Chu He's mind. This body was also called Chu He, and she currently worked at a large media company as a sort of low-level manager. The original owner's past was unremarkable; it would not be an exaggeration to call her a winner in life, and she looked very much like a disposable pawn fabricated by the System. She had not been at this company long, and was currently resented by everyone for being harsh and cold.

Chu He searched through her mind but could not find where that so-called self was. According to the task the System had left her, she needed to help "her" change her fortune and break free from her original fate before she could successfully extend her life and return to her own world.

"President Chu, try not to doze off in the next meeting." As the meeting broke up, a woman with her hair in a bun, wearing a black velvet long dress and a charming face, teased her with ill intent.

"Thank you for the reminder, President Zheng." Chu He closed her laptop and stood up, more than half a head taller than the woman in front of her. Above her khaki heeled ankle boots were slender, straight calves with perfect proportions. She reached out to pull her chair away, a jade bangle of excellent translucence circling her fair wrist. Her long brown curls fell casually behind her, and glossy lip gloss made her lips shine as if glazed.

She pushed her chair heavily against the conference table, a cold sharpness tinting the corners of Chu He's eyes. She tucked her laptop under her arm and smiled lightly, leaving the meeting room along with the crowd. As her waist swayed, her brown midi skirt fluttered, making her look graceful and alluring.

As she passed through the hall past countless workstations, Chu He's gaze gradually fell on the men and women there, most of them with heads bowed and expressions numb with exhaustion. She wondered silently where that so-called self was. The System had just told her that the moment she saw her, she would recognize herself. That mystical description made Chu He curious. She had lived to thirty with indifferent feelings, and apart from money, there were few people or things that could stir her emotions.

Just as her five fingers were about to grasp the handle of her office door, the conversation behind her made her freeze.

"Liang Zhouyi, why are you still short so many scripts this month? What exactly have you been doing?" The aggressive male voice grew louder. He slammed the documents onto Liang Zhouyi's desk, and when he saw she said nothing, he became even more animated as he berated the woman before him.

"I understand, I will make them up today." Liang Zhouyi's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, yet every note and every word landed heavily in Chu He's heart. Her hands trembled, her fingertips tingling with excitement, and she held her breath before slowly turning to look toward the source of the voice.

She did not even need to meet her or seek any additional proof. With just that simple sentence, she knew this Liang Zhouyi was the person she was looking for. The pull and tremor between their souls could not be faked; it was something even more mystical than a blood tie.

Her expression was a little dazed. She took a deep breath before looking carefully at Liang Zhouyi. The woman kept her head down in a humble posture, her black hair simply gathered into a ponytail, a beige sweater paired with gray trousers making her look low-key and ordinary, with stray hairs at her temples falling to obscure her eyes from Chu He.

"You just coast here day after day for this little salary, never trying to improve. Every one of you is a parasite on the company. If you can't hand it in, then get lost. What trash." Seeing Liang Zhouyi keep her head down as still as stagnant water, the buzz cut man raised his voice even higher. Colleagues all around stopped what they were doing to watch.

"What trash, why don't you explain?" Chu He's voice, cold as ice, struck the man's ear.

The buzz cut man instantly choked. He looked in panic at the expressionless Chu He. That gorgeous, striking face now showed not a hint of emotion, and her gloomy gaze made him feel he would be kicked flying the next second.

"I..." He smiled ingratiatingly at the she devil before him. "President Chu, I was just pushing the project forward, you know me, I always address the matter, not the person."

Chu He pressed her tongue hard against the inside of her cheek, barely suppressing the emotions in her heart, tilted her head and smiled with narrowed eyes. "And what are you, to manage people on my project? What, do you want my position?"

The man seemed not to have expected Chu He to step in. He looked at her in disbelief and said awkwardly, "President Chu is joking, with you here I won't interfere."

From beginning to end, during the tense exchange between Chu He and the buzz cut man, Liang Zhouyi never once looked up at them. She kept her eyes lowered, quietly staring at her computer, as if she had no interest in anything around her.

"Liang Zhouyi." Chu He licked her lips with a hint of playfulness. Her pale pink tight sweater hugged her fine figure, accentuating her curves. A belt cinched her slender waist, and with her slightly rapid breathing, her chest rose and fell gently. As she bent down close to Liang Zhouyi, a rich, heady fragrance drifted uncontrollably into Liang Zhouyi's nose, making her frown instantly.

"President Chu, is there something you need?" Liang Zhouyi shifted uncomfortably to the side, her clear, indifferent eyes turning to Chu He, confusion stirring in her heart.

Chu He's long eyes flickered slightly as she scanned Liang Zhouyi's face carefully from top to bottom. Delicate but ordinary, and in the depths of her eyes was the uneasy awkwardness Chu He had seen in countless employees.

How boring. So it was such a person she needed to atone for, she actually owed this ordinary, dull person?

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