"As expected of a low-class bastard. Why else would she do something as filthy as stealing jewelry!"
"You were just a child switched at birth. Since you're so undisciplined, there's no need for you to remain in the Shen Family."
"Get out! You're a bitch who stole someone else's nest! I don't have a sister like you!"
...
In a daze, several faces flashed through Shen Lu's mind. Some looked at her with disgust, others with arrogance, their cold voices condemning and cursing her.
Finally, the face of a seemingly gentle and vulnerable girl appeared. She was sobbing softly, pleading on her behalf. "Please give Shen Lu one more chance. Maybe she just had a momentary lapse in judgment."
Shen Lu suddenly grew agitated, pointing at the girl and roaring, "Stop pretending! You're the one who stole the necklace!"
"Cough..."
Shen Lu coughed violently. She took a long, deep breath, only to choke on the foul air.
With a fit of coughing that felt like it would tear out her lungs, Shen Lu finally woke up.
The first thing she saw was a cramped, filthy street. Insects and flies buzzed everywhere, and the smell was overpowering and nauseating.
Most of the buildings were cobbled together from rusty, patchwork sheets of metal. The passersby had numb expressions and gaunt faces. Occasionally, someone would shoot a glance her way, only to quickly look away, showing no intention of approaching.
This didn't look like a place for decent people. To put it bluntly, it was even more dilapidated and desolate than any slum Shen Lu had ever visited.
Shen Lu covered her mouth and sat up, finally suppressing her coughs. A segment of a story was forcibly shoved into her brain, causing throbbing waves of pain. She couldn't help but narrow her eyes.
Once the headache subsided, Shen Lu couldn't help but hiss.
'Well, damn. Seriously, damn.'
'People always say you have to be careful when you see a side character in a novel with the same name as you. You might just transmigrate into the book.'
'Shen Lu had scoffed when she heard it, laughing at her friend for being so superstitious. And now, look at her. She'd actually transmigrated.'
She had transmigrated into a post-apocalyptic novel set in a wasteland.
That's right. Not only did it have wasteland elements, but it also had natural disasters.
It was the kind of story that took the ruins and pulverized them again and again. Meanwhile, the female lead, with her spatial cheat ability, would lead the new humans to build a new world and become its queen.
And she, Shen Lu, was merely the great villain's ex-fiancée, a character who only appeared in flashbacks. She was dead and gone long before the main plot even began.
The original owner of this body had a very dramatic life. Switched at birth, she became the young lady of the Shen Family and was engaged to Fu Cheng, the eldest son of the Fu Family.
All they had to do was wait for Fu Cheng to graduate from the Imperial Military Academy, secure a position in the military, and then the two of them could marry and live happily ever after.
But all of that came to an abrupt halt when Fu Cheng went to the front lines for an internship during his second year.
First, the real young lady of the Shen Family returned, making life for the original owner, the fake heiress, incredibly awkward in the Shen household.
But that wasn't all. Her fiancé, Fu Cheng, was grievously injured on the front lines, nearly losing his life and becoming a complete cripple.
Not long after, the Fu Family suddenly sent Fu Cheng to the Shen Family, stating that as his fiancée, the original owner should take on the responsibility of caring for him.
Gazing at Fu Cheng—missing limbs, covered in blood, his eyes tightly shut—the original owner couldn't accept it at all. But she was powerless and her words carried no weight, so she had no way to refuse.
But less than two days later, the original owner was framed for stealing Mrs. Shen's necklace. She and Fu Cheng were both kicked out of the Shen Family and thrown into the Seventeenth District, the most dilapidated and chaotic area in the Imperial City.
Shen Lu glanced behind her and, sure enough, saw a man completely wrapped in bandages. The spaces where his left leg and right arm should have been were empty. His entire face was covered, except for his right eye.
He lay motionless on the filthy ground, blood slowly seeping through the dressings. His chest barely moved; he was no different from a dead man.
Shen Lu licked her dry, peeling lips. She clicked her tongue in her mind.
'If I'm not mistaken, this living corpse must be the original owner's fiancé, the future great villain, Fu Cheng.'
'It's really hard to imagine how he goes from this half-dead, ghostly state to the great villain who survives until the final chapter. It's a medical miracle!'
The sun in this wasteland world was unusually harsh. Shen Lu had been exposed for less than ten minutes, but her skin was already showing signs of burning.
She quickly scrambled back into a patch of shade, where it was slightly more bearable.
According to the original plot, this was the moment she was supposed to decisively abandon the huge burden that was Fu Cheng and run back to the Shen Family, crying and begging for forgiveness.
After being a pampered young lady for seventeen years, the original owner couldn't endure even a second of a low-class life.
Here, only upper-class citizens were worthy of wearing clean clothes, eating clean food, drinking clean water, and living in clean houses.
As for the impoverished lower-class citizens, they were only fit to live in filthy slums. Being able to drink a single tube of dirt-flavored nutrient liquid each day was considered a luxury.
There was nothing to be done about it. The disasters brought about by the high-speed development of mechanical civilization were unexpected. At some unknown point in time, the rivers had ceased to be clear, plants no longer grew from the soil, and the environmental pollution had become so severe it was beyond saving.
Shen Lu pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.
She wasn't the original owner. She couldn't bring herself to kneel, cry her eyes out, and beg for forgiveness. But how was she supposed to survive in this world?
'Am I supposed to just scrape by like the other lower-class citizens, scavenging for trash every day and waiting for the government to hand out relief supplies?'
'Ugh... it seems like that's my only option.'
Tsk!
'But I wouldn't last long just scraping by. In a few years, when the natural disasters hit, I'll be dead anyway.'
Shen Lu really just wanted to nuke the whole place. Everyone could become ghosts together, and she'd be spared the future suffering.
[BZZZT... BZZZT...]
An ear-piercing electronic static suddenly blared in her mind. Shen Lu thought it was just an aftereffect of receiving the plot information and shook her head in annoyance.
[Qualified host detected. Would you like to bind?]
[Yes] [No]
Shen Lu's eyes went wide. She screamed in her mind, 'Yes, yes, yes! I choose yes!'
'Hesitating for even a second would be disrespectful to the system.'
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. Binding successful!]
[Hello, dear Host. I am the Super Delicious Popularity Cooking System. I look forward to working with you in the days to come~]
Shen Lu's smile froze on her face.
'No, no, no, wait a minute. What kind of system did I just bind to?'
'The Super Delicious Popularity Cooking System?'
'Wait, this is a wasteland world. Most people can't even get enough to eat, let alone drink clean water. Asking me to whip up gourmet food here... isn't that like trying to sell combs to a monk?'
Shen Lu's mood instantly plummeted. She let out a dejected sigh.
The system was still tirelessly introducing itself, but unfortunately, Shen Lu couldn't hear a single word. Finally, the system issued her first mission.
[Ding-dong~ Mission issued: Please acquire your own food stall and give it a name.]
Shen Lu was too drained to even retort properly. "Dude, I don't have a single cent. Where am I supposed to get ingredients to set up a stall?"
The system went silent for a few seconds before speaking in a deep voice.
[Due to the special circumstances of the host's world, a limited-time beginner's benefit will be activated. For the first month, the host may exchange scavenged metal for ingredients of equivalent value. After one month, this benefit will be deactivated. The System Mall will then only accept popularity value for purchases.]
[Host, please cherish this first month's beginner benefit. Work hard to accumulate experience and capital for your future business.]