Staring up at the sickly dark red sky choked with dense clouds, Lin Luo felt utterly dejected. That blasted meteorological bureau was scamming them again. Can't they do anything right besides misleading people?

"Blast it, looks like this rain is going to be a downpour."

Lin Luo grumbled while scrambling for shelter. His place was near the outskirts, rather remote, so he usually relied on his own two feet for transport as cars rarely passed by. He was at least a twenty-minute walk from home, and he was absolutely certain that if he ignored the heavy, layered clouds above, he would end up completely drenched.

Getting wet himself wouldn't be the end of the world, but if the newly purchased item in his hand somehow got waterlogged and rendered unreadable, it would be a monumental tragedy.

He had survived on instant noodles for nearly half a month just to afford this latest GAL. Under no circumstances could any accident be permitted... This was the professional discipline required of a veteran Otaku, an anime fanatic, and a master of GALs!

Luckily, Lin Luo’s luck held; he managed to duck into a closed newspaper kiosk just before the torrential rain began. He stood on tiptoe, leaning against the metal roll-down gate. Though cramped, it offered barely enough cover.

Splash! Splash!

In less than ten seconds, the deluge of rain, thick as beans, erupted.

The heavy drops kicked up countless splashes on the ground, and the wind whipped the rain sideways. Even though it was summer, Lin Luo felt an intense chill, shivering beneath the kiosk.

"Seriously, this T-shirt is useless. I should have worn a trench coat."

Lin Luo muttered. Just then, he noticed a strange ripple appear in the sky, as if a stone had been dropped into a still pond, sending out concentric rings.

"What the—Am I hallucinating?" Lin Luo paused slightly.

But quickly, something even more bizarre unfolded!

As the ripples spread with violent oscillations, the sky... fractured!

A massive black hole materialized directly before Lin Luo's eyes!

"...What the hell, why is there a black hole?!" Lin Luo’s eyes widened, his mind momentarily short-circuiting. The sudden visual impact was so stunning, so unbelievable, that he couldn't process it.

"Calm down, calm down. A black hole can't possibly appear here. It has to be a hallucination. Yes, a hallucination!"

He rubbed his eyes hard. After a few seconds, Lin Luo looked up again... The sky was still the sky, and the black hole... seemed even bigger!

What was happening? Alien invasion? Cosmic warfare? Or the end of the world?

Lin Luo’s thought process was currently chaotic. Damn it... it wasn't 2012 this year!

...As the black hole nearly consumed the entire visible sky, it changed again. Dots of light began to ignite within it. Though the lights looked small, Lin Luo could somehow see them with perfect clarity: round, square, star-shaped, heart-shaped—seven rows by seven columns, a total of forty-nine points of light arranged in a bizarre configuration within the void.

Suddenly, another flash erupted from the black hole, dazzlingly brilliant, causing the heavens and earth to pale in comparison!

Then, everything went black before Lin Luo’s eyes, and he completely lost consciousness. Vaguely, through the haze, he felt something burrowing into his body...

...

It felt as though eons had passed, a swirling descent through endless purgatory...

The moment he opened his eyes, Lin Luo sprang up from the ground. Thankfully, he wasn't missing any limbs; he seemed unharmed.

"Hoo." He let out a deep breath and looked ahead, only to freeze instantly!

What greeted his eyes was not the familiar street, but a deep valley... Green mountains, clear water, towering stone pillars, large trees... Vibrant with life, ancient in atmosphere!

"Where... where is this? How could this be?" The completely unfamiliar surroundings left him momentarily stunned.

"No, stay calm. Absolutely no panic. Keep your mind like still water! Like still water!" After taking several deep breaths, Lin Luo forced himself to settle down. Although the situation was bizarre, maintaining composure before imminent disaster was a core trait of any true Otaku.

Besides, as one of the Seven Gods of the Otaku World, a Level 5 powerhouse ranked third, famous throughout the subculture as the 'King of Conquest' who existed 'Beyond mortal, yet short of immortal'—how could he be flustered by such trivial matters? If word got out, countless fellow fans would mock him... Wait?

While musing and patting his head, he suddenly sensed something was off. He noticed his clothes seemed too large, hanging loosely and uncomfortably. His long-sleeved T-shirt felt like a costume; he couldn't even see his hands. This strange sense of dissonance instantly sparked unease.

He pulled his hands out of the voluminous sleeves, and the sight made it impossible to remain calm. He couldn't help but gasp... Were these his hands? They were easily several sizes smaller, delicate and fair-skinned, possessing a faint sheen. This looked nothing like the hands of an adult man!

"Damn it! Damn it..."

Lin Luo stood stunned for a moment, then quickly rushed to a nearby pool of water and looked down.

He finally understood: it wasn't that his clothes had grown larger; his body had shrunk. He had transformed into a boy of eleven or twelve!

"Why is this happening?" Lin Luo murmured to himself. This was simply unbelievable.

Suddenly, a spark of realization flashed through his mind, recalling the scene just before he blacked out.

...Did I die? And my soul traveled, possessing a new body?

Thinking this, Lin Luo's face flickered between excitement and despair, complex and intense. Finally, unwillingly, he threw his head back and cried out, his voice filled with desperation and righteous indignation: "No! I don't want to go back to ancient times! I don't want to transmigrate to another world! I have a condition where I'll die without GALs! Oh, Great God of Transmigration, please, let me travel again! I actually prefer the two-dimensional world."

His cry was shrill and heartbreakingly miserable.

"You're so loud! Aren't you annoying!" Suddenly, a sharp female voice rang out just behind Lin Luo’s head.

Lin Luo whipped around. Behind him, a white figure drifted—drifting...

"Whoa, a ghost!" Lin Luo squeezed his eyes shut in terror.

Slap!

Lin Luo received a stinging slap across the face, and a voice, furious, sounded in his ear, "What are you yelling about, ghost? I'm human, dammit!"

Human?

Lin Luo opened his eyes. Before him stood a woman, appearing to be in her late twenties. She wore a flowing white dress, her face was delicate and beautiful, her dark hair fluttered around her, presenting a figure of captivating grace... Yes, she was a great beauty.

Lin Luo immediately relaxed, but even a beauty didn't have the right to terrify people. He shot her an annoyed glance. "Sister, you can't be so inconsiderate. Scaring people can actually kill them."

The woman sighed, her expression one of utter helplessness. "Sigh, why did that kind of Otaku have to show up? Truly unfortunate."

What's wrong with being an Otaku? Otaku have human rights too!

Lin Luo was enraged. To be looked down upon like this as a supposed deity of the subculture, and quantified using the counter word 'only'—a term reserved for Lolis!

Lin Luo was about to explode, but before he could speak, the woman suddenly clapped her hands onto his shoulders and sighed, "Forget it. Since you’re here, there’s nothing to be done. Ahem..." She coughed, her face taking on a look of intense seriousness, "I see your bones are unusual, a once-in-a-million genius... From now on, the task of maintaining world peace falls to you."

What?

Lin Luo’s first instinct was that he had stumbled onto the set of a Kung Fu sequel, half-expecting the woman to pull out the 'Buddha’s Palm' manual or the 'Nine Yin Manual'... Perhaps the legendary 'Mihara Divine Fist.' But he scanned the surroundings; there were no cameras, no sound of a resonant "Cut!"

"Sister, what do you mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. Can't you understand Chinese?"

Lin Luo grimaced. This wasn't an issue of language; it was an issue of dimensions! What kind of world had he transmigrated to?

"Um, Sister, may I ask what continent this is?" Lin Luo inquired.

"What continent?" The woman looked utterly bewildered. She stared at Lin Luo for a long time before finally seeming to grasp something, a deep smile dawning in her eyes. She clutched her stomach and burst into laughter, losing all semblance of ladylike composure—laughing so hard she was practically vibrating! "Hahahaha... Laughing, laughing myself to death! Hahaha... He actually said 'What Continent'! Oh, this is killing me..."

For some reason, Lin Luo felt incredibly embarrassed.

"Kid, you don't actually think..." After a while, she finally straightened up, suppressing her laughter. "I mean, you don't actually think you've transmigrated, do you?"

"Uh, haven't I?" Lin Luo was shocked.

"Haven't you?" she countered.

"Seriously not?"

"What do you think?"

Lin Luo paused, then ventured, "I remember seeing a black hole, then fainting. I assumed I must have died then, and that this is a form of transmigration. So my soul traveled to an alternate realm and possessed the body of some unlucky soul who died recently. Coincidentally, that unlucky guy had the same name as me, and his body was that of a peerless martial arts genius, but he was hampered by some sort of restriction placed by his enemies... Following the established plot of transmigration stories, I should now display incredible power, martial arts... or perhaps magic, advance rapidly, constantly crushing opponents and conquering women, culminating in a grand finale where I establish an imperial harem... Isn't that how it goes?"

Lin Luo directed the last sentence toward the woman, as he noticed she was now rolling on the ground with laughter.

"Oh my, I can't take it! I'm going to die laughing! I never expected you to be such an amusing person, I deeply admire your imagination..." The woman was completely overcome, pounding her fists on the ground.

Lin Luo was utterly bewildered. What on earth was going on?

It took several minutes before she seemed tired of laughing and finally struggled to her feet. She looked at him with solemn earnestness. "Child, you should read fewer Xuanhuan novels."

"...I haven't transmigrated?" Lin Luo’s head felt hot as he asked instinctively.

"Of course not." The answer was firm, but she immediately shifted tone. "However, what you are experiencing and what you are about to face might be even more miraculous than transmigration."

More miraculous than transmigration?

"What is it?" Lin Luo was drawn in, despite her mystical demeanor.

"I cannot tell you that." The woman shook her head, then pointed at Lin Luo. "Speaking of which, are you satisfied with your current body?"

"Ah, right!" Hearing her words, Lin Luo suddenly remembered the abnormality of his body. "Since you say I haven't transmigrated, then what about this return to youth?"

"Hmph hmph. Don't rush." The woman snorted twice, her tone carrying a hint of malice. "The reason you are here is that there are three things I must tell you."

Saying this, she held up three fingers. "First, your body has merged with an object; let’s call it the Book of Contracts. Because of the Book of Contracts, you have reverted to youth, transforming from a young man into a twelve-year-old boy. Second, that object allows you to sign contracts with certain people. Every contract you sign will restore one year to your body—meaning you will age up by one year. Third, if you fail to sign a contract with someone within one month, your little life will be in jeopardy!"

"What?" Lin Luo gasped, forcing a laugh. "You, you aren't joking, are you?"

"Do you think so?" The woman’s expression was grave, showing no sign of jest.

"This kind of thing seems impossible... It should be..." Lin Luo’s smile slowly vanished. Though he found it hard to believe, his gut told him she wasn't lying.

"Instead of doubting, you’d better hurry up and sign a contract. A month is not a short time; it flies by." The woman smiled, her expression holding a sliver of concern, two parts melancholy, and seven parts gloating satisfaction.

"Then who should I find to sign with?" Adopting the mindset of 'better safe than sorry,' Lin Luo asked, as his life was literally on the line.

The woman was unhelpful. "I can't tell you that either. But you will know when you meet them."

Lin Luo was incredibly frustrated.

"Alright, I've said what needed saying. You can go back now. Just follow this path to the very end, and you can return to where you were just moments ago."

She pointed behind Lin Luo. Following her gesture, Lin Luo saw a pebble-strewn road—the only exit from this valley. What astonished Lin Luo was that this road hadn't been there a moment ago!

"How is this possible?" Lin Luo was dumbfounded. When he turned back to question the woman, he found she had already walked far away, only a faint white silhouette remaining.

"Hey, wait up!" Lin Luo called out anxiously. "I have so many questions! Like your name, Sister, and how do I find you if I need you later... Damn, she walks fast!"

Before he finished speaking, the figure had vanished, but her voice immediately echoed back:

"My name is Gui Qu Lai Xi (Return Home). As for finding me, there’s no need. I suspect we won't meet again for a very long time, perhaps not until you've signed your contracts... And, as repayment for entertaining me just now, I’ll throw in an extra piece of news: you might have a visitor at home tonight. Look forward to it, hahaha..."

The laughter faded, the voice ethereal, dreamlike.

Gui Qu Lai Xi? You think you’re Little Dragon Girl or something! Lin Luo cursed inwardly.

Even after her voice completely disappeared, his mind couldn't settle. This situation was too bizarre to accept, yet he was forced to believe it, because the undeniable fact was that he was currently a twelve-year-old boy. And if he failed to sign a contract within a month, he might truly die, just as the woman warned!

But the problem remained: How to sign? And with whom?

"I curse your entire lineage!"

Finally, gritting his teeth, tears welling, and consumed by intense anxiety, he stepped onto that pebble path...

Background music plays: A Cruel Angel's Thesis: Hurry up, brave young boy, go create a tragedy!

(Newcomer writer, new book, needs support! Clicks, recommendations, favorites—everyone who gives them can travel to the two-dimensional world!)