Chun Mian sat on the freezing metal floor, staring at the strange door in front of her. She had been looking at it for half an hour.
In the interstellar era, a door that could be seen but not touched wasn't exactly a rarity. What made the door before her bizarre was that there was no Light Brain projection in sight, nor were there any traces of remote control, let alone any detectable communication signals. This made Chun Mian quite curious about what was going on with it.
The door appeared to be wooden, painted in a bright, glittering gold. However, the paint was peeling off in many places, making the whole thing look incredibly dilapidated. She couldn't help but feel that if she pushed it just a little too hard, the door would fall apart on the spot.
Even living on a Backward Star like Seventy-nine Stars, where every household used highly defensive synthetic metal doors, a wooden door was more like a legendary existence to Chun Mian.
The real problem was that this door could talk. It claimed to be the soul of the door, named the Door Spirit.
She wondered if a door could really have a soul.
The Door Spirit had said a lot more, but because she didn't believe a word of it, Chun Mian had been locked in a staring contest with it for the past half hour.
"I really am the Door Spirit," it said with utmost sincerity. "It's just that I've been through countless black holes and consumed too much energy, which is why I've ended up like this. I urgently need energy right now to repair myself and look beautiful again. Do you want to cooperate with me?"
To Chun Mian, however, how was this pitch any different from the classic scam message: "I am Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Send me money"?
"Maybe I should just call a moving company," Chun Mian said. She figured that instead of letting her imagination run wild here, it would be better to just have a moving company come and deal with it.
"Only those bound by fate can see me! It's useless even if the moving company comes," the Door Spirit said, growing anxious at the mention of a moving company. "Trust me, I possess a wildly wealthy mall. As long as you have energy, you can buy countless treasures from me!"
Hearing this, Chun Mian felt it sounded even more like a scammer. Just listen to that—it was standard scammer rhetoric.
She had already turned on her Light Brain; all she had to do was dial the number.
The Door Spirit grew even more frantic. "Believe me! Give me a chance, and I'll give you a brand-new identity!"
Startled by its words, Chun Mian's hand trembled. She had meant to call the moving company, but instead, she accidentally swiped past the page and opened the interstellar headline news network.
Chun Mian was utterly speechless. Fortunately, it was offering her a new identity, not offering to give her a child.
"I really can! As long as you agree to cooperate with me, you'll be able to see my mall," the Door Spirit pressed on. "My mall has all kinds of bodies with complete identities. Depending on their social status and appearance, the prices vary slightly. But the most expensive one won't cost more than ten thousand Wish Power Value! As long as you're willing to spend ten million Wish Power Value to buy a Soul Converter, you will have a new identity and reach the pinnacle of life!"
It truly was desperately low on energy; otherwise, it wouldn't be frantically throwing all its trump cards on the table like this.
"Deal." Watching this broken door hop up and down in front of her, Chun Mian put on a fake, professional smile and added, "The mall isn't important. What matters is that we are brought together by fate."
The Door Spirit internally spat in disgust.
The person and the door quickly established their partnership. The so-called contract had no physical paperwork; the person and the door simply reached out their hands and gave each other a high-five to seal the deal.
Having seen all sorts of bizarre things across the interstellar world, Chun Mian accepted the fact that this door had hands quite well.
"As you know, there are many different small worlds existing within parallel Cosmic Spaces," the Door Spirit explained, keeping it as brief as possible for fear of losing Chun Mian's patience. "Many people in those worlds lead unsatisfactory lives and need someone more capable to go over, replace them, and fulfill the lives they desire. That's when you get to appear like a hero! And I am the key to opening the doors to these three thousand small worlds!"
Chun Mian understood immediately. This was just like the time machine incident that had caused an uproar on the Star Network a while ago.
Unfortunately, that invention had ultimately failed. All the test subjects had fallen into unknown black holes and never returned.
"Is this door of yours reliable? Will I get sucked into a black hole and never come back once it opens?" Keeping that past safety hazard in mind, Chun Mian wasn't entirely reassured. Bracing herself, she reached out and patted the weathered, broken door.
"Of course! How about we test it out and see?" The Door Spirit raised a hand and patted its own dilapidated door panel to guarantee that its quality could absolutely withstand any test. It was definitely not one of those failed products researched by those terrible old geezers from the interstellar realm!
It was a soul!
"Alright then," Chun Mian said. She still had her doubts, but her life was rather dull anyway, so a little adventure wouldn't hurt.
After listening to a long explanation of the Door Spirit's functions and digesting the information, Chun Mian followed its instructions and pressed her hand onto the rust-mottled doorknob. Instantly, a large block of text popped up before her eyes.
[Gao Anna is a little bundle of luck. Even though she was born into a remote mountain village with poor economic conditions in the 1980s, and her father passed away shortly after her birth, she is fiercely loved by her mother and doted on by her brothers. Growing up as the apple of everyone's eye, she lived a carefree life. Later, she met her destined Emperor and was spoiled to the heavens.]
...
The subsequent massive blocks of text were all dedicated to describing how Gao Anna was pampered. Only in the last few lines was it briefly mentioned that the wives of Gao Anna's three brothers were absolutely awful. The eldest brother's wife was selfish, hot-tempered, and would hit people at the slightest disagreement.
The second brother's wife was stingy, calculating, and full of malicious schemes.
The third brother's wife was a gluttonous, lazy woman who hated working.
In the end, however, they all received their due punishment. The good lived long, worry-free lives, while the wicked all went to hell.
Chun Mian didn't quite understand the point after reading it all, but she twisted the knob and opened the door anyway.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind hit her. Chun Mian dodged with lightning-fast reflexes.
Even though she was just a loser with physical stamina A and Spiritual Power E, all interstellar people had undergone bodily enhancements, so her reactions were naturally incredibly swift.
As Chun Mian dodged, a worn-out black cloth shoe landed right where the door had opened. Following that, a woman with a face full of hardship cautiously walked in.
"Is there really someone here who can take my place, live out the rest of my life for me, and fulfill my wishes?" After the woman entered and saw the beautiful room, her dull eyes brightened.
Although she couldn't recognize the materials used to build this house, it was clean and bright, looking very expensive at first glance.
Feeling a bit out of place, the woman awkwardly pulled her feet back and leaned against the door.
The Door Spirit was rendered completely speechless. This was an unbearable weight upon its existence!
"Of course, as long as you are willing to offer up your soul!" Chun Mian remembered the Door Spirit saying something like this. A person's soul could be exchanged for Wish Power in its mall.
"Alright, take it!" Having received the answer she wanted, the woman seemed to gather some courage and directly reached out her hand.
The Door Spirit had previously told Chun Mian what to do. Seeing the woman extend her hand, Chun Mian reached out her hand as well.
The moment their hands touched, Chun Mian felt her brain BUZZ loudly. Then, all the memories of the woman's bitter, miserable life were forcibly downloaded into her mind.