I Rely on Pampering the BOSS to Clear the Entire Realm - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Spirit Domain

“The Golden Silk Award for Best Actress goes to—Chi Nian!”

The camera zoomed in, and the big screen played a film excerpt.

On a night engulfed in flames, a bell tolled. The person on screen paused slightly, turning her head to face the camera.

Her face was fair, almost like snow, with a tight, slightly pointed jawline. She had curved eyebrows and cherry lips, a high nose bridge, and the corners of her eyes lifted in a neat, shallow arc. Her light-colored eyes were filled with light, like glass dyed with crushed gold.

The auditorium erupted in applause, coinciding with the moment the person on the screen raised her lips and smiled. A tear rolled down, but her dimples were shallow, the silent grief and despair like a thin blade slicing into the heart of every person present.

“Congratulations, Chi Nian!”

“Truly young and accomplished!”

“Thank you for every wonderful moment she has brought us!”

The camera switched to a live shot of the venue, and the applause grew fervent again. However, the camera rapidly turned, revealing not the expected figure, but an empty seat, and the chaotic background noise of a frantically calling crowd.

“Challenger: Chi Nian”

“Welcome to the Spirit Domain”

“Data Anomaly”

“Initiating Automatic Repair”

“Repairing…”

“Target has entered the transit room, awaiting repair completion.”

It was a somewhat eerie room.

There were no doors, windows, or floor. Pure, unblemished white covered all six walls. No seams or light sources could be found, yet everything was dazzlingly bright.

A person lay in the center of the room. A silver gown spread out on the ground, like spilled starlight.

Her slightly wavy, ink-black hair scattered beneath her. A silver chain choker was fastened around the young girl’s long neck. Long, slightly upturned eyelashes fluttered on her still somewhat childish face. Her pupils, concealed beneath her snow-white skin, rolled before she opened her eyes.

Her freshly opened eyes smarted from the room’s overly pure white, and Chi Nian raised a hand to shield them.

“Hello.”

A mechanical male voice sounded, “Welcome to the Spirit Domain transit room. Please do not panic. Warden 555, on behalf of the Spirit Domain, welcomes your arrival.”

Chi Nian braced herself up, straightened her neck, and looked at the blank wall that had emitted the sound. A moment later, a somewhat lazy yet sweet smile emerged on her delicate face, “Thank you.”

“…”

The prepared words of comfort were rendered useless. After a period of silence, a subtle sound of pages turning came from behind the wall. Then, the voice cleared its throat and continued, “Warden 555 is dedicated to assisting you. In the terms of your former world, you have ‘died.’ But you have arrived at the Spirit Domain, so you are fortunate.”

Adjusting the long gown spread on the floor, Chi Nian sat cross-legged, propping her chin on one hand, indicating disagreement, “Friend, I’m dead, and you call me fortunate.”

“…You,” the voice briefly inhaled deeply and continued, “Perhaps you have already realized that you have lost many memories from your former life.”

Chi Nian lowered her eyes, trying to recall a few things. Aside from a few fragments from the awards ceremony, everything else was blank.

Chi Nian nodded, humming a soft “Mhm” from her throat.

“Please rest assured, as long as you can successfully clear the Spirit Domain’s levels, you will receive rewards—including memory restoration rewards, as well as other more tempting rewards.”

There was a substantial pause after this sentence, but the anticipated reactions and expressions didn’t appear. The newcomer sitting in the center of the room merely looked sideways with a calm expression, then nodded, and slowly asked, “What are the levels like?”

This was a somewhat unusual newcomer.

“…My apologies.”

As the voice fell, the white wall in front began to change color, the shade deepening until it became a circle of pitch-black, lightless vortex, like a small black hole.

Chi Nian stared directly into the vortex. Her body involuntarily stiffened, forcing her to focus only on the swirling blackness before her, which resembled an abyss ready to swallow a person whole.

After an unknown period, Chi Nian began to see other images within it.

It felt like a very long time, yet also only a few seconds. The images in front began to shrink and fade until they returned to the original blankness.

“What you just saw were some simulated scenes from inside the levels.” Observing the newcomer who had finally fallen silent, the blank wall flashed, and a door appeared.

Accompanied by the start of a countdown, the voice behind the wall said, “Next, you have three minutes to prepare, then walk through this door to officially become a Challenger, say goodbye to death, and gain a new life in the Spirit Domain…”

The voice trailed off, stuck in the throat.

The girl in the room stood sideways. The gown clung to her slender, jade-like waist. The perfect curve of her back and her scapulae emerged gracefully, like a soft sword drawn from its sheath.

Her slender fingers covered the doorknob. In the astonished silence, Chi Nian twisted the knob in her palm.

Her movement was completely natural and fluid, as if she wasn’t turning the strange door to another world, but merely a small room in her own home.

In past experience dealing with newcomers, sometimes it was necessary to let them witness some level scenarios. After that, many different types of reactions would occur.

They might be crazed, praying to the heavens for protection; they might tremble while trying hard to remain calm and ask questions; they might believe they were dreaming and hit their head, trying to wake up; or they might even faint outright…

But never before had anyone been so calm and unfazed, seemingly even impatient to rush forward.

With surprise, 555 behind the wall paused before finding the original prepared speech, “Ahem, after becoming a Challenger, a corresponding Warden will issue the rules guide for each level. The guide usually contains important information, so please listen carefully at that time…”

Seeing the door about to be pushed open, 555 sped up its tone, “It looks like you are ready, so please… Huh?”

The newcomer suddenly released her grip, slammed the partially opened door shut, let go of the knob, and stepped back, returning to sit where she was.

Chi Nian looked down to smooth the skirt that draped to the floor. Facing the blank wall, her beautiful face held a candid smile, “That sounds like too much trouble. Let’s forget it.”

Her tone was clear and very matter-of-fact: “I choose to just die instead.”

“…”

Such an absurd statement had never been heard before.

Silence fell in the small room after the words dropped.

The chain around her neck seemed to catch on her hair, causing a brief, sharp pain. Chi Nian blinked, raising a hand to adjust it.

A block of light flashed in the air in front of her. A uniformed young man whose expression management had completely failed appeared with a dark face and approached. He pulled the new Challenger from the ground, efficiently “throwing” her out the door.

Turning back, 555 closed the door, quickly stamped the “Transit Complete” label on the data page in its mind, and decisively integrated and tossed the data into the transmission channel.

It failed to notice a row of data marked in red at the bottom of the page, amidst the dense data stream:

“Challenger Fear Value: 0”

Dark green, deep brown, ink blue, pale white.

A night forest shrouded in mist.

Looking closer, beneath the black branches of the trees stood patches of rectangular wooden blocks, embedded in mounds of varying heights, slicing the cold moonlight into patches of shadow.

It was a cemetery.

Clusters of white mist drifted with the wind. Several black crows, cloaked in the night, flew low and landed on a grave mound, pecking at the top of a wooden block. After a few pecks, they suddenly looked up alertly. With a screech, they took flight.

Amidst the chaotic flapping of wings, a short-haired girl fell to the ground. She clapped one hand over her mouth, the other trembling as she pointed at the monster that had appeared before her.

The monster had a head of messy long hair. Its slender body was wrapped in layers of strangely shaped cloth. Its entire blackened face was hidden in the darkness, silently gazing down from above.

“Don’t… don’t come closer! Pl-please…”

The girl shivered, shrinking backward as she spoke. Her first sentence still had some force, but the second was already thickening with sobs. Seeing the monster extend its sharp claws and bend down toward her, she was on the verge of complete breakdown.

The monster paused slightly, retracting its pitch-black “claws,” and cocked its head. The next second, a voice came from the darkness, “Did I scare you?”

The voice was clear with a soft lilt at the end, calm and pleasant: “Sorry about that.”

The girl’s shivering gradually stopped. She looked at the “monster” in front of her in fear, blinked again, and looked more closely.

Wind rose from all sides. The mist dispersed for a moment. Clear moonlight spilled down, briefly illuminating the “monster’s” face.

It was a face covered in filth. In the darkness, the features were obscured and hard to distinguish, making it look utterly bizarre.

But if one looked closely enough, they would notice the exposed section of the slender neck below, which, set against a silver choker, was so fair and lustrous it resembled jade dusted with light snow.

The wind subsided and the mist returned, taking away the moonlight’s illumination. The face moved slightly, vaguely revealing a few bright white teeth: “My hands are a bit dirty, so it’s hard to help you up. Are you okay? Can you get up by yourself?”

“I… I can…” The girl regained her composure and nodded repeatedly, quickly supporting herself as she got up. She then asked fearfully, “Where is this place?”

“I just fell down, so I’m not sure.”

The person mistaken for a “monster” replied, looking down to straighten the cloth wrapped around her body. Only then did the girl see clearly that it was likely a long gown, but the hem was full of branches and mud. Associating this with the previous conversation, she realized it must have been dirtied when the person fell down.

The girl relaxed and greeted her, “Hello, my name is Shu Nuan… Do you need any help?”

“Hello, I’m Chi Nian.” Chi Nian replied, her slender, fair hands gripping a tear in the long gown’s hem. Her beautiful knuckles tightened slightly, tearing the fabric in two, “No, thank you.”

The silver gown was torn to knee-length, revealing some loose threads, which Chi Nian patiently smoothed out one by one. She then selected a clean section of the fabric and began meticulously wiping the mud off her hands.

Shu Nuan watched for a while, “Um, there’s still a little bit of mud left on your left cheek that you haven’t wiped off.”

Chi Nian wiped a few more times when she heard this. Then, she tore off a strip of fabric, tied up her long hair, and looked up at Shu Nuan, “Is it clean now?”

“C… clean…!” This time, she was closer, and the face, wiped free of mud, was finally clear.

Her skin was snow-white, a color that even the night could not conceal. Her eyes were particularly striking. Long, curled eyelashes rested on light-colored pupils, extending to slightly lifted outer corners. It was as if she had received the Creator’s favor, being gifted extra intensity for every emotion. Her eyes were fiery and vibrant.

Aesthetics are subjective, and everyone has different preferences, but Shu Nuan felt that the beauty of this face was truly objective, a highly impactful beauty. It was the kind that would make anyone, regardless of their preferred type, admit that the goddess Nüwa was indeed playing favorites.

Shu Nuan stumbled over her words in awe. Remembering that she had just mistaken this person for a monster, she felt ridiculous and rubbed her nose, “It was so dark just now, I couldn’t see clearly. I thought you were… I’m sorry.”

Chi Nian smiled, “It’s okay. I fell too hard.”

When she was thrown down, she landed in a patch of soft mud and happened to roll around a few times.

“Where exactly is this place…” Shu Nuan glanced at the strange surroundings and whispered, “I’m on the track team. If anything happens later, I’ll take the lead in running!”

Chi Nian finished tidying up and put away the mud-stained fabric in her hand. She was looking sideways at the row of graves behind her. Hearing the offer, she looked up at Shu Nuan, her beautiful eyes curving, “Thank you.”

As her voice fell, a patch of darkness in front of them suddenly flickered, like a wooden board with its brightness turned up, gradually revealing the figure of a woman.

The woman wore a fitted black and gold uniform, a silver half-rimmed pair of glasses, and had light gold curled hair. She had a face that suggested mixed heritage, with sexy, mature red lipstick, and a very standard eight-tooth smile.

The woman looked at the two of them, her gaze sweeping down from top to bottom, then pausing: “Miss, please do not be overly nervous.”

Meeting Shu Nuan’s confused expression, the woman tilted her chin toward the person beside her, “I’m referring to the lady beside you.”

Chi Nian met the gaze of the strange woman who had appeared out of nowhere: “Hm?”

Her voice was clear and bright, measured and carrying a slight lilt, sounding completely unstressed, even somewhat relaxed and comfortable.

But the uniformed woman replied, “Several of your muscles are currently at 100% tension. This description doesn’t quite fit a lovely and moving young lady like yourself, but you appear to be ready for a fight.”

The woman smiled, “And I advise you to abandon that thought.”

Shu Nuan leaned close to Chi Nian, “What does she mean? What is this… person saying?”

Chi Nian turned her head to look at Shu Nuan. The corner of her mouth pressed down, and her eyebrows, which had been expressionless, slightly lifted. Her eyes, half-lidded by her lashes, blinked. When she opened them, they were filled with soft innocence.

She shook her head this way, silently releasing the fingers that had been pressing against a sharp tree branch behind her back.

The blonde woman opposite paused, then continued, “Welcome to the Spirit Domain, two new Challengers. You may have noticed some missing memories. This is normal, so please do not panic. After all, in the terms of your world, both of you have ‘died.'”

The woman smiled, “But you two are fortunate—you have arrived at the Spirit Domain. Here, you have been reborn.”

As her voice fell, the surrounding thick fog receded, and the pitch black night instantly turned into day. Several people appeared in the open space beside them, all looking their way.

Two people, a man and a woman, stood in front of them, both wearing uniforms of the same shade as the blonde woman. Seeing the fog dissipate, they turned and walked behind the blonde woman.

The blonde woman curtsied with an elegant movement, “A pleasure to meet you all. Wardens 031, 077, and 666, on behalf of the Spirit Domain, welcome your arrival, and congratulate you on becoming new Challengers.”

“In this level, you are unfortunate travelers who have wandered deep into the forest. It is now approaching evening, and if you spend the night in the woods, you risk becoming prey to wild beasts. Fortunately, there is a Shanqi Village ahead. Please arrive and successfully check in before dark, and enjoy a pleasant celebration with the warm and hospitable kind villagers.”

“The following are the rules of the Spirit Domain. Please listen carefully.”

“1. Before the level begins, the Warden will provide a clear hint for success.”

“2. After entering the trial ground, Challengers should avoid harming one another.”

“3. There are two ways to succeed: Fully explore the main clues of the level beforehand, or successfully survive until the set time ends.”

“4. After the level ends, Challengers who are not brain-dead will have all injuries sustained during the round healed upon leaving the trial ground.”

“5. After the level ends, a rating will be given based on performance, and Spirit Coins will be distributed. The best Challenger of the round may select an additional reward.”

“6. All levels within the Spirit Domain are non-lethal by necessity.”

“7. Please remain true to yourself and strive to survive.”

As 031 spoke, the brightly lit sky suddenly began to change. The sun moved westward at a speed visible to the naked eye until it was setting.

“Please note: You cannot leave the village before the celebration ends.”

“The level will conclude when the celebration ends. This level has a success hint. Please listen carefully.”

031 was not standing very close, yet her slightly stiff voice was clear, as if ringing in everyone’s ears:

“Shanqi Village—Trust the Tears.”

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