Talent? Nah, It's Gacha!

The morning light broke through the darkness, and as I'd suspected, I was running late. And it definitely wasn't because I had overslept, but because someone had surprised me with their distinctly not-so-clothed body upon waking.

Who would have thought that the first morning of my transmigration would involve waking up with a beautiful girl sleeping naked on top of my chest, wearing only a pair of black stockings that tightly covered her slender legs all the way up to her thighs, treating my body like her personal bed? I certainly didn't see that coming. And me being the most mortal person imaginable, how could I possibly not touch what was clearly meant to be touched!?

Yeah, now I could say with complete confidence that despite her petite size, her bottom was definitely softer than I'd ever imagined. Especially when I parted it and molded it into different shapes with my hands...

'Yujin, pervert.'

A soft, melodic voice resounded directly within my head, pulling me abruptly out of my pleasant reminiscing about the morning's incident. I tactically chose not to reply to her accusation. Definitely not because I felt a pang of guilt when Est had opened her eyes after being thoroughly groped by me, and she looked at me with that incomparably innocent expression while saying: "It feels good..."

In my defense, I just wanted to properly test out the Sticky Fingers ability I'd acquired. And man, did that skill work incredibly well. A simple touch and she had practically melted into my arms like butter. Hmm, at least now I knew there wouldn't be any dullness in my nighttime activities going forward.

Busy with my wandering thoughts, I soon reached the imposing gates of the Holy Orchid Institute. Thankfully, the Sacred Family estate wasn't located too far away from the academy, only about ten kilometers of distance. I did have to catch a horse-drawn carriage to get here, but I was able to make it just in time for classes to begin. And that's all that really mattered at this point.

One thing I couldn't help but notice was that Glory City was... absolutely massive. Way larger than anything one would traditionally call a city in my previous world. Let alone Glory City itself, if my inherited memories served me correctly, the estate of the Sacred Family alone was as large as a small city! And that was me probably underestimating its true size. The scale of land ownership was genuinely massive in this cultivation world.

Even the Holy Orchid Institute standing in front of me right now was enormous. If judged purely based on size alone, it could easily be classified as a small city in my previous world.

Standing directly in front of the ornate entrance gate, I stared up at the massive wooden doors that towered above me. They were thrown wide open as a steady stream of children flowed through them like a river. The cheerful sounds of gossip and laughter filled the surrounding courtyard. I noticed that barely anyone carried any visible books or bags in their hands. Since Spatial Rings existed in this world, most students had one their fingers. Only those belonging to the commoner class seemed to lack this convenience.

Worth noting that the ring I currently possessed was of the absolute lowest quality available. And I had only been able to obtain it by begging and pleading with the Family Elder over and over for months on end. Remembering those humiliating times that "I" had endured in this world, I couldn't help but release a weary sigh.

After paying the carriage driver his fare, I entered the Holy Orchid Institute grounds. The moment I passed through the imposing gate, magnificent buildings constructed in various ancient Chinese architectural styles appeared before my vision. Some featured intricate dragon designs carved into their facades, others displayed elegant phoenix motifs, and still others showcased golden crow imagery. But the colors most prominently featured throughout the complex were definitely red and gold. This made sense, since if my cultural knowledge served me right, red was traditionally associated with good luck, prosperity, joy, and happiness, while gold represented wealth, nobility, and fortune.

Even though I might end up arriving late for my first class, I still took my time walking leisurely towards the designated building. Each step was deliberately slow and measured. It couldn't be helped. While I did possess the inherited memories of this body's previous experiences in this world, seeing everything with my own eyes had a completely different emotional impact.

And so by the time I reached the correct classroom, the session was just about to officially begin.

'At least I've managed to arrive before my aunt could start her lecture. Definitely don't want to hear her condescending nagging so early in the morning...'

As I entered the classroom space, my enhanced eyes immediately scanned the room, quickly stopping at two particular figures: the brownish-orange haired girl with a remarkably well-endowed body but cold, indifferent expression, and a purple-haired girl with a curious and innocent demeanor.

Xiao Ning'er and Ye Ziyun, the two female leads of this story.

After staring at them for what felt like several minutes—though for me, since I was actively using Sage's time acceleration, not even a single second had actually passed for others around me—my gaze moved towards the other students, mostly male, before finally stopping at the distinctive orange-haired boy sitting near the back.

Nie Li.

My eyes narrowed slightly as I observed him.

The current Nie Li hadn't regressed yet, so he looked somewhat dopey sitting with his friends and making ridiculous faces. It made me genuinely wonder how absolutely no one would catch the sudden, dramatic shift in his character and personality that would occur soon. From a goofy, acoustic person to someone who seemed overly collected and mature for his chronological age.

And yes, I remembered how the City Lord and his subordinates would eventually suspect him of being a reincarnator. But even if one technique came with flaws, that didn't mean there weren't other techniques available without such obvious weaknesses.

In the end, it all came down to the fundamental fact that everyone's intellect would be artificially lowered when in the presence of the protagonist, so they could effortlessly steal the spotlight and be universally called geniuses. Even if they pulled the most outrageous, impossible solutions out of thin air—things that should be more than enough to mark them as the most suspicious n-word in the world—no one would give a single shit about the inconsistencies.

I couldn't help but smile at the absurdity.

It didn't matter to me anyway, since I had my own advantages.

Looking at the empty chair positioned near Xiao Ning'er, I calmly walked over and sat down without ceremony. The moment I settled into the seat, I suddenly felt that the ambient temperature seemed to drop by several degrees. Glancing at Xiao Ning'er from the corner of my eye, I was left slightly speechless seeing the intense rejection written across her beautiful face at my mere presence. Her eyes darted around frantically, obviously searching for another available seat within the classroom to escape to. Only after confirming that there was absolutely no other option available did she reluctantly remain in place, though the obvious reluctance plastered across her face didn't diminish in the slightest. With her arms tightly crossed beneath her more-than-handful chest—causing them to bounce slightly with each breath—she stared straight ahead, absolutely refusing to even glance in my direction.

'Bruh...' I barely managed to stop myself from saying that aloud. Like, I knew intellectually that she harbored deep hatred for the Sacred Family, but damn if it wasn't straight-up loathing for the very existence of anyone even remotely associated with them.

I hadn't even done anything to her personally...

'Yujin, are you feeling sad?'

'Not right now, Est. Keep sleeping. I'm trying here.'

'Trying to not get rejected without even speaking?'

'Did you go through my memories?'

'They are quite entertaining to watch.'

'Well, I'm glad to know that I don't have any privacy anymore...'

At least the fact that she hadn't mentioned anything about her being a fictional character assured me that she didn't have unrestricted access to the memories I absolutely didn't want her to see. While she might not have a problem with her own fictional nature, what if I contracted more spirits in the future? If they could all see my memories without limitation, I might think more than twice before even summoning them, let alone making binding contracts.

'It's okay, Yujin can touch my butt whenever he wants. Even though it's small compared to others, Yujin seemed to really enjoy it this morning.'

'...Just keep watching.'

What could I say? I'm a simple man with simple, predictable needs.

'Pervert...'

Shaking my head in resignation, I released a quiet sigh. Leaving facts aside, I was indeed slightly saddened by the fact that my very existence was actively loathed by someone I genuinely liked as a character from the original story.

It was like finally meeting the celebrity you've idolized for years, just for them to spit directly in your face and declare your existence a complete waste of space and oxygen. The emotional impact was genuinely significant. Though, of course, it wasn't nearly enough to make me feel genuinely depressed or anything that dramatic.

The person she truly hated was the Sacred Family, and I was just catching stray bullets because of my association with them.

Still, the undeniable fact that she didn't even want to breathe the same air as me definitely presented some serious problems. Like, how exactly was I going to 'heal' her mysterious illness if she didn't even want to speak a single word to me? Nie Li had it easy—he was the protagonist and had dramatically stood against the Sacred Family's corruption, which left an incredibly positive impression on Xiao Ning'er. Meanwhile, I was an integral part of the Sacred Family. A good first impression didn't matter much when I was starting with negative 100 points in favorability. If I had a system that could show me their favorability ratings, I was absolutely sure I would be seeing 'HATE YOU UNTIL DEATH' displayed in bold, flashing characters.

Thinking about the Silver Heart Ticket I'd received from my recent Gacha pulls, I adopted a more thoughtful expression.

'Hmmm... Maybe some kind of elaborate play or strategy is needed here...'

While I was lost in strategic thoughts, the entire classroom instantly fell into complete silence. Looking around with curiosity, I noticed that a woman had appeared at the front podium without me even realizing when she'd entered.

A stunningly beautiful woman. She had a tall, statuesque figure and was wearing a form-fitting lavender dress that wrapped tightly against her curvaceous body, providing deliberate emphasis to her impressively perky chest. A pair of slender, white long legs emerged from knee-high socks, leaving her round, full thighs and the tantalizing curves of her hips completely exposed.

Even I, someone who prided myself on having great willpower and the disciplined heart of a monk, couldn't help but feel dangerous heat rising within my chest.

I clicked my tongue.

So incredibly hot, yet her personality was absolute trash.

It wasn't like I inherently disliked arrogant and prideful women—but only those who had actually earned that attitude through their own accomplishments. And my dear aunt clearly wasn't one of those admirable women. She was someone who had been born into a prestigious family, took all her advantages completely for granted, and simply treated everyone else as lesser existences compared to her elevated status.

Of course, normally I wouldn't care much about such character flaws, but the fact that even the "me" of this world was also considered a lesser existence definitely brought back some distinctly unpleasant memories from my past life.

She definitely needed some serious attitude correction. And my little brother was more than here for it.

What? Incest was disgusting? Maybe for the original Shen Yujin, but definitely not for me personally. It was like asking someone who used to fap on a certain fictional character to die and transmigrate as her son, then expecting them to have no romantic thoughts regarding her whatsoever. In simple terms, I didn't see these characters as actual living beings, let alone genuine family members.

It was basic human psychology. You couldn't reasonably ask a person to completely change their fundamental perception and emotional associations in a single night. That kind of mental restructuring takes considerable time and effort to accomplish. And time was something I severely lacked in this situation. The thing I definitely didn't lack was my overwhelming horniness. That was in abundant supply.

I took out a pen, apparently crafted from materials harvested from the local Horned Sheep, along with a sheet of paper. I placed both items on my desk and started to write. Write what, exactly? Mostly just random nonsense. I simply wrote down whatever my aunt Shen Xiu was currently lecturing about. My goal wasn't necessarily to act like a diligent, studious pupil—though maybe there was a small part of that motivation to get attention of Shen Xiu—but mostly because I wanted my seatmate to observe my handwriting and gradually become familiar with it. Because for my developing plan to work effectively, she needed to recognize my distinctive writing style.

To ensure I captured her attention, I would deliberately press the pen's retractable button from time to time, creating a crisp, audible "click" with each calculated press, causing Xiao Ning'er to glance at my sheet of paper with a mixture of confusion and growing mild annoyance.

That was perfectly fine with me.

It takes considerable time and effort to win over a woman anyway. A bit of mild annoyance during the process shouldn't be a significant problem when she already loathes my very existence.

Time passed slowly. And while I continued writing diligently on the paper, my primary attention remained focused on the orange-haired boy who had his head down and appeared to be sleeping peacefully through the entire lecture.

Suddenly, there was dramatic movement. The boy who had seemed to be fast asleep throughout the entire class suddenly jerked violently. With considerable force, he raised his head abruptly. Fear, anger, confusion, and disbelief—his face went through an entire series of intense emotions in mere seconds before his expression finally settled into one of surprise and overwhelming joy. His eyes darted frantically around the room, taking in his surroundings, before finally stopping and focusing on the purple-haired girl, Ye Ziyun. A smile that could only be described as borderline obscene appeared across his face.

I couldn't help but smile knowingly.

This dramatic scene confirmed everything. I was indeed living in an alternate timeline, not the original one. That meant, depending on how future events unfolded, Nie Li and I were almost certainly going to become enemies. I was part of the Sacred Family, and Nie Li harbored deep hatred for them. I was actively planning on pursuing Ye Ziyun romantically, and Nie Li was completely obsessed with her. No matter which angle one examined the situation from, we were definitely not going to end up having any kind of harmonious relationship with each other. Not unless Nie Li was somehow willing to give up both his romantic pursuit of Ye Ziyun and his burning hatred towards me who was part of the Sacred Family.

And while his accumulated information and extensive experience as a regressor was indeed somewhat troublesome to deal with, with the Gacha system firmly in my hands, would any of that really matter in the long run?

I leaned back casually in my chair with a completely relaxed attitude and prepared to enjoy the entertaining show that was about to begin.