Chapter One: Transmigrated to Another World, Have I Become a Worthless Scoundrel?

I, Qian Qi, have transmigrated.

On a certain hill behind the university, a short-haired girl in a sleeveless T-shirt and baggy shorts squatted on a small wooden stool. Pinching an imaginary cigarette between her fingers, she let out a smoke ring with a complicated look on her face.

“What kind of situation is this?”

Qian Qi ruffled her rough, messy short hair. She had been pulling an all-nighter preparing her thesis for the College of Agriculture, when suddenly everything went black—she awoke as the “Qian Qi” of this world.

The “Qian Qi” here was nothing like her former self.

In her original world, she was a quiet and kind-hearted girl—frail, studious, and even once voted the academic goddess of her college. Her days were split between classes and working in the fields.

But the Qian Qi here was reviled and despised by everyone in the academy—a notorious troublemaker known across all departments for her foul temper and penchant for fighting. She would brazenly beg for things from her classmates, claiming poverty, and never return what she borrowed.

Worse still, she was at the bottom of her class, a hopeless underachiever perpetually on the verge of expulsion for skipping lessons.

Wasn’t this the classic “good-for-nothing scoundrel” setting?

Yet none of this bothered Qian Qi. With her personal charm, she was certain she could turn things around and become the most popular person at the academy.

But...

Qian Qi glanced up at the strange black holes dotting the distant sky, then down at the monstrous, frenzied plants raging at the foot of the hill. She was nearly in tears.

Why did this world seem so perilous?!

From the original host’s memories, she learned that this world teemed with unstable dungeons full of dangerous magical beasts and plants, which would sometimes break free and threaten humanity.

Gifted humans had awakened various abilities, enabling them to fight off these monsters.

The university she attended was established to train talented young Awakeners, giving them the strength to hunt monsters in the dungeons—Awakener University.

Qian Qi had been delighted upon learning this. Attending Awakener University meant the original host must have an awakened skill. But when she found out the host’s major, her face immediately darkened.

She was enrolled in the most unpopular field at Awakener University—Magical Botany.

Also known as Magic·Unpopular·No Future·Botany.

Experts had long declared magical plants useless to humanity, and studying them a complete waste of time. A few insisted they could lead to drugs that enhanced the human body, but no one had found a method yet.

After fierce debate, humanity eventually established a Magical Plant Research Institute. But years of fruitless research meant the field was widely ridiculed and shunned by the public.

Almost no one chose this major.

Worse, research in magical plants was highly dangerous—a single misstep could be fatal. The only career path was the Research Institute, which paid so little you’d be better off fixing neural processors.

So who in their right mind would risk their life to study Magical Botany?

Qian Qi certainly wouldn’t, if given the choice.

But...

Qian Qi buried her face in her hands. At least this major had no tuition fees—even those without awakened skills could apply.

And she, Qian Qi, was exactly that: poor, and without any awakened ability!

“Heavens above!”

She raised her hoe in anguish, brandishing it at the sky. “How could you treat me this way? Couldn’t you at least give me a cheat?”

[Ding! System key action triggered. Activating farming skills!]

[Awakened Skill One: Art of Analysis
Skill description: Can analyze knowledge related to magical plants.
Skill refresh: three times per day.]

[Awakened Skill Two: Hand of Inspiration
Skill description: Magical plants cultivated by the Awakener have increased yield and higher magical properties.
Skill refresh: unlimited.]

Qian Qi: !!!

Staring at the suddenly appearing blue panel, she gasped in shock. “The cheat has really come?”

[^_^ Yes.]

“You can talk to me?”

[No~]

Qian Qi: ...

It seemed her cheat was as “rebellious” as the original host.

With the sun rising overhead, Qian Qi gazed at the magical plants her seniors had cultivated on the hillside, quietly wiping her face.

She still remembered how the original host had died—she’d come to the hill at midnight to steal magical plant fruit, asking her roommate for the plant’s weakness beforehand. The academically gifted roommate had deliberately given her the wrong answer, and the original host died in the jaws of the plant.

Then, close to dawn, she’d transmigrated into the suffocating body of the original host; even with her throat torn, her hands still gripped the fruit tightly.

Feeling the magical plant fruit in her pocket, Qian Qi sighed.

She’d only inherited part of the original’s memories, so she had no idea why the original host had tried to steal it.

“Better head back to the dorm.” Qian Qi tugged at her bloodstained sleeveless shirt, glanced at her baggy shorts and flip-flops, and felt utterly resigned to the original host’s taste in fashion.

...

Following her inherited memories, Qian Qi slung her hoe over her shoulder and made her way back to the dormitory.

At this hour, her roommates were all asleep. Qian Qi pushed open the door and fixed her gaze on Chen Miaomiao’s bed.

This was the roommate who had deliberately given the original host the wrong answer. Setting down her hoe, Qian Qi touched the ragged wound on her neck, and a sly smile crept onto her lips.

For some reason, the wound didn’t hurt, even though it was still raw—but she could sense it slowly healing.

“Could my cheat also grant unlimited regeneration?” she asked the system hopefully.

[^_^ Just a beginner’s perk. Don’t get your hopes up.]

Qian Qi: ...

That smiling face was really asking for a punch.

She yanked open the curtain on Chen Miaomiao’s bed and shook her awake.

Chen Miaomiao, fast asleep, was jolted violently awake in a foul mood. She was about to curse when she opened her eyes—and found Qian Qi’s bloodied, hate-filled face looming right at her.

“Miaomiao, I died such a horrible death—”

“Aaah!” Chen Miaomiao shrieked, waking everyone in the dorm with her scream. “Ghost!”

“Damn, scared me half to death—what’s going on?”

“Chen Miaomiao, why are you howling like a banshee?”

“What happened?”

Qian Qi took in Chen Miaomiao’s terrified expression, then innocently withdrew behind the curtain and returned to her own bed.

Oh, that felt good!

[Looks like your personality isn’t much better than the original’s.]

Qian Qi waved her hands. “Nonsense, I’m super gentle and kind, okay?”

She was civilized! A genuinely good person!

If it were the original host, she’d have slapped her already!

The dorm was in chaos for a while before Chen Miaomiao finally recovered from her fright. Glaring at Qian Qi, who was pretending nothing had happened, she snapped, “Qian Qi! Why did you scare me just now?”

She eyed Qian Qi nervously, especially when she saw the wound on her neck—her heart pounding wildly.

Could Qian Qi know she’d given her the wrong answer?

She’d been sure Qian Qi would die last night, but against all odds, she’d survived and come back.

But so what? She’d just “accidentally” made a mistake. She didn’t know Qian Qi was going to steal the Fire Qilin Lotus fruit!

Yes, she didn’t know. It had nothing to do with her!