"Karyn Reid, I'm telling you, if you know what's good for you, quit school already! Just get outta my sight!"
Before Karyn could even open her eyes, a shrill voice pierced her ears like nails on a chalkboard.
Who the hell was that?
Yelling at her like that—did they have a death wish?
Before she could even figure it out, a wave of searing pain jolted through her body, almost knocking her out again.
She forced her eyes open with all her might and spotted three girls standing in front of her—clothes wild, makeup crazy. The one in the middle looked like a thug, and the other two had the same mean-girl vibes.
Seeing her awake, Victoria Sullivan sneered and raised her voice. "You little tramp! Always acting so sweet and innocent—but we all know you’re just trying to get more guys to drool over you!"
Karyn had never been cursed out like this in her previous life. Her blood boiled, and just as she was about to snap back, a stabbing pain hit her skull, followed by an overwhelming flood of memories.
A few blinks later, it sank in—she’d time-traveled.
Turned out, the original Karyn Reid—same name, same face—was a shy freshman majoring in Chinese Lit at Di Du University. She’d been bullied nonstop by these chicks since orientation.
Too scared to say anything, she suffered in silence. That only made them worse. Just today, they'd dragged her into a bathroom and smashed her head into the floor.
She didn’t survive.
Damn it. Back in her old life, Karyn had never suffered such humiliation.
She used to be the golden girl of the mystic arts world, adored by every master, elder, and senior brother or sister in the sect. Everyone spoiled her.
And now? Bullied by a bunch of idiots?
Yeah, no. Not happening.
As she tried to move, her body screamed in pain.
"You ugly freak! Just because you wrote a couple of articles, you think you’re someone now? One day I’ll cut off those hands of yours, let’s see you write then!" Victoria barked again.
Off to the side, Chloe Hale checked the time on her phone. "Vic, we better get moving, or we’re gonna miss our flight."
Victoria scoffed and backed off. "When I get back, if I find out you’re still here, I’ll make sure you regret it for life!"
With that, she turned and strutted off with her two minions.
Karyn glared at their backs, something cold flashing in her eyes.
Enduring the pain, she lifted her right hand, fingers trembling as she formed a spell sign and muttered a quiet enchantment. Moments later, Victoria and her crew tripped over the bathroom entrance and ate dirt—hard.
One got a broken arm, one tore a ligament, and the third dislocated an elbow.
Their screams echoed down the hallway, drawing a swarm of classmates who rushed to get them to the hospital.
A flight? Please. If her body had been in better shape, she’d have sent them straight to the afterlife.
Karyn leaned against the wall for what felt like ages before she could finally stand. Still shaky, she stumbled her way to the dorm, relying on pieces of the original Karyn’s memory.
The girls' dorm at Di Du University had four people per room, but when she pushed the door open, the place was completely empty.She grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom to shower, letting the hot water run down as she tried to sort out her next move.
Since she'd landed in this new body, she had to start fresh and figure things out. But the problem was staring her right in the face—no money.
The original Karyn Reid came from a struggling family already crushed by debts of nearly 400,000 yuan. Now with her grandma recently diagnosed with lung cancer, they were looking at another 600,000 for treatment. That kind of money? Forget it. The family was sinking fast.
Right now, she barely had a hundred bucks to her name. At best, that’d maybe last her four days. After that? Literal hunger games.
Karyn just stood under the water, feeling more hopeless by the second. She was finally getting a second shot, and what—about to kick the bucket again?
But then something clicked. Her eyes lit up.
Wait a minute—back in her past life, wasn’t this how she made money? Using metaphysical skills and fortune telling?
Nowadays everyone’s doing livestreams, right? If she went online to read fortunes or interpret names, maybe she could actually pull in some cash.
No time to waste. She turned off the faucet, got dried off, threw on some clothes, patched up her bruises best she could, and grabbed her phone.
She downloaded an app called “Daogu,” set up an account, and started a livestream.
Twenty minutes later, finally—thirty viewers had trickled in.
“Whoa! Such a pretty streamer! Is this a beauty channel or what?”
“Dude, check the category—this is a metaphysics channel.”
“What, more scammy fortune-teller stuff? Ugh, such a waste of a gorgeous face.”
“Yeah, I only clicked in 'cause I thought she was some celeb or something…”
Karyn glanced at the comments and instinctively reached up to touch her face.
She had checked the mirror earlier—this girl’s face was seriously stunning. Bold features, well-defined forehead, slightly upturned peach-blossom eyes—like an enchanting little fox.
Seeing more and more viewers pop in, she quickly smiled and greeted them, giving a small wave.
“Hey, guys!” Her voice was clear but warm. “Welcome to the ‘Karyn Doesn’t Eat Bitter Melon’ channel!”
That name—“Doesn’t Eat Bitter Melon”—was just a Taoist alias she'd tossed around during her fieldwork days in her previous life. Kind of catchy, so she figured why not use it here?
“Her smile just took me out, omg.”
“That’s it, she’s my wife now.”
“Miss Karyn, how much for a fortune reading?”
She blinked playfully. “One ‘Rocket’ per reading!”
Before starting, she had looked up the platform’s tips system, and she knew exactly how much each gift was worth.
“Three grand for one reading?! That’s my whole paycheck!”
“Pretty girl, ugly heart.”
“I was thinking maybe 50 bucks a reading tops... 3k? I’m out.”
Karyn didn’t even flinch at those bitter comments. She already understood from the original Karyn’s memories—this was the post-spiritual era. No one believed in ghosts or mystic stuff anymore. Everyone just worshiped this thing called “science.”
And right then, a virtual rocket blast shot across the screen—a user called “My Hakimi Is Adorable” had just sent the big gift.