"Host, you’ve got ten minutes left before your time’s up. You sure you wanna just sit here?" Sys 0745’s voice chimed in like a gentle reminder.

“There’s a crosswalk just ahead to your right. If you help the old lady cross, you can earn ten merit points. That’s a bonus ten minutes to your life bar!”

Sarah Jensen lounged on the bench, munching on her jianbing like it was a lazy morning, replying casually in her mind, “Relax, it’s all under control.”

Frankly, 0745 felt anything but relaxed. If someone needed to panic, it was definitely her, not it.

Since their bonding, she’d been basically on cruise control, refusing to play by the rules. Just in the last 24 hours, she’d wasted 20 of them… sleeping.

The system silently lit a candle for itself in its heart. If this wasn’t the lowest point of its career, it didn’t know what was.

Not even a full day with this host and it already felt like circling the drain.

Still, being the professional it was, it asked one last time, “Wanna me do a countdown for you?”

Sarah tossed the food wrapper in the bin, dusted her hands like she'd just wrapped up a gourmet meal. “Go for it.”

Without missing a beat, a glowing red timer hovered in front of her—09:06, ticking down to 09:05.

Sarah actually let out a low “Whoa,” her curiosity toward the system spiking a bit.

Even when the timer slid down to 05:00, Sarah looked as chill as ever. 0745 figured she was completely giving up, so with a heavy digital heart, it used up some points to redeem her a farewell song.

Suddenly, a booming Buddhist chant echoed in her mind, so loud it nearly knocked her over.

She wobbled on her feet, muttering, “You really went all out, huh? Gotta say, that’s bold.”

0745 deadpanned, “My name is 0745.”

Sarah gave a very serious nod. “Exactly. Bold, right?”

“It’s 745. Please don't give the system weird nicknames.”

“Yes, Bold McGee!”

“745!”

“Bold.”

At that point, 0745 blew a fuse, “Fine! Bold, bold, I’m so bold I might just explode.”

Sarah giggled. “Told you it fits! You’re totally losing it.”

Amid the banter, she spotted someone walk out of a nearby building, standing by the curb, glancing around like he was waiting for someone.

She watched him for a moment, then stood up, ignoring 0745’s nagging, and said slowly, “Looks like it’s go time.”

0745 froze. “Wait, what did you just say?”

“I said, time to move.”

Ethan Thompson was having a heck of a day. Scratch that—a heck of a whole week. But today? New level of bad.

It started in the morning when he headed toward the bathroom like usual, then slipped out of nowhere and nearly crashed through the glass partition. Lucky for him, instinct made him grab the curtain before his forehead did something permanent.

He spun around, heart racing—nothing on the floor. Not a drop of water, nothing slippery.

He shook off the heebie-jeebies and did his business, then headed downstairs…only to see some kind of dark flash zip past. Spooked, his foot missed a step and he toppled down the staircase.

Thank God he’d randomly decided yesterday to have carpet installed. Still, hurt like hell. He landed in a heap, every muscle screaming, and his head smacking the railing hard enough to bleed.

The house turned into chaos. People panicked, practically dialing 911 on reflex.

Only after Ethan repeatedly swore he was okay did they settle for Plan B—driving him to the ER.

And right when he thought the disaster streak had peaked, the driver rear-ended someone on the way.

Fed up, Ethan bailed, flagged down a cab, and left the poor driver behind to deal with the aftermath.

He never made it to the hospital. Crawled straight back to the office instead—where he collapsed in his chair like a sack of bricks and refused to move a muscle.But luck clearly wasn’t on Ethan Thompson’s side. Just when he thought he could catch a break, the old man dropped the bomb—Andrew Holmes, the Fourth Master of the Holmes Group, was about to arrive, and Ethan had to personally go greet him.

If it had been anyone else, Ethan wouldn’t have bothered, but when he heard it was Andrew Holmes, he could only grit his teeth and head downstairs.

From Sarah Jensen’s perspective, Sys 0745 quickly zeroed in on the target. But then it blurted, “Wait, what’s wrong with him?”

Sarah’s expression was calm and steady as ever. “He’s about to die.”

Sys 0745: ……… Seriously? You’re the one on the verge of death!

Ignoring the silence from Sys 0745, Sarah asked, “If I save someone who’s about to die, how much karma do I get from you guys?”

Sys 0745: “...Are you being for real right now?”

It honestly felt like the host was just messing with it again.

Sarah let out a soft chuckle. “I don’t joke around like that.”

Ethan glanced at his watch and took a step forward to check something out.

Before he could lift his foot properly, a slim figure dashed toward him out of nowhere.

He barely had time to react before someone grabbed his arm and yanked him forward. He staggered back a couple of steps, totally off balance.

He was about to snap when—CRASH!

Ethan’s eyes widened, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

Less than a meter away, shards of glass littered the ground. Bits even sprinkled onto the tops of his shoes.

If he hadn’t taken that step back—if he’d just stuck to his original path—that piece of glass would’ve nailed him right in the head.

Ten seconds—Sys 0745 watched the host dart across the street.

Nine—grabbed the man.

Eight—one step back.

Seven—another step.

Six—CRASH behind them.

Five—the countdown reset. Time jumped to 22:07:55.

Sys 0745 swallowed hard. This all felt way too unreal.

Sarah glanced at the extended time. Not bad. About what she expected.

Ethan, on the other hand, was finally feeling the shock. His heart was pounding, and his knees were kind of wobbly.

“If you don’t stand straight, I’m letting go,” came a sharp voice by his ear.

Only then did Ethan realize he’d been leaning on his rescuer this whole time.

He quickly straightened up and took a good look at the girl next to him. His eyes lit up.

She had that fresh, youthful beauty, really easy on the eyes. And those eyes of hers? Sparkling like the clearest spring water.

“Hey, little lady, thanks a ton. Honestly, if not for you, I’d be toast right now.” He gave a bitter smile. Lately, his luck’s been so trash he figured it might be a good time to visit a temple or something.

Sarah pulled a five-dollar bill from her pocket and started folding it as she said, “Yeah, you were pretty much done for.”

Ethan: …Was that a curse or what?

No one likes hearing stuff like that, especially when life’s already been kicking them while they’re down. Ethan felt a flare of frustration using up the last bit of his patience.

But hey, she did save his life, so he kept his mouth shut.

Before he could even think of a comeback, Sarah continued, “Your facial structure and features are balanced, and you’ve got wealth and property luck written all over you. But your health line? Broken. Life line? Dim. Things haven’t been going your way lately, huh? Lots of bad luck thrown your way?”

Ethan: …Great. I’ve run into a fortune teller.

He sighed—so young, yet choosing to go down this road? What a shame.

“Well, okay, little lady, since you saved me, I’ll make sure to send you some money. Maybe you can find something else to do instead.”

Sarah didn’t seem to care one bit whether he believed her or not. Her tone stayed flat as she dropped one last warning: “Just remember—no walking alone at night, keep the lights on. You’re not out of the woods yet, but you’ve bought yourself a few extra days. If things get worse, find me. I charge for services.”

With that, she tucked the folded five-dollar triangle into the front pocket of Ethan’s shirt and said, “Keep it safe. Might save your life when it counts.”

Just then, her eyes shifted toward a pregnant woman stepping out nearby.The pregnant woman gasped when she saw the shards of glass ahead. Sarah helped her around the mess, guided her to the bus stop, and flagged down a cab. She helped her into the car safely and securely.

The woman gave her a warm smile and said, "That’s so kind of you!"

But Sarah didn’t even look at her—her eyes were on the woman’s belly. After a quick glance, she suddenly smiled, "You little troublemaker."

Then she looked up at the woman and said, "The baby’s coming. Don’t go home—head straight to the hospital."

The woman blinked, totally confused.

Sarah didn’t bother explaining more. While buckling the woman’s seatbelt, she turned to the driver and said, "Take a left up ahead. Don’t go straight. Head to the hospital, and careful with the speed."

The driver, thinking she was about to give birth, felt a jolt in his stomach and stomped on the gas.

He’d been driving taxis for over a decade, so even at high speed, it was smooth—Emma barely felt the acceleration. A sharp left, and they were on a main road.

That’s when Emma finally snapped out of her daze and couldn’t help but let out a half-laugh, half-sigh.

She was really grateful to the young woman, but honestly, what she said had rubbed her the wrong way.

She was already in her last trimester—the one thing she feared most was early labor. And this girl just announced she was about to give birth. Come on...

"Ah!" Emma yelped suddenly.

The driver jerked, panicking, "What happened? What’s wrong?"

Emma’s face went pale. "Sir, my water just broke—please, you have to get me to the hospital, fast!"

She quickly grabbed her phone and called her husband. The call connected right away.

"Hey, babe, what is it? Is the baby giving you trouble again?"

Holding back tears, Emma nearly shouted, "Honey, my water broke, I’m going into labor!"

On the other end came the sound of things clattering. "What?! Your water broke? Where are you? What happened?"

"I-I don’t know! I’m in a cab, just passed Fengyang Road."

"Fengyang Road, got it—I’ll meet you at the hospital! Don’t worry, I’m on my way!"

As she hung up, even the driver let out a low whistle. "Man, that was close."

Emma turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"A four-car pileup on Changxiang Road—total gridlock. If we hadn’t listened to that girl and gone straight ahead, we’d be stuck there right now."

Emma sucked in a breath, a chill running through her. She honestly felt lucky…but also couldn’t help wondering—how in the world did that girl know?

As the cab disappeared from sight, Sarah's life counter jumped by another ten hours.

Sys 0745 was staring blankly. Was there something wrong with the system? Helping a pregnant lady into a cab should’ve netted, what, 30 minutes tops? Ten hours? That was nuts.

But after checking everything over, all systems showed normal.

0745 had to ask, "How the heck did you do that?"

Sarah grinned. "You really think I just got her into a cab? Please, I basically kept her alive."

"What?"

"She was about to go into labor. If she’d gone straight like she planned, she’d have gotten stuck in the accident up ahead. Then she’d be delivering the baby in a traffic jam. Honestly, she wouldn’t have made it out okay. So yeah, I saved half her life."

0745: "…How did you even know that?"

Sarah: "Simple. I figured it out."

0745: "Who even are you?"

"I’m kinda a legend, sweetie."

With a wide grin, Sarah turned and strolled off, happily counting her newly acquired 32 hours. Her gaze wandered until it landed on someone watching her—a pair of dark, unreadable eyes.

There was something intrigued in his stare. Sarah, though, took one look at his face and thought: whoa. Power, prestige, like royalty himself. Now that’s interesting.