The Mediator’s Unsettling Choice

“Do you wish to be cherished by all, like a precious treasure, or toyed with by all, like a plaything?”

Many years later, as Ophelia faced several ‘blackened’ heroines, her socially anxious self recalled the multiple-choice question she had once pondered so long ago.

At the time, she had been a boy.

“You’ve been reading this novel for so long; you must really love it! How about it? Transmigrate into the world of the book and embrace a new chapter of life!”

It was a sphere, a luminous orb, appearing from who knew where and heading to who knew where.

At this point, Ophelia was still a boy, so we shall refer to him as Ophe. This Ophe was just an ordinary boy, so socially anxious he even feared making eye contact with a delivery driver. He genuinely loved a particular novel, its plot so well-crafted that he had devoured it for a long time.

After finishing the book, he was preparing for bed when this luminous orb appeared before his eyes.

“Transmigrate…?”

Ophe pondered the question.

He had no idea what this glowing sphere was, but the question itself seemed like the sort of trivial inquiry a boring media outlet would concoct to stir up drama, likely a social survey like [How many people truly wish to transmigrate to another world!?].

Ophe decided to speak cautiously, lest he say something untoward and end up being cyberbullied on Little Green Book (TL Note: A fictional social media platform, likely a parody of ‘Xiaohongshu’ or ‘Little Red Book’, known for lifestyle content and sometimes online shaming.).

“Forget it… I think the real world is quite wonderful…”

A pang of conscience struck him.

[What? But you’re a shut-in who never leaves the house? A social recluse?]

The light ball’s gender-neutral voice conveyed utter disbelief.

It couldn’t be helped. Ophe’s parents had passed away when he was very young, leaving him an inheritance sufficient for a lifetime. For various reasons, he feared interacting with others, so he had simply cloistered himself in his home.

Why venture out and risk hurt when the world on the other side of the screen was so vibrant?

Thus, he chose to ignore the light ball.

However, the light ball latched onto him.

Every day, every hour, every moment.

Its tactics escalated from relentless seduction to desperate pleas.

And a social recluse’s greatest flaw was an inability to refuse others.

[Please… that world truly needs a mediator… but I can’t find anyone…]

[I beg you… please help me…]

Perhaps the light ball’s pleas were too pathetic, or perhaps Ophe was simply weary from gaming; in any case, he asked for confirmation, “A world mediator? If I go, what do you intend for me to do?”

The light ball’s glow brightened from its former dimness:

[It’s simple! Look, before the heroines in this novel met the male lead, weren’t they all closed off to love?]

[You just need to bind with a Nurturing System and cultivate these heroines, raising each heroine’s Nurturing Value to one hundred, so they’re at least not so closed off to love! I’ll even provide you with an identity that makes it easy to nurture them!]

“Nurturing Value? What’s that?”

[You can think of it as favorability points in your two-dimensional games! But… hehe, due to gender reasons, it can’t exactly be ‘favorability’.]

Gender reasons? What did that mean? Ophe wasn’t particularly curious, so he simply nodded.

He had merely asked a casual question, but the light ball was clearly not about to give a casual answer.

[Please help me…]

[As long as the Nurturing Value reaches one hundred, you can return. You don’t have any friends here anyway, so just consider it a trip to another world. Doesn’t that tempt you…?]

[Please help me… I can only rely on you…]

And so, Ophe was relentlessly pleaded with for a good while.

Ophe was socially anxious, and he convinced himself that he truly had nothing to lose, coupled with his inherent difficulty in refusing others.

Moreover, he genuinely liked the novel, especially its heroines. A small fantasy even stirred within him, a thought that perhaps, even someone like him, if he could get a head start on the male lead…

“Th-th-then… alright…”

[You agreed!?]

“Mm… mm, I agreed.”

[Good! Then it’s happily decided! You’re the one!]

Ophe felt deeply unsettled, a distinct sensation of having boarded a pirate ship.

Personally, he felt it should be fine. After all, having read the novel, raising the heroines’ favorability shouldn’t be too difficult. And having just finished the book, his memory of the plot points should prevent him from dying.

He would simply treat it as a trip to the world of the book.

In that case, he, too, would experience the same kind of excitement. Upon returning, even if he remained a socially anxious shut-in, he surely wouldn’t have lived this life in vain.

Suddenly, a white light flashed before his eyes.

[Oh, right, once you get there, don’t go casually engaging in ‘manual work’ (TL Note: A euphemism for masturbation.) out of curiosity, alright? After all, they say a girl’s pleasure is a hundred times that of a boy’s. What if you literally ‘came to death’?]

“Huh?”

Ophe was abruptly startled.

“What? What do you mean? A girl’s pleasure?”

The light ball’s voice became languid and pleased.

[Oh, did I not tell you? Once you cross over, to avoid interfering with the male lead’s pursuit of girls, you’ll be turned into a girl!]

Ophe was utterly bewildered in that instant.

He frantically shouted, “I’m not going! I’m not going!”

Yet, the light grew increasingly dazzling.

[Oh, but you can’t. You’ve already agreed, so it’s not possible, is it?]

[Ah, right, one last choice for you.]

[Once you cross over, do you wish to be cherished by all, like a precious treasure, or toyed with by all, like a plaything?]

Ophe froze once more.

He hesitated for a moment, after all, he would become a girl after crossing over… and it wouldn’t affect his body here…

[I understand.]

‘You understand what? I haven’t even chosen yet!’

However, his shout never escaped, and with that final flash of white light, the world spun violently before his eyes.

Pain.

So much pain.

His heart ached terribly.

Numerous fragmented memories flooded his mind.

“Queen, please do not move. You are on the verge of death.”

A voice devoid of emotion reached his ears.

Ophe opened her eyes. Before her lay an exquisitely beautiful face, long golden hair tied in a single ponytail, a pair of blue eyes serene to the point of indifference. Valiant and heroic, she was clad in white armor, and Ophe herself lay cradled in her arms.

The woman’s face was incredibly close.

So close, in fact, that Ophe could see her reflection in those icy blue eyes: a girl with white hair and crimson pupils.

She looked at herself.

She was dressed in opulent black attire, and blood still gushed from a wound near her heart.

“Are you alright, Queen? You must maintain consciousness. This is no time to fall asleep.”

As Ophe gazed at the valiant yet aloof girl, a panel-like interface suddenly appeared before her.

[Heroine Marta Nurturing Value: 0]

[Congratulations, Host, for successfully activating the Nurturing System! Encountering a heroine will initiate nurturing. You can return home once all heroines’ Nurturing Values reach 100, signifying mission completion.]

[Furthermore: Nurturing Value cannot exceed 100. Should it exceed one hundred, uncontrollable events will occur. Host, please be extremely careful.]

So, the next step was to encounter the heroines and slowly fill this Nurturing Value, right?

Her heart throbbed… her head began to ache as well… her vision blurred… It hurt… so much…

She could only reach out a hand, softly calling out, “Marta…” Then, she lost consciousness once more.

She slumped into Marta’s embrace.

Before her awareness faded completely, she felt a cold, armored hand grasp hers.