The Unwelcome Transformation

The numbness in her body wasn’t limited to that. She instinctively pressed her legs together, only to be struck by a sudden, overwhelming sense of emptiness and loss.

What kind of situation was this?

Her ‘good brother,’ which she had cultivated for two decades—the one that had never even left the newbie village, let alone descended into any challenging dungeons—had repeatedly *sent her to the delivery room*.

In other words, her ‘equipment’ hadn’t even warmed up before the system forcefully wiped it clean.

That was her default factory configuration, accompanying her for twenty years! And they didn’t even provide a compensation package?

At this thought, an indescribable bitterness welled up within her.

Following that was a subtle sense of discomfort, a direct consequence of the changes in her physical anatomy.

What truly shattered her composure was the realization that, judging by this progress bar, she’d likely have to participate in the ‘dungeon’ every girl cleared monthly.

Moreover, this dungeon couldn’t be cleared with a team, couldn’t be AFK’d, and required a mandatory monthly login.

Just imagining the scenario made her head spin, and her vision momentarily blurred.

How would she conceal this in a male dorm when the time came?

This dual sense of physiological and psychological displacement left her even more distraught.

Wait a moment…

She suddenly recalled the inexplicable, severe lower abdominal pain that had lasted for several days recently, as well as the bloody stool that had terrified her.

Suddenly, all the clues clicked into place.

Holy shit.

It became clear that the changes in her body had begun much earlier; she had almost convinced herself she was terminally ill.

Yet, that wretched Xiao Qi had not only flat-out refused to admit anything, but had also fobbed her off with a ‘mother hen shiver’ and concocted some rubbish about ‘puberty hormone fluctuations’.

It was laughable that she hadn’t pressed for more answers at the time.

She should have realized something was wrong much earlier.

Xiao Qi, *squeak, squeak, squeak*—her contradictory answers were clearly a sign of a guilty conscience!

Now, that artificial idiot was nowhere to be found.

She certainly didn’t believe any nonsense about ‘entering maintenance mode’.

The rascal had most likely seen the writing on the wall and simply packed up and fled.

The culprit was untraceable, and her current state couldn’t be reverted.

What was she to do now?

A profound sense of bewilderment and helplessness washed over her once more.

Without system guidance or any experience to draw upon, where could she possibly find someone to help?

Her parents? She couldn’t bring herself to tell them, nor could she imagine their reaction.

Friends? Jiang Chen… She swiftly dismissed that perilous option.

Her other buddies? Was she supposed to private message Chen Hao and ask, ‘Hey bro, you there? Recommend a good sanitary pad brand?’

Just the thought alone made her feel so heartbroken she wanted to cry.

Or perhaps, post online: ‘My bro turned into a sis, what do I do? Urgent, waiting online!’

She imagined the comment section would be flooded with stale jokes like ‘DM me your contact info,’ ‘Venmo me 50 for gender transition tips,’ or ‘Bro, let me see those legs’.

There was an even more chilling practical problem: what if the monthly dungeon truly did become mandatory next time? How would she, a total newbie, solo it?

She didn’t even know what expression to wear or what identity to assume when buying sanitary pads at the convenience store, let alone how to face the brightly colored packaging on the shelves.

This couldn’t go on. She had to find a solution, whether for self-preservation or to maintain appearances. She absolutely had to take action.

Picking up her phone again, her fingers scrolled across the screen. She began searching for information on ‘basic female body care’—details she had passively received in the simulator before, but now had to actively understand and manage.

The page loaded, revealing a screen full of knowledge points so detailed they bordered on trivial: choices of intimate apparel materials and replacement frequency, basic cleaning precautions… and so on.

As she read line by line, her brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

Before, showers were done in five minutes, dressing was purely by feel, and aside from regular haircuts and adjusting clothes for seasonal changes, there was almost nothing that required special attention.

But now… she had to admit, being a girl was truly troublesome.

After browsing through a series of informational posts, she had a rough understanding of about seventy to eighty percent of it.

It wasn’t just the added layer of a delicate physiological cycle to manage; there were also the accompanying higher demands for intimate apparel and the inescapable hygiene issues.

Materials needed to be breathable, cuts had to be snug, and even the washing methods had their own specific requirements.

This conclusion made her cheeks flush, yet her rationality compelled her to acknowledge a fact that filled her with extreme shame.

In other words, she could no longer wear her current loose-fitting men’s underwear. Not only was it uncomfortable, but it was also… unsafe and inconvenient.

‘Great, another expense…’ she muttered, tapping open a shopping app.

She scrolled down the page, revealing a cascade of images that made her cheeks burn.

Once upon a time, these were ‘perk pictures’ furiously forwarded in group chats.

All those past ‘skits’ she’d critiqued with her bros, all the ‘bricks’ they’d moved… now they had all become boomerangs, hitting her squarely.

Taking a deep breath, she quickly scrolled past the lace, bows, and sheer styles.

Finally, she selected the most basic light-colored pure cotton style. No frills, no fancy designs; the main goal was simply something she could wear.

Sizing… relying on vague impressions from the simulator and her own estimation of her body’s changes, she deliberated for a long time. Her fingertip slid back and forth between S and M, until she finally closed her eyes and selected M.

Just one wouldn’t be enough for changes and washes. Gritting her teeth, she changed the quantity to three.

When the checkout page popped up, Zhou Yi’s heart bled as she saw the total—a sum that could buy three sets of game skins. It was enough for her and Jiang Chen to go out for hotpot three times!

But what could she do?

She cast a sidelong glance at the exorbitant sum.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and clicked ‘pay’. She filled in the address as the school’s smart locker, and for the recipient, she wrote ‘Zhou Yi’.

If, by some misfortune, it was discovered, she could still argue that she’d picked up the wrong package, at least preserving some dignity.

She absolutely couldn’t allow any packages to be delivered directly to the dorm. If Jiang Chen or Chen Hao were to stumble upon them… it wouldn’t just be social death; it would be instant cremation.

After the ordeal of phone searches and internal struggles, she felt as if she had just finished an 800-meter race, collapsing exhaustedly back into her chair.

Her phone was tossed casually onto the desk, and as the screen went dark, it reflected her face, etched with exhaustion and bewilderment.

What a tragedy, she thought. A whole dorm suddenly transforming into girls—that was probably the kind of plot only novels on ‘Pineapple Bun’ would dare to write. She’d read one where an entire dorm of guys turned into girls, alternating between laughter and tears, and it was still ongoing.

That author was truly a genius, with an incredibly unique imagination and a dense concentration of humor that had her laughing hysterically under her covers.

Yet, even as she laughed, she felt like crying.

Only when the very same plot unfolded in her own life did she truly understand what it meant to ‘laugh until you cry’.

Suddenly, she remembered an old joke she’d idly chatted about with Zhao Lei and the others: ‘Whoever turns into a girl first has to let their brothers have a turn’.

The world was quiet.

But she couldn’t relax at all.

Why wasn’t Zhao Lei the chosen one? Or Chen Hao, for that matter?

Wait, what if that guy Zhao Lei actually transformed?

An image flashed through her mind: the burly Zhao Lei, sporting pigtails, demurely calling out ‘Bro, I’ve changed!’ to her. A sudden wave of goosebumps erupted all over Zhou Yi’s body.

‘Pineapple Bun’ has ruined me… she mumbled.

Rubbing her arms, she muttered, yet couldn’t help but imagine Chen Hao as a girl… He’d probably follow her around every day, sweetly calling out, ‘Transformed big brother, please take care of me!’