'I'm on a different planet in a different universe and the language and labels are completely alien, but these cleaning products are basically just like the ones on Earth. Bleach, ammonia, even some hydrogen peroxide. That's neat.' Li Mei thought as she tapped a finger against her chin, staring at the shelf of cleaning supplies without actually focusing on them. The smell of chemicals, dust, and fresh blood was entirely ignored as she pondered her options.

'I can't leave the estate. Someone killed 44 and is not expecting to see her alive again. The entire staff is in on keeping her suppressed, abused, and away from her Owner for some reason. With that in mind more than one person may have been in on the murder and would be very displeased to see her returning to work.'

44's body was weak, frail. And Li Mei wasn't eager to experience the life of a slave. To be beaten, abused, ordered around, treated like garbage, and murdered in her sleep.

Li Mei swore. 'Forget that.'

She stashed the bloody knife in storage for later. Then she climbed to her feet, wincing at lingering pains in her stomach, and edged toward the closet door. Memories flashed through her mind - the location of the closet, the nearest secret passageways, the layout of the estate and its many buildings. Working schedules, who'd be where and when.

-----

[Archive]

Data downloaded: Agilo Estate Work Schedule Rotation

Data downloaded: Agilo Estate Layout

Map updated!

-----

Li Mei nearly jumped out of her skin when a holoscreen popped up with new information. "I'll have to get used to that," she muttered, shaking her head. She brought up the map to see there was more than just the closet filled out, in great intricate detail. Everything was exactly as 44 memorized.

The Interface was just as much of a cheat as Li Mei hoped it would be. She grinned and leaned against the closet door. Already winded from exertion, she breathed slowly and listened for noise in the hallway.

Only silence.

Li Mei waited until she regulated her breathing before edging the door open.

Outside the closet all was dark. Silver moonlight filtered through cracks in heavy curtains covering rows of massive windows that during the daylight hours overlooked a courtyard filled with flowers. Between each set of windows was a different statue, exquisitely carved faces eerily sinister in the dark.

At night the manor house was wreathed in oppressive silence. Guards patrolled the walled perimeter but never set foot inside the manor itself unless there was an emergency. All five slaves other than 44 lived in a small dorm occupying part of the basement, where they could quickly respond should their Owner request a midnight snack. Hired help and their families lived in various cottages on the property.

The Agilo Estate encompassed a lush valley of roughly 1000 square kilometers. There were fifty people on staff payroll at any given time on the estate including slaves and guards, on work schedules that rotated every ten days - aside from 44 who was sent wherever nasty jobs needed doing.

Everyone living on the estate was clustered into the eastern edge of the valley. The western side had a long narrow lake while a large forest occupied most of the rest, which Adalrich Agilo kept preserved as fishing and hunting grounds for the rare times he visited. A couple small farms and orchards situated between the manor and the forest provided fresh produce and livestock throughout the year.

Not that 44 got to taste any of it. Poor girl never got to eat anything good in her insignificant life before she was murdered. Li Mei traced the number branded into her left arm with her fingertips. 'I'll make sure to live a life worthy of us both, kiddo. I promise.'

Her stomach growled so loud Li Mei thought she saw the nearest curtains ripple in response. 'Alright, 44's ghost lives in my stomach? Food's a good idea anyway.'

The manor had three storeys, not including the basement and attic. 44 chose a supply closet on the third floor to hide in that night, which meant Li Mei had to inch her way down several staircases and through way too many hallways to reach the kitchen on the bottom floor - a slave couldn't activate magitech elevators. Her bare feet were cushioned by plush carpet and ornate rugs muffling the sound of her passing.

What should have been a ten minute walk through a big mansion turned into a two hour hike. Li Mei kept stopping for breath. 'I need to get some food and start a training regiment,' she thought as she leaned against an antique grandfather clock, gasping for air like a fish out of water. 'This is getting silly!'

Glancing up at the clock face unlocked a new function. The Interface added a digital clock display with the current time just above the minimap.

'This much unused space is wasteful,' Li Mei thought with a frown, staring at a long banquet table in the cavernous dining hall. Flowers in ornate vases were only just starting to wilt, their refreshing scent lingering in the warm night air. 'What is the point of having things you don't put to use? Opulence without significance...'

She shook her head, passing through the carved double doors into the kitchen.

Spices, lacquered cabinets and polished metal with a hint of soapy water from cleaned dishes. Li Mei inhaled deeply, enjoying the fragrance. Then she leaned over the sink, turning the tap just enough to get a stream of cold, clear water flowing quietly down the drain. She drank until her stomach stopped complaining about being empty. Indoor plumbing was powered by magitech devices, but the faucet itself wasn't a device. Like the fridge, or toilets, they could be safely operated by slaves.

Elysium had a lot of strange and foreign produce, but many eaten by commoners looked eerily similar to ones on Earth. Li Mei rooted through the cabinets and pantry, sniffing some exotic-looking vegetables and fruits. She tried examining a fuzzy blue vegetable in greater detail, and a cyan circle popped up around it with a small holoscreen like a tooltip off to the side.

-----

[Potato]

-----

'Is that an approximate comparison or...?' Li Mei wrinkled her nose, putting the suspicious vegetable back in its bag.

There were several burlap sacks filled with fuzzy blue potatoes, pastel rainbow rice, and narrow yellow-striped pink onions.

She resisted the impulse to stash everything edible in her storage. One cubic meter was available, which was a much larger space than it sounded. It could hold 1000 liters of liquid! It wasn't enough to store a car, but it could store a motorcycle or two. More than enough space for her needs!

All she needed was enough food to last until she could get food again the next night. If she stole too much at once it'd be noticed.

Stealing wasn't the right way to think about it though. A certain amount of food should have been 44's to begin with, it was others who prevented her from receiving proper daily rations. Li Mei was just taking it back.

She found some empty thermos canisters in the cupboards which she filled with water. A few fruits were cautiously nibbled, and when she found the flavors pleasing Li Mei grabbed more.

Using Scan she found glass jars of preserved fruits and vegetables in the pantry that wouldn't be missed judging by the layer of dust on their lids. There were also some small boxes of green crackers that went into her ravenous storage box.

Leftovers from lunch or snacks were stored in the fridge, cooked remnants from the servants. They ate breakfast and dinner in their cottages so the stuff in the little square containers wasn't exactly fresh. Li Mei took one whose contents smelled delicious and didn't look too dubious.

A couple dishes and silverware went into storage too just in case. 'Might as well start collecting stuff that I'll need in the future,' Li Mei thought with a satisfied nod. 'Just a bit at a time for now.'

Satisfied with her haul, Li Mei slipped out of the kitchen and inched slowly back through the dining room into the maze of hallways. She sifted through 44's memories and located a linen closet to grab some sheets, blankets, and a pillow. Then she chose a storage room near the kitchen with lots of dusty boxes and crates, squeezing her way between a pair of precariously balanced stacks.

It took all her strength to move some of the boxes around, creating a corner for herself that would be hidden even if someone opened the door and looked inside. Satisfied with her temporary hiding place, Li Mei ate some of the fruits and planned out a training regimen.

After all, if she wanted to avenge 44's murder she had to get her new body in shape to do so.

44 would have been a cute little girl if she wasn't malnourished. Jade white skin was tanned from years of being sent to work outside doing heavy work no small child should be asked to do, a slight yellowish undertone indicating lack of vitamins. Her natural carmine hair was dry, faded, matted, and limp from lack of proper care. The sheer amount of split ends made Li Mei wrinkle her nose in distaste.

From memories the child had of glancing in mirrors, Li Mei knew her large cat-like eyes were a soft mauve in color. Dark circles detracted from their beauty, along with the gaunt hollows of her cheeks.

They fed 44 enough to barely keep her alive and working. None of it was anything substantial, but somehow her straight teeth were fairly white with no cavities or cracks. Sharp eyeteeth would give her a charming mischievous grin if the kid ever smiled.

Li Mei turned such thoughts over in her mind as she forced her frail body to do countless sit-ups. Recovering from malnutrition would take a long time, and require food high in nutrients. Her goal for the moment was to get her body to a state where it wasn't exhausting to traverse the manor.

Baby steps. Sometimes literally!

Days on Elysium were thirty hours long. For nine of those hours she slept with one eye open, nesting in a pile of sheets and blankets in the dusty storage closet's hidden corner. At the slightest noise or disturbance in her vicinity she'd jerk awake, holding her breath until silence reigned once more.

She allocated four hours of night time to gathering resources. Food and water from the kitchens, toiletries from the bathrooms, clothes from the laundry room. It would all add up over time when packed into her storage, so she made sure to take only what was absolutely necessary for future survival.

Two hours every three days was spent sneaking into the bathrooms to take quick showers, scrubbing layers of grime off her body.

For the other seventeen hours every day Li Mei trained her body. Push-ups, lunges, squats, sit-ups. Even deep breathing exercises to strengthen her weak lungs.

She started with such a slow pace it was infuriating, forced to pause after five minutes of activity to rest for an entire hour. While resting she did slow stretches, moving up to simple yoga poses when her limbs stopped their violent trembling. Once her body recovered enough she went back to strength exercises until she had to rest again.

Every ache felt like the worst thing in the world. Every pain stabbed right to her bone marrow. The Sickly trait reducing pain resistance wasn't kidding around! Li Mei didn't enjoy pain, but she clenched her teeth and forced through for the sake of her plans.

Being in a small body felt strange at first, but a few days of exercise helped Li Mei feel comfortable in her new skin. After ten days she didn't feel stinging pains in her lungs during exercise, and didn't need to rest as much either.

Sneaking around to get to the lavatory every so often was a bit difficult, since so many people worked in and around the manor. Using the secret passages helped, but more than once Li Mei found herself crouched behind some statue holding her breath so people nearby wouldn't notice her.

She earned two new skills because of it.

-----

[Hide Lv.1]

You have started learning how to erase your presence. It's easier for you to be overlooked when crouching behind cover.

-----

-----

[Stealth Lv.1]

Your quiet footfalls are rarely heard by those not listening for them. People are not naturally alerted to your presence unless you draw attention to yourself or they're otherwise on guard.

-----

Holding in her bodily functions while creeping down hallways was a special level of torture. Watching the slow tick upwards of her health percentage and EXP gains in the Interface was a different yet equally horrible kind of torture.

Twenty days passed of rigorous exercise combined with an improved diet, and her health only went up 9%! The percentages next to the basic stats were her progress towards gaining another stat point.

-----

NAME: Li Mei

HEALTH: 52% (Malnourished)

AGE: 12

SPECIES: Human (? ? ?)

JOB: Slave

MANA: 0/0

M. QUALITY: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

EXP: 15

STR: 1 (0.3%)

CON: 1 (0.5%)

DEX: 1 (0.3%)

INT: 3 (0.1%)

WIS: 8

TITLES: [Experiment 44] [Illegitimate Child]

TRAITS: [Enslavement Bind] [Sickly]

SKILLS: [Archive] [Hide Lv.1] [Scan Lv.1] [Stealth Lv.1] [Storage Lv.1]

SPELLS:

-----

She only earned fifteen points of experience total, less than one per day. Focusing on the EXP line brought up a cute animated shop menu for using experience points, promising more items to unlock when her strength increased or other requirements were met. Only base stat point upgrades were available, in whole numbers and percentage increments, but the cheapest were hundreds of points at the minimum! Fifteen was a mere drop in a vast bucket.

Li Mei leaned against the wall of the storage room and sighed, dragging her fingers down her face in frustration. "I'm just a frail little kid now, how will I get myself out of this situation without proper means or resources... I can hide and steal food for awhile, but at this rate it'll take years before I can even think about 44's revenge. And that's assuming someone doesn't find me first!

"I don't wanna stay in the walls forever like a gross sneaky rat. I want a soft bed with lots of pillows! And leisurely hot bubble baths every night! Delicious hot dinners with sweet desserts! Fragrant deodorant and shampoo and lotion for my poor hands! How can I get stronger so I can get out of this place and start living the good life?"

Almost the instant she stopped complaining a holoscreen popped up with a small animated explosion of confetti. Above the window was a chubby cat character doing an adorable dance. Li Mei watched it for a few moments, mesmerized, before she realized there were words underneath.

-----

[New Item!]

New Item available for purchase in the EXP Shop!

-----

She'd never received a notification for the EXP Shop before so her curiosity was immediately piqued.

The shop added a new category called Function Upgrades, with a single option for purchase outlined in bright green.

For 15 EXP Li Mei could unlock a Quest System. Eyebrows arched in surprise as her mauve eyes lit up, a faint sparkle hidden in their depths. 'Well, well, well. How convenient! Was this planned ahead of time when the Interface was designed? Did I unlock a backup plan through my complaining? Or is that Meddling Intern of Death paying close attention to me?'

Regardless of the underlying reason, a favorable solution to some of her problems was hovering in her face.

-----

[Quest System]

Max LV: 5

The Interface can assign tasks and provide ample rewards.

Your current situation and recommended goals will be analyzed based on your environment, capabilities, and previous activity. Based on the results of the analysis Quests within your capabilities will be generated.

Rewarded EXP will be determined based on your abilities. More difficult Quests will give higher rewards.

Amount of EXP earned is multiplied exponentially with the Quest System's level. Starting at Lv. 3, the Quest System can create tangible rewards in addition to EXP.

-----

She purchased it without hesitation. All her hard won EXP from the past twenty days vanished in a puff of animated smoke and fireworks. Cyan light flooded her field of vision accompanied by a sensation of cool water passing through her body.

When the light faded the Quest System option turned into a Lv.2 upgrade. Li Mei cringed seeing all the zeroes on the upgrade's price tag. "Yikes. That's not happening any time soon!"

Beneath the minimap a new exclamation icon appeared to join the other three. Li Mei eagerly rubbed her hands together and opened the window.

Quests were sorted into tabs depending on how difficult they were, ranked from zero to five stars. Zero and one star Quests would be auto-completed, distributing rewards as she fulfilled preset conditions. For Quests with higher star rankings she'd have to accept the Quest first.

Things like taking meals, completing a ten minute basic exercise course, and sneaking into a bathroom for a shower were repeating zero star Quests with 1 EXP as a reward. It didn't sound like much until Li Mei considered she didn't earn a whole point in a day on her own without those Quests.

She could get credit for one shower a day, four basic exercise courses, and three meals. That was eight EXP a day just for having good living habits!

A repeating one star quest for sneaking into the manor house's study and scanning a book into the Archive was worth 10 EXP, ten times more than the zero star Quests. A two star Quest involved leaving the manor for a secret endurance run lasting at least three hours, rewarding 75 EXP as a base reward that was increased to 150 EXP if she pulled it off without being seen by any staff members!

"Thank you, Meddling Intern! This System's amazing!"