Lu Lin opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

Beside the bed, lace-trimmed valances cascaded from the canopy above. An enormous wardrobe stood conspicuously to one side, not to mention the vanity table laden with cosmetics.

Even without deliberately sniffing, the air carried a layered, high-end perfume scent that was impossible to ignore.

Lu Lin realized she was lying on the big bed of a young lady's boudoir.

At the same time, (s)he felt a strong sense of strangeness in her chest.

She raised a hand and, without thinking, reached out to weigh the sensation.

‘So heavy, so soft, and really nice to knead?’

She quickly realized something was off.

‘Wait, what is this? How do I have breasts, and so big! But they really are nice to knead…’

To suppress this urge to explore her body further downward, Lu Lin hurriedly rolled out of bed, remembering the meaning of the journey.

‘That's right, I didn't come here for self-groping. I came to earn money.’

Lu Lin was a poor soon-to-be male college student.

Just after passing the college entrance exam, her father's back was bent by a falling steel bar, and her mother remarried and ran off.

Lu Lin's narrow shoulders suddenly understood the weight of life.

She maxed out every online loan she could get just to barely save her father's life.

Now she had to work three jobs a day, striving to scrape together enough for tuition over the summer and pay off some medical bills.

She needed money desperately.

That was why, a month after the summer vacation following the college entrance exam had passed, when she received an invitation in the mail from a holographic game company, she agreed without much thought:

[The holographic game uses next-generation AI technology, neural synchronization technology, and virtual reality technology, allowing players to connect online via the platform built by the game company and experience a brand-new life in the virtual network world.]

[This is only a small-scale scenario test, testing the NPC-AI technology, and does not represent the final quality of the game.]

[Invited players will play as an assassin infiltrating a magic academy, with the goal of killing a target.]

[A successful assassination will be rewarded with up to 30,000 in cash. Even if the assassination fails, a reward of 10,000 in cash will be given.]

Just testing a game would guarantee a reward of at least 10,000?

Is there really such a good deal in this world?

Naturally, Lu Lin couldn't quite believe it.

But the party listed on the contract was indeed MiliMili, the world's largest holographic game company.

"Alright, I'll sign it," Lu Lin decided then and there.

After going to the game company, the staff enthusiastically checked her physical indicators, taught her the basic operations, and then stuffed her into a nutrient pod filled with orange liquid.

And then, here she was now.

He, or rather, she. Standing in this perfume-filled room, she swiped a finger and opened the game system panel:

[Name: Lu Lin]

[Age: 18]

[Height: 170 cm]

[Disguised Identity: Honor Student of Saint White Noble Magic Academy]

[True Identity: Assassin]

[Quest: Kill the headmaster's daughter, "Ellie Aurora"]

[Time Limit: Three days]

[Quest background information below.]

[As an assassin, you have infiltrated Saint White Noble Magic Academy for a full year. The time is right. The mission begins.]

Simultaneously, information about assassination techniques and the target flowed into Lu Lin's mind.

‘No wonder I've been undercover for a year. Ellie herself is a powerful mage. To kill her and then retreat unscathed, I had to first lower her guard. But after I took over, there's no worry about retreating unscathed; I just need to find an opportunity to strike. I forged a noble identity, became a student at the school, unexpectedly discovered that my magic talent is not bad, and because I deliberately sought contact with Ellie, we have become close friends. But I still can't accept becoming a girl!’

Feeling the drafty chill coming from beneath her pants, Lu Lin still felt unbearably embarrassed.

No wonder—this holographic game world was too realistic, so real that every breath of air, every tactile sensation, was almost indistinguishable from the real world.

This forced her body to change from male to female, but her mind remained that of the poor student Lu Lin.

Under the influence of hormones, Lu Lin felt an exploratory desire for her own body that only the opposite sex would have.

‘Damn it, what am I thinking?’

She quickly shook her head, casting aside these stray thoughts.

Game time was synchronized with real time. Her hospitalized father, without her care, would certainly be distressed.

She had to find a way to complete the quest as quickly as possible, aiming to log out of the game early.

First of all, she needed to find Ellie.

Just as she was thinking this, the door to the room was pushed open by a delicate figure.

Realizing she was only wearing a thin silk nightgown, Lu Lin used her left hand to cover the two protruding points on her chest and her right hand to guard her lower body.

The newcomer, seeing this, said with a hint of playful reproach:

"Oh come on, Lu Lin, even guarding against your bestie! We've seen plenty of each other when bathing together~"

Non-existent rosy memories multiplied.

Lu Lin recognized that the girl before her, about her own height, was Ellie, her good friend.

‘So we have a relationship where we bathe together…’

An image suddenly surfaced in her mind: herself and Ellie, two pairs of snowy white bouncing and colliding in the bath.

‘So we've become this close… It's making me a little embarrassed to make a move…’

"Come on, today's practical training class is about to start. Here, change into your school uniform." Ellie deftly opened the wardrobe in Lu Lin's room and took out an ultra-short skirt that barely covered the buttocks.

"Ugh..." The thought of putting this on her own body made Lu Lin instinctively resistant, but if she didn't wear it, it might arouse suspicion.

Right now, she didn't yet know how high her chances of successfully killing Ellie in a head-on fight were.

Better to take it one step at a time, and make a plan once Ellie let her guard down.

Ellie's urging came again: "What's wrong? Hurry up and put it on."

The hymn of humanity is the hymn of courage.

‘I'll risk it…’

Lu Lin's trembling heart commanded her hands to slip the short skirt over her fair, tender thighs. As she put it on, she unconsciously touched her own thigh...

Even touching her own leg felt like thievery.

"Good, and the knee-high socks, the short-sleeved blouse, the little leather shoes. Quick, quick, you're usually swift and decisive. Are you sick today?"

‘I'm not sick, I'm on the verge of dying of embarrassment.’

Steeling herself, she put on the full school uniform. In the full-length mirror, there stood a slender, graceful Lu Lin.

The girl hugging half of her arm, her full bosom pressing against her shoulder, with an even more voluptuous figure, was Ellie.

Luckily, Lu Lin didn't have a habit of putting on makeup, so that was a relief.

Ellie pulled her out of the room. On the way to the practical training grounds, they had to pass through a corridor decorated in a palatial style.

The two of them didn't seem to have good interpersonal relationships outwardly. The passing classmates' gazes toward Lu Lin held only contempt, while their gazes toward Ellie were of hatred and jealousy.

‘Commoner origin.’

A clue flashed through Lu Lin's mind.

‘Ellie is the headmaster's adopted child, originally of lowly commoner status.’

Magic was supposed to be a mark of the nobility. The other noble students could not tolerate Ellie learning magic, let alone that her magic talent surpassed their own.

And Lu Lin, a fake noble who had befriended Ellie, was naturally regarded as a traitor by those noble students.

Nobles despising commoners was just the setting of this school scenario, but for some reason, Lu Lin felt a surge of irritation.

‘I seem to really dislike nobles. Is that the setting for the assassin role I'm playing?’

The setting of the character she was playing was reversely influencing her thoughts as a player. This was truly the tail wagging the dog.

‘Damn game company, first making me a girl, and now letting me be mentally influenced by the original character's setting, without even informing me in advance. They say things that seem too good always come at a price. Once this assassination quest is done, I'll definitely make them pay me extra! I'm sorry, Ellie. Though you are very cute, for the 30,000… After dark, once you're asleep, I'll make my move.’