Outrageous

T/N: We’re back with another novel! This one is long, so I’m estimating it might take me quite a few months to finish translating everything.
As usual, please join my discord for announcements of delays and reminders of when new chapters are posted!

Sponsored Content

My lovely Discord mod is also getting married today (or tomorrow in her timezone), so congratulations in advance Nicole, here’s my present for you! Everybody either go to Discord and congratulate @strega-nil, or leave your well wishes for her down in the comments section!

Additionally, I wanted to give some info on the title of this novel.
There are a few different ways you can translate 离谱, outrageous, ridiculous, absurd… but I figured that Outrageous probably sounded the best for a title.
In the novel though, this term does pop up quite a bit, and I’ll use whichever word works best in the sentence/context.

An City, 6pm.

The horizon was bathed in delicate shades of pink and purple, with a beautiful glow from the setting sun.

In an office building against the sunset, a young, long-haired girl stood up from her seat and stretched lazily, before turning off her computer and preparing to get off work punctually.

Shouldering her bag, she had just taken a single step out of the office when she heard her colleagues start discussing their gathering tomorrow.

Someone excitedly said: “Everybody has to come, everybody has to.”

A female colleague looked around and said: “Only Yi Yi and Xiao-Meng[1] aren’t around, I’ll inform them then.”

“Alright, thanks for doing it!”

They took stock of who was around, recorded who was missing and prepared to inform them when they went home.

But nobody remembered they still had a colleague called Lu Zhi Wei.
It was as if she had never existed in their world.

—— Even if she had just walked out of the door.

Lu Zhi Wei walked with quick, light steps, turning a deaf ear to the conversation in the office.

It didn’t matter whether they remembered her or not.

If they didn’t remember, she would be saving a bunch of money and having a day of rest where nobody would disturb her anyway.

Although she had a lot of such days, but which lowly corporate slave would disdain having free time to rest without anybody disturbing them!

Thinking of this, her footsteps got even lighter.

Getting off work punctually, a good amount of time to rest, the happiness of a corporate slave was just that simple!

She took the train home, ate and showered before she started packing up her house.
To her surprise, she found a discount voucher for a barbecue restaurant.

Tomorrow was the last day it could be used.
Tomorrow was also the weekend, and she didn’t need to work.

Holding on to the voucher, she felt as if God was rewarding her for her week-long slog at work.

Then, how could she refuse?

Plan go-to-Xinghe-Mall-and-eat-barbecue-on-Saturday, commence!

……

The weather was pleasant on Saturday, with clear skies and a nice breeze.
It was the peak of autumn, and the sun rays shining down were warm and comfortable.
The nice weather was expected to last the whole day.

Lu Zhi Wei sat at the innermost corner of the barbecue restaurant, alone.
There weren’t a lot of customers inside, nor were there none.
The waiters on staff were more than adequate to handle the amount.

Even so, Lu Zhi Wei was still forgotten twice and even though she ordered earlier, her food came even later than a table of guests who came in last.

Lu Zhi Wei’s attitude was good, not impatient or annoyed.
To her, as long as the food came, it was fine.
It was useless to stress about whether it came quickly or slowly.

Sponsored Content

—— After all, she had such a transparent existence.

The honey-marinated steak was cut into strips, and the meat sizzled tantalisingly as it was placed on the grill.

The air was filled with the fragrance of cooking meat, the scent wafting into Lu Zhi Wei’s nostrils and whetting her appetite.
She was just about to pick up her chopsticks and dig in when she heard a “bzzzt”.
A notification popped up on her phone as it started chiming incessantly.

Unlocking it, she took a look.
It was the group chat from high school, talking about the annual reunion dinner.
The class leader in charge had already texted each person privately and planned out how many people could attend, reminding them enthusiastically not to forget the date.

Chewing on the meat, Lu Zhi Wei looked at the chat with a blank expression.
She didn’t even have to tap in to know that she was definitely not included in the planning.
Because she was definitely going to be forgotten.

It was a tale as old as time, repeating every year.
This was her special power.

—— Invisibility. Please read at jiulian lian .
wordpress .
com

Invisible to the point that it was a common thing to forget about her.
Whether someone could remember her was purely based on luck.

If she was in their peripheral vision, people would at least be able to see her.
But sometimes, even if she was in someone’s peripheral vision, she could almost hear her invisible existence shouting: I can do it! I’m going to let the heavens know I refuse to lose!

Then she would end up continuing to be as invisible as air.
The whole world treated her like that, even her parents.

But it wasn’t completely a bad thing.
At least she didn’t have to worry that she would have any embarrassing history.
At least she didn’t have to concern herself with social matters that were unnecessary but still required.
At least she didn’t have to worry about her off days being taken up.

Most importantly, she could save money.

To a lowly corporate slave who was broke and could only rely on themselves, of course it would be best to save as much money as possible.

Counting the gathering organised by her colleagues and the high school reunion, she had already successfully saved all that money!

Thinking about that, her eyebrows lifted slightly in happiness as she placed her phone down and continued eating her grilled meat.

And reminded the waiter for the third time to refill her tea.

……

Lu Zhi Wei bought an ice cream cone and walked around the mall as she ate it.
She looked lonely as she brushed shoulders with smiling, laughing people walking by.

But nobody will notice her.
Her strange physique and the air would essentially swallow her up, making her look inconspicuous, as if she never existed.

She was actually quite happy about this.
She didn’t have to care about anybody at all.
It was almost as if she was the one who had made the world isolated instead of the other way around.

As she walked, she stopped outside of a watch shop and tilted her head to look at the person in the advertisement.

Meng Lian Yu, a world-renowned actress, was her favourite actress.
It was also her dream.

Lu Zhi Wei had been an actress for a short period of time previously, and she had dreamt of standing under the shining lights like Meng Lian Yu, being looked at and liked by people.

Even if the light that shone on her was just a tiny ray.

But it was proven that everything was all her own wishful thinking.
She couldn’t change reality, and she had even less power to change this world so she could only go back to her boring, insipid life.

The strawberry-flavoured ice cream melted on her tongue as she was thinking about her old dreams.
She suddenly felt unusually cold, as if her limbs were all filled with cold air, resulting in her snapping out of her thoughts.

She lowered her head to look at the ice cream cone.
It was autumn, she should eat less of such stuff.
Counting the days, she should also buy some yarn and prepare to knit the sweaters and scarves she would need for the winter.

Knitting it herself would be cheaper than buying it, and her handiwork wasn’t too bad either.

She purchased what she needed and left the mall, walking toward the bus stand.

Sponsored Content

Even though all throughout her life, she was so outrageously transparent, but thankfully, when it came to traffic safety, she had never truly been “transparent”.

But she didn’t know if there would be a day when an accident would pop up.
She walked with her eyes trained on her phone as she started recording her expenses in an accounting app.

She had bought the yarn while the shop was running a sale, two for one, so she had managed to save money yet again.

She took out a coin for the bus fare, feeling her luck today was actually quite good.
Actually, with how optimistic she was, every day felt good to her.

Even though the world couldn’t see her, even though she was as invisible as air.
As long as she could live healthily and love herself, life could be just as fulfilling.

But nobody would be able to escape the saying “what goes up must come down[2]” in their life.

She was still feeling happy the previous second, when the next moment, she had just walked to the side of the traffic light when she was knocked over by someone.

Her body flailed as her canvas bag dropped to the ground and a “bang” sounded out——

Even a concert wouldn’t have been as loud as that sound her head made.

A child ran by in a hurry. Please read at jiulian lian .
wordpress .
com

He paused and scratched his head, feeling as if he had bumped into something.
Not turning around to look, he ran off again.

Leaving Lu Zhi Wei there, her face contorted in pain.

The crowd surged forward, the pedestrians walking by her without even looking at her for more than a second.
They wouldn’t even think about her, whether she was okay.

Only she knew that it hurt like hell!

She was afraid of pain, she had been ever since she was young.

A slight ache for someone else would be amplified multiple times when it came to her, attacking her nervous system without mercy.
It was as if there were uncountable nails drilling into her entire body without rest.
It hurt so badly she wanted to throw up blood and die on the spot!

Lu Zhi Wei’s heart raged as tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

Wild children were really too hateful!

They were the bane of the world! Enemies of the entire galaxy!!!

【Zzt zzt—— Zzt zzt——】

【System notification: successful access.】

A foreign voice broke her train of thought as her hand trembled slightly.

Just now…… Did she hear something?

【System notification: data download complete.】

That electronic voice rang out again, as if it was isolated from the world, unable to be accessed or caught.

It was too sci-fi-esque to be believable.

Doubt flooded Lu Zhi Wei’s face, but before she could consider this deeper, a bunch of foreign memories flooded her mind.
It was like a story, with a beginning and an end, with the main character and side characters, but she wasn’t inside.

And as for the main characters, she knew them.
They were a pair of popular, good-looking new entrants into the acting scene this year—— Sang Wan Ci and Qiu Luo.

She was forced to finish watching Sang Wan Ci and Qiu Luo’s life, almost like a TV drama, and she didn’t know what to feel.

Sponsored Content

In the heat of the moment, she didn’t know if she should have on a gossipy “oh my god, the two of them are actually a couple” expression or a shocked “what the hell is going on” expression.

At this point, that voice sounded out again.

【System notification: the male protagonist’s halo has been connected.】

Male, male what???

She was utterly dumbfounded, then she heard a clear, soft, mature female voice floating next to her ear: “Are you alright?”

An autumn breeze brushed past as an elegant, fresh fragrance filled the air, gently enveloping Lu Zhi Wei.

She lifted her head slowly as she caught a glimpse of a pair of eyes that was as beautiful as the stars.
The person in front of her was wearing a black mask and a cap, evidently trying to hide her face.

But just based on the half of her face that was exposed, she was already incredibly pretty.
At such a close distance, Lu Zhi Wei could recognise her immediately.

—— Sang Wan Ci.

Her face had been deeply carved into Lu Zhi Wei’s memory, simply because she was too good looking.

She was a slender, ephemeral beauty who had an outstanding bearing.
Even the most beautiful sunshine and the holiest moon couldn’t compare to her beauty.

At such a close distance, her good looks were even more impressive.
Nobody would even dare to photoshop their selfies to look like this, but she could actually be born with a face like this!

Sang Wan Ci didn’t realise her cover had been blown, bending over and stretching out a hand to pick up the canvas bag Lu Zhi Wei had dropped.
Her long hair slid over her skinny shoulder as she leaned over, almost as if she was filming a shampoo commercial.

Lu Zhi Wei was still in a daze.

Sang Wan Ci handed the bag over to her, as she looked down and finally took it.
Inadvertently, she saw a mole on the back of Sang Wan Ci’s right hand.

It was a tiny one, nestled near her thumb.
On the back of her fair and delicate hand, it didn’t look out of place at all.

Sang Wan Ci reminded her gently: “Your forehead’s all red, remember to apply some medicine when you get home.”

Lu Zhi Wei blinked woodenly as she suddenly heard the cold, mechanical voice in her mind issue an order——

【Mission issued: Tell the female lead, Sang Wan Ci, “I like you”.

【Time limit: Five seconds.

【Five, four……】

Wait, mission? What mission?

What the hell is this thing!

Why would she suddenly tell Sang Wan Ci “I like you” for no reason!!!

Lu Zhi Wei’s brain was a mess and she felt like she was suffocating during those five seconds.

When the last second was over, an electrical current ran up from her foot, quickly enveloping her whole body as she felt everything go numb.
Her legs went weak as she fell forward, towards Sang Wan Ci’s embrace——

Sang Wan Ci quickly reached out to catch her.

Lu Zhi Wei was in so much pain she couldn’t speak.
She finally calmed down after a while, looking up.

Sang Wan Ci was silent. Please read at jiulian lian .
wordpress .
com

Sponsored Content

The atmosphere had gotten weird.

“You……”

Sang Wan Ci looked at the person in her arms, she had suddenly fallen onto her and held on tightly, refusing to let her go……

Her beautiful eyes narrowed as she came to a conclusion.

“Are a scammer[3]?”

Lu Zhi Wei: “???”

What sort of conclusion was that?

This child has just been shocked by electricity, that’s all!

Sang Wan Ci thought she was harbouring bad intentions, so she took a step back.

Losing her support, Lu Zhi Wei’s legs went weak again, as if she was going to kowtow to Sang Wan Ci.

In the nick of time, she quickly forced herself to support herself on one leg.

And then, she performed a kneel with a single knee for Sang Wan Ci.

As if she was proposing.

Sang Wan Ci: “……”

Lu Zhi Wei: “……”

Their gazes interlocked.

The atmosphere was not only tense, but it was also awkward.

The awkwardness Lu Zhi Wei felt at this very instant was everything that she owed over the last ten years, making up for all of it.

Even worse, she had no way of explaining why she suddenly fell into Sang Wan Ci’s embrace, because she didn’t even know where this electricity shock came from.

The fact that she didn’t wail at the pain was already a major accomplishment for her!

She rubbed her legs that felt like jelly as she started thinking of an excuse when the accursed voice in her mind spoke again.

【System notification: Administrator A5 has successfully connected, wishing you a happy cooperation.】

Then, a male voice rang out.

【System administrator A5, here to serve you wholeheartedly, you can just call me Lao Wu[4].】

Lao Wu was flipping through the files in the control room when he looked up lazily at the screen and froze, saying: 【…… Oho.】

【Seems like I came at a bad time?】

[1] 小梦 – A more familiar way of addressing someone by putting a 小 (xiao), meaning small, in front of their name.
Typically it’s their surname or the last character in their name. Jump back up.

[2] 乐极生悲 – This actually means more like, when you’ve reached the happiest point, sadness will come.
I think “what goes up must come down” is a pretty good phrase to use here though. Jump back up.

[3] 碰瓷 – So this one is interesting.
The term literally translates to “touching porcelain”, but it’s used in situations where people pretend to get into accidents and get hurt/injured so that they can scam money from victims. Jump back up.

[4] 老伍 – This translates to “old five”, but it’s a more casual term used to call someone.
Could mean this guy is the fifth in his family, or the fifth ever administrator, etc.
I’m keeping it as the pinyin version since that’s going to be his name moving forward. Jump back up.