Chapter 15: Starting the Grinding Mission.

What is a god?

In every myth, gods are transcendent beings—
standing on duty in the heavens 24/7,
coldly overlooking the world,
eternally steering the fates of mortals.

But the one Lu Hang had encountered felt… different.

Very reluctantly, he walked over.
There she sat on a park bench, completely at ease:
classic flip-flops, hoodie, the whole laid-back, homebody vibe.

Way too casual.

Where the hell did she even buy those flip-flops?

She looked exactly like a shut-in NEET who’d slept until afternoon,
finally dragged herself outside for a lazy stroll.

“Last mission was pretty good.
Released it just a few hours ago and you already finished.”
The goddess clapped her hands, clearly pleased.
She casually pulled a lollipop from her pocket and held it out to Lu Hang:
“Here, reward.”

“Don’t tell me this is the reward this time.”
Lu Hang felt like she was treating him like a kid.
He took it, almost tossed it straight into the trash,
then thought better of it—didn’t want to be too rude—
and pocketed it instead.
“Where’s the money?”

“Already transferred to your WeChat.”
She licked the lollipop indifferently:
“Twenty thousand.”

Lu Hang hadn’t checked his phone yet.
This afternoon he’d been convinced Bai Huang was dying;
he’d ignored every notification.
Now he opened it—sure enough, another twenty thousand from the goddess.

Seeing the money, the slight imbalance in his heart finally eased.

“Next up: new mission.
Brace yourself.”
The goddess smiled mysteriously.

“What is it this time?”
Lu Hang frowned, couldn’t help asking.

He was getting used to it by now—
two missions down already.

His mental resistance to how absurd these tasks could get
had been steadily building.
He felt himself starting to normalize the weirdness.

“You need to kiss a girl.
Time limit: today.”

“Huh?”
Lu Hang froze.

Mainly because this one sounded… too normal.
He almost didn’t react.

After cohabitation and barging in on someone using the toilet,
she’d finally found some regular manga for reference.

“But you said the deadline is today?”
Lu Hang thought for a second:
“Aren’t the time limits getting shorter?”

“Can’t help it—the results look good.”
She said casually:
“Plus I’ve done plenty of research.
Ever heard of the suspension bridge effect?”

“Heard of it, but not sure if it’s the same thing you mean.”

The goddess held up her lollipop and earnestly explained:
“When a man and woman are on a suspension bridge, their hearts race from fear.
They misattribute that adrenaline to romantic feelings.
Success rate of falling in love shoots way up.”

Lu Hang relaxed.

So it was just the classic suspension bridge effect.

Given how unhinged this goddess usually was,
he’d half-expected her to say something like tying someone to a rope and hanging them off a bridge so passersby’s hearts would race.

“The suspension bridge effect usually involves two people on the bridge, right?
Why are you only suspending me?”
Lu Hang asked helplessly.

“Who cares about the details—close enough.”
The goddess laughed.

“Haha, so the mission can’t be changed anyway, right?”
Lu Hang smiled, too tired to complain anymore.

“Can’t change it.”
She licked the lollipop, tongue flicking out:
“Great Fortune, you know?”

“Got it.”

Since it couldn’t be changed, he might as well figure out how to complete it.

No amount of begging would make this absurd goddess budge anyway.

Kissing actually seemed simple.

He had to admit—these missions were working.
Half a month ago, if someone told him he had to kiss a girl,
he’d have rather died than do it.
But after cohabitation and bursting in on a girl in the bathroom,
kissing suddenly felt… normal. Cute, even.

He’d been conditioned.

Thinking about the sixty thousand yuan already in his pocket,
Lu Hang forced himself to rally and asked for details:
“You said the time limit is today—meaning before midnight?”

“Yep. Good luck.”
The goddess gave a thumbs-up.

So time was still on his side—
it was only around five in the afternoon.
Seven hours left until midnight…

His own change really was huge.

Hearing “kiss a girl” now barely fazed him.

Doing one bizarre mission after another,
he felt like he was walking further and further down the path of becoming a scumbag…

“Got it.”
Lu Hang nodded:
“Anything else? If not, I’m heading back—someone’s waiting for me.”

He was used to it by now,
but he still didn’t understand how these brain-dead tasks had anything to do with falling in love.

Normally, if the goal was a sweet romance,
shouldn’t it involve self-improvement, finding a quality partner,
mutual companionship, growing old together?

Lu Hang couldn’t see the point of these idiotic missions.
If the goddess’s goal was to get him a girlfriend,
from where he stood now—he still had zero desire to date anyone.

Zero.

It just felt like he’d done a bunch of weird shit.

But at least there was money in it.
By graduation he could save up for investments.
Otherwise he’d have flipped on this abstract goddess long ago.

“You’re thinking, ‘What’s even the point of these missions, right?’”
The goddess licked her lollipop casually:
“‘I haven’t changed at all. Still zero interest in dating.’ Right?”

“Of course you’d know exactly what I’m thinking.”
Lu Hang rolled his eyes.

The goddess stood up, hands behind her back.
The setting sun lit up her golden pupils,
giving them a faint, flowing glow.
She suddenly leaned in close—
those eyes looked like they could steal souls.
Lu Hang frowned, unsure what she was doing.

But after staring into her eyes for just a few seconds,
he suddenly felt completely seen—
every part of him laid bare.

“See? The change has already started.”
She studied his eyes carefully:
“Toward the girl who was just standing over there—
you felt something different in your heart, didn’t you?”

Lu Hang froze for a long moment before realizing she meant Bai Huang.
He pushed her face away and laughed dryly:
“How could that be? She’s my friend.
Even if you gave me this mission for three more years,
I wouldn’t end up with her.
Relax—eight hundred percent sure.”

“Little guy won’t admit it~”

The goddess puffed out her cheeks,
clearly annoyed that a mere mortal had dared push her face away.
She stared hard into his eyes one last time,
then waved her hand dismissively:
“Fine. Don’t admit it.
Go do your thing. Good luck.”

The moment she finished speaking,
Lu Hang’s vision blurred.
When it cleared, the goddess was gone.

Another sudden disappearance.
Lu Hang felt no ripple in his heart anymore.

He was getting used to weird shit.

…

“Who was that just now?
I saw you two talking, then I blinked and she vanished?”
When he got back, Bai Huang immediately rushed over, shocked:
“Did you see a ghost?”

Lu Hang casually explained:
“She’s from the sports school next door.
Nickname: Female Bolt.
Blink and she’s gone.”

Bai Huang blinked, stunned:
“Holy shit, she runs that fast?”

“Obviously. She’s Bolt.”
Lu Hang brushed it off while mentally planning today’s mission.

Kissing might look absurd on paper,
but it was actually pretty achievable.

He already had a plan in mind.

Bai Huang was still staring in confusion at where the goddess had vanished,
clearly puzzled.

If she knew that vanishing woman was the mastermind behind her transformation,
who knew what she’d feel.

Maybe because of what the goddess said at the end.

Seeing Bai Huang with her long hair draped over her shoulders,
face innocently confused,
Lu Hang—without knowing why—let his gaze drift to her lips.

Suddenly he noticed how thin they were.

An uneasy feeling slowly coiled in his chest.
He shook his head hard, forcing the strange emotion away.

“Alright. Since we went to the hospital and found out it’s nothing serious,
shouldn’t we celebrate?”
Lu Hang clapped his hands and laughed.

Sixty thousand yuan—besides saving it,
sometimes it could be used for mission expenses like this.

“How do we celebrate?”
Bai Huang asked suspiciously.

“Grab some drinks?”

“Hell yes! You’re finally willing to go drinking with me!”
She lit up instantly:
“Wait—but didn’t you say earlier you wanted donkey-meat buns from downstairs for dinner?
You always said expensive places don’t suit your taste…”

“No need for fancy. Don’t drag me to some Western restaurant.
Anywhere casual is fine.
I just suddenly feel like drinking.”
Lu Hang sighed helplessly:
“Today… got any standard package?”

“What standard package?”
She blinked.

“Hit up a bar, order a few girls to play drinking games,
chat them up, have some fun.”
Lu Hang said casually:
“My treat today.
Celebrating you dodging death.”

They locked eyes—
then burst into wild laughter.

“Of course there’s a standard package.
And you don’t need to treat—I’ve got it.”
Bai Huang was clearly thrilled.
In the past, Lu Hang had hated crowds and always refused when she invited him out drinking—
especially when she’d call in princesses.
He’d only gone once and made eight hundred excuses.
Seeing him finally open up made her, as a brother, genuinely happy:
“Before you never wanted to go to KTV or anything.
Said drinking with princesses felt pointless.
What happened? You finally changed?”

“Life’s long. Gotta try everything at least once.”
Lu Hang wiped sweat from his forehead:
“Got any recommended spots?”

“I do.”
Bai Huang’s eyes sparkled.
She clearly hadn’t drunk in a while and was craving it now that Lu Hang mentioned it:
“When do you want to go?”

“Now.”
Lu Hang said.