Chapter 1: Dream Comes True?

Again and again, Poppy had to work overtime at her office, sorting through piles of data that she had to manage so she could present it the next day. Poppy's eyes were dark and puffy, and her eyelids were drooping, showing how tired she was at that moment.

Poppy's shoulders jerked when she heard a voice behind her. When Poppy turned around, she saw her coworker standing there.

“Sorry, you have to finish the rest. I really have to go. You know it's Christmas Eve, and my boyfriend will be angry if I work overtime again.”

“Go ahead, I can handle it.” Poppy forced herself to smile, although in the end she could only pull the corners of her lips up stiffly.

“Thanks. I'll treat you later to make up for it!” The young woman, named Valerie, smiled brightly and hurried out of the office, eager to see her boyfriend.

After Valerie left, Poppy could only sigh softly. Poppy was not as lucky as Valerie, who could enjoy her youth and experience the beauty of love.

“Wake up, Poppy!” Poppy slapped her cheek hard enough to snap herself out of the illusion that clouded her mind. “You don't have time to enjoy that beauty. This month, you still don't have enough money to pay the rent,” Poppy continued, refocusing on her work.

Minutes turned into hours, and slowly Poppy's eyes began to blur, the monitor screen in front of her becoming blurry.

“One more... After this, I can go home,” Poppy muttered softly, her head already starting to spin, followed by her gaze becoming increasingly blurry.

Poppy felt her head spinning until finally her body fell helplessly onto her cold desk. The last thing Poppy thought before she completely lost consciousness was whether this was the end of her miserable life.

Poppy gasped for breath when she opened her eyes again. She sat up from her sleeping position and hurriedly checked her entire body, her heart still pounding with anxiety.

"What happened? Am I really dead?” Poppy’s breath was still labored as she made sure her body was okay.

But when Poppy looked up, she realized she was no longer in her office. Poppy’s face turned pale when she realized this.

“No way… I’m really dead.” Poppy realized she was now in a snowy forest.

Slowly, Poppy felt the cold temperature penetrate her body, which was now only covered by her work shirt and black pants, the last thing she wore before leaving her cold desk.

“Damn! Is this the hell that people talk about?” Hugging her body, Poppy stood up cautiously.

Ding!

[Synchronization process complete!]

[Congratulations, Host, you have successfully connected to the Virgin Survival Guide System!]

“Huh? What is this? Why is there a voice in my head?” Poppy looked left and right to find the source of the voice she heard.

However, Poppy found no one, only rows of pine trees covered in snow. Poppy even thought she was going crazy because she suddenly heard a voice in her head.

[The Host's body in the original world has died. The System sees that the Host's soul is suitable to be transferred to this world.]

“Transmigration? Like what happens in novels? Oh my god, I didn't expect this to happen to me,” Poppy muttered, still not believing what was happening to her.

After her confusion, a smile began to appear on Poppy's face when she realized that she no longer had to think about having to work again.

“So I can do anything I want in this world?” Poppy's lips curled into an even wider smile after realizing this. “It's time for me to find a man to date!” Poppy's spirits rose again when she thought that it was time for her to write the love story that had never come true in her past life.

[System, please don't forget that you must complete the quests I give you to maintain your existence in this world. Otherwise, you will return to your body in your original world. In addition, you must also survive in this post-apocalyptic world; otherwise, you will die in this frozen world.

The broad smile on Poppy's face slowly disappeared from her lips, replaced by a look of disbelief.

"No way! How can I still have to survive after dying so tragically before!” Poppy fell to the ground in a pile of snow, running her hands through her hair in frustration.

[Host, there is no need to be afraid. The System will help the Host survive in this apocalyptic world.]

“What exactly can you do to help me?” Poppy became curious about what this entity, calling itself the System, could do to help her survive.

[The System will give you Quests at random times. If you successfully complete the Quest, you will receive various rewards from the System. In addition, the System also has a Warmth Parameter feature that can be obtained from Affection and touch, which you can experience with other people.

[If the Warmth Parameter is below 20%, your body will automatically become cold. When the Parameter reaches 0%, the Host will die immediately. So the System wants to remind the Host to keep filling the Warmth Parameter to survive in this frozen world.]

“I don't know whether to be happy or sad after hearing your explanation,” Poppy replied with a blank expression.

It felt like no matter what Poppy did, she would end up dead. Wasn't this the same as her actually dying?

Poppy sighed softly. If what the System said was true, then she had to blend in with the people of this world and get close to them to gain their Affection or touch.

Besides, Poppy could already feel the cold piercing her skin. Her Warmth Parameter had already dropped below 20%.

“I can't stay here, I have to go find people.” Poppy got back up, lifting her feet to push through the thick snow.

The wind blew fiercely, and the snow continued to fall relentlessly. Poppy looked around for a way out of the forest. She didn't expect to find a village; she just needed to meet someone and touch them.

Poppy had been walking through the forest for almost 30 minutes, but she didn't see anyone there. When she was about to give up on finding other people, Poppy's foot tripped over something lying on the ground.

Because of that, Poppy fell flat on her face. She quickly turned around to curse the tree roots or whatever was blocking her path.

But Poppy’s lips suddenly went slack when she realized what was blocking her path.

“He’s so fine,” Poppy murmured when she saw a handsome blond-haired man with a pale face lying on the snow in front of her.