I, the Mecha Queen, Rule the Stars

- [I wrote this on a whim. I never expected it to get signed, so I had to finish it.]

He Lengbai is an easygoing gaming shut-in who wakes up as an unregistered resident on Liexing, the poorest planet in the interstellar world.

A notification appears in her mind:

[All your mecha skills have been converted into stats, and they're all Lv. 99!]

He Lengbai thinks it's a hallucination, until she plays her first online mecha match and gets asked for her contact information by a cool, aloof top player.

Delighted, she thinks her overpowered life is about to begin. Instead, a vain supporting female character steals her identity from the start, and the whole internet starts mocking her for being from Liexing!

After leaving her poor planet, He Lengbai finds herself getting crushed all over again.

Interstellar netizens: "She may be strong, but she's nowhere near invincible. How can she brag about these measly results?"

But the whole internet gradually realizes that things aren't so simple.

"One mining mecha is taking on a hundred opponents, and the police station has even called for backup. What kind of monster is inside?"

"An outsider showed up at the Imperial Military Academy to challenge everyone. A top S-rank student faced her and ended up foaming at the mouth and passing out!"

"The Zerg have stopped coming to this star system because of her!"

He Lengbai, quietly causing trouble: ...Didn't see that coming, did you?

As it turns out, her max level was only the top rank in her original world. Beyond that, she can unlock even higher dimensions.

Once mocked by the entire internet, she becomes a king returned to the battlefield the moment she climbs into a mecha. Wherever she goes, others bow before her, trembling and hailing her as a legend.

And she won't just claim the throne of mecha combat for herself. She'll make them overturn every assumption they have about her poor planet.

At last, one day, they call her by a title of their own: God He.

Haters: "Liexing's top player is nothing special... Wait, how did she become the top player in the whole star system?"

He Lengbai: ?

Chu Yao, young master of a powerful family on Zhouxing, has always looked down on everyone.

But one day, while streaming a mecha battle on an alt account, he encounters a mysterious female player.

After the match, he actually introduces himself and even asks to exchange contact information.

She immediately quits the game.

Chu Yao: Fine. I'll search the whole internet for you.

He's a cold-blooded, battle-hardened wolfhound on the battlefield. His family once mercilessly conquered her planet.

And yet he stubbornly wants to keep her brilliance for himself, willing to cut down every obstacle in her way.

Later, he realizes he can no longer escape. He's completely fallen for her.

#How an aloof wolfhound gradually becomes a lovesick fool#

Poker-faced, insanely powerful wolfhound x confident, cool heroine

[Reader's guide]

1. The male lead is not a background character. Not a background character! It's sweet, sweet, sweet, with one couple, a happy ending, and they're each other's first love.

2. This isn't a max-level player crushing weak opponents. It's a talent-growth story. She doesn't dominate everyone from the start. If you want to see the face-slapping of the scheming female character, skip ahead to chapters 40-60.

3. This isn't pure wish fulfillment. The pacing speeds up and slows down, and the writing is relatively measured, not a mindless, fast-paced power fantasy.

4. A mountain of original worldbuilding.

5. At its heart, this is the story of one person reaching the top and a planet making a comeback.

- [Please add my upcoming story, After Flirting with the Villain in a Dating Sim, I Was Wanted by the Whole Internet, to your collection.] -

In the first year of the interstellar era, 3021, the full-dive virtual world City of Sighs launches. It's hailed as a high-difficulty open-world adventure game that rivals an entire world.

Zou Zhou can hardly wait. She opens a mystery box for her golden finger and gets:

"Your identity: 'Heartbreaker'"

"Bonus trait: Irresistible beauty (permanent)"

"Feel free to unleash your charm, fill up NPC affection meters, then sit back and do nothing."

Already a carefree person, Zou Zhou uses her beauty to con her way into free food and lodging throughout the game. Once every affection meter is full, Heartbreaker Zou Zhou makes her exit, collects the three million in prize money for beating the game, and uninstalls it.

Then she wakes up to find herself wanted by the entire internet.

Her crimes include, but aren't limited to:

Attempted assassination of an imperial prince, followed by the theft of a precious staff;

Breaking into the imperial commander-in-chief's armory and stealing its weapons;

Trespassing in the Demon King's forbidden forest and making off with a spirit beast.

Zou Zhou: ??? Wait, they gave those things to me!

It turns out the game world has seeped into reality.

Zou Zhou goes out to pick up a package and turns around to find the villainous NPCs, handsome as if straight out of a CG, cornering her with murderous looks.

They've all learned the truth: the beautiful girl who'd smiled and kept them company was actually cold-hearted and ruthless, treating them all as stepping stones on her climb to the top.

The imperial alliance's prince speaks in a low, hoarse voice.

"What is it you want... status, power? I'll give you everything. Just stop looking for anyone else, okay?"

A glint of frost appears in the eyes of the interstellar fleet's commander-in-chief.

"If you won't be mine, should I execute you right here?"

The Demon King from the abyss curls a claw around her shoulder.

"Even if it's in hell, you'll be with me for all eternity."

Heartbreaker Zou Zhou is dragged into a deadly love triangle. She thinks this group of men will chase her down and devour her, and she's already planning to flee to the next planet. But then she discovers that she's also brought along the game's one and only golden finger.

Whenever they harbor ill will toward her, their old ailments flare up, and they're imprisoned by the endless nightmares she summons.

Only touching her can soothe the emptiness inside them and calm their restless desires.

She's a poison that wounds them deeply, and the only spring of water in a parched land.

Watching the men grit their teeth in frustration, helpless to do anything,

Zou Zhou leans back contentedly on her throne.

"...Be good. How about we call all our old scores even?"

.

He's been watching her all along.

As she innocently flirted with other men, and as she was trapped in danger and ran away in disarray.

Now he's standing right in front of her.

Like a rose stained with blood from the blade, he gives off the last of his beauty and allure.

He bows to kiss the back of her hand, his voice strangely gentle:

"...My beloved."

He's the supreme god of the game, the nightmare and terror of everyone, yet to her he's an obsessive, fanatically devoted, clingy madman of a boyfriend.

Zou Zhou watches him drape her in a blood-red wedding dress, wrap thorns around the skeletal birdcage he's made for her, and place a ring forged from flesh and blood on her finger.

She clasps her hands behind her back and drawls, "...Sorry, I'm single by choice."

The madman lifts his eyes with a cool indifference. His long claws gently raise her chin. "I'm the nightmare you summoned. You don't get to choose."

[Reader's guide]

1. The heroine is carefree and fiercely ambitious. If you expect her to have a strong sense of morality, please go elsewhere.

2. This is a reverse harem and a love-triangle showdown, but it does not have an open ending.

One-line summary: All the men I flirted with have come to settle the score.

Theme: I accidentally maxed out everyone's affection and ended up in a deadly love triangle.

Theme: The light of a poor planet works hard to lead the whole planet to a comeback.