That was the reason she had chosen to play the Saintess class.
If someone had asked her back then, she probably would have given a very casual answer.
Because she looked good.
Because the white hair and blue eyes really appealed to her.
Because the Saintess outfits were beautiful.
Because healers got into parties quickly.
Because the Saintess character's passive gave her a massive MP pool.
But if she thought a little deeper...
There was actually another reason.
She wanted to be someone who could reach out and pull someone up when they needed it.
This thought didn't start with the game.
It had been there much longer.
Lin Ling had grown up in an orphanage.
That place wasn't exactly hell.
She didn't starve every day.
There wasn't any exaggerated, dark abuse like in stories.
But it was by no means gentle.
There were too many children, and the adults were too busy.
Everyone just had to learn how to protect themselves.
If there was too much crying, it just became background noise.
If a grievance was too small, no one would hear it.
Lin Ling had been bullied before.
Her food had been stolen.
She had been pushed down.
She had been surrounded and mocked by several people.
She had even been locked in a storage room because she refused to hand over the only small toy she liked.
Back then, she sat among a pile of old cardboard boxes, hugging her knees, listening to the footsteps outside fading away.
She waited for a long time.
She waited until the sky turned dark.
But no one came looking for her.
No one burst in to tell her, “It’s okay.”
No one patted her head.
No one got angry on her behalf.
No one asked if it hurt.
Eventually, she found a key in the room in the dark and pushed the door open herself.
The hallway was cold.
One of the lights was broken.
She returned to the dormitory alone, climbed into bed, and curled up under the covers.
When she woke up the next day, it was as if nothing had happened.
The people who bullied her laughed as usual.
The adults were busy as usual.
She still had to eat, go to class, and live her life as usual.
From then on, Lin Ling gradually understood one thing.
Not every sadness is seen.
Not every cry for help is heard.
Not everyone who falls can wait for someone to reach out a hand.
So when she played games later, she always instinctively chose classes that could protect others.
Healers, supports, Saintesses.
She liked standing at the back of the party.
When she saw a teammate's health bar drop, she would immediately pull them back.
She liked casting heals when everyone was about to give up.
She liked telling her teammates when they said “it’s over”:
“It’s not over yet.”
“I’m here.”
She had always really liked those two words.
I’m here.
Because those were the words she had wanted to hear most when she was a child.
Unfortunately, no one had ever said them to her.
So when she grew up, she wanted to say them to others.
Even if it was just in a game.
Even if it was just to a stranger on the other side of the screen.
That was enough.
Lin Ling rolled over, her fingers gently gripping the corner of the blanket.
Her account was very strange; her HP was permanently locked at 1, while her MP was ridiculously high.
At first, her teammates always thought she was just trolling.
But in fact, that was the price brought by the Saintess class's most unique passive ability.
——The Sacrificial Saintess.
A Saintess could exchange life states with any teammate.
It didn't matter if the other person was heavily injured.
On the verge of death.
Or even already dead.
As long as the Saintess activated the sacrifice, she could pull them back from the brink.
She could even resurrect them.
The price was that the Saintess’s own maximum HP would be permanently locked at 1.
From then on, it could not be leveled up.
It could not be increased.
It could not be compensated for with equipment.
She would always have only one point of health.
This was a path almost no one would choose.
Because it was too extreme.
Too fragile.
Too easy to die.
One touch, and she was gone.
But when Lin Ling saw the description of this skill back then, she stared at the screen for a long time.
Then she clicked confirm.
A system prompt popped up.
【Once this path is chosen, it cannot be undone.】
【Do you confirm?】
She remembered that she had smiled back then.
Then she pressed confirm.
She wasn't doing it to challenge her limits.
Nor was she trying to act like a pro.
She just thought that if one day her teammates fell and no one else could save them...
At least she could still say:
“I’m here.”
Even if the price was that she would only ever have 1 HP.
It didn't matter.
It was just a game, after all.
That was what she thought at the time.
She just didn't expect that this setting would follow her when she transmigrated to another world.
And now.
She was lying on a soft bed in the Demon King's Castle.
Wearing a Saintess gown.
Being cared for by demons like a strange pet.
She had food every day.
A bed to sleep in.
Someone to guide her.
Someone to bring her bread.
Even someone willing to share their own food with her.
Lin Ling raised her hand and covered her eyes.
“Honestly...”
She murmured softly.
“How are the demons more human than humans?”
After saying this, she fell silent herself.
Demons.
Humans.
Heroes.
Demon Kings.
These words sounded very grand.
Like things that had to stand on opposite sides in a story.
But since coming here, what Lin Ling saw was not like that.
She saw Niya carefully bringing her food.
She saw Aliviel teasing her but always watching over her at critical moments.
She saw Baroque acting fierce but immediately worrying if an experiment would blow up near the residents.
She saw Phelan writing every single one of her complaints into the records.
Though that part was really annoying.
But he was indeed seriously preserving the possibilities she brought.
She saw Cecil joking with a smile, only to stop smiling when the ears of grain grew.
She saw Ivelia giving her the soft bread while she continued to eat black bread soaked in soup.
These people were good to her.
It wasn't because she was the summoned Hero.
Nor was it because she was particularly reliable.
In the beginning, they even just treated her as a useless pet.
But they still gave her a room.
Gave her food.
Let her live.
They gave her a place where she could temporarily sleep in peace in this completely strange world.
Lin Ling slowly lowered her hand.
She looked at the ceiling, her eyes gradually growing quiet.
The experimental field could grow things now.
But it was only one small field.
Holy Light Stasis still required her to maintain it personally.
She also had to make the slow-release domain ore one by one.
This wouldn't do.
It was too slow.
If she was the only one doing it, when would the Demon King's Castle ever truly be full?
Maturing once a day sounded impressive.
But that was only a small area.
If she wanted the entire Demon King's Castle to eat soft bread.
If she wanted everyone to stop eating only one meal a day.
If she wanted Ivelia to not have to give her food away anymore.
Then there had to be mass production.
Mass-produce Holy Light Stasis.
Mass-produce domain cores.
Mass-produce slow-release domain ore.
The problem was, Holy Light Stasis was her skill.
Or rather, it was a magic she had replicated in this world based on a skill from the game.
Could other demons use it?
Most likely not.
Even if they could, a replicated Holy Light Stasis might not be able to withstand that kind of external magic impact.
Moreover, Holy Light Stasis itself had a holy light attribute.
For demons, there might even be a rejection reaction.
So what should she do?
Lin Ling sat up.
Her hair was a bit messy, her platinum-blonde hair cascading over her shoulders.
Moonlight shone through the window, falling on her fingertips.
She raised her hand.
A faint wisp of white light appeared at her fingertip.
Holy Light Stasis.
It wasn't an offensive spell.
Nor was it a healing spell.
It was more like a rule.
Restricting the flow of magic.
Slowing magic down.
Making chaos quiet.
If she couldn't make every demon learn this magic, could she fix this magic in place?
Like a magic circle.
Like a piece of equipment.
Like the domain core she had made today.
A miniature Holy Light Stasis could be materialized.
What about a larger one?
What if she carved the structure of Holy Light Stasis into ore?
What if she used ordinary ore as a carrier, a domain core as the heart, and a magic circle to stabilize the output?
What if every experimental field didn't need her to crouch there and maintain it, but instead ran on its own thanks to a “Holy Light Stasis device”?
Lin Ling's eyes gradually lit up.
“Automation...”
She whispered softly.
“Agricultural automation.”
The term sounded a bit ridiculous.
It was even more ridiculous in the Demon King's Castle.
But the more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed.
Holy Light Stasis would absorb surrounding magic to reinforce itself.
The demon lands lacked many things.
But they did not lack magic.
If she could make the Holy Light Stasis structure automatically absorb the excess surrounding magic to maintain its operation, it wouldn't even need much external energy.
It would “feed” itself.
Just like the layer of the domain over the experimental field today.
And the slow-release domain ore could then turn the gathered magic back into a state suitable for plant absorption.
Suppress first.
Then filter.
Finally, slow-release.
Wasn't that a complete process?
The more Lin Ling thought, the more energized she became.
“Wait.”
“In other words...”
“What I need to do isn't to be a human farming machine forever.”
“But to first create a magic-powered version of agricultural equipment.”
She looked down at her hands.
“Anyway, I'll discuss it with Phelan tomorrow. That should solve the demons' food crisis...”
After saying this, she suddenly flopped back down.
Her body was exhausted.
During the day, she had maintained the Holy Light Stasis, extracted magic from the experimental field, created a materialized domain core, and made slow-release domain ore.
Even though her MP was ridiculously high.
The mental fatigue was very real.
It felt as if her brain had been squeezed dry.
But she didn't fall asleep immediately like before.
She looked out the window.
The distant Demon King's Castle was still quiet.
The black earth stretched out.
That tiny experimental field was perhaps continuing to grow in the night.
Tomorrow morning, another batch of grain might mature there.
In a few more days, perhaps there would be a few more pieces of soft bread in the castle.
A bit longer, and maybe everyone could eat two meals a day.
Three meals.
Hot soup.
Soft bread.
Maybe even meat.
At this thought, Lin Ling suddenly smiled.
“I clearly just wanted to improve my own meals at first.”
She said softly.
As it turned out, without realizing it, she seemed to be starting to seriously solve the Demon King's Castle's food crisis.
It was strange.
But not bad.
She slowly closed her eyes.
But various images still floated in her mind.
The materialized Holy Light Stasis core.
Slow-release domain ore.
Magic circles.
Experimental fields.
Soft bread.
The Demon King's portion of black bread.
And that sentence Niya had unintentionally spoken—
Everyone won't have to eat only one meal a day anymore.
Lin Ling's fingers gently gripped the corner of the blanket.
After a long time, she whispered:
“Don't worry, I’m here.”
Her voice was very soft.
So soft it was almost like talking in her sleep.
It was unclear whether she was saying it to her past self huddled in the storage room.
Or to this hungry Demon King's Castle of the present.
The night outside was deep.
The Demon King's Castle remained quiet.
And the Saintess began to seriously consider—
How to turn miracles into a tomorrow where everyone could eat their fill.
Rate on N.U.
