章 2: 1.2 Time Limit

The black, fancy car ran along smoothly on the road.

Lu Yizhou glanced toward Ren Zexi who, even in his sleep, wouldn't let go of his shirt. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. When Lu Yizhou wanted to move him so that the child could sleep in a better position, Ren Zexi started to cry and held onto him tighter, leaving him with no choice but to let him be.

The bodyguard in the driver seat—Ah Shen—stole a peek at his Boss who didn't like to be touched but still let the child hold onto him. He couldn't help but ask, "Boss, since when do you have a friend surnamed Ren? Why do I have no idea about it?"

According to 666, Ah Shen was this world's Lu Yizhou's bodyguard who followed him 24/7. He even knew the brand of Lu Yizhou's underwear. So, it was no wonder that he was curious about that.

Lu Yizhou looked out of the window and answered nonchalantly. "What? Should I tell you everything about me?"

Ah Shen was startled and almost lost control of the steering wheel. "…Boss, don't tease me like that."

Lu Yizhou scoffed lightly. "Focus on the road."

Ah Shen straightened his back and didn't dare to talk anymore.

Lu Yizhou took the chance to rest his eyes for a moment. This was the first day he transmigrated into Lu Yizhou's body and with no preparation at all, he went to the funeral home to whisk Ren Zexi away. [666, pass me the world's plot.]

666, who had kept mum because of being told off, perked up enthusiastically. [Aye, aye, Captain! Wait a moment, here it is!]

A surge of information entered Lu Yizhou's brain and he frowned from the dizziness.

[Are you okay? For first timers, it will surely feel uncomfortable but you will get used to it soon! If you want, you can buy Body Nourishing Pill (low level) from the store at 100 points!]

Every transmigrator would receive 1000 points as a starter and then receive more as they completed missions. It could be used to exchange anything in the store. For Lu Yizhou, most of the things in his store was still covered in gray and only a few things were available such as Body Nourishing Pill (low level) — albeit sounded almighty but it could only cure mild nausea, headache and stomachache (useless), Voice Changing Pill (useless), Fast Runner Pill (sounded useless), Gender Switch Pill (???), Face Switch, and etcetera.

Basically, 99% of them were useless.

666, who more or less knew what was going on in Lu Yizhou's mind, howled in a cry. [It's not useless, trust me! If you're a spy, then you will need a Face Switch and Voice Changing Pill! If you're in an apocalypse world, Fast Runner Pill is a must!]

[En, thank you for the spoiler.]

[666: ….QAQ]

Lu Yizhou slowly adjusted to the sudden information in his brain. This world was an ordinary modern world without magic.

The villain — Ren Zexi's parents died in an unfortunate incident, leaving him orphaned from a young age. From then on, his life started to go downhill.

After many arguments and fights, his custody ended up in his uncle's hands. Uncle Ren was an abusive man who loathed working. After he gained Ren Zexian's land deed, he sold it and immersed himself in booze and gambling everyday.

Beating Ren Zexi became a habit and the child would often be spotted with bruises all over his body.

Yet no one cared.

Ren Zexi endured the abuse because Uncle Ren was the only person who would give him food and shelter. In the end, the breaking point arrived three years later. By then, Ren Zexi was already eight and forced to mature earlier due to the circumstances.

When Uncle Ren returned drunk as usual and started to land punches on his body, he resisted for the first time. His struggle enraged Uncle Ren and the man grabbed the boiling kettle and poured its content over Ren Zexi's head before leaving the house in anger.

Ren Zexi was found two days later by his homeroom teacher who was worried about his absence. However it was already too late. The burn marks had gotten infected and tore permanent scars over his face and body.

The abuse was brought into light due to the incident and the custody was revoked. Nonetheless, the harm had been done. Since then, Ren Zexi became a boy with a gloomy disposition who covered his face with his long hair. He ended up in the orphanage because no relatives were willing to take him in.

However, who would want to adopt a scarred, ugly boy?

Ren Zexi stayed in the orphanage until he was thirteen. After that, he was kicked out by the director and lived the next few months on the street. Fortunately, like any other villains, he was blessed with wit, intelligence and tenacity that could rival a cockroach. He learned things through newspapers and words that spread through beggars' mouths.

Unbeknownst to him, an old man had been observing him for a period of time. He was the most important side character in this world, Feng Chaoluo — the one who took Ren Zexi under his wings. Feng Chaoluo was a leader of a century old mafia clan. He had no children and was suddenly diagnosed with chronic illness. For that reason, he was urgently searching for a suitable successor and instead of choosing someone from the side branch who would someday come back and bite him in the ass, he'd preferred to choose a beggar and trained him into an obedient dog instead.

His keen eyes brought him to notice Ren Zexi from early on. His quick wits, recklessness and intelligence were the criteria Feng Chaoluo had been looking for. Thus, after a string of events, Ren Zexi became the young master of the mafia clan.

Coincidentally, Feng Clan had been intending to wash their hands clean from the underworld and Ren Zexi would become the perfect representative for that. Since then, Ren Zexi's life has been filled with training, training and training. He had a roof over his head and food to fill his tummy, but somehow, the trauma from the past still lingered, unable to be erased no matter what he did.

He met the world's protagonist, Jing Xuehao, in high school. Similar to him, Jing Xuehao was also an orphan. But what was different was how he was bright and cheerful, always surrounded by people who liked and admired him.

Ren Zexi wondered how two people could be so different. The way Jing Xuehao always remained positive irked him and he started to go through ways to bring him down so that he could experience the same hell Ren Zexi did.

He didn't want to admit that he was jealous.

***

Lu Yizhou finished digesting the plot written in two perspectives; the protagonist and villain.

This was a cliche, weak to strong trope filled with many face slapping moments.

The protagonist started as a weak orphan and climbed his way up through his own strength, overcoming every obstacle that came his way.

Ren Zexi was only there to serve as the foil to level him up.

After all, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Jing Xuehao was unstoppable. After he graduated from high school, he launched his own company and harvested 100% profit by the time he was twenty. In the end, he attracted the female lead's attraction, Meng Yun.

The Meng Family had been a prestigious family one since centuries ago. They could be considered as aristocrats. Meng Yun was the only dear granddaughter of Master Meng and receiving Meng Yun's favor was equal to having the Meng Family behind his back.

Ironically, Ren Zexi also ended up falling in love with Meng Yun.

Next, the story was filled with exciting face-slapping moments. It's better to call it the demise of Ren Zexi instead.

Meng Yun abhorred even the sight of him and together with Jing Xuehao, they dealt with Ren Zexi and Feng Clan, even earning the government's support for their effort for uprooting the rotten organization from the country.

Ren Zexi was given a twenty years sentence in jail. However, he had made too many enemies in the past. Not even five years later, the warden found his body mutilated to pieces in his cell, his skull smashed to smithereens.

On the other hand, Jing Xuehao married Meng Yun and lived happily ever after and he was hailed as the ultimate winner of life.

Lu Yizhou's brows knitted slightly. [Where am I?] Throughout the plot, there were only four mentionable characters; Ren Zexi, Feng Chaoluo, Jing Xuehao and Meng Yun. There was no mention of Lu Yizhou at all. Did they create him out of nowhere?

[666: No!!! Look at these sentences! You're mentioned here!]

Lu Yizhou directed his gaze toward the location 666 mentioned. Then, his brows knitted even more tightly.

[Jing Xuehao clenched his fists in anticipation. "This is it! If I can earn Lu Group's support, then I won't lose out against Ren Zexi!]

[The ray of sunlight kissed Jing Xuehao's toned back as he slung his arm over Meng Yun's naked waist, pulling the woman closer to his body. Meng Yun let out a bashful yelp, her cheeks reddened adorably. "Oh you!" She slapped Jing Xuehao's arm playfully. "I am looking at the news right now. The death of Lu Group's CEO has shaken the country's economy—ah!"

"Focus on me." Jing Xuehao's warm breath brushed against her ears as he lightly bit on her earlobe…]

In the end, he was only mentioned in two sentences. Disregarding how brief it was, his name wasn't even included?!

Lu Yizhou massaged his brows. [I get it now. I am the so-called insignificant side character, right?]

[666: Host is awesome! Host is very smart! 666 is very lucky to serve you!]

[Shut it.]

"Boss, are you okay?" Ah Shen peeked at him carefully through the windshield mirror, his eyes concerned. "Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

"No." Lu Yizhou answered briefly. "I'm going to take a short nap. Wake me up when we have arrived."

"Okay." Ah Shen turned up the heater and put on Lu Yizhou's favorite classical music. "Sleep well, Boss."

Lu Yizhou hummed and continued his conversation with 666. [I have rescued Ren Zexi from his uncle. He doesn't have to live like a rat anymore. So, does it mean my job is done here?]

[666: No, no, no. Host, you have to make sure that Ren Zexi doesn't end up tragically like the original plot after meeting the world's protagonist and female lead! Only after that can the mission be considered successful!]

[So bothersome. Then, can I kill the protagonist and female lead?]

[666: …N—Nani koree?! Σ(°ロ°)]

[If there's no protagonist, then no one will stand in Ren Zexi's way.] Lu Yizhou glanced toward the deeply sleeping child. His fingertips brushed away the strands of hair that almost got into Ren Zexi's mouth. [If there's no female lead, then he will not fall in love.]

[666: You can't! For Admin God's Sake, you can't!] Why didn't its predecessor tell it that a human could be so terrifying?! 666 was so scared QAQ

[Admin God?]

[Y—Yes, Admin God is the one who created me. He's the God of all systems. Speaking of it! Ehem ehem... 666 will announce the rules that Host has to adhere to, including but not limited to: strictly focus on saving the villain, eliminating the main leads is a no-no, and most importantly, don't OOC[1]! For example, you're now the CEO of Lu Group thus you can't suddenly leave your job to take a vacation in Maldives!]

[Eliminating the main leads is not allowed?] Lu Yizhou asked in an intrigued tone. [Then, can I make them live a life worse than death? As long as they don't die, right?]

[666: H—Host…please…don't scare 666 like this! Uwaaah! Are you a killer or something when you're still alive?! Is that why you keep thinking of harming others?!]

Lu Yizhou stared out of the window without answering.

[666: …Host?]

[666: …It's not right, isn't it?]

[666: ...…..]

Lu Yizhou changed the topic. [What will happen if I break one of the rules?]

666 wiped away its imaginary sweat. [666: D—Don't even think about bombing the mission on purpose! If you fail or break one of the rules, then the world will reset and you have to do everything from the beginning all over again!]

[...Such a pain in the ass.]

[666: Right! That's exactly why Host has to do the mission well! The first world is considered a super duper easy level! You are given the resources and power to bring the villain under your wings. You are Lu Yizhou, the almighty CEO of Lu Group who has been sitting on the throne of the most wanted bachelors in the country for five years straight! And also, your name, character traits and even your appearance are the same as in the real world. You don't even need to act! It's so easy, right? In the future, you might as well be a random passerby without any golden fingers!]

Lu Yizhou counted with his fingers. First, he wasn't allowed to touch the main characters, then he had to strictly act as the character he was assigned to. Not only that, he also had to succeed or else he had to do everything from the start again. The more he thought about that, the more ridiculous it seemed.

[Are you sure that your system can spark someone's will to live and not make them wish for death instead?]

[666: Of course! As of now, 8 out of 10 people have returned to life and the remaining two are on their way!]

[Then I will be the eleventh person. The first who doesn't pass.]

[666: Hmph, stinky Host! How can you give up so easily just like that?! Look at Ren Zexi. Even though his face was scarred and his effort to bring Jing Xuehao down failed again and again, he never gave up!]

[Yeah and look at the condition he ended up with. There's a thin line between tenacity and stupidity.] Lu Yizhou said in a sarcastic tone.

[666: …Y—You…! How can you say it like that?! 666 will ignore you for the next five—no, three minutes!]

Lu Yizhou simply ignored the ridiculous and childish system altogether. In a timely manner, the car passed through a huge, fancy and luxurious gate and entered a smooth pathway whose sides were decorated with numerous exotic plantations, small ponds and fields of flowers.

"Boss, we have arrived." Ah Shen spoke up.

Lu Yizhou nodded and patted Ren Zexi's soft cheek. "Wake up."

[One more thing, the plot said that I will die in the end. Has it been determined?]

666 instantly forgot about the three minutes arrangement and spoke excitedly.

[666: Yes! The time limit you have in every world is different. Here, you have 15 years of time before you die. You have a congenital heart disease so please prepare yourself for a heart attack anytime in the future! Don't worry, 666 will shield 50% of the pain for you!]

Lu Yizhou didn't know what to comment first; the fact that he had only been told about the disease now, or the matter of 666 being stingy to only shield 50% of the pain. In the end, he was too lazy to bicker anymore and nodded simply. [Okay, I understand. For now.]

[Hooray!] 666 cheered. [Fighting, Host! 666 is sure that you will gradually realize that children are very cute! They are daddy's little-cotton padded jackets afterall!]

Lu Yizhou rolled his eyes. [Then you have to change Ren Zexi's gender[2] first.]

In front of him, Ren Zexi's eyelids slowly fluttered open.

[1] OOC = Out Of Character

[2] Usually, daddy's little cotton padded jacket is used to describe daughters