Gu Yuan and Tian Xi left right before the gathering ended. Gu Yuan carried the unconscious Tian Xi to her car and her driver took her home.
The next morning, Tian Xi was angry because in the end she couldn't beat Gu Yuan.
[But host, you completed Task 1. The rewards have already been sent to you.] 001 successfully consoled Tian Xi.
'Oh, right, 001. Are there any consequences for not fulfilling tasks?' Tian Xi wondered.
[No. Side Tasks are opportunities for hosts to gain more points without any repercussions. Consequently, the gains are usually not too much. However, host. On the other hand, failure to complete Side Missions would result in point deduction equal to half of the side mission's reward. Do be careful in the future.] Tian Xi appreciated 001's help in distinguishing the difference between tasks and missions. This wasn't really mentioned in the info sheet, after all.
After mulling about for a while, Tian Xi finally sat up and pulled her senses back to her main mission, which was to bring her family's business to the top of the business world. She knew the original host's family were content as a stable first-tier family, so she decided against bringing the matter up to them even if they doted on her. Tian Xi would only tell them about how she wanted to become more involved in the company.
Tian Xi wasn't really a family person and did not want to interact with the original's if she didn't have to. Furthermore, she could get the job done herself--faster at that. All she needed was the money.
There was a soft knock on the door as the head butler called out, "Young miss, are you awake? Breakfast is ready downstairs. Everyone is waiting for you."
"Mm, I know. I will be down soon."
The mornings at the Tian mansion were always lively since it was the only time of the day when every member of the family was present. The original host had a beautiful mom, a handsome dad, and a hot older bro and sis.
Tian Xi easily acted her part as the spoilt young princess and no one could tell that she was no longer the same Tian Xi that they knew.
After the hearty breakfast, Tian Xi returned to her room and pulled out her laptop.
[Host, what are you doing?] 001 had an ominous feeling, but he also felt unreasonably excited. His host was far from ordinary. After all, this was a Level 2 world as Tian Xi's first mission, meaning she was at least a D-class host. Most hosts start out from the very bottom--F-class.
"Gotta get a boatload of money from somewhere. Since it's gonna go toward the family business, wouldn't it be pointless asking the folks for money? What? Is hacking not allowed?" Tian Xi's finger quickly glided across the keyboard as a number of codes popped in and out of the screen.
[The original host did not have any knowledge of hacking. As long as you cannot be seen nor found hacking, it should be fine, host.] 001 would not give up the chance to clear the mission even if his host was going against the law.
Tian Xi set up multiple bank accounts and investment companies anonymously so that when she brought in all the cash it wouldn't be conspicuous and the authorities would not be able to trace the stolen goods back to her.
"What the hell?" When Tian Xi started to hack into the various banks in this world, Tian Xi was dumbfounded to find that the firewalls and security for all of the prominent and minor banks were already down and currently trying to restore themselves! Worst of all, there was nothing left that she could steal away.
Gu Yuan's face popped into her mind. '001, can hosts look into the main mission of other hosts?'
[Unfortunately, no. Sometimes the main missions correlate, sometimes they clash, and sometimes they have nothing to do with each other. Host, 001 believes that with this world being a business world and his presence at the gathering of business families last night, his mission should most likely be the same as yours, clashing with it.] 001 speculated.
'En, I know. Especially since he was most likely the one who beat me into hacking the banks.' Tian Xi originally believed that her first mission would be a breeze. Now that Gu Yuan, a veteran host, was involved, and their main quests had a 90% chance of being the same, she had no choice but to put in just a little bit more effort.
Tian Xi's only advantage was that Gu Yuan had yet to confirm that she was also a host.
The reason she could be so confident about this fact was that he directly ejaculated into her womb so many times last night, unafraid of impregnating her because he must have believed that she was the original Tian Xi.
Or he was unsure, and therefore continuously filled her up to heighten the chance of pregnancy in order to confirm whether or not she was a host later if she did or didn't get pregnant.
Either way, his actions meant that he was suspicious of her.
It was a given that hosts could not reproduce with the residents of a mission world, even if this tidbit was not mentioned on the info sheet.
'Am I right, 001?' Tian Xi asked, just to be sure.
[That is correct, host. Hosts mating with the residents of a mission world is akin to two different species mating together. It is a fruitless endeavor. However, host... both you and Gu Yuan...] 001 didn't need to say the rest.
'It's whatever, 001. At least it let me confirm my only advantage over him. If I got knocked up, uhh... I could just abort it.'
[...]
'What? Gonna hound me on why abortion is cruel and shouldn't be done? Didn't you want first place? If I got pregnant, the game would be over since Gu Yuan wouldn't hold back on using his points in order to get rid of any of my chances to win.' Tian Xi reasoned. 001 has feelings?
[No, host. I was just unsure of your bottom line.]
'Pretty soon you will see that I am not a good person. I have to set it even lower for this world, don't I? If I fail, I'll be eliminated. ...as expected of a Level 2 world--having to directly compete with a veteran is indeed bumping up the difficulty ah.'
[So, what should we do now, host?] 001 wanted to say that pregnancies worked differently for hosts, but seeing as Tian Xi didn't want to talk about it anymore, he chose to remain silent.
Tian Xi switched gears and hacked directly into the Ou and Nan family business' treasuries.
[...]
'What? Killing two birds with one stone. Earning money while setting my rivals back a few years isn't a bad idea. They are the protagonists and were fated to succeed within 10 years if there were no interferences. Might as well be an interference,' Tian Xi shrugged as she deposited the fruits of her labor into their respective destinations.
001 noticed that Tian Xi didn't stop after already completely draining both the Ou and Nan families of their capital. [Host, what are you hacking now?]
'Gu Corporation,' Tian Xi stated matter-of-factly.
[ ° □°)}! ]
Of course, since Gu Yuan wasn't as much of a pushover as the hackers from the Ou and Nan Corporations, Tian Xi had a harder time breaking through his personally established walls and security. In fact, at some point she was pretty sure Gu Yuan himself had noticed the anomaly and was personally defending against her offensive. His struggles only ignited the competitive spirit within Tian Xi. She was probably exciting him as well, though. They were evenly matched.
But being evenly matched obviously didn't bade too well for the defensive party.
Firewall after firewall collapsed ever-so-slowly until Tian Xi got into the first treasury and robbed everything, quickly sending it into an untraceable account.
After that, Tian Xi quickly bailed before Gu Yuan could dig up any info on her. She wasn't planning on robbing him of everything.
This small robbery was Tian Xi's revenge against Gu Yuan for yesterday's drugging and sex incidents--a direct hit to his pride as an undefeated alpha male.
Just before she shut off her laptop for the day, a chat box popped up.
[Fuck you]
Tian Xi smirked, replying [gg] before the screen went black.
[Don't worry, host. He can't find out who you are.] 001 reassured Tian Xi.
'Mm. I know.'
Even though Tian Xi only infiltrated one of Gu Corporation's many treasuries, the sum she gained was still considerably greater than half the sum of both the Ou and Nan Corporations combined.
Looks like I have a long way to go, huh. Challenges are fun, but I wanted an easy win ah.
Thankfully, the Tian family specialized in technology. The annual revenue jumped around 250 to 300 billion USD. Tian Xi already did some basic research on their latest products and was glad that the technology of this world's time was far more under-developed than her original world's. This meant that she could use the gap to her advantage to make easy money and increase the revenue by leaps and bounds.
On the other hand, Gu Corporation was a retail giant with an annual revenue of over 500 billion USD.
It would be super easy to surpass the revenue of Gu Corp within less than 2 years, but the problem was if Gu Yuan would just sit still and let that happen.
Tian Xi suddenly jumped out of her seat at a stray thought that happened to pop up in her mind.
[Host?]
'System...tell me again what my mission is?' Tian Xi furrowed her brows.
[Level 2 World Main Mission: Bring the family business to the top of the business world. Become the richest person in the world. Reward: 1000 points.]
"Fuck!" Tian Xi cursed aloud, 'Bruh, 001, what the hell does this mission want me to do exactly?!'
[Isn't it simple enough, host? What's the problem?] 001 was confused. His host seemed to have gone crazy.
Tian Xi pulled at her hair, vexed at where her train of thoughts had led her. The only reason she was so aggravated was because it actually made sense! 'Fuck me! 001, if I brought Tian Corporation to the top of the world and simultaneously became the richest person in the world...then I would have completed my mission, right? And I can receive my reward and go to the void world any time after.'
[Yes, that should be the case. What exactly is the problem, host?]
With a tired sigh, Tian Xi complained, '001, my good bro... If Gu Yuan truly has the same mission as me, shouldn't he be done with this world already?'
001 became speechless at the sudden realization.
[Either Gu Yuan doesn't have the same quest, or there is a time constraint in place. Becoming the top in the business world is not a big deal, but for how long must you remain at the top? Becoming the richest person in the world is also not hard, but similarly, how long do you have to maintain that position...host, are you speculating that both of you must maintain the peak position until the day both host bodies die naturally?!]
It's not like Gu Yuan would choose to stay in this world for no reason either, right?
If that were the case, maybe he was the type to maximize profits by staying in one world to the very end (because of side tasks). Or since his original body had always been at the top of the business world, his quest could be to "maintain the top spot" rather than to "attain the top spot."
In the case that his mission was the same as hers and there was no time constraint, she would have less to worry about as long as Gu Yuan wasn't an asshole. But then the mission wouldn't make any sense because one mountain cannot contain two tigers--how could there be two top corporations with different revenues in one generation?
Either way, his presence in this world complicated her initially simple mission. In the end, Tian Xi could only find out why he was still in this world when she reached the top. If she got a notification immediately asking if she wanted to leave, she would know that the mission did not have a time constraint and her current worries were unneeded.
Tian Xi's expression eased somewhat after thinking for a bit. Indeed, it seemed that she had really underestimated Level 2 Worlds. Still, it would have been simple if one took Gu Yuan out of the picture. But with him being a veteran with who-knows-how-many points, how could she possibly beat him in a war of attrition if their missions truly clashed?
[Host, system has an idea that could help!]
'Let's hear it, hm?' Tian Xi quirked a brow.
[System knows that you had originally planned to develop more advanced technology from your time and jack up the prices, as well as employ your software to run and develop the business afterwards. What about proposing to Gu Yuan? That way, you can merge both companies and money would be shared amongst you two!] 001 reasoned.
[Of course, there's also the option of waiting for Gu Yuan to die before you since he is almost 10 years older than you, but that doesn't seem like your way of doing things.] That would be like passively accepting second place, and even 001 disapproved of this idea.
To be completely honest, Tian Xi could not find a single flaw with his first suggestion at all. And the latter was indeed not her preferred option.
At the very least, Gu Yuan had some fondness for the original host's body and personality. If Tian Xi could bring up the Tian Corp's revenue and show her monetary value to him as well, he'd have no real reason to reject her.
Of course, the longer Tian Xi stuck to Gu Yuan, the higher the chance of him finding out that she was also a host. Marriage was double-edged sword, but it would also be the easiest way for both parties to complete the quest. Tian Xi reckoned that Gu Yuan wouldn't be able to complain even if he found out that she was also a host.
She knew that even if she were to propose for the two's marriage, Gu Yuan wouldn't necessarily agree because even if he didn't marry her he would still be able to win with both hands behind his back.
Yet, if Tian Xi couldn't get together with Gu Yuan, she would undoubtedly lose.
'Thanks, 001. I'll consider the first option,' Tian Xi nodded in approval. She already knew which steps she would take to make Gu Yuan agree to marry her, as well as how to defeat him by the end of the mission. If he still refused, she'd go beg his parents. If they refused, his grandparents were also still alive and well!
Play the pig to eat the tiger, hehe. As long as he had the misconception that she was not a host, he really should not mind having Tian Xi as this lifetime's bed warmer as seen from the previous night's affair.
Also, she believed herself to be quite magnanimous. She wouldn't give two shits if he had a few mistresses outside or even inside the house, ah!
With 1000 years of transmigration in his list of accomplishments, even if she was threatened with the obliteration of her soul, Tian Xi would not believe that Gu Yuan had a modest sex life in each world--especially if he did not have to worry about being tied down by "taking responsibility" with the no-pregnancy law.
Tian Xi sat back down onto her chair as she threw her head back and laughed joyously.