Chapter 2.1
When Sui Yuan opens his eyes again, the first thing he sees is the muzzle of a pistol pressed unwaveringly to his forehead. A pretty, but cold young woman stands on the other end of the weapon, as if...no, it’s more like when he even so much as twitches, she would immediately open fire and blow his brains out.
Therefore, Sui Yuan makes the sensible decision to keep absolutely still.
The young woman scrutinises his face thoroughly, then eventually deigns to open her mouth. "He Haochen?"
Sui Yuan nods lightly once, serene gaze locked on her cautious one.
The unknown lady exhales a little heavily, tension draining from her body. A little bit of warmth returns to her eyes, and she moves the muzzle of the gun away from his head. "Congratulations in finally crossing this obstacle and profiting from disaster. Does your body feel any different? Do you know what sort of ability you gained?"
"I’m still feeling a little confused." Sui Yuan’s expression remains extremely calm, causing 5237 to continuously give him a thumbs-up. "Could you give me a moment to sort myself out?"
"Of course." The young woman nods, a faint smile surfacing.
Sitting up, Sui Yuan covers his face with both hands and begins to skim over the details of his second assignment.
As expected, he really received the lowest score possible for his previous task. If it wasn’t for him conscientiously slaving away to ensure the ending remained the same, his points would probably have dropped to the negatives. After all, turning a BG world into a BL one is a very serious matter.
However, what truly surprised Sui Yuan is when he returned to the meeting point between worlds - the place of his creation - he ran into Qin Zheng. It was then he finally realized the other party is his colleague, a senior who played the role of the male lead.
Still, Sui Yuan feels somewhat wronged, as almost eighty percent of the responsibility in the last world is heaped on Qin Zheng’s shoulders. As an actor taking on the role of the male lead, he actually consciously diverted from the original plotline. How rude and irresponsible! It’s a shame, but Sui Yuan has never been one to cry over spilt milk. Therefore, he merely flashes the other a friendly smile before departing, praying in his heart that he will never have to work with this guy again. Cooperating with a pig teammate like that is akin to asking for one’s life!
Anyway, back to his current task. Right now, Sui Yuan has been given the role of a man named He Haochen. As an actor without a name of his own, he is of the opinion that addressing himself using a different name in each world is a very inconvenient thing, which is why Sui Yuan takes the opportunity to discuss with his system, ensuring that hereafter, he will continue using the name he was given in the first world, Sui Yuan. After all, the name of the character he is replacing is not his own.
Naturally, the character he is filling in as, He Haochen, is this world’s supporting male lead, and the young woman who held a gun to his head is the female lead, Leng Xia. At this point of the story, she has experienced rebirth. In her previous life, she died after surviving quite a few years into the apocalypse, then found herself being transported back in time, to the period just before Judgment Day.
As a rule of thumb for rebirth worlds, before the apocalypse arrives again, the main character will definitely come across other pleasant surprises. For example, personal interdimensional space and whatnots - as according to 5237’s ramblings.
Before Sui Yuan took on He Haochen’s role, the character was bitten by a zombie. Afraid that he will turn onto one of those creatures, the other survivors want to kill him, but are prevented from doing so by Leng Xia who knows the future. She knows He Haochen will not transform. Instead, he will become one of the most powerful Ability Users out there. In addition, He Haochen is the first man Leng Xia came to trust after her rebirth.
The Leng Xia after rebirth is no longer weak and delicate. Being so different from the other women around, her tough disposition naturally attracts He Haochen. Although the two are afraid of breaking through the friendship boundary, it can be said that they have a tacit, mutual understanding of each other’s personalities and emotions. If it wasn’t for the appearance of the male lead Mo Xuanzhi, as well as the separation period between He Haochen and Leng Xia, this supporting male lead would certainly have a chance at being Leng Xia’s man. It’s a pity that the male lead Mo Xuanzhi surpasses He Haochen in every aspect, whether it be in ability, looks or status.
Thus, this poor, supporting male lead is shuffled off to the side and becomes cannon fodder. Harbouring both love and bitterness for the female lead, he is constantly telling himself to let her go, but failing to completely expel her from his mind. Time after time, he rescues her from critical situations, sacrificing himself for her. Only to be pushed aside for another, watching blankly as the male and female leads fall in mutual love, eventually sealing their relationship with a marriage.
After organising his thoughts, Sui Yuan immediately immerses himself into this assignment. This time, the character he is playing is an introverted scholar with a lukewarm disposition. Hence, he discards the previous façade of a brash, arrogant evildoer, plastering on a cool-headed look as he wordlessly pushes his glasses up to sit more comfortably on his face.
"My ability should be water-based." Saying thus, he raises one hand and condenses the water vapour in their vicinity, creating a rotating sphere of water that hovers just above the skin of his palm. Still maintaining it after a short silence, his brow wrinkles. "Besides hydrokinesis...I have a feeling there is something else..."
"Perhaps you are a Dual-ability User?" Although she knows exactly what He Haochen is capable of, Leng Xia forcibly restrains herself from blurting it out, instead offering a seemingly hesitant suggestion.
Sui Yuan nods lightly, almond eyes narrowing behind his glasses. Very quickly, lightning flashes across the ball of water, emitting soft, crackling sounds.
"A dual water and lightning system!" Leng Xia’s eyes shine, laughing as she turns to Sui Yuan. "It’s a rather remarkable ability you have here!"
Dipping his head shallowly in acknowledgement of the compliment, Sui Yuan finally gets to his feet. "You seem to have a fairly good understanding of abilities. Are you an Ability User too?"
"I am." A trace of smugness colour Leng Xia’s calm tone. "I am also a Dual-ability User. Water and space system."
"I thank you for saving my life, allowing me to become an Ability User instead of a cold corpse." Sui Yuan’s eyes nonchalantly sweep over the other survivors previously making a racket about killing him. Although he appears to be a cultured and refined man, his stare is piercing, behaviour somewhat cold and detached.
"There is reason for their fear. After all, only a small percentage of those bitten can successfully beat back the infection. Although I prevented them from killing you, I was also cautious. Which is why I held a gun to your head the entire time," Leng Xia explains with a small smile.
Firstly, this little dialogue is to showcase her good and honest personality. Second is to remove her from the general populace by emphasising her bravery and cool-headedness under pressure. Thirdly, it is to explain why she was pressing a pistol to his forehead when he regained consciousness to avoid misunderstandings or the off chance that he might harbour a grudge.
Nodding to express his understanding, Sui Yuan’s gaze bore deeply into Leng Xia, pupils carrying a glint of appreciation and interest. The female lead hangs her head a little, outwardly calm, but inwardly joyful even as her cheeks turn red.
What comes next is a life of killing zombies, scavenging all sorts of supplies and recruiting followers. During the entire journey, Sui Yuan and Leng Xia develop a deeper understanding of each other—to the point that even a blind person can see the ambiguous air between the two. However, Sui Yuan is more cautious this time, strictly keeping to the plot. Not saying more than necessary, not taking one step outside the storyline, he firmly holds onto this level of friendship with the female lead. Up until they arrive at the destination of the fated moment - the biggest survivor’s base of operation in Lu Sheng[1].
At this moment in time, Sui Yuan’s water and lightning system has both reached Rank 3, surpassing the other Ability Users in their team by far. In addition, with Leng Xia’s space that is able to store a large pile of items, as long as they are not met with mishap, they wouldn’t need to worry about food and water for a long while.
According to the plot, the supporting male lead He Haochen will eventually become a powerful chief in Lu Sheng’s largest survivor’s base of operation. Here is where he separates from the female lead, each walking down a different path. As the female lead has already experienced the apocalypse once before, she knows that this base will eventually be sieged by a high-level zombie leading a horde of common undead. But she is incapable of telling him the truth and is only able to insist on going to the capital. However, due to a myriad of reasons, He Haochen decides to stay behind.
After the base is attacked and sustained too much damage for the survivors to stay in, He Haochen leads the remaining people to the capital. At this point, the female lead Leng Xia has already found her second peach branch[2] - her true fated man, Mo Xuanzhi.
"Older - older brother Haochen! There is a horde of zombies up ahead!" A Spirit Ability User - someone who is able to detect living and undead beings within a certain range - in the group exclaims, breaking Sui Yuan out of his musing. There is a trace of nervousness in the veteran’s voice, indicating that the situation in front is extremely risky. "It is a high-level swarm! There are quite many Rank 2s... Heavens! There’s also a Rank 3!"
Immediately, panic rises in the group, causing even Leng Xia to subconsciously clutch his hand in alarm. Her space ability is aimed at allowing her to survive, and her powers over water is best suited for surprise attacks. While she is able to hold her own against common undead, she still requires protection when faced with more dangerous threats.
"We’ll temporarily halt and observe the movements of this horde," Sui Yuan instructs as he squeezes Leng Xia’s hand in comfort, calmly pushing his glasses up.
Leng Xia raises her head, staring at his serene face, his expression eternally unchanging, firm as Mt. Tai[3]. As long as He Haochen is here by her side, there is nothing to fear. No matter what happens, he will be able to settle it efficiently.
Following Sui Yuan’s detailed instructions, the team gradually settles down and make preparations for battle. It’s just that not long after the group stopped advancing, the person in charge of keeping an eye on the horde while the others prepare doesn’t issue a single peep from the start to the end.
Sui Yuan frowns lightly, well aware that this development is not quite right. Just as he is about to head over and ask the person what is happening, he hears the man inhale sharply. "The...the zombie horde...is completely wiped out! Goodness, the other party...is a lone man! I - is he still considered a human?!"
"Continue keeping a lookout," Sui Yuan orders coldly, releasing Leng Xia’s hand and striding forward so that he stands at the head of the group, closest to where this mysterious lone person is.
Drawing her composure together, Leng Xia hesitates for a second before following him.
In the apocalypse, both humans and zombies can be terrifying. In order to ensure their continued existence, each side is willing to kill anything that stands between them and survival. Since this newcomer is able to wipe out a high-level horde so easily, they are naturally also a huge threat to this group of survivors. Before one can determine if this unknown is a friend or foe, one cannot under any circumstances lower their guard.
Under everyone’s tense and watchful gazes, a lone figure appears in the horizon, slowly making their way towards the group. Being the only Rank 3 Ability User, Sui Yuan’s sharper senses allow him to see the approaching figure clearly before anyone else.
A tall, handsome man with chiselled features and short, black hair, the scar running down his left cheek doesn’t take away his attractiveness. On the contrary, it adds to his seemingly stern and sharp temperament. The aura this man exudes is similar to an excellently-forged blade dyed in blood.
"...Oh my god! Mo Xuanzhi?!" Leng Xia lets out a strangled, surprised whisper, unknowingly echoing Sui Yuan’s silent exclamation. "What is he doing here?!"
5237: "Fuck me. I have a terrible premonition. What the hell is going on?! QAQ"
Footnotes:
[1] Lu Sheng = name of this land/country
[2] Peach branch = a term for suitor
[3] Mt. Tai = A significant historical and cultural mountain, commonly featured/mentioned in Chinese fiction.
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