Chapter 1: Transmigration

His head throbbed, more painful than a hangover by tenfold or more.

Thunk.

The crisp knocking on the door was incredibly annoying.

“Shh…” The young man’s dry lips barely produced a sound.

Thunk, thunk.

After two more knocks, the door was pushed open.

A gust of cool air swept in as the door opened, finally bringing some clarity to the young man. In the next moment, he propped himself up and sat up, and as he did so, a soft piece of fabric hung down.

The fabric was incredibly smooth, colored crimson, and made his skin appear even paler.

The young man was momentarily stunned.

He was certain he had never worn such a flamboyant color in his life.

Upon closer examination, his complexion grew even worse. He was barefoot, the collar of his clothing was open, and he had a red string wrapped around his ankle as an accessory.

Who am I, where am I, and what am I doing?

Three seconds later, the young man, in a daze, asked himself and replied, “I am Lin Jindu, it seems I’m in a large mansion, and… I look really flashy.”

In front of him was a gilded mirror, and his current appearance far exceeded the word “flashy.”

A displeased voice came from ahead, “*You, I can guarantee that once Sir. sees your attire, he won’t be pleased.”

*nin – the polite form of you as opposed to ni(informal)

Although spoken with respect, the use of “You.” carried a faint hint of mockery.

Following the voice, Lin Jindu looked over and saw a man in professional attire. His hair, slicked back with gel, was meticulously groomed. He appeared to be around forty years old, with slightly graying hair, fitting the image of a butler from a manga.

Without giving him more time to react, the butler gestured, and a group of people entered one after another. The leader placed a body weight scale in front of Lin Jindu, while two people on either side began trimming his fingernails, and a hairstylist stood by to assist with his hair.

Everything felt surreal, and Lin Jindu bit his tongue to stay alert amid the pain.

He didn’t make any sudden moves and quietly observed the situation.

After a moment, the butler spoke sternly, “Step on the scale.”

The two people who had just finished trimming his nails dragged Lin Jindu onto the scale.

The butler glanced at the scale with drooping eyelids and drawled, “One and a half pounds overweight.”

The person beside him immediately recorded the data.

Lin Jindu’s lips twitched. Was he in a meat market?

After the routine inspection, the butler spoke again, “To help you quickly return to your standard weight, you will only be allowed to consume meal replacement powder and shakes for the next few days.”

The butler emphasized the words “meal replacement,” silently hinting at something.

“Do not eat unnecessary meals, and do not engage in unnecessary activities.”

The fact that this idiot had tried to bribe him with money earlier to monitor Mr.’s actions was utterly foolish.

As soon as he finished speaking, the butler immediately left with his entourage, as if the air in the room was contaminated with a virus.

“What the hell?” With everyone gone, Lin Jindu no longer concealed the confusion in his eyes.

[Code 40 System wholeheartedly at your service.]

Lin Jindu suddenly retreated.

There really were ghosts!

[It’s not a ghost; it’s System Si *Linghao. This isn’t important. Congratulations on receiving a chance at rebirth *1.]

Si – 4, 零号(linghao) – slang for bottom (ling = zero). So it makes sense for its codename to be 40.

[I am the Fate Community System, also known as the Life Alteration System.]

[System 40 will work with you online to alter your destiny.]

The mechanical voice delivered a string of information in a cold, robotic tone. Lin Jindu finally managed to grasp the situation and quickly summarized it:

He had transmigrated into an early novel titled {Moonlight Horizon}, primarily about several men engaged in a fierce battle due to their affection for White Moonlight.

White Moonlight had very few appearances in the book, and she had an unexpected “death” early on, only to reappear abruptly later in the story.

The dog-blood tags weren’t just for show; the supporting characters occupied almost two-thirds of the story.

Because White Moonlight’s role came later, the male lead had been searching for a stand-in for her in the early part of the story, claiming it was to heal his inner pain. Lin Jindu closely resembled White Moonlight in terms of appearance.

His role in the book was quite clear…

As the malicious supporting character, he constantly bullied the male lead, played with his feelings, teamed up with the second male lead, infiltrated the male lead’s study to steal information, and eventually met his tragic end by being left to die at sea.

According to the system, the original malicious supporting character had been brought to the villa on the day the male lead left for a business trip and had died suddenly before he could cause too much trouble. Now, Lin Jindu needed to take over the role and play it perfectly.

Before his transmigration, he had spent several years in a vegetative state in the hospital. The system promised that as long as he played the role reasonably well, he could enjoy a new lease on life.

Nobody wants to die if they can help it. After the initial shock wore off, Lin Jindu pragmatically asked, “What are the specific requirements?”

[The original host died.]

[You have to clean up the mess he left behind and play the perfect spare tire.]

[You also need to change the fates of the male lead and the supporting male character.]

Lin Jindu immediately refused without hesitation, “I’d rather die.”

System 40 remained composed and said, [Don’t make a decision in haste. Let’s talk about being a spare tire first; it’s actually quite easy.]

“Such as?”

[The three essentials: accompanying meals, accompanying drinks, and accompanying *.]

“…” Thanks but no thanks, declined.

Lin Jindu lay back in bed, his exaggerated nightgown forming numerous wrinkles, resembling a blooming peony. He decided to wait for death in his dreams.

The system no longer tried to persuade him.

The room returned to silence.

Two hours passed, and it was now afternoon.

He had slept quite well; Lin Jindu found himself exceptionally skilled at sleeping nowadays, given his years as a vegetable before the transmigration. Now, with the combination of transmigration and the system, along with the series of bizarre events, he found himself surprisingly calm and asleep.

The curtains had been drawn shut, but he didn’t know by whom.

System 40: [I pulled them.]

Lin Jindu thought to himself that this thing seemed to have some degree of control over objects.

But it was considerate, knowing to draw the curtains to block out the light.

Light?

Lin Jindu suddenly realized something. With the curtains drawn, why was there still some dim light in the room?

He turned his head and noticed that the laptop on the bedside table had been turned on at some point.

What was even more bizarre was that he was now in a video call.

On the other side of the video, the room appeared equally luxurious, but from the decor, it didn’t look like a normal home interior; it leaned more towards a hotel style.

The dim and desolate atmosphere couldn’t be created solely by drawing curtains, so Lin Jindu deduced that there was a time difference between the room on the other end of the video and his current location.

Chaotic thoughts raced through his mind, but it was only a matter of two or three seconds. When Lin Jindu attempted to further organize his thoughts, he suddenly heard a click.

The bathroom door on the video’s side opened, and a tall man emerged.

His hair was still dripping, a white towel casually draped around his neck, indicating that he had just finished showering.

His complexion seemed a bit off, slightly pale.

Without any preparation, the gazes of both sides met through the screen.

Lin Jindu: !!!

He hurriedly got up, intending to close the laptop, but in his haste, he accidentally twisted his neck.

With a pained groan, he instinctively reached for his neck.

“Hiss.” Lin Jindu pressed on his neck, wincing in pain.

The night breeze blew in through the window, and on the other end of the video call, the man coughed a few times. However, his gaze remained cold and sharp, making it uncomfortable to maintain eye contact.

“Who are you?” the man asked.

He had been working on his computer earlier and, due to several days of poor sleep, had taken a shower to relax. However, when he came out, the screen was in a video call state.

Lin Jindu was even more puzzled than the man, but he tightly pressed his thin lips, not showing any signs of confusion.

Lin Jindu knew that there would be answers soon.

As expected, the culprit spoke up.

System 40: [I hacked into the male lead’s computer.]

[As a spare tire, you must actively fulfill the ‘three essentials.’]

“How can electronic companionship not count as companionship?”

The emphasis here was on companionship!

Anyway, as long as he lulled the person to sleep and then watched over them, it would suffice.

Lin Jindu couldn’t help but show his emotions a bit. In his mind, he muttered, “How do you plan to convince the other person to also cooperate with electronic companionship?”

System 40, devoid of humanity, replied, [The male lead will certainly refuse, and he will be disgusted by you.]

[But his refusal and your inaction are two different things. At least, you’ve done what the malicious supporting character should do. This is a small step in your role as a stand-in.]

Role?

Lin Jindu ignored that word and was surprised that the other party seemed to be helping him exploit a loophole in the rules.

“Wait, are you sure this is the male lead?”

The male lead wouldn’t ask who you were when he saw himself.

Moreover…

Lin Jindu’s gaze naturally swept from top to bottom. The person on the video call had a stern appearance, sharp features, and although physically frail, there was a terrifying shrewdness in their eyes.

A person’s appearance and temperament were somewhat connected to their personality.

A normal person encountering such a situation at midnight would definitely be startled, but the other party merely furrowed their brow slightly.

With just a brief encounter, Lin Jindu was already certain that this was someone who remained eerily composed to an extreme degree.

How could such a person make arrangements to find a stand-in and even have the butler groom him meticulously, constantly adjusting him to match White Moonlight’s parameters?

System 40 said emotionlessly, [Not certain. All living beings appear as energy-rich mosaics in my presence, and I can only see colorful blocks. I simply followed the network cable to the individual with the strongest energy.]

Lin Jindu raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat reassured about his privacy.

He was also a person, and in the system’s presence, he was just a simple color block.

What Lin Jindu could think of, System 40 could naturally think of as well.

[The male lead wouldn’t cough from a gust of wind; he should be strong enough to knock down an ox.]

In normal circumstances, the male lead’s energy should be the strongest, but there seemed to be a bug in this world, and bugs were inevitable.

The system promptly corrected and used a trial-and-error approach, [There’s someone in the room next door with slightly lower energy; try to accompany him to sleep.]

The male lead’s energy should undoubtedly be the world’s best, either this one or that one.

“…”

Accompany the wrong person? Accompany again.

Is there any sense of professional ethics and professional conduct here?

Lin Jindu, after brushing aside his previous disdain, felt a thousand words welling up in his throat, ultimately converging into a single word that burst forth from his throat.

“Deal!”

In reality, the system hadn’t even finished explaining the salary and benefits module when Lin Jindu’s attitude made a 180-degree turn. The system was caught off guard and responded with a rare moment of hesitation. [Weren’t you just vehemently refusing, even *vowing to die rather than obey?]

*”誓死不从 {shì sǐ bù cóng)

Little did the system know, Lin Jindu had decisively changed his stance, displaying an exceptionally serious demeanor. “You must have misheard me. I am committed to this, I *view death as a return to home.”

*视死如归” (shì sǐ rú guī)

TN:

I’ve always wanted to try a system type story so here goes nothing.

Disclaimer:

I am an MTLer. This means that I use machines for the translations and then edit them thus the output won’t maintain the original story’s nuances and the author’s writing style. It might end up sounding quite robotic and at times awkward. I’m very receptive to feedback so if you do come across things you feel can be improved in terms of sentence flow, grammar or if you spot any mistakes I missed, this is especially with pronouns(the apps sometimes mix them up), kindly inform me and I’ll fix it. Not sure where this story is going since I translate while reading, but hopefully it’s enjoyable and worthwhile! I have no schedule and just release the chapters as I finish them. But I aim for at least one chapter per week.