Chapter 2 Just Friends 02
Ren Yi was asked to drink medicine as soon as he opened his eyes.
The surrounding environment was unfamiliar, and Ren Yi initially judged that he had arrived in a new world, but he had not received any plot information.
However, delays in plot transmission are common, so Ren Yi wasn't flustered. He simply drank his medicine while observing his surroundings, trying to gather more information so that he could confirm his current event point as soon as he received the plot.
Before the plot could even get to us, we heard this: "Do you remember your name?"
Ren Yi couldn't help but fall silent for a moment.
What's his name?
That's a good question. Of course, Ren Yi remembered his full name: Ren Yi, meaning "anything" and Yi, meaning "to interpret".
Ren Yi is a staff member of the Book Transmigration Bureau, belonging to the Tool Personnel Department.
The small worlds that evolved from books were very fragile at the beginning. It was common for some key characters to not be born or to die prematurely due to accidents. The job of the Book Transmigration Bureau was to send employees to the corresponding worlds to take over the roles that should have been there and to drive the plot forward.
However, employees who spend long periods of time impersonating other people in different worlds are prone to developing psychological issues such as "identity problems." The system is quite humane; aside from certain character-specific traits, employees aren't required to be exactly the same as the roles they impersonate, nor are they required to be in a constant working state. Employees only need to play their role at key plot points, making it a relatively relaxed job that allows for business trips and travel between different worlds. Therefore, as long as their names don't feel out of place in the world's context, most employees of the transmigration bureau use their real names even within the smaller worlds.
Logically speaking, Ren Yi only needs to say his name at this moment.
That's where the problem arises: the principles, the rules, and the logic.
Reality and theory always differ. Ren Yi's department is rather special: the "tools department."
The "tool characters" are those with a low profile throughout the book, yet they are extremely important and numerous. Given the already large number of characters, coupled with their low profile and the author's minimal focus on them, they become the most vulnerable link in the formation of the small world, a major area requiring intervention from the author to salvage the situation.
Therefore, although the Tool Personnel Department is considered a large department in the Book Transmigration Bureau, it still faces the predicament of a shortage of manpower all year round, and the employees of the department often have to take on multiple roles in a small world.
For example, in the world where Ren Yi had just completed his mission, he played two roles: one was the Sword Master, a tool who left behind the golden finger legacy for the Chosen One, and the other was the unrequited lover who worked hard and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Chosen One's growth.
This task was quite ordinary and not difficult for Ren Yi, because the roles of Sword Master and Unrequited Lover did not overlap in time. In other words, Ren Yi only needed to follow the steps of wearing the Sword Master's disguise to leave behind the legacy, and then change to a new disguise to continue the task. This was much easier than running two accounts at the same time back then.
In this situation, although both identities are worn by Ren Yi, it is obviously inappropriate to use the same name.
Generally speaking, Ren Yi would choose a supporting character with a more significant role in the plot as his main character. In other words, in the previous world, the pseudonym "Unrequited Lover" was indeed Ren Yi's real name, but "Sword Master" was not.
The reason Ren Yi is silent now is very simple: the plot of the new world has not yet been transmitted, and he is not sure if the identity he is currently wearing is the main account.
However, based on past experience, Ren Yi felt that the possibility was not very high.
Such accounts that appear earlier in the timeline are usually background characters; he wouldn't choose them as his main account.
And isn't the delay in transmitting the storyline too long this time?
Ren Yi didn't answer the question next to him immediately because he was waiting for the plot to unfold, but the silence has now far exceeded the time a normal answer should take, especially since the question doesn't require much thought. Even the excuse that he just woke up and isn't fully awake is hardly enough to fool him.
Ren Yi couldn't help but urge, "[Xiao Yi?]"
Xiao Yi is Ren Yi's nickname in the system because its ID number ends in 1, which is a homophone of Ren Yi's name. It's quite a coincidence that one person can unify the world, so it has been called that ever since.
There was no response.
Ren Yi's previously composed expression finally changed, but his body was far from being able to withstand such emotional fluctuations. In the instant his expression changed, he felt his blood surging in his chest, coughed several times, and then coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Yan Shuoyun, standing to the side, was startled by Ren Yi's reaction. He instinctively used his spiritual power to try and regulate Ren Yi's meridians, but only after the spiritual power settled on his hand did he realize that this person couldn't withstand such external stimulation. For a moment, he could only pat Ren Yi's back to comfort him like an ordinary person, somewhat like when he was frantically taking care of little Yan Er back then.
Yan Shuoyun sighed inwardly that he was destined to be a busybody, but he still took care of Ren Yi diligently until Ren Yi finally managed to calm down.
The coughing he had just coughed brought a flush to Ren Yi's originally pale face, making him look somewhat more human.
Yan Shuoyun's gaze fell on the reddened eye sockets, and then on the long eyelashes wet with physiological tears. His eyesight was excellent, and he could even see a tiny teardrop clinging to the end of the eyelash, looking pitiful as if it was about to fall.
Yan Shuoyun felt that he might have caught Yan Er's bad habit. Seeing the beauty like this, he even felt like a bastard for causing such a reaction with just one sentence.
He finally sighed and said, "If you can't remember, then don't think about it. This is Xizhou—Xizhou, Xuanqing Sect."
Yan Shuoyun emphasized the last few words, not hiding the arrogance in his voice. This top-tier sect in the Western Continent gave him enough confidence to be so confident.
Ren Yi paused for a moment, then couldn't help but confirm, "Xizhou?"
This was clearly as if he had remembered or realized something, but Yan Shuoyun simply agreed and did not pursue the matter further. He helped Ren Yi finish his medicine, then used magic to clean up the blood that had just been coughed up, told him to "rest well," and then left.
However, as soon as he stepped outside, Yan Shuoyun's calm and composed expression vanished, replaced by a look of headache.
Judging from the extent of his injuries, the grudge he harbors must be far from simple. Carrying such a deep-seated blood feud is already a huge problem, but the fact that the person involved doesn't even remember it makes the situation even more complicated than before.
Yan Shuoyun pressed his tongue against his palate and couldn't help but grind his teeth. Yan Er really knew how to give him something to do.
That's his sister! His own sister!!
Yan Shuoyun murmured to himself, took several deep breaths, and finally loosened his clenched fist.
He thought countless times that if this were a younger brother... he would have already subdued him.
Meanwhile, Ren Yi, inside the house, fell into deep thought because of the word "Xizhou," which reminded him of the world where he had just completed his mission.
That world was divided into two continents, East and West. The plot mainly focuses on the East Continent, while the West Continent is only mentioned but never officially appears. It is clearly meant to be used by the protagonist to expand the world map after the plot ends.
So... he's still in the previous world?
Ren Yi pondered, subconsciously mobilizing his spiritual energy, but his dantian remained empty, offering no response whatsoever.
This is normal, though. Before leaving this world, he had just completed his final duty as a tool, giving his spiritual root to the true love of the chosen one in order to save her from her cultivation path.
According to Ren Yi's character setting, even without spiritual roots, he still possesses Dao bones and can continue to cultivate, so the loss is not great, and it is a happy ending for everyone.
However, there is a problem here. During his previous career as a tool, Ren Yi had already given his Dao Bone to the Chosen One, so he doesn't have a second Dao Bone to continue squandering now.
This kind of thing is actually quite common. After all, Ren Yi's character is just a tool with little presence. It's perfectly normal for bugs to appear during the creation process. At this time, the judgment of the taskers is tested - they have to make choices that have the least impact on the main plot.
Based on this principle, Ren Yi's problems at that time were not even problems, so of course he would give the spiritual root to the protagonist.
What impact would it have on the plot if a character who's about to be killed off in the final episode could cultivate?
The main problem is that the protagonist's spiritual root is damaged, making it difficult for him to make any progress in his cultivation!
...
Having lost his spiritual root and lacking the Daoist essence, his years of cultivation vanished without any support, and he became a mortal.
However, Ren Yi had anticipated this situation and left a farewell letter for the chosen one in advance. When he woke up, he was ready to leave, but unexpectedly he was ambushed on the way.
At that time, Ren Yi thought, "No wonder this tool never came online again. It turns out he was physically taken offline."
He was quite relaxed, after all, the storyline had already been completed. For Ren Yi, there was no difference between the two options of "actively leaving the world" and "passively leaving". Besides, as a mortal, he had no chance of winning against six cultivators. Ren Yi didn't intend to waste his time and was prepared to lie down and let himself be killed... but he didn't expect the leader to have some other ideas.
Needless to say, they had their own thoughts about a stunningly beautiful woman who was powerless to resist.
Ren Yi cursed these unethical assassins in his heart. Although he would soon discard this disguise, it was still disgusting to see them being abused like this in turn.
Ren Yi had been in this world for so many years. Although he had lost his cultivation, he still had basic means of self-defense. He risked mutual destruction to kill the attacker, and dragged his half-dead body, preparing to find a quiet place to leave this world.
Then……
Ren Yi raised his hand and pressed his furrowed brow. He remembered that he should have successfully broken free.
As the master searched his memories, those memories that had been blocked by the self-protection mechanism surfaced, and the pain of his soul being torn apart surged up again. This time, Ren Yi didn't even utter a sound before fainting.
It was described as "fainting," but it was merely a loss of physical consciousness.
Those who can perform missions in the Transmigration Bureau must have sufficient soul strength. Ren Yi's current situation is that he has triggered the self-protection mechanism of his alternate identity, temporarily severing the connection with his body.
However, the state of his soul that he revealed was far more serious than the severely injured body armor.
The illusory shadow bore a striking resemblance to the unconscious person on the bed—after all, this was a main alias created using Ren Yi himself as a template—but it possessed an even more unapproachable and awe-inspiring presence.
At this moment, Ren Yi was in a truly wretched state. His uniform was tattered, and the exposed parts were covered in gruesome wounds with exposed flesh. Half of his body was soaked in blood, which was still dripping down. The blood droplets disappeared into the void after traveling a distance from his body, a manifestation of his ever-draining soul power.
Ren Yi remembered that he had encountered a time-space turbulence on his way back to the bureau.
Such accidents are rare, but once they happen, there's almost no chance of survival. Ren Yi was lucky; he only narrowly escaped, but even that near miss nearly killed him, not to mention the outer layer of protection provided by his system…
Ren Yi's heart sank, when he heard a faint voice, seemingly coming from a great distance: "[Host, host.]"
Ren Yi!
[Little one! ! ]
Ren Yi abruptly sat up, his wounds reopening and blood gushing out again, but he paid no attention to that at the moment. Instead, he tried to follow the movement to find the system's trail. [How are you now?!]
The system's voice was somewhat hesitant: "[Host, I...I...I've cracked.]"
Ren Yi?
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