Chapter Ch209.1 - Extra: Lu Ting POV 1 (1)
Translated by Eve
Edited by Serefina
Extra: Lu Ting POV 1 (1)
Lu Ting had never expected to die so suddenly.
That day, he and his parents had parted on bad terms once again because he had refused to marry a woman he didn’t love for the sake of profit. He hadn’t wanted to take over the family business either.
His parents had been very disappointed in him and Lu Ting had felt sorry but…he couldn’t marry someone and have a son just to meet someone else’s expectations. He couldn’t live his life for the sake of others.
Lu Ting had left his parent’s home that day thinking that life in his world was boring.
There were regulations and restrictions everywhere. He had to follow the prescribed order. It was like he could see what his entire life would look like with one glance. If he wanted to live without caring about what others thought, he needed to have a great deal of courage. It wasn’t that Lu Ting didn’t possess enough courage, he just felt bored with life.
Lu Ting had then driven back to his place alone. At night, a huge storm had suddenly kicked up. His vision had been obstructed and he had ended up in a car accident.
Just like that, he had died.
But what surprised him was that his consciousness had still been there even though he had clearly died. He had wondered if humans really became spirits after death. While Lu Ting was in a state of shock, he suddenly heard a cold voice.
【Are you willing to become a host and complete missions in other worlds?】
Lu Ting asked, “Could you give me a few more details?”
【Your world is the main world but there are many other secondary planes that have come into existence. All you have to do is complete your given missions in these secondary worlds. If you complete the mission, you will obtain experience points. You can use experience points to buy the things that you want.】
【Lu Ting：Including a chance to be revived?】
【Yes.】
【Lu Ting：Sounds good. I agree.】
Lu Ting didn’t actually care if he would be revived or not. This was obviously a tempting offer that a strange, cold voice was using to ensnare him and make him work. After all, no one could resist the temptation of revival.
Lu Ting didn’t really trust things that sounded too good to be true. If there wasn’t a trap behind the bait, there would be an extremely high price to pay instead…. He cared more about these so-called secondary worlds. They seemed very interesting. Furthermore, he wouldn’t lose anything by agreeing, no matter what happened. If he didn’t agree, he would die right away. But if he agreed, there were many possibilities—as long as he was alive, there would be countless possibilities.
He didn’t plan on making any long-term plans for himself right now. Before he knew the truth or the details of his circumstances, if he were to think too much or make a decision right away, things may turn out drastically different from what he expected. In that case, he wouldn’t be able to get any benefits out of this at all. He would only lose the ability to make calm decisions.
He trusted what he himself could see more than what others told him. He would wait and see before slowly making his final decision.
Right now, he just needed to survive.
After Lu Ting agreed, he quickly heard the voice say ‘system loading.’ Soon after, he was bound to a system numbered 666. Lu Ting found this really interesting. So, every host was paired with a system? Was the system like an AI helper?
Before he could think much about it, he felt his soul get sent through time and space. He then appeared in a strange, vast area.
Lu Ting looked down at his body and found that it was in perfect condition. It wasn’t shattered and broken like it had been after the crash.
666 was a new system right out of production. He was rather inflexible and serious. He replied to all of Lu Ting’s questions by reading right off the ‘Newbie’s Guide.’
This wasn’t Lu Ting’s body from the main world, but a new body that had been crafted by Lord God based on the data from his original body. His original body could not be brought with him because it would disrupt the equilibrium of the main world. It would cause unnecessary disorder and issues.
Lu Ting was in high spirits. He asked 666 many questions. He then took in the place he was in. It was an extremely huge space. In the middle, there was an immense screen. The numbers on it continuously rose. Many people stood in front of that screen, pointing at it.
666 said that this was the missions hall. Hosts would all come back here after completing their missions, where they would choose a new mission.
Lu Ting noticed that he wasn’t the only new person around. Not far from him stood several puzzled-looking newbies. They all opened up the system store, full of anticipation, before cursing loudly. “Motherf*cker, &#k2018;Revival and Return to the Main World’ costs ten million experience points! That’s too much. When will we ever collect that much?”
When the experienced hosts saw this, they shook their heads and sighed. One of them said, “Another one’s been tricked. Ten million experience points…it’s not a matter of when you’ll amass that many points, but a matter of whether you’ll live long enough to do so.”
Lu Ting’s expression didn’t change. He hadn’t really thought that he’d be revived. If he had no hopes, he wouldn’t be disappointed.
Although he had only listened to a few short sentences, Lu Ting had obtained a lot of information. This world wasn’t simple. It wasn’t a cheat that the Heavens had specifically blessed him with either. He wasn’t a protagonist that had gotten some fortuitous chance either. Strictly speaking…all the hosts were nothing but ‘employees’ to Lord God.
That so-called Lord God needed them to work hard on its behalf. That was why it had tricked them into coming. Oh…but it couldn’t be called deception. This had been his own choice. At least Lu Ting thought that transmigration was rather intriguing.
Being able to transmigrate to many different worlds and use the things in the system store was much more interesting than his life in the main world.
He thought that both parties benefited from this.
Moreover, a thought flashed through Lu Ting’s eyes. If someone was really able to accumulate that many experience points, he would become extremely strong and immortal. Whether someone like that would be willing to go back to the tedious main world was the real question…. Regardless, he didn’t have to think about such a far off possibility right now.
Lu Ting walked over to the screen with a lot of interest. He was about to pick a mission.
Someone next to him asked him, “Are you new here? For a newbie, you’ll have to either team up with a high level host or pick a simple, low level mission. For example, a love conquest type mission….”
Lu Ting asked, “Love conquest?”
That person said, “Yes. That type of mission isn’t typically dangerous. Furthermore, it’s not a high ranked mission. But the experience points gained aren’t high…. If you want to go to a higher plane, you’ll have to team up with a high level host.”
Lu Ting thanked that person before continuing to look at the missions.
Lu Ting had some understanding of the mission rules. The worlds were separated into different levels. For a new person like him, he could only take on missions from E-ranked worlds. If he wanted to go to a higher ranked world, he would have to team up with a higher leveled teammate. Hosts of different levels could take on different ranked missions. For example, only hosts leveled eight and above could take on missions from S-ranked worlds.
Lu Ting didn’t plan on teaming up with other people. For a new person like him, teaming up with a higher level host was very dangerous. He could very easily be turned into cannon fodder or a slave…. This transmigration world was nowhere near as peaceful as the main world. Here, the strong ate the weak. It was survival of the fittest.
If he wanted to gain more, he would have to give up his dignity or his life. He was not that impatient.
But Lu Ting didn’t plan on doing love conquest type missions. He had never been interested in romance. When he had still been alive, he hadn’t liked hanging out with those fickle young masters whose heads were filled with thoughts of romance and sex…. Furthermore, according to the rules, he’d have to leave three days after completing the mission. That meant that he’d have to deceive his target into falling for him only to throw the other away. He felt it beneath his dignity to do such a thing.
Lu Ting searched for a long time before he chose his first mission. It was to go to a world and catch a thief.
According to the plot, this was a rather relaxed case-solving story world. It wasn’t particularly dangerous and the case wasn’t complicated. It wasn’t difficult to complete. It was just that the experience points gained were rather low.
Lu Ting easily completed the mission and obtained his first 5000 experience points. He then took on his second mission. This mission was to help the protagonist’s great granny find her granddaughter….
There weren’t a lot of simple, easy missions like this. They were also usuallyly snatched up by all the new people. It was up to luck whether he’d get them.
Lu Ting sometimes wouldn’t be able to take on these kinds of missions. But that didn’t matter to him. After he got some experience, he began to take on more complicated missions.
Like this, Lu Ting slowly worked his way up according to the prescribed order. He did not become arrogant nor impatient. His work pace was neither too fast or too slow and he always worked on his own. At the same time, he slowly grasped the rules of this world. He wasn’t in a rush to level up. His life was important. If he died here, his soul would disappear. Therefore, it was better to work steadily.
Furthermore, he felt like life wasn’t boring anymore now that he was constantly transmigrating to different worlds.
666 was a very frank system. As time passed, they grew familiar with each other. The two of them got along very happily.
Time passed quickly. This time, Lu Ting had just completed a D-ranked world with a power struggle in an ancient world setting. He had finally become a level five host. 666 reminded him that he could take a break in a world. Lu Ting thought that it’d be good to take a break so he input his requirements for the world he wanted. He chose a relaxed, modern setting world.
Lord God gave him a random modern world. However, the mission was a love conquest type mission.
Right…even in vacation worlds, they had to complete missions. However, the mission would be simple and relaxed. If they failed, the consequences wouldn’t be dire either. Lu Ting didn’t really want to complete a love conquest type mission. However, he had already come into this world. If he failed, he’d be deducted ten thousand experience points. He had no choice but to accept.
At that time, he didn’t know that he would completely fall here.
Lu Ting had the entire plot in his hands. Since he had to complete his mission, he obviously had to read the plot. Lu Ting furrowed his brows and reluctantly read the entirety of this little erotic romance novel. He then told 666, “Not even my fourteen year old cousin would read this kind of thing.”
666：……
Regardless, he still had to do his mission. The first thing Lu Ting did was get information. When he found out that the protagonist, Xie He, was only ten years old right now, he gave up on approaching the other for now. He thought, it’s indeed a vacation world. I have a lot of time….
But he still had to make his preparations. According to the love conquest manual, the female lead had to be spent away.
Lu Ting had a system and was a level five host. Although he wasn’t high levelled, he was at a high enough level to do ‘magical’ things. 666 was able to very easily create documents to forge an identity for him. He also helped Lu Ting exchange for a lot of money. Shortly after, Lu Ting was able to establish himself in this world.
Then, he sent the female lead, Ruan Xiaoxuan, abroad. He even helped her deal with her scummy stepfather while he was at it.
Then, Lu Ting began his long wait.
This world was really similar to the main world. Lu Ting felt really immersed in this world. He would occasionally think of his parents. In a blink of an eye, several decades had passed for him. He didn’t know if there was a difference in how time passed for him and for those in the main world. He still felt really sorry to his parents….However, his younger brother was a good child. At least they had him.
Lu Ting didn’t want to think too much about things he couldn’t do. It would only hurt him. He lived a very relaxed and content life in this world. He hadn’t lived in such a peaceful era in a long time. Typically, when he had nothing to do, he would just monitor that child named Xie He.
Humans were curious creatures. After staying in a peaceful world for a long time, they would find it boring. But after fighting and killing for a long time, they would feel that peace was a rarity.
When people were noisy nearby, a person would get annoyed. But after being alone for a long time, they would begin to feel lonely.
Lu Ting watched over Xie He for three years. By then, he’d feel uncomfortable if he didn’t monitor Xie He for even one day. It was like watching over Xie He had become a part of his life.
Habit was a fearsome thing.
Although they hadn’t met yet, Lu Ting felt like Xie He had been by his side all this time.
One day, Lu Ting told 666 to tell him about Xie He as per usual. He had remembered that today was Xie He’s birthday. However, Xie He’s parents were lousy parents. He had been a bit worried. Indeed…Xie He’s father had chosen to spend the day with Xie Xi and Xie He’s mother had also left. No one had cared about Xie He.
Xie He acted like he didn’t care. He didn’t cry or make a fuss. He didn’t have any of the naivety that children of his age should have.
Lu Ting suddenly felt upset. He couldn’t watch this.
A child at this age should be loved and doted on by his parents. He should live his life carefree and without any worries. But Xie He didn’t have that…. His life had been casually crafted by a bored author who thought that this kind of childhood was rather cool. After all, he would become a wicked and charming overbearing president.
But in Lu Ting’s eyes, everything was so real. This was someone’s life, ah….
It was not a few strokes in the pages of a book.
That day, Lu Ting went out. He knew that this wasn’t the best time to meet, but he couldn’t act indifferently any longer. He wanted to protect Xie He, to accompany him, and to let this child know that he wasn’t alone.
He wanted to see Xie He for himself and not just through 666’s surveillance.
Of course, to Lu Ting back then, this wasn’t love…. If he had to put a name to it, it was probably just an impulsive moment of kindness. In Lu Ting’s eyes, Xie He was just a child that needed to be cared for.
It couldn’t be said that Xie He didn’t need love just because he never acted like he was hurt or upset.
It had just been that Xie He had been let down too many times before. That was why he was using this kind of method to protect himself.
In Lu Ting’s eyes, compared to Xie Xi, who purposely pretended to be pitiful to gain the love of others, his heart ached a lot more for Xie He, who never cried, never fussed, and only relied on himself. Furthermore, a lot of people loved Xie Xi. However, the stubborn Xie He only had one person.
Lu Ting only realized that he was being a bit too impulsive after he left his house. But he very quickly thought of Xie He’s classmate. Like this, he’d be able to quietly get close to Xie He. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched for Xie He’s classmate’s older neighbour to have good will towards him and for them to occasionally meet, right?
Lu Ting spent a lot of money to settle Xie He’s classmate’s family. Just as he wanted, that classmate invited Xie He out to eat that day. He was too embarrassed to buy a cake. He thought that it would only make Xie He suspicious. After all, this child was intelligent and perceptive…. Therefore, he just ordered a little pastry for everyone there. Even if he didn’t like sweets himself, he still ate it. He pretended that the reason he bought it for them all was because he really liked it.
In the end, Lu Ting got acquainted with Xie He successfully. He had felt really happy at that time. He didn’t have to see Xie He through 666’s lenses anymore…. Now, he could stand in front of Xie He and help him. He would no longer have to be upset over his own helplessness. He could now be at Xie He’s side.
But that child was smarter than he had expected. Sometimes, Lu Ting would feel like Xie He could see through him…. However, he had never confirmed this.
Lu Ting wasn’t good at courting people. Lu da shaoye had been a school-tyrant-type since he had been young. He had a strict, earnest personality. He had always preferred to refrain from things like love…. Furthermore, he never had to chase after anyone. There were always plenty of people chasing after him…. Although he wasn’t good at romance, he was perfectly adept at taking care of a child.
Men instinctively knew how to protect the people they cared about.
He had run his business in this world for several years. In addition, he had a cheat—his system. Therefore, he was a very influential man. He had even more money than the Xie Family. Therefore, as long as Xie He was under his wings, no one dared bully him.
Lu Ting spent all his attention on Xie He. He had come to this world specifically for the other, after all.
Furthermore, he was glad to spend time with the boy.
Lu Ting watched over Xie He and spent time with him like this…. He watched as Xie He slowly grew up. He witnessed Xie He’s everything. The other slowly entered his eyes and then went straight into his heart.
Xie He grew up gradually, from a child to a young adolescent. His appearance had also begun to mature. His originally pretty and delicate face took on a more handsome light. However, he didn’t look delicate like Xie Xi. He looked colder and sharper.
But Lu Ting still preferred Xie He. He thought Xie He was much better looking than Xie Xi…. At this time, 666, who had been focused on researching human emotions to help Lu Ting, had said, “This is a case of beauty being in the eye of the beholder. Although Xie He is really good-looking, he’s more attractive to women. Xie Xi is more attractive to men.”
Lu Ting disdained that. He had seen many good-looking men and women. How could he decide whether he liked someone based on such a superficial thing such as appearance? He looked at personality, okay? Of course, Xie He was also really good-looking. He was beautiful inside and out.
666 had never seen such a shameless face-con before.
Although 666 looked down on his host a bit, he was a very dedicated and prudent system! Since Lu Ting had accepted this love conquest mission, he had dutifully studied human emotions. He had studied over a thousand articles about human emotions. He had worked hard to read all sorts of romance novels. He had read many like ‘The Overbearing President Takes His Lovable Little Wife By Force.’ They all followed the same pattern! 666 had felt like he had a preliminary understanding of human emotions.
He had decided that if he had time later, he would write his own book about human emotions. When 666 thought of that, he had felt a bit proud of himself.
In the beginning, Lu Ting had only seen Xie He as a child. But a few years later, he realized that something was wrong. He couldn’t see the teen as a simple child anymore. Furthermore, he hadn’t forgotten about his mission. He had to get Xie He’s love.
When Lu Ting thought of this, he felt something weird grow in his heart. The affection that had already sprouted in his heart had begun to change….Was it…love?
Did he love Xie He? Or was it just a simple desire to protect him?
Lu Ting mulled over it for a long time. He couldn’t help but admit that rather than obtaining Xie He’s love, it seemed like he had already fallen for the younger boy…. Otherwise, what else could explain his feelings? He didn’t object to the idea of being with Xie He at all. He wanted Xie He, he thought of him…he wanted to make the other his.
Was that not love?
Lu Ting wasn’t an indecisive person. Since he had acknowledged his feelings, he would love Xie He without any reservations. However, he wasn’t good at wooing people. At this time, 666 came up with a plan for Lu Ting based on his experience from reading romance novels. For example, he told Lu Ting to give Xie He gifts, invite him out to dates, go watch movies together, etc.
Who would have expected that it would actually work? Xie He’s Favourability Value steadily rose.
One day, Lu Ting could no longer hold back. He confessed to Xie He. He told the other that he liked him. This was the first time Lu Ting had ever confessed. He had been so nervous. Although he knew Xie He’s Favourability Value towards him was high, he was still afraid of being rejected.
He couldn’t help but think, what if he did something wrong? Would Xie He think that he had approached him with an ulterior motive?
Luckily, Xie He didn’t let Lu Ting stay nervous for long. He agreed to go out with Lu Ting very quickly.
Lu Ting had never been happier.
He thought, if the person his parents had wanted him to marry back then had been Xie He, he would have been willing. Even if the world they were in was boring, he could bear it if it meant he could be with the person he liked…. No, it was because he was with the person he liked that the world was no longer boring.
For example, for the first time, he wanted to stay, right here in this world.
He didn’t want to be alone anymore.