Liu Jingyi opened her eyes and blinked.
Okay.
What.
The.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
"Hey."
A young woman was sitting on the bed next to her. Liu Jingyi sat up and scooted backwards, trying to draw forth her spiritual energy but finding it blocked for some reason. She looked over the woman and found a sullen-faced lady looking at her. She wore a light grey blouse and a long black skirt, and her hair was tied up in a bun. She had stern, steel-grey eyes and a slight frown that made her look older. Liu Jingyi noticed she herself was wearing the same outfit and hairstyle as the woman.
Liu Jingyi determined the woman was of no immediate threat and slightly relaxed her guard.
"Who are you and why am I here?" She asked. The more information she had on the situation, the better.
The woman cleared her throat and introduced herself as Luo Tianyi. "Wait, hold up-" Liu Jingyi held up a hand in a stop gesture while holding her head with the other hand. "Luo Tianyi, genius business tycoon who inherited the family business at 18? Fiancé Lu Chengyu?"
Luo Tianyi smiled wryly. "I haven't even given you my memories yet but you already seem to know me." Liu Jingyi wanted to blurt out the crappy novel she read right before she died.
"I assume you've read "The CEO's Runaway Wife" before you died?"
Liu Jingyi choked on air. "You have memories of your past life? Or..." she ended, unsure.
Luo Tianyi smiled. It was a tired, sad smile. "One day I woke up and everything seemed to be falling apart suddenly. My fiance was cheating on me, my employees deserting and company secrets being leaked. I was being forced to pay for a divorce and emotional damage to a woman I have never met. Whoever helped me had their lives ruined. I guess I didn't have a purpose anymore and chose to leave." Liu Jingyi listened intently, feeling heartache for the poor young woman.
"Who knew when I died, I found out my life was merely a play all in order for someone else to achieve happiness," Luo Tianyi sighed. She reached out and held Liu Jingyi's hands in hers. "For being enlightened, God has given me the chance to choose someone to change my fate. As I am one of the key characters, the novel world after becoming reality collapsed with my departure. I ask that you help prevent this in my stead."
Liu Jingyi, after processing everything: "So you want me to save the world?"
Luo Tianyi nodded. "Essentially."
Liu Jingyi mulled it over.
She at least confirmed that this was the world of "The CEO's Runaway Wife." The crappy novel she just read before dying was a sickeningly sweet romance about a girl who transmigrated into the novel that her favorite otome game was based on. She then proceeds to grab all the golden thighs to reach the pinnacle of life, uncaring of the consequences of her actions. The capture targets were all talented, successful people who were normal people until they came into contact with the protagonist. There was even a hidden capture target but the novel never revealed it so the game didn't either. The female protagonist never read the original novel, the base source for the otome game, so she couldn't find the hidden boss who could also be a capture target.
"Wait," Liu Jingyi blurted out. "How do I do this? Even if I receive your memories, won't people notice any abnormalities? Also..." She looked a bit uncomfortable. "Is it possible for me to go back to my previous world?" I know it's irresponsible of me if I ditch, but really, it's not my problem at all.. Jingyi thought.
"Actually, if you manage to prevent the world's collapse until either all the capture targets reach 50 or the protagonist finds her own path, you can return to your world and no time will have passed since the moment you left it." Luo Tianyi explained carefully. "Oh, my time's almost up." Liu Jingyi noticed with a start that the other woman's body was starting to fade starting from her legs. "As for your other question...this world has already accommodated you so it'll be just like you belong. Your name and appearance won't change. No one will notice a thing."
Luo Tianyi took hold of her her hands again and gave them a squeeze. A moment later, the memories transferred over to Liu Jingyi. She threw her arms around the fading young woman. A lone tear escaped Luo Tianyi's eye as she disappeared. "Take care, and good luck. And also..thank you."
There was silence, and then she was alone in the room.
Liu Jingyi took a moment to recollect herself as she sifted through the memories in her head.
Luo Tianyi was born an inheritor to the Luo Corporation, a family business built from scratch by her paternal grandfather. A business giant in country M, Luo Corps expanded across multiple industries such as entertainment, technology, agriculture, cosmetics, etc. Her parents were in control of most of the Luo family's companies until they were involved in a car accident. Tianyi was raised by her grandfather in a strict environment, excelling in business management and under her, Luo Corps grew to unprecedented heights. To ensure her stability within the industry and avoid enemies, she entered a contractual marriage with Lu Chengyu whose family specialized in electronics.
Lu Chengyu's family was only slightly worse off due to a few relatives haggling over company shares. Luo Tianyi found that Lu Chengyu was capable and decided to marry for three years before divorcing. However, within those three years, Lu Chengyu fell in love with an unknown woman. Shu Hua was the name of the female protagonist, and she felt that being able to be live in the novel of her favorite otome game made her entitled to anything she wanted. She stole Luo Tianyi's fiance, causing them to break apart their business relationship as well. While hooked with Lu Chengyu, Shu Hua 'accidentally' ran into a mafia boss and made him target Luo Corps.
Furthermore, Shu Hua manipulated a former classmate to infiltrate the company and leak their secrets. Shu Hua even clung onto Luo Tianyi's cousin from the entertainment company, causing scandals everywhere. This provoked her admirers' envy, and Luo Tianyi's cousin was basically destroyed. He retreated home where Luo Tianyi covered for him, thus taking on the brunt of the storm herself. Even then it wasn't enough because Luo Tianyi was still visible, and Shu Hua wanted to bury her completely so none of her lovers could be distracted. All this time Shu Hua had no job and was fully pampered by her fawning men.
With the help of country Z's top hacker, Shu Hua invited distant relatives to come and supported them from behind the scenes. Within months, Luo Corps was cut into pieces and gobbled up by greedy investors. Luo grandfather was so angry he was bedridden. He knew it was all a ploy yet none dared help Luo under pressure by the Lu Chengyu, the mafia boss, and Z country's hacker. Luo Tianyi persevered, working odd jobs to support her grandfather while her cousin planned to avenge their family. But when a bloody scrap of his clothing came back with a note and the IV attached to her grandfather was filled with too much salt, Luo Tianyi found she could no longer go on when her two remaining family members were gone. After giving them proper burials, she downed a bottle of pills.
Liu Jingyi opened her eyes with a very deep breath.
Fuck. My. Life.
As if being an office worker and dying from overwork wasn't enough, I had to transmigrate AGAIN into such a dog-blood plot! What did Luo Tianyi do to deserve all that?! Did she kill the author's parents? Ohhhhh my gooood. Liu Jingyi was never one for bothersome things. She usually ran away from her problems and that's worked! Mostly. It was a testament to her mental fortitude when she didn't spit blood from reliving Luo Tianyi's memories in addition to reading that god-awful novel.
Liu Jingyi was swearing up a storm inside. Cultivation was the world for her! Wait! Her cultivation.....what happened to it?
.
.
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Elsewhere:
A man opened his eyes from his seclusion. "Jingyi?" He called.