Arc 1 Chapter 2
The current was chaotic and rough; it wasn't suitable for a person with the body of a five-year-old to swim in. But the forest behind me, the unknown, was more frightening than the river. I was unsure of when the Gu Master would come back, nor was I aware of what kinds of monsters awaited me in the forest. My meager combat skills were of no help, and my short limbs would surely tire easily. Running wasn't an option.
I anxiously bit my lips. What was taking my Gu Master so long! I lightly sigh and take a seat near the riverbank. Anyways, whatever was in the forest wouldn't attack me for now. While I was a villain, I was protected by the plot. My death wasn't supposed to occur for at least ten years. But it was strange. If the villains were protected by the plot until they were destined to perish, why was it possible for these villains to die in the first place? Hope had said that every character was of vital importance to the plot. So, shouldn't these planes, especially the mid-leveled and low-level planes place a certain amount of importance on them? While they weren't deemed as important as the protagonists and lacked a halo, their presences were what enabled these worlds to continue running. It can be said that without these villains and supporting characters to support the progress of the plot and fulfill their allotted roles, the worlds themselves would collapse. A protagonist alone couldn't support the plot, without all of the other characters who either revolved around or antagonized the protagonist, the so-called protagonist's halo would be deemed as ineffective. Killing off a villain or supporting character before their destined death should have been impossible, unless there was some sort of outside force meddling in the storylines and causing these low-leveled and mid-level planes to collapse. It seemed that the purpose of the Villain Substitute system wasn't simple as it seemed on the surface. But the question was: why? If my conjecture was correct, what reason did the outside force have for destroying these low-leveled and mid-level planes? It was a dangerous thought. I almost wanted to slap myself for being so foolish. I just bounded myself to an unknown system for a chance to save my mother, but could I really trust it? The system I was bound to wasn't entirely honest about why these villains met an early death; as long as you had a brain, you would find something amiss. But the system had incited my innermost desire. During the height of my despair and anger, it had given me a chance to save her. In my muddle-headedness, I had set aside my suspicion and made my first mistake. Currently, the system had the upper hand. I had named her Hope, but was she really? Maybe she had delivered me right into the mouth of the tiger. And I was still unsure if the system was currently capable of reading my thoughts. I should take this gamble, depending on the system's response, I would act accordingly. One thing was for sure: I was stuck with this system for a long time.
"System?"
[Yes host.]
The mechanical voice sounded out in my mind.
[Host can direct her thoughts towards me if she wishes to communicate in the task worlds.]
"How do I do so? Do you hear all of my thoughts?"
[I can only hear thoughts that the host directs towards me. We systems are not omnipotent and cannot intrude upon the thoughts of the host at will. We were created to respect the unique autonomy of intellectually and emotionally intelligent species. Humans are categorized in this area. However, I am able to intrude upon your thoughts in the system space if I so desire.]
At Hope's words, I breathe a sigh of relief. It was a weight off my chest. If Hope were to know the scope of my suspicions towards the system, she might report me to her superiors or obliterate my soul. Then I would be truly screwed. While I was still skeptical, Hope had power over my life and death. She had no reason to lie to a being at her mercy. This policy was quite humane.
[Does host have any more concerns?]
"Yes, can I OOC? Will there be any penalties if I do so?"
[As this is a preliminary world where I test how you operate as a villain, OOCs are allowed. However, once you go to the first task world, you will not be allowed to OOC. If you do, you will lose system points.]
System Points?
"What are system points?"
[System points are a form of currency in the System World. All of us systems share this same currency, so if you come across another host in the future, you may trade items or services for system points. You earn system points every time you complete a mission. In addition to the main mission, which is to replace the villain, there are a variety of optional side missions that you can complete to earn more. In addition, the grade of your mission determines how many points you receive. Higher leveled mission worlds will usually have harder missions so the minimum of points you earn will also increase accordingly. These system points can be used in the System Store. The System Store is customized based on each host's preferences. You can buy items that will help you complete a mission, but these items cannot be used in your original world.]
It was amazing. The Villain Substitute System is very systematic and structured. This System World also sounds interesting. Who knows how many systems exist? The number of hosts must be terrifyingly large as well. But there were probably billions of planes, so the chance of me ever encountering another host was correspondingly low.
[Your target, the Gu Master, is approaching. Good luck host.]
***
A tall man slowly walked towards the fire. The entirety of his body was covered in black, and only a pair of ominous eyes were exposed. They were a shade of inky black and carried a trace of killing intent; his being was cloaked with the thick stench of blood. His breathing was ragged and heavy, as if he had just won a laborious fight. He strolled towards the fire with an almost unnoticeable limp. He finally reached the fire and sat down in relief. He reached in the sack that he habitually carried on his back and took out a flask; upon opening the flask he grumbled at the lack of water. In dissatisfaction, he stood and walked to the river, but when he looked up, he was shocked to discover a child in a yellow dress. Her clothes were unkempt, and her hair was in disarray. She looked to be about four years old, and her clothes seemed to be quite expensive. Her face was covered in mud, but he noticed that her skin was abnormally pale. She seemed to be a miss from a distinguished family, but what the man found particularly strange were the pair of captivating eyes that stared back at him. They seemed to be filled with stars and were deep and bottomless. Normally, the man would've been indifferent and would have left the child there to die, but upon getting a closer look, he realized that the child's body was quite nimble. As a master of poison, he had incurred the wrath of quite few powerful figures and had many enemies. He was only able to escape due to the unique style of martial arts that he possessed. Despite being quite frail, he was able to defeat enemies many times stronger than him. The only drawback to this martial art was that it was quite taxing on the body and required a certain physique. He had been searching for years for a disciple who met all of his requirements, but the most important one, was that they needed to have this specific physique. Without the physique, one could face severe drawbacks from even practicing the basic movements. The man jumped over the river and walked towards the child cautiously; upon seeing that the child displayed no reaction, he relaxed and walked in front of her. The child was crouched on the ground, and this created an even greater disparity in their heights. Rather than back away, the child continued to boldly stare at the man while he inspected her, seemingly unafraid. 'Interesting,' the man thought. He had never met such an amusing child. The Gu Master bent down and took a hold of the child's delicate wrist; his eyes widened, and he almost laughed out in excitement. She was perfect. He had to have her as his disciple.
"Little girl, do you have anywhere to go? Come with me. I'll teach you how to fight those bad guys who bullied you." While the man was speculating the cause of her decrepit appearance, he was almost certain that someone had attempted to kill her. How else would she be in these dangerous woods alone? Anyway, it should be easy to coax a child into following him. The man silently snickered.
The child remained unmoving and made no gesture to either accept or deny. She reached her little grubby hands towards the man and looked expectantly towards him. "Gift disciple." She said cutely. The man would've almost thought that she was trying to exploit him if not for the way she naively tilted her head. He hurriedly rummaged through his sack and pulled out a voodoo doll; he had paid a hefty price to retrieve it from a distant place in the west. At the sight of the doll, the child's face scrunched up and she shook her head. The man frowned in confusion. Didn't little girls like dolls? He placed the doll back and took out many rare treasures, all of which were rejected by the little girl. He sighed as he put away the pill of a thousand poisons. Those old fogies from the poison valley would kill themselves for the chance of even catching a glimpse of the pill, yet the child could so nonchalantly reject it. The girl's lip slightly twitched at the Gu Master's dejected expression as she resisted the urge to laugh. Her little hands grabbed the Gu Master's sleeve and her clear eyes filled with tears, her slightly puckered lips turned into a pout. "Money please master." 'So that's what you want,' the Gu Master thought sadly as he took out a pouch and placed it in the child's hands. The girl's eyes brightened, and she excitedly opened the pouch. She reached in the pouch and took out a golden tael. Meanwhile, the Gu Master snorted at the girl's expression. Wasn't she from a prominent family? Why was she so excited by the sight of a single golden tael? She really knew how to play hard to get. Satisfied, the girl reached towards the Gu Master; while the Gu Master felt indignant from her actions, he still lifted the girl up and held her in his arms. The girl placed her head in the crook of his neck and obediently let him carry her away. The Gu Master slightly smiled, unaware of the mischievous grin on the child's face.