"Wait… wait… you're telling me that the multiverse is real? There are infinite worlds out there and some of them were created from novels?" Sui Li questioned in shock.
"And I was born in one of them?!"
The voice of the creature echoed in her mind with the same flat emotionless tone.
[Precisely. It is the responsibility of the Time Space Authority to monitor these worlds and to dispatch agents to maintain their stability.]
[You should consider it a great honor to be chosen since ordinary side character such as yourself are rarely selected.]
The creature's face was covered by a plain white mask but somehow Sui Li felt as though it hid a sneer behind its seemingly emotionless voice.
It was hard to describe how Sui Li felt at the moment.
Her world had just completely shattered and now she had no idea what to think.
According to the mysterious creature, she was just a minor heroine in world based on an urban cultivation novel.
In the original trajectory of the world, she should have been a member of her adopted brother's harem and then eventually fade away into the background.
She would spend the rest of her days with his other wives in an enormous mansion while looking after and caring for his children.
Sui Li felt sick to her stomach as she imagined such a horrible future.
She would have become nothing more than a sex object for the monster who stole her brother's body to vent.
But how could the future have turned out that way?
Setting aside the notion that she would ever fall in love with someone who she saw as a younger sibling…
She didn't even like men.
"But if that was my fate… then why did it change?" Sui Li hesitantly spoke.
The creature shrugged its shoulders in very human-like way as its forked tail swayed gently from side to side.
[Chance? Outside Interference? Free Will? There are number of factors responsible for the derailment of a set path.]
[The Time Space Authority will not interfere with the decisions made by the individuals inside these worlds.]
[Agents are only required to get involved if someone threatens the stability of the plane itself.]
"I… I'm sorry… this is all just a bit too much," Sui Li whispered softly as she took a few steps back.
She kept a careful eye on the creature, but the humanoid figure did not make any sudden movements to prevent her from leaving.
Nothing about this situation made sense.
Even if the Time Space Authority was real then why would they select her?
Sui Li was not an arrogant person, and she knew that she had only been able to kill Song Feng using trickery and deceit.
It was impossible with her current strength to hunt down these dangerous individuals capable of destroying entire planes.
In fact, it would probably be suicide! Wait…
Could she even die twice?
Sui Li created some more distance between herself and the mysterious creature who remained standing in the same position.
"I just have a few more questions…" Sui Li hesitantly spoke.
The creature let out a heavy sigh and then turned around. Its bone-like claws reached up and gently removed the mask covering its face.
Sui Li was facing the creature's back, so she was unable to see his true appearance. A piece of parchment paper suddenly appeared out of thin air.
There were crimson red runes etched onto the parchment's surface and as Sui Li watched in horror, the creature tapped its claws against the sheet.
The runes detached themselves from the paper and flew towards the creature's dull greyish skin where they were quickly absorbed.
The creature sighed again and this time the voice in Sui Li's mind was now noticeably more relaxed and casual.
[Ask away… Time has no meaning in this space, and it has been to my utmost displeasure to be assigned as your guardian]
[Yep. Three thousand years of faithful service and I get placed in a new department with the highest fatality rate]
[I should have just retired with my previous host. That bastard got to spend the rest of his life in a zombie apocalypse as the son of luck]
"You had a previous host?" Sui Li asked in surprise.
[Please child… I have acted as a 'system' for at least two hundred different hosts over the years. My hosts have included beings from mortals to gods.]
[I even had a brief period where I was assigned to the Cannon Fodder department. Trust me the higher ups in there are lunatics.]
[Didn't think it could get any worse than that but well… here I am.]
Sui Li's curiosity got the best of her, and she gradually lost some of her fear towards the strange creature as it continued to talk about its experiences.
She still did not fully let down her guard, but Sui Li knew that if the creature really wanted to hurt her then there was probably not much that she could do.
The creature summoned more pieces of parchment paper to absorb as he patiently answered Sui Li's questions one by one.
There was a lot of information that the creature talked about but somehow Sui Li was able to absorb and understand all of it.
She could easily recall even the minor details of every memory.
Was it possible that this place in addition to strengthening her body… it also strengthened her mind?
Despite its sarcastic and mocking tone, the creature still answered all of Sui Li's questions in great detail.
Sui Li was able to understand a little bit more about the how the Time Space Authority operated and the role of an agent.
Worlds would collapse for a variety of reasons and so it made sense to group these planes into different categories and assign a department for each type.
The name of Sui Li's current department had not been finalised yet, but her job was to go down to the plane and eliminate the villainesses before they had the chance to win.
How she would travel to these planes was by striking a deal with one of the inhabitants to use their body.
Sui Li felt a bit apprehensive about this because it was hard not to compare what she was going to do to what that monster had done to her little brother.
Thankfully the creature assured her that every contract had to be established with permission of both parties.
As a result, in addition to her main objective, Sui Li would be required to fulfil a wish from the original owner of the body.
This wish could be any number of things as people tended to have different regrets.
It was the responsibility of the agent to accomplish both tasks to the best of their ability.
The creature slowly placed the plain white mask back on its face and then turned around to face Sui Li.
Its dark purplish eyes seemed to stare into her soul and its gaze sent shivers down her spine.
Sui Li had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next and unfortunately, she was proven right.
[Alright that's enough explaining. Let's just get this over with so I can hopefully get a better host next time.]
"Already?! Don't I get some training? Or at least some kind of buff or gold finger?" Sui Li exclaimed in shock.
The creature ignored her protests and waved its bone-like claws in the air. Sui Li found herself frozen in place as runic symbols appeared around her body.
She struggled desperately and tried her best to escape but her muscles would not move a single inch.
A noise that sounded like glass shattering echoed through the space and then a black portal formed at her feet.
Sui Li did not have any time to react before her body was sucked into the portal and she disappeared to an unknown location.