CHAPTER 2:
[Wasn't able to think of anything catchy… let's see if you guys are able to think of a title after reading]
——
It truly felt like he had been punched in the throat. He couldn't breathe no matter how much he tried, and the tie around his neck felt like a tight noose digging in... squeezing.
The words glowing in a purple hue stayed in front of his eyes as if waiting for him to acknowledge them. But how could he? They worded his death in such clarity that he couldn't even fool himself even if he wanted to. The sense of the words struck him like a warhammer.
"... Xin. Fu Xin?"
The world that had disappeared reappeared. Even though no one was talking, the ambient voice seemed too loud after the vacuum silence of a moment before. Fu Xin uncurled his fist and, in doing so, felt how wet his palms were. He looked towards the voice calling him and saw Teacher Hao looking— in fact, he could feel a lot of eyes on him.
"Fu Xin, your introduction," Teacher Hao asked.
Fu Xin swallowed and found nothing, for his mouth was too dry. He stood up in his chair, but instead of introducing himself to the class, he said, "My apologies, but I have to step out for a moment... I'm not feeling well."
Without asking for permission or even looking at anyone, Fu Xin headed straight to the door and then out of the classroom, ignoring the calls of his name. He kept walking until he was in the nearest restroom on the floor. Fu Xin bolted the main door to the entire restroom and immediately yanked his tie off, and threw it on the sink counter along with his blazer. His shirt stuck to his drenched back, and his shoes felt too tight.
He leaned on the sink counter and stared at himself in the large mirrors. His face had a sheen of sweat, yet it felt too cold and pale as if he had been shown his worst fear. "This is a dream," Fu Xin croaked. He stood straight up and, after two sharp breaths, slapped his face twice without restraint.
"Shit! Shit!" Fu Xin grabbed his head. His face hurt, his teeth hurt, and even his hand burned. It wasn't a dream. This was reality— a cruel reality.
Fu Xin walked back until his back hit the wall. He kept his eyes on his reflection in the mirrors until he couldn't, and his focus shifted to the words shimmering in front of him, spelling what looked to him like his doom.
[Response: Stop the identified protagonist from growing and gaining hegemony. Failure to do so would naturally lead to death...]
Stop... protagonist... failure... death.
He reread the sentence again and again until he knew the exact meaning by heart. Fu Xin was sure that from this moment on, he wouldn't remember this sentence until the day he died.
The message on the purple HUD changed, and the monotone robotic voice spoke in his mind.
[Intent confirmed: Host has accepted the mission agenda and detail. The system wishes you the best for your endeavor, and iterates that ignoring the mission would naturally result in the host's death...]
It stayed in front of Fu Xin's eyes as he read and reread it a couple times before disappearing as if it never existed.
Fu Xin let his back slide down the wall until he was sitting on the restroom floor with his legs spread straight with his hands sitting on his thighs.
Intent confirmed. The system had scanned his intent and confirmed that he had read the writing and had accepted the mission. And it was true, Fu Xin had done precisely so. If it was before, he would've chalked it up to some sort of delusion or hallucination, but he had been living in a new world for three months. Gaining a second life with the memories of the previous life tended to change the mindset of people.
'This is like one of those novels,' Fu Xin thought about the Chinese urban fantasies in his previous lives where some guy would transmigrate into a villain character, handed a system with a mission to topple the protagonists or heroes of the world. His situation was exactly the same as the plot of those shitty stories.
Fu Xin groaned and grabbed the front of his hair. Yes, he knew about those stories, but that was it; he could only remember reading two of those until only two hundred chapters or less. He remembered reading them because he thought the premise was interesting— and because the stories were so horrendously written that he couldn't force himself to read, and both times had blindly scrolled through until he couldn't even do that. Most of his knowledge came from outside—reading forums, memes, and discussion— that's how he gained most of his 'trope-y' knowledge.
Fu Xin got up from the floor, walked to one of the toilet stalls, bent over one before hurling his stomach's content into the bowl, and then did it again the second time, completely emptying his breakfast out. He then walked over to the sink to wash out his mouth.
"Much better," he muttered as puking made him feel lighter. His head no longer felt light and hazy, and his limbs had stopped shaking in weakness.
There were knocks on the door, and he could hear Teacher Hao calling for him. He gave the locked door a glance before calmly re-tying his necktie, fixing his clothes and hair, and putting his blazer on before heading towards the door with leisure steps.
"Fu—" Teacher Hao stopped when the door opened, and Fu Xin stepped out looking normal, but there was a paleness to his skin.
"I'm sorry, Teacher," Fu Xin smiled weakly. "I had an upset stomach, and it suddenly got worse. I had to leave the classroom before I embarrassed myself." He humbly bowed his head.
Teacher Hao looked stunned. The frown on her face lifted, and she looked a little lost about how to continue. "I see; how are you feeling right now?" she asked.
"I believe I would like to return to the classroom and not waste any more time of my fellow classmates and teacher," Fu Xin said, choosing his words carefully. He studied Teacher Hao's face, and she looked satisfied with his answer.
"Are you sure? You can rest in the nurse's office if you're not feeling well," Teacher Hao asked.
"There's no need for that," Fu Xin shook his head. "As you said, teacher, we can't afford to waste even a minute of this year."
Teacher Hao looked impressed and nodded. They returned to the classroom, and upon entry, they saw Zhang Xioli talking to the class, who listened to her in silence and with attention.
As Fu Xin returned to his seat, he glanced toward Lin Tian sitting in the back and noticed the boy was staring at Xue Lanfen with unblinking eyes. 'It's him, isn't it,' thought Fu Xin. He turned back his memory which was crisp as a digital photograph, because of the startling factor of the situation— it would take ages for him to forget this hour. The system had appeared in front of him when he was looking at Lin Tian, and he recalled how it had said — [Protagonist encountered...] — which meant that the system had been targeted because Fu Xin had located a 'protagonist.'
'But is it really him?' Fu Xin was doubtful. Fu Xin didn't have any memories of Lin Tian, and his only impression of Lin Tian from today, and was that of a shy person with low self-confidence and self-worth. Lin Tian didn't like a protagonist from any known metric.
The self-introduction hadn't ended in Fu Xin's absence. They had skipped him over and continued. One by one, everyone got up and introduced themselves— most people summarized themselves with their names and middle school— but then there were ones who spoke about their hobbies, achievements, and future aspirations.
"My name is Xue Lanfen. I aspire to pursue a Bachelor's in Psychology and want to spend this year working hard to get into my first choice to fulfill my goal. I volunteer at an old age's home and like to cook in my free time. I hope to get along and learn with and from all of you. Thank you." Xue Lanfen's introduction was short but covered both academic and personal parts of her life, along with a polite statement toward her classmates. There was a round of applause from the class, much louder than any other introduction.
Then came Lin Tian's turn, who was the last one in the class to introduce himself. He stood up and spoke in a voice that easily reached everyone's ears. "I'm Lin Tian from Fourth Middle. Let's get along this year," Lin Tian sat down faster than he had stood up after his lackluster introduction that prompted the customary weak applause.
Fu Xin took the opportunity to properly observe Lin Tian as he introduced himself. From his body language, it looked like Lin Tian didn't want any attention from his classmates, and it truly made Fu Xin doubt if his assumption about Lin Tian being the so-called 'protagonist' was correct or not.
He glanced at Xue Lanfen. 'Maybe she's the protagonist,' he wondered. There were as many novels with female protagonists as there were with male ones— and from the difference in behavior, Xue Lanfen clearly seemed to be more suited to be a protagonist character. 'This is such a pain.' He was now in possession of a system and wanted to explore it more, but he was stuck in the class. 'I should've gone to the nurse's office,' Fu Xin sighed.
Because Fu Xin had been skipped, it was his turn at last to introduce himself. He stood up and spoke with a smile. "Good morning, everyone. My name is Fu Xin. My friends describe me to be a friendly person, and I like to believe that to be true. I look forward to getting along with all of you throughout the year. If any of you require any form of help, my doors are always open to you all. Let's do our best together this year."
There was a final round of applause for Fu Xin, marking the end of the introductions. Teacher Hao immediately moved on to the next agenda of the day.
"We have to decide the class representatives for the class," Teacher Hao said. "Who would like to volunteer for the position? It's a rewarding position, I assure you."
Alas, no hands were raised in response. Even though Teacher Hao said it was a rewarding position, it didn't seem that way. There had been class representatives during the first and second years, and the position meant extra work for the ones selected; they were assigned tasks by the faculty and had to run after students trying to get homework on time and maintain discipline in class, among other things. Some wouldn't have minded if they were in their first and second year, but now in the third year, which was mainly devoted to college entrance examination preparation, no one wanted the extra responsibility.
Then from the class of no-shows, a hand rose up, and Xue Lanfen stood up. "I will take up the position, teacher," she said. At that moment, Xue Lanfen's reputation shone brightly as a model student.
"Good," Teacher Hao nodded with a hint of approval in her eyes. She looked at the rest of the class. "I want one of the boys to stand up as well. Anyone?" she asked and looked around until her eyes fell upon Fu Xin. "How about you, Fu Xin? Would you like to be the class representative?"
Fu Xin stood up and smiled. "I will be honored," he said. A leadership position in high school didn't amount to much when the merit criteria for college admissions were entirely test-based without any credit for co- and extra-curricular. But Fu Xin didn't mind being the class representative; he was a high school student now— and when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
After the morning 'setup' session, lectures begin in earnest with various teachers coming in, introducing themselves before diving straight into the curriculum— no time wasted. During the classes, Fu Xin would glance at Lin Tian from time to time. Lin Tian spent his time intently paying attention to the lectures and taking notes, and if not for him sneaking glances towards Xue Lanfen, Fu Xin would've dubbed him an ideal student.
The morning clock ticked away quickly, and Fu Xin was left sighing in frustration. He had spent most of his time either thinking about Lin Tian or staring at him— from another angle, it looked like Fu Xin was madly in love with Lin Tian and couldn't get him out of his mind like a lovestruck fool.
"Ugh." Today was supposed to be the pleasant first day of school, not this supernatural mess he had been thrown inside.
"Are you not feeling well, Brother Xin?" asked Ding Tong, who sat across the canteen table, eating one of the meal sets.
"You should go to the nurse's office if you're not feeling well," Guo Qing added from Ding Tong's side as he munched on some bread. "Or return home if you're truly not feeling well."
"There's no need to do either of that," Fu Xin said. He opened his homemade lunch box and began eating. After three months, Fu Xin had started to get used to the country's cuisine.
"Brother Xin, you're the class representative along with Xue Lanfen," Guo Qing said with a knowing smile on his face. "You will get to spend time with the goddess, get closer, and then..." He sighed, "I'm so jealous!"
Ding Tong snorted, "Be happy that she will be your sister-in-law." He turned to Fu Xin and said, "How are you going to start, Brother Xin? I say you should use class representative work and comparing notes as an excuse to switch seats with Xue Lanfen's neighbor every chance you get and build a relationship from there."
"That sounds good; I approve," Guo Qing said, nodding.
Fu Xin took a bite of his food and then proceeded to chew in silence. He was confused— Did the original Fu Xin like Xue Lanfen or something? He had the original's memory, and for the most part, they felt like they were his own memories and not borrowed from someone else. For the most part, that is... Fu Xin didn't get any emotional attachments and thoughts packaged with the memories— which was a strange experience as the lack of emotional connect made everything seem gray than the vibrancy it should have. Even if he got the memories, it didn't mean he had everything at his fingertips— there had been plenty of moments in the last three months where he had found himself not able to recall facts and memories related to the situation he was in— and that had created moments of embarrassment and trouble for him.
He tried to recall if the original liked Xue Lanfen. After searching, he found some memories related to Xue Lanfen. They were your average high school boy's memories about an attractive girl— gossiping and admiring. But he couldn't tell if the original liked Xue Lanfen from those because the original never vocalized his feelings in those memories, and if there was no vocal(or written) mention, then Fu Xin wasn't going to know about the original's feelings and thoughts.
Fu Xin finished eating the bite in his mouth. Then he spoke, "Why do you guys think I want to pursue Xue Lanfen?" In this situation, where he couldn't recall any relevant memories, it was better just to ask.
"Eh? What are you talking about, Brother Xin?" Ding Tong said. "Weren't you one who said you liked Xue Lanfen?"
Fu Xin looked around the canteen and noticed eyes turning to their table. "Keep your voice down, will you," he said to Ding Tong.
Ding Tong looked around and noticed people looking at him. He shrunk his neck and looked embarrassed. He muttered a feeble sorry.
"But what he said is true," Guo Qing said. "You told us you liked Xue Lanfen. Don't you remember?"
"When?"
"I don't know... I think it was on the roof before the summer break," Guo Qing said with a hum. "I said: Xue Lanfen is beautiful—"
"And then I said I'm going to pursue her," Fu Xin said while suppressing a groan. The memory came rushing back to Fu Xin. They were on the roof, passing the time, looking down at the girls on the field during their sports period. Xue Lanfen was one of the girls on the field. They had started to talk about girls, and the conversation naturally arrived at Xue Lanfen.
Fu Xin held his back from clicking his tongue. The original's memories were still there, and if they weren't forever lost in the neurons of his mind, then a stimulus like the Guo Qing narrating the situation could possibly trigger the memory.
He nodded for Guo Qing and Ding Tong. "Yes, I remember now. But that was then; I'm no longer interested in Xue Lanfen. So let's forget about that conversation." If Lin Tian was indeed the protagonist the system had identified, then Fu Xin didn't want anything to do with Xue Lanfen. He had seen how Lin Tian looked at Xue Lanfen— even a buffoon could tell that Lin Tian liked Xue Lanfen. Stepping between the hero and his heroine was a classic villainous action, and Fu Xin couldn't think of anything good coming out of it.
"Why so suddenly?" Ding Tong asked, shocked.
Fu Xin shrugged. "Does it matter? I'm not interested in her anymore."
Guo Qing and Ding Tong looked at each other once. "It's a pity then; you would've been good together," said Ding Tong.
"Another lifetime, maybe," Fu Xin said and continued eating. Inside, he was happy. On the day of the rooftop conversation, the three of them were alone, and now that he had cleared the case with all parties involved, it wasn't going to derail into an unfavorable situation. If he was to use cultured lingo— a flag had been crushed.
After lunch, everyone headed back to their classroom. On Fu Xin's way back, he met Teacher Hao in the corridor, who stopped him.
"Fu Xin, these are the college preferences for your class; take these and copy them over to the tables on this paper." Teacher Hao handed a stack of forms to Fu Xin along with two long white sheets with a table format printed over them. She continued, "Also, this has the information for the other fields in the table."
Fu Xin looked at the table format and saw that it not only had names and top college preferences but also other fields, such as individual finals scores in the first and second year. This is going to take time, Fu Xin thought.
"Till when do I have to complete this?" Fu Xin asked while trying to figure out how to wrap the task as quickly as possible. He wasn't thrilled by the prospect of staying in school longer than he had to.
"Divide the work with Xue Lanfen and give it to me before you have to leave school," Teacher Hao said. But what she wanted to say was that they should complete the task before they had to leave for their after-school coaching class.
The words weren't outright, but Fu Xin could hear them clearly. The country had a deep culture of sending students(mostly high school) children off to after-school coaching classes to prepare them for college entrance examinations. A teacher like Teacher Hao, who taught in a school that was supposed to be enough, couldn't mention after-school coaching.
"I will see that it is done by then," said Fu Xin. He didn't have after-school coaching. He had been asked if he needed extra help after school, but he had refused.
After reaching the class, Fu Xin set the papers in the faculty cabin to which he had the key. He looked back and found Xue Lanfen, as both of them had to complete the work, and it was definitely a two-person job with how near the deadline was.
'Ah,' when Fu Xin found Xue Lanfen, he also found Lin Tian sitting with her. He had pulled the chair from the desk in front of Xue Lanfen and had flipped it so he could sit facing her. They seemed to be working on a problem together, but from where Fu Xin stood, it looked more like they were chatting and not studying.
He's the protagonist, such thought passed Fu Xin's mind as he gazed at the duo. Lin Tian said something with a smirk, and Xue Lanfen rolled her eyes, and the atmosphere between the two of them looked jolly. From where Fu Xin stood, it was clearly the hero putting his moves on the heroine. The hero and the beautiful girl— it fitted the bill in every sense.
'Should I do it on my own?' Fu Xin thought. He didn't want to mess with the protagonist and get some kind of misfortune that he didn't even know the reason behind.
But then the system's words echoed in his mind: 'Stop the identified protagonist from growing and gaining hegemony. Failure to do so would naturally lead to death...'
That sounded like if Fu Xin didn't do anything, even if he steered clear of the protagonist's way, he would still die. Fu Xin didn't like the sound of that one bit. He gave it a bit of thought before he decided to proceed with what he was initially going to do.
"Classmate Xue," Fu Xin said as he approached Xue Lanfen's desk.
Xue Lanfen and Lin Tian both looked up from their conversation. Even though Fu Xin's eyes were focused on Xue Lanfen, he saw Lin Tian in his periphery— and he saw how the look in Lin Tian's eyes changed.
'Yeah...'
——
A/N:
Something to talk about the POV of this novel. Usually, in Chinese web fiction, the POV is an omniscient narrator who knows everything; they can see the world from a bird-eyes view while also knowing everyone's thoughts. It's a POV that I used when I first started to write and got really comfortable in, as I believe it's easier to write because of the freedom it provides. It usually is used to give the reader access to character reactions. For example, if the protagonist flirted with the heroine, the narrator would tell the heroine's thoughts even though moments earlier, he was just telling the protagonist's thoughts.
But for this story, I want to do something different. I want to write in a Third-Person Limited Omniscient (a.k.a. Third-Person Limited Flexible)— Essentially, the narrator gives readers access to the mind of just one character but also provides information to which the POV-character is not privy. In other words, we view the world through the main character's eyes and through the narrator's eyes.
During any chapter, you will only get access to one character's head— it can be Fu Xin or some other character— but along with it, the narrator might also pull away and look at the surroundings in a bird-eyes view; it won't be something drastic like telling what is happening in some other country, but just what's happening a few steps behind the POV character where he can't see.
Why am I doing this? Well, I want you guys to be on a journey with Fu Xin and not feel like you're watching his story from somewhere far away. You're experiencing things at the same time as Fu Xin. Why not First-Person Narrative— because I find it to be too restrictive. I don't want to lose the option of using some other characters as POV in chapters. Also, I tried writing in First-Person, and using 'I' so many times made me feel like I was putting myself in the MC's shoes— I don't want to do that; it takes away from the character.