It was supposed to be another ordinary transmigration story.
Another life, with another identity, whilst carrying another mission impossible of altering fate and changing destiny.
It was supposed to be another attempt of challenging the impossible, with most certainly failure or perhaps a teeny-weeny probability of success as a result.
But, the curtains fell and he appeared, in a place that he shouldn't have.
The smiling devil in human skin.
The nightmare dressed like a daydream.
An existence that shouldn't have existed.
And a person forgotten by the passage of time.
A huge storm was brewing and she knew, there's no longer a room to escape.
She knew that this time, she had no choice but to overcome the wailing wind and become a winner in life, or wither and be swallowed by the roaring storm named Destiny.
===
– Volume 1 –
Another (Un)Ordinary Transmigration Story
Begins.
.
.
.
"So, to sum it all…"
"My mother is a mental case who mistakes me as her long-dead daughter."
"My father is an asshole who loathes me for taking over his daughter's place."
"My grandmother, the Matriarch, despises me for being a fake and my grandfather, the only person who is supposed to be on my side since he's the one who brought me into the family, is nowhere to be seen."
"Unloved and unwanted, even the servants look down on me."
"And I, the poor little thing who is tricked to join this one hell of a family, is destined to die the day I turn 17?"
"System, are you kidding me? Is this drama-packed dog-blooded script truly supposed to dictate a person's life? Isn't this too devastating?"
Xi, the unfortunate one who had just been transmigrated into the poor owner of such distressing script, couldn't help but exclaim out loud in protest.
Nah, this wasn't an exaggeration.
The previous owner of the body, this poor child Zhou Yuxi, truly had a tragic life.
All her life, she forced herself to act as the obedient daughter the Zhous expected her to be and yet, till the end of her life, she wasn't given even the slightest bit of what she had wanted from the Zhous in return.
The warmth of a family.
Well jokes on her, she had only been willing to step into the family who later treated her like shit for that one silly promise in the first place.
The promise of a home she could always return to…
It was just too enticing to the lost orphan who had been abandoned once and the child who had never had a peaceful rest in the orphanage since then.
As Xi peered down the empty space beneath her, the lower half of her short stubby legs caressed by the cold wind of the night as she flailed them in the air, she heaved out a helpless sigh.
The previous Zhou Yuxi's life truly sucked and now, this life was now hers; Zhou Yuxi's future, her future.
Now, what could she do to save herself from all this mess?
What should she do to change her fate, alter her destiny, and prevent herself from arriving at that same exact ending as the previous owner?
Xi recalled the previous owner's log of memories in efforts of picking out some clues.
Unfortunately, she noticed that the further she delved into the later events nearing the previous owner's death, the fuzzier it got.
Everything just happened too fast. The broken fragments of those past scenes came and went by in a blur and she barely caught anything!
Xi bit her lips out of frustration. No matter how many times she repeated the action, the result was still the same. A total confusion!
Till the end, she could only decipher the exquisite face that burned with resentment from all the mess, and the droplets of rain hitting against the previous owner's limp body as she heaved her last breath.
The Zhous seemed to have offended someone that they shouldn't and Xi, the current Zhou Yuxi who had turned back the time and returned to the day the body was still struggling in the orphanage, away from the toxic claws of the Zhous, was destined to die as the consequence of their fault for the second time.
[So, what's the plan?]
The system's childish male voice resounded in her mind.
In response to the system's inquiry, Xi merely gave him a nonchalant shrug as her hand reached into the sack behind her to pull out another pack of fresh bread.
She then opened the package with one decisive tear and stuffed a huge chunk of it into her mouth, her voice muffled.
"We'll see later on. For now, I better finish these off before someone catches me climbing the roof again and drags me down like some shady thief."
[But, aren't you one yourself?]
At the system's accusing words, Xi rolled her eyes in annoyance. Life in the orphanage was harsh and unfulfilling. What was the fault of a hungry orphan trying her best to survive?
[So you stole all those rations from the orphanage's kitchen every night and randomly blamed the fault on the other kids in order to avoid getting into trouble? Oh how righteous you are.]
Seeing right through her mind, the system repeatedly unleashed malicious strikes upon her guilty conscience, which resulted in him receiving a warning glare from the seething little girl.
"What do you know?" Xi snapped at him, "Those little incarnations of the devil deserve it all for their rotten personalities!"
"Whatever. I'll rest early tonight," she suddenly announced, not wanting to waste a single more second with the annoying guy as she moved to climb down the roof with the empty sack in her hand. "After all, I can't possibly be late for tomorrow."
[W-What's going on tomorrow? Is there something that you haven't told me yet? Host, you can't do this to me!]
The system started to panic when he sensed his host's nonchalance towards him.
[Host!!!]
No matter how much he begged later on, Xi didn't leak a word of her plan.
With her mouth zipped shut, she set off to one of the bigger bullies' shared bedroom, stuffing the empty sack below the bully's bed before she sneaked out with an evil smile smeared all over her round beaming face.
===
The next day, Xi confidently strode into the empty alleyway, choosing a flat stone slab to rest on as she waited for the others to arrive.
A quarter hour later, a group of smug-looking boys similar to her age strolled in with their chests held high, imitating the cartoon gangsters they saw on tv.
Xi nearly laughed out loud at their funny antics. But she held it in so as to not ruin the mood and scanned at their numbers with a lazy smile.
"Come here, you losers." She beckoned with a hand for them to come near, the corner of her lips lifting to form a twisted smirk of madness.
This was exactly the important matter she was referring to the night before - the promised, much waited and anticipated, gang fight.