14 2.1

Chen Yu sat silently in the white system space for a long time.

Because he was a minor bit part, he'd usually been disregarded by the creator of the task worlds except for the moment his role became relevant to the plot. At that point, he couldn't even move his body as he wished—he'd uncontrollably jump to protect the protagonist, step forward to frame the protagonist, mutely endure torture instead of the protagonist, and so on.

In short, the sole reason for his existence had been to revolve around the protagonist.

And after a thousand lives of suffering such abandonment, torment, and death, Chen Yu unavoidably became used to thinking of everyone in the missions, including the main characters, as two-dimensional plot devices. Whether or not these task worlds were 'real' became irrelevant. Chen Yu reduced all the missions to fictitious games, in which he could play around until his predetermined, pathetic end arrived.

Of course, every painful moment was engraved in his mind, somewhat exacerbating Chen Yu's original lack of morality, but for the most part, he had believed he'd been coping quite well.

This last world, however, had been different. He'd acted as he fancied, overturned the plot and crushed the protagonist, chosen how and when to leave. Perhaps because of these changes, perhaps because the decades he'd spent with Zhao Cui had been too sweet, Chen Yu just couldn't dismiss his time as Shao Li like he had before.

Consequently, adjusting to being alone again took quite a while.

Detecting the host's abnormalities, the system conducted an evaluation, intending to transfer him automatically to the next mission. But once its calculations indicated that in this state the host would definitely fail the assignment, it chose to wait, since completing the punishment tasks would waste more time.

Thus, the white space remained quiet, until at length, Chen Yu's grief eased into bittersweetness.

Clearing his thoughts, he called out, "System, the energy from the mission?"

During the introductory phase, he had noticed that following each mission, his soul became slightly stronger. The more of a role he'd played in the story, the more power he received. Unfortunately, his soul strength had improved very slowly, because even the greatest amount of energy he'd ever absorbed had barely sustained his transfer to and existence in the next task world.

This time, however, Shao Li's part was rather large, so he expected a greater reward. After Chen Yu absorbed every bit of the power, he transferred to the next mission.

Chen Yu blinked and found himself standing in the rain, watching as a coffin was lowered into the ground. Along with the sounds of sobbing and the sea of black clothes, it was obvious that he was at a funeral.

Chen Yu maintained his sorrowful expression and read through the original plot.

The body's original owner was Ren Yijun, a second-generation rich boy in his last year of studying financial management at the elite national university. He was twenty-one years old, with two much older sisters in their forties. The eldest, Ren Qiu, was widowed with a daughter in high school, while Ren Chun, who was two years younger, hadn't married and worked in the family company.

The funeral was for Ren Daquan, the father of the original owner. Ren Yijun's mother, Yang Shu, stood beside Ren Qiu and Ren Chun, and they didn't sob or lean on anyone, just shed hushed tears. Their discreet but sincere mourning contrasted with the gaudiness of their distant relatives, who were beating their chests and wailing and made the disparity in upbringing especially glaring.

Actually, the Ren family didn't have deep roots. It was only that once Ren Daquan started rising, Yang Shu, fearing that her darlings would be teased by their peers from established households, scrupulously instilled in them a natural refinement and sense of proportion.

A few decades later, the real estate company Ren Daquan had founded was now S City's local giant, and the children had developed into filial, well-mannered adults.

But as the baby of the family, Ren Yijun grew up sheltered, making him sophisticated on the outside and spoiled inside. He wasn't bad in terms of studying or character, so he was fairly well-liked in business circles as a polite young man. In private, however, Ren Yijun had a superior opinion of himself since he hadn't experienced hardship or real business. Thus, when his father passed away, Ren Yijun dropped out of college to take over the business, naively trusting in his own capabilities.

Merely a year later, Ren Yijun was framed for embezzlement by Ren Daquan's younger brother, Ren Anjing, and his son, Ren Xiang. The silly little master even asked them for help, and they convinced him to first cover the shortfall in company revenue by using his shares as collateral to borrow money from a loan shark.

Behind his back, they directly bought out the shares from the moneylender and left the debt for Ren Yijun. Combined with the stocks they'd received from Ren Daquan before, they held nearly a fifth of the company and convinced enough of the board members to vote Ren Yijun out of his position and seize his assets to compensate for the money he'd supposedly stolen.

As for Ren Yijun's mother and older sisters, they believed that Ren Yijun wouldn't do such a thing, but they were unable to find proof. At their age, the stress was dangerous. Yang Shu suffered a stroke, and Ren Qiu and Ren Chun exhausted themselves to both take care of her and defend against greedy relatives.

Unwilling to add to their burden, Ren Yijun tried to deal with his debt by himself, but how could the pampered young master make enough on his own? When he failed to make repayments on time, the loan shark sold him to a brothel for a tidy sum, and Ren Yijun suffered as a plaything until he finally contracted a disease and died in the streets.

All this was merely the required setup for the emergence of this world's protagonist, Ren Qiu's daughter, Du Guang.

After Ren Yijun disappeared, Yang Shu's health declined sharply, making Ren Qiu extremely depressed. Concerned and hoping to help her mother, Du Guang searched by herself and, with her protagonist halo, traced her uncle to the red-light area. There she caught the eye of Feng Kuo, the man who controlled the majority of the international flesh trade.

It just so happened that Feng Kuo had actually been helped by Ren Daquan for several years when he was younger, and he recognized this girl as his mentor's granddaughter.

Unable to convince her to leave this dangerous area, he was forced to accompany her investigation. Along the way, the male lead predictably fell in love with the protagonist's persistence and dedication. There was no chance the young girl could resist this vastly experienced man, and the two got together quickly.

Once Feng Kuo exerted himself, the truth was easy to uncover.

Ren Qiu and Ren Chun were shocked at the news of their younger brother's death, but their grief was assuaged by Feng Kuo's punishment of the people behind it. Furthermore, after the younger generation's wedding, Yang Shu's mood lightened, directly improving her condition. The family business was managed well by Du Guang, Feng Kuo no longer touched other men and women, and everyone left alive had a happy ending.

Chen Yu sighed.

The original owner was really too stupid to live, but so were his family members. Ren Daquan had been ill for several months before he died of heart disease. Competitors were lining up for a chance to rip into them, yet no one had set up any defensive strategies.

No need to mention external forces, it was even unstable inside the company. Ren Anjing, who had long worked as Ren Daquan's general manager, had always been jealous of his brother. His dissatisfaction had sprouted from an early age when he imagined that their parents favored Ren Daquan, even suspecting that his name was meant to constrain his ambitions. Over the years, his inferiority complex had ballooned into hatred.

There was no way such a resentful Ren Anjing would miss this opportunity. As soon as Ren Daquan entered the hospital, he had begun putting his plans in place, and by now, almost half the company's employees were in Ren Anjing's group, with more joining every day.

The clean-faced young man holding an umbrella over Ren Yijun was one of them. Xi Heng, the secretary Ren Anjing planned to advocate, was it? Such a diligent assistant, working so hard with his uncle, he deserved a great gift.

Naturally, Ren Yijun's uncle and cousin wouldn't be left out, the loan shark and that sadistic old man who'd repeatedly abused Ren Yijun in the original plot all deserved some attention.

So busy, so fun.

As for Ren Yijun's immediate family members, seeing as how they were genuinely incompetent and not two-faced, Chen Yu would help them maintain their status. Although he didn't feel any real affection toward these people, he was willing to act in accordance with Ren Yijun's desire to protect his family. Besides, he'd never been unkind to the mentally challenged.

When he finished digesting the plot, the mourners were walking to place flowers on top of the coffin. A tall man wrapped in a sleek suit strode forward with a white lily. His dark hair was shaved on the sides and combed back on top to reveal a sexy, chiseled face.

Ah? Feng Kuo had been at the funeral?

Chen Yu sneered. As the owner of so many brothels and information houses, how could this man not have known Ren Yijun's circumstances? He simply hadn't cared about it.

Oh well, it appeared that Du Guang was really a pure-hearted little girl, he wouldn't bother with her future husband. Chen Yu had plenty of people to play with anyway.

Feeling someone's eyes on him, Feng Kuo swept a glance through the crowd and caught a young man gazing at him with a mocking smile. That...seemed to be Ren Daquan's son, but his eyes were so sharp, unlike his gentle atmosphere. Feng Kuo was momentarily stunned. By the time he recovered, Ren Yijun had already turned back toward the grave.