Jiu Yue was sent flying by a car.
The moment she hit the ground, her vision flashed white. She instinctively closed her eyes, only to hear a sharp mechanical voice ring in her ears: "Someone's ambushing you from behind—dodge now!"
Jiu Yue wanted to retort, Ambush what? Didn’t you just see me get hit by a car? Where am I supposed to get the strength to dodge???
But the next second, her body reacted as if triggered by a keyword. In the span of a single breath, she twisted at an impossible angle.
The damp scent of soil filled her nose. When Jiu Yue opened her eyes in bewilderment, her face was barely two centimeters from the ground.
"Don’t just stand there—kill those assassins first!" the mechanical voice urged urgently.
Something felt off. Another flash of white light blinded her—
The glint of a blade.
Before her mind could catch up, her body moved first.
She sprang up lightning-fast, snatched a longsword from the ground, and charged straight at the assassins.
Fifteen minutes later, Jiu Yue pulled a dagger from her chest and tossed it aside, slumping exhaustedly against a tree.
The longsword lay beside her. Her gaze swept over the pile of pixelated gore in front of her, and with a bizarre expression, she finally asked, "What the hell are you? And what the hell did you turn me into?"
Amidst crackling static, the mechanical voice replied, "Greetings, Host. I am the Emergency Backup Program. You may call me System. Our scans indicate that you died in a car accident on XX/XX/20XX. Given the gruesomeness of your demise matched this character’s fate, we cordially invite you to collaborate with us."
"..." Jiu Yue’s lips twitched as she glanced at the stab wound in her chest.
How the hell would I have gotten stabbed through the heart in a car crash?!
After a moment of silent exasperation, she motioned for System to continue.
System obliged. "Character: Jiu Yue. Occupation: Assassin. Reason for intervention: Unfulfilled critical mission. Requesting external assistance."
"Wait, wait, wait—assassin? What kind of assassin? I can’t be an assassin! Find someone else for this job!" Jiu Yue’s entire demeanor soured, and she flopped onto the ground in protest.
Cordially invite my ass. This is just your run-of-the-mill transmigration trope! They’d snatched her soul after her death in the original world to force her into unpaid labor here.
Jiu Yue was thoroughly unimpressed.
System: "Upon mission completion, the host will receive ten billion in cash and be returned to the modern era."
Jiu Yue shot upright like a carp leaping out of water, blood spurting from her mouth—yet her face remained deadpan as she declared righteously, "Assassin? I was born to be an assassin! Look at this battlefield—my track record speaks for itself! Who else could possibly fill this role but me? Rest assured, I will complete the mission!"
Are you kidding me?
Turn down ten billion? What am I supposed to do instead—beg for scraps?
Jiu Yue chuckled and shook her head, switching attitudes in a blink. "My bad, I’ll admit I was putting on a bit of a show earlier."
Who said transmigration was outdated? This is amazing!
The mechanical voice fell silent for a moment before crackling back, "Glad to hear it... But I’ve exhausted my energy transporting you here. I’ll contact you again when..."
The voice dissolved into ear-splitting static. Jiu Yue covered her ears instinctively, but by the time she tried to ask more questions, System was gone.
Gritting her teeth, she sat back down. Her chest was soaked in blood, yet the pain was fading—as if she were healing on her own.
But Jiu Yue still couldn’t fully grasp the reality of life and death—
Because all the gory details were pixelated in her vision.
Green pixels, no less. Not scary at all.
Jiu Yue: "..."
So she calmly got up and rifled through the assassins’ belongings. After some searching, all she found were hidden weapons and pouches of powder. She didn’t recognize them, but a single glance made their names and uses pop into her mind.
Must be part of the character’s settings.
Just as she was about to give up, she spotted a token where she’d first woken up.
Solid gold!
Jiu Yue bit into it a few times, planning to sell it—until moonlight revealed the character "Ping" engraved on its surface.
Fun fact: This is probably some VIP’s status symbol.
Had it fallen off one of the assassins, or was it hers?
She didn’t know, but just in case, she tucked it safely into her clothes.
---
After half a month of living like a wild woman in the woods, Jiu Yue had mostly adapted... but System still hadn’t returned.
Gnawing on a foraged berry, she jiggled her leg with world-weary resignation.
That bastard didn’t even say how long I’d have to wait!
Her patience had run out. Stroking her chin, she replayed System’s words in her head.
According to System, this assassin character had an unfinished critical mission, so she couldn’t die yet. That’s why Jiu Yue had been snatched over as a replacement—an emergency stand-in.
System hadn’t gotten around to explaining what that mission was.
But was that a problem?
Hardly!
An assassin’s mission—wasn’t it obvious? Killing people. The only question was who.
Glancing down at her attire, she confirmed the ancient-era setting. The biggest challenge would probably be assassinating the emperor or the empress dowager.
That’s basically rebellion. Oh well, blame the character’s backstory.
Money doesn’t come easy!
Having thoroughly convinced herself, Jiu Yue checked her chest again. Half a month later, the wound had fully healed, as if she’d never been stabbed.
Just as I thought—self-repair function. Heh.
What’s there to fear?
She tossed the berry aside, wiped her mouth, hoisted a blade over her shoulder, and set off in the direction her memories suggested.
Better to gather intel now than rot here as a wild woman. Might come in handy for the mission later!
---
Jiu Yue traveled for over half a month.
At first, she relied on her own two legs. Then, out of nowhere, she unlocked lightfoot technique. After several chaotic days of adjusting, she encountered a few fellow travelers along the way. Without hesitation, they drew their weapons—and she, recalling her combat skills, promptly turned them into pixelated heaps.
Jiu Yue sheathed her blade solemnly, sighing inwardly: So brutal.
By the time she reached the capital, even the beggars at the city gate took pity and shared half a steamed bun with her.
"Little brother, where’d you flee from this time?" The beggar was just a kid, but his tone was oddly world-weary, as if mimicking some adult.
Carbohydrates! At last!
Jiu Yue was so moved she nearly kowtowed on the spot—until she bit into the bun and almost shattered her teeth.
"..." She silently squeezed the rock-hard bun (could probably bludgeon a dog to death with this) and squatted beside the little beggar with the air of a seasoned drifter. She pointed vaguely in the direction she’d come from.
The kid nodded sagely. "Ah, from Qingnan. They had a flood there recently. Sigh, you’ve had it rough."
Jiu Yue: "..."
Being pitied by a child beggar—how poetic.
She tossed the fossilized bun into the bushes, stood up, and flicked a few silver coins his way. With a wink, she said, "For the bun’s sake, I’ll treat you to a meal. You in?"
The little beggar's eyes lit up, forgetting all pretense of maturity as he nodded eagerly like a chick pecking at rice. "Yes, yes! Thank you, big brother!"
