Lin Kun's last conscious memory was of the blinding glare of his phone screen, the strange thrill and emptiness rising in his heart as his fingertips typed: "Tang San, that hypocrite, really knows how to play double standards!"
When he opened his eyes again, that thrill and emptiness had both been crushed to pieces, leaving only the taste of dust choking his lungs and an indescribable stench of poverty and decay.
He lay on something hard that dug painfully into his back. His blurred vision gradually focused, revealing a low ceiling that constantly shed flakes of ash, barely supported by several crooked beams. Light filtered in through a "window" covered by a ragged piece of burlap, illuminating the countless dust motes dancing wildly through the air.
"Cough! Cough, cough!" He abruptly turned his head and broke into a violent coughing fit, his throat as dry as if it had been scraped by sandpaper.
Where was this?
Unfamiliar, fragmented memories flooded forcibly into his mind like a breached dam, hurting so badly that he clutched his head.
Holy Soul Village... Old Village Chief Jack... an orphan whose parents had died young... mockery and isolation from children his age... and another quiet, withdrawn child who often went to the blacksmith's shop at the western end of the village, named Tang San.
Tang San?!
Lin Kun jolted, fully awake at last, and sprang up from the pile of straw beneath him. He looked around at the rammed-earth walls, broken farm tools, and drafty door... This was not his home. It was not even an era he recognized!
He scrambled toward the only broken wooden basin in the room, which held a little cloudy cold water. The surface churned violently, then gradually reflected an unfamiliar face—about six or seven years old, sallow and skinny, with dry yellow hair. Only his eyes were wide open from overwhelming terror and shock.
This was not his face!
But his memories told him that it was!
He had really transmigrated! Just because he had angrily complained about a novel's protagonist before going to sleep?! And he had become an insignificant nobody from the same village as Tang San, the protagonist—a pitiful little orphan?!
A chill of despair instantly gripped Lin Kun's heart. He knew how dangerous this world was: spirit beasts, spirit masters, sect conflicts, imperial wars... As an orphan with no one to rely on, probably unable to awaken any decent martial soul, what could he use to survive?
Find someone powerful to cling to! His only choice was to cling tightly to Tang San, the future Sea God and Asura God! He might despise Tang San's character, but there was no shame in it if it meant staying alive!
Just as his thoughts became a chaotic mess and he desperately considered how to "accidentally" meet Tang San and make a good impression, a cold voice entirely devoid of emotion rang directly within the depths of his mind:
Ding! Strong spacetime fluctuations and an unrestrained intent toward the world's main storyline detected. Binding requirements met... Plot Breakdown System binding... Binding successful! Host: Lin Kun Initial mission issued: Reversed First Kiss. Change the first-kiss target of key character "Xiao Wu" and designate the host himself as the target. Mission deadline: Upon the first meeting in the work-study student dormitory at Nuoding Academy of Advanced Spirit Masters. Mission reward: One beginner's gift pack, 100 Plot Breakdown Points. Failure penalty: System unbinding, host's soul dispersal.
Lin Kun felt as though lightning had struck him from the heavens. His entire body froze in place, his face turning pale—far more terrified than when he had first realized he had transmigrated.
A system? A golden finger? Before he could even rejoice, he was stunned by the utterly absurd initial mission.
Change Xiao Wu's first-kiss target?! Snatch it from Tang San?! And make himself the target?!
Was this system trying to get him killed faster?!
He was supposed to cling to someone powerful, yet the very first thing he had to do was snatch food from a tiger's jaws and steal the first kiss of the girl the future Asura God had his eye on?! Wasn't that just offering up his own head? With a bonus soul-dispersal package included!
Lin Kun's vision darkened. The only path to survival he had just found—clinging to Tang San—snapped with a crack, personally severed by the inexplicable system in his head and casually tossed into a bottomless abyss.
"I just want to stay alive safely..." He collapsed onto the cold dirt floor, staring at the ruined ceiling as an unconscious groan slipped from his lips. "Why is this starting point a plot-breakdown scenario on hell difficulty with a guaranteed-death mission?!"
The cold system prompt sounded again, carrying an unquestionable authority:
Mission accepted. Host, please prepare actively. Countdown begins...
Lin Kun fell completely silent. Only despair spread soundlessly through the empty, broken house. He knew that from the moment he bound this system, the original storyline of Douluo Continent had become like a wild horse breaking free of its reins, galloping toward a completely unknown and extraordinarily dangerous direction.
And his first challenge was to steal Xiao Wu's first kiss in front of Tang San.
This was simply an impossible suicide mission.
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