Smile at me, and I'll give you my life

Shen Yunzhi was thoroughly dazed by the fall.

Her head hurt, her back hurt, her legs hurt, and her butt hurt.

She had spotted a lion's mane mushroom on a tree branch and excitedly prepared to climb up and pick it.

Then her foot slipped, and she fell.

She rolled straight down into the gully at the bottom and landed flat on her face.

The system, which had been slacking off, received a red alert that its host was in trouble.

He scrambled online in a panic to check on Shen Yunzhi.

Thank goodness.

Her thick winter clothes had kept her from suffering any major injuries.

Rolling her eyes, Shen Yunzhi delivered her last words: "I can't breathe... Am I dying... System, are you there? If I can be the heroine of a wish-fulfillment novel in my next life... I'll die without regrets."

The system said woodenly, "Your scarf is caught on a branch."

"..."

"..."

Shen Yunzhi undid her scarf and instantly felt alive again. "You could've said so sooner!"

After undoing her scarf, she was about to dust off her butt, stand up, and head back.

But her right leg felt broken, completely numb. The moment she stood, she plopped right back down on her butt.

The system said, "Forgot to tell you, your ankle is dislocated. I've blocked your pain for half an hour. Wait for someone to rescue you."

Shen Yunzhi was a little touched.

She felt that although she was somewhat pathetic compared to other transmigrators, at least she still had a cheat.

She turned to look at her right ankle. It was indeed bent at an odd angle.

Her pants had also been torn, exposing a cut about ten centimeters long. It wasn't very deep and wasn't bleeding much.

The cut was at the bend of her leg. Shen Yunzhi had wanted to clean it herself, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't reach it. She didn't know how to set bones herself, either, and hadn't brought any communication devices.

Still, if the production crew couldn't find her, they would probably come looking for her soon.

Holding on to the tree trunk, Shen Yunzhi looked up.

The drop into this gully was rather steep, over two meters. No grass or plants covered the slope, and some roots from large trees were exposed in the dirt. It looked like a ravine formed by a landslide.

The system had blocked her pain, but she didn't dare move around carelessly for fear of making her injuries worse.

Shen Yunzhi looked around, then raised her voice and shouted a couple of times.

"Help!"

"Is anyone there?"

"Help!!"

"Moshi moshi?!"

No one answered, and after discovering she couldn't climb out on her own, Shen Yunzhi gave up.

She plopped down on a fallen dead tree and chatted with the system:

"What if I die here?"

The system reassured Shen Yunzhi, "It's okay. I won't go offline. I'll stay here with you. When someone searches nearby, I'll let you know."

Shen Yunzhi sounded a little regretful. "You might as well just let me die and fish me out into another world to have some fun."

She had previously heard from the system that the body's original owner had already gone to a wish-fulfillment world to become the heroine and crush everyone in her path.

She rather yearned for that.

Yet she was still here, surrounded and attacked by countless morons.

It was as if all the pigs she had eaten in the real world had reincarnated here to take revenge on her.

Hearing Shen Yunzhi say that, the system could only reply, "Every slot is occupied, dear. We can't free up that many roles for hosts to choose from right now."

Shen Yunzhi asked, "So are you managing other hosts too?"

The system considered it. There didn't seem to be anything it couldn't tell her.

So it frankly admitted, "Yes. Business is a little busy."

Shen Yunzhi understood.

No wonder the system sometimes didn't make a peep for three or four days.

Bored, Shen Yunzhi saw that the system was willing to talk and asked a few more questions:

"Do you manage your other hosts the same way you manage me? Coming online occasionally to check whether I'm dead?"

"It's a little different," the system said. "I have to pay more attention to the other hosts. After all, they're usually doing hard..."

Shen Yunzhi said, "??????"

The system finished, "...tasks under a lot of pressure."

Shen Yunzhi said, "..."

This system didn't pause properly when it spoke, and its voice had no emotional inflection. It was the sort of unremarkable AI voice that didn't even sound male or female.

What the system had just said had nearly scared her to death.

Shen Yunzhi asked, "Then why don't I have any tasks? Am I just freeloading in this world?"

"You originally did," the system explained. "But when this body's original owner learned about the quest lines you needed to complete, she thought they were too hard. She said she completes tasks quickly over in her wish-fulfillment world, so she'd do double the work for you and give you half the points after settlement. You can do whatever you want in this world as compensation for taking her place as this cannon-fodder character."

Shen Yunzhi was deeply moved when she heard that.

Boohoo.

As expected of her dear sister with the exact same name.

She was far too good to her.

Shen Yunzhi also felt a little ashamed. She couldn't let the original owner work so hard.

Although that side was a wish-fulfillment world, once anything involved tasks or work, it wasn't really all that easy.

Looking utterly righteous, Shen Yunzhi declared, "That won't do! Tell me what tasks I need to complete. I'll do them myself!"

How could she put the original owner to so much trouble?

She would provide for herself with her own two hands!

Hearing Shen Yunzhi say that, the system pulled up her task list from its interface and read it out to her, item by item:

"The host currently has three quest lines: the revenge arc, the career arc, and the romance arc."

"To activate the revenge arc, you need to break off your engagement to Ji Nanxian, put the scumbag and his mistress in their place, bring down the Jiang Family and the Ji Family, and trample them underfoot."

Shen Yunzhi frowned and thought it over.

It didn't seem that hard.

With a little effort, it wasn't impossible.

The system continued, "The career arc offers more choices. You can seize the Jiang Family's assets and become a powerful businesswoman, or enter the entertainment industry like Jiang Yunli and become a global superstar."

"..." Shen Yunzhi began to waver.

That sounded a bit difficult.

She had worked herself like a beast in the real world until she died suddenly, and even getting a promotion had been a struggle.

The system added, "Last is the romance arc. You need a powerful, influential man who loves you, spoils you, and would give you his life. Only then is the main storyline of a modern domineering CEO romance complete."

"So, based on the relevant plot and characters compiled by the system, the eligible male lead matched to you as your romance target is Xiao Yao."

"..." Shen Yunzhi nearly choked to death on her own spit. "Cough... cough, cough!"

Who?!

Who??

She imagined herself fawning over Xiao Yao to win him over.

Then she imagined the perpetually obnoxious Xiao Yao wearing that punchable face as he confessed his love to her:

"Smile at me, and I'll give you my life."

Shen Yunzhi said, "..."

Life-offering romance.

Truly terrifying.

Shen Yunzhi fell silent for a long time.

The lofty ambitions she had just proclaimed withered in an instant.

But her conscience nagged at her, and she still couldn't quite bear to let the original owner shoulder everything.

Her tasks here were all on hell difficulty.

Even if the original owner was in a wish-fulfillment story, she was probably under a lot of pressure too, right?

Shen Yunzhi felt terrible for her. "What tasks does the original owner have over there?"

The system thought for a moment. "It's an apocalypse setting. She starts with the strongest cheat, crushes everyone in her path, and is hailed as the world's strongest superhuman. Her task is to lead countless formidable companions to defeat the zombies and rule her own domain."

Shen Yunzhi said, "..."

She, she, she...

I, I, I...

Shen Yunzhi completely lost it.

Was that fair???

No wonder hosts had to get randomly assigned settings.

Otherwise, who would willingly take this lousy cannon-fodder role?!

Shen Yunzhi's conscience vanished in an instant, as if a dog had gobbled it up:

"I suddenly think the original owner was right. I hope she works hard in that world and gets those tasks done quickly to support me."

"..." With Shen Yunzhi acting like this, the system had nothing to say.

It wasn't a workaholic anyway. As long as the hosts under its management behaved and didn't cause trouble, that was enough.

Since the original owner had taken over Shen Yunzhi's workload, it would leave it at that.

It put away the system panel. "Someone's coming."

Shen Yunzhi froze at first, then hurriedly shouted:

"Is someone there? I'm down here?"

Footsteps came from a distance, approaching over the fallen leaves.

Before long.

Above Shen Yunzhi's head, Xiao Yao leaned his upper body out.

Seeing that Shen Yunzhi's complexion looked fairly decent, he felt relieved for some reason.

As obnoxious as ever, Xiao Yao raised his eyebrows slightly and said to Shen Yunzhi:

"You lived around here for over ten years, yet you still managed to fall into a ditch on a single outing. You might as well let your rotten luck kill you."

Shen Yunzhi said, "..."