Chapter 3: He Became... a Cannon Fodder Character?

"Why... why... why did this have to happen to me? Why does it have to be me?" he whispered hoarsely, his fingernails digging deep into his palms within his tightly clenched fist; drops of blood fell into the sink, then immediately washed away by the flowing water.

He lifted his head and stared at the face in the mirror. It looked strikingly similar to his own appearance... but he knew that this body was definitely not his own.

Jiang Zihan...?

Such a familiar name...

Memories flooded into him all at once, suffocating him. He bent over and pressed his hand tightly on his chest, trying to hold himself together.

Panic swept through Lu Ye’s soul, or more precisely, through Jiang Zihan’s soul.

He finally remembered who he was. This body belongs to Jiang Zihan, a character in the game Moon Pact: Song of Destiny.

He was a villain... or rather... not even worthy to be called one. He was just a cannon fodder character who died in the opening Chapters of the story.

This was a world of fantasy. Thousands of years ago, dungeons had suddenly appeared all across the world, where there were monsters within them. At first, people were deeply uneasy; however, after observing that the monsters could not leave the dungeons, and noticing that there were very few dungeons, they slowly let their guard down. Everyone believed that things would go on like this forever, until one day, the monsters broke through and started appearing in the real world.

It was also that day when the number of dungeons started increasing dramatically.

Humans were no match for these unknown creatures, and massive death and devastation followed. It was only when the first person awakened a special ability and managed to slay a monster that the tide began to turn. From then on, a new profession emerged. Individuals who have special talents were specially trained to fight these creatures. People call them... hunters.

Jiang Zihan had been born into an ordinary family, and he had once dreamed of becoming a hunter. When he was ten, his parents divorced, and he was raised by his mother alone. He knew himself well—neither talented nor intelligent—so he believed that his only path out of obscurity was to find a powerful backing, someone who could pull him out of the mud and into the light.

And so... he set his sights on Gu Yan, the actual villain of the storyline, at least in the first volume of the game.

The story could be claimed as a classical trope. Gu Yan was the so-called ’fake heir’ of the Gu family, and he knew so even before his adoptive parents found out. He understood that once the Gu family knew the truth, they would definitely kick him out of the Gu family without hesitation. He was very familiar with their ruthless nature, so he knew this fact from the very beginning.

Because of that, he decided to go all the way and eliminate the ’real heir’ of the Gu family: Mo Shiyan.

Jiang Zihan had been observing Gu Yan for a really long time and had sensed his bone-deep hatred toward Mo Shiyan. Although he did not know the reason behind it, he still listened to Gu Yan’s request in order to curry favor with him and climb the social ladder. Because of this, he repeatedly bullied Mo Shiyan in multiple ways, trying to please Gu Yan.

He did not notice that Gu Yan’s actual goal was to kill Mo Shiyan and thought that he just disliked his presence.

Maybe at the beginning, Jiang Zihan’s dream was really pure, but one day, it changed...

Lost in thought, he suddenly heard the door open.

He turned his head and stared toward the door cautiously.

The one who entered was Mo Shiyan, his target in the game. To be honest, Mo Shiyan’s facial features were absolutely delicate; otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent so many hours playing this game.

Mo Shiyan’s hair was in a silvery-white color, soft in texture and falling loosely over his shoulders. Under the light, it was as if it was shimmering with a cool, pure glow. His eyes were a pale shade of blue, just as beautiful as the blue sky, so clear that it seemed totally unreal. If one looked closely, a thin strand of gold could be seen hidden deep within the blue, like the first light of dawn breaking over the horizon.

If he were still a player, he would have looked closely at the details of just how perfectly Mo Shiyan matched his taste, or maybe even complimented the game company for creating such an amazing and charming character. But now, he was merely a cannon fodder character, and he totally did not have the mind left for such thoughts.

His attention was totally drawn to the layers of bandages wrapped tightly around Mo Shiyan’s arms and neck. The white fabric was already soaked with dark, dried blood, as if stubborn reminders of wounds that refused to heal, silently speaking of the pain this body had endured during the previous years.

However, this was only what Jiang Zihan could see of the exposed skin, and what lay beneath the clothing was completely unknown to him.

Although he had seen these scenes during the game and had even experienced them with him, seeing it through the phone was nothing close to witnessing it in reality.

Jiang Zihan continued to observe the wounds on Mo Shiyan’s body, his heart aching with pity for the character he had once desperately tried to protect in the game. Now he had endured such severe injuries, but there was nothing that he could do about it.

However, in Mo Shiyan’s eyes, what Jiang Zihan was doing now was searching for an excuse to bully him again.

Those beautiful eyes of his were hollow and lifeless, as though they had never held light before.

He should have already gotten used to it...

When could he leave this wretched world...?