Acting as the 'White Moonlight' in Destructive Novels [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The First World – Cyberpunk (2)

When Lin Qingyu opened his eyes again, he was already floating above his own corpse.

He watched as the bespectacled man acted like a necrophile, wiping his corpse spotlessly clean and cradling it in his arms while continuing to reminisce about their childhood. Once the corridor became bustling again, the man finally snapped back to reality.

He found the building’s garbage disposal chute and tossed Lin Qingyu’s body in with a dull thud. Finally, he gave a hypocritical, formal wave toward the mouth of the chute to bid the sliding corpse farewell.

Pfft, hypocrite. If you’re sick in the head, go get help.

Lin Qingyu tilted his head and glared at him. He followed his own body as it slid down the garbage chute, rolling into the darkness.

Inside Lin Qingyu’s mind, a glowing white “tangyuan” was frantically bowing and apologizing. It claimed to be the White Moonlight System, codenamed “Little Coward.” Little Coward was only as big as a palm, a round, chubby sphere with four toothpicks stuck into it to serve as arms and legs. Its two black-bean eyes were wide, and its line-drawn mouth worked as it spoke.

“I am truly, terribly sorry.”

Lin Qingyu poked it; the rice ball rolled away, then scrambled back to apologize.

“It’s like this, sir: my system readings show you had no prior record of death or transmigration. Our company policy requires a host to be dead or suffer an accidental transmigration before they can be bound to a system; I was just following procedure. However, it is my fault that I failed to satisfy you. Please, I beg you, do not file a complaint! I’m middle-aged in system-years, and it’s hard to find work! I have a wife and kids to feed!”

Two minutes later, Lin Qingyu received a mountain of compensation. The system stuffed his inventory with all sorts of miscellaneous gadgets. Lin Qingyu signed the contract with Little Coward for two reasons: first, he wanted to be resurrected to return to his dream of an acting career, and second, he had been bought off by the small tokens and had his eye on those gadgets.

According to Little Coward, worlds are generated from individual novels. During the process of generating a world, some novels encounter various issues and require the Quick Transmigration Company to intervene. Lin Qingyu’s job was to transmigrate into these various novel worlds and play the role of the cannon fodder destined to die in the prologue.

He had to clear his name, win the male lead’s affection, and transition from a mere plot tool to the male lead’s “White Moonlight”—his spiritual pillar. He had to turn the male lead of this unhinged, destructive novel back into the hero of a power fantasy.

“The world you are currently in is: ‘Shocking! I Woke Up as an SSS-Class Cyber-Wanted Criminal, While Everyone Else Is Chaotic, I Am Partying.'”

Lin Qingyu: ? What a long name.

“The story is about the male lead, Su Wang, an intelligence agent who accepted a secret mission assigned from above and went undercover alone to the Future Tower. En route, his vehicle was ambushed, and Su Wang fell into a coma. When he woke up, he found himself in a trash heap at the Future Tower. The streets were filled with wanted posters of him, accusing him of live-streaming the torture and murder of five agents—his former colleagues. One of the five victims survived and provided testimony proving the authenticity of the livestream. Having confirmed there was no possibility of AI deep-fakes, the Alliance officially issued a warrant for the male lead’s arrest.”

Lin Qingyu’s mind raced. Am I that surviving agent? Is that psychopath who just killed me the male lead?

Little Coward nodded.

Lin Qingyu slapped his hand. Then didn’t my mission just fail?

“It’s fine, you can be revived. Upon the first binding of a system, the company provides one free life as an employee benefit.”

That generous? Lin Qingyu’s previous jobs didn’t even cover his own health insurance.

The novel’s main plot involves Su Wang collecting evidence to clear his name, regaining Lin Qingyu’s trust, and taking him on as a sidekick. With his help, he would dominate the Future Tower, collecting subordinates and beauties, and return to the pinnacle of his life. But the problem was that the novel focused solely on being an “easy read.” It focused on describing how tempting the female police officer who was hunting Su Wang looked, how sexy the teacher’s leather outfit was, and how pure the junior student who threw herself into his arms was. The parts about the male lead’s injustice were glossed over in a few lines without detail.

This led to the generated world’s Su Wang following the script without knowing how to clear his name. He was like a rat, darting around the Future City and hiding. Every time he managed to settle down, the plot would summon one of his harem members—the female cop—to cross mountains and rivers to capture him, creating “ambiguous” opportunities between them.

Su Wang had no direction for his investigation, and even his excuses sounded pale and weak. In the eyes of the female cop, he was a heinous piece of human trash. Ambiguity was impossible. Every meeting ended with warning shots and a round of close-quarters combat. He couldn’t eat his fill or sleep, constantly chased by the female cop. Running like that, Su Wang eventually went “black” (became an anti-hero/villain).

After listening, Lin Qingyu felt it was probably because he was hungry and tired; a few days of good care and his mind would probably be back to normal.

“That won’t work, sir. He has already tasted the sweetness of his darkness; it won’t be easy to turn him back.”

Lin Qingyu recalled the memory slightly. Indeed, Su Wang—who had just executed him—had been dressed in a suit and looked every bit the respectable professional. Even in a crowded building, he had dared to take his time reminiscing with him; there was no trace of a wanted criminal. Wait.

What about the person capturing him? Did he kill that female cop?

“No, he just imprisoned her.”

No torture or abuse?

“No, he has a sequence. He came to deal with you first. He hasn’t had the time to take care of the female cop yet. If you…”

The little rice ball hadn’t finished speaking when it looked outside and let out a shriek. Lin Qingyu followed its gaze and also let out a loud cry. The processor at the bottom of the trash pit began to operate; mechanical arms automatically sorted the garbage.

It crushed and compressed the sorted trash into cubes and dumped them into the recycling station. With a few booming sounds, Lin Qingyu clearly watched the machine compress two human corpses near him into a single meat cube. Then, a mechanical hand grabbed it and tossed it into the food waste recycling station.

With Little Coward’s help, Lin Qingyu returned to his body. He didn’t have time to adapt; he crawled through the pile of trash with contorted limbs. He climbed over broken boxes and corpses, scaling the ladder at the edge of the pit. The person operating the equipment was an elderly man who didn’t seem surprised to see Lin Qingyu, likely used to seeing “resurrected” trash, assuming he was just like the other unlucky sods who hadn’t died completely. He pointed toward a small metal door by the wall and told him to get the hell out.

As Lin Qingyu walked past him, he caught a glimpse of two familiar characters. He turned his head and saw the frisbee-bot on the old man’s table playing a news flash:

SSS-Class Wanted Criminal

Name: Su Wang

Charges: Murder, Assaulting an Officer, Walking a Dog Without a Leash.

Reward for clues: 10,000 Future Coins.

The image on the warrant kept changing, cycling through all the disguises Su Wang had used. Lin Qingyu didn’t see that “refined scumbag” face, so it seemed the male lead was safe for now.

“Host Lin Qingyu, your current mission progress is 0.”

“Main Mission: Spiritual Pillar”

“Endless insults, an endless escape. Betrayal by a good brother, a female cop that resets her pursuit. Su Wang’s mental world has been crushed by pressure. You need to become the moonlight in his heart, his pillar, and help him rebuild his mental world.”

“Sub-Mission: Rebirth”

“Su Wang’s life has been destroyed by malice. Find the real culprit behind the livestream murder case, clear up the truth of everything, clear the male lead’s name, and let him return to the light.”

“Updated target data, please click to view.”

#BasicData#

Affection: 80/100 (The only good Qingyu is a dead Qingyu.)]

Desire Level: 0/100 (I don’t like corpses, and I don’t like men.)]

Internal Thoughts: ‘Should I go to the food waste station later and buy Qingyu back?’]

Dark Thoughts: ‘Kill them all.’]

#MissionRelated#

Spiritual World Construction: 1/10 (Hatred guides me)

Rebirth Progress: 0/3 (I’m past saving)

Lin Qingyu stole a windbreaker from the clothing recycling station and checked the system data while putting it on. So detailed. With so much private information, it makes me a bit embarrassed.

What does the ‘3’ in 0/3 mean?

“You need to find three crucial clues to discover the truth behind the story. This data is shared between you and the male lead.”

Lin Qingyu didn’t really want to help someone who had just stabbed him. The system told him he wouldn’t die in vain—the company would provide compensation for mental distress. Lin Qingyu counted the zeros. It was a huge sum of money; he could buy the best protein powder, hire the most expensive personal trainer, and hire a few actors to film the script he wrote.

Thank you, company. Thank you, Su Wang. Thank you, Little Coward.

With the mission complete, the money could be withdrawn; Lin Qingyu was now full of motivation. Little Coward provided him with basic information about the original “Lin Qingyu.” After providing the clues to the authorities to confirm Su Wang was a murderer, Lin Qingyu hadn’t left the Future Tower to return to his original residence.

In the novel, Su Wang had been active in the Future Tower during the early stages; arranging for Lin Qingyu to stay here was meant to make it easier for Su Wang to recruit him as a sidekick.

The original owner was just a small cannon fodder character in the book, with very little screen time. The total word count of his appearances didn’t even add up to the physical description of the harem members. Little Coward only knew that the place “Lin Qingyu” lived was called Future Tower.

The tower, with its over three hundred floors and complex interior, was equivalent to several large business districts and residential areas combined. It could satisfy all needs, work, daily life, and otherwise; many people moved in and never left the tower in their entire lives.

It was in a legal gray zone where police almost never entered. Various gangs carved out territories in the building, using force to maintain order. The early part of the story revolved around this gray area.

Following the map Little Coward gave him, Lin Qingyu headed toward the original owner’s home. The original owner, a perfectly good witness, had somehow become an outlaw, joining the “Stray Dog” gang and keeping a lot of weapons and firearms at home. Little Coward had just issued a mission to rescue the female cop and stop the male lead from committing more mistakes. Su Wang had a gun.

At ten meters, a gun is fast; within ten meters, it’s fast and accurate.

Lin Qingyu planned to go home first to get some gear before doing the mission. The dog-head pendant on his neck smacked against his Adam’s apple with every step. This shitty collar had an electronic lock; Lin Qingyu couldn’t get it off. He pulled at it as he walked, barely adjusting it to a comfortable position.

With Little Coward’s introduction, Lin Qingyu finally understood that the “human bomb” the bald men were shouting about was himself. When the “Stray Dogs” went crazy, they liked to self-detonate.

Lin Qingyu used the high collar of his windbreaker to cover the collar. This time, the passersby didn’t dodge him like he was a plague god. A few white men passing by kindly gave him directions, led him to the door of a small motel, helped him with his clothes, and invited him in to sit. But as soon as they saw his collar, they all scattered instantly.

After spending over two hours, Lin Qingyu finally found the original owner’s little nest in the chaotic building. Looking at the “a203-9” door plate on the metal door, Lin Qingyu let out a long sigh of relief. Imitating other residents, he scratched his palm, pulled out a data cable, and plugged it into the slot on the door.

The door opened automatically, and the interior lights turned on, illuminating Su Wang’s gentle smile—and the samurai sword swinging down toward his face.

“Qingyu, you are really not a good boy. I didn’t find your body parts at the garbage dump, so I knew you must still be alive. I’ve waited for you at home for a long time, and I thought you wouldn’t come back. I’m so happy to see you again.”

“It’s fine. I won’t make the same mistake twice. This time, I will handle you personally.”

Lin Qingyu: ???

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