No Pampering the Vicious Cannon Fodder! [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 2

The tall figure in front of him instantly went limp, collapsing with a loud thud in the next second.

“It worked! It worked!”

050 stood dumbfounded, its small wings fluttering in chaotic circles mid-air.

“Host, our mission is complete!”

Just as it was losing itself in joy, a thin, thread-like voice that sounded nearly suffocated drifted into its ears.

“…Little coal ball, help me…”

050 looked down, only to discover that when the protagonist collapsed, he had landed squarely and heavily on top of his host.

Xin Rong was like a fish nailed to a cutting board, unable to move. His chest was nearly crushed flat, and his face was turning a bright red from holding his breath.

He wailed internally: “It’s over.”

Was he going to be the first cannon fodder in history to be crushed to death by the protagonist?

At that moment, a flash of inspiration hit 050: “I’ve got it!”

As soon as the words fell, Xin Rong felt a lightness on his body. A surge of mysterious strength erupted within him; with a casual push, he actually managed to flip Jing Yue’s solid body over.

He stared down at his palms, as if meeting these hands for the first time.

“How was that? Pretty impressive, right!” 050 boasted proudly from the side. “Our item mall permissions have been unlocked. I exchanged a ‘Herculean Strength Card’ for you. However, it only lasts for ten minutes. The monthly pass is too expensive; we can’t afford it yet, ying ying ying.”

Xin Rong had no time to deal with 050’s bid for credit. He quickly propped Jing Yue up against a tree trunk and, in a few swift motions, tore off the man’s jacket, revealing a bloody shoulder.

050 hovered close again, chirping away: “Host, how did you come up with such a clever trick?”

Xin Rong was looking down, unwrapping bandages. His hands didn’t stop as he replied absentmindedly, “What clever trick?”

“The trick that made the protagonist freeze up instantly! Hey, remember to give me a heads-up next time, okay? Don’t leave me just staring blankly.”

As the last loop of the bandage was removed, the wound was finally completely exposed.

Xin Rong’s expression suddenly turned grave. His cheeks puffed up with anger as he grabbed 050’s demon horns.

“Look! Look at this!”

“Ow, ow, ow! Gentler, gentler!” 050 fluttered wildly in the air as it was yanked. “Look at what?”

Xin Rong looked exactly like a child lodging a complaint: “Look at how he bandaged this. What is this even supposed to be?”

As he expected, rusty metal shards were embedded haphazardly into the flesh, and the wound had already turned black and swollen. Blood mixed with pus was seeping out.

If this was delayed any longer, this arm would likely be ruined.

Hell, he might even lose his life here.

Xin Rong bit his lip: “Is there a clinic nearby?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he dismissed the idea himself: “…Forget it.”

Given the hygiene standards of the Lower District, a clinic would likely be eight times filthier than a roadside food stall.

The “Herculean Strength Card” only lasted ten minutes. If he wasted more time going back and forth, he’d likely struggle even to carry Jing Yue out of a hospital.

His gaze shifted, quickly scanning the surroundings, when he suddenly spotted a neon sign at the corner of the street. It looked like a hotel.

Time was of the essence; there was no room for overthinking. He took a breath, bent down, and scooped the man up in a princess carry, sprinting toward the building.

When checking in, he completely ignored the front desk clerk’s increasingly subtle expression. He swiped the room card, turned into the room, and tossed the man onto the bed before commanding 050 to exchange points for gauze, iodine, and medical alcohol.

050 asked hesitantly, “Host, what are you… doing?”

Xin Rong didn’t look up: “Treating his wound.”

050 hesitated: “Host, this doesn’t seem to be within our mission scope.”

“But he’ll die.”

050 choked: “Uh…”

Xin Rong spoke with total earnestness: “If the protagonist dies, how are we supposed to do the mission?”

It was truly impossible to argue with that logic.

Strangely enough, Xin Rong usually appeared delicate and pampered, yet he was exceptionally adept at handling wounds.

Even though he had been wrinkling his nose at the pheromones earlier, his brow didn’t even twitch now as his fingers cleared away the blood and filth.

050 suddenly remembered that when they took the mission, the receptionist had casually mentioned the host’s identity.

That string of tongue-twisting, complex, and obscure terms had slipped from its mind almost immediately, but it vaguely remembered the word “Healing.”

Perhaps Healing was an instinct that the host could not forget, even with amnesia.

Just as Xin Rong attempted to pick out a deeply embedded shard, the person on the bed suddenly seemed to have a sensitive nerve touched and jolted violently.

The arm that was originally resting at his side swung up abruptly, striking directly toward Xin Rong’s face.

Xin Rong dodged quickly, barely avoiding the blow.

This guy—how was he still so violent even while unconscious?!

He glared at the bed crossly. He was about to curse him out in his head, but he froze the moment his gaze landed on the protagonist’s face.

The high brow bone was knotted into a tight scowl, and the bridge of his straight nose was tensed. Those eyes, which had been glaring at him so fiercely not long ago, were now tightly shut.

The quivering eyelashes, the pale lips, and the sweat rolling continuously from his forehead—all of it declared that this handsome face was currently enduring unspeakable agony.

Xin Rong let out a huff.

“Oh, so now you know how to feel pain?” He stood over him with his hands on his hips, acting quite fierce. “Weren’t you very impressive just now? You almost snapped my neck.”

The person on the bed naturally gave no response, remaining motionless in his coma.

But that didn’t stop Xin Rong from continuing his nagging: “Luckily I have a good temper and won’t hold it against you. If it were anyone else, they would have dumped you on the street long ago.”

Though his mouth was grumbling, his hand naturally picked up a towel to gently wipe the sweat from the man’s forehead.

“You really are too heavy, you should eat less…” Halfway through, he glanced at the wound, pouted, and changed his tune, “…Fine, since you’re hurt like this, you should eat more to recover.”

“But you can’t drink!” As he said this, he pulled a stern face again, his finger pointing through the air at the fresh bandages on Jing Yue’s shoulder. “Drinking before the wound is even healed—do you have no common sense at all?”

After finally getting the wound completely cleaned, Xin Rong slumped down at the head of the bed, exhausted. He took off his jacket and used it as a cushion behind his back.

Earlier, he had been wondering exactly where the protagonist was disabled, but looking closely now, he realized there wasn’t a single spot on this man that was whole.

That he was still alive after suffering so much was something of a miracle.

Just then, 050’s excited voice rang out.

“Congratulations, Host! The system just notified me that tonight’s grand final has ended. You successfully made the protagonist miss the match—the first mission is accomplished! Look, we’ve earned a huge pile of gold coins!”

Along with the success, the full plot outline was also unlocked.

After reading it, Xin Rong finally understood what that so-called “disability” was all about.

Congenital Gland Deficiency Syndrome—that was the diagnosis the hospital had given Jing Yue.

However, Xin Rong, who now held the plot outline, knew that this was not the case.

Jing Yue didn’t have any gland deficiency at all.

On the contrary, as early as the prenatal checkups, the doctors had confirmed that the Marshall’s wife was carrying an unprecedented SSS-rank Alpha.

In the entire Empire, the birth of the last SSS-rank Alpha dated back a thousand years.

That had also been a child of a noble family, but unfortunately, that family didn’t understand the principle of ‘the tree that stands tallest in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind’. They broadcasted the news to the whole world. As a result, it incited the envy of countless people, and the child didn’t even make it past infancy before falling victim to foul play.

Because of this, the Shi family learned their lesson. They decided that as soon as the child was born, they would inject him with a differentiation delayer, making it impossible for his secondary gender to manifest, thereby concealing him and ensuring he could grow up safely.

They planned to wait until he reached adulthood for him to burst onto the scene and shock the world in one fell swoop.

But man proposes, God disposes.

Right after the injection, while being transported back to the ward, the child was swapped with another baby boy born on the same day, thus ending up among the common people.

That injection of delayer, which was meant to be a protective charm, became the heaviest shackle in Jing Yue’s life.

He grew up as an orphan, surviving precariously by begging on the streets. Purely through his heaven-defying constitution and a streak of ruthless grit, he fought his way into the preparatory military academy, standing out as the most eye-catching wherever he went.

When he discovered his differentiation was later than his peers, Jing Yue didn’t take it to heart at first. It wasn’t until a physical examination that the doctor called for a consultation with multiple experts with a grave expression.

No one knew he had been injected with a differentiation delayer; that was a top-secret military experiment. Thus, the hospital could only follow conventional experience and slap him with the conclusion of “Congenital Gland Deficiency Syndrome.”

Just like that, the military academy admission letter that was within his reach turned into a thin sheet of disability certification.

Even so, Jing Yue was not defeated. He turned around and entered the underground arena, training hard every day, waiting for the day he could return to the military academy…

Reading to this point, Xin Rong finally understood.

No wonder this person could survive so many fatal injuries until now.

It turned out he was relying entirely on an SSS-rank constitution.

He craned his neck, leaning closer to the sleeping Jing Yue on the bed. His gaze wandered over the man’s neck, his small nose twitching slightly every now and then, like a curious little animal sniffing around.

“There really is no gland…”

Even for a Beta, there would be a slight protrusion at the back of the neck, but Jing Yue’s neck was smooth and flat.

Not to mention that Xin Rong was extremely sensitive to pheromones, yet even being this close to the other party, he didn’t feel the slightest bit of discomfort.

050 drifted over leisurely, echoing with sentiment: “Yeah, gland-related disabilities are considered first-class handicaps in this world. You get discriminated against everywhere you go. Aside from gray areas like the underground arena, it’s hard to even find a proper job.”

Xin Rong was dismissive: “What’s so good about glands? Pheromones smell terrible.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” 050 circled in the air. “In the world of ABO, pheromones are the stepping stone to love!”

Love?

Xin Rong curled his lip: “Boring.”

050 reminded him dutifully: “Host, you can’t think it’s boring. Don’t forget, you became a blackened, vicious cannon fodder precisely because your love for the real young master was unrequited and your confession failed.”

Xin Rong: “…”

…Oh right.

Thinking of this, he subconsciously reached into his pocket. His fingertips touched a cold little box.

He pulled it out, the packaging was quite exquisite, shaped like a heart.

It seemed this was the confession gift the original owner never got to give.

Driven by curiosity, he opened the lid.

Inside was a necklace, the pendant set with a Star Brilliance stone.

That was an extremely rare mineral—pitch black all over, yet able to reflect thousands of changing colors under different light and angles.

Below the gemstone, the date of extraction was engraved—3084.04.23.

It was exactly Shi Xingyao’s birthday.

Not to mention, Star Brilliance stone (Xingyao-shi), Shi Xingyao… it was full of clever sentiment.

Clearly, the person confessing had put a lot of thought into preparing this gift.

And look what happened: not only was the confession unsuccessful, but the person wasn’t even willing to accept the gift.

Xin Rong clicked his tongue and put the necklace back in the box, secretly feeling relieved.

Fortunately, this part of the plot happened before he traveled here; otherwise, he’d really have to hold his nose and act it out.

He stretched and casually tossed the box aside.

“Then what about him?” His gaze drifted to the man on the bed, his tone laced with a bit of indifferent curiosity. “He’s the protagonist of this world; isn’t he supposed to have a lot of… love?”

050 thought for a moment and said slowly: “Hmm… our guy here is a total career-minded protagonist. Although he eventually marries the Imperial Princess and becomes an envied royal son-in-law, that feels more like an ornament to his successful life. As for love… I reckon there really isn’t much to speak of.”

“That just proves love isn’t such a big deal,” Xin Rong curled his lip, analyzing seriously. “Otherwise, why wouldn’t the protagonist care for it?”

“You—”

050 felt this was all twisted logic, yet it couldn’t find the words to argue back. It could only flap its wings twice in powerless fury. “…Forget it, you wouldn’t understand.”

Xin Rong asked back half-jokingly: “You understand?”

“I of course…” 050 was about to brag, but its voice weakened. “…Alright, I don’t understand either.”

“After all, you’re just a little coal ball.”

“I told you I’m not a coal ball!!”

The person and the ball bickered back and forth for a long time before slowly quieting down.

Xin Rong sat on the floor leaning against the bedside, while 050 circled above his head.

With the first mission over, there was finally a moment to breathe.

The room was silent for a while.

Suddenly, Xin Rong spoke, his voice very faint: “Compared to love, hate is much more useful.”

050 froze, seeing a playful smile hanging on its host’s lips, yet the emotions in his eyes were obscure and complex.

It couldn’t help itself and asked curiously in a low voice: “Host, can I ask you something?”

Xin Rong tilted his head to look at it and nodded slightly.

“Why… don’t you doubt me?”

Xin Rong was taken aback.

050 continued: “Like when we first met. Usually, when people hear they’ve signed some ghost contract with a Goddess of Revenge, their first reaction is that they’ve met a scammer. But you—you didn’t even blink, you just went straight to work.”

Xin Rong didn’t answer, just stared ahead.

Once the usual curve of his mouth vanished, his face was unexpectedly filled with a few hints of cold sorrow.

After a long time, he spoke softly: “Because I saw that name.”

050 blinked: “You mean… Fuso?”

Xin Rong lowered his head, his long lashes drooping. His gaze fell on the intricate patterns of the carpet, staring for a long time before he spoke quietly.

“Because even though I don’t remember anything, when I saw that name—even though I don’t know who he is or what he did to me—my heart hurt so much. It hurt so much I felt like I was going to die.”

050 stared at him blankly, speechless for a moment.

At that point, Xin Rong suddenly grinned.

It was bright and innocent, as if he had returned to his usual self.

“I think that’s what it feels like to hate someone.”

He lifted his head, a flash of decisiveness crossing his eyes.

“So, I will definitely complete the missions well.”

Then, his voice dropped, as if whispering to himself.

“I must… kill him with my own hands.”