The Cannon Fodder 'Seme' is the Center of Attention Again (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 5

Gu Shiyu was somewhat suspicious: “What do you mean by green again? You waited through two green lights?”

“Ah, I did not notice the first one.”

Qi Ziyan rubbed his nose, pulled a tissue from the box nearby to wipe the steering wheel, and lowered the air conditioning by two degrees, only to adjust it back three seconds later.

“Oh, do not worry, okay? I will not run away at the last minute! I was just spacing out from boredom earlier; it is not as serious as you think. I will be waiting at Weird before that idiot scum Alpha even starts his shift. The moment he walks in, I will drag him straight into a private booth. I definitely won’t let your plan sit overnight, all right!”

“Alright, I am driving now, so I will stop talking.”

With that, Qi Ziyan quickly hung up the phone. He started the car, preparing to drive away from the intersection. Just before leaving, as if possessed, Qi Ziyan glanced back toward the convenience store once more.

Gone.

Behind the glass window constantly washed by heavy rain, there was only a light yellow wooden table and a snack shelf about a meter away. The orange light fell on each beautifully packaged snack, reflecting arcs of colored light, surreal like a scene from a dream.

The boy who was originally sitting by the window had already vanished along with that drop of rain on the glass, the one that had left such a deep impression on Qi Ziyan. Like a phantom bubble in a dream, he had disappeared completely under the wash of the downpour.

So, was it just a hallucination?

Qi Ziyan pursed his lips, his chestnut hair falling over his eyes. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and finally, amidst the frustrated honking of the cars behind that dared not actually hit him, he mercifully started the engine and freed the road from the congestion.

On the other side, Li Qingran, unaware that he was being regarded as a hallucination, had already put his hat and mask back on. He pulled two boxes of white peach-flavored glass candies from the shelf next to the cash register and checked out along with a transparent umbrella.

“Host, actually, this is no longer a game world, so after someone helps you, you do not need to give a specific reward or compensation.”

These people were not players here to do quests, and he was no longer an NPC trapped in a fixed location issuing repetitive tasks and prizes.

Outside the bus window, which was opened slightly, a cool breeze mixed with rain blew onto Li Qingran’s face, leaving it damp. The street was filled with blurred figures, pedestrians and vehicles all rushing toward their destinations. It was no longer a cycle set by a program; it was vivid and real. Li Qingran had become one of them, yet not entirely.

The static sound in his mind continued to chatter, but Li Qingran just watched the window in silence. He let the wind blow for a long time before reaching out to pull the window shut, just before his mask turned into soggy gum again.

It was as if he only regained his ability to react at that moment. He replied to 888:

“I see.”

The bus swayed. Li Qingran sat in the back row, lowered his head to open his box of glass candies, and popped one into his mouth. After feeling the rich peach flavor explode in his oral cavity, he said slowly:

“It is just that I am used to it. Besides, do you not think that if some rules of this world were like a game, things would actually be easier?”

For example, getting a reward for effort, or being able to clock out after completing a task.

“This, ha ha ha.”

The system, responsible for a host who was still stuck in a small world despite completing all plot missions, let out an awkward laugh. When people are awkward, they always try to act busy to avoid the topic. But 888, having no limbs and only one host to manage, could only clumsily and abruptly change the subject.

“The weather today is quite nice, huh!”

Rumble!

Li Qingran raised his eyelids to glance at the rain, which was falling harder outside.

888: “No, according to common sense, it seems this weather cannot be called good, but, but Host, believe me, this kind of rainy day is truly a rare find for a task-taker following a villainous plotline!”

Li Qingran finally showed some interest: “Explain.”

“It is mainly because in a dark and damp environment, people’s emotions are magnified to a certain extent. Especially dark emotions, which are amplified even more. For example, anger or disgust will cause a much stronger reaction under this kind of naturally depressing weather.”

888 displayed its data panel to Li Qingran.

“Look, Host, these are the results calculated by the main system based on data from many mission worlds. The probability of a task-taker completing a mission in rainy weather is as high as seventy percent! Plus, this time it is the plan of the Protagonist Gong and the second male lead. So Host, I have a premonition that we will definitely secure one hundred percent of the Protagonist Shou’s hatred and successfully clock out!”

“Now that I put it that way, do you not think the weather today is actually very good?” 888 concluded, sounding like it was trying to be cute.

“Indeed.”

Li Qingran nodded supportively, matching 888’s excitement to express happiness about the upcoming end of his shift. However, the fact that rainy days amplify various emotions did not seem to apply specifically only to the protagonists.

As the bus wobbled toward its destination, there was a loud clang. Li Qingran’s body pitched forward with the inertia, and the surrounding area was immediately filled with grumbling complaints.

Li Qingran looked out and found that in the hazy curtain of rain, all the vehicles on the entire road had stopped in place, like a dead snake unable to slide forward even half an inch.

Amidst a bus full of complaints, the driver helplessly got off to check the situation. Because they were too far from the intersection, he could not find out the specific reason, only that the entire road was now blockaded. Every vehicle passing the intersection had to go through a strict and careful screening process, which was the main reason for the gridlock.

Looking at their position on the road, it might take two hours before it was their turn to be checked and allowed to leave.

“This will not do! I am in a hurry to go home and cook!”

“Exactly! Making us wait here for nothing without saying a word, rainy days are annoying enough as it is!”

“No, who is so crazy to check cars in such heavy rain? Are the buses not theirs anyway? Do they have to check this too?”

After the driver shared the news he had gathered, the bus was filled with resentment. Later, for some reason, the passengers began to argue with each other, and the cursing continued, spreading from two people to a whole group.

Eventually, the driver could not take it anymore. He got off again to ask the drivers ahead and came back to tell everyone that the only way to get home sooner was to get off now and walk back. According to the drivers ahead, the group blockading the road was not strict with pedestrians; they would let people pass after a brief check. But vehicles were a different story; they had to wait for a thorough inspection.

Passengers whose destinations were close or who could not wait any longer naturally chose to get off. Li Qingran was among them. While queuing to get off, he heard someone behind him joking:

“Maybe a young master from some wealthy family ran away, and we poor bypassers are suffering because of it.”

His companion laughed and scolded him, saying he had watched too many movies and thought they were filming!

The noisy sounds finally ceased after Li Qingran opened his umbrella and walked onto the sidewalk. He tightened his jacket and continued forward. The personnel blockading the road were indeed lenient toward pedestrians as the driver had said. They only scanned his face with a device and waved him through after receiving a negative prompt.

While putting on his mask, Li Qingran glanced at the device in the man’s hand. There seemed to be a portrait in the bottom-left corner of the screen. It really was like what the person on the bus said: blockading an entire street and wasting the time of thousands just to find a certain protagonist.

Could it be that Su Jingyi ran away?

Li Qingran asked 888, but the latter was not quite sure either. Because a previous task-taker from the Time and Space Administration did not do their job properly and tried to use their knowledge of the plot to snatch all the protagonist’s opportunities, attempting to replace them as the new protagonist. This resulted in the collapse and destruction of that mission world, and even caused several surrounding derivative worlds to fall into a suspended state that still cannot be restarted.

This incident caused massive losses to the Time and Space Administration, so in subsequent missions, the auxiliary systems were only allowed to possess plot information related to the task-taker. As for other content, including the plot development after the task-taker leaves, both the task-taker and the system could only know a general outline.

“But it probably won’t be the Protagonist Shou, right? The Protagonist Gong is supposed to take him to catch someone cheating.”

“True.”

Li Qingran felt 888’s reasoning made some sense, so he stopped wasting time and continued toward the bar. The distance was quite far, but as everyone knows, when one road is blocked, other connected sections are also affected. Li Qingran, unable to find a car, was forced to choose his own two feet.

To avoid being late and missing the clock-out plot, Li Qingran chose a shortcut: a dark, deep alleyway. It looked unsafe, but it would save him nearly twenty minutes.

Raindrops beat densely against the protruding bluestones on the road and washed the ivy clinging to the walls down to the ground. Li Qingran walked very fast. The lights, the crowds, and the blockaded road were all left behind him. He just wanted to get to the bar quickly.

And then clock out quickly.

However, just as he walked past a pile of furniture that someone had carelessly discarded, a hand suddenly reached out from within and grabbed the back of his jacket with speed and ferocity.

Before Li Qingran could even react, he was pulled into a pile of damp, rotting wood. His ribs slammed against a protruding table corner, and pain instantly spread throughout his body. A low, raspy voice, carrying the scent of gunpowder smoke after a fire, reached Li Qingran’s ears:

“Help me!”

The rain had already soaked the speaker to the bone, yet his fingertips were still scalding. Beneath his slightly parted lips, sharp canines were faintly visible.

The scent of gunpowder smoke grew stronger, and the arm around his waist tightened.

“I beg of you, help me,” he said, before Li Qingran could react and push him away.

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