IDMLA 01

The spring breeze is gentle and warm, and the sunlight is soft and mild.

On the school playground, layers of students watched the scene in a circle. They were looking at the boy and girl in the center, talking in a loud voice.

“Hey, isn’t that Jiang Zhu and his girlfriend? Why are they pulling and tugging at each other like that? Are they arguing?”

“It looks like it, and it seems like Jiang Zhu is the one coaxing her.”

“No way, wasn’t his girlfriend the one always clinging to him? Isn’t she afraid of making Jiang Zhu angry and breaking up with her?”

“You probably don’t know yet; let me tell you, Jiang Zhu was kicked out of the Jiang family, and he is no longer a member of the Jiang family! I guess this woman just looks down on him now that he’s been kicked out, so she’s causing a scene to break up with him!”

***

Jiang Zhu heard the voices around him, but he didn’t believe them. He couldn’t believe that his kind, gentle, lovely, and innocent girlfriend could be such a greedy and vain person[1]!

Jiang Zhu spoke in a gentle voice and reached out to hold Tang Tang’s hand like always: “Let’s stop making trouble, okay? When I get my salary today, I will buy you your favourite cake.”

Tang Tang twirled the parasol lightly with her fingertips, with a mocking smile on her delicate and fair face. She slapped away Jiang Zhu’s outstretched hand and said coldly, “Take your dirty hands away.”

Jiang Zhu was visibly stunned, his expression turning a bit stiff.

He called softly, “Tang Tang.”

His tone was filled with disbelief and carried a sense of sorrow and melancholy. It seemed as if all his vulnerabilities were laid bare in that instant, fully exposed by her single sentence, leaving nothing hidden.

But that wasn’t enough. Tang Tang continued, cruelly reciting lines that belonged solely to a cannon fodder.

“Jiang Zhu, it’s impossible between us. I’m warning you, don’t bother me anymore.”

Tang Tang played her role very well, even adding a touch of drama herself. She lifted her hand flirtatiously, tilting the beautiful curve of the man’s chin upwards and gently stroking it with her fingers.

“Do you think you are still the young master of the Jiang family? Stop dreaming. You are nothing but a waste now. You said you would buy me my favourite cake. Do you really think you can afford it with just a day’s wages from your part-time job?”

“And I forgot to mention that I prefer exquisite and luxurious cosmetics and bags to cakes. I think you should just wash the dishes and stop dreaming about being with me.”

Jiang Zhu’s eyes visibly dimmed. He clenched his fists tightly at his sides, yet the touch on his chin still felt so warm and nostalgic.

He made one last desperate effort.

“Do you mean what you said?”

Tang Tang moved her hand from his chin and patted his handsome face.

“Do you think there’s anything about you worth lying for anymore?”

Was everything that happened before a lie?

Jiang Zhu only felt that the tight string in his heart was completely broken. He took a deep breath, then raised his hand and firmly grasped the wrist of the hand that was touching his face. His eyes seemed to be quenched with poison, one look is enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine, chilling them to the bone.

Jiang Zhu gritted his teeth, veins popping out on his fair forehead.

“I’ll ask one last time, is all of this truly how you feel?”

Tang Tang was frightened by him and hesitated for a moment.

But soon, years of training in reciting lines allowed her to quickly handle this out-of-script situation.

She showed a disgusted expression and tried to pull her hand out of the other person’s hand: “Of course, I’m telling you the truth, let go of me right now, do you hear me!”

Jiang Zhu looked at her deeply. After three years of relationship, it seemed as if he suddenly didn’t recognize her.

The hidden gloom in those eyes made Tang Tang ignore the discomfort in her heart. She secretly sighed and thought that the role of the male protagonist was not something that anyone could become.

This plot is simply too cruel!

After the male protagonist was kicked out of the family, he worked multiple jobs a day just to make money to please her. As a result, she not only broke up with him but also humiliated him.

She was now worried that Jiang Zhu would chop her to pieces!

Fortunately, Jiang Zhu still had some sense. After a minute, he looked away and let go of her hand.

“Remember what you said today.” He said coldly.

Tang Tang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but a layer of sweat broke out on her back due to fright. She knew that this was her last scene with the male protagonist. After this scene, she could finally make an arrangement for a time machine to go back home.

She looked at Jiang Zhu’s back, gave a final mocking expression, and coldly let out a “ha.”

She successfully saw his sudden, halted steps, then continued forward, leaving without looking back.

People around them pointed at the two of them and then quickly dispersed.

While Tang Tang completely relaxed, she also felt a bit of a sting in her nose.

Maybe it was because she felt too much sympathy for the male lead.

There are only a few sentences of introduction in the novel, but she didn’t expect the real scene to be so heartbreaking.

Tang Tang wiped the tears that were about to fall under her eyelids and contacted the system in her mind that brought her to this novel world.

Tang Tang: System, I’ve finished all the scenes with the male lead. Can I book the time machine to go back now?

***

That’s right, she is not from this world.

She was originally just a novel reader. One night, she found this apocalyptic novel and was about to quietly stop reading after discovering that the male protagonist’s ill-fated first love, a cannon fodder named Bai Yueguang, had the same name as her.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, a flash of white light appeared before her eyes, and she immediately lost consciousness. When she woke up again, everything around her was no longer a familiar place.

At the same time, a slightly cold mechanical voice suddenly appeared in her mind, which was the system, telling her that she was the chosen one and was selected to participate in a rare reader experience event. As long as she completed all the storylines of her character, she could return to her original world!

Tang Tang was very reluctant at first. When she saw someone with the same name as her in the novel, she was already planning to stop reading it, but she didn’t expect to be brought here.

This is not a voluntary act at all!

But there was no way around it. The system also said that if she didn’t follow the script, she would never go back.

That…

So she had no choice but to agree.

***

So that was the situation just now.

The original plot mainly tells the story of a Mary Sue, an innocent and kind-hearted heroine with healing powers who, after the end of the world, overcomes numerous difficulties, wins over various handsome men, and finally reaches the peak of her life.

It would have been quite exciting if she hadn’t ended up being a cannon fodder being eaten by zombies.

Tang Tang now only has one scene left, which is to wait for the apocalypse, then be surrounded by zombies and meet her end.

She is not in a hurry. Anyway, she has finished the most difficult scene with the male protagonist. What else does she have to fear?

The system is now online.

[Okay, host, let this system find various information related to you. ]

Several minutes passed, but Tang Tang still hadn’t heard anything.

“What’s going on? Haven’t you found anything yet?”

Didn’t it used to take only three seconds to get all the information? Could it be that the system went ahead and booked her a return flight?

Tang Tang was still speculating when the system finally responded.

[That, the host, that is …]

The system stammered, unable to say a complete sentence for a long time.

But somehow, listening to its voice, Tang Tang suddenly had a bad feeling. Her heart skipped a beat: “Which one are you talking about? Be more specific.”

[Report to the host! I suddenly received news that your body in the original world is gone.]

Gone, gone …

Suddenly, Tang Tang’s legs went weak, and she nearly stumbled.

She exclaimed in shock, “What do you mean it’s gone? Explain it clearly!”

[It means that the main system of your original world thought you were no longer there, so it conveniently recycled your body. ]

Tang Tang leaned against the wall, shaking with anger. “You, you, you, didn’t you contact the main system? You said at the beginning that it would not affect the situation in my original world! Do you have any credibility left?”

[Sorry, host.]

Although the system apologized sincerely, Tang Tang still would not forgive it.

She was on the verge of breaking down. “So what am I supposed to do now?”

[Now, the host can only stay in this world.]

Tang Tang: …

No, I don’t want to! Wuuu—

Tang Tang slid down the wall and sat in the corner, shutting herself off.

Perhaps because she was too pitiful, or perhaps the system wanted to make up for its mistake, it quickly tried to find a way to comfort her.

[This matter has indeed wronged the host. To make it up to you, the system can offer you one help in the upcoming apocalypse.]

Tang Tang couldn’t believe it: “You’ve messed up this badly, and you only offer me one help?”

[…]

[You can add more.]

Tang Tang sighed softly, “If you hadn’t suddenly pulled me into this, my body in the original world wouldn’t have been destroyed. Maybe I could have lived a long prosperous life. Now I’m forced to come to this apocalypse, with a dangerous future where I could die any day. Can your few offers of help make up for my loss?”

[…Then what do you want, host?]

“Create a new body for me in my original world. I want to go back.”

[This is not possible, dear. ]

“Then let the main system spit out my body.”

[This won’t work either. ]

“…Then what use are you?! !”

[This system just said that it can help you. You should know that you are now a cannon fodder, and you have just completely offended the male protagonist. Now as long as the end of the world comes, you will soon be buried in the zombie tide and end this short life.]

Tang Tang’s expression darkened. “Are you threatening me?”

[In a way, yes. I hope you will seriously consider it.]

Tang Tang is about to burst into anger.

This damn system, where the hell can I report it!

[There are still twenty-four hours until the apocalypse arrives. I hope you will consider your well-being.]

Tang Tang was utterly exasperated.

“I’ve been looking out for myself all this time. Do you think I’ve been doing it for you, damn it!”

But just as the system had said, there was no time to waste. The apocalypse would arrive tomorrow, and as for the script she held, well…

System, you better damn well remember this!

***

[1]贪慕虚荣(Tān mù xūróng) a phrase that translates to “greedy for vanity” or “seeking superficial glory.” T/N: the meaning is understandable enough. I just put it out since it’s going to come up a few times.

***

Hi, Everyone!

NightOwll is here.

This novel, I have read in the early days and it has been years since I last read it(naturally I read some of the chapters through MTL and persisted but couldn’t finish) but it’s still one of my favourite novels.

This is my first time doing translations, though I’m just using MTL’s. So there will be inaccuracies, grammatical errors and a splash of my daily dose of insanity. Read at your own discretion.

I’m not picking up this novel since KOTranslation is already translating this. I’m just here to fill in the gap. Because access to the early site of chapter one is gone so here it is.

It might not be the best translation but oh well.

Special thanks to my Sis! Who let me use this site to share this.