…

Surrounded by a pitch-black, infinite expanse of stars, aside from the countless stars filling the sky, there was nothing else. It was cold and desolate, causing a sense of loneliness to well up from the depths of one’s heart.

Gu Bai’s soul had been wandering in mid-air for a long time now. Although he didn’t know what had happened, he knew for certain that he was already dead.

The feeling in his surroundings was too realistic, and his body had turned transparent. He couldn’t deceive himself into thinking it was just a dream. Moreover, given his usual luck, he couldn’t believe he would’ve survived an airplane explosion accident.

“Do you want to live?”

Suddenly, a cold and emotionless voice, devoid of any human sentiment, rang out in the starry sky.

Gu Bai paused, unable to react. He didn’t know what the situation was right now. This place didn’t seem like heaven, nor did it seem like hell. What kind of place was this?

With full of doubts, Gu Bai couldn’t help but look around to find the source of the voice and asked, “Who are you?”

The voice paused for a moment before saying, “Who I am is not important. What’s important is that you’re about to disappear. I can give you the opportunity to keep living…”

“What do you mean by ‘disappear’?” Gu Bai quickly caught on.

“You’re already dead. You’re just a weak soul right now. If you disappear, you won’t even have the opportunity to be reincarnated. In other words, you’ll cease to exist…”

The voice was patient as ever.

Accompanying the voice, Gu Bai could indeed feel his body becoming increasingly transparent and his soul growing weaker. It felt as if he would dissipate at any moment. This feeling of permanently ceasing to exist was not pleasant, and he didn’t want to die.

Regardless of how cruel reality could be, since the first day he understood things at the orphanage, he had only one thought in his mind.

To live, and to live better. That was his dream.

However, he didn’t believe in free pies falling from the sky. Thus, he hesitated while continuing to observe the pitch-black surroundings that didn’t actually have anything. He asked, “…I want to live, but what are your conditions?”

“My condition is for you to become my subordinate and enter a world of my choosing to complete missions…” the voice replied coldly.

“What kind of missions do I need to complete?” Gu Bai continued to inquire.

The voice didn’t answer immediately. After a brief silence, the pitch-black space around him changed. Brightly glowing books started appearing and flying in mid-air.

“Just like the books you see now, even though they are stories, they’re actually small worlds with real souls of protagonists and supporting characters that exist from the moment the books were born…”

“I need you to enter these worlds and fulfill the wishes of these souls, which are also my requests. If you complete the missions, you will continue living and enjoy life in those worlds. However, if you fail, you will forever disappear, unable to even exist in your current soul state.”

“In other words, even if I’m alive, I’ll be using someone else’s shell?” Gu Bai pondered. Was he even considered Gu Bai anymore? Did his name still hold any meaning?

Sensing his hesitation, the cold voice fell silent for a moment before speaking again. “Yes. However, if you complete the missions well, I might give you a chance to be reborn. You can continue living in the soul state, or disappear immediately. You have half an hour to decide…”

“I choose to do the missions,” Gu Bai promptly said. Although he was no longer considered human and his current physical body was someone else’s vessel, at least it was better than permanently disappearing.

He didn’t want to die. Human nature was greedy for survival. At least for now, he didn’t want to die, especially since the mysterious voice mentioned a chance of being reborn if he performed well.

“Target has agreed. Contract signed. Name: Gu Bai. Gender: Male. Age: 23…”

As the voice finished speaking, the surrounding space seemed to twist, and something entered his body, transforming his transparent soul into a solid form—a comfortable feeling.

With the sensation of being alive again and a glimmer of hope, Gu Bai felt satisfied as he touched his solidified soul form, revealing a genuine smile on his handsome face.

It was his natural disposition. Although the nature of “pure” didn’t have anything to do with someone like him who had come from an orphanage, he was born with a face that looked pure.

Perhaps that was one of the reasons why the mysterious voice chose him for the mission. A pure-hearted person should be a loyal subordinate who worked hard, right?

Even though his character wasn’t pure-hearted or honest, he knew the importance of seizing the moment.

Thus, he quickly accepted his current situation and respectfully called out towards the empty air, “Master, I’m ready. I can start the mission now…”

“Good. Enter the world immediately. Remember, if you die before completing the mission, you’ll disappear forever…”

The mysterious voice remained as cold and emotionless as before. Accompanied by a dizzying sensation, Gu Bai lost consciousness and his body became a ray of white light that entered the world.

****************

“Luo Rongqing, enjoy yourself here…”

As soon as Gu Bai regained his consciousness, he heard a woman’s voice reveling in schadenfreude. Then, there were the sounds of high-heeled shoes walking away.

Before he could react, he felt waves of discomfort and heat coming from his body, along with an inexplicable desire.

Reacting instinctively with a groan, he involuntarily curled up, tightly clenching his legs together, and bit down hard on his lip before finally opening his eyes.

This was a private karaoke room, with only the screen playing music providing some light. The rest of the room was dimly lit, and the snacks, fruits, and drinks on the table were scattered all over the floor, creating a mess.

Gu Bai didn’t know what the current situation was, but he instinctively felt that something was amiss.

He clearly remembered that the mysterious voice had said if he were to die before completing the mission, he would disappear forever. Thus, the most important thing right now was to understand his mission.

Feeling the discomfort and the heat within him, he crawled towards the edge of the table and finished the iced water in a cup, then locked the door to the room to prevent any unforeseen accidents before closing his eyes to receive the plot…