Chapter Text
This System apologizes for the inconvenience. Due to a glitch in the soul transference mechanics, the soul-teleportation array failed to place your soul in your chosen alternate body for Character: Shen Qingqiu, and the body has since withered. Due to this, you have been declared officially dead in that world, and your soul recovered from it.
The strangely familiar voice droned into the void. Shen Yuan would probably have been palpably upset if he were in the place and state of mind to have those kinds of emotions. Unfortunately, he was dead and stuck in the limbo space between worlds. He was aware of what was going on, but that was all his soul was capable of.
Fortunately for you, you have done exceptionally well under the circumstances and will be given a second chance. As a reward, this second chance will be set in a reset world, and you can pull a new character from the most favorable options.
This was, at least in part, due to the worsening conditions in the previous world. There was no easy way to reinsert the soul. If he were to maintain the designation of Shen Qingqiu and the System retconned his method of returning, it would use up the hard-earned satisfaction the transmigrater had built up. If he were reassigned a character, the combination of Luo Binghe’s intelligence and the transmigrator’s inability to act would lead to complications. Without his chosen soul mate, Luo Binghe would become increasingly unstable. The world would fall to the same fate the System had been seeking to avoid. It was better to cut its losses and place the most successful soul in a new world.
Perhaps between Shang Qinghua’s incompetence, getting the worst possible character role, and the world already being set up to be cruel to the protagonist, Shen Yuan was given an impossible task from the start. That was a mistake the System would not repeat.
This new start pre-cannon was the best way to ensure Luo Binghe would be happy in the end.
***
The first thing Shen Yuan became aware of was feeling unbearably cold. The second was feeling hard ground underneath him. The third was being sore and tired. Once he comprehended all that, he became aware of a girl crying.
“I know, Shier,” a boy tried to soothe. “This is simply how it is. We should pay our respects.”
They were talking about someone who had died. Shen Qingqiu, no, Shen Yuan, opened his eyes and looked to the side. He got the distinct feeling of deja vu. A face that seemed vaguely familiar sat beside him as he looked up, confused and recovering from, apparently, standard transmigration-induced brain fog.
The boy above him startled. It seemed the body Shen Yuan transmigrated into this time had died and been discovered, if only for a moment.
“Shiyi? Shiyi’s awake?”
The boy sounded very confused. It wasn’t clear what had happened to the original Shen Qingqiu when Shen Yuan first transmigrated, but it seemed the system just straight-up killed whoever Shen Yuan needed to become.
“Yes. I’m fine. How long was I asleep?”
The boy gave a strange look.
“Shiyi had not returned last night. Perhaps sometime between then and a moment ago.”
They must have been close for the children to know exactly when he was last seen. How horrible for such young children to lose someone one night, only to find them dead and alone in a cold alley. Looking down, Shen Yuan could see he was also in the body of a child. The other two must be friends or siblings.
“Well, I’ll come home today. I promise.”
Shen Yuan gave them a reassuring smile. This seemed to have the opposite effect. Though the girl was no longer crying, but both children appeared unsettled by Shen Yuan’s reassurance.
“Qi-ge! What the hell are you doing!” a new, younger boy was yelling from the end of the alley.
The older boy smiled, “Don’t worry, Xiao-Jiu. We were looking for Shiyi, and we found him.”
The little boy turned to Shen Yuan. He looked up and down, seemingly unimpressed by what he found. Then he turned back to Qi-ge to yell some more.
“Well, you found him. Now are you gonna doddle around here or come back before they beat you bloody for being late?”
That did not sound like a good home life. Who the hell let such young children wander the street, then beat them up for not meeting an early curfew? And the sky was still mostly light out. What, were their parents psychotic enough to eat this early and required everyone else to do the same?
The older boy agreed with the grumpy one, “We should go. The brokers will come looking for us if we don’t return on time.”
Brokers? There’s no way this world had stock brokers. Even the Great Master Airplane’s ridiculous work wasn’t that anachronistic. Also, all three of them were dressed in rags, and where was this family when the original goods died overnight? Even though there were some terrible rich parents out there, no broker would be raising children in such terrible conditions!
When Shen Yuan followed the children, his confusion was cleared up. This was not a stock brokerage or any other type of broker Shen Yuan would be familiar with. It was a slave brokerage. The four of them were slaves.
Others were already there, lining up in front of three men. Not the ugliest Shen Yuan had seen. Not pretty faces either. Honestly, they were kind of forgettable, ignoring the whole owning and abusing children thing. These men were not exactly wearing rags, but they were clearly not rich either. By the looks of it, they lived in the same building where they kept the children.
As they entered, each child handed over coins. Apparently, not only were they slave children left to run amok unsupervised, but they’re expected to bring back money for the slavers! Most of these kids don’t even look twelve!
System? System, explain what the FUCK is going on!
Welcome back! You are in a reset version of Proud Immortal Demon Way, pre-canon. New Bound Role: Slave Eleven, “Shiyi”. No Starting Weapon. All B-points attached to the previous account have been lost due to complications. As compensation, your account starts with an extra 100 points. Starting B-points: 200.
So you’re telling me I’m starting over! From basically scratch! All those points I farmed, gone?
You have been compensated for the System’s failure.
Not enough! Where the fuck even am I?
You have pulled the character profile of Shiyi as your Bound Role, who lived before the Protagonist’s birth. This was one of several characters and potential characters specially selected to increase your ability to create a satisfying story. Bound Role: Shiyi increases the chances of success threefold!
And how, pray tell, does my being a slave make this story more satisfying?
Character Shiyi is in the correct time and place to prevent or reduce Shen Qingqiu’s blackening into the Scum Villain and thus make Luo Binghe’s childhood more than just wump and thus more relatable to audiences and more satisfying for the protagonist. You will also still be compensated for filling plot holes same as before, which is easier when you can see the backstory for yourself, meaning chances to earn points are increased!
“Oi, Shiyi! ” One of the men yelled when Shen Yuan got to the front. “What the hell, we thought you were dead!”
Another man spoke up, “Bet he was pretending to be sick so we wouldn’t chase him when he escaped. Now he’s crawling back because he’s discovered how good he had it.”
The first man stepped forward, “Is that so?”
No, it probably was not so.
“In that case, did you at least bring back a little money as an apology?”
Shen Yuan dug around his clothes. As much as he didn’t want to give these slimy bastards anything, he got the sense that they would not let it go if he had nothing. Unfortunately, he came up empty.
“Well, if you have no money,” the man continued, “then perhaps you’ll at least apologize for trying to tick us.”
Shen Yuan reluctantly bowed, said as convincingly as he could, “I’m sorry, masters, for my behavior.”
“Oh, really,” the second man replied. “Then say exactly what you did wrong!”
Like hell Shen Yuan was going to say he or the original goods tried to escape. The kid was apparently so sick he died, and no one bothered to drag him back the night before, even though that was supposedly their MO. They probably didn’t even bother trying to heal him or anything. Then the kid died cold and alone in a dark, dingy alley. Shen Yuan was just unlucky enough to inherit this messed-up situation.
And these men wouldn’t accept anything less than humiliation. They probably wanted to make an example of Shiyi, so no one else would get any ideas.
A boot hit Shen Yuan’s side.
“Go on, say it! Admit you lied!”
This time, he stepped on Shen Yuan’s head, pressing it into the stone pavement. This was really getting on his nerves.
Shen Yuan yelled back, “I’m no liar! I really was sick! I apologized and showed you respect anyway! That’s what you wanted, right?”
“Respect? I’ll show you respect!”
The man kicked Shen Yuan onto his back and stomped on his stomach. It hurt like hell, and Shen Yuan probably would have thrown up if this body had eaten anything in the last day. Clearly, it had not.
“Don’t kill him,” the third man finally spoke. Of course, he said it in the laziest way possible. “He’s able to make money now, and I’m sure he’s willing now that he’s learned his lesson.”
“Sure, sure, fine,” the asshole relented.
The man picked Shen Yuan up by the collar and dragged him into the building. The other slaves were already sitting in a dark side room. They were staring at the men expectantly.
“Liu, you get to pass out dinner today.”
The boy, the eldest of the slaves, came forward eagerly. He was handed a basket of sliced bread. Old bread by the smell and look. Before entering the room, he shoved several slices into his scraps of a robe while the others jealously stared on. Only then did he enter the room with the basket. He had not even looked at Shen Yuan, who was still sitting beside the slavers. The men weren’t even paying attention now, already talking amongst themselves.
Starvation. They were punishing him by forcing him to miss a meal. Shen Yuan was going to starve to death at this rate. The children pushed and shoved just to get one slice while the Liu kid defended his handful of bread.
Shen Yuan was only allowed into the room after the rest had finished eating
The room was dark and cold. The rest of the building was heated with several old braziers. This room did not have even a candle to keep warm by. The only light came from a few cracks in the wood, allowing the last vestiges of sunlight in. Blankets and straw were scattered about the floor in makeshift beds.
As the light faded, and it was starting to get too dark to see, Qi-ge got up from where he and Xiao-Jiu had been huddled together. Quietly, the boy handed Shen Yuan half a slice of bread. It wasn’t much, but it was probably more than this body had eaten in days.
“Thank you.”
Qi-ge nodded, then returned to Xiao-Jiu. Something about those names niggled at the back of Shen Yuan’s mind.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Xiao-Jiu hissed at Qi-ge. But Qi-ge did not acknowledge the statement. The rest of the slaves talked quietly amongst themselves, as if this were all normal. As if it were normal to not be able to see one’s hand in front of their face and freeze by night and starve. These things were all new to Shen Yuan. Even as Shen Qingqiu, he had never wanted for light or heat or food or basic dignity, really.
And now, like these children, he’d have to get comfortable knowing he might never see those things again. It infuriated him.