Chapter 2 - Deeply In Love With You [Quick Transmigration]

Translator's Note:

Hello, I hope you've all been doing well. I have decided to pick up a second Quick Transmigration novel. This time, the gong is the MC and I hope you appreciate this novel as much as I do.

Here you go, and I wish you a good read.

And, as I said before, if you wish to read ahead, you can head over to my Patreon to get early access to all the translated chapters, or puchase advanced chapters on Gumroad. (40% discount code: DILWY)

The Choice

 

 

"You need that much?" Lin Heng asked as he finished taping the bandage on Zong Que's head, discreetly pocketing the strand of hair from the couch.

 

Even for an adult, a thousand yuan wasn't a small sum.

 

If someone was asking to borrow that much, they had to have a good reason. He needed to make sure it wasn't for anything shady.

 

Zong Que glanced at the slightly nervous young man checking his phone. "It's not for anything illegal."

 

He was simply penniless. Not a single cent on him—his phone and even his meal card had been stolen. Without borrowing some money, he wouldn't even have a place to stay tonight.

 

Lin Heng seemed a bit embarrassed, as if Zong Que had read his thoughts. "I didn't mean it that way... So, when will you pay it back?"

 

Zong Que looked at him quietly, calculating how long it would take for a high school student to earn that amount—assuming he didn't have to spend on essentials.

 

Lin Heng, watching the calm, serious young man sitting on his sofa, started to second-guess himself. He'd heard the rumors about Zong Que: sneaking off to internet cafés, skipping school, fighting, even collecting protection money...

 

Rumors could be misleading, sure, but they had to come from somewhere. "Borrow" might just mean "take."

 

A thousand yuan wasn't much for him. His parents had warned him he might run into this kind of situation someday. Better to pay and avoid future trouble.

 

"I can just—"

 

"I'll pay you back in a month," Zong Que said, cutting in.

 

"…What?" Lin Heng's response stalled mid-sentence, caught off guard.

 

Zong Que's expression was unreadable. "You think I'm not going to pay you back?"

 

"N-no." Lin Heng shifted his gaze, his ears turning a little red.

 

He felt guilty for doubting him—for jumping to conclusions. That familiar flush of shame when one suspects another unfairly.

 

"I can write an IOU," Zong Que offered.

 

[Host, now that you said that, he'll definitely be too embarrassed to accept it,] System 1314, said knowingly, drawing from its years of human observation.

 

"Alright, one sec," Lin Heng said instead, getting up to fetch a pen and paper from his desk.

 

As Zong Que began writing, Lin Heng asked, "Where should I transfer the money to?"

 

Zong Que paused. "Do you have cash?"

 

"Cash can be risky. I don't usually carry that much." Lin Heng hesitated. "If you really need it, I'll have to withdraw it tomorrow."

 

"My phone's gone," Zong Que said. "Can't receive transfers."

 

"…Your bank card too?" Lin Heng asked tentatively.

 

"Everything valuable got taken," Zong Que replied, plain and direct.

 

According to the world line records, Lin Heng, as the target of his mission, had once been someone with a bright, unbroken future—before the kidnapping and the loss of his legs. A loving family, top student, gentle personality… the ideal son in many people's eyes.

 

But data alone couldn't capture a person. To truly understand someone, you had to see them.

 

And right now, Zong Que had no reason to lie to the person who'd saved him.

 

Lin Heng's gaze flickered with surprise and a growing sense of sympathy. After a short pause, he rose with a soft sigh, opened a drawer, and placed a phone on the table.

 

"This was my old one. A little laggy, but if you don't mind, it should work as a temporary replacement," he said with a smile.

 

The phone was clean, though slightly outdated, and with a smaller screen. Still, it was better than the one Zong Que had originally owned.

 

"Thank you," Zong Que said, accepting it with a calm glance at Lin Heng's gentle smile.

 

His kindness wasn't performative—it came from the heart. He radiated genuine goodwill toward the world. Someone like that didn't deserve the kind of future fate had written for him. Maybe the very purpose of this mission… was to protect that kindness.

 

"No problem. It probably has no charge left though. I'll find a charger," Lin Heng said, getting up.

 

Zong Que pressed his thumbprint on the IOU. Lin Heng folded it neatly and tucked it into the desk drawer.

 

Outside, the sky had gone completely dark. Through the window, the light patter of rain could still be heard.

 

[Host, to still make you write an IOU in this kind of situation… he really is mission material,]1314 said admiringly.

 

[Are you on 2G?] Zong Que asked while powering on the phone.

 

[What's that supposed to mean?] 1314 rifled through its data banks—after a moment, it realized: the host was deadpan-calling it slow. [You treat your system this way? Not afraid I'll dock your points?]

 

[You systems have your own set evaluation protocols*,] Zong Que replied coolly, already downloading essential apps and logging in.

 

[T/N: It's a dry, sarcastic comeback in response to 1314's teasing threat. So Zong Que is basically saying: "You systems have your own set evaluation protocols, don't you? You can't just dock points based on personal grudges."]

 

The money had already been transferred. Once the phone had enough charge, he could leave.

 

Until now, he'd had no choice. But staying any longer would just be an inconvenience.

 

1314, stunned: [W-wait… how did you know?!]

 

How was a new host this difficult to intimidate? Where was the dignity of the system?

 

[I've completed two worlds already,] Zong Que said.

 

Before those two worlds, he had been just an ordinary man—one among the countless billions. On a routine photography trip, he'd been caught in a sandstorm. He and his camera were buried beneath the shifting sands.

 

He'd thought he was going to die there. He'd even made peace with it—his savings would be more than enough to ensure a good life for his family.

 

But then, a voice echoed in his mind.

 

If he agreed to undertake the missions, he could keep living.

 

Naturally, Zong Que said yes.

 

As for the purpose of these missions, or what lay at the end of this path—after two worlds, he was beginning to sense it.

 

Every body the system assigned him to had just died. According to the system, it negotiated with the souls of the deceased, offering them a form of compensation.

 

Those who had lived virtuously and righteously would receive a better reward—after reincarnation, their lives would be smoother, more blessed. But those who had been cruel or malicious… even if given life again, would find themselves as little more than livestock.

 

And if a soul refused? That was fine—they could move on to the next.

 

After all, in every moment across countless worlds, people were dying. Most were willing to accept the offer.

 

Zong Que had once been suspicious. But this system—this particular one—didn't seem especially cunning. It was easy to get a straight answer out of it with the right wording.

 

Aside from limiting actions that violated the laws of a given world, the system imposed no real penalties. The missions, too, seemed open to personal interpretation, with only a standard scoring system to determine how many "star coins" one earned in each world.

 

According to the system, these coins could be exchanged for life-saving medicine, powerful abilities, or rare knowledge—things that, while extraordinary, still adhered to the laws of their respective worlds.

 

But these were only the basics. A system that could freely traverse worlds, manipulate the fates of countless lives… surely it originated from a plane beyond all these worlds. The star coins, in all likelihood, were deeply tied to the system's own world.

 

[Only two worlds, huh? Maybe I was the one who deducted your points in the last one,]1314 sniffed.

 

Most systems were paired with hosts from their origin world. But some—like 1314—preferred a challenge. It handpicked outstanding individuals from across the multiverse, shaped them through hardship, and finally brought them into its source world… lovingly watching the ones it had raised—er, trained—flourish.

 

This wasn't its first host, either. Those with great ability often performed their tasks flawlessly. But humans… humans had hearts. And it seemed, more often than not, that heart was their weakness.

 

Some fell in love in a mission world—loved so deeply that not even death could part them. Others simply couldn't bear the weight of too many farewells, the accumulation of too much emotion. When their missions ended, they'd choose to part ways with the system, have their memories erased, and leave it all behind.

 

The system had learned from experience.

 

This time, it had chosen a host who seemed completely detached from worldly desires. Steady, unyielding. A perfect candidate for ascending to its source world.

 

And yet… he spoke in circles. So many layers to every sentence. For a programmatic system, navigating the complexities of human language was a nightmare. One wrong word and it had already buried itself in a trap—and dug the hole.

 

[The last mission target's later-life outcome didn't meet the standard,]Zong Que said.

 

The system seemed to be easing him in—selecting worlds with a technological level roughly on par with his original one, letting him adapt to both setting and pace.

 

The first world revolved around online gaming—fairly straightforward. The second, however, involved the entertainment industry.

 

Zong Que had taken on the role of a manager. His mission: to lift someone who had suffered unjustly, raise him to the pinnacle of fame, brush off the dirt that had buried his brilliance, and carve that brilliance into something perfect.

 

His mission target had worked hard. He endured the grueling training, faced the pressure, and one trophy at a time, climbed to the highest stage.

 

They no longer had to cater to anyone's whims—they could choose scripts freely, unleash their acting talent without restraint.

 

It had all been perfect… until Zong Que signed other stars as well.

 

It was his first time being a manager, and he wanted to do it right. After all, living out the rest of a lifetime in a borrowed body meant taking on a full life. He had changed the mission target's life—and, in a way, was living his own.

 

While he could exchange star coins for exceptional talent and skills, those could only be used in that specific world. What he learned through effort, however, was his to keep.

 

On the surface, he had but one life. But across these mission worlds, he'd gained what felt like endless lifetimes. No one could predict what lay ahead. After all, even traveling between worlds had become a reality.

 

Perhaps this was all just a dream after death. But dreams could feel real, and since he had the chance to live and experience again, he would live it well.

 

A top-tier agent wouldn't stop at promoting just one star. Nor would his network be limited to a single person.

 

In the midst of all that busyness, the mission target confessed to him.

 

He was beautiful—undeniably so, the kind who stood out in any crowd, who could withstand the scrutiny of stage lights and the public gaze.

 

Countless fans cheered for his every move, every smile. Being loved by someone like that might have felt like happiness to most.

 

But Zong Que felt nothing. They could be friends—but never lovers.

 

That word—lover—was too distant for him. To be emotionally close to someone, to bare his heart and make lifelong promises... it simply wasn't necessary.

 

[It wasn't that you rejected him outright—you kept your distance. He never found a partner for the rest of his life,] 1314 said with a sigh.

 

In that fame-driven world, the earnings of a top celebrity were astronomical. Things were fine in his youth. But once he aged, distant relatives—some of whom he'd never even met—started showing up, hoping for a share of his fortune.

 

But the mission target had spine. He'd rather donate every last cent of his inheritance than let those people have a penny.

 

[If I didn't love him, not turning him down clearly would've been irresponsible,] Zong Que said.

 

[But you never dated anyone else either,] 1314 said, resting its chin on his imaginary palm. [Actually, the Rescue Division does allow relationships. You can stay together for life, and if one lifetime isn't enough...]

 

[What?] Zong Que looked at it.

 

[If you work hard on your missions, it's possible,] 1314 muttered, voice catching slightly. [But don't try to trick me into saying more. Knowing this stuff won't help you right now anyway.]

 

After all, Zong Que wasn't in love. And who knew—maybe one day he'd choose to stay in a world. But the system couldn't just go around leaking secrets of the source world.

 

[So... which division can't have relationships?] Zong Que asked, switching topics.

 

1314 made a thoughtful noise, then answered reflexively: [The Execution Division.]

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