The Path Of A Cannon Fodder 4 Chapter 3- 1.3

Bai AnLing swiped his gaze across the room, searching for the said mirror.

"To my left? Let's see... Oh, here it is."

Approaching the mirror Bai AnLing faced the image of a handsome yet unfamiliar young man. Reaching his hand to touched his face, the figure in the mirror did the same, confirming his suspicions.

"This is me?"

[Yes host, this is you.]

"Not bad...Not bad at all..."

Tracing the lines of the face with his fingers, the skin was white, clear and extremely smooth to the touch, having no blemish or dark spots on it. His hair that was now short, wavy and hazelnut in color was very soft as well, satisfying Bai AnLing very much.

In order to see better Bai AnLing went and opened the greenish window curtains that were stopping the daylight from entering the small room, before returning to look at the mirror. The phoenix sharp black eyes that had an intelligent s.h.i.+ne to them, outlined by long black eyelashes that flattered like b.u.t.terflies; the just-plump-enough lips that had a serious line to them, showing the maturity and toughness of their owner; the slightly pink cheeks that helped softening the entire look so it won't look too aggressive. Everything helped in creating a face that was very beautiful yet still being handsome and without being too feminine or too masculine.

The body of Bai AnLing's host was also in great shape with clearly defined muscles even though his stature was slightly small and lean, though it being lean didn't bother Bai AnLing at all. He actually preferred lean bodies anyway, since they are usually more flexible and are easier to keep in shape. Almost everything in this body satisfied Bai AnLing's standards to the max so far, just that the stature seemed a bit shorter then he used to be in his past life.

"Hey Vine, how tall am I?"

He decided to ask Vine since he didn't have a way of accurately measuring his height, but was still curious about it.

[Around 1.70 meters tall.]

"So I am shorter then I used to be..."

Bai AnLing turned his body to face the room this time, looking around it now that there's light. It was small and resembled more of a storage room then a bedroom, having some boxes just lying around it and some paintings that were leaning against the wall.

"What's going on? Why am I sleeping in a storage room?"

[.....I will give you the world's plot and missions, and then you will understand.]

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Bai AnLing felt that Vine was dodging his question. Figuring he will find out why later anyway, Bai AnLing just shrugged his shoulders and let it go for the time being. Instead, he focused on the answer he did get from Vine, inquiring more about it.

"Missions?"

Bai AnLing could vaguely remember that before transmigrating Vine mentioned something about having to complete missions, but couldn't remember it explaining this to him.

[Yes host, in each world you will have to complete missions-]

Vine began his explanation and Bai AnLing listened carefully, not wanting to miss any important detail he might need to know later.

(AN: when I say 'each world' it doesn't mean I'll write a lot of worlds. Let's just see how the story goes.)

[-For every mission you complete successfully you will receive one point, and for every mission you fail you will lose one point. If you have more failed missions then successful ones in a world, you will automatically be pulled out of that world at the end of all missions. On the other hand, if you succeed in achieving all of the missions or the most of them, you will get the option to choose if you want to stay until you die or leave immediately.-]

Bai AnLing perked his ears, hearing that.

'So if I succeed in most missions and like the world I'm in, I can choose to stay till I die, like a paid vacation from work? That's nice'

He thought to himself. Bai AnLing wouldn't mind some vacation if he can have some.

[-Also, if the number of total points you have after finis.h.i.+ng a world is under 0, your soul will stop reincarnating and disappear.]

'My soul will disappear?...Isn't that too harsh a punishment?'

Bai AnLing felt that it was too much for his soul to disappear, but it was too late to be sorry now, as he already signed the contract with Vine.

(AN: you should ALWAYS read the fine letters. ALWAYS.)

"What are the points used for?"

Since he no longer could regret or change the consequences for failure, might as well know what are the rewards for success.

[Once you collect enough points, you can choose to return to your original world to any point in time you want.]

Hearing this, Bai AnLing was intrigued.

"So I can choose to return to the time before my accident, and avoid it all together?"

[Exactly.]

This reply was exactly what Bai AnLing was hoping to hear, getting another chance to live his old life but without all of the pain.

"That's great then. I could fix my relations.h.i.+p with Jia Song, since I won't be disabled anymore and finish my criminology degree, becoming an FBI agent that can work on the field and catch sc.u.ms like the stalker that killed me!"

His eyes sparkled as he spoke of the possibilities he had for his future, igniting Vine's curiosity.

[What about your kickboxing career?]

Bai AnLing only waved his hand in dismissal.

"Forget about that. After I was murdered, I think trying to catch criminals is probably more my vibe."

[...]

Vine wondered in its virtual heart if life was just a big joke to his host. What's the point of gaining back his old life only to want to go work in a dangerous line of work, one that might kill him?

"Why are you quiet all of a sudden?"

[I was just questioning some career decisions....]

Hearing his words, Bai AnLing stopped to think for a second before replying Vine.

"I see... You should really consider your life choices in a careful and serious way."

[.....]

'What is this, the road not taken?'

Vine wondered whether his host was abusing him on purpose, or if he was just being oblivious. He decided to not overthink it in the end since the truth will come out eventually, right now he needs to move on and do his job.

[How about I'll give you the world's plot now?]

Deciding it was time to get to the main event, Vine opened with his suggestion.

"Ok."

Bai AnLing answered positively also slightly wanting to get started and fulfill a goal for the first time in his life and as soon as he agreed, a thick book with a brown leather cover suddenly appeared in thin air landing in his lap.

"This is the plot? Why a book? Isn't it usually supposed to appear it the host's mind like magic?"

Even though he never read those himself, Bai AnLing heard from Jia Song enough about system stories, her favorite kind of novels, to know that this is the most common way of receiving plot information from systems. Vine thought for a second before replying.

[I can also transfer it directly to your head, but it will be very painful for you and can also harm the balanced state of the soul. This way, reading it like a book, is less dangerous and you can always ask me questions if you don't understand anything or want to know something.]

"Oh, I see... Thank you."

Hearing Vine's explanation, Bai AnLing took the book and went to sit on the bed. Before opening the book Bai AnLing Traced the leather cover with his fingers, it was cold yet soft to the touch and in an excellent quality.

[The first page is filled with details, background story and the like on the body that is currently hosting you, while the rest of the book is filled by the basic plot of the world.]

Vine explained to his host in a detailed way on the way the book is formed, in order to a.s.sist Bai AnLing in the most efficient way he could.

"Oh, thank you for explaining that Vine."

Bai AnLing complimented Vine, which he accepted happily.

[No problem host!]

Looking again at the book in his lap it was really thick, and checking the page number on the last page of the book, it was a little over 200 pages long. Finally opening the book itself and looking at its content Bai AnLing scowled, apparently this body needs reading gla.s.ses. Bai AnLing searched around the room but after 20 minutes of no luck gave up; he found no reading gla.s.ses or evidence of owning such things in the belongings found in this room, raising some questions in his mind.

In the end, Bai AnLing settled for reading with a looking gla.s.s he found on a shelf in the room. The story itself though was no better then the upsetting way of reading it, the more he read the grimmer Bai AnLing's expression became, until he was fully grimacing as he finished reading it two hours later.

"What the f.u.c.k is wrong with the people of this world?!"

Bai AnLing cursed and slammed the book shut, throwing it on the floor while clearly being in a foul mood.

"How can someone be treated so badly?!"

The person that was being treated badly in Bai AnLing's opinion was the same person he was currently residing in his body, Lin Li, a 17 years old boy and a cannon fodder in this story.