***********
The young man remained standing there—
Smiling.
Calm.
Unshaken.
As though nothing was out of place.
As though he had anticipated this moment.
Without hesitation—
Shen Haoran spoke.
˂ "Who are you?" ˃
The language he used was not one native to this world.
It was the universal tongue he had learned across countless modern worldlines.
And the response—
Was immediate.
The smile on Xiao Zixin's lips widened.
Broader than before.
As though he had just received something of immense worth.
Confirmation.
Recognition.
Before anything else could unfold—
A piercing alert rang within his mind.
Sudden.
Urgent.
Unavoidable.
« WARNING! Silver system initiating emergency protocol. Preparing to extract the esteemed host's soul from the current worldline. Host safety is now the highest priority! Immediate departure commencing… »
There was no time to react.
No time to process.
Everything—
Went blank.
...….
......
.........
'WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK WAS THAT?!'
The moment he opened his eyes, he found himself back inside his system command room—a vast, enclosed space illuminated by countless floating 3D monitors. Each display hovered midair, projecting streams of information, archived data, and fragmented records of various worldlines.
He froze for a brief second.
Processing.
Trying to grasp what had just happened.
Then, snapping out of it, he immediately strode toward the nearest cluster of monitors without hesitation. His movements were quick, deliberate, edged with urgency as his fingers moved through the interfaces, pulling up data from the last worldline.
Without wasting time, he activated his special authority—an access privilege granted directly by the Higher Councils.
For over a millennium of transmigration, he had worked relentlessly, completing every task assigned to him with precision. Because of that consistent dedication, the Higher Councils of the Dimensional Department had elevated him to the [Platinum] position.
A rank that placed him far above ordinary dimensional travelers.
With that status came privileges.
Freedom.
Authority.
He was no longer bound by the restrictive protocols of a novice traveler. Back then, he had to strictly follow OOC regulations, constantly limited by rules that governed every action he took.
Now—
Those restrictions no longer applied.
He could enter and exit worldlines as he pleased.
Without interference.
Without delay.
After nearly a minute of sifting through layers of archived data, he finally managed to extract a recorded clip from the last worldline—the exact moment before Silver forcibly initiated the emergency deportation.
He played it immediately.
Once.
Then again.
His eyes narrowed.
The screen…
Was completely blank.
No visuals.
No sound.
Nothing.
Just an empty display.
A frown slowly formed on his face.
"Silver, explain to me why you initiated an emergency deportation from that world without warning. This is the first time you've done something like this without my command."
He crossed his arms over his chest; his gaze still fixed on the monitors as he waited.
Silently.
Patiently.
Behind his calm expression, however, his thoughts moved rapidly.
All systems were inherently the same.
They had no genders.
No identities.
They were nothing more than collections of coded directives originating from the Main House System Interface.
Their sole purpose—
Was to assist.
To guide.
To serve dimensional travelers like him.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
*********
« …. "Then, do you want to live?" …. »
********
That voice—
Without warning—
Resurfaced in his mind.
Clear.
Sharp.
Unmistakable.
It echoed vividly, dragging him back to a time he would rather forget.
Back then…
He stood on the brink of madness.
Everything had collapsed around him.
The people he trusted—
Turned their backs on him.
Those he saw as family—
Betrayed him.
He was mocked.
Tortured.
Framed for a crime he did not commit.
Branded as a traitor.
Condemned as a villain.
Even now, the memory lingered.
Heavy.
Unpleasant.
He had always been cautious by nature.
Careful with every decision.
Reluctant to trust anything unfamiliar.
Yet at that moment—
He had no choice.
His thoughts had been clouded.
Shaken.
Broken.
And so, when that unknown voice offered him a way out…
He accepted.
Without hesitation.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself surrounded by endless darkness.
A void.
Silent.
Expansive.
Oppressive.
There was no one else there.
Only him.
And then—
That entity appeared.
The one that called itself [system].
It manifested as a faint, white wisp—hovering gently within the darkness, its presence both strange and oddly calming.
It explained everything.
Its purpose.
Its function.
The path it was offering him.
Even then, he did not lower his guard.
He questioned it.
Tested its responses.
Searched for flaws within its words.
But in the end—
He reached a conclusion.
The entity was not lying.
Or at the very least—
It had no intention of deceiving him.
And so, the pact was formed.
That entity…
Became his companion.
And he gave it a name.
Silver.
From that point onward, countless years passed.
Years spent traversing different worldlines.
Taking on lives that were never his.
Experiencing realities far beyond his original world.
The role of a dimensional traveler was simple, in theory.
Take over an individual's body.
Fulfill their wishes.
Correct the imbalance within the worldline.
And if necessary—
Eliminate the world's chosen one.
Over time, he assumed numerous identities.
A high school bully in a modern academic setting.
A domineering president within a competitive entertainment industry.
A knight paladin of a holy kingdom in a high-fantasy world.
A male concubine within an imperial palace drama (a role he still refused to think about for too long, especially in a world where men could give birth, and he happened to possess a [ger] body).
A rebellious young master from an aristocratic family in a western fantasy realm.
A Celestial Emperor ruling over the three realms in a cultivation world (which, to this day, remained one of the most exhausting roles he ever took).
And countless others.
So many—
That he could no longer remember them all.
Most of those roles placed him as a secondary figure.
A supporting character.
A background existence.
Sometimes even just an insignificant passerby.
And yet—
There was one detail he could not ignore.
Something that had always felt… odd.
In all those lives—
He was never assigned the role of a villain.
Not once.
Even when the identity itself seemed suited for it…
It never labeled him as such.
Never acknowledged him in that role.
'How ironic…'
'Back in my original world, I was branded as a traitor… as a villain…'
**********