The moment the bullet grazed past her temple, Zhong Yuyan smelled her own blood.
【Master! Hang in there! Rewinding time by one second!】
Agonizing pain exploded through her, but she managed to claw her way back from the brink of death after the Military Statistics Bureau tried to assassinate her.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhong Yuyan opened her eyes. She saw a stark white ceiling and an IV bag swaying above her.
She let out a deep sigh. None of it had been a dream. She really had transmigrated, into the body of a female collaborator who had been shot in the head by the Military Statistics Bureau.
“Yuyan, are you feeling any better?” A man in a Japanese military uniform stood beside her hospital bed.
Ono Yu!
He had been the original body's classmate when she studied abroad in Japan.
【Master, hurry and respond! If you handle this badly, you could die!】
The System howled in her mind.
Zhong Yuyan furrowed her brow, wanting to get rid of this System.
Still, she had to respond. Mimicking the original body's tone, she said, “I'm all right. Not dead yet. Aren't you busy? How come you have time to visit me?”
“I'm not busy. We're old classmates, after all. I had to come see how you were.
Besides, Commander Yamada gave me strict orders to catch the person who tried to assassinate you.
Yuyan, can you tell me what happened that day?”
At his question, Zhong Yuyan tried hard to recall what had happened. The discomfort welled up again, making her head feel even heavier.
“I left the hospital and was heading home like usual, when someone suddenly rushed out and raised a gun at me...
Fortunately, he slipped, so the bullet didn't hit me in the head. It just grazed my temple. Even thinking about it now scares me.”
She couldn't exactly tell him the System had made the bullet veer off course, so she could only say the shooter had slipped.
Ono Yu took notes carefully.
“Did you get a good look at the person who tried to kill you?”
Zhong Yuyan shook her head. “He was wearing a mask. I didn't see his face.”
Ono Yu furrowed his brow. “Did you notice anything else?”
Zhong Yuyan shook her head wearily. “I really didn't. I'm just a doctor. I truly don't know why this war has dragged me into it.”
Ono Yu fell silent. After a long while, he said, “All right. Get some rest.”
Zhong Yuyan nodded, then watched him leave.
When Ono Yu reached the door, he said to the Japanese soldiers standing guard, “Protect Miss Zhong well.”
“Yes, sir.”
Staring at the closed door, Zhong Yuyan cursed inwardly, “Yeah, yeah, like hell you will...”
'You useless System, I want to go home. I don't want to be a collaborator.'
【Master, why don't you take a good look at the original body's memories before you say that?】
There was a hint of helplessness in the System's voice.
The original body's memories?
Zhong Yuyan checked the original body's memories, half convinced and half doubtful.
A young lady from a powerful family, sent abroad to study. Beautiful and clever, she had learned many skills and even joined the Organization...
Wait, the Organization?
Zhong Yuyan's eyes lit up. She kept looking, growing more astonished with every memory.
The original host was no collaborator at all.
This woman had been working as a triple agent.
First cover: a doctor at the Japanese Army's northern military hospital.
Second cover: a Nationalist Army Military Statistics Bureau infiltrator, Taishan.
Third identity: Hidden Butterfly, an underground intelligence agent for the National Salvation Army.
Some time ago, she had saved Yamada Yu.
When he held a banquet to thank her, she obtained encirclement operation intelligence that allowed the National Salvation Army to escape being surrounded, indirectly saving tens of thousands of lives.
Unfortunately, no one knew what the original host had done. In outsiders' eyes, she was merely a female collaborator who had saved an enemy commander.
In the end, she had even been killed in an assassination by her own side!
She called out in her mind, ‘System, didn't the Military Statistics Bureau know who I was? Why did they try to assassinate me?’
【The original host's identity was classified, so the Action Team didn't know who you were.
Besides, they were carrying out the assassination on orders. Their superiors certainly hadn't ordered them to kill you.
The trouble was, the Military Statistics Bureau had recruited a newcomer. Her whole family had been killed by the Japanese, and she joined the Bureau through a classmate.
Since she hadn't received any training, they had her do simple things like deliver messages.
They had meant to train her, but she thought the Military Statistics Bureau looked down on her, so she wanted to make a name for herself.
And then she happened to run into you, a freshly minted female collaborator, and shot you dead.】
That really was a headache.
As expected, during wartime, the worst people were the ones who thought they knew better and didn't follow orders.
‘Then was that newcomer punished?’
【No. Your identity was classified, so there was no way to reveal it. Not only was she not punished, but after considering the matter, her superiors even gave her a commendation.】
Zhong Yuyan: ...
But then she understood.
She was dead, so there was no point in revealing her identity. They might as well make a heroine of the assassin; perhaps she would be useful in the future.
And since she hadn't died, once the Japanese Army learned of the commendation, it gave her another bargaining chip and made the Japanese Army trust her even more.
They had calculated it all very cleverly.
‘No, there must also be a reason related to that intelligence, since it saved the National Salvation Army.
The Nationalist Army's right wing was still keen on civil war. They must have suspected the original host was in the Underground Party, which was why they were so lenient toward the assassin.’
【That's right.】
Just as she thought. The original host had died a truly unjust death.
At the same time, it made her realize the situation she was in now...
She might seem to be a triple agent, but she was fighting alone, surrounded by danger at every turn, with every step as perilous as walking on thin ice.
'System, before I transmigrated, I was just an ordinary girl—the kind of klutz who wouldn't survive past the second episode of a spy drama. Why don't you look into switching me out for someone else?'
【Once bound, you can't be unbound. Besides, the System will issue missions at regular intervals. Completing them earns rewards, and the rewards are very generous.】
'Generous? Systems in novels all come with a beginner's gift pack, and you haven't even given me one.'
【Beginner's gift pack received. Host, please claim it.】
Zhong Yuyan's eyes lit up, and she quickly opened it in her mind.
As golden light burst forth, she caught sight of the words 【silenced pistol（unlimited ammunition）】【five-language fusion card】, and the corner of her mouth finally curled into a cold smile.
This situation wasn't impossible to turn around.