Half of Shen Rong’s head was submerged in water.
Three minutes later, he suddenly pushed himself up with both arms.
“Say that again?”
“Ahhh, Host! I thought you were about to drown! As expected of the one I chose—your lung capacity is amazing! Kissing in the future won’t be a problem at all!” The mechanical voice of No. 521 chattered on. “I’m your Romance System! The current timeline is the year 1348 in a parallel world, and our mission is—fall in love with the future founding emperor!”
Shen Rong: “…………”
He silently dunked his head back into the water.
The system kept screeching inside his mind: “Look at the male lead I picked for you—the founding emperor! The modern market is already saturated, and overbearing CEOs are totally out of style. I searched for so long before finding someone in this timeline with top-tier looks, character, and ability! As long as you do well in love, you’ll live like a king here!”
Small bubbles rose to the surface.
Shen Rong: “Glug glug.”
521: “?”
Shen Rong: “X﹃X”
521: “!!”
A strange force suddenly yanked him up by the back of his collar.
“Host, don’t die! If you don’t complete the mission, it’ll be forcibly executed!”
Shen Rong coughed out two mouthfuls of water and collapsed onto a patch of grass.
Ahead of him stretched endless mountains. Far behind, a few barren fields lay empty. The air carried a faint scent of dry grass—mixed with something… off.
Like sheep dung. Or cow dung.
Shen Rong’s eyes started to lose focus again.
521 wailed, “Don’t scare me, Host! I only brought you here because you liked this era! I scanned tens of thousands of people, and you were the only one who wanted to go back to ancient times to become a blacksmith!”
Shen Rong spoke faintly, “Yes. I came here to forge iron, not to flirt.”
“And also—I’m a man.”
“Secondly, I’m a man.”
“And finally, I just checked. I am, in fact, a man.”
521 hurriedly replied, “…But Host, you’ve never dated a girl, right?”
The young man, looking every bit like a shut-in, said, “I don’t like girls.”
The system lit up. “Then isn’t that perf—”
Shen Rong cut in, “I don’t like men either.”
“I just like staying at home. I still have an order unfinished, and there’s a convention in City A next week. I need to go back and finish forging my blade.”
With that, he stood up, picked up his toolbox, and started walking forward.
The system fell eerily silent.
One meter. Two meters. Five. Ten.
Shen Rong’s foot froze mid-step.
The system stammered, “H-Host is physically transported here and doesn’t belong to this era, so the world map can only activate when you’re near your romantic target… But don’t worry! I provide top-tier love navigation! You’ll find your boyfriend quickly and accurately! Once you do, you can do anything—even if you want to go to the bathroom, you won’t get stuck halfway!”
So if he didn’t follow this stupid thing, even going to the toilet would be restricted by geography?
Shen Rong took a deep breath and cursed at the sky.
“Damn it!”
Ten minutes later.
Shen Rong stared at a weed-covered ditch. “Are you sure this is passable? What if there are snakes?”
521 replied brightly, “We always provide the shortest route! And based on your current condition—walking—we’ve planned the optimal walking path!”
Shen Rong narrowed his eyes. “Your garbage navigation really is garbage everywhere.”
521 protested, “Host, please mind your language! When you meet the male lead later, you’re not allowed to call him garbage!”
Shen Rong smiled. “I’m already being very polite.”
Wait.
Shen Rong paused. “You mean I’ll see him soon?”
“Yes! For a beautiful first encounter, your spawn point has been set very close to the male lead! Since this is your first time using navigation, I’ll also provide beginner guidance. Once you successfully connect with the male lead, I’ll enter periodic sleep mode. After that, whether you hold hands, kiss, or do—”
“Stop!” Shen Rong raised a hand. “That’s enough. You can go. I can find the toilet— I mean, find him myself.”
521 pouted. “Fine. But to help you harvest sweet love, I can also provide key plot points in the male lead’s path to becoming emperor. If you need me, just shout the password three times to wake me!”
Plot points?
That sounded useful. At least he wouldn’t get accidentally killed while the future emperor conquered the world.
Shen Rong shifted his toolbox from one hand to the other, looking faintly dead inside. “What’s the password?”
521 chirped, “Xiao Yuanyao is the coolest! Xiao Yuanyao is the most handsome! I love Xiao Yuanyao!”
“………………”
The wind carried tension; every rustle felt like an ambush.
Xiao Yuanyao was running for his life.
“Squad leader! The cavalry is catching up!”
Like a leopard, Xiao Yuanyao darted through the forest, several men gritting their teeth to keep up behind him.
Damn that commander—how many times had they been assigned these suicide missions? If not for their squad leader’s skill, they’d have died a hundred times over!
“There’s a ruined temple ahead!” shouted a young man running second. “Zhao Guo, cover the squad leader!”
“Got it!”
A cold arrow sliced through the leaves and embedded itself in a dead tree trunk.
They were like hunted beasts, chased by Prince Liang’s cavalry.
A streak of blood appeared on Xiao Yuanyao’s cheek as they leapt into the temple.
Inside, the clay statue of a Bodhisattva had half its face collapsed, looking like a demon in the dim light.
The survivors barely dared to breathe. Zhao Shu stepped closer. “You okay?”
Xiao Yuanyao shook his head. “Just scratched by a branch. Check on Chen Liu.”
Zhao Shu hurried over, his expression darkening. “The blood’s black. The arrow was poisoned.”
The arrow had struck a vital point—there was no saving him.
“Prince Liang is ruthless,” Zhao Guo muttered.
The others looked at Xiao Yuanyao with fear. Outside, the hoofbeats had stopped.
Not because the enemy left—but because they were right outside.
Xiao Yuanyao drew a long blade.
“Squad leader! He’s still alive!” someone cried.
Xiao Yuanyao said nothing. He crouched down, covered the man’s trembling eyes with one hand—and slit his throat cleanly with the other.
One strike. Instant death. No pain.
Silence fell like death itself. Clearly, this wasn’t the first time he’d done this.
“Alive doesn’t mean he can live,” Xiao Yuanyao said coldly. “If I don’t kill him, he’ll only suffer more. When they break in, do you think we can protect him—with our dull blades?”
Chen Liu couldn’t be saved. Taking him along would only doom them all.
Suddenly, mocking voices rang from outside.
“Running pretty fast, huh? Why stop now?”
Laughter followed.
Xiao Yuanyao glanced through the crack in the door. Seven or eight riders, each with a horse.
They had five men left. Four blades. No armor.
A dead end.
But Prince Liang favored mysticism—and so did his soldiers. They hadn’t rushed in yet, likely wary of the temple.
After a moment, Xiao Yuanyao said, “Set fire to the temple.”
Zhao Shu froze. “We’ll die too!”
Xiao Yuanyao replied calmly, “We’ll die either way. But if we burn it, they might leave us alone. That’s our only chance.”
As he raised a firestarter—
A scream suddenly erupted outside.
Then chaos.
He rushed to the door.
Several cavalrymen had been knocked off their horses by something unseen. Even the horses panicked.
“A miracle! The gods are helping us!” Zhao Guo gasped.
“Ghosts! There are ghosts!” someone outside screamed.
The enemy fell into complete disarray.
A perfect chance.
Xiao Yuanyao snapped the firestarter shut and prepared to charge—
Clang!
A sharp metallic sound rang out.
Tiles began falling from the roof. Dust filled the air.
Whatever this “ghost” was, it clearly didn’t care about those inside either.
After a while, silence finally fell outside.
They cautiously pushed the door open.
No enemies. Only scattered hoofprints and abandoned weapons.
“…We survived?”
Zhao Shu and Zhao Guo stared in disbelief.
Just as they stepped forward—
Xiao Yuanyao grabbed them both. “Wait.”
He looked up.
Everyone followed his gaze.
From the edge of the broken roof dangled two pale legs, swinging back and forth.
A chill ran down their spines.
Zhao Guo stammered, “W-which immortal… are you?”
The legs stopped.
Then a pale face appeared upside down from above—looking at them in a strange, inverted angle.
Beside him sat a strange black box. His hair was short, his expression faintly annoyed—but his eyes were bright, sharp as arrows.
Cleaner and more beautiful than even the temple’s statue.
A voice echoed:
“Congratulations, Host. Navigation complete. System 521 entering sleep mode.”
Shen Rong flicked his rubber slingshot and asked casually, upside down:
“Hello, everyone. I think I took a wrong turn… Could one of you give me a hand?”