“Huff, huff, huff…”
A world-shaking battle was nearing its end. In the empty, desolate forest, severed limbs of zombies and humans lay piled everywhere, scattered in all directions. Bright red and grayish-brown blood splashed across the ground, staining everything in sight.
The stillness of death spread in all directions.
Against it, the fierce panting of the sole surviving human life felt jarringly out of place.
Amid the sea of corpses, a woman knelt on one knee, gripping a long saber in her hand. Having exhausted herself completely, her right hand, riddled with grotesque wounds, trembled uncontrollably. Her short black hair, soaked through with blood, clung wetly behind her ears, while fresh blood dripped from her chin, drop by drop.
A furious, shrill roar suddenly exploded beside her ears, and the woman abruptly lifted her head.
Only then did it become clear that her right eye had long since been ruthlessly pierced through by a horrifying wound, flesh torn open and mangled.
The advancing figure of the ugly, ferocious monster reflected in the sole remaining jet-black pupil of the woman’s eye. Not only did it fail to stir the slightest fear in her, it instead caused a surge of murderous intent to erupt across her face.
Perfect timing!
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, the clash between humanity’s peak combat power and the mental force of a high-level zombie emperor flattened half of the mountain forest.
*
《Heart-Pounding Idol》, Yanjing Competition Area. Second-floor restroom.
Jiang Mian suddenly opened her eyes.
Staring at the faucet in front of her that was gushing water nonstop, she had not yet figured out what was going on when a massive flood of information surged into her mind, sending a sharp pain through her head.
With no time to worry about anything else, Jiang Mian struggled to digest the information pouring into her consciousness. Only then did she realize that she, who had already perished together with the zombie emperor, had inexplicably entered another person’s body.
What flooded her mind all at once were the memories of the past twenty years belonging to a third-year college student named Jiang Mian.
Yet as those memories grew clearer and clearer, Jiang Mian began to sense that something was seriously off.
Because the names appearing in those memories looked eerily similar to the ones in that old, idiotic tragic romance novel she had read back at the base.
Life in the apocalypse was filled with pressure, and everyone had their own way of relieving stress. Jiang Mian was different from the others. She liked reading melodramatic, feel-good novels. The more satisfying and over-the-top they were, the more enjoyable she found them. It even made her feel more energized when killing zombies.
But this novel, 《A Galaxy of Ten Thousand Miles》, became the Waterloo of Jiang Mian’s feel-good reading career. She did not even know how it had been scavenged up by her subordinates and then delivered into her hands.
Still, holding to the mindset of “since I’m already here,” and because the female lead’s name happened to be pronounced the same as her own, Jiang Mian went ahead and read it.[1]The name Jiang Mian refers to two different characters written with different Chinese characters.
姜冕 (Jiāng Miǎn), whose given name means “crown,” is the powerful fighter from the … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1647057_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1647057_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
The result was that she read it with a bellyful of fury.
Jiang Mian had never known that someone could live an entire lifetime in such a stifling, humiliating way.
The novel’s female lead, Jiang Mian, lost both her parents in a car accident at the age of ten. After her uncle and aunt became her guardians, she began a life of cowardice and repression.
Clearly, her uncle and aunt were living in her family’s house and spending her parents’ savings, yet she was still oppressed to the point that she lived worse than Cinderella in a fairy tale. She was even almost molested by her aunt’s younger brother.
After starting school, she was bullied by the entire class due to her timid and introverted personality, as well as her outdated way of dressing.
And at such a desperate moment, she happened to meet the male lead, then regarded that dumb piece of trash as the only light in her life.
For the rest of her life, she gave birth for him, died for him, and willingly served as his human tool for half a lifetime.
When the male lead was talented and good-looking, she harbored a secret crush on him. When he went bankrupt and fell into ruin, she supported him. When he rose again and kicked her aside to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend, she sank into quiet heartbreak. When he repeatedly misunderstood her for the sake of his ex-girlfriend, she shed tears. When he fell gravely ill and hovered on the brink of death, and the ex-girlfriend bought a standing-room-only ticket overnight and ran away, she donated her liver…
In short, from beginning to end, the entire book abused only the female lead. The plot was so idiotic that Jiang Mian nearly pulled out a gun and riddled the book full of holes.
At long last, Jiang Mian endured the story together with the female lead all the way to the finale, and the male lead finally realized how important the female lead was to him.
Or perhaps he realized that in this world, he would never find another two-bit idiot who treated him as well as she did.
The male lead decided to win back the heartbroken female lead.
Here it comes. It is coming.
After enduring so much suffocating plot development earlier on, Jiang Mian thought that the long-awaited wife-chasing crematorium arc was finally here. At last, it was time to feel satisfied.
From the bottom of her heart, Jiang Mian believed that the female lead ought to torment that piece of trash of a male lead until he was left with barely half his life. Only then would it be worthy of all the suffering she had endured earlier in the story.
Never in her wildest dreams did she expect that once the male lead made up his mind to win the female lead back, before a single chapter was even over, all he did was hold her hand and say three soft, coaxing lines. Three lines!!!
And that was it? The female lead, who because of him had lost her ability to bear children, lost her reputation, and nearly lost her life, actually reached a happy ending with him?
Not only that, she also worked tirelessly alongside him to raise the son born to the male lead by the supporting female character, who had long since fled abroad?
At the very end of it all, the female lead held the child in her arms, linked her arm through her husband’s, and sincerely sighed to herself, ‘I am truly happy in this life’???
Jiang Mian: …
Jiang Mian: ………………
Damn it!
Jiang Mian remembered very clearly what became of that book in the end. She gently placed it on the ground, raised her gun, and fired more than a dozen shots in succession. Later, she even nearly asked her subordinates for a rocket launcher, intending to blow that infuriating piece of trash into nothing but scraps.
It could be said that after finishing the entire book, what angered Jiang Mian the most was not the selfish and self-serving male lead, not the leech-like uncle and aunt, and not the classmates who had once bullied the female lead.
It was the female lead herself, that idiotic waste of space.
She was so furious that she wished she could grab the female lead straight out of the book and beat her senseless.
‘If I have committed a crime, then let the law punish me. Do not punish me by making me read a novel that makes my heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, every single organ ache with rage, and by making me know such a brain-dead female lead who, when someone slaps her left cheek, still offers up her right cheek as well.’
That was what Jiang Mian once thought.
And now,
No matter how unwilling she was to admit it, the overwhelming sense of déjà vu brought on by these newly added memories in her mind was constantly reminding her that she, Jiang Mian, the undisputed top combat force of the No. 1 Base, had truly transmigrated into the very brain-dead female lead she had cursed countless times before, Jiang Mian.
*
As the stabbing pain in her head slowly faded away, the surrounding sounds surged toward Jiang Mian’s ears like a rising tide.
Instinctively reaching out to shut off the faucet that was still running nonstop, Jiang Mian lifted her head and froze on the spot.
It was simply because the face reflected in the mirror looked far too similar to her own.
Aside from having paler skin, a sharper chin, softer lips, and more lustrous eyes than her own, the two of them looked almost exactly alike.
The same oval face, almond-shaped eyes, cherry lips, and even the dimple at the corner of the right side of the mouth sat in precisely the same spot.
Perhaps because she had practiced martial arts since childhood and had always liked to keep her hair short, she had never seen herself look so delicate and pitiful, the kind that stirred sympathy at a glance.
This novel experience made Jiang Mian unconsciously lean a little closer to the mirror. Almost at the same time, the innocent, pure, dreamlike beauty reflected in the mirror also leaned closer toward her.
‘Damn, I really am good-looking!’
Staring at the mirror, Jiang Mian could not help but sigh inwardly.
Her self-admiration lasted less than two seconds before a thunderous knocking suddenly rang out from outside the door.
Jiang Mian opened the door, and a short-haired woman in a black work uniform hurriedly squeezed inside.
After brushing past Jiang Mian in a rush, she stepped back to her side, pointing at the number tag stuck to the lower left corner of Jiang Mian’s white dress with a look of surprise on her face. “The preliminary auditions have already started. Why are you still here, contestant? When I came over, they had already called numbers past 150. You’re number 168. If you don’t go now, you’ll really be late.”
‘Preliminary auditions?’
Those two words, both unfamiliar and familiar, caused a flicker of confusion to flash through Jiang Mian’s eyes. But very quickly, she searched through the original owner’s memories and figured out exactly what situation she was in.
The original owner was a student at Yanjing Film Academy and was already in her third year. Many of her classmates had begun looking for their own way forward. Those with connections relied on them, those without ran around doing extra work as background actors, others signed with agencies, and some who had debuted as child actors had even started taking supporting roles in big productions.
Given the original owner’s family situation, other paths were clearly out of the question. In order to avoid graduating straight into unemployment, she decided to come to this talent competition show called 《Heart-Pounding Idol》 to get her face out there a bit, making it easier to sign with a halfway decent management company later on.
She did not need to become wildly famous or make a lot of money. She only wanted to be able to support herself through her own efforts.
Thinking this far, no matter how furious Jiang Mian was at the original owner’s self-degradation in the plot, adhering to the belief that once you take over someone else’s body, you must take responsibility for it, Jiang Mian ran without hesitation toward the audition site remembered in those memories.
Fortunately, by the time she arrived, they had only just called number 165. She had not missed her turn yet.
After steadying her breathing, Jiang Mian casually found a seat and sat down.
Because of her striking appearance, the girl sitting beside her hesitated for a moment before striking up a conversation with her anyway.
“Hi, what’s your name? You’re really pretty. Oh right, what kind of talent did you prepare for this time? I’m planning to go up and do street dance…”
No, wait.
Jiang Mian suddenly felt a bit panicked. Why did the auditions require performing a talent too?
It seemed… it really did…
In the plot, the female lead had also come to participate in this talent show called 《Heart-Pounding Idol》. She even sang a song and ultimately received three yes votes, earning a spot in the official recording of 《Heart-Pounding Idol》.
But her? Someone who had never learned an instrument, could not dance, and sang off-key. What could a useless little weakling like her possibly go up there and do? Perform bare-handed zombie tearing? There were not even any zombies here for her to tear apart!
It was over. It was really over.
Jiang Mian felt that she was probably going to fail at taking responsibility for the original owner.
Just then, her gaze suddenly sharpened, and the corners of her mouth lifted in delight.
Got it!
…
“Number 168. Is number 168 here?”
“Here!”
Jiang Mian hurriedly raised her hand, then grabbed the black plastic bag at her feet and headed toward the audition room.
Almost at the same time, the three mentors inside, who had been selecting contestants nonstop all morning, were already starting to suffer from serious aesthetic fatigue.
“Today’s audition quality doesn’t seem very good. It’s not as strong as yesterday’s.”
“Yeah, and it’s either singing or dancing. There’s really nothing new. Just watching it is exhausting.”
“Hm? This contestant, number 168, Jiang Mian. She looks pretty good in her photo, and she’s from Yanjing Film Academy too. Just judging by this face alone, no matter what she performs, I think we should keep her. What do you think?”
“Sure, sure. She just looks very soft and delicate, like she couldn’t withstand a breeze.”
“What do you think she’ll perform? Dancing? I’m guessing dancing.”
“Singing, maybe. Honestly, either would work.”
Once the mentors finished their discussion, the soft, delicate, breeze-defeated Jiang Mian they were talking about appeared in the audition room. Not only that, she was also carrying a black plastic bag in her hand.
This left all three mentors rather puzzled.
“Hello, mentors. I’m contestant number 168, Jiang Mian. The talent I’ve brought for everyone today is…”
The girl paused briefly, then quickly put on a perfectly polite smile and opened the plastic bag in her hand, revealing nine bricks stacked neatly inside.
“Hand-chopping bricks!”
Four characters, spoken with resounding force.
The three mentors: “……” What the hell was that?
Before the three of them could even react, they watched as Jiang Mian picked up a brick from the bag, placed it on a bench to the side, stepped on it with her foot, her expression lofty and icy.
“Wait…”
Before the three mentors could stop her, they saw Jiang Mian raise her hand and bring her palm down, at the same time letting out a sharp shout of “Ha!”
The brick split apart on the spot.
Immediately after, she took out three more bricks from the plastic bag at her feet and stacked them together, clearly preparing to let out another “Ha!”
“St… stop!”
The female mentor at the side, who had finally snapped back to her senses, hurriedly stretched out an Erkang-style hand.[2]“Erkang-style hand” refers to a dramatic gesture made with the arm stretched forward, palm facing outward, as if urgently trying to stop someone. The expression comes from the classic Chinese TV … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1647057_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1647057_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
Hearing this, Jiang Mian frowned and looked up. Was there something wrong with the performance? She had prepared a total of nine bricks and had planned to proceed step by step, one brick, then three, then five, to give the audience a sense of escalating surprise.
She had not expected to be stopped after chopping just one.
“Is it that the performance isn’t exciting enough? Then how about I stack the remaining eight bricks together and chop them all at once? If that’s still not enough, I can go out and find more?”
Jiang Mian made her suggestion seriously while already starting to stack the bricks.
After the apocalypse, Jiang Mian had awakened two abilities, one strength-type and one mental-type. The mental ability was probably gone after the massive explosion before her death, but the strength ability had followed her through the transmigration. That was what made her come up with this kind of performance.
Hearing this, all three mentors swallowed in unison, plunging into intense inner turmoil.
By the time Jiang Mian took three yes cards from the mentors’ hands and walked out of the audition room, she was still somewhat dazed. That was it? She passed just like that? It was way too easy.
But she quickly became happy again. Passing was all that mattered. At least she had not let the female lead down.
Besides, they were not at a loss either. Earlier, with the thought of adding to the atmosphere and not leaving them with regrets, Jiang Mian had still gone ahead and chopped up all eight of the remaining bricks.
However, hand-chopping bricks had already been performed. What was she supposed to perform at the semifinal half a month later?
Finger-piercing steel plates? Breaking a massive stone on her chest? Or a silver spear thrust straight at the throat? Entering a boiling oil pot with bare hands probably would not work. This body had not trained specifically for that. Otherwise, she could definitely push the shock value to the maximum.
As she thought about it, Jiang Mian suddenly became filled with boundless confidence in this so-called talent competition.
Erkang-style hand:
References[+]
姜冕 (Jiāng Miǎn), whose given name means “crown,” is the powerful fighter from the apocalypse.
姜眠 (Jiāng Mián), whose given name means “sleep,” is the original female lead of the tragic romance novel.
↑2 “Erkang-style hand” refers to a dramatic gesture made with the arm stretched forward, palm facing outward, as if urgently trying to stop someone. The expression comes from the classic Chinese TV drama My Fair Princess, in which the character Erkang frequently strikes this pose while shouting for others to stop.
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