[The Protagonist Makes You Retreat About Thirty Miles] Chapter 1 – Can Systems These Days Be Transmitted In Public?

Like I said earlier, I’ll accumulate a few chapters before releasing them! Then I’ll decide an update schedule for this.

---

Originally posted on RBKTR Translations.
Author: The One Who Tells Stories Under the Bridge (天桥底下说书的).
Translated by: Yujuan

---

If this had been three years ago, never in his life would Ji Mo have believed he would be setting up a stall for fortune-telling. And yet, there were blue roof tiles washed by a light drizzle over his head, a wooden window tracery where a spring swallow was perched on it behind him, and before his eyes were deep yellow oil-paper umbrellas scuttling through the rainy street.

Not just the surroundings, if this had been before, he never would have thought this mysterious person clad in priest robes and a silver mask was himself.

Ji Mo had been twenty-two when he arrived in this world, he was now twenty-five years old. The twenty-two-year-old him would never look at any scenery, a phone in his hands and a laptop placed before him in his daily life, his only goal being to keep up with the times, using the stories he wrote to make a living. Now that he was twenty-five, while he saw the various sights a modern person would never be able to see, there was no longer a single story left in his thoughts.

In the past, while Ji Mo had dreamed of becoming a professional writer, he had never believed in the existence of another world, and it had taken him a long while after arriving to this world before accepting this as reality. However, humans were creatures best at adapting to their surroundings, and he of three years after could now perfectly assimilate into the crowds of the present world. If not for the much too lingering rain today, he probably would not have recalled these bygone days.

The production levels of this world were still stuck in ancient times, but its circumstances were much worse than a normal ancient society, because of an existence known as the Celestials.

The earliest Celestial could no longer be identified, and presently, all the world knew was that several cracks had appeared in the sky one day, and various oddly-dressed people had descended from the gap. All of them possessed abilities that far surpassed the cultivators of this world, and even the strongest military troops were effortlessly pushed back. At the time, the imperial court which attempted to capture the Celestials were annihilated on the first day, and various cultivation sects also chose to submit in wake of their crushing defeat. Thereafter, the world then became a battlefield between the Celestials.

Thirty years later, all the previous countries had perished, and the world was now being managed individually by five of the strongest Celestials, split into five continents. The place Ji Mo was currently residing in was the Haotian Godly Continent ruled by the High Priest Su Ge.

Not even the world’s strongest cultivators could guess the origins of the Celestials, yet Ji Mo shockingly realized once he heard their names— these people were actually novel protagonists, and there wasn’t a slightest error in their disposition and abilities!

He did not understand what had happened to cause a crowd of protagonists to assemble, nor did he know why he, a writer, had been mysteriously mixed in with them, but if there was one thing he knew, it was that the protagonists’ data in his head was extremely valuable to any of these forces.

Just with this amount of information, although he had no abilities at all, he succeeded in living a worry-free life by relying on the High Priest.

He who does not work, neither shall he eat, this principle was interchangeable no matter which world he was in. Thunderclouds had been gathering in the skies of Jiangyin City the day before, and the High Priest had predicted the arrival of another Celestial, and so he commanded Ji Mo to guard this area with a group of people to closely observe the origins of this Celestial. They would keep him if he was usable, but if he threatened the safety of the Haotian Godly Continent, he would seize the opportunity to take care of him first.

Ji Mo had been doing similar things for the past three years. He had been anxious and fearful of antagonizing the protagonists in the beginning, but now made the arrangements with ease, merely waiting for them to fall into his trap.

The entire Jiangyin City looked ordinary enough, but in truth, no matter the passersby or the children frolicking in the rain, these were all divine attendants of the Haotian Shrine, and the formation to encircle and suppress would be forged with just a single command from Ji Mo.

He had arranged spies to keep watch in various corners of the city. Ji Mo himself had disguised himself as a fortune-teller just to stop under those thunderclouds, yet it had been close to three days since this particular manifestation appeared, and the Celestial had yet to show any signs, an entirely different situation to the others he had previously met.

Ji Mo was well aware of the fact that these Celestials were people of extraordinary luck, and a little carelessness while going against them could turn him into cannon fodder. Just like the old saying, when things go south, there must be a demon; looking at the thunderclouds that had taken ages to accumulate, Ji Mo knew for sure it must be something done by the new protagonist, having the spontaneous feeling that he had taken a few steps closer down the path of a cannon fodder.

Compared to Ji Mo, the local people’s fear of Celestials would be much worse, and the divine attendant on patrol, Qing Ye, after making three rounds, finally couldn’t help but question his leader, “Mr Ji, why hasn’t the Celestial emerged? Could an unforeseen event have happened?”

“Perhaps this Celestial possesses some special abilities. Precisely because of this, we’ll have to be much more prudent in gathering information.”

Even after having been in this world for a very long time, Ji Mo still wasn’t very used to being addressed like this, but while he was flustered, he knew not to undermine the morale, and merely replied with false indifference, “Instruct our people to be on their guard, we cannot let the other four continents be the first to come into contact with this new Celestial.”

To everyone in the Haotian Shrine, Ji Mo, who could always accurately formulate a plan for ambush according to the temperament of the arriving Celestials, was undeniably the most dependable leader. Hearing this, Qing Ye could finally continue his patrol with ease. It was Ji Mo who looked at the surrounding members of the Shrine disguised as citizens, a trace of worry flashing across his eyes, and inwardly thought, if the one who had arrived was really a malicious character, he wondered how many among these people who live to see tomorrow…

Oh well, not even he was sure of his chances of escaping unscathed, let alone have the extra time worrying about the others. All he could do now was pray that this person was a wise adult who recognized the circumstances.

“Mr Ji, someone has descended from the thunderclouds!”

Just as Ji Mo was contemplating on whether to purchase a set of grey clothes to solidify his status as a cannon fodder, Qing Ye’s warning shout transferred over, and he hurriedly raised his head. As expected, there was finally some activity within the pitch-black thunderclouds they had spent a long time waiting for.

Finally, he was curious to see what sort of protagonist would be so unusual.

That accumulation of thunderclouds in the sky had been there for almost three days, and there hadn’t been a trace of movement previously, as if constrained by something, but now it was liberated in an instant as the constraints lifted, the skies instantly torn apart by lightning. Amidst the roaring of thunder, a white figure drifted downwards, stepping across the dark, heavy clouds.

Ji Mo had already pressed a hand onto his mask long before he appeared, and this artifact created by the High Priest immediately passed all obstructions to display the scenery of the thunderclouds into his mindscape.

It was a dashing man with a painting scroll in his hands, wearing a set of clean and spotless white clothing and only golden thread embroidered into simplistic script emblazoned onto his collar and sleeves. If you looked at his features, he was an elegant and well-favored scholarly youth, but the long hair hung loosely around him was pale. White hair and a youthful complexion which was akin to an immortal, someone who appeared to be extraordinary with just one glance.

Unlike the Celestials who had previously descended before him, he did not show a single trace of shock or unease in his expression as he landed, merely sweeping a gaze over the people very dedicatedly pretending to be frightened citizens, then moved onwards as if nothing had ever happened.

Since ancient times, never was there a protagonist who was lacking in good looks, and you got used to seeing godly beings the more of them you met. While Ji Mo paused slightly at this person’s graceful bearing, he was reflecting instead upon his true identity. Unfortunately, it was hard to come up with a conjecture with just white clothes and white hair, and he could only take the initiative to call out to him, “That gentleman over there, one moment, please.”

This new arrival did not seem to have a brutal temperament, and hearing Ji Mo’s voice, paused his footsteps, tilting his head to look at this mysterious masked person. A trace of confusion flitted across his pretty-looking eyes, yet his expression was still bland, neither disregarding him nor speaking a word in answer.

Very good, a considerably normal temperament, at least he didn’t seem to be a protagonist who wished to seek revenge on society.

Quickly coming up with his first conclusion, Ji Mo’s heart that was caught in suspense relaxed somewhat, then took on the appearance of an erudite person, speaking with a light, practiced smile he had learned from interacting with various protagonists, “Sir, I see your appearance has an extraordinary charm of remarkable grace, if you do not mind, might I ask your name for a fortune telling? It may prove to be quite useful for you in the future.”

Ji Mo knew he looked pretty mysterious with a mask over his face, and had predicted various reactions coming from him before he had spoken out. Inwardly drilling himself for the various situations he would be faced with and how to coax the information out of him, just when he appeared gentle as a breeze, but was actually squaring his shoulders to meet the challenge, he never expected to hear not a human voice, but a— “Xianjun^[1], you have completed the introductory mission of being hit on by someone, would you like to launch the Romance Capture System?”

Wait a minute, what’s up with that terrible system name? Why is his system’s voice being transmitted in public? Isn’t there something a little wrong with this script?

As a writer familiar with every single cheat available, Ji Mo wasn’t a stranger to systems, and while a Romance Capture System was a little useless, it wasn’t something new, but he had never heard of a romance system in this world that initialized against someone of the same sex, could this person have crossed over from a certain green website next door?

Just as Ji Mo was at a loss of what to do with this unexpected development, this man addressed as Xianjun by the System scrutinized him seriously, his gaze pausing slightly on his eyes covered by a mask, then asked insipidly, “You are interested in me?”

“You could say that.”

In the normal sense, if Ji Mo wanted to coax the other’s origins out of him, saying he was interested wasn’t a problem at all, and yet, matched with that weird System, the atmosphere seemed a little awkward when he uttered his answer. What was this feeling, as if he was hitting on a man?

However, he was quickly proven of the fact that it just hadn’t been just him, because the man smiled gently, then answered with a soft, “Yes.”

This affirmative answer definitely wasn’t directed at Ji Mo, because just as he said that, the extremely deferential voice of the System emerged once again, “Congratulations to Xianjun for successfully binding with a mission target, currently entering the primary stage of capturing romance, issuing introductory mission: Please ask the capture target for his name.”

Ji Mo had seen many systems in the past, but this was his first time bumping into one that coaxed its host into doing his missions like a customer service personnel faced with a high-ranking VIP. However, he was currently not in the mood to research this good-for-nothing System that this person had gotten from somewhere. Because that Xianjun walked over to him just as the mission was released, saying curiously, “If you want to know me, why don’t you introduce yourself first.”

Sigh, even if he had a perfect understanding of the scripts of male-orientated novels, how could he have guessed the existence of a protagonist whose sexuality had gone wrong in this world?

Ji Mo would swear that this really wasn’t him being charmed, but there wouldn’t be anything out of place if his words changed into ‘If you want to hook-up, why don’t you introduce yourself first’, no, perhaps that might be a much better fit for that person’s tone.

At that moment, the battle-seasoned Ji Mo finally fell silent. While this protagonist had an exceedingly gentle attitude, and looked like he was incredibly easy to trick, he had a less-than-reassuring feeling that telling him his name meant agreeing to having a gay relationship with him.

He had thrown his conscience away for the purpose of living just a little longer, however, on whether he would abandon his own sexuality along with it, Ji Mo expressed he would much rather choose death instead.

Silently gazing at the white-clothed man, who stood under the drizzling rain looking like an immortal who had descended upon this earthly world, and after much thinking, Ji Mo came to a final conclusion— I, a straight man, don’t do hook-ups.

TL Notes

[1] ‘Xianjun’ – 仙君, a title which roughly translates into ‘Immortal Lord’.

---

Previous – ToC – Next