RPDH Chapter 2

[Establishing channel… Welcome back to reality.]

The system’s impassive voice sounded, signalling the end of the ‘trial’.

The city called Desolate Dragon vanished into the night, as did the salty sea breeze. In the blink of an eye, Li Li found herself back in her dorm room.

The balcony curtains were tightly drawn, and the mosquito net draped around her bed doubled as blackout curtains. At this moment, her bed truly felt like a dark coffin.

Her roommate went to bed early today. The room was dark and silent.

Li Li tested if she could move yet, but she couldn’t. All she could do was lay on the bed as an ice-cold corpse.

[Your current amount of survival points is 0. If you are unable to accumulate at least one survival point before 6am, the transaction will be concluded.] The system announced at an opportune time.

Li Li huffed in amusement. She wasn’t surprised.

It was midnight now. Li Li had died just before the date changed over. She crossed over into the manhua world and then came back at midnight.

The manhua happened to update at midnight as well. Regardless of how many followers it had, they still needed some time to read through the chapter.

She bought the item from before with her initial funds, the three survival points allocated by the system.

Needless to say, she was penniless now.

If she wasn’t able to accumulate enough popularity within the next six hours, she would still die.

But Li Li wasn’t worried. It was like all her nerves had been exhausted by the conversation with the boss. She was even feeling enough at ease to chat with the system.

“I can talk to you, right, System?” Without waiting for its answer, Li Li continued, “I’m shocked, to be honest. Three survival points equals three days of life. Giving them away for free means I’ll be able to live until the next manhua update regardless of my initial performance tonight.”

The manhua ‘Beyond Black and White’ updated once every three days, just enough for the initial funds to tide her over.

“But you’re obviously not running a charity here.” She pointed out.

The system’s silence seemed to imply agreement.

It never seemed to bother with concealing its apathy. Like it said, it was dedicated solely to the manhua.

“If you ask me, I don’t think those points were given for my sake. They’re funds meant for the performance. You’re using the first transmigration, my debut, to assess my potential.”

Three survival points could buy plenty of things, but only a handful of abilities.

Li Li rummaged through the mall before choosing the [Immunity Ability (3 min)]. After all, she knew that the somewhat popular information broker was a domain-type ability user.

He was her best target, not due to his popularity, but more so his way of conducting himself.

If she was able to suppress him initially and make him mistake her for a powerhouse, she could become a sheep in wolf’s clothing.

Thus, Li Li staked those three survival points on a gamble. She disguised herself as an arrogant powerhouse to fool the boss.

And she succeeded. She played the part flawlessly and was even given an excuse to approach the protagonist.

“In manhua, a character’s popularity is determined partly by their personality but more by how many appearances they make.”

“There are only so many panels every update. You wouldn’t waste them on trash.”

“The first transmigration happened to line up with the next update, meaning it’s the only guaranteed opportunity to appear, right?”

The dark-haired girl lay on the bed. Her eyes glittered bright despite being closed.

She felt no fear despite her terrible plight.

“What a coincidence. I happen to agree.” She said, “I don’t want to be trash either.”

She only realized something after her death: she could not settle for being ordinary and unremarkable.

She didn’t want to become a statistic. She wanted everyone to remember her name. She was going to use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become the most popular character in this damned manhua!

And since no one liked the weak, she had to be strong!

Even if it was just a disguise.

She would keep pretending.

Until falsehood became reality.

…

The manhua ‘Beyond Black and White’ was always updated at midnight.

Jiang Lan, a loyal fan of the manhua, stayed up late waiting for this moment. She rolled over onto her side in bed, navigating her phone screen with a few taps and swipes to the manhua’s latest chapter.

The first part was a continuation of the events of last chapter. The protagonist infiltrated an ability organization according to plan, but troubles arose while searching for ‘Tang’.

Although ‘Beyond Black and White’ was a web serial, it was presented in traditional manhua format and featured typical action-adventure tropes.

The protagonist’s primary motivation was to find his long-lost foster father. After receiving a letter pleading for help from Tang’s father at the beginning of the Desolate Dragon arc, he came to this city alone to rescue them.

You could say that his simple desire to help others was what landed him in this mess.

“The protagonist is so pitiful, ah.” Jiang Lan muttered. She turned the page, only to find that the perspective had shifted.

Three small panels displayed poker chips, smoke and money respectively. The familiar boss in Tang Dynasty robes leaned back on the lounge chair, his narrow eyes half-open.

“Him again?” Jiang Lan’s interest was piqued. She opened the comment section. Sure enough, there were many other readers like her rejoicing over the reappearance of the boss.

The boss was an ambiguous, morally gray character. He wasn’t good because he benefited from the skewed power distribution between ability ranks, but he wasn’t bad either because he helped the protagonist on numerous occasions since the protagonist sought him out.

But readers didn’t care about technicalities like that. Jiang Lan was a facecon, and the boss happened to be her type. As a result, she was interested to see where things would go from here.

“The last time the boss appeared was to tell the protagonist about ‘Tang’, right?” She mumbled as she turned the page.

There was a sudden shift in tone.

The casino’s front door shook in one small panel.

Then the entire thing was blown off its hinges.

The people in the manhua weren’t the only ones left shocked as plumes of dust and smoke rose into the air.

“What the hell!” Jiang Lan gasped, “In the boss’ territory?!”

She turned the page without even checking the comments. There she saw the culprit responsible.

A figure gradually emerged from the smoke. The cargo pants beneath his black trenchcoat were tucked into his boots. From this perspective, his slender ankles seemed to be imbued with inconceivable power.

A pair of oversized sunglasses obscured half of his face, but his leisurely calm was evident from his slightly raised lips.

His shadow spread out behind him like a robe. The dark flooring of the casino got its colour from being repeatedly dyed with human blood, yet his shade was somehow darker still.

Like the ichor of the grim reaper himself.

It was a long moment before Jiang Lan remembered to turn the page.

“This new character is so edgy, ah…”

Still, she had to admit he left an impression on her.

She speculated as she turned the page: “But if he’s able to make such a fuss in the boss’ territory, he has to at least be a mid-rank ability user, right?”

Sure enough, the boss’ astonished expression featured on the next page. A dotted thought bubble beside him indicated his reaction.

“My ability was suppressed!” The boss reeled internally with terror. “Even a Rank B ability user wouldn’t be able to accomplish such a feat! This person is at least Rank A!”

In the manhua, high-rank ability users were Rank SSS, Rank SS or Rank S. Mid-rank ability users went from A down to C. D to F was considered low-rank.

There was another simple way to quantify high-rank ability users: anti-world, anti-continent, anti-country. In other words, the upper limit of their power would be to destroy the world, a continent or a country respectively.

There was also a vast difference among the three ranks classified as mid-rank.

Rank C was easy to distinguish from the lower ranks. Most readers agreed that the boss was probably Rank C because his domain measured more than 100m and could not be extended further.

Rank A ability users were already able to lay waste to entire cities. The gulf between them was insurmountable. A Rank A could kill a Rank C without breaking a sweat unless they had a particularly unique ability.

The boss, as someone who had crossed the threshold of mid-rank, certainly knew how outmatched he was. As an ability user, he strictly adhered to one principle: knowing when to pick his battles.

“You only have one life, after all.”

He thought before obediently getting up and guiding this powerhouse into the secret room.

Even this short journey felt like he was walking on pins. The boss could clearly feel that terrifying gaze digging incessantly into his back.

“Here’s hoping this esteemed guest isn’t the type to enough not to resort to murder…”

He didn’t dare bring up the busted front door. Nope. Not in a million years.

Meanwhile, Jiang Lan set down her phone for a second to rub her arms. Only then did she realize she was getting goosebumps.

“This must be the strongest ability user to appear in the manhua so far, right? What’s he going to do?” Jiang Lan started getting worried. “Surely the boss will be alright?”

She fully assumed the boss’ perspective, feeling the terror of an overwhelmingly powerful person kicking down his door.

The scene shifted. The young man was half hidden in the shadows of the dark secret room. He had one leg carelessly crossed over the other like the devil in his element.

The boss put on his most submissive act. He showed his gentlest smile and tried to serve the young man tea, only for the young man to suddenly raise his hand.

The movement was so sharp, so abrupt, that it might as well have been the blade of a guillotine.

In the light of the kerosene lamp, the boss took in the cold, impassive look in the young man’s dark eyes.

His true intentions remained shrouded in impenetrable fog.

A tremble ran through the boss as he served tea. All the hairs on hsi body seemed to stand on end.

“Is he going to make a move?” He dreaded.

Jiang Lan too trembled at this point. “No way! Don’t be a psycho murderer, dude!”

Yet the young man’s hand just shifted again, like he was just waving at random.

“I want the location of ‘Tang’.” He said.

Maybe he just didn’t want tea?

The boss managed to steady his hands and put away the tea set. He could barely keep a faint smile on his face. A drop of cold sweat trickled down his face, thankfully concealed by his bangs.

Jiang Lan also breathed a sigh of relief, only to hold her breath again just moments later.

“He’s also looking for ‘Tang’?” Jiang Lan was even more worried now. “Isn’t the protagonist in danger then?”

The boss seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion. His thoughts were racing on the page.

“Someone like ‘Tang’ is able to make powerhouses like this go out of their way now? Also, where did the information leak from?”

“I did make a promise to that little fellow. Wouldn’t be right to just sell him out like this.”

“Let’s try complimenting him to buy some time to think…”

So he said, “‘Tang’? It seems our esteemed guest is well-informed.” This wasn’t exactly common knowledge, after all…

But before he had a chance to finish speaking.

“You don’t know?” The young man asked.

He spoke casually, like he was just making a remark, but it was obvious he would not accept a negative answer.

This was no joke, but a warning.

The chilling look in those pitch black eyes seemed to pierce out of the screen itself, making Jiang Lan stop breathing for a second.

“How terrifying…” She murmured.

“This guy isn’t playing around!”

The boss was equally if not more affected than Jiang Lan.

He managed to keep it together even though he was starting to panic.

“Integrity is the backbone of my line of work. I’ve already sold the intel to another individual.” But for you, sir, of course I can…

Forget about the protagonist! There was only one thought left in the boss’ mind: He wanted to live to see another day!

Alas, he wasn’t able to finish speaking. Again.

The devil in the dark interrupted him indifferently. “Where is this individual then?”

His features being half hidden in shadows did nothing to lessen his imposing aura.

He gave the boss no time to adjust. In the course of their conversation, it was he who controlled the rhythm with an iron fist.

It was like he was indicating there was no escape. There was no choice but to answer him.

What a cruel man, ah.

The flame in the kerosene lamp flickered, reflecting the tenuous atmosphere. The pressure intensified, weighing down on the boss like a giant boulder.

The boss tried to regulate the breathing, but he could no longer breath this stifling air.

He blurted out in an attempt to escape this predicament,
“You seem to be in quite the hurry, esteemed guest.”

The smile on his gorgeous face stiffened as soon as those words fell. The boss could no longer feel his face. He could barely make his lips twitch even if he wanted to.

He was frozen in place like a statue.

Almost numbly, he realized far too late that no one liked being speculated about, especially the strong.

He had committed a grave offense.

Giant white dialogue boxes over a dark background obscured the young man from the boss’ perspective.

“Killing intent!”

“He wants me dead now!!”

Black words on white paper were all Jiang Lan could see.