Chapter 15: The So-Called Mission

After Mu Yin accepted the contract, she gained some understanding of the mission she was to undertake. Although she was well-suited for the contract offered by the River of Time and Space, it required her to carry out tasks in various worlds, both large and small.

As for the nature of these tasks, upon reviewing the available options, Mu Yin found that they mostly revolved around protection and substitution. The protection tasks involved safeguarding the so-called Fated Ones—not, as in novels, children favored by the heavens, but rather those bearing a vital mission. In these worlds, the Fated Ones acted as couriers of primal energy: the laws of the lesser worlds couldn’t directly draw energy from the core source, so they relied on these couriers. The reward for such a burden was a fate akin to that of a beloved heroine in a cherished romance, and most of the Fated Ones were women.

However, at some point, individuals identifying as reincarnators or transmigrators began to appear near the Fated Ones in various worlds. Under the banner of overturning their own destinies, they harmed the Fated Ones, leading to untimely deaths, the theft of primal energy, and ultimately damage to the world's core, heralding apocalypses and total destruction.

Substitution tasks followed a similar principle but with a different twist. Unlike the clichéd stand-in trope often seen in fiction, here it referred to significant figures in the larger or mid-sized worlds whose fated destinies had ended unexpectedly. Someone was needed to assume their identity and complete their mission, hence the name “substitution tasks.” These tasks were of a higher order and occurred mainly in the more complete, larger worlds.

The Fated Ones in these worlds differed from those in the lesser worlds: the laws were much more robust, allowing the world to replenish its membrane directly from the core. Thus, the Fated Ones here were not couriers, but rather cleaners. Despite the improved energy transfer, occasional leaks still occurred; primal energy escaping could induce terrifying mutations in flora and fauna or be seized by malicious individuals to endanger the world.

Mutations in the larger worlds were far more terrifying than anything on Blue Star, capable of creating abominations—perhaps even insectoid swarms. The mission of the Fated Ones was to eliminate these threats exceeding the world's capacity to bear.

Yet, these Fated Ones also fell victim to schemes and perished. The difference was that the couriers needed protection because their souls carried irreplaceable primal energy essential to the world, while the cleaners could be replaced. However, the newly chosen substitutes in the larger worlds always seemed to develop in the very ways their worlds wished to avoid, necessitating outside intervention.

After reading the origins of these missions, Mu Yin frowned. No matter how she looked at it, the situations in these worlds seemed eerily akin to those on Blue Star. Was there a connection? This suspicion made her approach the missions with even greater diligence. She glanced at the tasks displayed on the Time Key; thanks to the River of Time and Space’s ability to manipulate chronology, there was no need to prioritize their order.

One thing was clear: worlds already destroyed could not be saved. The River of Time and Space could only send contractors like her to repair anomalies in worlds not yet completely lost. There were limits to reversing time. Mu Yin succeeded because she returned at a point when her world had not yet been utterly destroyed—she made it in time. For others, it was too late.

By chance, she noticed that the mission board was not fixed, but updated in real time, suggesting that she was not the only one carrying out these missions. While she acknowledged this, it didn’t particularly concern her.

After its upgrade, the device felt more like the futuristic AI often described in novels. The River of Time and Space thoughtfully included a danger assessment for each task, rated from one to nine stars.

With her Gear now upgraded to a Key, she could directly access other worlds within a thousand-mile radius of any spatial gate, without needing to be near the gate itself.

She decided to return home and enter the mission at night. Time would continue to flow in her world while she was gone, but upon returning, she could choose to come back at any point within a short range after her departure. Thus, no matter how long she spent in another world, she could always ensure her absence was just a few minutes or hours.

That evening, Mu Yin drew a sigil for peaceful sleep and another for stillness, activating them to ensure she wouldn’t be disturbed. Then she activated the Time-Space Key, chose soul transmigration, and pressed the key to her forehead. Instantly, she felt her body relax. Turning reflexively, she saw her own body lying peacefully, chest rising gently as if in sleep.

Then everything went black, then heavy, as if she had entered a vessel—one that fit poorly, like ill-fitting clothes. She squirmed a few times before finally settling in, though not without some discomfort.

A flood of memories surged into her mind. She skimmed through them and realized she was now living the brief life of a young girl, and learned the current circumstances.

She had chosen a one-star protection mission: to safeguard a Fated Girl and prevent her from being persecuted by a transmigrator. Since she was soul-transmigrating, she needed a vessel.

This vessel had to be a native of the small world, closely connected to the Fated Girl, and destined for a short life—someone who would die within three days of Mu Yin’s arrival, regardless of cause.

Only this way could she reasonably exist in the world. The original soul would enter the cycle of reincarnation early, its fate improved by blessings or merit—perhaps reborn into a better family—while Mu Yin could take its place, her fate no longer bound by the original timeline. How far she could go depended on her own choices.

Generally, she could return after completing her mission, or, should she wish, she could remain for a lifetime. Returning would only take a few minutes or hours.

Mu Yin decided to see how things unfolded. She began to recall her task in this world.

The target was Tian Ya, an unremarkable girl except for a fate that mirrored that of a romance novel heroine: born ordinary, yet destined to meet a distinguished, handsome soulmate and live a fairy-tale marriage.

Looking at Tian Ya’s original fate, if Mu Yin hadn’t been sure this was a real minor world, she would have thought she’d fallen into a romance novel, with Tian Ya as the clueless, sweet heroine and the male lead, Guo Yuhao, as the domineering CEO type.

Indeed, the world’s plot was reminiscent of the Taiwanese dramas her mother loved. Tsk, whose design was this fate, anyway? Was it the handiwork of those romance novelists, or had the world’s will simply gotten lazy and copied a random storyline?