Chapter 2: Transmigrated as the Abused Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character
The dimly lit underground parking garage was quiet and deserted.
Xin Yao stood by the car door, staring at the creature inside.
She called it a creature because it wasn’t human, but she hesitated to call it a thing for fear it might jump out and attack her.
Because nestled in the driver’s seat was a giant white dog, seemingly taller than herself!
It sat sprawled in the seat like a human, its left front paw casually draped over the window, a cigar clenched jauntily in its mouth. It glanced at Xin Yao’s stunned expression, then coolly tilted its head.
【Woman, wipe that worthless look off your face.】
Xin Yao: “…” That condescending tone…it’s definitely my dog system.
But she had only cursed it out of frustration. She never imagined the system would actually be a dog!
This world is insane. Dogs are systems smoking cigars…what’s next, a mouse as a bridesmaid for a cat?
Despite the shock, she had to admit, the dog system was undeniably handsome.
It resembled a fluffy Samoyed mix, its snow-white fur thick and soft, making it look like a cuddly ball of fluff. Its large, round, dark eyes seemed to speak volumes, adding to its striking appearance.
Xin Yao felt an urge to rush over and smother it with kisses…if it weren’t for the disdainful sneer on its doggy face.
It’s the most beautiful dog I’ve ever seen! … If it weren’t for the cigar and the bulging biceps that look like they could take down ten of me.
Biceps…right? I can’t call them dogceps.
Xin Yao’s thoughts raced as she gradually recovered from the shock.
Still slightly bewildered, she climbed into the passenger seat, closed the door, and paused before speaking.
“You’re…my system?”
【Yup.】
The cigar-smoking dog exhaled a puff of smoke, its eyes hazy in the thick cloud, like a brooding heartthrob.
Xin Yao felt even more confused. “Am I still dreaming?”
【Nope.】
“So, you really are Wang Dui Dui?”
【That’s right.】
“So…a dog is a system?”
【You betcha.】
“So…the system is a dog?”
【Absolutely. You’re seeing it, aren’t you?… Wait a minute, are you insulting me?!】
Xin Yao fell silent.
Well, if transmigration and rebirth existed, why not a dog as a system?
Still, it was incredible. It was just like a human, talking, driving, and even planning mahjong games!
Xin Yao’s shock subsided, replaced by curiosity.
“Can I…pet you?”
Wang Dui Dui glanced back at her.
【Lady, that’s harassment.】
Disappointed, Xin Yao withdrew her eager hand and opted for a different question.
“Are you…neutered?”
【How dare you ask that on our first meeting?!】
Wang Dui Dui stopped puffing on its cigar and turned to face Xin Yao, its expression stern.
【Lady, that is serious harassment. I can sue you.】
Fearful of being taken to the police station by a dog, Xin Yao finally quieted down.
Wang Dui Dui was used to this. Systems often encountered hosts who couldn’t control themselves.
Having dodged the host’s advances, Wang Dui Dui fulfilled its duty, starting the car and driving Xin Yao home.
This dog can actually drive! Xin Yao marveled. I’m being chauffeured by a dog! Unable to contain her curiosity, she started chatting with Wang Dui Dui.
She learned that Wang Dui Dui was just one system employee in a department under the main system.
Multiple departments operated like a complex machine under the main system’s control.
For example, the System Department directly interacted with hosts, providing them with services; the Host Department, the main task completers, traveled to different worlds to carry out missions; the R&D Department, the support staff, developed drugs, skills, and other tools for the hosts…
And many other essential departments.
These departments, with their vast staff, along with the overarching main system, constituted the complete system, collectively known as the 【Bright World】.
The 【Bright World】 was said to encompass countless worlds, so the diversity of its staff was unsurprising.
Like Wang Dui Dui’s System Department, humans were only a small fraction. Other departments had cats, dogs, tigers, whales, eagles, and even sentient carnivorous plants.
Some lucky hosts even encountered the rare panda system.
Xin Yao listened with fascination.
I wonder if I’ll ever get to visit the Bright World headquarters. It must be paradise!
Wang Dui Dui, having seen countless humans with such whimsical thoughts, sneered.
“Pfft.”
Xin Yao mimicked his sneer, then leaned back against the seat, turning to look out the window.
It was late morning now, and the winter sun finally radiated some warmth.
The streets bustled with people, cars, and scenery, a typical lively morning, seemingly no different from her previous world.
But everything had changed.
As she watched the scenery pass by, Xin Yao’s relaxed expression suddenly faltered. Something clicked.
She sat up straight and turned to look at the calmly driving dog.
Wang Dui Dui remained focused on the road, maintaining a steady speed.
But that was the problem. A dog was driving!
Wang Dui Dui seemed so human that she hadn’t even registered the absurdity of the situation.
“Aren’t you worried about being seen like this? What if someone sees a dog driving? Will we get arrested? Do you even have a license?!”
【Duh.】
Wang Dui Dui was much calmer than her.
【I’ve even flown fighter jets. A driver’s license is nothing.】
“Oh, okay then.” Xin Yao felt a pang of envy. This dog has a license, and I don’t.
Damn it, shown up by a dog!
“Wait, don’t avoid the question! What if other people see you?”
【Don’t worry, the people in this world can’t see me.】
“Isn’t that even more terrifying?!”
【Fine, I’ll materialize then.】
“What’s the difference, doggo?”
【Ugh, you’re so annoying! I’ll use an illusion and transform into a human, happy now?!】
“And…why are you smoking, you’re a dog!”
【I’m not smoking, I’m…】
“Smoking out of loneliness, I get it.”
【You get nothing! I’m smoking a cigar!】
After bickering all the way home, Xin Yao finally arrived.
Entering her password and stepping inside, she was greeted by a warm, minimalist apartment decorated in soothing shades of cream and white.
However, the apartment was so spacious and sparsely furnished that it felt slightly cold and empty.
The original owner had just returned from abroad and hadn’t been here long.
The sight of the cozy apartment lifted Xin Yao’s spirits. After all, she had worked herself to death in her past life just to buy her own place.
But the excitement triggered her hangover, making her head spin.
Wang Dui Dui had been following her, walking upright like a human, looking even taller and more robust than her.
Noticing her discomfort, it effortlessly scooped her up and placed her on the sofa.
Then, as if it owned the place, the dog system made a beeline for the liquor cabinet.
【Your alcohol must be expensive. Let me have a couple of sips.】
What kind of dog is this? Smoking, drinking, playing mahjong…it does it all.
Xin Yao sat up and called out.
“It’s very expensive! Don’t drink too much!”
【Okay.】
Silence fell over the apartment.
The spacious room became quiet and still.
In the cool tranquility, Xin Yao leaned back, her gaze drifting upwards.
The midday sun fell upon her languid eyes as her thoughts wandered, returning to her mission.
Since this was Xin Yao’s first mission, it was a simple D-rank task, typical for beginners.
In the 【Bright World】, D-rank missions usually came from wishers.
Wishers paid with their souls to issue missions, and hosts accepted these missions, entering different worlds to fulfill the wishes.
To protect the hosts and prevent them from getting lost in the mission worlds, they used their own bodies for each task.
The wish Xin Yao had accepted for her first mission, a wish the wisher had paid for with her soul even after death, was:
【I wish for Xin Wanyin to be saved and find happiness.】
Xin Yao had been surprised when she first reviewed Xin Wanyin’s information. In a sense, Xin Wanyin wasn’t an ordinary person.
She was the female lead of a melodramatic, angst-ridden novel.
Xin Wanyin was a wealthy heiress, pampered by her father and older sister since childhood. She was destined for a life of envy.
But then, she fell in love.
His name was Xu Qing. He was young, pure, seemingly aloof yet scholarly. Though poor, he possessed integrity and principles.
After just a few encounters, Xin Wanyin fell head over heels for him, pursuing him relentlessly.
They finally got together, but her father disapproved of the relationship, and her sister disliked Xu Qing, opposing their union.
Blinded by love, Xin Wanyin refused to listen. To be with Xu Qing, she defied her family, resorting to hunger strikes, cold wars, and running away from home.
Her loving father, unable to bear his daughter’s suffering, finally relented.
Things seemed to go smoothly until their marriage. They appeared deeply in love.
Then, tragedy struck. Xin Wanyin died in a car accident.
But her existence didn’t end there. She became a wandering spirit, following Xu Qing.
And that was where the real tragedy began.
Initially, as a spirit watching over Xu Qing, Xin Wanyin felt love and heartache for him.
She watched him lose his appetite and sleep, his health deteriorating, her heart breaking for him.
But she was dead. She couldn’t interact with her beloved. Instead, she witnessed another woman enter his life.
This woman was his childhood sweetheart. She joined his company and became his secretary.
Cheerful and optimistic, the sweetheart showered him with affection and care, pursuing him ardently.
At first, he rejected her advances, but she persisted, relentlessly offering him warmth and comfort.
Their relationship continued to develop.
Until one day, the sweetheart was involved in a car accident. Xu Qing, terrified of losing her, finally succumbed to his feelings.
Xin Wanyin watched helplessly as another woman entered her husband’s world.
She watched them fall in love.
She watched them kiss in the house she had decorated.
She watched them make love in her flower room, even breaking her orchids.
Then, Xin Wanyin realized that ever since Xu Qing met his sweetheart, he had stopped tending to her flowers.
Watching the two of them in the flower room, Xin Wanyin felt a wave of nausea, a stifled gasp escaping her lips.
The man who had sworn to love her forever had fallen for another woman just a year after her death.
Perhaps she could have accepted that. After all, she was dead, and Xu Qing had the right to move on.
But then, they got married.
And that was what truly broke Xin Wanyin.
On their wedding day, the house was filled with guests, celebrating and making merry.
Xin Wanyin’s dog, Xin Ping’an, startled by the commotion, accidentally scratched the sweetheart.
For the first time, Xin Wanyin saw Xu Qing explode in anger. He kicked Xin Ping’an and threatened to have the dog euthanized.
Xin Wanyin cried out in protest: Xu Qing, how could you! That’s my dog!
Since Xin Wanyin’s death, Xin Ping’an had been listless, waiting by the door every day for her return.
Xu Qing was slowly forgetting her, but little Ping’an still remembered.
He’s worse than a dog!
But Xin Wanyin was dead. No one could hear her cries.
She could only watch helplessly as Xu Qing sent Xin Ping’an away, watching her beloved dog die.
Xin Wanyin went mad. She couldn’t bear to watch anymore.
But more heartbreak followed.
Her father, consumed by grief for her and her deceased older sister, fell gravely ill.
Naturally, Xu Qing, his former son-in-law, took over her father’s company, thriving under his leadership. The Xin Corporation, bearing the Xin family name, became Xu Qing’s personal domain.
Meanwhile, Xin Wanyin’s grave remained unvisited, her name unspoken. Aside from her ailing father, no one remembered her.
In the end, the sweetheart became pregnant and needed a nursery. The only available room was a storage room filled with Xin Wanyin’s belongings.
Xu Qing said, ‘Throw those things away.’
Even the sweetheart hesitated. ‘Isn’t that a bit much?’
Xu Qing said, ‘It’s fine. You’re the most important.’
The last vestiges of Xin Wanyin’s existence were erased.
Her sister had died young.
She had died young.
Now, her father was dying.
The Xin Corporation belonged entirely to Xu Qing.
Everything was gone.
She couldn’t watch anymore. She refused to watch!
Consumed by hatred, Xin Wanyin clawed out her own eyes.
Perhaps her hatred was so potent that it attracted the attention of a demon slayer, who, fearing Xin Wanyin might harm the living, swiftly ended her existence.
All that suffering, all that intense hatred, vanished in a single stroke of the sword.
Xin Wanyin closed her eyes, tears of blood streaming down her face.
She was filled with hate.
And regret.
That was the tragic and empty life of Xin Wanyin.
When Xin Yao first read this story, she almost choked.
Xu Qing, that gold-digging scumbag, was disgusting.
Living in his ex-wife’s house, running her company, using her money to support his new wife…he was living the dream!
Everything he had was built on his ex-wife’s ashes, and he discarded her without a second thought.
It was truly sickening.
Moreover, by the end of the story, no one in the Xin family was alive, and the company was in Xu Qing’s hands. If Xu Qing was innocent, Xin Yao would rip off the dog system’s head and use it as a soccer ball.
Sure enough, when Xin Yao flipped through the story, after the female lead’s perspective, there was a male lead’s perspective.
It turned out Xu Qing’s approach to Xin Wanyin had been premeditated.
He was seeking revenge.
The Xin family had started in construction. Thanks to Xin Wanyin’s father’s honesty and enthusiasm, their business grew, eventually becoming a corporation.
Xu Qing’s father had died in a construction accident on one of Xin Wanyin’s father’s sites.
His already ailing mother died of grief, and their house and meager compensation were seized by relatives.
His family was ruined, his life shattered. The happy home he once knew was gone, and he wanted nothing more than to kill the construction magnate responsible.
So, at a young age, Xu Qing plotted his revenge.
He abandoned his dreams and enrolled in the same school as the construction magnate’s younger daughter, Xin Wanyin, intentionally getting close to her.
It turned out he had always loved his childhood sweetheart. Her later employment as his secretary had also been orchestrated by him.
He had looked down on Xin Wanyin, finding her troublesome and extravagant, with her separate glasses for different wines and her passivity in bed.
It was he who had orchestrated Xin Wanyin’s sister’s death.
And Xin Wanyin’s car accident.
In the end, he successfully destroyed the Xin Corporation, his revenge complete.
Before Xin Wanyin’s father died, Xu Qing stood by his bedside, his face twisted in malicious glee, revealing everything he had done.
The old man died of shock and anger.
Xu Qing took complete control of the Xin Corporation and lived happily ever after.
Xin Yao was appalled.
So, after accepting the mission, she had been pondering how to complete it.
It was simple enough. The key was Xu Qing.
As long as Xu Qing’s plot was exposed and his life became miserable, Xin Wanyin would find happiness.
Based on the timeline, Xin Wanyin and Xu Qing were already together, and the plot point where Xin Wanyin runs away from home for love was approaching.
Xin Yao only had to do one thing: break them up.
This time, Xin Yao was playing the role of Xin Wanyin’s older sister.
In the original story, the older sister was a minor character, appearing in only a few scenes:
[The older sister disapproves of Xin Wanyin and Xu Qing’s relationship.]
[The older sister attends their wedding.]
[The older sister is killed by Xu Qing.]
A classic tragic cannon fodder character.
But a cannon fodder character, used correctly, could have a significant impact.
Xin Yao, also an older sister, raised an eyebrow. She wouldn’t let Xu Qing off easily.
The excitement brought on another wave of her hangover, making her head throb.
The dog system had already raided the liquor cabinet, sitting there with its legs crossed, two empty bottles beside it, its alcohol tolerance clearly far exceeding Xin Yao’s.
This dog smokes, drinks…is this system company even legitimate?
Perhaps sensing Xin Yao’s suspicion, the dog system set down the bottle.
【Alright, alright, I’ll make you some hangover soup, happy now?】
It stood up on its hind legs and headed for the kitchen.
For the eighth time that day, Xin Yao marveled at the fact that she was being served by a dog chef.
But she had to admit, the dog system’s cooking was surprisingly good. Even simple hangover soup tasted delicious.
After finishing the soup, Xin Yao felt drowsy, exhausted from the previous night’s…activities.
She grabbed a blanket from the sofa, intending to take a nap. Before drifting off, she reminded the system,
“Don’t drink too much.”
The dog system waved a paw dismissively.
【Yeah, yeah.】
She slept soundly for an unknown amount of time, until the doorbell jolted her awake.
The insistent ringing roused her from her slumber. Still groggy, she stumbled to the door without putting on her shoes.
The door creaked open, letting in the evening light and revealing the figure outside. It was her younger sister, Xin Wanyin.
Xin Wanyin was truly a beautiful girl, with fair skin, bright eyes, and delicate features. She looked pampered and radiated youthful energy and the gentle air of a wealthy heiress.
Seeing Xin Yao, she chirped, “Sister!” her smile sweet and innocent.
The information Xin Yao had read had been cold, impersonal text. Seeing the living, breathing person before her, she truly grasped the cruelty of the story’s trajectory.
This girl, with her beautiful cat-like eyes, would eventually claw them out.
Xin Yao’s gaze softened with tenderness and a hint of sadness, then gradually turned cold.
Just as she reached out to stroke her sister’s hair, about to say something—
Xin Wanyin’s cheerful expression froze, replaced by bewilderment and then disbelief as she stared past Xin Yao, her eyes widening.
“What…what is that?”
A sense of foreboding washed over Xin Yao. She whipped around to see what had caught her sister’s attention.
There, on the living room sofa, sprawled a five-foot-seven white dog.
It lay there like a human, its head lowered as it played with Xin Yao’s tablet.
However, the illusion it had used to drive Xin Yao home was wearing off. Its body had reverted to its canine form, but its head remained human-like.
Fortunately, the system’s human camouflage mode automatically corrected the issue, transforming the human face into a New Year’s doll mask perched on the dog’s head.
As if that weren’t enough, the dog was wearing headphones, its head bobbing to the music.
【Just beat it!】
It seemed to be thoroughly enjoying itself.
Only when it heard Xin Wanyin’s surprised gasp did it react, reflexively switching off the music and slumping onto the sofa.
Silence descended upon the room. The two girls and the dog stared at each other.
After a moment, Wang Dui Dui shifted its position, lying down with its paws crossed, then lifting its New Year’s doll mask-covered head to look at the two girls at the door, a stiff smile plastered on its face.
It resembled an Egyptian statue.
How could she explain this?
There was no way to justify it!
Xin Yao stared at the dog system, racking her brain. Finally, she stammered, “Uh…this is…um…a…Sphinx?!”