So I Had No Choice But to Stop Being the White Moonlight – Chapter 1

“Give her oxygen.”

The sea crashed violently against the sand. Dark clouds, swallowing the stars and moon, crowded the night sky, obscuring the waves as they broke upon the shore.

A howling wind swept along the coast, every inch of it wrapped in the biting chill of early spring, screaming that the storm had arrived.

A storm was forecast for tonight. The island, far from the mainland, was pitch-black. Its residents had long since returned home, turned off their lights, and were waiting for the storm to pass.

But there, on the coast bearing the brunt of it all, a lone figure stood, barely visible.

The wind, blowing relentlessly in from the sea, billowed her oversized sweatshirt. The long hair beneath her hood was whipped into a tangled mess.

It was as if the brutal storm was benevolently trying to drive her away, back to safety.

But she paid it no mind.

A dark gray sweatshirt concealed her tall, slender frame. Her posture was sloppy, yet she seemed as steadfast as if she were nailed to the reef.

Beneath her hood and messy hair, a set of long, thick eyelashes curled. The biting wind scraped past, but she merely blinked softly, gazing out at the distant sea as if searching for something.

“Not here yet?” Chi Qian¹ shoved her hands in her pockets and frowned.

It was pitch-black all around her. Her question seemed to be directed at no one but herself.

【Soon.】

But as the sea wind howled past, a cold, steady female voice carried into her ears.

It was hard to see in the darkness, but a closer look would reveal a calico cat crouched beside Chi Qian.

Its long, slender tail was wrapped neatly around its body, like a divine cat from a pyramid mural—upright, proud, and meticulous. Its mouth was closed, yet its voice had reached Chi Qian’s ears.

This was the System she had been matched with when she transmigrated into a book in this world. It currently stayed by her side in the form of a cat and had introduced itself as Thirteen.

Chi Qian didn’t know if a System-turned-cat could feel the temperature, but she knew she certainly could.

Another cold gust of wind blew over. Chi Qian shivered and shrank her neck. “Do you have any idea that it’s already below zero?”

“Can’t you Systems give a precise time? It’s been over an hour,” Chi Qian complained, dissatisfied.

【Apologies. The storm has created too many uncertainties. The System’s complex algorithms are unable to make a precise calculation.】Thirteen stated calmly.

Both the answer and its tone sparked a flicker of irritation in Chi Qian.

As a former code farmer² from a big factory³, Chi Qian turned to look at Thirteen and snorted derisively. “You can’t even handle a day like today. Must be nice having a cushy job like you Systems do.”

Today marked exactly one month since Chi Qian had arrived in this world. More importantly, it was a crucial turning point in the early part of the book.

——Tonight, in the original novel, Chi Qian would find the future arch-villain, Shi Jinlan⁴, on this very beach, becoming the white moonlight⁵ who rescued her from the lowest point in her life, when she was betrayed by the masses and deserted by kin⁶.

Anyone who has read a lot of novels knows that a villain’s white moonlight is usually handed a sacrifice to the heavens script⁷, and this book was no exception.

In the original text, Shi Jinlan, the final villain to appear, was sinister and ruthless, unmoved by the eight winds⁸. She contributed to many of the most thrilling plot points and was hailed as “wife⁹” by readers, her popularity far surpassing that of the male and female leads.

Yet this same villain, so adored outside the book, was a miserable soul within it.

Shi Jinlan’s parents died when she was young, and she was raised by her grandfather under the strictures of a family heir. After taking over the company as an adult, she was betrayed by those closest to her. During a factional struggle, she was forced by her own uncle, Shi Cheng¹⁰, to jump off a seaside cliff. If she hadn’t met her white moonlight then, she probably would have blackened¹¹ long ago.

But the affairs of the world are impermanent¹².

The reason Shi Jinlan was so thoroughly blackened from the moment she appeared in the story was also because of this short-lived white moonlight who found her.

Short-lived…

What could be more shocking and despairing than seeing your own cruel fate right after transmigrating into a book?

Fortunately, Chi Qian’s transmigration was the kind that came with a System. Becoming the villain’s white moonlight was a System task. As long as she completed the mission, she could achieve a true new life after her death escape¹³.

It’s just that…

Chi Qian recalled how Thirteen had used flowery words and clever talk¹⁴ to trick her into accepting the binding, even showing off its vast and detailed system library. Yet now it couldn’t even calculate the time Shi Jinlan would wash ashore. A familiar feeling washed over her.

——Companies and Systems, they all run the same playbook.

——First, they invite you in with a friendly tone, and once you’re in, they put a bit in your mouth and treat you like a cow and horse¹⁵.

Chi Qian’s gaze toward Thirteen was filled with contempt and suspicion.

Thirteen, in turn, felt it was being mocked and looked down upon by this human. Annoyed, it planted its front paws on its tail and simply stopped talking.

The woman and the cat stood there on the reef as waves crashed endlessly onto the shore. The wind tore a small gap in the dark clouds, and under the moonlight, a vast stretch of white-capped waves rolled from east to west, the ones in front fall and the ones behind follow¹⁶.

Chi Qian’s leg was tired from standing on it, so she shifted her weight to the other.

She stared out at the featureless sea and let out a breath. A puff of white mist formed in front of her before being quickly scattered by the wind. “Today really isn’t a good day. Don’t you Systems care about the opportune time, favorable terrain, and support of the people¹⁷?”

【This is the opportune time, favorable terrain, and support of the people.】Thirteen spoke up, correcting Chi Qian in a rigid tone.

Chi Qian opened her mouth to retort the moment she heard it.

But then she closed it again, just looking at the cat.

It seemed Thirteen wasn’t wrong.

This weather, which was awful for an ordinary person like her, was a crucial part of Shi Jinlan’s life.

The System’s calculations had dealt her a cruel sort of perfection, demanding she be betrayed by the masses and deserted by kin, only to then be saved by a task-doer like herself.

The opportune time, the favorable terrain, the support of the people—not one can be missing¹⁸.

What people called fate was actually the manipulation of a System, a path drawn out from the very birth of this world. The closer one was to the world’s center, the more constrained one was, unable to escape.

The defiant look in Chi Qian’s eyes, which just a moment ago had been ready to argue with Thirteen, softened.

The cold wind, carrying the sea spray, blew past, suffusing her world with a sharp chill that felt cruel even to an outsider.

【She’s here.】

Just then, Thirteen’s flat voice cut through the screaming wind.

Chi Qian’s thoughts were instantly scattered by the alert. She immediately looked up, scanning the coastline where the sea churned.

A black dot bobbed amidst the surging waves, carried by the water, steadily approaching.

It was Shi Jinlan, forced to jump into the sea.

According to the plot, Chi Qian was supposed to wait for Shi Jinlan to be washed ashore before going to get her, and that was what she had planned to do.

But the storm was unexpectedly violent, pushing that thin, drifting body toward a jagged, sharp reef not far away.

“She’s going to die!” Chi Qian realized the danger and turned to Thirteen.

【She will not die.】Thirteen was as calm, even cold, as ever.

Right, a crash like that wouldn’t kill her, but it would take half her life!

Moonlight streamed through the gap in the clouds, landing on the black sea. The dark spot being carried by the waves gradually came into focus.

Dark hair was tangled with a deathly pale form. Her face was unclear from a distance. The relentless waves pushed at her limbs, as if trying to smash her against the reef to be devoured.

Adrift, weak, like floating duckweed¹⁹.

Chi Qian’s heart clenched painfully.

She couldn’t just stand by and watch coldly like the System. Tearing off her sweatshirt with one hand, she leaped from the reef into the water.

The early spring seawater was bone-chillingly cold. Chi Qian felt like it was stripping the flesh from her bones.

This body belonged to an island girl who was an excellent swimmer, but Chi Qian herself was a dry-land duck²⁰ who had grown up on the mainland.

Amidst the rising and falling waves, the girl’s limbs weren’t perfectly coordinated, yet they moved with a strange efficiency. A faint light penetrated the dark water. Chi Qian struggled forward, determined to reach her before the next big wave hit.

The sea was never calm, the resistance immense.

Finally, in the turbulent water, Chi Qian grabbed Shi Jinlan’s thin arm.

She pulled with all her might, drawing Shi Jinlan toward her.

And the woman’s face, bit by bit, was pulled into her line of sight.

There were no bloody wounds; it was a very clean face.

Soaked hair clung to her scalp, her well-shaped skull like something from a 3D model. Under Chi Qian’s pull, she leaned against her.

Her straight nose stood out like a mountain peak on her face. Her thick eyelashes on either side were beaded with water, a stark contrast to her deathly pale skin.

Despite her wretched state, despite being tormented to the point of pallor, Chi Qian was certain: this was a very beautiful woman.

The arm Chi Qian gripped was cold and smooth, a section of fair, slender limb that had clearly been meticulously cared for.

Those people are damned bastards!

Chi Qian cursed inwardly, growing even more worried about Shi Jinlan’s condition. “Are you… are you okay?”

“Whoosh——”

“Mmph…”

In the violent storm, Shi Jinlan’s response was drowned out by the sound of a crashing wave.

Having drifted along, pushed by the sea, Shi Jinlan had been fading in and out of consciousness. Hearing someone ask her a question, she struggled to open her eyes.

The moonlight broke through the clouds and poured down. What fell into Chi Qian’s sight was a pair of pupils that flickered with vulnerability in the darkness.

Shi Jinlan looked up, her beautiful eyes filled with the moon’s radiance. The sea’s shimmering surface seemed to pour into them, a deep, unfathomable darkness.

As expected of the future arch-villain—weak, yet still defiant.

But because of that, she seemed all the more pitiful.

Chi Qian’s breath hitched.

Before she could react, her attention was caught by a faint tug.

Shi Jinlan had no strength to speak. Only her will to survive was desperately mustering the last bit of energy in her body, staking everything on clutching Chi Qian’s hand.

The sea wanted to devour her life, and she was asking for help.

Chi Qian felt as if she were holding a fragile life, so fragile it seemed the slightest pressure could crush it to dust.

But in reality, this fragile life had been pushed by the sea and had held on all the way here.

In the bone-chilling water, their clasped hands were pressed tightly together, generating a spark of warmth in the storm.

I have to save her, Chi Qian thought.

She was more determined than she had been in any of her planning sessions with Thirteen over the past month.

Chi Qian tightened her grip on the hand holding hers and swam resolutely toward the shore, pulling her along.

The clouds were scattering, and the last wave had passed safely. Everything seemed to be heading toward a calm conclusion.

But fate was never kind to Shi Jinlan. In the next moment, an even bigger wave struck them from behind.

Chi Qian never expected the storm to lash out with even greater ferocity. With only one arm around Shi Jinlan, she couldn’t exert enough force and was instantly dragged under by the wave.

Chi Qian was caught completely off guard. The water enveloped her, trying to tear Shi Jinlan from her grasp.

Fortunately, Shi Jinlan’s grip on her hand was strong enough that they weren’t separated.

The situation was terrifyingly dangerous. Chi Qian quickly tried to steady herself, keeping her mouth tightly shut, holding on to what little oxygen she had.

【Give her oxygen.】

Thirteen’s voice sounded inside Chi Qian’s mind.

Chi Qian didn’t understand. Huh? she asked Thirteen in her head.

【Give her oxygen.】

Thirteen repeated, its voice tinged with the urgency of a miscalculation.

【She’s about to die from oxygen deprivation!】

Hearing this, Chi Qian couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

Jeez²¹, wasn’t this damn System just acting all cocky as a two-five-eight-ten-thousand²², saying Shi Jinlan wouldn’t die?

What, did it miscalculate?

Useless System!

Besides, they were in the middle of the ocean. How was she supposed to give Shi Jinlan oxygen?

Did it mean… giving her air?

The implication behind Thirteen’s command made Chi Qian’s eyes fly open. “We never said anything about—mmph…”

The conversation in her head was cut short as her thoughts were suddenly severed.

She felt she had lost control of her own body. The woman’s long hair tangled around her fingers, and her own tightly sealed lips were pried open.

Thirteen had taken control of Chi Qian’s body. It forced her to press forward and kiss Shi Jinlan on the lips.

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The author has something to say:

miss me!

I hope everyone enjoys the new story OvO

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