Shao Tien [POV]
I sat on the edge of the squeaky, foam-deficient wooden bed, staring blankly at my own hands. My brain felt like it had been put through a blender, set to the "puree" setting, and then poured back into my skull.
I was shocked to my very bones. Absolute, paralyzing shock.
*My God! I'm an Omega?!!!!*
*No... no, no, no! This absolutely cannot be real life!!!*
༼;´༎ຶ ༎ຶ༽
Of all the things in the universe, why did I have to inherit the body of an Omega?! Why?! What cosmic deity did I offend in my past life to deserve this specific brand of biological punishment?
Let's be completely real for a second: a biological male giving birth to a child fathered by some random Alpha guy is just... it is *fucking abnormal*!
This entire world is the absolute epitome of the phrase, "The impossible became possible, and now everyone has to deal with it."
Honestly, this is so much worse than the first world I encountered.
At least in the first world, I didn't have to worry about my internal organs rearranging themselves to host a human child.
I felt a profound, spiritual exhaustion washing over me. I think my very soul was starting to break down and dissolve into the universe.
As I sat there, deeply mourning my new life, my hijacked identity, and my nonexistent reproductive rights, the "oh-so-sweet" voice of that godforsaken System chimed in.
I swear, I don't think I will ever be able to live in peace as long as this digital parasite is attached to my consciousness.
Every single time I hear its voice, a microscopic bomb inside my chest detonates with the force of a supernova.
"Host, are you just *so* happy about your new mission that your eyes are turning all red like you want to cry?" the System asked.
Its voice was practically bursting with a level of cheerful enthusiasm that should be classified as a war crime.
"I am not *fucking* happy, you absolute idiot of a System!" I burst out, screaming inside my own mind.
"I am angry! I am so furious that if I could somehow drag your digital code into the physical world and kill you, I would do it repeatedly until there wasn't even a single pixel of a corpse left of you! You f*cking piece of shit!"
"But why, Host?" the System replied, perfectly mimicking the innocent, wide-eyed tone of a clueless toddler. This somehow made it ten times more infuriating.
"This is literally the easiest mission in the entire universe! Didn't you know that?"
"You—you... *grrrrt*....."
Words failed me.
I was reduced to primitive, feral growling.
I still couldn't believe the absolute absurdity of my situation. *I can get pregnant!*
༎ຶ‿༎ຶ
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**[Author's Note]:**
Hey guys, no offense meant to anyone out there, okay? Please don't kill me! It's just Ren's dramatic internal crisis! \(×∆×)/
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But as much as I wanted to throw a tantrum and burn this rotting shack to the ground, I knew I couldn't actually change reality. I couldn't do anything about the biological cards I had been dealt.
My only viable survival strategy was to continue playing the long game. I had to keep pretending that I was just a mundane, uninteresting Beta—definitely *not* an Omega who would structurally collapse and get pregnant if some dominant Alpha decided to look at them the wrong way.
*Let's just focus on finishing this mission as fast as humanly possible,* I told myself, taking a deep, shuddering breath.
*I will save the leads, find the killer, and get the hell out of here without getting knocked up by some random imperial bastard.*
=====°°°°°
A Tour of the Local Dystopia
To clear the frantic thoughts from my head, I finally stood up and stepped out of the miserable house.
I needed to observe the neighborhood and get a feel for the people living in this small, dusty village.
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[VILLAGE VIBE CHECK]
- Noise Level: Dead quiet.
- Economy: Aggressively poor.
- Community Spirit: Absolutely non-existent.
- Privacy Level: Maximum.
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The environment was incredibly quiet and simple. The village was impoverished, meaning everyone was too busy trying not to starve to care about anyone else.
I quickly realized that the locals didn't like to mind each other's business. There was absolutely no sense of community unity whatsoever, but on the bright side? The privacy was immaculate.
Nobody was coming over to offer me a welcome-to-the-neighborhood fruit basket, which meant nobody was getting close enough to sniff out my hidden Omega pheromones.
༼⁰o⁰;༽
Satisfied that I wasn't about to be immediately hate-crime, I went back inside my sad little house. I looked over at the corner of the room, where a few worn-out burlap sacks and a pathetic pile of slightly bruised vegetables were waiting for me.
I let out another heavy sigh. *Well... time to go to work.* If I didn't sell these vegetables, Shao Tien's body was going to starve to death long before the plot could even think about killing me.
Suddenly, the System's voice pinged one last time.
"Oh, Host! I almost forgot to tell you—the higher-ups just called me in for a mandatory performance review! I have to go now. Good luck with your mission! I am truly going to miss your wonderfully colorful words, Host! Bye-bye!!"
And with a cheerful little *pop* sound, the System went completely offline.
I wasn't even remotely fazed by its sudden departure. In fact, I felt an immediate wave of relief. From the very start, that entity has been nothing but a glorified, highly annoying virus taking up valuable real estate in my brain. Good riddance.
ತ_ತ
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**[Author's Note]:**
If the System could hear how coldly Ren just dismissed its entire existence, it would literally cry its digital eyes out right now.
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With the annoying voice finally gone from my head, I hoisted the heavy sacks of vegetables onto my shoulders. I marched out of the village, setting my sights on the bustling city market.
I had a two-fold objective today:
1. Sell enough sad-looking cabbages to buy a decent meal.
2. Scout out the local military presence and see if I could catch a glimpse of our elusive, tragic Male Lead.
*Sighs...* What a massive pain in the ass.