Chapter 1: Pain – Let’s Stay Away From Them From Now On!
When Yu Xia regained consciousness within his hazy mind, he felt that something was fundamentally wrong.
He was in pain—a fine, numbing, yet continuous ache that spread throughout his entire body. If he were asked to pinpoint the exact cause, he couldn’t; he simply felt pain without knowing exactly where it originated.
Just then, he felt someone gently nudge him. A voice spoke, sounding as if a heavy burden had been lifted: “Good, good. At least he pulled through.”
Soon, another person chimed in: “It was indeed very dangerous, but it’s good that he’s awake. Although it seems only his consciousness has returned for now, and it will take some time before he is truly lucid, this is already a great sign. Also, we can’t let him have his way anymore. Once Yu Xia is fully awake, you must force him to train his physical constitution, even if you have to coerce him. Otherwise, sooner or later, his mental power will backlash again and turn him into a vegetable.”
A vegetable? Were they talking about him?
Yu Xia was startled and immediately tried to recall what had happened to him and why he was suddenly on the verge of becoming a vegetable. It was at this moment that he realized a segment of memory that didn’t belong to him had appeared in his mind.
After processing this memory, he finally understood why he was at risk of becoming a “vegetable.”
This memory belonged to another person also named “Yu Xia.” Unlike the original Yu Xia, who was an ordinary person from modern times, this “Yu Xia” was different. He came from an interstellar orphanage and was an Omega.
Yes, an Omega.
Not only was “Yu Xia” an Omega, but he also possessed mental power as high as SS-rank.
As an Omega, “Yu Xia’s” constitution was like that of most others of his kind—significantly weaker than Alphas and Betas. The original Yu Xia was no exception; even at eighteen years old, his physical constitution was only D-rank.
A D-rank constitution and SS-rank mental power meant a gap of four levels. His body simply couldn’t withstand such high mental power. Before the current Yu Xia arrived, the original owner had lived in constant pain caused by the mismatch between his mental power and physical body.
The director of the orphanage often mentioned that the original owner should exercise properly. Only by raising his constitution level through training could the pain be alleviated. Otherwise, even if drugs were used to suppress the sensation, the pain would only return with a vengeance once the medication wore off.
However, for the original owner, coping with the incessant pain consumed all his energy, leaving none for physical exercise. In Yu Xia’s inherited memories, the original owner was indeed often in such agony that he wished he could just die and be done with it.
Because of the excessive physical pain, the original owner didn’t have many close acquaintances in the orphanage. Most of his time was spent dealing with the pain, and on the rare occasions he felt slightly better, he would try his best to get some sleep.
Even though Yu Xia hadn’t personally experienced those eighteen years, just seeing them through the memories made him feel that the original owner’s life had been too miserable. And at the thought that he would be the one experiencing the pain from now on, Yu Xia almost wanted to cry.
It really did hurt—as if countless blunt knives were meticulously carving into his body. The pain was beyond words.
Furthermore, when comparing the memories with his own knowledge, Yu Xia felt even worse.
The original Yu Xia happened to be a cannon fodder character in a novel he had read before. He only realized this identity thanks to the memories left in the body.
The main reason the original owner had fallen into a coma—allowing this body to be inhabited by a new soul—was that the book’s protagonist shou, Yun Shaocheng, had brought the protagonist gong, Ye Zhichen, to say some sarcastic things to him.
“What is the point of someone like you living? You’re just a waste of the Empire’s resources.”
“Have some self-awareness in the future. Don’t go bossing Shaocheng around for no reason. Look at yourself—do you even deserve to?”
“…”
The protagonist gong’s words were quite vicious. Even though Yu Xia hadn’t actually been the one spoken to—it was the original owner who had faced the protagonist gong—recalling it now made him feel that such words were hardly what a “protagonist” should say.
The original owner’s mental power was already unstable. Under such provocation, it was no wonder his mental power backlashed in anger, landing him in the hospital and leading to a change of souls.
Thinking about having to take over this body with a complete mismatch between mental power and physical constitution gave Yu Xia a massive headache.
It really hurt!
The voices nearby gradually faded. Yu Xia struggled to move his current body.
Great. It hurt even more than before. No wonder the original owner refused to exercise. If lying still was much more comfortable than moving, why bother?
Yu Xia opened his eyes somewhat aggrievedly. The first thing he saw was a white ceiling.
Beside him came the voice that appeared frequently in the original owner’s memories—the one urging him to exercise. A peeled apple was handed to him: “You’re awake? Have an apple. This kind of plant is somewhat helpful for soothing your mental power. Eat it all; these little things are very expensive.”
Yu Xia held the peeled apple, which looked ordinary and even a bit ugly to him, and took a small bite.
His eyes immediately lit up.
It wasn’t that the apple was particularly delicious. Compared to the apples he had eaten on Earth, this ugly apple was actually not very tasty and even a bit tart. However, just as the Director had said, it truly benefited his body.
While the pain didn’t vanish completely, compared to the piercing agony he felt when moving just a moment ago, it was at least bearable.
Still, it was very uncomfortable. Yu Xia took another bite with a look of grievance. This apple really didn’t taste good; if it were in the past, it was the kind of thing he would have tossed into the trash.
Director Xie stood by Yu Xia’s hospital bed. Only after seeing him eat the apple did he breathe a sigh of relief. Then he began to scold: “I told you a long time ago to exercise properly. Relying on other things only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. Even the apple you’re eating now can only provide temporary relief. Industrially synthesized drugs are even worse; they can’t even soothe the pain, they only suppress it. But suppressing it too hard will cause a backlash. Ultimately, you have to return to physical exercise. Don’t think about those messy shortcuts anymore; they’re useless. Just exercise obediently, okay?”
Yu Xia nodded obediently: “Mm.”
The Director looked at Yu Xia for a long while before his tense face finally softened: “That’s more like it. By the way, I have a piece of good news and a piece of bad news for you. Which do you want to hear first?”
Yu Xia felt he needed some good news to offset the fact that he had inherited a body that was constantly in pain: “The good news, please.”
“The good news is that after this mental power backlash, your mental power has jumped up another level. You are now SSS-rank. One of the hospital’s mental power testing devices even exploded.” Although the Director was delivering “good news,” his expression was one of great sympathy. He sighed and continued before Yu Xia could ask, “And the bad news is that because of this good news, you will be in even more pain than before.”
Yu Xia’s apple-munching stopped. He looked up at the Director: “More pain?”
The Director nodded, giving a firm answer: “Exactly.”
Yu Xia put down the apple and pulled the blanket over his head: “I’m probably just not awake yet. I’m going back to sleep.”
The Director amusedly pulled Yu Xia out from under the covers and placed the half-eaten apple back in his hand: “Finish it before you sleep. It’s very expensive. Besides, even if you sleep again, the increased mental power has already increased; it won’t be suppressed back down. Face reality early and exercise obediently. I’ll help you prepare some mental power soothing agents later, but you can’t drink them too often, understood?”
Yu Xia bit the apple aggrievedly: “What kind of mess is this!”
The Director stood up: “Alright, just get some good rest now. After eating this apple, you should at least be able to sleep well tonight. I’m leaving; I still need to go see those two troublemakers. You rest well.”
The “troublemakers”—did he mean the original protagonists?
After finishing the apple, Yu Xia sat on the hospital bed and thought for a while. Finally, he lay back down, turned over, and covered himself with the blanket.
As a cannon fodder character in the original book, whether it was the protagonist gong or the protagonist shou, he should just stay far away from them in the future!
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