Chapter 1#

Prologue#

996 walked with elegant cat steps towards a room at the deepest part of the corridor. On the way, it met many colleagues.

These colleagues looked very strange. Some were golden spheres, floating in the air like dust, and they shared a common name called System; others looked like big octopuses, with many slimy and terrifying tentacles wriggling around their round heads, and they also had a unified name called Cthulhu; still others had no physical form, just wisps of black shadow, like ghosts.

996 passed by these colleagues without looking sideways, lowering its eyes to look at its snow-white paws, and snickered to itself: “I am indeed the most magnificent divine envoy, meow. No one’s beauty can compare to mine—”

The second half of the sentence was swallowed by 996 with a gulp.

At this moment, it had walked into the huge space where the Main God was located.

This space had no light source, but was filled with a faint and soft white light. In this soft white halo, a pitch-black egg-shaped object stood abruptly.

This object was over ten meters high. Although egg-shaped, the outer layer was not wrapped in a hard eggshell. It was more like a miniature universe condensed from chaotic gas, brilliant stars, and vast galaxies.

When the surrounding white soft light touched this small universe, it was absorbed, forming vortex-shaped nebulae and galaxies. Billions of stars twinkled, like fine diamonds spread on black velvet.

This scene was indescribably beautiful.

However, what made 996 shut up abruptly and feel ashamed of its own inferiority was not this elliptical miniature universe, but the man standing in front of the universe, looking up.

Black hair reaching his ankles held a lustrous shimmer, sliding down his thin shoulders. A snow-white face was hidden in this overly thick and overly magnificent hair.

His clothing, figure, and appearance were all obscured by the cloud-like hair, yet one could still deeply realize at first glance that this was a beauty.

A top-tier beauty.

996’s self-praise was cut off by this breathtaking scene.

There was originally no light source in the room, but because this person appeared here, there was a light source.

There was a magnificent universe hidden in the room, but because this person appeared before the universe, the stars dimmed.

996 gulped, swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

Hearing the noise, the man turned his head slightly to look over. His misty eyes, which originally had no focus, suddenly overflowed with fine light, and his thin, pale lips gently raised in an arc.

The moment a flower blooms is no more beautiful than this.

“Hello, I have been waiting for you for a long time. How should I address you?” The man opened his red lips lightly and spoke a soft sentence.

This voice was like jade falling into a clear spring, low and husky, floating shallowly in the air.

996’s ears immediately folded into airplane ears, not out of fear, but because this voice really tickled its eardrums.

For a moment, 996 couldn’t find words to describe the other party.

A beautiful ghost? A spirit? A monster?

In short, the current 996 could no longer be considered the most magnificent creature in the Bureau of Generating Electricity for Love.

“Hello, you can call me Lord Divine Envoy.” 996 puffed out its chest and greeted indifferently.

The man turned to face 996, pursed his pale thin lips, and smiled gently again: “Lord Divine Envoy indeed has an extraordinary demeanor.”

Only then did 996 discover that the other party’s white robe was covered in bloodstains. Those crimson blood spots were like red plum blossoms blooming in the snow, in clusters and clumps, shocking yet revealing a poignant beauty.

There was a bloody hole in his chest, as if his heart had been pierced by a sharp weapon. A sword mark slashed diagonally from his left shoulder across his entire upper body, revealing the dense white bones hidden under the flesh…

The man was heavily injured, so much so that his soul was almost unable to condense into a solid form.

His beautifully shaped thin lips had no trace of blood color, and his already fair skin was white to the point of transparency under the rendering of the dim light, as if he had lost all vitality. However, these fatal wounds and bloodstains failed to diminish his appearance; instead, they added a bit of broken temperament to him.

He was beautiful, ethereally beautiful, mysteriously beautiful, and fragilely beautiful.

996 subconsciously held its breath and asked softly: “Are you already dead, or dying?” It was afraid that if its voice was a little louder, it would blow away the man’s soul.

The man lowered his eyes to look at the bloodstains on his lapel, then stroked his heart which was in severe colic every moment, and smiled helplessly: “It seems I am dying.”

“So you are here to extend your life, meow.” 996 nodded.

The man used his long, slender fingertips to gently stroke a spot of blood on his cuff. “Yes,” he lowered his eyes, frowning as if caught in bad memories, but then smiled in an instant: “I don’t want to die yet.”

As he spoke, a trace of blood overflowed from the corner of his lips, but he elegantly wiped it away.

“People who come here don’t want to die. It is precisely because He heard your cry for help that the Main God summoned you here.” 996 pointed to the egg-shaped universe.

“Is this the deity?” The man looked at the mysterious sphere covered with stars with curious eyes.

“Yes, this is our Lord Main God. It can grant you divine power to repair your broken body and soul, but the premise is that you have to work for Him.”

996 lowered its head to look at the smart brain worn on its small paw and reminded: “Your condition is very serious. The data shows that your internal organs are shattered, and your divine soul has also been heavily damaged. If you want to survive, you must follow me to various small worlds to do tasks. Of course, if you don’t want to do tasks, you can leave now. After leaving, there is only a dead end for you.”

This kind of rhetoric, combining coaxing and intimidation, had always made desperate wandering souls completely obey 996.

996 raised its head, ready to appreciate the man’s fearful and uneasy expression.

But the man just lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, then asked in a voice as gentle as water: “Then what is my task?”

“Our company’s slogan is ‘Love and Peace’, and our task is to help destined couples be together. In short, it’s matchmaking.” 996 raised its head proudly.

“Matchmaking? You want me to be a matchmaker?” The man was slightly surprised.

He didn’t expect the task issued by the Main God to be so simple.

“It’s not simple at all, meow! You underestimate this job too much!” 996 puffed out its already high chest again, and intentionally or unintentionally showed off its big flower arm.

It was an American Shorthair cat, wearing a black tie around its neck. Its chest and belly were snow-white, but its left arm was full of tabby-like patterns, like a large tattoo. The pattern on its head was also very beautiful, with a character “Wang” (King) right in the middle of its forehead, looking majestic.

Of course, only it thought it was the character “Wang”. In fact, in the eyes of others, that character lacked the most important horizontal stroke, clearly looking like the character “Tu” (Earth/Soil).

The man looked at the chubby cat with the character “Tu” on its forehead, the corners of his lips curved slightly, seeming to want to laugh, but held it back.

“What exactly is my task?” He leaned forward slightly and asked very seriously. His long and smooth hair flowed like a waterfall, bringing a strong fragrance.

996 felt dizzy from the scent, covered its nose with its chubby little paw, and said in a muffled voice: “Your main task is to promote the emotional development between the destined couple. In short, act as the supporting male character.”

“Supporting male character? What is that?” The man blinked his peach blossom eyes filled with fine light.

996 waved its small paw: “It doesn’t matter if you don’t know, you just need to do the task well. But your face…”

996 walked around the man twice, staring straight at the man’s face, and grumbled not very satisfied: “Your face is not very suitable for being a supporting male character. But it doesn’t matter, I will let you use the body and appearance of the plot character. No matter how beautiful this face is, it won’t get in the way.”

The man raised his slender eyebrows, a gleam flashing in his eyes.

996 was unaware and continued to say: “Alright, give your body to me for safekeeping. I will take your soul to transmigrate.”

The man frowned and asked: “Must I give the body to you?”

996 scratched the ground impatiently with its paw: “It’s fine if you don’t give it to me, as long as you can find a place safer than my portable space.”

The man lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, then smiled bitterly: “Then I’ll leave it to Lord Divine Envoy. I indeed cannot find a place safer than Lord Divine Envoy’s place.”

The world was so big, yet there was no place for him.

The man turned to look at the miniature universe covered with stars, his gaze deep and distant, then looked at 996, opened his palm, and summoned a milky white seed from the depths of his soul.

“This is my true form.” He handed the seed to 996.

996 held the seed and asked in confusion: “What is this?”

“My true form is a rose. In order to preserve the last trace of vitality, I degenerated into a seed.” The man sighed softly and asked: “Lord Divine Envoy, can we set off now?”

“You are a flower demon?” 996 stared at the man’s flower-like beautiful face and nodded in realization: “No wonder, meow! Alright, come with me. When you go to the small world, you must listen to me. Every task must be executed seriously. If you can’t complete the task and get points, you won’t be able to exchange for divine power.”

“May I ask what counts as completing the task? How many points can I get for each task, and how much divine power can I exchange for? How much divine power do I need in total to repair my body and soul? After repairing, can I leave?” Qin Qing asked carefully.

“Going through all the plot points of the supporting male character and successfully bringing the destined couple together counts as completing the task. One plot point is 10 points. The score for each task depends on how many plot points you have. If the destined couple doesn’t end up together, then your task fails. If you fail three times in a row, the Main God will send you back to your original world. Going back means only a dead end. 100 points exchange for one unit of divine power. Your body and soul have been heavily damaged. I estimate you need to accumulate at least one hundred thousand points of divine power to survive. When you fully recover, the Main God will let you leave. Our company is a company that spreads love, not some terrorist organization.”

996 answered the questions while storing Qin Qing’s true form into its tie. This tie was its portable space.

“Spreading love? It seems your company is destined for me. Okay, I understand.” The man smiled meaningfully and said softly: “I seem to have forgotten to say, my name is Qin Qing. Qin as in Qin Shi Ming Yue (The bright moon of Qin times), Qing as in Shan Qing Hua Yu Ran (Mountains are green, flowers are about to burn).”

“Mountains are green, flowers are about to burn? You are a rose, why aren’t you called Qin Qiang or Qin Wei? Or even Qin Qiangwei would be fine.” 996 said casually.

Qin Qing: “…”

After a moment of silence, he laughed softly: “Lord Divine Envoy has good taste. If only the person who named me back then had been as attentive as my Lord.”

A sentence of blatant flattery immediately made 996’s tail perk up high.

“My taste has always been good, meow. Let’s go. As long as you listen to me, I will cover you over there.” 996 said extremely conceitedly.

A time-space tunnel filled with shooting stars appeared in the huge milky white room. 996 walked in first. Qin Qing strolled behind, taking off his tattered outer robe covered in bloodstains.

The light robe slid down his arm, fell into the turbulent flow of time and space, and was shredded into pieces.

Without the cover of the outer robe, Qin Qing’s scar-covered body was revealed under the flickering starlight. Thick, thin, long, short, shallow, deep… countless sword marks, knife marks, and palm prints were branded on his pale skin.

996 looked back, and its steps paused.

It waited for Qin Qing to walk in front before following, asking with a toothache, “Were you besieged by people?”

“Sort of.” Qin Qing said calmly.

“Then you are really miserable!” 996 exclaimed. Seeing Qin Qing’s back, its expression became even more surprised, “What is that on your back? A tattoo?”

It saw that Qin Qing’s back was covered with crisscrossing vines. The vines had sharp thorns and emitted a decaying aura of death. Compared to mysterious runes or beautiful patterns, this tattoo composed only of withered vines looked extremely eerie.

996 looked away uncomfortably after just one glance.

“My big flower arm is still more majestic!” It grumbled.

Qin Qing turned his head to look at the withered vine tattoo branded on his shoulder, hooked his lips into a smile, but a trace of obscurity overflowed in his eyes.