Chapter 1#

The Beta Lieutenant Colonel Who Died for His Country#

Lu Heng, male, died at the age of 21. Before his death, he was a graduating senior at a prestigious university. His current occupation: civil servant in the Soul Purification Department of the Underworld Bureau.

The offices of the Soul Purification Department were all designed in a uniform style—pure white rooms with a single desk placed right in the center. It was said this was meant to reflect the department’s service philosophy: souls must be pure and immaculate before they can be reincarnated.

However, this expanse of empty white made Lu Heng, as a newcomer, extraordinarily nervous. He sat behind the desk and, for the ninety-ninth time, kneaded the Task Assistant that was crumpled up on the desk.

“Can you please relax?” The Task Assistant was thoroughly annoyed by his harassment.

“I want to. But this is my very first job, my first client. I need a perfect start. Why hasn’t anyone come yet?” Lu Heng was a very ambitious person, with a touch of perfectionism. The day of the car accident had been his first day on the job, and his grand ambitions had been cut short by death before they could be fulfilled. Naturally, this passion for his work had carried over into the present.

The Task Assistant stuck two tiny paws out from within its ball of fur and clapped twice, halfheartedly. Lu Heng was truly the most dedicated newcomer it had ever seen. Following a master like this boded well for the future. Of course, it would be even better if he didn’t take every opportunity to knead it for no reason.

“You’re an F-rank newcomer right now. You don’t have the right to choose your clients—you can only wait for assignments to be handed down from above. Just be patient.”

Man and system chatted idly back and forth. Suddenly, the assistant scrambled to its feet, transforming from a Ge You-slouch furball into a professional LCD computer screen: “The first task is here.”

A man with black hair and dark eyes pushed open the door and walked in. His steps were steady and firm. After sitting down, he kept his back ramrod straight—he looked like a very self-disciplined individual. “Good day, sir. My name is Leiner Heint.”

Leiner Heint was a fifty-six-year-old male beta, from a world with six genders. The average lifespan in that world was over two hundred years, so Leiner, at fifty-something, was still in his youth.

Leiner came from a distinguished family. His father was the Speaker of the Upper House, and his mother was an omega from a family of artists. And “Heint” was one of the most prominent surnames in the entire Human Alliance. Though Leiner was merely a beta, he was an unprecedented one—possessing 3S-level mental power and a 3S-level physique. As a result, Leiner had become the oddity of the family: the only person in the Heint lineage to ever join the military.

After defying his family’s opposition to enroll in the Imperial First Military Academy, the dazzling Leiner and Shuyet, son of Admiral Lise of the Second Corps, were known together as the Twin Stars. The two had actually been childhood friends—at the academy, they were rivals as well as best friends. After graduation, they entered the Second Corps together and achieved extraordinary military merit. Later, Shuyet single-handedly founded the special operations unit Tempest, which operated independently of all regular corps, and Leiner became his right-hand man.

Early success in youth, fighting alongside his dearest friend, then realizing his ideals, establishing his legacy, and earning a place in history. By all rights, as heaven’s favored son who was also exceptionally hardworking, Leiner’s life should have developed in exactly this manner.

But every world has its beloved children of fortune. One of them was Shuyet. The other was not Leiner. In the novel, such a figure is called the protagonist, while Leiner seemed to be the kind of character known as cannon-fodder supporting cast.

The other child of fortune was an omega. According to Imperial law, omegas were not permitted on the frontlines. Even if they joined the military, they could only serve as logistical personnel. This was not gender discrimination but rather something dictated by the innate nature of alphas and omegas. After all, the alpha’s innate physical advantages meant that among frontline soldiers—especially among mech pilots, who played a decisive role in determining the outcome of battles—eighty percent were alphas. The pheromones secreted during an omega’s heat cycle were the fatal weakness of such an iron army.

This omega, named Carlo, hailed from a remote border planet. His father had been a soldier who sacrificed his life in a battle against the Zerg. From that day on, his dream was to join the military and fight the Zerg.

To that end, he obtained a serum from the black market that could temporarily alter his physique to that of a beta. He then enrolled in the First Military Academy and, after graduating with outstanding marks, joined Tempest.

However, during one mission, Carlo unexpectedly went into heat and was discovered by both Shuyet and Leiner. The two close friends erupted into a fierce argument over how to handle Carlo.

Shuyet cherished Carlo’s talent and believed his assurances, insisting on concealing his identity and keeping him in Tempest. Leiner, however, was unwilling to keep such a ticking time bomb on the team. He demanded that Carlo apply for discharge, or else he would report his identity to Military Command.

After several fruitless arguments, Leiner reported Carlo’s identity to the authorities, and the law enforcement team came to take him away. The devastated Shuyet made a critical mistake during a mission that concerned the fate of the entire Human Alliance and was trapped in Zerg territory.

When Carlo learned of this, he escaped the law enforcement team’s custody and went alone into Zerg territory to find Shuyet. After a series of harrowing adventures, the two killed the Zerg Queen and became heroes of all humanity. Afterward, they fought side by side, annihilating the entire Zerg race, and ultimately both became Marshals. Their love story became a legend passed down through the ages.

And Leiner perished among the stars along with Tempest during that very mission from which Shuyet had gone missing. All that remained of him in the Star Network records was a single dismissive remark: “If Lieutenant Colonel Leiner Heint hadn’t insisted on sending Marshal Carlo away, Marshal Shuyet’s mission wouldn’t have failed, and Tempest wouldn’t have met with annihilation…”

“From my youth, my life was dedicated to becoming a proper soldier. All my efforts were for the defense of the Human Alliance. I refuse to accept dying like that—having done nothing at all.” Leiner’s expression remained composed, but only his tightly clenched fists slightly betrayed his emotions.

“Your commission is accepted. Lu Heng, number 666 of the Underworld Bureau’s Soul Purification Department, at your service. Let me confirm once more: your request is that your death should make a tremendous contribution to the Human Alliance—is that correct?”

“Mm.” Leiner paused for a moment, then added, “If possible, I would also like to resolve some misunderstandings with Shuyet.”

“No problem.”

After seeing Leiner off, Lu Heng asked, “Will Leiner be able to see the entire process of me carrying out the task? If he watches, I’ll be very nervous and it’ll affect my performance.”

“No, he won’t. The commissioning party can only see the final result. But remember two things: First, you must die at the point in time when you are supposed to die. Second, Leiner’s personality is serious and rigid—he is someone who places great importance on principles. You absolutely must not do anything that is out of character.” The assistant floated up from the desk and hovered ten centimeters in front of Lu Heng’s face. “If you violate either of these two principles, you will be immediately sent back from this world, and the task will be deemed a failure—and that means docked pay!”

“Actually, during onboarding training, I kept thinking—according to the butterfly effect theory, wouldn’t changing someone’s cause of death trigger a chain of cascading consequences? Wouldn’t that be way more serious than something like OOC?”

“The moment you were deployed into this world, it became a parallel dimension. As for the OOC issue—this is professional ethics. You can’t just do whatever you want just because the commissioning party can’t see.” The assistant patiently dispelled the newcomer’s doubts.

Lu Heng still didn’t quite understand and asked, “A parallel dimension? Then it has nothing to do with the original world anymore. That’s acceptable?”

“An attachment like that… sometimes all someone needs is to see how things could have been, and they won’t be so fixated anymore.” The assistant’s tone carried a hint of weathered weariness.

“I see. It’s like reading a novel whose ending you’re unsatisfied with—in that moment, you just go find some fanfiction that matches what you wanted, and you feel so much better.” Lu Heng suddenly understood.

“You can interpret it that way if you like…”

…

Lu Heng opened his eyes. The first thing to greet his gaze was a ceiling glowing with the cold sheen of metal. According the information in his mind, the ceiling could actually be adjusted to any scene according to personal preference—a starfield, a blue sky with white clouds; for someone with more unusual tastes, even flashes of lightning and thunder. However, the owner of this room hadn’t made any changes at all.

The mattress beneath him was far from soft—it would leave one feeling extremely uncomfortable after sleeping on it—but this specially designed mattress could stimulate every single muscle. To put it simply, it was a mattress that let you exercise even in your sleep.

The room before him was exceedingly simple: a bed, a desk, a chair, a wardrobe. The only thing that stood out was probably the door marked with the sign for the Gravity Training Room. Lu Heng swung his legs out of bed and walked into the bathroom to wash up.

The youth who appeared in the mirror shocked him. Slender brows, eyes with slightly upturned corners that held a faintly tipsy quality, and eyes that seemed to shimmer with the clarity of a still lake—this was unmistakably Lu Heng’s own face. But yet it was also different. Wheat-toned skin, the furrow line between the brows from habitual scowling, a jawline with sharper angles—this was also unmistakably the face of his client, Lieutenant Colonel Leiner.

【Assistant, what’s going on?】Lu Heng was half-scared to death and frantically called out to the Task Assistant in his mind.

【I don’t know either… It’s not in the database…】The assistant was equally baffled.

【Even my appearance is wrong. Could I be about to get sent back for OOC? I can’t take that—this is my first job, my first task…】Lu Heng wanted to cry but had no tears.

【Don’t panic. If we haven’t been sent back yet, there probably shouldn’t be any impact. We’ll just have to make do for now. Let me check thoroughly once we return to headquarters.】

Hearing this, Lu Heng breathed a sigh of relief. He adjusted his expression in the mirror. It had to be said, Lu Heng was quite gifted. Soon, the softness brought about by his changed appearance faded away, and the stern, rigid Lieutenant Colonel Leiner stared back from the mirror.

Leiner was a man of great self-discipline. Unless on a mission, every aspect of his daily routine followed a strict schedule. Upon waking each morning, there were invariably two hours of physical training that could not be skipped. Lu Heng, now beginning to step into his role, thus commenced his day with two hours of combat training.