Chapter Six

"Move and I'll scream." Said Boss Lu. He firmly held the man under him and didn't loosen it. Who knew what the man would do if he did? Nothing but try and drive another knife into his skull of course.

Bai Mo didn't struggle under Boss Lu's hold. The threat was useless to him. Even if the program screamed for help, it would take too long for people to arrive. He could easily take care of him while waiting. But instead, Bai Mo held back his instinct to throw the man off and laid on the ground obediently.

"You...you're a transmigrator, right? The systems sent you to kill me?" Boss Lu questioned the man. Although it wasn't really needed. He already knew the answer.

"...That's right."

"What's your name?"

"..."

Boss Lu watched the back of the man's head. The stranger only responded with silence at his question. He wasn't hurt, nor was he angry. He was expecting some resistance. He was happy that the man wasn't struggling in his hold.

"I wasn't expecting you to act so quickly. You caught me off guard." Boss Lu breathed out a sigh that didn't fit the situation. "For future reference, let it be known that attacking an unconscious person isn't courteous to the victim. Next time, don't let me catch you, or else I'll get angry."

It was a light scolding, and Boss Lu's tone was joking. He didn't want to admit it but Boss Lu was scared at that moment. He had worked so hard to get to this point, for a second he thought that it would all go out through the window. He glanced at the arm of his that was holding the stranger down. The IV had gotten loose and the back of his hand was beginning to bruise. He was lucking that the tubing had wrapped around his wrist amidst his struggle or else he would never have been able to tilt that stand.

He didn't need to question the possibility of something like that happening. He was a protagonist after all. Although he had broken the current plot, it would always try to fix itself. And by fixing itself that meant that it would create another plot with what it's given. The car crash and scheme became some external conflict meant for the male lead to overcome. And the lucky events from before were just part of his plot armor.

The both of them sat in silence, Boss Lu's grip on Bai Mo's arm had loosened. Bai Mo could feel it but he still didn't shake the man off of him. "Hey... If I let you go, will you attack me?"

Again, Bai Mo stayed silent, but Boss Lu still didn't mind and continued speaking. "You see, the adrenaline from before is gone. And my head is killing me." He gave a small chuckle and patted the captive man's shoulder. "So why don't you go be a good boy and go get me some pain killers? Ya?" He would get them himself, but it's like he said. The adrenaline is gone, and the weakness in his body is starting to show. Perhaps it isn't a good idea to go fighting for your life right after a car accident.

"..."

"..."

And once again. The stranger stayed silent and non-moving.

"Hey, hey. Are you gonna say anything here? You can't stay silent the whole time." Boss Lu made a silly frown, even though the person underneath him wouldn't be able to see it.

"... Why should I listen to you?" Bai Mo's voice was low. His thoughts from earlier were still weighing on his mind. He didn't struggle because he didn't feel like there was any point to it. What was the point? Why was he still doing this? He felt like he knew just a bit ago, then why?

Boss Lu's expression stilled once he heard the stranger. His long eyelashes created a shadow over his cheeks. His hair, which was supposed to look more fit for his profession, was instead swaying past his eyebrows and over the bandages over his forehead. His eyes narrowed and shone in a dangerous glint, before flashing back to how they were before.

"Heya Mister, has the systems ever promised you anything?"

The air immediately cooled. Bai Mo's body went stiff. His broad shoulders tensed and his eyes went wide. He felt the cool ground from underneath him and the weight of the man above him. The sunlight from the window and the dust floating silently through the air. The blade of his kicked to the side and now underneath the hospital bed. His senses were working, yet his mind went blank.

"You know, believe it or not. I've met people like you. Well, not exactly like you. Because Mister, I've never seen someone who's so much like a puppet to the systems."

Of course, he knew what a transmigrator was. When traveling throughout so many stories, Boss Lu had met all kinds of people. He's met people like him. Characters that rebelled. But they've never gotten as far as him, their systems were not as naive and new as the one who found him. They were never able to gain the same freedom as he was able to now.

But on the other side of the spectrum, there were people like Bai Mo. Transmigrator who worked with the systems to complete broken stories. They were not much different from him except that they were born human. They died as humans and were given the chance at another life.

Yet here was a transmigrator right below him. But he wasn't fixing a story, instead, he was doing the system's dirty work.

"Usually people like you would have a system implanted in your mind, right? Yet I can't feel any in you." Boss Lu placed his palm onto the stranger's head. He couldn't feel anything that he would when he ran into other transmigrators. They would have a low leveled system as a guide to help them. Systems like the one that he knew.

A Cheshire cat-like smile formed on Boss Lu's face. He gave small chuckles at the man below him. "Perhaps, did they tell you the same meaningless promise that they tell everyone else? That if you work it, they'll let you go. Right? Too bad. It's been so long and yet that promise is still unfulfilled." Boss Lu's view tipped and tilted. His back hit the hard floor and two strong arms slammed on both sides of his head.

Bai Mo looked down at the man. Cold, intense fury burned in his eyes. "Speak one more word, and I'll rip out your throat."

Boss Lu felt the hairs on his stand-up when he looked into the man's eyes. But even then, the smile on his face didn't falter. Instead, it broadened.

"Aya~ is this a sensitive topic? I was just telling the tru.." Boss Lu's vocal cords felt tight as the man's large hand wrapped around his neck. His hands were quick, a lot faster than he thought they would be.

Boss Lu gave a soundless laugh and coughed, "Y- you should probably l-let go." He struggled to say. Yet Bai Mo ignored his warning and tightened his hold. His eyes didn't seem to register. He could see his struggling smiling face in the reflection of his eyes.

The click of the door resounded throughout the room and a nurse waltzed in carrying a tray. She gasped out with an "Oh my" and almost dropped the tray in shock. "Mr. Lu are you alright?" She placed the tray on a nearby stand and rushed to where the two men were on the floor.

The sight of her patient on the ground, wrapped in bandages, and tubes. The nasal breathing supported still in his nose, but the tubing wasn't attached to anything. The IV was forcefully removed from his hand and was currently bruising. The stand was currently on the ground and the saline solution bag had fallen off and was currently on the ground. And not to mention the stranger on top of the patient!

She stood in shock for a couple of seconds before turning to bolt out to the emergency call button next to the bed.

"W-wait!" Boss Lu called out as he reached out to the nurse. "It's just a misunderstanding. I had fallen out of the bed and my friend here was helping me out." He used a quick cover-up to stop her. And luckily the nurse paused and turned back to him, "A misunderstanding? Really?" She was a rational nurse. It's part of her job to be quick on her feet and fast with her mind. She looked at the patient currently propping himself off the ground with a foolish smile on his face. And the man next to him who was now kneeling next to the man with a dead look.

She gave out a sigh of relief. It would have been bad if an attacker had entered one of the VIP's rooms and hurt a patient.

The nurse helped Boss Lu back into the bed and fixed all of the equipment. She didn't step out of line and question the two of them. Even if she was doubting them. She only jokingly asked, "How did you create such a mess? It's pretty impressive." It was impressive. How could someone fall out of the bed and somehow unplug the tubing from the breathing support and rip out the IV? "It must have been quite the fall." She said with a smile. To which Boss Lu only responded with a chuckle.

Bai Mo watched the interaction quietly. His straight face looked the same as always. But his clenched fists and heavy breaths failed to conceal his anger. His sharp eyes narrowed into daggers as they stared at the empty space in front of him. The female nurse, being the sensible and observant person she was, was able to sense Bai Mo's mood. She felt that it was best for her to ignore it and quickly do her job and leave.

"Mr. Lu, here. Please take these, they will help you with your pain." She helped administer the medicine to Boss Lu and hurried to clean up her mess and head out. She left the room telling him, "If there is anything that you need help with, then please don't hesitate to press for help." She said as she motioned to the same button that she almost pressed before.

And with the clack of the door, no one else in the room spoke. Until Bai Mo took the first step to walk out of the room.

Boss Lu watched him try and walk out of the room and called out to stop him, "Hey."

Bai Mo paused, he didn't look back nor did he respond. But Boss Lu didn't care as he tried his luck once more. "Do you wanna join me? Us two are very similar and it wouldn't be back to team up, right?" Again, Bai Mo stayed silent. But Boss Lu could spot his tightly clenched fists.

Boss Lu grinded his teeth and called out to him, "Stop being foolish! How many years have you been with them, years? Decades? And have they ever told you when they would fulfill their promise?" He took a breath to calm himself and observed the man's straight back. "Trust me, the systems don't plan on doing anything for you. They will continue to use you until you lose your purpose."

Bai Mo's stood still, his back rigid. He turned towards the hospital bed and looked into the young man's deep eyes and spoke coldly. "Rouge protagonist program #934. You will be given two choices. Either stop struggling and accept your death. Or continue until your struggle is useless. Choose what you like, but remember that either one you pick I will be the one to drive a blade through your chest."

Bai Mo's eyes were dark and terrifying. They sucked the light out from around them and devoured it whole. Boss Lu felt a sudden feeling of helplessness as he got lost in them. The man had called him something he hadn't heard in a long time. He was called by his number. One of the things that only existed to identify himself as non-human. To him, it served as a reminder that he wasn't really a person. He was data created by the systems.

Bai Mo didn't wait for Boss Lu and turned to walk away. But as the door was closing, a smile scratched itself back into Boss Lu's face as he called out to the man, "I will look forward to that day! Hahaha! I will see you around, dear mister!"

The door closed and the room once again enveloped in silence. But the smile and look of anticipation of Boss Lu's face lingered.

"Ah" he mused as he thought out loud. "This is better than I thought."