The System's Mistake (Arc 3)

Feng Yongrui was still in a daze as he sat on a chair. Xu Chao and his Boss, Chen Longfei, had moved to another room to talk privately to each other. As for Lei Bei, he was sitting opposite Feng Yongrui, looking rather absent minded.

Feng Yongrui's face was blank on the outside, but inside, he was screaming at the System.

"Who was that person, huh? And where is the protagonist??" Feng Yongrui cried.

"H-host, calm down..." the System said.

"...And how can I calm down? That person just now... he's got such powerful demonic energy around him... Who is he??" Feng Yongrui was screaming.

"H-host... that person... did you notice that he has a pair of dragon horns?" the System asked.

"...Yeah, so what?" Feng Yongrui sighed.

"Host... I think..." the System trailed off.

Feng Yongrui waited for a while but the System was only humming and hawing, not daring to speak.

Impatient, Feng Yongrui rolled his eyes.

"If you have something to say, just say it," Feng Yongrui hissed.

"Well.... but, you have to promise me not to get angry, Host," the System replied.

"...Just say it," Feng Yongrui said.

"Well, Host. That person just now... is the Crown Prince of the Phantom Realm, Chen Longfei..."

Feng Yongrui: =_=

Feng Yongrui felt his legs turn weak and he lay on the chair, staring blankly at the space in front of him.

"...The Crown Prince of the Phantom Realm? Isn't he like, the villain of this world?" Feng Yongrui asked.

"C-correct, Host."

"He's my Boss' enemy, right?" Feng Yongrui groaned.

"Why is he here? And why isn't my Boss here?"

"Hahaha~ About that..." the System laughed nervously.

Feng Yongrui raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?"

"So... apparently, there's been a problem... I told you that your Boss' MailMe username is CHEN1213, right?" the System asked.

Feng Yongrui nodded his head. "Yeah, what's that got to do with this?"

"When the higher ups give us information about a world, they give us the information in the form of codes... After all, we are systems... so we're somewhat like computers..."

"...And?"

"As you may know, a computer will received input, like the codes and stuff, and translate it into a word..." the System continued.

"For example, if the code is <+> or =! it means different things..."

Feng Yongrui tapped his finger impatiently.

"Yeah, and what does that have to do with me?" he asked.

The System took a deep breath and spilled out everything in one breath.

"I accidentally translated the information from the higher ups wrongly... The code name for Chen Tengfei is CHEN1312, not CHEN1213..."

Feng Yongrui took a few seconds to process the System's words.

"And CHEN1213 is actually whose code name?" he asked, half whispering, afraid to know the answer.

"...CHEN1213 is the code name of the Crown Prince of the Phantom Realm, Chen Longfei."

Feng Yongrui felt his brain loading for a while.

"So..." he said slowly. "All this time... I've been sending my daily reports... to the wrong person?!"

"HaHAahaha...." the System chuckled nervously.

"System, do you still want to live?" Feng Yongrui hissed.

"All this time I've been helping so many people because I wanted to win the over to the protagonist's side. I've been helping Xu Chao and being a spy... all of this... I've been doing all of this for the sake of the protagonist!"

"And now! You're telling me that everything I've done is for the villain?!"

Feng Yongrui opened and closed his mouth a few times but no sound came out of his lips. He held his head between his hands and pursed his lips. What was he supposed to do now?!

His life, his career... it was ruined! What about the main mission for this world... wouldn't he fail it? What would happen to this world anyway? Wouldn't it collapse?!

"Urgh..." Feng Yongrui held his head and tried to stifle his groans. Why were things so complicated?!

***

While Feng Yongrui was having the most painful headache of his life, Xu Chao and Chen Longfei were having a deep conversation. Xu Chao had already schemed a lot in his head, and after all of his considerations, he decided that allying with this Crown Prince was the best choice he could make.

Given the current situation, as well as the things his spies had told him, becoming the Crown Prince's ally and subordinate would be good, not only for himself, but also for the Shadow Demons' Clan.

If Feng Yongrui was the one who had been helping him all this time, that meant that 'Feng Yongrui' was probably the rumored 'Hidden One', the person who had been helping countless people in the Phantom Realm...

If the 'Hidden One' was Feng Yongrui, and Feng Yongrui's Boss was the Crown Prince...

Xu Chao snapped out of his thoughts when Chen Longfei cleared his throat.

"As I've been saying," Chen Longfei said, looking at him dangerously, "I'm planning to attack the Cloud Realm soon..."

"Will you stand by my side when that day comes?" Chen Longfei asked.

Xu Chao's face was serious as he bowed.

"My Lord, this servant is willing!"

***

Feng Yongrui did not know how much time had passed, but Chen Longfei and Xu Chao were finally finished talking to each other. Chen Longfei's expression was one filled with satisfaction and his every step was brimming with confidence.

When Chen Longfei saw Feng Yongrui, his smile became rather warm.

"Yongrui, come here," he beckoned with his finger.

Feng Yongrui felt his limbs turning stiff and his blood running cold. Inside his head, the System was screaming and running around in panic.

Feng Yongrui stood up from his seat and approached Chen Longfei rather timidly.

"B-boss..." Feng Yongrui muttered.

"Let's go," Chen Longfei turned around and walked away from Xu Chao's mansion. Feng Yongrui could only follow him obediently.

***

Feng Yongrui stared dazedly at the mirror in front of him. He still couldn't believe what was happening to him.

Everything around Feng Yongrui screamed luxury... So how did he end up here?

After he followed Chen Longfei out of Xu Chao's mansion, Chen Longfei had snapped his fingers and, just like magic, they had arrived in a large room.

Feng Yongrui was still speechless, so when a servant in a black dress appeared in front of him, he didn't react too much. Chen Longfei told him to follow the servant, so Feng Yongrui had done so obediently.

The servant, Cantrell, was a talkative one. Along the way, she babbled about anything and everything she could think of. Feng Yongrui was grateful with the distraction, because her loud voice was able to numb his mind and let him temporarily forget his situation.

Cantrell led him into a large room.

This room was divided into three areas, with each area separated by a curtain made of beads that hung from the ceiling.

In the inner area, there was a large, king-sized bed on one end of the room. On both sides of the bed, flanking the headrest, there were small tables with a crooked lamp.

According to the Cantrell, those lamps were made of Cabacyite, a precious mineral that could only be found in a certain part of the Phantom Realm.

There was also a dressing table on one side, a writing desk on another side, and a pair of glass windows that reached from the floor to the ceiling. If these windows were opened, there would be a balcony with a small table and two chairs for relaxing.

Opposite the balcony there was the second part of the room, the bathroom. There was a large square pool that reminded Feng Yongrui of a Jacuzzi. On the side of the pool, there were recliners and a small table for snacks.

Cantrell explained that Feng Yongrui could take a bath in the pool and soak inside while eating and drinking.

The outer area of the room was filled with a bookshelf that was as high as the ceiling. There were two cupboards and a large sofa as well.

After showing him the room, Cantrell pointed to a long black rope on the side of the bed.

"If you need to call someone, you can just tug on this rope," she explained.

Feng Yongrui nodded his head and, saying he was tired, told Cantrell to leave him alone. After saying a few more words, Cantrell bowed and left the room.

Now that he was finally left alone, Feng Yongrui sat in front of the dressing table, staring at the mirror absentmindedly. His mind was still recovering from the shock.

"System... What should we do now?" Feng Yongrui asked.

"W-well... Let's see... What was the main mission of this world again?" the System muttered, going through some files.

Feng Yongrui waited patiently.

"Aha! Found it! The main task for this world is: 'Report your daily life in Xu Chao's mansion to your Boss until your Boss succeeds in ruling the world'... Host! I have an idea!" the System cried, excitement tinged in its voice.

"What is it?" Feng Yongrui asked warily.

"In the main task's description, it doesn't explicitly state who your Boss is..." the System smiled.

Feng Yongrui read the main task's description again and again. That's right... the main task never mentioned who his Boss was!

"So... perhaps we can consider this a loophole. If the higher ups ask us why we didn't complete the mission, we'll just say that we have completed the mission. After all, you did report your daily life to your Boss... albeit the wrong one," the System chuckled.

Feng Yongrui didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the System's ingenuity.

***