After Switching Bodies, the Mad Overbearing CEO Takes Over the Entertainment Industry-Chapter 201 - 199: A Life for a Life

Ji Tian’s mind was filled with a multitude of questions, her heart a mess.

After getting home, Ji Weinan was waiting for her in the living room. As soon as he saw her come in, he quickly stood up, "Little sister, you’re back, can you teach me this problem? I don’t understand it."

Ji Tian, with no mood to explain problems to anyone at the moment, directly refused, "Go ask Second Brother, I want to rest."

And with that, she headed straight upstairs to her bedroom.

Ji Qilin came in afterwards, having taken the medicine Ji Tian had bought, his stomach no longer hurt, and he raised an eyebrow casually, "Which problem? You’ve had a change of heart? Why do you suddenly want to study seriously?"

Ji Weinan was at a loss for words, considering his previously obvious disinterest in studying, so he touched his hair, a bit embarrassed, "Just... felt like learning a bit. You’re all so smart; I can’t let the family down."

Ji Qilin chuckled, but was surprised, "I’m impressed you’ve come to this realization. I’ll be at home in the evenings for a while. I’m teaching your sister anyway, might as well teach you too, so don’t bother your little sister about it."

Ji Weinan: "..."

Just incidentally?

He was really heartbroken.

Inside the room

Ji Tian sat deep in thought for a long time. If she had suffered a sudden death at the age of 25 in another world and had bound to a system to return to the 17-year-old Ji Tian of this world, according to the King of Competition, her lifespan in this world was still only 25 years.

It was as if she was to walk through her short life according to someone else’s deliberately planned script, with even the right to resist being stripped away.

"King of Competition, come out." A terrifying, nebulous thought emerged in her mind, and she urgently needed to ask the King of Competition who brought her to this world.

However, no matter how she called, the King of Competition would not appear. Ji Tian gave a cold smile, "If you don’t come out, I’ll commit suicide. I’ll make that so-called Heavenly Dao lose everything."

[Host, cherish your life. You’re so full of gunpowder, you’re likely to get fired up.]

Only after hearing the word "suicide" did the King of Competition show up slowly.

"Heh, your so-called Heavenly Dao, it’s played a fine game. It wants the world to follow its ideas, the trajectory of characters unchanging. Even if I struggle to live until twenty-five, I will still die due to some uncontrollable factor, right?" Ji Tian asked in a cold voice, feeling as she spoke that the truth was getting closer and closer.

This was simply like a game, with them stuck in a vortex, going around in circles in a world controlled by the Heavenly Dao.

The King of Competition broke out in a cold sweat, at a loss for words for a moment because Ji Tian’s guesses were all correct. That astonishing thinking ability, no matter which world she was in, she always stayed on top.

"[Host...]"

"Shh, let me finish," Ji Tian suddenly laughed, her smile radiant yet ice-cold, "Let me guess what Shen Zhiyi’s mission was. Was he sent by the Heavenly Dao to maintain order, right? Because we are just minor characters, stepping stones, meant to highlight the so-called male and female protagonists’ glorious achievements. We must die, and the consciousness of everyone in this world remains unawakened, with fate clearly laid out."

"For instance, my third brother is just a lovesick fool in the book, very dedicated to that single cause. He walked that path diligently. If his mind hadn’t suddenly cleared up, he would’ve ended up homeless on the streets. My second brother’s medical research would have been stolen, the thief left unaccountable, even able to break his legs in return. As for my oldest brother, I don’t know why his company went bankrupt, but if it hadn’t, he would’ve blocked Bai Tingyu’s way of uniting a commercial empire in the Capital City."

"That’s why you kept emphasizing that we can’t change the plot, we can’t alter fate. You’re afraid of the butterfly effect my actions could cause, spreading change to those around me. But with or without you, I would’ve returned here, because this is the world where I began, right? Your so-called redemption is nothing more than a life for a life."

She spoke word by word, growing more determined with each sentence, while the King of Competition didn’t even have the courage to refute her, because what Ji Tian was saying was the truth.

Suddenly, it found the situation quite amusing. The Lord of Heaven was so vigilant, erasing her memory time and again, yet without any memories, she still managed to pinpoint the crux of the problem accurately and ruthlessly.

When the person you created stops obeying, your first reaction is to suppress her. When you discover she’s tough to crack, you exile her, forcing her submission to the world’s order.

But it miscalculated. The moment her soul left this world and was reborn into another, the ending started to quietly rewrite itself, unnoticed.

"[Host, you’re right. With or without me, you would return to this world. I haven’t lied to you. This is your last life. Once dead, you’ll be gone forever. The world’s consciousness will dissipate, and everyone will become puppets, acting out the ending written by the Lord of Heaven over and over again.]"

The King of Competition slumped to the ground, the troubling question that had haunted it for so long finally resolved. It too wanted to live, so it obeyed the Heavenly Dao’s words, stopping her actions. But Ji Tian was kind to it, kind to the point of making it feel guilty – so much that it barely had the courage to say many things.

If she had never seen the end of this world in the book, perhaps the outcome would truly be different. Unfortunately, from the moment she left this world, its trajectory began to change.

It bowed its head, an expression of guilt on its face: "[I’m sorry, I don’t want this either, but fate really cannot be changed. The reason I became like this is because I used to be the King of Competition system. One time, I issued a task too harshly, leading to the sudden death of my host, and I was sent to the System Star Prison to serve my sentence. I was beaten there for thirty years. Then suddenly the Heavenly Dao gave me a task – as long as you live safely until 25, that’s enough.]"

"[It will erase my dark past and let me regain the title of the former number one system. Host, isn’t my fate just like yours, beyond my own control?]"

Ji Tian was silent for a long time; she couldn’t blame the King of Competition. From the beginning to the end, it had never demanded anything from her, maybe out of guilt, it indulged her greatly.

She turned to gaze at the pitch-black sky, and after a while, she sighed softly, "So, King of Competition, since neither of us wants to submit to fate, would you like to join me in overthrowing this prison order?"

The King of Competition looked incredulously with wide eyes: "[Rebel against the Heavenly Dao? It’s impossible, no one has ever succeeded. Host, stop dreaming...]"

Ji Tian let out a light chuckle, "I’m just giving you a choice, to join me or to stick with it. Can it give you your favorite shower gel? Prepare a battery better than six ’A’s for you to store power? Don’t be foolish, silly thing. It will just exploit you, enslave you, discard you after using up all your value. The whole ’innocent release’ is just a pie in the sky."

"Look at other systems and then look at your shabby self, such a pitiful thing. If it truly cared for you, it would’ve repaired you, not let you carry on with such an appearance to complete tasks and make amends."

The King of Competition was completely dumbfounded, its mind a mushy mess. It felt like, compared to the Heavenly Dao, Ji Tian seemed more like the one tricking it, but her words were faultless – it really was just a disposable tool.

After a moment, it found its voice again: "[I’m on your side now. Enough with the shower gel, okay?]"