These Side Characters Have More Important Things To Do - Chapter 1

Warnings:

Zombie apocalypse and therefore mentions of dead bodies and zombies, temporary death of MC

Oppressive red clouds looked down upon the zombie horde following a contingent of armoured cars.

The air was loud with the sound of vehicle engines, zombie roars, and the crackling of fire. The air was stifling with the smell of burnt rotten meat.

Ren Xiyang’s face was cold in the reflected firelight. He stood on top of the last armoured car, leaning against the waist-height railing welded around the sides. His black hair was messed up by the wind.

Every second, he shot dozens of fire balls into the zombie vanguard. Zombies fell, but more zombies replaced them.

The stiffness of his jaw and the iciness in his eyes betrayed his annoyance with human and zombie alike.

If the base had evacuated earlier like he had told them to, they wouldn’t be in this situation, barely a fireball away from the zombie wave. But there were always people who didn’t listen to him. There were always stragglers, always people who stayed til the last minute, always people who expected him, a high level fire ability user, to protect their damned skin.

He grunted slightly in irritation. His next fire blasts burned white-hot, searing through the brains of the recently evolved flying zombies. The burning bodies crashed down, crushed a moment later by the stampeding zombies.

Ren Xiyang threw out more and more fireballs from his hands, accurately blasting apart heads.

But it still wasn’t enough.

A voice buzzed into his ear from his earphone communicator. “Agent Ren, the VIPs in the first car must be kept safe. Draw the zombie hordes away.”

Ren Xiyang’s frown deepened. “Consider it done,” he replied coldly.

“Good. You’ve always been reliable, Agent Ren.”

Ren Xiyang ignored the patronising tone. Instead, he bent his knees and leapt into the air. Fire under his feet propelled him to the nearest rooftop. As the cars continued on without him, he pulled out a small vial from his pocket and flipped the lid open.

The scent of blood inside the vial spread into the air. The zombies became frenzied, and their path immediately diverted from the vehicles to the tantalising blood.

Ren Xiyang jumped again to the next rooftop, away from the entourage. The zombies followed him.

“Rrarrggggg!”

Something shot by the corner of Ren Xiyang’s vision. He immediately pivoted in the air, encasing himself in fire. The flying zombie missed him.

But a different hand clawed through his reinforced sleeve before it could be burnt to a crisp.

Ren Xiyang cursed. The one that hit him had to be a newly evolved top-tier zombie. He registered the pain on his arm a moment later.

His skin was pierced. He had been infected.

He landed heavily on the following rooftop. His left arm was already stiffening up from zombification. He pressed his right hand over the wound and set it alight. Pain burned through his body, but it was too late. The virus variant was spreading too fast.

Over the last years of the apocalypse, Ren Xiyang had trained his fire ability to do many things, but healing infected individuals was beyond him.

He couldn’t allow himself to turn into a zombie. As a powerful fire ability user, he would turn into a powerful fire ability zombie, and he might even go after the very group of humans he was supposed to protect.

Not killing himself would be grossly irresponsible.

He gave himself over half a minute to try to resist the infection, but it didn’t work.

Ren Xiyang’s eyes lowered. He gathered every single last thread of the fire energy in his body. Heat exuded from his skin, hotter and hotter. With one last look at the grey ruins of a world around him, Ren Xiyang jumped straight down into the zombie crowd baying for his blood.

He used his stiffening body as fuel. He and the world around him exploded in burning flames, white heat and searing flesh.

…

…

…

FIRE.

Body sprawled across the ground, face wet, and eyes astringent.

Red and yellow flames licked hungrily up bookshelves. A masked person stood in front of a pile of human bodies burning with an unnatural green flame. The flickering light revealed tall ceilings and opulent furnishings. Outside, the sky was grey. It was just before dawn.

Ren Xiyang narrowed his eyes.

This wasn’t the zombie apocalypse he had just died in. This wasn’t the nothingness of death. This was a random study room.

“Dammit, come here and die, little girl,” the masked person growled. He had just been unexpectedly singed when the girl dashed out of her hiding place and threw fire in his face.

He advanced on the young girl, his blade flashed quickly through the air, its aim deadly.

Despite his disorientation, Ren Xiyang automatically moved. He had fought evolved zombies faster than this man. He rolled, missing the blade more narrowly than he’d like. This damn body wasn’t his, it didn’t move right. The unblemished hands, the torn and dirty white dress, and the long wavy red hair were dysphorically unfamiliar.

But he could still feel his fire ability burning in his chest. Red eyes started to glow. The yellow fires came to his call. They moved as fast as sound, crackling loudly as they surrounded the masked man.

At that moment, foreign information took the inopportune moment to explode in Ren Xiyang’s brain. Years worth of knowledge flooded his mind. The masked man immediately swung his blade again.

Ren Xiyang narrowed his eyes, shoving the information aside. His hands moved instinctively, heating the metal blade to burning-hot in an instant. A moment later, a thick dome of fire trapped his opponent.

“Fuck!”

The masked man reflexively dropped his blade. He growled at the dome of fire surrounding him. Little tricks! He didn’t know how this girl had survived the cull, but she won’t survive the next minute—

The man threw a water spell charm and tried to rush through the flames, but Ren Xiyang skilfully manipulated the cage to follow him like a shell. No matter what the man tried, he couldn’t break through. Eventually, the fire burned all the oxygen inside the cage, causing the man to faint.

Threat subdued, Ren Xiyang lessened the fire’s intensity, transforming the solid fire into a lattice cage. Now, he could sift through the foreign information in his mind.

There were two strands of information: one was the memories of the original owner of this body, and the other was the information about the BG romantic fantasy novel he had just transmigrated into.

The original owner of the body was a young girl named Alyssa Rosewood.

The current scene was mentioned briefly in the novel:

Not long after her tenth birthday, Alyssa’s family was murdered. The events left her mind twisted and vindictive, leading to the cruel Lady Alyssa facing [the heroine] now in the Imperial Magical Academy’s front lawn…

But murdering mages wasn’t a casual affair.

Many days previously, ‘servants’ infiltrated the manor. The night before, the wine was spiked. Then, in the early dawn, those ‘servants’—the assassins—started to kill. With poisoned alcohol in his body, the fire mage Earl Roland Rosewood couldn’t hold against half a dozen expert assassins. The assassins then killed Lady Marie Rosewood and the son Silas Rosewood, followed by the real servants.

Unlike the rest of her family, little Alyssa Rosewood hadn’t been in bed when the assassins came. Instead, she had woken up early and secretly sneaked into her father’s study room. With great mischievousness, she entered her father’s secret room through the study. It had recently become her favourite place, after her father revealed it to her when she turned ten years old a few weeks ago.

The hidden room was only known to the inner Rosewood family. Not even the servants knew of this place. The room had its own very advanced anti-detection spells and strong protective charms that wouldn’t let anyone in without permission.

And so, from the hidden room, Alyssa Rosewood saw unfamiliar masked people enter her father’s study. She saw them dump the bodies of her father, her mother, her older brother, the servants and the guards all in the centre of the room. She watched them hacking up the bodies into unidentifiable pieces, before casting an unnatural charm to burn them all up.

The sight would sicken anyone, let alone a sheltered ten-year-old. In a fit of anger and despair, something new and unusual welled up inside of her. She dashed out of the room, and for the first time, was able to summon fire. She threw a giant fireball at the masked figure remaining, but the unexpected reaction force threw her back, knocking her head on the ground.

That was when Ren Xiyang had transmigrated over.

In the original history, seeing her dead family triggered the late discovery of Alyssa Rosewood’s fire powers. She would run back into the hidden room. Even though the assassin now knew the location of the room, he wouldn’t be able to enter. Instead, he and the other assassins would decide to set the entire manor house alight.

Alyssa Rosewood would survive, but she wouldn’t be unscathed. The protection spells in secret room would have kept her safe, but she panicked and eventually ran out into the flames. The burn scars would eventually fade under magical healing, but the mental scars stayed.

Ultimately, she would clash with the novel’s main character. She would find what looked like links between the heroine’s family and the murder of her own. In the end, she was exiled, a deranged noble whose fire powers were a menace to society, so very terrible compared to the useful, gentle, healing power that the heroine possessed.

And then, when the plague-curse swept the kingdom and beyond, Alyssa Rosewood would die, while the main character of the novel would become the heroine of the kingdom, marry the second prince, and eventually become the Queen.

In summary, after dying in the zombie apocalypse, Ren Xiyang had inexplicably transmigrated into the body of the villainess of a BG het romantic fantasy novel.

Ren Xiyang: “………..”

Where was the Transmigration Bureau Headquarters? He wanted to file a lawsuit, thank you.

Ren Xiyang: Speechless. Not Amused.

Clerk at the Transmigration Bureau Headquarters: *sneeze*

(There’s not actually a Transmigration Bureau…probably.)

If you’ve read my other stories, perhaps you can see some similarities.

Ren Xiyang’s fire ability is based on my other character Khai from Fire Burning (who is also trans by the way!), which in turn is based on the fire benders in Embers by Vathara, which in turn is a fanfic of Avatar: the last Airbender.

Warnings: Spoiler Zombie apocalypse and therefore mentions of dead bodies and zombies, temporary death of MC collapse Oppressive red clouds looked down upon the zombie horde following a contingent of armoured cars. The air was loud with the sound of vehicle engines, zombie roars, and the crackling of fire. The air was stifling with the smell of burnt rotten meat. Ren Xiyang's face was cold in the reflected firelight. He stood on top of the last armoured car, leaning against the waist-height railing welded around the sides. His black hair was messed up by the wind. Every second, he shot dozens of fire balls into the zombie vanguard. Zombies fell, but more zombies replaced them. The stiffness of his jaw and the iciness in his eyes betrayed his annoyance with human and zombie alike. If the base had evacuated earlier like he had told them to, they wouldn't be in this situation, barely a fireball away from the zombie wave. But there were always people who didn't listen to him. There were always stragglers, always people who stayed til the last minute, always people who expected him, a high level fire ability user, to protect their damned skin. He grunted slightly in irritation. His next fire blasts burned white-hot, searing through the brains of the recently evolved flying zombies. The burning bodies crashed down, crushed a moment later by the stampeding zombies. Ren Xiyang threw out more and more fireballs from his hands, accurately blasting apart heads. But it still wasn't enough. A voice buzzed into his ear from his earphone communicator. Agent Ren, the VIPs in the first car must be kept safe. Draw the zombie hordes away. Ren Xiyang's frown deepened. Consider it done, he replied coldly. Good. You've always been reliable, Agent Ren. Ren Xiyang ignored the patronising tone. Instead, he bent his knees and leapt into the air. Fire under his feet propelled him to the nearest rooftop. As the cars continued on without him, he pulled out a small vial from his pocket and flipped the lid open. The scent of blood inside the vial spread into the air. The zombies became frenzied, and their path immediately diverted from the vehicles to the tantalising blood. Ren Xiyang jumped again to the next rooftop, away from the entourage. The zombies followed him. Rrarrggggg! Something shot by the corner of Ren Xiyang's vision. He immediately pivoted in the air, encasing himself in fire. The flying zombie missed him. But a different hand clawed through his reinforced sleeve before it could be burnt to a crisp. Ren Xiyang cursed. The one that hit him had to be a newly evolved top-tier zombie. He registered the pain on his arm a moment later. His skin was pierced. He had been infected. He landed heavily on the following rooftop. His left arm was already stiffening up from zombification. He pressed his right hand over the wound and set it alight. Pain burned through his body, but it was too late. The virus variant was spreading too fast. Over the last years of the apocalypse, Ren Xiyang had trained his fire ability to do many things, but healing infected individuals was beyond him. He couldn't allow himself to turn into a zombie. As a powerful fire ability user, he would turn into a powerful fire ability zombie, and he might even go after the very group of humans he was supposed to protect. Not killing himself would be grossly irresponsible. He gave himself over half a minute to try to resist the infection, but it didn't work. Ren Xiyang's eyes lowered. He gathered every single last thread of the fire energy in his body. Heat exuded from his skin, hotter and hotter. With one last look at the grey ruins of a world around him, Ren Xiyang jumped straight down into the zombie crowd baying for his blood. He used his stiffening body as fuel. He and the world around him exploded in burning flames, white heat and searing flesh. FIRE. Body sprawled across the ground, face wet, and eyes astringent. Red and yellow flames licked hungrily up bookshelves. A masked person stood in front of a pile of human bodies burning with an unnatural green flame. The flickering light revealed tall ceilings and opulent furnishings. Outside, the sky was grey. It was just before dawn. Ren Xiyang narrowed his eyes. This wasn't the zombie apocalypse he had just died in. This wasn't the nothingness of death. This was a random study room. Dammit, come here and die, little girl, the masked person growled. He had just been unexpectedly singed when the girl dashed out of her hiding place and threw fire in his face. He advanced on the young girl, his blade flashed quickly through the air, its aim deadly. Despite his disorientation, Ren Xiyang automatically moved. He had fought evolved zombies faster than this man. He rolled, missing the blade more narrowly than he'd like. This damn body wasn't his, it didn't move right. The unblemished hands, the torn and dirty white dress, and the long wavy red hair were dysphorically unfamiliar. But he could still feel his fire ability burning in his chest. Red eyes started to glow. The yellow fires came to his call. They moved as fast as sound, crackling loudly as they surrounded the masked man. At that moment, foreign information took the inopportune moment to explode in Ren Xiyang's brain. Years worth of knowledge flooded his mind. The masked man immediately swung his blade again. Ren Xiyang narrowed his eyes, shoving the information aside. His hands moved instinctively, heating the metal blade to burning-hot in an instant. A moment later, a thick dome of fire trapped his opponent. Fuck! The masked man reflexively dropped his blade. He growled at the dome of fire surrounding him. Little tricks! He didn't know how this girl had survived the cull, but she won't survive the next minute The man threw a water spell charm and tried to rush through the flames, but Ren Xiyang skilfully manipulated the cage to follow him like a shell. No matter what the man tried, he couldn't break through. Eventually, the fire burned all the oxygen inside the cage, causing the man to faint. Threat subdued, Ren Xiyang lessened the fire's intensity, transforming the solid fire into a lattice cage. Now, he could sift through the foreign information in his mind. There were two strands of information: one was the memories of the original owner of this body, and the other was the information about the BG romantic fantasy novel he had just transmigrated into. The original owner of the body was a young girl named Alyssa Rosewood. The current scene was mentioned briefly in the novel: Not long after her tenth birthday, Alyssa's family was murdered. The events left her mind twisted and vindictive, leading to the cruel Lady Alyssa facing the heroine now in the Imperial Magical Academy's front lawn But murdering mages wasn't a casual affair. Many days previously, servants' infiltrated the manor. The night before, the wine was spiked. Then, in the early dawn, those servants'the assassinsstarted to kill. With poisoned alcohol in his body, the fire mage Earl Roland Rosewood couldn't hold against half a dozen expert assassins. The assassins then killed Lady Marie Rosewood and the son Silas Rosewood, followed by the real servants. Unlike the rest of her family, little Alyssa Rosewood hadn't been in bed when the assassins came. Instead, she had woken up early and secretly sneaked into her father's study room. With great mischievousness, she entered her father's secret room through the study. It had recently become her favourite place, after her father revealed it to her when she turned ten years old a few weeks ago. The hidden room was only known to the inner Rosewood family. Not even the servants knew of this place. The room had its own very advanced anti-detection spells and strong protective charms that wouldn't let anyone in without permission. And so, from the hidden room, Alyssa Rosewood saw unfamiliar masked people enter her father's study. She saw them dump the bodies of her father, her mother, her older brother, the servants and the guards all in the centre of the room. She watched them hacking up the bodies into unidentifiable pieces, before casting an unnatural charm to burn them all up. The sight would sicken anyone, let alone a sheltered ten-year-old. In a fit of anger and despair, something new and unusual welled up inside of her. She dashed out of the room, and for the first time, was able to summon fire. She threw a giant fireball at the masked figure remaining, but the unexpected reaction force threw her back, knocking her head on the ground. That was when Ren Xiyang had transmigrated over. In the original history, seeing her dead family triggered the late discovery of Alyssa Rosewood's fire powers. She would run back into the hidden room. Even though the assassin now knew the location of the room, he wouldn't be able to enter. Instead, he and the other assassins would decide to set the entire manor house alight. Alyssa Rosewood would survive, but she wouldn't be unscathed. The protection spells in secret room would have kept her safe, but she panicked and eventually ran out into the flames. The burn scars would eventually fade under magical healing, but the mental scars stayed. Ultimately, she would clash with the novel's main character. She would find what looked like links between the heroine's family and the murder of her own. In the end, she was exiled, a deranged noble whose fire powers were a menace to society, so very terrible compared to the useful, gentle, healing power that the heroine possessed. And then, when the plague-curse swept the kingdom and beyond, Alyssa Rosewood would die, while the main character of the novel would become the heroine of the kingdom, marry the second prince, and eventually become the Queen. In summary, after dying in the zombie apocalypse, Ren Xiyang had inexplicably transmigrated into the body of the villainess of a BG het romantic fantasy novel. Ren Xiyang: .. Where was the Transmigration Bureau Headquarters? He wanted to file a lawsuit, thank you. Ren Xiyang: Speechless. Not Amused. Clerk at the Transmigration Bureau Headquarters: *sneeze* There's not actually a Transmigration Bureauprobably. If you've read my other stories, perhaps you can see some similarities. Ren Xiyang's fire ability is based on my other character Khai from Fire Burning who is also trans by the way!, which in turn is based on the fire benders in Embers by Vathara, which in turn is a fanfic of Avatar: the last Airbender.