Gravity doesn't care about your confusion.
One second, I was staring at a spreadsheet in a fluorescent office, my chest tightening with what I thought was heartburn.
The next second, I was falling.
Cold air bit my skin. The smell of damp earth and rotting meat rushed up to meet me. And directly below, expanding rapidly in my vision, was a mouth.
Not a human mouth. A wolf's mouth. But this wolf was the size of a minivan, and its eyes glowed like burning charcoal.
Tier-2 Flame Wolf.
The data flashed in my mind faster than fear.
Habitat: Azure Peak Monster Forest. Hunting style: Ambush. Weakness: Thermal vision reliance.
I blinked, wind tearing at my eyes.
Wait. I wrote the code for that spreadsheet. I didn't write code for a giant wolf.
The jaws opened. Rows of teeth like jagged daggers prepared to snap me in half.
I know this scene.
Adrenaline spiked, freezing time. This was Chapter 3 of Heavenly Dao's Chosen. I had read it last night on the bus. This is the scene where "Outer Disciple A" falls from the cliff, gets eaten, and his screams alert the protagonist, Chen Tian, to the danger.
I am Outer Disciple A.
I am the tutorial death.
"Not today," I gasped.
My hands flailed, desperate, seeking purchase. My fingers brushed rough bark. A protruding pine branch.
I didn't think. I didn't calculate. I just grabbed.
SNAP.
The branch groaned under my weight, slowing my fall for a microsecond before snapping. But that microsecond changed my trajectory.
Instead of falling straight into the wolf's throat, I swung wildly to the left.
I crashed.
Branches whipped my face. Thorns tore at my robes. I tumbled through a dense thornbush and hit the forest floor with a bone-rattling thud.
Pain exploded in my ribs.
Don't move.
The thought screamed in my brain. Flame Wolves hunt by movement and heat. If I move, I trigger the aggro.
I lay frozen in the dirt, buried under a canopy of thorns. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Heavy paws crushed the pine needles inches from my head.
I could hear the beast breathing. A wet, rasping sound. Heat radiated from its body, hot enough to singe the tips of my hair. It sniffed the air, a low growl rumbling in its chest.
It was confused. The falling meat had vanished.
Drop your body temperature. Slow your heart.
I wasn't a cultivator. I was a software engineer. But panic is a powerful motivator for biology. I held my breath until my lungs burned. I forced my muscles to go liquid. I focused on the sensation of the cold dirt against my cheek.
I am a rock. I am a log. I am a glitch in the code.
The wolf's snout poked into the bush.
I stared at a single drop of dew on a thorn, refusing to look at the monster. If I looked, I'd flinch. If I flinched, I died.
The beast snorted. Hot, sulfur-smelling breath washed over me.
Then, silence.
The heavy paws crunched away. Fading. Gone.
I didn't move.
Ten minutes passed. My lungs screamed.
Twenty minutes. My leg cramped.
Thirty minutes.
Only then did I exhale. The air left my lungs in a shaky, broken wheeze.
"I... fixed it," I whispered, my voice trembling. "I patched the death flag."
I pushed myself up, wincing as thorns snagged my ruined grey robes. I looked down at my hands. They were smaller than I remembered. Calloused. Younger.
I wasn't thirty-two anymore. I was... eighteen?
I scrambled to a nearby puddle of rainwater. The reflection that stared back wasn't me.
Average face. Average nose. Brown eyes. The kind of face you forget three seconds after seeing it.
"NPC #47," I muttered, touching my cheek. "I really am a background character."
A mechanical chime echoed in my skull. It wasn't a sound; it was a vibration in my soul.
[Transmigration confirmed. Soul integration: 98% compatible.]
I froze. "System? Like in the web novels?"
[Correct. I am your Background Character System.]
I sat back against the pine tree, wiping blood from my forehead. Of course. Transmigration always came with a cheat. A golden finger.
"Okay," I said, my analyst brain kicking into gear. "What's the objective? Become Immortal Emperor? Conquer the realms? Harem collection?"
[Analysis complete. Host personality: Risk-averse, strategic, humble. Optimal classification: Background Character.]
The blue text floated in the air, mocking me.
[Objective: Survive.]
"Survive?" I laughed, a dry, hysterical sound. "That's it?"
[Survival is statistically improbable for cannon fodder. Do not underestimate the difficulty.]
"That's... not a compliment."
[It is a survival strategy.]
I looked around the forest. The morning mist was rising, turning the trees into ghostly silhouettes. Somewhere out there, the protagonist Chen Tian was probably starting his journey to godhood. Somewhere out there, the corrupt Sect Master—whose name I didn't know because the author hadn't revealed it by Chapter 40—was plotting.
I knew 60% of this world's future.
I knew the Empress Xiao was an antagonist. I knew a Demon Queen was coming.
But I didn't know the ending.
"Incomplete documentation," I muttered, rubbing my temples. "The worst kind of legacy code."
[Background Character System activated.]
[Primary Function: Reward host for reducing presence.]
"Reducing presence?"
[The nail that sticks out gets hammered. The cultivator who shines gets targeted. You will cultivate by becoming invisible.]
I blinked. "So... my superpower is being ignored?"
[Correct. In a world of gods and monsters, anonymity is the ultimate armor.]
I leaned my head back against the bark. In my old life, I was IT support. Invisible until something broke. I lived in the server room, ate lunch at my desk, and went home to an empty apartment.
I hated it then.
But here? In a world where wolves breathe fire and people throw lightning?
"I can work with this," I said, a small, grim smile touching my lips. "I'll be the most successful nobody this sect has ever seen."
[Secondary Function: ...]
The text hovered, then glitched.
"Secondary function?" I asked.
[Classified. Insufficient host clearance.]
"Classified? It's my system!"
[Your clearance level is: Level 3 Qi Condensation (Trash). Please upgrade to access features.]
"This is already annoying."
[Thank you.]
I groaned and tried to stand. My ribs protested, but nothing felt broken. I needed to get back to the dorms. I needed to blend in. I needed to make sure no one realized that Outer Disciple A didn't die today.
"System," I whispered, checking the forest line. "Guide me to the path of least resistance."
[Route calculated. Probability of encountering protagonist: 0%. Probability of encountering plot armor events: 0%.]
[Follow the blue line.]
A faint blue navigation line appeared on the ground, winding through the safest, most boring parts of the forest.
I took my first step.
"Background Character mode," I whispered. "Engaged."