Chapter 2: Transferring Schools

He stayed in the hospital for three days.

After searching a flood of information on his phone, William Carter finally confirmed that he had transmigrated into a novel.

He had entered that stupid book "Gentle Control," becoming the cannon fodder character with the same name.

The third young master of the Song family in City A, William Carter.

Throwing his phone aside, William Carter irritably grabbed his hair. Tilting his head, the glass window reflected the face of a young boy.

Pale skin, soft black hair, especially delicate features, large and clear eyes—dressed in a blue and white hospital gown, he looked even more sickly and pitiful.

This face was exactly the same as his own at fifteen.

Damn. Mr. Carter was about to have a breakdown.

As a supporting character who barely appeared in "Gentle Control," William Carter's illness wasn't even worth the author's time to describe. So after transmigrating, William Carter asked everyone around him, including doctors, nurses, and the housekeeper auntie, but no one could name the disease. They all just looked at him with teary, sorrowful eyes.

Even his mother, the always decisive and powerful woman of the Song Group, had her eyes turn red the moment she heard his question.

She forced a gentle smile, dodging the question: "Yuyu, be good. Once you're out of the hospital, wherever you want to go, Mom will take you."

William Carter finally understood.

The original author never intended for him to live.

Don’t ask—if you do, it’s just a terminal illness that modern medicine can’t explain. Basically, he was just waiting to die.

A black sedan slowly drove into a villa on the outskirts of City A. This was a house William Carter's parents had bought specifically for his recovery. Nestled among mountains and water, the scenery was elegant and the environment tranquil.

William Carter got out of the car listlessly, his delicate, pale face full of world-weariness. Seeing this, his mother’s heart pounded with fear, terrified that her precious son might do something to himself if she wasn’t careful.

Inside the villa, the housekeeper had already prepared dinner.

His father and older brother were both at the company and couldn’t make it tonight, so only his mother ate with him.

His mother watched William Carter with concern, putting food into his bowl: "You’re out of the hospital now, Yuyu, why do you still look so gloomy? Isn’t Aunt Wang’s cooking your favorite?"

William Carter had no appetite and didn’t want to talk.

His mother suppressed her own sadness, keeping up a smile as she said, "Now that you’re back in City A, Mom has arranged a welcome-back banquet for you, right here at home. Since you’ll be attending high school in City A, this is a good chance to meet more people your age, okay? What do you think, Yuyu?"

The Song family was considered a top-tier family in City A; any banquet they held would be reported by the media. Bringing William Carter back in such a high-profile way showed just how much the family doted on him. But… meeting more people his age—if he remembered correctly, the two scumbag leads were also in City A now, technically his peers, and even in the same social circle.

William Carter's fingers paused for a long time.

Suddenly, a faint mechanical voice sounded in his mind:

[Ding... System booting up...]

William Carter's pupils contracted. He abruptly looked up: "Mom, I’m going to rest in my room for a bit."

His mother was stunned, watching her son leave the table and run upstairs.

*

William Carter returned to his room, closed the door, and drew the curtains.

Turning around, he silently stared at the pale, ethereal soul standing before him.

He frowned deeply: "Are you the one who dragged me into this world?"

Standing before him was none other than this world’s William Carter.

"William Carter" was wearing a hospital gown, his face so pale it was almost transparent. His eyes were gentle and harmless, like a little lamb. After hesitating for a long time, he nodded slowly, "Mm, it was me."

"Why?"

"William Carter"'s already pale face turned even whiter, and he spoke weakly: "I’m sorry, it was because something went wrong in our main world, so we had to bring you over as a remedy. I am this world’s William Carter, but you can also call me System 008. The original purpose of William Carter was to chat with the protagonist five years later and help him let go of the past. But for some reason, this time William Carter didn’t make it through his illness and died in the hospital room."

"We needed someone to finish William Carter's storyline, so we took it upon ourselves to pull you over from a parallel world. I apologize for that. But as compensation, after it’s over, we’ll transfer a sum of money to you in your original world. You just need to stay here for five years and complete the plot, then you can leave."

William Carter sneered, his clear, dark eyes full of coldness: "Do you think I need money?"

008 fell silent.

William Carter saw this as a stupid book and had no desire to waste five years here. He frowned irritably: "I don’t agree. Can you send me back right now?"

008 shrank back guiltily, lowering his head and not daring to meet William Carter's eyes: "Sorry, I don’t have that ability."

It tried to persuade William Carter: "Actually, these five years won’t affect you at all. As long as you don’t disrupt the plot, we won’t interfere with anything you do. Time in your original world is frozen, and here you have a perfect family background, so you can do whatever you want."

William Carter let out a cold laugh.

008, timid as ever, finished explaining and then disappeared: "Th-that’s all. Please rest well. If you need anything, you can summon me anytime—just call 008 twice in your mind." Of course, it might not actually show up.