[My dear passerby, would you prefer a sweet little puppy, a wild little wolf, a cunning little fox, a playful kitten, a gentle bunny, an adorable red panda, a majestic little lion, a sleek little leopard, a fierce little tiger, a charming little bird, a slithery little snake, a dazzling little peacock, a sharp little shark, a delicate little shrimp, a cuddly little pig, a sturdy little calf, or a spirited little horse?]
"Stop with all this nonsense!" Xiao Jinsheng was practically tearing her hair out. "Just send me back already! I don't need to open a zoo!"
What had a fragile college student like her done to deserve this?
She could barely pass the dreaded 800-meter run, and now, while tearfully eating a steamed bun, this lunatic system had misjudged her and forcefully choked her to death, sending her into a zombie-infested apocalypse.
With her puny physique, her escape speed would probably be slower than a crippled old zombie's crawl.
Xiao Jinsheng was well aware of her fragility and wouldn't agree to stay in this doomsday scenario for anything!
When the system refused, she simply went berserk, flopping down in the virtual space and rolling around in protest.
[My dear passerby, this system sincerely apologizes for the programming error that resulted in your binding to this apocalyptic world.]
[However, your original body has already begun cremation. Even if I were to send you back, you would awaken in a crematorium.]
[Time cannot be reversed, and the mistake has already been made. Considering your constitution is a *tad* weak, survival in this apocalypse will be challenging. Therefore, based on the apocalyptic world you've transmigrated into, I've arranged five highly skilled bodyguards for you. What do you think?]
"More little animals?" Xiao Jinsheng thought back to the string of creatures the system had initially listed.
[They are not *just* little animals, dear passerby.]
As the system spoke, five high-definition screenshots appeared before Xiao Jinsheng's eyes.
There was a battle-worn human-snake with long, deep purple hair, glistening black scales stained with blood along his face, waist, and abdomen, and a pair of profound, shadowy purple eyes.
There was a white-haired, cat-eared youth with mismatched gold and blue eyes, lying amidst a bed of flowers with his collar slightly open, an arrogant expression on his face that couldn't quite conceal the smile playing on his lips.
There was a black-haired youth with fierce golden eyes and a rebellious air, a bandage held in his mouth, his shirt lifted to reveal the smooth lines of his muscular abs.
There was a gentle-looking youth with shoulder-length, light orange curly hair, his soft blue eyes full of tenderness as he wore an apron and baked delicate pastries in a kitchen.
There was a red-haired man with fiery wings spread wide, hovering in a sunset-streaked sky, his orange-red eyes looking down with disdain, yet a refined smile gracing his handsome features.
Xiao Jinsheng looked at each image in turn, her gaze flitting between the five men, unsure where to focus.
"System, are you sure these are the five bodyguards you're compensating me with?"
[Of course~]
[My dear passerby~ Since you're satisfied, the virtual space won't last much longer. Once it collapses, you're likely to be swarmed by zombies. Shall I send you to your bodyguards now?]
"Yes, yes, yes! Send me over quickly!" Since there was no going back, and now there was a glimmer of hope for survival, plus five handsome, dashing bodyguards with amazing physiques to protect her, Xiao Jinsheng rubbed her hands together excitedly.
[My dear passerby~ Please type '1' to initiate teleportation.]
"!" Xiao Jinsheng raised both index fingers and frantically tapped '1' on the photos of the five bodyguards' abs.
[Initiating teleportation. Teleportation successful. Wishing you a pleasant life, dear passerby.]
Having cleaned up its own mess of mistaken identity, the system vanished in a flash.
Xiao Jinsheng nodded in satisfaction.
*If you knew I had five gorgeous bodyguards, you'd definitely think I was lucky too.*
"If you want to die, go die yourself! Don't drag us down with you!" An angry shout rang out beside her. The moment Xiao Jinsheng opened her eyes, she was face-to-face with a bloody zombie.
As the fragile college student she was, before her legs could even turn to jelly, someone tightly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her out of the zombie encirclement.
Xiao Jinsheng curiously looked up. Her rescuer was a white-haired boy with fluffy, pointed cat ears that seemed to glow with a holy light in the sunlight.
With just one glance, Xiao Jinsheng confirmed that this person was her husband she had never met… no, wait… her bodyguard.
The surprise in Xiao Jinsheng's eyes was undisguised, but the white-haired boy, Yu Yunxiao, couldn't hide the disgust in his own eyes. "Xiao Jinsheng, is this amusing to you? If you want to die, get a divorce first!"
"Huh?" Xiao Jinsheng blinked in confusion.
Divorce…?
Divorce what?
When had she gotten married?
Weren't they supposed to be bodyguards? Had they really become her beast husbands?
Just as Xiao Jinsheng was filled with doubt, a splitting pain erupted in her head.
Countless fragments of memory flooded her mind. The more Xiao Jinsheng saw, the more her delicate face paled.
Upon receiving the original owner's memories, Xiao Jinsheng felt like the sky had fallen.
This time, her legs truly gave out, and she collapsed onto the concrete ground.
Yu Yunxiao coldly watched her fall. He had initially reached out to help, but remembering the woman's past atrocious behavior, he quickly retracted his hand.
He looked at Xiao Jinsheng, who was now sitting on the ground with a look of utter despair, as if the heavens had collapsed upon her. He was puzzled by her tragic expression.
"Great, this is even worse than choking to death," Xiao Jinsheng thought bleakly.
From the original owner's memories and the memories the system had sent, she understood that she hadn't just transmigrated into an apocalypse, but into an apocalyptic novel.
And her current identity was that of a vicious supporting female character, a foil to the kind and gentle female lead.
This was a doomsday world with a severe imbalance of men to women and an extremely low birth rate. Upon reaching adulthood at 18, humans would be assigned spouses by a terminal through data calculations.
This was partly for human reproduction and partly to protect the weaker female population.
Xiao Jinsheng and the female lead in the book were neighbors who had competed with each other since childhood. Xiao Jinsheng wanted to be better than the female lead in everything.
However, after more than a decade of competition, she had never won. Even the beast husbands assigned to her by the terminal were inferior to the female lead's.
The terminal had assigned six beast husbands to the female lead but only five to her, infuriating Xiao Jinsheng.
The female lead's husbands included a golden dragon, while hers was a crippled and sickly black snake – a dragon outranked a snake, making Xiao Jinsheng even angrier.
The female lead's husbands included a majestic white tiger, while hers was a beautiful but delicate snow cat – a tiger outranked a cat, further enraging Xiao Jinsheng.
The female lead's husbands included a noble snow leopard, while hers was a fierce black panther – she preferred white and disliked black, making Xiao Jinsheng even more furious.
The female lead's husbands included a powerful gray wolf, while hers was a weak and timid sheep – wolves preyed on sheep, infuriating Xiao Jinsheng even more.
The female lead's husbands included a beautiful peacock, while hers was a palm-sized little red bird – a peacock was vibrant while a small bird was plain, making Xiao Jinsheng absolutely livid.
Having spent her entire life competing with the female lead, she never expected to be inferior, even in the beast husbands assigned to them by the terminal.
Unable to vent her anger at the terminal, Xiao Jinsheng could only take it out on her five beast husbands.
While the six men next door lived a blissful life with the female lead, Xiao Jinsheng's five men endured a miserable existence.
Three scoldings a day and a beating every other day were considered minor occurrences.
However, in this apocalyptic world called the Misty Continent, out of protection for the rare female population, husbands could not divorce their wives without the wife's consent.
If a husband died, the wife's mental strength would be damaged.
But if a wife died, all her husbands would be buried alive with her.
This was why Xiao Jinsheng could constantly beat and scold her five beast husbands and still live comfortably.
And from the book's plot she learned from the system, Xiao Jinsheng's obsession with competing with the female lead had become almost demonic. Her relationship with her five men had already reached its freezing point.