The transmigration sector was empty. There were barely any people- which was to be expected. It was the most unpopular division in the entire Webnovel department. The only people who came here were those with nowhere else to go. Like me.

"You're late," was the first sound that greeted me as I arrived at work. "That'll be deducted from your salary."

I looked up the time automatically. 7:02. Yeah, I was indeed late. By a whopping two minutes, no less. I didn't argue however, since it probably wouldn't be of much use, and besides- I didn't want to listen to his ranting again like yesterday. With that in mind, I started to miss my old boss. She was strict at times, but at least she didn't nitpick like this sleazebag.

"I apologize." I said, cursing inwardly. My boss humphed and pointed to a desk in the corner

"Don't let it happen again." He said gruffly, almost sounding pleased with himself. "That's your desk."

I waited for more instructions, tips, anything, but that seemed to be the end of it. My boss left, back to his own large desk in the middle of the office. I went over to my desk in my small corner and sat down.

With just a glance, I could tell how low on budget we were. Not only was the office smaller than the fantasy sector, it was also much more outdated. I saw a very old model printer that my previous sector had switched out ages ago. It might even be the same one, reused. It was the same with the coffee machine. And the lights weren't very bright- they were either close to dying, or used old fashioned bulbs that ran on electricity instead of pure energy.

Even the desks were scratched up and mangy. I ran a finger down my new (but not actually new) desk. I was relieved to find it was, at the very least, clean. No coffee spills, no gum stuck under the desk, no thick layer of dust giving me lung problems. So what if it was an old model? Old didn't mean unusable.

My new boss was the bigger problem, I thought to myself, smirking. I looked at him, a balding man with a poor figure and an even worse temper. It wasn't easy to be that ugly and ill-tempered at the same time, but he somehow managed it. How the heck did he get hired? I wondered. He didn't introduce me to my work or fellow colleagues, unlike my previous boss.

Not that I cared. I placed down my papers on my new desk and started to sort them by category. Clip, clip clip. It had cost me a full night's sleep, but I read all my assigned papers yesterday. Which also happens to be why I overslept. I glared at my work assignment, feeling complex. Both annoyed and happy at the same time.

For the first time in my entire life, I was being assigned a protagonist host. On the other hand, that first host happened to be a quick transmigration host. I felt complicated.

You know what? I told myself. Let's just get this over with. No matter what it is, it's still work, and it's my job. I read my lines again- "Welcome, dear Host! You have been granted the Side Character Transmigration System!" I muttered, practicing. "Hello, Host!" Yep, that's much better. Can't afford to seem too friendly. Or how about "System greets Host!"

The work of a System is simple. First, you greet the chosen Host and assign them their missions. Then, you assist said Host in achieving their missions, adding various incentives when necessary. We were basically underpaid assistants, but worse, since the protagonists we worked for were mostly young, trouble-making teenagers smack in the middle of their rebellious period.

I wondered what my Host would be like. Clever and hardworking? Sweet and coy? Cute and clumsy?

Oh, right, I remembered. Their name was Cheng Ye. Sounds pretty manly. Maybe it'll be a tomboy? I placed my hand on the metal device, just as I've seen my seniors do so many times. It was hot and pulsed on my skin, as if it was alive. My eyes sparkled as the device whirred into activation. Well, I reasoned, I'll know when I meet my Host.

It only took a split second. In the blink of an eye, I was floating in the space created in the void. Our space, me and my host's. According to guideline procedures, I couldn't fill it in yet, but I still couldn't help but imagine my host sitting in this space, decades from now, decorating it with all sorts of souvenirs from various worlds. It took me some time to snap out of my admiration and get back to work.

I memorized the basic coordinates. Work was simple. It was mostly stabilizing the dimension and fixing sections of the coordinates so that the space was safer. First was the lights. I snapped my fingers, and just like I imagined, the entire room dimly lit up. It was quite pleasant. I added in simple shading and shadows. A third-dimensional space would be more comfortable for my new host. A little of this, a little of that, and let's not forget to test my vocals. If I had a voice crack on my introduction, I knew I would just die of shame. "Ah, let's see."

I glanced at the clock. Time went by so fast, didn't it? It was almost time to roll. Oh, I was getting nervous... I bit back a small squeal. A terrible boss and a terrible assignment couldn't stop me from getting excited. After working as an assistant newbie for so long, I was finally getting my protagonist! Maybe it wasn't exactly in the way that I wanted, and maybe it wasn't perfect, but it was still special for me.

My eyes fixed on a specific spot, waiting. Now, time for the grand reveal!

A small, disheveled figure stumbled into my new space. Hmm, I noted. There was a slight bit of dimensional clog. Some interference. That would need to be fixed if I didn't want my host dismembering himself next time he entered my space. My host was utterly unremarkable. He was a thin man with some stubble on his chin, wearing faded pants and a shirt that looked like they weren't washed for over a week. He was also in great need of a haircut.

Perfect. One, two, three! I counted before taking a deep breath.

“System greets Host, Cheng Ye," I said in a purposely mechanical voice. "I am the Side Character Transmigration System. Would you like to start your first task?"

Oh my god. Nailed it.

“System? Task? New world?” Cheng Ye repeated, sounding understandably bewildered. He kept looking around, as if trying to find where my voice was coming from. Which was impossible, by the way. I had already made my appearance transparent in advance, and I used a voice projector to send my voice directly into his head. Systems shouldn't be seen.

“Yes, Host.” I said in a cold and stiff voice. “You have died in your own world. To continue to exist, you will have to go to different worlds and possess the bodies of side characters to complete tasks.”

Cheng Ye looked as if he was contemplating something. I patiently waited for my host. I understood his confusion. It was indeed a bit too much information all at once, and many hosts couldn't deal with the death, the tasks, and the threat of nonexistence. Sadly, those were my instructions in the guidelines. At least he didn't seem to be breaking down, I thought positively.

"So this is like one of those transmigration novels?" He asked. "And if I fail, I die?"

"Yes." I affirmed. It wasn't 'like' one of those transmigration novels, it was one of those transmigration novels. I observed my host for any signs of breakage. Let's see. Increased heartbeat, slight perspiration, okay spiritual state. Maybe he was nervous? Sadly for him and happily for me, protocol didn't allow me to comfort him. I opened my mouth to continue with another relaxing death threat.

"I-"

"That's cool!" My host exclaimed. "I'm the freaking protagonist in a Chinese webnovel after I die? What's my first task? Let's go!"

I... You don't have any questions? Well, that was odd. I didn't expect my host to be so enthusiastic. Actually, that weird glint in his eyes were so intense it was almost scary. Was my host alright? I wondered. I calculated the odds for my first host having brain damage. Maybe it was the shock of the journey that did it? It wasn't impossible.

If my host was faulty, could I return him?

"Quick transmigration is boring, though. I hope it's not another one of those weak-to-strong webnovels, I hate those. I don't get any starter packs?" Cheng Ye sounded almost bored as he fiddled around in my space. "Hmm... Is there an end to this?"

It only took a couple of seconds before he bumped into a wall.

I decided to just ignore his eccentricities. "Starting your first task, Host, please get ready." I said, busy flipping through the papers of the first assignment. Coordinates, coordinates... let's see...

I looked up from my papers to see my new host covered in blood. It took all I had to stop myself from screaming.

Cheng Ye poked the corner of my space with a small stick. I had no idea where he got it from, but it was automatically sucked into the tiny spot on the bottom of the space. As my host oohed, it was sucked into the spot and disintegrated into billions of tiny pieces.

"Get away-"

I had barely finished speaking when my host vanished. And as any proper System should, I panicked.