Yun Yi, still sprawled across his Imperial Cloudwood bed, had been struggling to find sleep. His mind churned with the chaotic memories of the assembly, the baffling system prompts, and the sheer existential dread of his "Minion" quest. He tossed, he turned, he buried his face in the pillows as if they were the System's punchable face. Time, a concept usually so fluid in his transmigrated existence, dragged on.
But then, just as his consciousness began to soften, just as the chaotic thoughts began to blur into the comforting haze of impending sleep, a soft click broke the profound silence of his chamber as the heavy, ornate door swung inward without a sound. It closed with another quiet thud, sealing the room in silence once more.
His eyes snapped open, wide and instantly alert, every ounce of exhaustion forgotten in the sudden jolt of alarm.
In front of him, a figure clad all in black from head to toe knelt on one knee, utterly silent and still.
Yun Yi's mind instantly began to churn, cycling through every alarming scenario. An assassin? Here? Why? It's been, what, a week since I transmigrated? Is it time for me to go already? Am I a side character that gets offed early to spur on the real protagonist's revenge arc?! His meta-awareness, usually a source of dry humor, now spiraled into genuine panic.
The figure moved.
She rose to her feet with fluid grace, and Yun Yi instinctively backed up against his headboard, gripping his blanket like it might deflect sword strikes.
"W-who... who are you?!"
The woman didn't flinch at his voice. Instead, she bowed her head respectfully. Her voice, when it came, was as soft as disturbed dust, barely a whisper, and laced with a strange hesitation.
"M-my apologies, Young Master. I am… Lin Shan. Your… your assigned s-shadow guard."
Yun Yi blinked.
Then blinked again.
He stared at the woman, his system-primed instincts balancing between gratitude, curiosity, and mortal fear. Shadow guard? Assigned?! Since when?! And why does she sound like someone trying not to blow her stealth roll?
"You're… my what?"
She straightened again, posture flawless, tone rehearsed yet oddly human. "I was assigned to protect you when you were thirteen. I have… always been nearby."
Yun Yi opened his mouth, closed it, then slowly opened it again.
Always been nearby? Always? Since he was thirteen?! The horrifying implications washed over him. Had she seen him cry into his soup that one winter?! Had she witnessed the time he tried to invent a new cultivation technique based on interpretive dance?
He narrowed his eyes. This was too weird. Too convenient. And too… narratively suspicious.
"System," he whispered mentally, "scan this Lin Shan person. Now. Full status. I want all the red flags."
A cold flicker ran down his spine as the Legacy System responded with a low, resonant chime that seemed to echo in his bones.
[Scan Complete]
[Name: Lin Shan]
[Age: 24]
[Race: Human]
[Gender: Female]
[Cultivation: Foundation Establishment (4200 / 4500)]
[Constitution: None]
[Spiritual Roots: Wood]
[Potential Points]
[Will: 7]
[Talent: 8]
[Comprehension: 7]
[Luck: 6]
[Fate: A Secret Kept from the Heavens]
[Loyalty: 62%]
[Remarks: Good for 2nd grade minion.]
[Notes: Speech impediment due to extreme qi-flow control for stealth. Prefers silence.]
[Warning: Do not startle. May spontaneously vanish from physical plane upon extreme stress or surprise.]
Yun Yi's mind, still reeling from the shock of her revelation, processed the System's cold, hard data like a man frantically reading the terms and conditions on a deal with the devil.
Sixty-two percent? The number was a beacon of hope in the sea of "Not worthy" verdicts. A pass! A glorious, beautiful pass! A wave of unadulterated triumph washed over him, a surge of adrenaline so potent it almost made him jump for joy on the bed. His quest wasn't impossible after all!
But his elation was instantly vaporized by a wave of cold dread as his gaze dropped to the damning final note. "Warning: Do not startle. May spontaneously vanish from physical plane upon extreme stress or surprise."
Spontaneously vanish? His genre-savvy mind immediately searched for a logical, if absurd, explanation. Is... is she... shy? So chronically introverted she literally phases out of reality when someone makes eye contact? The absurdity of it made him want to laugh and scream at the same time. His first minion, his foundational follower, was a qualified, loyal, highly trained shadow guard who might just evaporate if he accidentally sneezed too loud.
The acceptance prompt, however, broke his internal spiraling.
[Minion Protocol: Lin Shan Qualifies as 2nd Grade Minion. Accept? Y/N]
The finality of the prompt slammed into him, and his initial relief quickly soured into a cold dilemma. Was he really about to accept a minion whose notes read like a user manual for a faulty appliance? His genre-savvy brain couldn't shake the suspicion that a 62% loyalty score was a perfect number for a long con. It's too perfect. Just enough to seem safe, but just low enough to have a dramatic betrayal in a future story arc. This is how the protagonist gets stabbed in the back!
Then, a moment of startling clarity. But wait. Her loyalty is high because she has been my bodyguard for years, not because of me! It's not a personal thing. It's a job thing! The realization that her loyalty was a professional stat, a reflection of her duty and not a sudden devotion, calmed his paranoia about a hidden betrayal. He wasn't recruiting a fanatical follower; he was just getting his first employee.
He weighed his options, the silence of the room pressing in on him. On one hand, he had a ticking clock from a passive-aggressive system and a quest that had, until now, seemed impossible. Lin Shan was his only lead, his only qualifying candidate in this entire, sprawling manor. Rejecting her could mean failing his first directive entirely, leaving him alone and vulnerable in a world that ate people like him for breakfast. On the other hand, what kind of asset vanishes under pressure? She was a sword that might turn to smoke in his hand the moment he needed it most. A loyal guard who was afraid of loud noises was a walking, talking contradiction. Was accepting her a strategic first step, or the dumbest, most short-sighted mistake a villain-in-training could possibly make?
As if sensing his prolonged hesitation, the blue screen in his vision wavered, then solidified again. The text was larger this time, more insistent, the letters pulsing with a soft, demanding light.
[Minion Protocol: Lin Shan Qualifies. Accept? Y/N]