I, The Manga Artist, Became the Tragic Overpowered Protagonist

Chapter 1: [The Manga Artist Transmigrated]

It was so cold.

　　When I realized this, a strong, cold wind scraped against my face head-on, as if knives were ruthlessly cutting away flesh.

　　I subconsciously squinted my eyes to prevent the cold snow particles from falling into them.

　　I only wore a black hooded cloak on my body, wrapping around my thin frame and most of my face. The snow under my feet had already accumulated up to my ankles, and the cold snow water mixed with an unmistakably heavy bloody scent, dyeing blood-colored flowers on the pale land.

　　I was injured, and it was not a minor injury.

　　The blood flowing down from my head trickled over my forehead and brows, almost making it impossible for me to open my eyes. My arm seemed to have suffered a heavy blow from a club-like weapon, hurting so much that it could make one faint. My abdomen had been shot, but it was only hastily bandaged, and the blood had long soaked through even the outer layer of the cloak wrapping it.

　　But I could not stop to rest.

　　A group of men who called themselves [Prosecutors] were chasing me down, and if they caught me... the consequences were unimaginable.

　　“Where did that Saman go!?” A man’s deep voice rang out from behind.

　　“Didn’t I tell you to watch him!! That’s the person from the enemy camp’s leader!! If you let him escape, do you know how serious the consequences will be!!” An extremely irritable voice followed.

　　“All of you shut up! Turn on the inspection devices and terminals for me!! Even if we have to turn the entire District 13 upside down, we have to dig him out!!” The last person commanded viciously.

　　……

　　I staggered forward step by step, and as the blood loss became excessive, I finally collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion, my chest heaving weakly, and my red eyes beginning to gradually lose focus.

　　[Host!! Host, pull yourself together, Host!! Don’t collapse here!! Those Prosecutors are still looking for you!! If you get caught and taken back, it’s all over!!]

　　Seeing me in such a miserable state, even the System, which had not dared to make a sound until now, panicked.

　　“Tsk, so noisy.”

　　I murmured, my fingers subconsciously curling up, brows tightly furrowed.

　　[You are the hundredth host to transmigrate into this role!] The System sobbed,

　　[The previous ninety-nine all died at the beginning, you can’t die too!! How am I supposed to explain this to the higher-ups!!]

　　“What does that have to do with me...”

　　I remembered that I had only been hit by a car and sent flying, but somehow I transmigrated to this godforsaken place.

　　It proved that staying up late to rush deadlines was indeed not advisable. This led to me being groggy the next day when I went out to head to the manga company, not paying much attention to the road, and getting hit by a car as I turned the corner at the intersection.

　　My family’s financial situation was not good to begin with, and this would add to my brother and sister’s burdens...

　　Thinking of this, I felt immense regret in my heart.

　　But when I regained consciousness again, I heard a familiar voice by my ear. When I opened my eyes, I discovered that my appearance had completely changed.

　　My body, originally that of a twenty-five-year-old corporate slave youth, had shrunk to that of a fourteen-year-old boy, with black long hair scattered at my neck, and my eyes turned into a rare dark red.

　　And—those eerie horns on top of my head, no matter how one looked, they did not seem human.

　　[Do you want to live? Do you want to pursue the truth of the world? Do you want to gain a new life and return to your original world?]

　　The thing called the System popped up like this, babbling away,

　　[Congratulations! My hundredth host, Lin Ge! You have been selected by us!! As long as you sign a contract with us! You will gain rebirth in a brand new world!!!]

　　I said: “……Speak human language.”

　　System: “!!？？”

　　System: “I selected you from millions of people who died accidentally! And your attitude is so casual!!”

　　“Since you chose to revive me, you must have something you need from me.” I said indifferently,

　　“For you, is face more important than the mission?”

　　“……”

　　Damn! The new host was quite a difficult person!!

　　[Alright...] The System deflated at once,

　　After all, this matter was indeed something few people could accomplish, and it had selected me for a special reason.

　　“What is the price of revival?” I asked straightforwardly.

　　[We need you to transmigrate to another world and complete the entire world line.] The System finally became a bit more serious,

　　[But don’t worry, we will save your progress at specific nodes for rest, and we will let you return safely to your original world.]

　　“Just that?” I raised my brows in surprise.

　　[And what you have to do in that other world is the key!!] The System’s voice suddenly rose,

　　[You have to draw out all the stories that happened before each node and submit them for serialization!! Only when the story concludes, and the serialization popularity value remains in first place, can you successfully revive!!]

　　“……”

　　I extended my hands and silently covered my face.

　　Manga serialization first place...

　　This was a bit difficult for an old newbie manga artist who had just gotten back into it not long ago.

　　But compared to manga, what I needed to prioritize was surviving in this unfamiliar world.

　　This unfamiliar world was composed of two parts: [City] belonged to the gathering place of those victors, where the clans that won the war clustered together; they possessed extremely advanced science and technology and were the core of the entire world.

　　While the [Dark Alley] that occupied a larger area was relatively backward; the defeated were exiled to this place, living together with those poor people, and every once in a while, they had to endure pursuits from Prosecutors sent by the City.

　　And I was now in such a situation.

　　Not long ago, the Saman people were completely driven out of the City by the Anxi people, the Saman leader was bombed to death, and the leader’s only heir—that was me—used the Saman people’s unique spell seal to escape from the layers of encirclement, fleeing to the uninhabited Dark Alley District 13.

　　It was simply a hellish start...

　　District 13 was the last district of the Dark Alley, and also the most desolate area. But because there was a snow mountain blocking the way, those Prosecutors chasing me finally did not catch up.

　　The only problem was that I was about to die.

　　Could I really live until the next node?

　　My mind was in chaos; besides reflecting that I should not stay up late in the future, I did not know what to do.

　　To prevent people from discovering my racial issue, I ruthlessly used a knife to dig out the horns on my head.

　　These companions bestowed by demons were really too conspicuous; even wearing a hood, it was hard not to attract attention.

　　I, the black-haired boy, silently raised my hand; I gritted my teeth fiercely, the sharp knife delving into the root of the horn. The horns of Saman people in their juvenile growth period were full of soft blood vessels, and with a little force, they could easily be separated from the scalp.

　　The Saman people’s self-healing ability was very strong; these wounds would recover soon, but that required time and the aid of medicine.

　　I had nothing on me and could only let the blood traces from both temples flow steadily, dyeing my hair red.

　　[You’re crazy! Who plays like that! Don’t you know this will make you die even faster!! Your head is gushing blood!!]

　　Watching my series of actions, the System was practically going mad.

　　This was the first time it had seen a protagonist who, upon transmigrating, the first thing he did was shave off his own racial features; this guy must be crazy!!!

　　“They haven’t seen my face.” I said lightly,

　　“If they don’t see the horns on my head, they can’t confirm I’m a Saman, right?”

　　It definitely was not that simple to fool them, but at least at first glance, they could not confirm I was a Saman.

　　“Next, we’ll leave it to fate...”

　　Gazing at the rising smoke not far away, I said leisurely,

　　“Relax, from childhood to now, except for this car accident, my luck has been pretty good.”

　　[Don’t entrust your life to something so illusory! Don’t fall asleep! If it really doesn’t work, we can count sheep—]

　　“I already said you’re very annoying...”

　　I closed my eyes, and my consciousness also faded away in the cold gale and darkness.

　　I still had a high chance of surviving.

　　The location here was something I had carefully calculated... Soon, people from District 13 should come here, right?

　　After the heavy snow, rainy weather was coming.

　　Just in the second before my consciousness was about to disappear, footsteps gradually approached, and a girl’s startled cry rang out at this moment.

　　“Ange bro!! Someone has collapsed here!! He seems to be seriously injured!!”

　　“Don’t be impulsive first, Alice, go find the village chief, I’ll bring him back later!”

　　……

　　I had said it, my luck would not be too bad.

　　***

　　When I woke up again, the first thing I saw was the warm furnace burning at my side.

　　The wounds on my body still ached faintly, but they had basically all been bandaged. The person who bandaged the wounds should have been very careful, including changing the clothes on my body.

　　I quietly lay on the bed, my eyes vacant for a while, but the corners of my mouth inadvertently curved up slightly.

　　I had survived.

　　Although I did not know if the people in District 13 were friendly or if they would discover my identity. But now I had survived, and that was the best outcome.

　　“Does your body feel a bit better?”

　　A girl’s voice rang out from beside my ear; I laboriously turned my head and looked at the little girl sitting by the furnace.

　　That was a girl who looked only thirteen or fourteen, with red short hair, golden-green eyes as beautiful as emeralds. Although there were a few freckles on her face, they added a bit of playful cuteness.

　　“Don’t be afraid, your wounds are healed, thanks to the medical equipment sent by the Prosecutors; no matter how severely injured, people can be cured once they go in.” The girl explained.

　　“Thank you.”

　　I replied hoarsely.

　　“It was Ange bro who brought you back; you’ll see him a bit later.” The girl winked at me,

　　“Are you from another district? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

　　“Yes.”

　　I coughed laboriously, and the expression on my face became pained as well. Noticing my terribly pale complexion, Alice did not ask more.

　　“Don’t talk for now, lie down.” The girl stood up,

　　“My name is Alice; if you need any help in the future, you can tell me.”

　　“Aaron.” I casually gave a fake name.

　　“Alright, then Mr. Aaron, rest well. I won’t disturb you!”

　　After Alice left, my tense body gradually relaxed; I struggled to prop myself up, my pale and slender fingers laboriously pulling the curtain open a crack.

　　Outside the window, heavy snow was still falling, but the window glass seemed specially made, feeling warm to the touch.

　　Was it [City] technology?

　　Speaking of which, advanced technology seemed to only appear in the City; the technology level in the Dark Alley area was quite backward.

　　I withdrew my hand, having some guesses in my heart.

　　From Alice’s tone, it seemed a man named [Ange] had saved me. That man might be more troublesome than Alice; before seeing the other, I still would not relax my nerves.

　　I would not easily trust others, let alone at a time of life and death like this.

　　However, the System was so happy it was about to cry.

　　[It wasn’t easy, wuwuwu... Host! You actually really survived!! I was already planning to start looking for the 101st host!! Great, wuwuwu...]

　　“I already said you’re very annoying.” I curled my lip,

　　“We haven’t completely resolved the crisis yet; rather, now is the most dangerous moment, right?”

　　[Why do you say that? Didn’t you survive?] The System did not understand.

　　“I don’t know what that Ange’s background is, and the Prosecutors definitely won’t let me go easily.” I pondered,

　　“If nothing unexpected happens, they’ll probably stay in District 13 for a long time, until they confirm I’m not here or dead before leaving, right?”

　　I was more or less the prince of the enemy forces; it would be strange if those people let me go.

　　The girl named Alice was easy to deal with, after all, her sincerity did not seem fake.

　　Although I would not trust her because of that.

　　Just as I was deep in thought, a chaotic sound suddenly came from outside. I immediately shrank back into the covers, held my breath, and listened carefully to the conversation outside the door.

　　“Who are you?”

　　The one asking was a man whose voice sounded very gentle, but such words made my heart instantly tighten.

　　“Prosecutors.”

　　The Prosecutors’ cold voices rang out,

　　“Just now, a Saman escaped here; we need to conduct routine inspections of your houses to ensure you haven’t sheltered or hidden him.”

　　“If you violate the regulations, you should know what the result will be.”