This Setup Is Broken - This Setup is Broken Chapter 2: The Setup

Bai Shi pinches himself hard, his facial muscles freeze instantly. He pauses and pinches again, standing up straight, with a slight tremble on his shoulders. With that much force, his thigh will definitely bruise. The little boy next to him looks worried, asking, “Gou… Gou Dan, are you okay? Doesn’t that hurt?”

Of course it hurts! But since he can feel pain, it proves that he’s not dreaming. His soul really has mysteriously ended up in this body!

“I’m fine”, Bai Shi says with a blank face, though internally he’s praying that this is not to be real.

“They always talk like that. Don’t mind them. Let’s hurry up.”

The boy pulls on his arm, eyes bright with excitement. “Once we pass the test, we can go to the Youth Academy and eventually join the military and control mechas!”

“…Yeah”, Bai Shi follows blankly, his mind in turmoil.

As a creative writer, he knows the term “transmigration” and can accept it quickly. But why has he ended up in a book he co-wrote with others? And why is he in such a poor state? According to the story setting, he should be a young master from a wealthy family, but this scene is all wrong!

Besides, he’s not even dead, so how could he have suddenly transmigrated? Could it have been his brother’s awful cooking that caused this? Seriously, does his brother know how dangerous his food is?! While lost in thought, Bai Shi finds himself at the back of the line.

“There are so many people here today.” The boy next to him says excitedly while looking at the crowd.

Then, as if remembering something, he nervously asks: “This test is supposed to be really hard. Do you think we’ll get selected?”

Bai Shi snaps back to reality. He doubts he’ll pass, as the others who wrote the story planned for the protagonist to take an unusual path. Who knows what he’ll face later on?

But that’s not the main issue—the real problem is how to get back to his world. His family and friends are still there, and his serialized story hasn’t finished! If he leaves it hanging, new writers will overshadow him, and he’ll be forgotten in no time.

“…Gou Dan?”

The boy notices Bai Shi zoning out and reassures him. “Don’t worry, my grandpa says we just need to try our best.”

Bai Shi, not knowing where this “grandpa” comes from, replies absentmindedly. He quickly searches his memory, recalling that the story mentioned that male lead has a sidekick— a servant’s grandson. While the setting seems different now, the general direction should be the same. So, this boy is likely his future sidekick?

He glances at the boy. Though the kid’s clothes are just as shabby, his skin is a healthy tan. He looks better than those who mocked him earlier. So his gene level must be higher than theirs. Bai Shi nods secretly, thinking that a sidekick should at least be stronger than the minor characters. Seeing that he seems back to normal, the boy smiles at him and continues to queue.

The doors of the Sowan Academy’s office are fully open, and the line stretches from the hall to outside. There are two lines for boys and two for girls. Most kids are accompanied by parents, while a few, like Bai Shi and the boy, are alone.

If Bai Shi really were a young master of a nobel family, even a useless one, he would at least have servants with him. He looks at other people’s clothes, and the unremarkable streets in the distance. This doesn’t seem like a big city, so… where exactly is he?

As he wonders he slowly moves along with the crowd. Then he sees the three boys who mocked him earlier come out of the hall, all looking pleased. Clearly, they’ve passed the test. The boy beside Bai Shi notices them and tugs at his hand, saying, “Look, it’s Dejie…” but falls silent as they approach.

Bai Shi doesn’t want to engage, but senses them stopping in front of him. He has no choice but to ask: “Did you pass?”

“Of course! We all passed” Dejie says proudly, lifting his chin.

“The test is super tough, with several stages. Losers like you…”

Bai Shi cuts him off. “If you dare insult me, I’ll tell the school that you bully others, have no manners, and lack integrity. They might reconsider accepting you.”

Dejie freezes, glaring at him as if he’s a different person. Trying to stay calm, he stammers, “You… You are making that up!”

Ah, kids are so easy to scare. Bai Shi stares at him blankly, feeling rather pleased. Seeing that Bai Shi isn’t joking, Dejie starts to panic. His mother, who had been accepting compliments from those around her, rushes over.

“Dejie didn’t mean it like that! He just wanted to tell you the things you need to be careful about…” she says, trying to sound apologetic.

Bai Shi understands she’s worried that he might really report it. Not wanting to drag it out, he nods to indicate he understands. Relieved, the woman quickly pulls her son away, followed by the other kids and their parents. But Dejie keeps glancing back, still uneasy.

Bai Shi thinks to himself: “A guy in his twenties, bullying children is pretty shameful.” He reflects on this for a moment and shifts his gaze.

The boy beside him looks at him with shining eyes. “Gou Dan, you’re so cool!”

Bai Shi: “…”

“Can you stop calling me that, for God’s sake?? I’m going to be your boss in the future!”

The little boy is excited for a while, then suddenly worries, “What if they try to get back at us?”

“Don’t worry”, Bai Shi replies casually. In reality, even if he doesn’t act out, they won’t get along with him anyway.

A few years later, they’ll cause trouble again at the mech tournament in the main city. So whether he offends them now or not makes no difference.

Bai Shi likes to rant in his mind, but that doesn’t mean he’s weak. As for his older brother’s lesson about being polite… After seeing his brother maintain a calm expression while brutally beating someone up, Bai Shi gained a deeper understanding of that “politeness.”

His brother once said that when you have an absolute advantage, you don’t need to suppress your true thoughts. What is an absolute advantage?

For example, any minor character in a power fantasy novel is basically trash compared to the protagonist. Seeing the boy still looking nervous, Bai Shi reassures him, “As long as you become stronger, they won’t dare to bully you again.”

The boy nods, eyes full of hope as he gazes at the white building ahead. Bai Shi patiently waits in line to progress the plot. After a while, they finally enter the hall. Ahead are four small doors, likely testing rooms. Bai Shi glances around and notices an electronic screen: “Keli Town.”

It’s a town, not the “Keli City” from the original story, meaning the scale has been reduced. This suggests that many of the people here are from nearby villages, and he might be one of them too. This realization rattles him, but he forces himself to stay calm and not dwell on his suspicions.

The people ahead leave one by one, and soon it’s their turn. The boy scans his identity card under the staff’s guidance to confirm his basic information. Bai Shi glances over and sees the name “Chi Zuo” displayed.

Bai Shi watches him go inside, waiting quietly. Chi Zuo takes longer than the others, meaning he passed more tests, confirming that his guess is correct— This person is indeed strong. He waits for a full half hour before seeing Chi Zuo come out. Pretending not to know, he asks, “How did it go?”

Chi Zuo, with a bit of sweat on his forehead but looking energetic, replies, “I passed! My genetic grade is A!”

As soon as the words fall, the crowd erupts in a commotion, all eyes turning toward them. Bai Shi knows the reason. In this world, human genes are classified from E to A, with fewer people at the higher levels. He can guarantee that no more than ten kids today will be graded as level A. Now that Chi Zuo has been measured as level A, it’s naturally causing a stir.

Not bad for a sidekick. Bai Shi congratulates him, then casually scans his own ID. With a soft “beep”, his name appears on the screen: Bai Gou Dan.

Bai Shi: “…”

“What the heck? Gou Dan was supposed to be a nickname! Why is it my official name?! Who’s so uncultured that they’d register a kid with this name? And why did the protagonist’s last name change to Bai? Is it because of me? It can’t be because of me, right?!”

The staff sees him standing there in a daze, kindly speaks up: “Little one?”

Bai Shi’s lips twitch as he walks inside, expressionless. The person inside brighten up upon seeing him. A person’s appearance is somewhat influenced by their genetic level. Although this kid’s features haven’t fully developed yet, his facial proportions are perfect, indicating strong genes.

Glancing at his information, the staff member’s eye twitches before quickly regaining composure. In the end, he doesn’t call out Bai Shi’s name. “This way, kid.”

The room is small but well-lit, with a transparent cylindrical pod in the center that can only fit one person. There’s another door in the room, likely leading to the next test. Bai Shi stands in the pod. After a moment, a pale yellow arc appears above him, scanning him from top to bottom. A mechanical voice announces, “Genetic grade: C.”

The staff member freezes briefly before opening the door, “Sorry, our minimum requirement is level B.”

In other words, Bai Shi is eliminated in the first round. He responds with a simple “okay” then glances at the staff member. “What with that expression? I just need to awaken my bloodline, got it? After awakening, my grade will be the legendary S grade, you know?!”

“Tremble before me, humans!” Although… he has no idea how to awaken his bloodline. Life is lonely, and his future looks bleak.

Seeing him standing there with downcast eyes. The staff member offers some comfort, “Don’t worry, you can still go to other schools. With hard work, you can still succeed.”

Bai Shi nods and walks out slowly. Chi Zuo comes up to him, and Bai Shi says bluntly, “Level C. I didn’t pass.”

Chi Zuo  is momentarily at a loss for words, opening his mouth to say, “…It’s okay, don’t be discouraged.”

“Yeah. Let’s go home.”

Chi Zuo doesn’t argue, pulling Bai Shi along as they leave. Occasionally, Chi Zuo glances at him, his earlier excitement gone. Bai Shi knows Chi Zuo is worried about him and admires how mature he is for his age. As they say, poor kids do grow up fast.

In this era, vehicles don’t have wheels but hover in the air. Bai Shi suppresses his curiosity and follows Chi Zuo onto a public transport, heading out of town. After walking a bit further, they arrive at a run-down house. Chi Zuo calls out, “Grandpa, we’re back!”

He’s about to enter when he realizes Bai Shi hasn’t moved. “Gou Dan?”

Bai Shi seems not to hear, staring silently at the nearby junkyard. His suspicions have finally been confirmed. Though this world is based on the original story, it’s set according to the suggestions he made in the group chat. Remembering all the careless things he said, he suddenly feels a deep sense of regret.