"He definitely isn't looking for me to settle a score."
"As for what you just said..."
"He beat up one of my lackeys?"
"Him?"
"Zhao Dahu did that?"
Lin Yu's face was full of disbelief. How could that guy—who once wouldn't even throw a punch when Lin Yu held his hand and forced him to—suddenly have such a change of heart?
...
Could it be because of his grandfather's passing?
A possibility flashed through Lin Yu's mind.
Just like that trash-picking bastard, who stopped caring about anything after losing the only family he had left in the world.
"Yeah, yeah, it was him."
Gu Yue nodded vigorously, then added sheepishly:
"He went all out—slapped the guy so hard he flew into a wall."
"Rumor has it the guy was dazed for hours, didn’t recover for several classes."
"Why did he do it?"
"Do you know the reason?"
Lin Yu asked curiously.
"No idea."
Gu Yue shook her head at first, then hesitated before adding uncertainly:
"Maybe the guy said something to him?"
"I’m not really sure."
"Oh, right."
"Hey, Long-ge, why are you so sure he isn’t here to cause trouble for you?"
Gu Yue blinked, puzzled.
"He’s definitely not here to cause trouble. Just like you—you’d never come after me, so neither would he."
Lin Yu declared with absolute confidence.
After all, he’d just done Zhao Dahu a huge favor a couple of days ago. Same as when he’d helped Gu Yue teach those purple-haired punks and their gang a lesson. That kind of debt? Zhao Dahu should be falling over himself to thank Lin Yu, not picking a fight.
While Lin Yu brimmed with certainty, Gu Yue wasn’t having it.
Just like me?
How could he be like me?
I don’t cause trouble for you because I like you—does that mean he likes you too?!
At that thought, Gu Yue pouted unhappily and muttered under her breath:
"He’s nothing like me..."
"Huh?"
"Not like you?"
"What’s the difference?"
Lin Yu pressed, baffled.
"..."
Gu Yue glared at his clueless expression, then snapped in frustration:
"There just is!"
"Okay, but what exactly is the difference?"
Lin Yu kept pushing.
"..."
Gu Yue’s cheeks puffed up in anger before she finally exploded:
"Figure it out yourself!"
"Got two eyes but can’t see a thing!"
After shouting, she stormed off in a huff, not even looking back.
Lin Yu stood frozen, stunned by the first scolding he’d ever gotten from Gu Yue. By the time his slow brain caught up, she was already ten meters ahead.
Watching her retreating figure, his eyes widened in utter shock.
"What the hell?!"
"Gu Yue!"
"You’ve got some nerve now, huh?!"
"Talking to me like that?!"
"You asking for a beating?!"
Lin Yu roared, clenching his fists as he charged after her.
"Ahh!"
"Help!"
Hearing his rapid footsteps closing in, Gu Yue dropped the act. She shrieked and bolted like a startled rabbit...
...
After a full day of mind-numbing classes, Lin Yu slung the tattered single-strap bag over his shoulder and trudged out of school, body and soul utterly drained.
Less than a hundred meters from the school gates, Lin Yu looked at Zhao Dahu, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and asked weakly:
“What’s up?”
Zhao Dahu nodded. He unzipped his jacket slightly, reached inside with his large hand, and pulled out a rectangular cloth bundle.
Carefully unwrapping it, a shade of red that brought instant delight to anyone who saw it appeared in his palm.
“Brother Long, here’s the rest of the money. Returning it to you.”
Zhao Dahu extended the stack of bills toward Lin Yu.
Lin Yu stared at the cash in Zhao Dahu’s hand and couldn’t help but ask, exasperated:
“Why didn’t you just transfer it to me through your phone? Why go through the trouble of coming all this way?”
Zhao Dahu scratched his head and replied with simple earnestness:
“My grandpa told me before he passed—you don’t thank your benefactor just over the phone.”
“Especially someone who’s done you a huge favor.”
“You’ve got to say it face to face—that’s how you show sincerity.”
“Otherwise, it’s disrespectful to the person who helped you.”
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
