"Because I pitied you."
Lin Yu slowly uttered this answer that Tang Manman found deeply unsettling.
Pitied me?
Tang Manman silently repeated his words, lost in thought.
After a moment, she asked again in a soft voice,
"Is there really no other reason?"
Lin Yu shook his head slightly, but then, as if murmuring in his sleep, he added,
"I also wanted you to live happily."
"Without being bullied by bad people."
After these drowsy words left his lips, the small room fell into a silence so deep you could hear a pin drop.
Tang Manman sat frozen beside Lin Yu, staring at his half-asleep face while his two vague sentences echoed endlessly in her mind. Her fair skin flushed deeper and deeper, as if swept by crimson tides, until even her cheeks burned a frightening shade of red—like she had a high fever.
And in truth, her mind was just as feverish.
Live happily?
Without being bullied?
What does that mean?
Is this a confession?
No, it doesn’t sound like one.
Is it just concern between classmates?
No, that’s not it either.
Words like these, almost like a vow, felt far too intimate.
If anything, they sounded like...
Something a father would say to his daughter.
Even though she knew Lin Yu’s words were just a platonic expression of care, Tang Manman couldn’t control the storm of emotions raging inside her.
It was as if his words had flipped some strange switch.
Her face burned hot enough to scorch her skin, and her heart pounded so violently it ached in her chest.
Those two sentences felt like a curse. Combined with the memory of how Lin Yu had saved her multiple times over the past few days, her breathing grew heavy.
That strange, indescribable feeling—one that had completely vanished by noon—suddenly surged back, stronger than ever, leaving her utterly defenseless.
"Then... then why did you act like that earlier today to scare me?"
With her face flushed nearly crimson, Tang Manman whispered the question that weighed most heavily on her mind.
"Because..."
Half-asleep, Lin Yu was about to answer honestly when a sudden sense of unease struck him.
Tang Manman’s question felt like asking a barely conscious person for their phone’s payment password—it had brushed against the most sensitive part of his mind.
Finally, his sluggish brain kicked into gear. Key words flickered in his thoughts, piecing together scattered memories as he forced himself to think.
Noon?
Acting?
Scaring her?
These fragments slowly formed a name he knew all too well.
Tang Manman!
Lin Yu jolted awake, as if realizing mid-dream that he’d left the stove on. He tried to bolt upright, only to collapse back from a splitting headache.
What the—?
Where am I?
Why are you here, Tang Manman?!
His eyes darted around in panic, and when they landed on Tang Manman, his expression turned even more terrified than if he’d seen the Fire Scorpion Gang’s enforcers.
"W-what acting?"
"What do you mean, scaring you?"
"I wasn’t acting!"
"Listen, Tang Manman, I’m not a good person."
Instinctively, Lin Yu responded with hostility, hoping she’d react like she had at noon—fleeing from him like a startled deer.
But his hopes were dashed.
Not only did Tang Manman not run, she didn’t even look the slightest bit afraid. Her flushed face was instead filled with urgency and concern as she pleaded,
"Don’t get worked up! You’re still weak—you need to rest!"
"I’m not worked up!"
Lin Yu grew increasingly uneasy at the sight of her reddened cheeks. Desperate, he doubled down, hoping to revert her back to her earlier fear.
"Tang Manman, why aren’t you scared of me?"
"I’m warning you—leave right now!"
"Or don’t blame me for what happens next!"
"I-I’d harass you if I could move right now!"
His breathing ragged, Lin Yu glared at her with a ferocity that could frighten anyone.
But beneath that terrifying exterior was a silent plea.
Tang Manman, I’m begging you.
Go back to hating me like you did at noon, okay?
I swear I’ll never get near you again!
"Alright, alright, harass me then, harass me!"
"You terrify me, okay?"
"Just calm down first!"
Tang Manman was so focused on his injuries that she blindly agreed to whatever he said, not realizing how suggestive her words sounded—until she saw the shock on Lin Yu’s face.
Her lips snapped shut, her cheeks and even her slender neck flushing a deep, rosy pink.
She was so mortified her brain short-circuited.
Lin Yu wasn’t much better. Hearing her baby him like this, he felt his life was over.
How did this happen?
How did Tang Manman’s affection level skyrocket like this?!
Am I doomed to become the homewrecker from the manga’s ending?
Ugh…
I can never face the forum bros again.
Might as well hang myself with a sturdy spaghetti noodle!
Mid-misery, Lin Yu suddenly realized something he’d overlooked.
Where the hell am I?
Forgetting his despair, he glanced around and came to a conclusion:
This was an unfamiliar room.
Where is this place?
That question led to another, far more pressing one:
How did I even get here?
His throbbing head refused to cooperate, so he turned back to Tang Manman—her face still burning red, her peach-blossom eyes full of panic—and asked,
"Where is this?"
"How did I end up here?"
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
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.”
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
