Breaking free from the overwhelming shock, Lin Yu didn't even pause to catch his breath before another scene involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
It was a moment from the original storyline—Xia Muzhu wandering the streets in despair after her emotional breakdown.
Back then, she had encountered the original protagonist. A single brief word of concern from him had felt like a lifeline to her shattered spirit, and she had begged him not to abandon her too...
The memory froze on Xia Muzhu's face—exhausted, desperate, and tinged with a trace of frantic pleading.
A bone-chilling coldness seeped into Lin Yu's heart.
As if denying the possibility or perhaps comforting himself, Lin Yu shook his head repeatedly, muttering "impossible" under his breath like a mantra.
He had already decided to stay with Xia Muzhu.
Nothing like that would happen again.
Never again.
Absolutely never...
...
Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. Lin Yu grabbed a tissue from the box and wiped his face haphazardly.
Sitting heavily on the chair, he took several deep breaths before finally calming down.
Once composed, recalling Xia Muzhu's personality and principles, the faint sliver of confidence in his heart grew steadier.
Xia Muzhu was gentle, but she was far from weak.
She had her own dignity and boundaries.
When her younger brother faced bullying, she had confronted the perpetrators head-on. And after yesterday's incident, she hadn't used it as leverage to guilt-trip him into staying—instead, upon realizing it was a misunderstanding, she had let him leave without hesitation.
Someone as resilient as her, soft on the outside but unyielding within, wouldn't easily crumble into such a state.
In the original plot, it had taken an overwhelming series of blows to break her.
But now, all those events were behind them. With him here to protect her, she would never fall into that abyss of despair again.
Never!
...
After spending the entire afternoon sorting out housing and daily necessities, Lin Yu decided to visit Xia Muzhu's place before nightfall.
Entering the neighborhood and arriving at her building, he hesitated at the foot of the stairs, nerves and awkwardness tying his stomach in knots.
His unease wasn't directed at Xia Muzhu, though.
It was that little brat, Xia Yueshan!
The mere thought of exchanging tender words with Xia Muzhu while that punk watched on made his skin crawl!
Especially after previously declaring, "I have zero interest in your sister" to the kid...
Lin Yu shuddered in disgust. After another moment of internal wrestling, he gritted his teeth—no avoiding the inevitable. Might as well face the music now.
He knocked on the door, which swung open almost immediately. The sight of Xia Yueshan on the other side first tightened his chest, then left him stunned.
Why did the kid look even more nervous than he did?
A second later, it clicked.
After causing such a mess, Xia Yueshan was lucky Lin Yu wasn't here to throttle him. One wrong smirk, and Lin Yu would knock his teeth out!
Bolstered by this realization, Lin Yu shot the boy a warning glare before brushing past him to find Xia Muzhu.
The faint sounds of cooking led him to the kitchen, where Xia Muzhu was busy at work.
A clay pot simmered on the stove, its contents bubbling rhythmically. Nearby, she stood at the cutting board dressed in an adorable cat-themed apron, deftly slicing meat and vegetables.
Lin Yu turned to glower at Xia Yueshan again.
The bewildered boy, halfway to his room, froze—clueless about what he'd done wrong this time.
Lin Yu had no patience to explain. In two strides, he was beside Xia Muzhu, murmuring softly:
"Let me handle the chopping."
"No need—"
She shook her head in refusal, but Lin Yu didn't give her the chance, plucking the knife from her hand.
Deprived of her tool, Xia Muzhu relented.
Lin Yu thoughtfully fetched a stool from the corner, settling her onto it before taking over the prep work.
Following her instructions, he sliced the pork paper-thin, then cut the peppers into triangular pieces.
When she rose to resume cooking, Lin Yu stopped her again:
"I'll do it."
"My cooking skills are pretty terrible anyway."
"With an expert like you guiding me, maybe I'll improve."
"Can't have you doing all the work forever..."
Xia Muzhu blinked, as if hearing such words for the first time. Then, like sunlight melting frost, warmth bloomed across her face. Her sapphire eyes shimmered with barely perceptible moisture.
Through the kitchen window, Lin Yu saw her moved, joyful expression.
He assumed she was simply relieved to share chores, unaware her happiness stemmed from his unspoken promise of a shared future...
Lin Yu meticulously asked about cooking techniques while Xia Muzhu answered in hushed tones, occasionally sharing personal tips that had him nodding earnestly.
As he focused on stir-frying, Xia Muzhu quietly approached to monitor the ingredients—easier to gauge doneness up close.
Sensing her proximity, Lin Yu distractedly flipped the pork and peppers with a wooden spatula. After stealing a few glances at her reflection in the darkened window—now acting as a mirror under the kitchen lights—he hesitantly whispered:
"Muzhu, you... um..."
"How are you... feeling now?"
Against the black backdrop of night, their reflections appeared startlingly vivid.
In the glass, he watched Xia Muzhu's cheeks flush pink. Her mirrored self peeked at his reflection before lowering her gaze. When she spoke, the voice came from behind him rather than the image:
"Much better now."
"Glad to hear it."
Flustered, Lin Yu nodded and returned his attention to the sizzling pan.
The stir-fry was their final dish. Once plated, he carried it to the dining table.
Xia Muzhu turned off the stove, ladling thick tomato-and-beef soup from the clay pot before setting out bowls and rice.
They made several trips between kitchen and table before everything was ready.
Right on cue, Xia Yueshan emerged from his room at his sister's call, phone in hand.
The sight made Lin Yu's blood boil.
Damn brat!
I've been slaving in the kitchen while you lazed around?
Even in my past life, I never had it this easy!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
] [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!"
