Becoming a Rich Guy in a Book

Han Juyou stood on the rooftop of the eighteenth floor, the autumn wind brushing through her hair. Tears welled up in her narrow, fox-like eyes, gliding past the heart-shaped beauty mark beneath her left eye.

Her gaze was filled with exhaustion, as if she had lost all hope for this world—exhaustion tinged with disgust and hatred...

She hated this world. She hated why her fate was so miserable, why she was always the loser!

Han Juyou pressed her crimson lips together, her delicate nose twitching slightly.

Without hesitation, she leaped.

"Boom—"

Fireworks bloomed in the distance. No one would notice her death.

On this autumn day, amidst the fireworks, the pitiful and detestable villainess ended her life...

(The End)

Liu Muye's fingers flew across the keyboard as he finished the final chapter of his novel—the scene where the villainess jumped to her death—and typed "(The End)" before uploading it to the author platform.

"Phew..."

After publishing the chapter, Liu Muye stood up and let out a long sigh.

Liu Muye, pen name "Pastoral Beyond the Skies," was a college graduate from a small county. After majoring in Chinese at Sunan University, he worked a half-year internship doing odd jobs at a bookstore. Later, he joined a corporate giant, only to quit due to burnout. Hearing that writing novels could make money, he started an author account.

These days, the male-oriented fiction market was fiercely competitive, with all kinds of gimmicks popping up. Without enough skill or mentorship, he failed to earn a penny after six months. So, he switched to female-oriented romance, writing "domineering CEO" stories—only to find that even those weren’t profitable anymore.

Having survived on instant noodles for a week, he could no longer afford to write for passion alone.

With rent due soon, he’d be homeless if he didn’t make money fast.

Writing novels was out of the question—he’d starve to death at this rate.

After hastily wrapping up his latest flop, Liu Muye pulled out his cracked-screen phone (too broke to fix it) and started browsing factory job listings in Sunan.

At least he had some conscience—even starving, he made sure to finish his novel before resigning himself to factory labor.

Too bad no one would ever read this terrible book.

"Bzzzt—zzzzt—bzzzt—"

While scrolling through job ads, Liu Muye suddenly heard an electric crackle. He looked up to see his old writing computer had blue-screened, black smoke rising from the keyboard.

Liu Muye screamed, "Holy shit! My precious laptop—I just finished paying it off!"

He frantically yanked the power cord—

A flash of sparks erupted in the room, and Liu Muye blacked out.

......

"I hate it! I hate this world! Why is my fate so miserable? Why am I always the loser? Why?! It’s not fair! Not fair!"

In his dream, Liu Muye heard a woman’s voice, hysterical and furious—eerily familiar yet foreign.

When he opened his eyes again, he was lying on an unfamiliar beach, the blinding sun making it hard to see.

"Is this some kind of performance art?"

"Hey, 911? There’s a naked guy on Crescent Beach. Not kidding."

"Zhan Bo, listen, I just saw a completely naked—"

Crescent Beach?

Wasn’t that the place where the main couple confessed in his novel?

Liu Muye sat up slowly amidst the murmurs of the crowd, confused by the strange looks people were giving him.

What are they staring at?

Wasn’t I just at home?

How did I end up on a beach?

Rubbing his throbbing temples, he muttered to himself.

Just then, two police officers approached him. "Public indecency. Come with us."

"Huh? But I’m wearing—holy shit!"

Liu Muye looked down and nearly had a heart attack.

Thankfully, the officers draped a coat over him, preserving some dignity.

Inside the police car, Liu Muye stared out the window, his expression growing graver as the unfamiliar scenery passed by.

He cautiously asked, "Uh, officer… where exactly in Sunan City is this?"

The cop gave him a baffled look. "Sunan? What Sunan? This is Shangjing City—the international metropolis."

"Shangjing City…? AHH!"

Liu Muye shrieked.

He knew that name all too well—it was the fictional city he’d created for his CEO romance novel.

How could a place from his book exist in real life?

Before he could process it, the police car stopped at the station.

He was escorted to an interrogation room.

Soon, a young officer walked in, locking the door behind him.

The man smiled. "Hello, esteemed author Liu Muye. My name is Luo Ji—the Order Keeper of this story world."

"Wait, what did you just call me? ‘Esteemed author’?"

"That’s right. Esteemed author." Luo Ji repeated.

Liu Muye’s lips twitched, barely suppressing a grin.

After two and a half years of writing, this was the first time anyone had called him something so grand. It felt amazing.

Struggling to keep a straight face, he asked, "You know me?"

"Uh… your smile is kinda creepy," Luo Ji remarked, wiping sweat. "Not only do I know you, I also know you wrote a novel called The CEO’s Beloved Pet. Now, brace yourself for what I’m about to tell you..."

Moments later, a shout echoed from the interrogation room.

"WHAT?! You mean I can’t go back unless I save the villainess?!"

"Calm down," Luo Ji said, patting his shoulder. "The issue is, the villainess you wrote has too much resentment. If you don’t resolve it, you’ll be trapped here forever."

Liu Muye scowled. "I already killed her off! What more resentment could she have?"

Luo Ji sighed. "Exactly because you killed her. That’s why her grudge is so strong now."

"..."

Damn. That made too much sense.

Liu Muye gritted his teeth. "Fine. What’s the current plot status?"

"No plot yet. Today is freshman orientation at Siliya Royal Business School—the story starts now." Luo Ji waved a hand, conjuring a set of clothes and a wallet. "Your new identity: the chairman’s son of Siliya. Get dressed and head to campus."

Liu Muye frowned. "Siliya is the school I made up, but… since when did it have a chairman? I don’t remember writing that."

Luo Ji explained, "Just because you didn’t mention it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist in the world of the book. It simply wasn’t relevant to the main plot, so it didn’t appear. When an author writes a book, the people and things within it come to life. Everything you don’t see develops its own logic and rules—otherwise, how would this world function?"

"That makes sense."

Liu Muye found Luo Ji’s reasoning somewhat convincing. After all, he had already traveled into a book—what could be more absurd than that?

Not to mention, he was the son of a university board chairman. How was that even logical?

"Wait… what did you just say about me? I’m the son of the board chairman of Siliya Royal Business School? So I’m filthy rich?!"

"Exactly. Though the book only briefly mentioned this university, it did state that it’s a cradle for the world’s top business tycoons. Logically speaking, the board chairman would be an ultra-wealthy figure…"

"So I can basically do whatever I want on campus?"

Luo Ji said, "Logically speaking, yes."

Liu Muye’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he roared, "Then why the hell would I bother saving some toxic female side character? If I can live as a rich guy in this world, who’d want to go back to reality? I’m about to take off!"

With that, Liu Muye threw on his clothes and bolted out of the interrogation room.

"Hey, wait—hold on! If you force yourself to stay in the book’s world…"

But before Luo Ji could finish, Liu Muye was already gone without a trace.

…