At the reef.
Waves relentlessly crashed against the rugged rocks, sending sprays of white foam into the air. The briny sea breeze carried a tinge of bitterness, lingering at the nostrils and stirring a faint discomfort.
Su Cheng gazed at Li Guanqi, her silhouette bathed in the golden hues of the setting sun. Her upright posture exuded an air of solemnity and grace. The sea wind tousled her raven-black hair, carrying with it a subtle fragrance, fresh and delicate. Yet, Su Cheng’s attention was drawn to the ring in Li Guanqi’s hand.
After a prolonged silence, he finally spoke, perplexed: "Why are you giving this to me?"
"You need this more than I do," Li Guanqi replied calmly, her tone resolute.
"How could I possibly need something like this?" Su Cheng frowned, baffled. Meeting her earnest expression, he fell silent once more.
He lowered his head, examining the black-gold ring in his palm, and asked softly, "Does it hold some special meaning?"
He knew this ring was no ordinary trinket to Li Guanqi—she wore it daily, even on her ring finger. But he couldn’t fathom why she would suddenly hand over something so symbolic to him.
"Watch," Li Guanqi said, taking the book from Su Cheng’s hand. She lightly tapped the ring with it.
In an instant, the book vanished into thin air, leaving the ring untouched in her palm.
Su Cheng’s eyes widened in disbelief. He blinked rapidly, as if to dispel an illusion.
A moment later, he stammered, staring at her hand, "Is this… a storage ring? No, wait—was that just a magic trick?"
His reaction wasn’t unwarranted. In his understanding, storage rings belonged solely to the realms of fantasy novels and films—something utterly divorced from reality.
Attempting to mask his unease, Su Cheng forced a laugh. "You really went out of your way to distract me with a magic trick, huh? Haha..."
His laughter trailed off awkwardly, met only with Li Guanqi’s silence. She then summoned the book back into existence and handed it to him again.
"You…" Su Cheng’s voice trembled as he took the book, his mind in turmoil. Rational explanations eluded him.
Dismissing it as sleight of hand might have offered temporary solace, but doubt gnawed at him. Was this truly just a performance?
After all, he himself defied logic.
A transmigrator.
Yet without a system—plausible, yet implausible.
"Exactly as you suspect," Li Guanqi affirmed, her voice steady. "This is indeed a 'storage ring.' It can store any inanimate object and retrieve it at will."
"Are you joking?" Su Cheng’s lips quivered, his voice thick with emotion. "I lent you that web novel just days ago, and now you’re pulling this on me?"
"Try it yourself," Li Guanqi countered, extending the ring toward him once more, her gaze unwavering.
Su Cheng hesitated, then leaned forward, placing his hand over hers. The moment his fingers brushed the ring, a chill shot through him, making him shudder. He picked it up, mimicking her earlier motion—touching the ring while silently willing the book away. In a blink, the book disappeared, leaving only the unadorned ring in his grasp.
"Holy—this is real?!" Su Cheng blurted, his face a canvas of astonishment. To test further, he grabbed his backpack and repeated the process—it, too, vanished without a trace.
"......" He stared dumbfounded at the ring, emotions churning within him.
Could she also be a transmigrator?
Li Guanqi stood quietly beside him, observing his reaction. When he finally looked up, she gave a slow, deliberate nod. "I felt the same way at first. But you grow accustomed to it."
Her detached tone suggested she was stating an irrefutable fact, deliberately devoid of sentiment.
Su Cheng took a deep breath, steadying himself, then met her eyes. "You must know how invaluable this ring is. But…"
He hesitated before mustering the courage to ask, "Why would you give something so precious to me?"
"You need it more than I do," Li Guanqi repeated, her expression unchanged, as if she’d anticipated the question.
She continued, "As you once said, protagonists possess 'abilities beyond ordinary comprehension.'"
Her implication was unmistakable. Su Cheng had previously resigned himself to being a side character with only the basic traits of a male lead.
But now, with this ring in his possession—did that elevate him to protagonist status?
"Even if that’s the case, I…"
Su Cheng trailed off, frowning at the ring. Their relationship hardly warranted such a monumental gesture.
Why entrust him with something so extraordinary?
It felt excessive.
Seemingly reading his thoughts, Li Guanqi broke her silence. "The secrets tied to this ring concern us both. So, don’t feel burdened—I have my own reasons."
"Concern me?" Su Cheng blinked. "You need my help with something?"
"I hope that once you uncover the ring’s origins, you’ll assist me," Li Guanqi said solemnly. "I’ve realized I’ve lost memories. I want them back—to find answers. And you might hold the key."
"......" Su Cheng remained quiet for a long moment before shaking his head. "I’m sorry. I can’t accept this."
"Hm?" Li Guanqi’s brow furrowed.
Su Cheng met her gaze unflinchingly. "First, the ring belongs to you. Second, its very existence shatters my understanding of reality."
Pausing, he added firmly, "Please keep it safe and never bring this up again. It’s too much for me to process."
His face showed no trace of greed—only rejection, confusion, and unease.
"Don’t you want to be the protagonist?" Li Guanqi asked, unsurprised. Her eyes bore into his as she murmured, "Isn’t this the 'special ability' you lacked?"
"I'll help you with what you mentioned," Su Cheng said firmly as he returned the ring to Li Guanqi. "After all, I owe you many favors. I can't just pass up the chance to repay you and accept yet another kindness from you, can I?"
"But..." Li Guanqi lowered his gaze to the ring in his hand, pausing in thought before suddenly asking, "Are you sure you don't need this ring?"
"No, I really don't," Su Cheng countered. "There are no shortcuts to becoming the male lead. Even if you gave me this ring, it wouldn’t mean much. It just so happens that I already possess some qualities of a protagonist—with a little more effort, I might actually reach that level."
"So," he continued earnestly, "don’t worry about what the ring might signify for me. Just tell me how I can help you. As long as it’s within my power, I won’t refuse."
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.
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?!
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
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!
