"You're not worthy of the name 'Black Abyss' yet. Let's just call you 'Little Black' for now. You can have your proper name back when you're strong enough to dominate the three realms," Ye Chuan said.
The black dog snorted a few times in response but obediently trotted to a corner of the yard and lay down, surprisingly well-behaved.
"Alright, don’t just pick up random things and bring them home from now on," Ye Chuan reminded Bai Qianshuang, since bringing back something potentially dangerous wasn’t ideal. His house couldn’t afford any accidents.
"Mm," Bai Qianshuang nodded.
Though it was unclear whether she actually took the warning to heart.
"Wait, you broke through?" Ye Chuan suddenly noticed Bai Qianshuang’s aura—now no weaker than that old geezer Ziyun’s—and couldn’t help but feel surprised.
Was it because of the rewards he had distributed, or had Bai Qianshuang managed to advance purely through her own efforts?
"I tried yesterday, and it went surprisingly smoothly," Bai Qianshuang explained before pausing and adding,
"Actually, I’ve never really hit a bottleneck when breaking through."
"Well, you are a red-tier innate Dao body, after all," Ye Chuan mused, finally understanding what it meant to be a true protagonist—someone who leveled up effortlessly, as easily as drinking water.
Meanwhile, Ye Chuan still had to spend resources and gather materials like a normal cultivator.
Bai Qianshuang was the real cheater here. Ye Chuan was just an ordinary practitioner.
After taking in Little Black, Ye Chuan decided to build a doghouse for it. After all, leaving the poor thing out in the yard without shelter from wind and rain wouldn’t do.
"Huh… 50,000 bucks for a doghouse?" Ye Chuan opened the construction app and was stunned by the price.
"What kind of golden kennel is this?" He twitched his lips, looking down at Little Black wagging its tail at him.
"Guess you’re getting a cardboard box instead."
"Woof!"
"Oh, and you’ll have to fetch the cardboard yourself."
"Whimper~"
Of course, Ye Chuan was joking. Money wasn’t really an issue for him anymore—between rental income and earnings from the Wang family, he was well past the days of worrying about affording extra pork ribs for every meal.
With a flick of his fingers, a doghouse materialized in the yard. Ye Chuan still didn’t understand why the thing cost tens of thousands, but Little Black seemed thrilled, immediately darting inside.
Just then, Ye Chuan noticed a new option in the tenant interface—
Huh?
Pets counted too?
[New Pet Discovered: Black Abyss
Origin: Tianxuan ContinentOld, accidentally crossed through a spatial rift into the modern world. Insufficient intel…
Realm: Foundation Establishment, Great Perfection]
[Pet Quality: A]
[Effect After Moving In: Permanently increases all tenants’ attributes by 5%]
Oh?
"So you’re a dog from the Tianxuan Continent? But what does ‘Old’ mean?" Ye Chuan muttered in surprise, taking a moment to process this before calming down. Who knew pets could boost stats too?
And a percentage-based buff at that.
Ye Chuan’s gaze toward Little Black instantly softened. "Little Black, I can tell you’re a prodigy."
"Woof?"
After playing with the dog for a while, Ye Chuan returned inside. "Qianshuang, from now on, feel free to bring home any cats or dogs you find—especially the weird ones. The weirder, the better. The bigger, the better."
Bai Qianshuang, sitting on the sofa munching on snacks, turned to him with puffed cheeks and a puzzled look in her eyes.
Chew chew chew… Didn’t he just… chew chew chew… tell me not to bring things home?
Why the sudden change of heart?
After lingering in the living room for a bit, Ye Chuan remembered the shrink ray and headed to Ke Ning’s door, knocking lightly. "You there, Ke Ning?"
"If I’m not dead, I’m usually here," came the reply from inside.
Ye Chuan opened the door to find Ke Ning seated at her desk, staring blankly at something on the lab table.
"If you’re busy, I can come back later," Ye Chuan offered, seeing her deep in thought.
"It’s fine." Ke Ning removed her glasses and casually wiped them with a handkerchief.
"With how advanced your world’s tech is, do you guys still need glasses? Couldn’t you just get laser eye surgery?" Ye Chuan asked curiously.
"You think I wear these because I’m nearsighted?" Ke Ning tilted her head up with a faint smile. Without the glasses, her eyes were strikingly bright, contrasting beautifully with her dark circles.
"Aren’t you?"
In response, Ke Ning handed him the glasses. "Try them."
"Try them?" Ye Chuan took them and put them on.
Instantly, countless windows popped into view, displaying streams of data he couldn’t comprehend. Even Ke Ning had a status window floating above her.
[Age: 18]
[Gender: Female]
"So these aren’t prescription glasses," Ye Chuan remarked, removing them, thoroughly impressed.
"They can be," Ke Ning said, putting them back on. "You’re here about that device?"
"Yeah, any way to recharge it?" Ye Chuan pulled out the shrink ray. He was quite fond of this little toy—if only it could be refueled.
Next time he got into a fight, he could start by confiscating the opponent’s clothes, then shrink their… equipment.
A nasty little combo.
"For recharging, hand over the spirit crystals," Ke Ning adjusted her glasses.
"You want spirit crystals?"
"Mm."
Ye Chuan reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of crystal cores from his inventory, placing them on the table. "Take as many as you need."
"Not enough."
"Here’s more."
He dumped another pile onto the table. "Still need more?"
"That should do." As soon as Ke Ning spoke, the magic cube floating beside her glided over, scanned the crystals, and absorbed their energy with a beam of light.
"Vrrrm—" It then hovered next to the shrink ray and began transferring energy into it.
The process was quick. Within minutes, the device lit up again, its usage count restored.
"Done. Though it’s just a toy—there are plenty of ways to undo its effects," Ke Ning remarked.
"Perfect, this is enough," Ye Chuan said, pocketing the device. "Thanks. I’ll let you get back to work."
"Did you forget something?" Ke Ning’s words halted Ye Chuan mid-step.
She looked at him lazily. "What about the favor you promised me?"
"What do you need me to do?" Ye Chuan smiled.
"Sit here."
"Huh?" Ye Chuan sat down on the chair as instructed. The next moment, Ke Ning walked over and plopped herself onto his lap.
The sudden contact caught him off guard—not because he thought it was a gesture of affection (her expression remained as indifferent as ever), but because of how unexpected it was.
Ke Ning was light. Just as Ye Chuan was about to say something, her head drooped, and she fell asleep against him, breathing evenly.
Ye Chuan: "?"

young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."

] [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!"

't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.

grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)