[Simulation concluded, compiling highlights]
[Calculating simulation evaluation...]
[Generating simulation rewards...]
The real world.
Xu Xi opened his eyes.
The courtyard remained frozen in the same temporal stasis as before the simulation began—utterly silent, motionless.
The surging energies of cultivation, magic, and martial arts flowed within him, soothing the post-simulation fatigue.
"Moli, did you notice anything?" Xu Xi asked the four girls before him.
Before the fifth simulation, he had entrusted Xu Moli and the others to lock down the courtyard’s temporal possibilities, hoping to uncover the truth behind the simulator.
Now was the time to assess their findings.
Yet something felt off.
The atmosphere was unnervingly strange.
Xu Moli furrowed her brows, Krisha sniffed the air, Wu Yingxue lowered her head in thought, and Ailei seemed to be searching for something.
Before the simulation, they had all been observing its activation together.
But now, each was preoccupied with their own task.
"Master," the most perceptive of them, the witch Krisha, spoke first. "There’s... another peculiar scent on you."
Though emotionally reserved, Krisha’s senses were terrifyingly sharp.
---
The World of Heruka
Blazing white flames erupted from the scorching sun, swelling until they obscured a quarter of the sky.
A colossal entity descended from beyond the heavens, crashing into an ancient, verdant forest.
Birds shrieked in panic.
Trees toppled in rows.
The vast world was left with only the hum of the floating Wizard Tower’s machinery.
Servia Clawphire was obedient—painfully so.
She followed every command Xu Xi had given with flawless precision.
She protected herself.
She shielded the panicked masses.
Like an unyielding machine, she maintained the tower and purged threats in its vicinity.
But it hurt.
Her heart ached unbearably.
When there was nothing left to do, Servia retreated alone to the deepest chamber atop the tower.
Lights off.
Windows shuttered.
Just as she had long ago, she curled into a trembling ball in the cold, dark corner.
"Great Wizard... I can’t..."
"Without you... I’m nothing..."
Tears streamed down her deathly pale cheeks, soaking them in sorrow.
Her grief echoed through the suffocating darkness, feeding her fear and despair.
The Hero could not face that abyss alone.
Could not endure the crushing certainty that Xu Xi was gone—forever.
So she pressed her back against the wall, knees drawn to her chest, and activated the enchanted tome he had left her.
A simple luminescence spell.
A faint glow kindled with a trickle of soul energy.
It was the light Xu Xi had left for her.
Dim.
But warm.
A lifeline for Servia, drowning in grief.
"You promised to return..."
"You said it yourself..."
Her voice broke.
Then faded entirely.
Only the sound of falling tears remained.
And when even those ran dry, only shuddering whimpers.
Outside, golden sunlight bathed the world in warmth—yet none of it reached her.
None of it touched her frozen, shattered heart.
She loathed her weakness.
Hated her cowardice.
But Servia rejected this version of herself, clinging instead to the dim radiance of the tome.
He wasn’t coming back.
Never again.
The light that had guided her, embraced her, accepted every flawed part of her—
Gone.
No more voice.
No more presence.
No more fragments of him in the life she’d known.
The ordinary days she’d taken for granted were now eternally hollow.
A gaping void where he should have been.
"......"
Time passed.
Servia wept until she had no tears left.
Until even the enchanted tome, overused, flickered out.
"The Great Wizard..."
"He believed in me. I can’t... disappoint him."
Staggering upright like a broken marionette, she dragged herself forward.
Her trembling fingers found the door handle.
Eyes vacant.
Expression shattered.
Her heart was in ruins, but she couldn’t collapse here.
Not when someone had trusted her.
Believed she could be more.
And so, Servia would become the Hero worthy of that light.
Click—
The door swung open.
A flood of gold spilled into the room, gilding her skin in fractured brilliance.
Life thrived in this reborn world—
The very dream she’d once longed for.
But her hollow eyes reflected no joy.
"Tower Spirit..." Her voice was sandpaper.
Before the enemy’s arrival, Xu Xi had granted her control of the tower’s core.
She hadn’t wanted it then.
Didn’t want to be its sole keeper.
But now, Servia would obey.
Because it was his final order.
Thud.
Thud.
Step by unsteady step, she reached the tower’s heart.
The spirit manifested as a shadowy raven, alighting before her.
And then—
A voice.
Pre-recorded.
Gentle as memory.
Xu Xi’s words unfolded like a map—explaining the Infinite Netherworld, the Immortals, breakthroughs, potions, soulcraft.
Every path she might need.
And at the end, a pause.
A quiet, aching apology:
"Servia... I’m sorry."
Drip.
Drip.
Tears fell anew.
The world basked in dawn.
The Hero wept in the dark.
"You always... always do this..."
"I was the burden... I should be the one begging forgiveness..."
"Great Wizard..."
"I... refuse... your apology."
Silence filled the chamber.
But Servia’s grief was a storm.
It clogged her lungs.
Sapped her strength.
Left her crumpled and broken.
The one who had pulled her from darkness, who had led her into light—
Even in death, he had paved her way forward.
His kindness was a blade.
And Servia wanted to let it carve her apart.
But she couldn’t.
The Hero he’d believed in was meant to stand in the sun.
To smile.
And so—
Servia would step into the light.
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
. 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!"
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)
] [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!"
