Chi Qingchi: "!!!"
The rest of the club members: "!!!"
Lin Yu: "???"
A broken guitar string? Now of all times?
Classic trope alert!
What’s youth without a little drama, right?
Only two more performances before their turn.
Without their lead guitarist, how the hell were they supposed to pull this off?
This wasn’t some anime where a busted guitar could magically pull off slide techniques with a flick of the wrist!
Even if Lin Yu could manage, the performance would still take a massive hit.
Lead singer absent!
Guitarist’s string snapped!
This timed mission was turning into a nightmare.
One cliché after another—could it get any worse?
Lin Yu quickly asked,
"Xiao Ou, did you bring spare strings?"
All eyes immediately locked onto Xiao Ou, waiting for his answer.
Xiao Ou, flustered, nodded while racking his brain:
"They should be in my backpack upstairs, but…"
"Changing strings takes at least ten to twenty minutes. There’s… there’s no way we’ll make it in time…"
Only two acts stood between them and the stage, each lasting about five to six minutes.
Add in scoring and the host’s transitions, and they had fifteen minutes at most.
As a guitarist, Xiao Ou knew exactly how long restringing took.
Switching their performance order last minute? Nearly impossible.
Just as despair settled in,
Lin Yu suddenly exclaimed,
"Perfect! We can make it!"
"I’m fast with strings—five minutes!"
"Give me five minutes, and I’ll hand you a fully functional guitar!"
Chi Qingchi grabbed Lin Yu’s arm, her hands trembling uncontrollably:
"Lin Yu, r-really? Just five minutes? You’re sure?"
Lin Yu patted her hand reassuringly:
"Trust me. Five minutes is all I need."
Zhao Yuhao reset his watch, setting a new countdown: [00:15:00].
They had to be backstage before the timer ran out.
Zhao Yuhao: "Move! Upstairs, now. If Lin Yu says he can do it, then he can."
Lin Yu: "!!!"
At a time like this…
Zhao Yuhao actually had his back?
Now that was a man with taste!
Zhao Yuhao’s reasoning was simple.
Standing around backstage talking wouldn’t solve anything.
Right now, trusting Lin Yu was their only option.
Ever since Xiao Lie, their lead singer, lost his voice to a fever,
Hadn’t Lin Yu been stepping up like some god-tier protagonist, saving the entire club?
If they couldn’t trust today’s "main character," who could they trust?
The group immediately dropped what they were doing and bolted for the third-floor lounge.
Who could just sit around waiting at a time like this?
Of course they all ran, desperate to see if their crisis could be resolved in time!
Nearby, the Shiman Dance Team was touching up their makeup.
They’d overheard everything.
Little Flower #1: "Their guitarist’s string broke? So unlucky, right before their turn!"
Little Flower #2: "They’ve got like, what, fifteen minutes? No way they’ll fix it in time."
Little Flower #3: "Might work in our favor. That song of theirs hits hard."
Xiang Tiange cut in sharply:
"Knock it off. We don’t win by default just because someone else messes up. Focus on yourselves."
Her expression darkened as she watched Chi Qingchi’s figure vanish through the backstage door.
---
Countdown: [00:13:50]
Turns out,
Getting from the first floor to the third took 1 minute and 10 seconds.
Since they were moving as a group, Lin Yu had to match their pace.
If he’d sprinted alone—ignoring the chaos it’d cause—
He could’ve made it in under 30 seconds.
Countdown: [00:13:09]
The three otaku girls from Hejia Huan also returned to the lounge.
Jiajia, watching the show from the audience, had noticed the group rushing out.
Sensing trouble, the trio ditched their seats and hurried back.
Countdown: [00:12:20]
Countdown: [00:11:15]
Countdown: [00:10:29]…
In the lounge,
Xiao Ou was sweating bullets, dumping his backpack’s contents onto the floor.
Wire cutters, string winder—both crucial tools were there. But…
"I swear I packed spare strings before leaving!"
"Did I leave them at home?!"
"Ugh—let me check again!"
Lin Yu sighed.
Of course.
Nothing ever went smoothly.
Even the most skilled hands couldn’t fix a guitar without strings.
Worst-case scenario?
Xiao Ou’s parts would fall to Lin Yu.
He could adjust the dual-guitar harmonies—the impact wouldn’t suffer much.
As for the solo? Handing it to anyone else might’ve been risky, but Lin Yu?
No problem.
The real shame was this:
They’d already lost Xiao Lie, who’d prepped for months. Now Xiao Ou might miss out too.
Shining on stage, captivating the crowd—
That didn’t matter much to Lin Yu.
But for the others who lived for this? It meant everything.
Reality was just that cruel.
Lin Yu: "Xiao Ou, if we can’t find them—"
Zhao Yuhao cut in: "013-056 phosphor bronze strings! Xiao Ou, that’s what your guitar uses, right?"
The entire room whipped around to stare at him: "???"
Xiao Ou, stunned, nodded:
"Y-yeah, that’s right. But Vice President, how did you—"
Zhao Yuhao: "I have some. In the minibus parked out back."
Club members: "!!!"
No time for explanations.
Zhao Yuhao reset his timer, urgently confirming with Lin Yu:
"Lin Yu, five minutes to restring—you’re absolutely sure that’s enough?"
Lin Yu glanced out the window at the rain-soaked parking lot.
Their minibus hadn’t moved.
"Five is plenty. If we’re tight, four will work."
"I’ll go get them. I’m faster."
Sprinting from the third floor to the back lot, grabbing the strings, then rushing back—
For most people? Over three minutes each way.
And that didn’t account for the pouring rain and slippery pavement…
Even if they brought the guitar downstairs, the others wouldn’t make it back in time.
But Lin Yu could.
He was their only shot.
Yet—
Zhao Yuhao snapped: "No!"
"You’re the lead singer. You can’t risk getting drenched!"
Chi Qingchi jumped in, voice shaking:
"I-I’ll go! I’m fast too! And I’m not performing!"
Zhao Yuhao shook his head, turning to her:
"3 minutes and 47 seconds!"
"Little Chi, you don’t know where the strings are placed—just trust me this once..."
"Lin Yu! Wait right here for me, I’ll definitely make it back in time!"
"I swear..."
"I’ll get those strings into your hands on time, I promise!"
Lin Yu’s eyes widened:
"Vice President, we... Huh? Hey!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Zhao Yuhao had already sprinted off.
What Lin Yu wanted to say was...
We could just wait on the first floor!
This is the third floor—won’t that just waste more time?
3 minutes and 47 seconds!
Running out into the pouring rain to grab something and then rushing back?
With Brother Hao’s build, Lin Yu couldn’t help but worry!
Why is this suddenly turning into some kind of dramatic moment?
...
(First update for today. There will still be bonus chapters later, so keep supporting with your power-ups! The convention arc is wrapping up today!)
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
] [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!"
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
