After getting out of the car and arriving at the square in front of the Luo Corporation building, Lin Ran had originally thought he could just call Luo Yao to meet her, but unexpectedly, his phone was out of service.
Just as he was considering borrowing someone’s phone, he suddenly spotted the girl who had haunted his dreams.
"Yao… Luo Yao."
Outside the Luo Corporation, the people coming and going all turned to look at him, unable to believe anyone would dare call their CEO by her full name so casually.
But when they saw it was a handsome young man, they all gasped.
Their CEO was notoriously averse to men.
Luo Yao had already half-stepped into the business car at the entrance when she heard that "familiar" voice. She paused, stepping back outside, her gaze locking onto him.
Liu Meng, standing beside Luo Yao, whispered, "CEO Luo, should we invite Mr. Lin over?"
Luo Yao’s lips curled into a somewhat sickly smile. "Since he came looking for me himself, he can’t blame me for what happens next."
She was still fuming over Lin Ran’s rejection that morning. After finishing her work, she had been planning to head to the capital again to find him—and if he refused once more, she was prepared to take control of him first and deal with the consequences later.
But now, Lin Ran had appeared before her of his own accord.
"Knock him out and bring him here."
Liu Meng nodded and walked up to Lin Ran.
She disliked him intensely. Their CEO had searched for him for so long, finally found him, and even proposed marriage.
And what did this guy say in return?
"Sorry, I refuse."
Did he even know who he was rejecting?
How dare he? What an absolute joke.
"So, Mr. Lin, have you reconsidered our CEO’s proposal?" Liu Meng said, closing the distance between them while Lin Ran walked toward her with a cheerful expression.
"Huh? No… I just want to see your CEO."
Liu Meng scoffed. "What, now that you know her status, you’re rushing to live off her wealth? Or do you plan to reject her to her face and hurt her even more?"
What a scumbag. Ugh!
Lin Ran: "..."
"I… you… you sure have a lot to say right now."
By then, Liu Meng was standing right in front of him. "There’s a ghost behind you."
Lin Ran: "???"
He turned to look behind him—only for everything to go black.
Damn! My combat skills are still stuck at Chapter One levels.
Haven’t I already become the protagonist?
This time, he didn’t stay unconscious for long. When Lin Ran woke up, he was inside a parked car on the bridge leading back to the estate.
Outside, a few bodyguards patrolled, while inside, it was just him and Luo Yao.
Luo Yao was studying him, her finger tracing his cheek.
"Ah Ran, why did you reject me? Am I not good enough?"
Her eyes were tinged with red as she stared at him, giving Lin Ran an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
Lin Ran opened his eyes.
"Yao Yao."
Those two words alone made Luo Yao freeze.
Memories flooded back—
"The crooked handwriting, each stroke written with all of Luo Yao’s strength.
‘Big brother, come by yourself, okay?’
‘Don’t call me big brother. Call me Ah Ran.’
‘Ah… Ran.’
Luo Yao murmured the name softly, the term carrying an intimate warmth as it left her lips.
‘Yao Yao!’ Lin Ran responded clearly."
"You… you’re…" Luo Yao was genuinely stunned. How many years had it been?
"I’m your star. Long time no see."
Luo Yao’s defenses crumbled instantly. She wanted to throw herself into Lin Ran’s arms but hesitated.
What if this was all a dream?
A hand gently brushed her cheek. "Don’t cry. You still need to stay strong."
Lin Ran wanted to tell her he’d always be by her side.
But the Luo Yao of this timeline hadn’t yet fallen completely in love with him.
The thought gave him a headache.
"Will you… leave again?"
Her question made his heart ache, but he wouldn’t lie to her.
The whole reason he’d rushed to see her was to bring her some warmth.
"This time… I’ll stay for two days."
He decided to be honest—if he disappeared suddenly, he feared Luo Yao wouldn’t be able to handle it.
"Yao Yao, I have so much to tell you. I want your path forward to be less painful. I want you to live a happier life."
Luo Yao’s eyes turned hollow. "You’re leaving again? Were you lying to me?"
Lin Ran quickly explained.
"I can only stay for two days this time, but the good news is you’ve already found me. After two days, I’ll… lose my memories. You can keep an eye on the amnesiac version of me and wait for my memories to return."
"If I misbehave during that time, you can lock me up. Punish me however you want—just don’t let me go."
His heart ached for her. He knew how deep her obsession with him ran.
Asking her to give up was impossible, so this was the only way he could offer her comfort. At least she wouldn’t be alone on the road ahead.
It hurt.
As he spoke, another thought struck him.
"Oh, there’s someone named Liu Ruxue. After I lose my memories, I’ll also go blind and… develop feelings for her. But don’t worry about it. She’s just a pile of garbage I stepped on in life. You get what I mean, right?"
Luo Yao nodded.
She didn’t understand, but she’d listen.
Because the one saying these words to her was her star.
"Fine. If you misbehave, I’ll lock you up and keep you by my side forever."
The familiar tone brought back a long-lost feeling.
"Being locked up by Yao Yao doesn’t sound so bad."
Just then, Luo Yao frowned.
"Your backpack… it’s shaking."
Lin Ran glanced down—his backpack was at his feet.
"Oh, there’s a cat inside… Wait—"
Before he could finish, Luo Yao grabbed the backpack and hurled it out the window.
They were on the estate bridge, over twenty meters high. The backpack sailed through the air in a perfect arc, leaving Lin Ran stunned.
[Lin Ran: Please, please don’t let me disappear.]
[Little Black: I freaking thank you! I told you not to come, not to come, NOT TO COME, but no, you had to! This is brutal, meow meow meow—!]
Lin Ran was about to get out and check when Luo Yao fixed him with a stare.
"You care about that thing interrupting us?"
He froze. This version of Luo Yao seemed even harder to handle than the one three years later.
Then it hit him.
Of course. Luo Yao had grown up surrounded by violence, fought her way out of her family, and then battled in the corporate world. This version of her had never known rest.
Her ruthless instincts were at their peak—no wonder she was terrifying.
And stubborn. Unyielding.
"It’s just a cat. How could it compare to you? Toss it if you want."
[Little Black: Oh, you’re so great, so noble! I’m worth less than dirt to you, huh?]
[Lin Ran: I know you jumped out mid-air. What are you meowing about?]
[Little Black: I’m taking a break. Come find me tomorrow morning—no way I’m sticking around Luo Yao. She’s brutal, meow meow meow.]
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
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!"
