The Infirmary.
"It's alright, Dr. Tang. The innocent have nothing to fear—let’s just ignore all those rumors." Ye Cheng crouched beside Tang Yuyao, patting her shoulder reassuringly.
"Waaah… How can you say something so heartless? This is all your fault! My reputation is ruined, waaah…"
Tang Yuyao looked utterly devastated, tears dripping onto her glasses, blurring her vision.
Helpless, she took off her gold-rimmed glasses, wiped them clean, and once the fog cleared, resumed crying.
Somehow, it was oddly amusing.
Meanwhile, Ye Cheng wore the relieved expression of someone who’d narrowly escaped disaster.
"Phew, good thing they don’t know who I am."
Tang Yuyao: "???"
She had just stopped crying, but Ye Cheng’s words broke her all over again. Tears gushed out instantly.
"You jerk!"
"Waaah…"
Ye Cheng checked the time—just three to five minutes left before class. If he ran now, he could still make it.
"Dr. Tang, take your time crying. I gotta go—class is about to start. Latecomers lose credits, you know…"
Completely oblivious to Tang Yuyao’s glare, he stood up to leave.
The moment he rose, Tang Yuyao—eyes red and puffy—sprang up too. With a sudden burst of energy, she tackled him to the ground.
And bit him!
Ye Cheng: "…"
"AAAAHHH!!!"
……
Ding-dong!
The class bell rang. Just before the teacher entered, Ye Cheng dashed inside.
"Whew, that was close. Almost late."
The classmate he’d blocked at the door: "…"
Wiping sweat from his forehead, Ye Cheng cheerfully carried a pineapple-flavored drink and an ice cream—snagged from Tang Yuyao—back to his seat in the last row.
He placed both items on Shen Qinghan’s desk.
"Miss Shen, I picked these up on my way back. Hope they suit your taste?"
On the way back?
Shen Qinghan recalled Ye Cheng sprinting across the campus earlier. Nothing about that looked like a detour.
Still, she didn’t call him out.
Seeing the treats, most of her irritation faded. She’d thought Ye Cheng was avoiding her, but he’d actually gone to get her something.
She wasn’t sure how he’d guessed she was thirsty, but at this point, it didn’t matter.
What mattered was that it worked. Though the young mistress’s face remained as cold and expressionless as ever, Ye Cheng could sense her mood lifting.
To make it easier for her, he even thoughtfully unscrewed the bottle cap.
Bubbles slowly rose, reaching the rim before gently settling back down.
Not wanting to make her feel awkward, Ye Cheng returned to his seat after delivering the goods and resumed performing "surgery" on his eraser.
Soon, the sound of the "eraser’s screams" reached Shen Qinghan’s ears again.
After drinking, the discomfort in her throat vanished, replaced by a refreshing coolness. Her gaze shifted to the ice cream on her desk.
Chocolate-flavored—her favorite.
She unwrapped it and took a bite.
From an angle Ye Cheng couldn’t see, the faintest smile tugged at Shen Qinghan’s lips.
Looking out the window again, the scenery somehow seemed more pleasing. Her mood had clearly improved.
……
Noon.
The classroom was empty—everyone else had left for lunch—except for Ye Cheng and Shen Qinghan, locked in a staring contest.
"Miss Shen, aren’t we going to eat?" Ye Cheng blinked rapidly, eyes pleading.
Shen Qinghan didn’t answer, just kept staring.
"Are you cold?" she finally asked.
"Yeah, the AC’s too strong in here. Freezing."
He wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck—twice.
Shen Qinghan silently observed the sweat beading on his forehead.
"Take it off."
"Huh? Oh, this? Wow, Miss Shen, you’ve got great taste!" Ye Cheng gave her a thumbs-up, then removed his school badge and handed it to her.
Shen Qinghan: "…"
"I meant the scarf," she said flatly.
"The scarf? Haha, well, I’m kinda cold, so maybe let’s skip that?"
Ye Cheng’s words were tripping over themselves.
More sweat formed—partly from heat, partly from fear.
Damn it. Wearing a scarf in the middle of summer, with temperatures over 40°C? Only he’d do something this ridiculous.
And this scarf? Stolen straight from the infirmary.
He couldn’t take it off now—it was covered in Tang Yuyao’s "evidence."
One thing was certain: if Shen Qinghan saw those marks, she wouldn’t be happy.
Shen Qinghan stared at him, silent and unreadable.
The pressure grew unbearable. Finally, Ye Cheng caved and removed the scarf.
Shen Qinghan narrowed her eyes.
"What is this?"
"Oh, this? Just cooling patches. Super refreshing when you stick them on your skin," Ye Cheng explained.
Indeed, he had a second layer of defense—rows of cooling patches plastered over his neck and shoulders.
Shen Qinghan said coolly, "But you just said you were cold."
"Haha, yeah, with so many patches, it’s a bit chilly. Hence the scarf, haha…"
"Peel them off."
Ye Cheng: "…"
"Uh, I don’t think that’s necessary…"
Seeing his resistance, Shen Qinghan didn’t waste words. She reached out and yanked one off.
"YAMEROOOO—!" Ye Cheng howled.
Underneath the patch was a clear, unmistakable bite mark.
Shen Qinghan’s pupils trembled.
"Who did this?!"
Unconsciously, her voice carried a sharp edge—one even she didn’t notice.
] [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!"
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.”
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
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."
