The Shen Family Estate.
"Oh my, young mistress, is your family still hiring lackeys? How about me?"
Ye Cheng gazed at the surrounding greenery and the outrageously extravagant architecture with a mix of awe and amusement. The extravagance wasn’t just about money—it was clear that meticulous effort and top-tier design had gone into every structure.
It was the kind of vibe that couldn’t be put into words, but in Ye Cheng’s terms: ridiculously badass.
On the way over in the car, Ye Cheng had spotted plenty of people bustling around the Shen estate—maids, bodyguards, and, of course, lackeys (though the last one was purely his own imagination).
After all, some roles weren’t so easily defined. Take the short-haired woman, for instance—she pulled double duty as both a maid and a bodyguard. In Ye Cheng’s mind, she automatically fell into the category of a high-tier, top-ranked lackey.
He wondered what the pay was like, though. From the looks of it, working for the Shen family seemed like a cushy gig—clocking in at nine, clocking out at five, with benefits and subsidies to boot.
The only question was whether there’d be any street brawls involved. If he had to charge into battle wielding a watermelon knife, that might not be worth the risk—life-threatening situations weren’t exactly his thing.
But if he could just blend into the crowd of lackeys, coasting along and shouting stuff like "666!" or "Double kill!" while others did the actual fighting? That sounded manageable.
If nothing else, Ye Cheng was an expert at stirring the pot.
And if things got really bad? He was also a master at running away. At full sprint, unless someone was chasing him in a car, catching him was practically impossible.
Ye Cheng’s mind was already painting a picture of his glorious future as a Shen family lackey: clocking in, slacking off, napping at noon, slacking some more, and mooching food and drinks off the young mistress. Now that’s the good life.
Honestly, compared to a cushy government job, this seemed just as good—if not better. With the Shen family’s wealth, surely they wouldn’t mind one extra freeloader in their ranks, right?
Squish.
Just as Ye Cheng was lost in his daydreams, a familiar sensation returned to the top of his foot.
Ye Cheng: "…"
He blinked at the young mistress, who wore an expression that screamed, "Oops, my bad—thought that was a pebble." Unfortunately, Shen Qinghan remained as unresponsive as ever, the queen of silent treatment.
"Hey, young mistress, there’s a bug on your shoe!"
Ye Cheng pointed at Shen Qinghan’s black leather shoes with an innocent look. The young mistress froze, her pupils shrinking as her entire body visibly stiffened—along with her expression.
Seizing the opportunity, Ye Cheng quickly yanked his foot out from under hers. Shen Qinghan glanced down but saw no bug—just a certain idiot retracting his foot.
"Ah, too slow, young mistress! The bug already ran off. But I swear, there was one this big on your shoe just now!" Ye Cheng gestured earnestly.
Shen Qinghan: "…"
Thunk!
A lump significantly larger than usual formed on Ye Cheng’s head. Clearly, the young mistress was really angry this time—her strength had been supercharged, and so was the pain.
The short-haired woman had dropped them off and left, leaving just Ye Cheng and the young mistress outside.
Of course, Ye Cheng hadn’t come here just to mess around—he had actual business to attend to. Since he’d already skipped class, he needed an airtight alibi to avoid consequences.
Hence… a visit to the young mistress’s home to stage some "taking care of the sick young mistress" photos.
Whether it was real or fake didn’t matter—once the photos were out, even if they were staged, they’d become real. Nobody would dare call them fake unless they wanted to face an entirely different scenario.
"Oh, so you’re saying the Shen family’s heir would fake an illness just to cover for some nobody skipping class? Are you implying that I, a model student, would commit perjury?"
The first half of that statement was unassailable. The second half was full of holes—but still, nobody would dare refute it. To do so would mean implicating the young mistress as an accomplice. Who’d have the guts?
This was the wisdom of a seasoned bootlicker—many perks were invisible to the untrained eye. Like how the student council president often "cleaned up after him" (note: metaphorical, not literal—don’t overthink it).
Whether serving as the young mistress’s lackey or the council president’s lapdog, there were countless hidden benefits, and Ye Cheng reveled in every one.
Loyalty!!!
"Let’s go, young mistress—the sooner we finish, the sooner we can head back!"
Ye Cheng whipped out his phone and started snapping pictures of the Shen estate. His behavior mirrored that of socialite wannabes pooling money for an overpriced afternoon tea, taking turns posing for photos, only to end up fighting over who took the first bite and airing their drama online.
Ye Cheng rubbed the fresh lump on his head. Yep, that stings.
But hey, you had to admit—rich people really lived differently.
With exaggerated seriousness, Ye Cheng edited the photos, setting one as his social media background—replacing the old Big Bottle of Iced Tea—and captioned it: "Life’s tough, but I made it. The struggles of adulthood only hit at midnight…"
A textbook cringelord post. Without fail, the comments would soon flood with "manifesting this for me!!!", at which point Ye Cheng would screenshot the idiocy, repost it as a "social experiment on human nature," and watch his comment section explode with mother-laden insults.
Then, like a sponge, he’d absorb the trash talk, adding it to his arsenal.
What they can do, I can do better!
This was just one of Ye Cheng’s many inhuman antics—most people couldn’t even begin to understand his motives. It was why, whether it was the young mistress or the council president, every background check on Ye Cheng included one unavoidable note:
"Behavior slightly eccentric."
"Slightly" was putting it mildly. Anyone who actually interacted with him quickly realized just how unhuman he was—so much so that even the system had awarded him the prestigious title of "Wild Genius"!
Silently, a spider the size of a baby’s palm crawled out from the bushes, scurrying straight toward Shen Qinghan’s shoe and settling on her polished leather.
Ye Cheng snapped a few quick photos, crafted the perfect caption, and waited for the "fish" in his Moments to bite. "Alright, young miss, let's go!"
Shen Qinghan shot him a look that could only be described as "are you an idiot?" and let out a cold snort before turning to walk ahead. Suddenly, Ye Cheng’s arm shot out, blocking her path.
"Hmm?" Shen Qinghan’s delicate brows furrowed as she stared at him, puzzled.
"Young Miss, there seems to be a bug on your shoe," Ye Cheng said, blinking earnestly as he stared at her footwear.
Thud.
Ye Cheng: "……"
Click.
Silently, he took a photo of her shoe, zoomed in on the spider perched atop it, and then handed the phone to her.
"Young Miss, look—isn’t this…?" He zoomed in even further.
Shen Qinghan froze at the image, disbelief flashing across her face. She glanced at the photo, then—her body stiffening slightly—lowered her gaze to her shoe.
Ah, there it was. A big one.
Shen Qinghan: "……"
In the span of a second, sheer terror flickered in her eyes. Her entire body locked up like a wooden doll before she toppled backward.
Ye Cheng: "???"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
