Lin Jiu's vision was bathed in crimson as a piercing alarm exploded in his mind:
[WARNING! Detection of an ultra-dangerous entity approaching!!!]
[Divine Choice System forcibly activated—]
[Option 1: Kneel and beg for mercy (Reward: Shadow Resistance +10%)]
[Option 2: Counter-kill the entity (Reward: Fragment of the Soul-Devouring Demon Art)]
[Option 3: Livestream a distress call (Convert viewership into Revival Tokens)]
Thud!
In an instant.
Lin Jiu’s heart convulsed, the unfamiliar crimson interface and the choices before him snapping him to full alertness.
"Hey... wait a second..."
Lin Jiu swallowed hard, panic seeping through his veins.
He scrambled off the bed, staring at the options on the screen in disbelief.
This had to be a joke, right?
"What ‘ultra-dangerous entity’?!"
"What the hell is going on?!"
"System, are you glitching?!"
His face paled. This couldn’t be real.
Just yesterday, he was choosing between bringing a rich girl pearl milk tea or bubble tea.
And now you’re telling me I’m under attack by some monstrous threat?
Huh?
Are you serious?
[Host must choose immediately! Otherwise, the system will enforce a random selection!]
Damn it, this stupid system was always like this.
If you hesitated even a little, it’d pick for you in the most chaotic way possible.
Lin Jiu closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
Wait.
If I were truly doomed, the system wouldn’t give me three options, right?
Which means...
His eyes flew open, gleaming with realization.
Has my destined protagonist’s ascension arc finally arrived?!
He stared at his hands, gulping.
Could it be... that I’ll awaken powers like those martial artists?
Right.
Just look at the options.
Option 1: Kneel and beg—no way, I’m the protagonist, I’d never grovel.
Option 3: Livestream for Revival Tokens? Pfft, have you even read stories? Protagonists like me are unkillable!
So...
"Only Option 2 is left."
Lin Jiu licked his lips, about to tap the second choice when—
Bzzzt—!
Suddenly.
The screen emitted a shrill static noise, followed by a flood of squirming black glyphs crawling over the interface.
Lin Jiu froze, about to demand an explanation when—
[Big... brother...]
[Come play... with us...]
Without warning.
The pitch-black corridor of the abandoned building echoed with the laughter of children.
Lin Jiu’s breath hitched. He turned stiffly toward the sound—
And saw a sight that made his scalp crawl.
There, emerging from the darkness, were twelve ragdolls.
Their grotesque grins stretched ear to ear, their button eyes—oversized and black—glinting with a cold, lifeless sheen, as if fixated on him.
Their mouths gaped unnaturally wide, lined with jagged black teeth, trails of dried crimson liquid oozing from the corners. With every hop, the fluid dripped onto the dusty floor with a nauseating plink.
Their limbs were grotesquely elongated, joints creaking like rusted hinges, their movements jerky and disjointed.
"What... what the hell are these things?!"
Lin Jiu’s heart hammered against his ribs, his legs locked in place as if nailed to the ground.
Sweat stung his eyes, blurring his vision, but he dared not blink—terrified the dolls would lurch forward the moment he did.
[Big brother, play with us...]
Their voices wove through the hollow building, a chorus of whispers that slithered into his mind, gnawing at his sanity.
Their hopping grew frenzied, closing the distance in seconds.
"System! Do something!"
Lin Jiu screamed inwardly. I’m the protagonist!
I can’t die here!
Then.
[Found you~]
A mocking voice dripped from above.
Lin Jiu looked up.
A hulking monstrosity hung inverted from the ceiling beams, its massive form shadowed by a swirling green specter clutching the Ten Thousand Demon Banner.
In the next heartbeat—
Whoosh!
The banner’s fog unfurled into tendrils of inky hair, cocooning Lin Jiu in a suffocating embrace.
As the darkness swallowed him whole, his final thought was sheer disbelief.
This... can’t be happening...
System... system...
[System terminated.......]
Lin Jiu: ???
...
Meanwhile.
Golden City, Financial District.
Boom!
As the Blood Fiend’s massive blade cleaved through the bank vault, the entire financial center shuddered like a torn wound, blood gushing from severed steel beams and staining the glass facades crimson.
On the edge of his blade, coagulated blood formed into a nine-headed serpent, each maw gaping wide, venom dripping from fangs that sizzled as they corroded the ground.
The wealthiest family in Gold City—
Young Master Wang cowered inside a safety deposit box, fingers trembling as he swiped frantically across his phone screen.
His [Ultimate Tycoon System] was blaring warnings, his balance hemorrhaging nine-digit sums every second, as if some unseen force was devouring his fortune.
Just moments ago, he’d been busy wooing a starlet.
Then—out of nowhere—she collapsed, and he found himself under attack.
Forced to flee, he’d taken refuge in what was touted as Gold City’s most secure financial stronghold.
But—
CRASH!
When the monster tore through the bank walls and pried open his hiding place—
This—
This was clearly no sanctuary.
“I’ll transfer it all! Take every penny!” Young Master Wang’s voice cracked with terror as he stared up at the Blood Fiend.
Yet—
“Kill you, and your wealth still belongs to our King.”
The Blood Fiend cracked his neck.
The nine-headed serpent on his blade roared in unison.
The words barely faded—
Before the crimson serpent lunged.
THUD.
Young Master Wang slumped to the floor, his phone screen dead.
The system’s final alert echoed in his ears:
[WARNING! Hostile superior system detected—]
...
High above the city—
Qin Luo treated the night sky as his chessboard.
His long fingers placed black pieces—each one a coalescence of shadow and the stolen fortunes of so-called “Chosen Ones.”
Across the celestial board, swarms of black pieces encircled the white.
“Heh…”
A faint smirk curled Qin Luo’s lips.
Chosen Ones… enjoy your night.
Beside him, a pair of scissors floated—
SNIP. SNIP.
One by one, the threads of destiny tied to those favored by fate were severed.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
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."
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.
