Introduction to Special Items, Returning to the Mental Hospital Again

Bzzt!

Accompanied by a shimmering system glow, a translucent cube materialized in Qin Luo’s palm. Its surface rippled with pixelated waves, and inside, fragments of system code continuously rearranged themselves.

He weighed the cube in his hand—it was practically weightless.

The description was just one simple line:

[Special Item: Maybe You’d Like to Try This]

[Activation Condition: Automatically triggers when the holder faces certain death (cannot be manually activated)]

"Hey hey hey, what do you mean by ‘certain death’?!"

"Don’t just casually jinx people like that!"

Qin Luo’s lips twitched as he tossed the cube into his system inventory.

With the panel upgrades complete, it was time to visit the mental hospital.

There were still way too many protagonists to round up and lock away.

Just then—

"Luoluo~~"

Su Muwan floated out of the room in her blue shark-themed pajamas.

Half-asleep, she resembled a sticky-sweet mochi ball as she crashed into Qin Luo’s chest.

The citrusy scent from her hair scattered the snarky remark lingering on his tongue.

"Recharging—"

She buried her face in the crook of his neck, nuzzling against him, a few stray strands of hair sticking up like antennae. "Haaah~ haaah~"

"If I don’t get my morning dose of Luoluo energy, this young lady will turn into a useless, couch-rotting blob, you know…"

After a full five minutes of internal debate, Su Muwan ultimately decided to stop thinking altogether.

Why bother?

If she kept overworking her brain, she’d wither away into a husk!

Besides…

Wasn’t this good enough?

Being all lovey-dovey with Qin Luo boosted her cultivation, and occasionally beating up a few "Chosen Ones" was just the cherry on top.

She butted her head against his chest, then looked up with wide, sparkling eyes. "Luoluo, today I want fried pork cutlet, ice cream, cream puffs, sushi, tiramisu, and an extra-large serving of fries."

"You’re making them for me."

"Last night took way too much out of me."

Qin Luo had no intention of refusing her puppy-eyed demand.

But still…

He ruffled her hair and grinned. "Sure, but first, the young miss has to accompany me somewhere."

"Where?"

"The usual—Destiny Mental Hospital."

"??"

Su Muwan’s face instantly fell.

Again?! That dump?!

......

......

Using his shadow abilities, Qin Luo teleported them both straight to the hospital’s entrance.

As always, the place radiated an eerie, otherworldly aura.

"Ugh… it’s even creepier than before…"

Su Muwan shivered, exhaling a visible puff of cold air before huddling closer to Qin Luo.

"Probably because there are more lunatics inside now."

"Yeah, that tracks."

As he spoke, Qin Luo mentally reviewed his earlier plans.

First—

The image of the Shadow Garden had already spread through the alliance’s influence.

Soon enough, their reputation as villains would be cemented in everyone’s minds.

Of course, Qin Luo wasn’t going through all this trouble for nothing.

His real goal was…

He glanced at Su Muwan, who was practically glued to his side.

[To overturn Su Muwan’s villainous fate.]

Taking over the city would boost both their strengths.

At the same time, capturing the Chosen Ones and siphoning their luck to feed Su Muwan would cleanse her of the "villain aura" clinging to her.

Secondly—

By creating a villainous organization, he could redirect public attention onto it.

Qin Luo wondered: Could he artificially manufacture villains?

If so, could the original role of "villain" assigned to Su Muwan in the script be transferred to the Shadow Garden instead?

But pulling this off would be extremely tricky.

One misstep, and things could backfire spectacularly.

After all, Su Muwan’s villainous destiny was still very much in play.

However, Qin Luo shook his head.

As more Chosen Ones’ luck was funneled into Su Muwan, the odds of failure would shrink.

Once Su Muwan was "redeemed," she’d become this world’s protagonist—not its antagonist.

Besides, his actions so far hadn’t deviated from her predetermined fate.

Su Muwan’s destiny was to provoke a bunch of Chosen Ones.

But…

The script never specified how she had to provoke them.

So, why not let her do it under the alias of "Laughing Ghost" from the Shadow Garden?

"Laughing Ghost" would fulfill the role of antagonizing the Chosen Ones.

"Su Muwan" would absorb their stolen luck.

And in the end—

Voilà! A flawless redemption arc!

With that in mind, Qin Luo took a deep breath.

The main purpose of this visit was to deliver a fresh batch of "patients."

But after capturing dozens of Chosen Ones in one go, Qin Luo had also realized something.

According to Doctor Ya, this world’s collapse and fusion meant that—aside from Su Muwan—none of these Chosen Ones were supposed to exist here.

And Qin Luo?

He was the "cleaner" appointed by the Heavenly Dao, tasked with rounding them all up.

But what was Doctor Ya really implying?

That altering the Chosen Ones’ fates could trigger even worse consequences.

Even Qin Luo himself might suffer backlash from fate itself.

In other words—

"Just follow the Chosen Ones’ prewritten scripts, then lock them up in Destiny Mental Hospital afterward."

But Qin Luo would never let them play out their roles to the end.

Because their scripts all led to one conclusion:

Killing Su Muwan.

Doctor Ya had warned him not to develop feelings for anyone in this world.

That was because, in the original "no-heroine" storyline, Qin Luo was the perfect, single-minded "cleaner," wholly dedicated to his mission.

He didn’t know why he’d been chosen for this role.

But he suspected the unseen orchestrators didn’t want him dating Su Muwan.

They probably expected him to lurk in the shadows, waiting to betray her and deliver the "happy ending" where she was sacrificed for the greater good.

After all—

For the countless Chosen Ones and this world’s stability, the simplest solution was to let Su Muwan die.

Her death would reset everything.

But—

Qin Luo exhaled sharply.

He turned to Su Muwan, who was blinking up at him with a "Why aren’t we going in yet?" pout.

Tch!

As if he’d ever let his beloved, chip-munching, shark-obsessed young lady die for some bullshit destiny!

Su Muwan tilted her head.

She eyed Qin Luo suspiciously.

Huh? Why do I suddenly feel a chill down my spine?

Is Luoluo plotting something shady again?

…Wait, no no no, don’t psych yourself out!