Lock-picking!
How could he have forgotten about that?
But what does lock-picking have to do with defusing a bomb?
With the remaining time, An Yi couldn’t afford to overthink. He wanted to upgrade his lock-picking skill but suddenly realized he had completely run out of Evil Power Value!
"Ding! Insufficient Evil Power Value, unable to upgrade!"
The system’s prompt, with only two minutes left, sounded especially grating.
And damn it, why did a simple lock-picking skill require so much Evil Power Value?!
Shit!
Where was he supposed to find that much Evil Power Value now?!
Cold sweat broke out on An Yi’s forehead.
With two minutes left, if he had any sense, he could still drop everything and run, leaving Qin Yao behind.
"An Yi!"
Qin Yao stared at him, her voice choked with emotion.
An Yi’s voice was firm as he met her gaze. "Don’t worry! If we die, I’ll die with you!"
Right now, Lin Chen’s Destiny Value had bounced back to 100!
An Yi was betting on it—
A protagonist with max Destiny Value and a near-perfect supporting character couldn’t possibly just die like this!
Qin Yao stared at An Yi, his domineering presence and sharp eyes like a vast galaxy, leaving her momentarily mesmerized.
Would she really end up in a tragic love story with this guy…?
Resigned, Qin Yao felt an eerie calm settle over her as death loomed.
"An Yi, in the next life… don’t be such a playboy," she said with a bittersweet smile.
An Yi’s hands were still frantically working on the bomb. He frowned. "The next life’s too far away—don’t give up so easily!"
Seriously, what kind of romantic drama was she trying to pull at a time like this?!
He was a man destined to become the King of Rogues—he couldn’t just die here!
Meanwhile…
With the Seven Kill Fist technique, Lin Chen was holding his own against Butcher.
The two exchanged blows, neither gaining the upper hand.
Butcher’s face was bruised.
Lin Chen was worse off, covered in bloody wounds.
Only his beast-like reflexes kept him alive, barely dodging fatal strikes.
Wiping blood from his lips, Butcher grinned. "Didn’t expect you to last this long. Doesn’t matter—you’ve got a minute left. Let’s see you escape now!"
Lin Chen, panting heavily, smirked back. "Then I’m dragging you to hell with me!"
An Yi’s forehead was drenched in sweat.
A little over a minute remained.
No miracle in sight. The protagonist, Lin Chen, was still tangled up with that sunglasses-wearing bastard.
With his measly Lv1 lock-picking skill, defusing the bomb was a pipe dream.
Had he guessed wrong?
Was Lin Chen’s story actually some angsty short-tragedy where the protagonist dies young?
Oh my god!
An Yi’s hands trembled as he worked. Death wasn’t scary—but dying like this? Unacceptable!
Qin Yao, on the other hand, seemed at peace, gazing at him with a serene smile.
Hey, hey! Snap out of it, princess! I don’t wanna die—I was just bluffing earlier!
"Damn it!"
An Yi suddenly remembered—he still had one unfinished mission!
[Aid the Chosen One]
The words "Incomplete" glared back at him.
He’d been stuck in a mental trap.
The Rogue System had exploitable bugs. For the past two years, he’d been abusing them—
Returning stolen goods, handing snatched wallets to the police… He’d done plenty of ridiculous things.
Could this mission be cheesed too?!
His eyes lit up with realization.
"Old Lin!" he roared. "Quick, say: ‘Thanks to your help, everything’s resolved perfectly. I’m so grateful!’"
Lin Chen: "…"
Butcher: "…"
The hell?! They were in a life-or-death showdown—why ruin the tension?!
Lin Chen: "Are you insane?!"
An Yi was livid. "Just fcking say it already!!!"
Seeing An Yi practically foaming at the mouth, Lin Chen gritted his teeth.
Fine. They were all gonna die anyway—might as well grant the guy his last wish.
With forced embarrassment, Lin Chen stammered: "Th-thanks to your help… everything’s resolved perfectly. I’m… so grateful."
"Ding! [Aid the Chosen One] mission complete! Reward: Evil Power Value +100! Charm +0.5! Lin Chen’s Favorability +50!"
The 0.5 Charm boost brought An Yi’s score to 8.8.
Instantly, his already handsome features sharpened further—chiseled jawline, piercing eyes, devastatingly attractive… Not that it mattered when death was seconds away.
Hearing the system’s voice, An Yi nearly burst into tears of joy.
He’d gambled right!
This trash system was full of holes!
The mission never specified that the aid had to actually succeed—just that the Chosen One had to acknowledge it.
And now, Lin Chen himself had declared the mission complete! How was this not a win?!
"Ding! Host severely violates system rules. Warning issued! Next offense will result in severe punishment!"
The system’s cold voice rang out again.
A warning? Whatever! If he died now, what did it matter?!
"Pour all 100 Evil Power Value into lock-picking!"
"Ding! Congratulations, host! [Lock-picking] skill upgraded to Lv3!"
With thirty seconds left, An Yi’s hands shook.
There was still time!
Everything could still work out!
Outside the abandoned factory, a deafening roar echoed.
"Finally!" Butcher grinned viciously. "Sorry, boys—I’m getting out alive. See you never!"
In a flash, he grabbed the unconscious Viper, slashed through the wall with his blade, and shoulder-charged through the gap.
Crack!
The wall crumbled, revealing the outside world.
A helicopter swooped in, lowering a rope ladder.
At the controls—none other than Red Poison, whom An Yi had met at the underground fight club.
Butcher hauled Viper up the ladder.
Lin Chen lunged forward—but too late. He could only watch as Butcher ascended out of reach.
Then—click.
Qin Yao gaped. In the final seconds, An Yi had disarmed the bomb.
And judging by how effortless it looked, it might as well have been easier than drinking water…
So what was the two-hour struggle for?!
Just to make the mission harder?!
"Old Lin! Kick it!"
An Yi hurled the timer at Lin Chen.
As if sensing it, Lin Chen spun mid-air and delivered a vicious flying kick—
Whoosh!
The timer shot like a missile toward the helicopter.
No no no no—!
Butcher’s face turned green as the timer hurtled toward him.
Mid-air, there was no time to dodge.
Boom!
The explosion lit up the night sky, a fireball blooming into a cloud of black smoke.
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
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!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
