The room was dimly lit by a faint glow.
On either side of the crystal table, Gu Yan and Xiao Leng sat on small sofas.
A tray of tea and snacks, freshly delivered by the maid, rested between them.
Of course, Gu Yan had picked it up at the door.
Xiao Leng curled her lips into a faint smile as she watched him. "Why so quiet?"
"Is it because I’m too beautiful?"
Gu Yan glanced at her before replying slowly, "Just a little surprised."
"Surprised?"
"Yeah. Usually, you’re the one calling me out."
"Oh? So my taking the initiative once has moved you that much?"
Well, this conversation was going nowhere.
Gu Yan poured her a cup of tea and asked bluntly, "Moved? What’s there to be moved about between us?"
"If anything, the moment you show up here, I’m too nervous to even move."
Xiao Leng eyed the teacup, then gave him a meaningful look. "This cup... has the other me used it?"
Gu Yan, who had just picked up his own cup, quickly set it back down. "Disposable. For guests. One-time use only."
"Oh."
"Enough with the 'oh.' What did you come here for this time?"
At that, Xiao Leng sighed dramatically, her brows knitting into a delicate frown. "What... can’t I visit you without a reason?"
"Cauldron, I... I’m lonely too, you know."
"The other me gets to enjoy the daylight, but I... I can only slip out of her body like this, careful not to be noticed."
"Do you have any idea how much that hurts?"
Her lips trembled slightly as she lifted her gaze, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "Cauldron, you’re the only one willing to keep me company. I just wanted to talk."
"Is even such a small request too much for you?"
Gu Yan cut her off without hesitation. "Stop acting."
"Xiao Leng, just tell me what you want."
One second... two seconds... three seconds...
Xiao Leng’s pitiful expression faded into blank indifference.
She stared at him coldly. "Heartless man."
"?? How am I heartless now? Cut down on the dramas, will you?"
"Hmph. It’s not me who watches dramas—it’s the other me."
"Qingqiu? Watching TV? Don’t lie to me."
"Tch. Suit yourself if you don’t believe it."
After a few more minutes of bickering, Xiao Leng finally got to the point.
She snapped her fingers lightly.
Whoosh!
A black hole appeared, and from it tumbled a small black cat.
"Meow?!"
Ye Ye, utterly bewildered, had been teleported straight from her nap into Xiao Leng’s grasp.
"First, I wanted to check how you’ve been taking care of Ye Ye."
Xiao Leng lifted the cat by the scruff of her neck, inspecting her.
Noticing the faint glimmer of intelligence in the feline’s eyes, she nodded in approval. "Seems well-fed."
Then, she cradled Ye Ye in her arms, stroking her gently.
Ye Ye was still processing the situation.
What just happened?
Why was she suddenly yanked from sleep into the arms of her mistress?
Gu Yan raised an eyebrow. "Of course. Only the highest-grade cat food for her."
"For Ye Ye, the highest-grade isn’t cat food."
Xiao Leng’s cryptic remark hung in the air.
She didn’t dwell on it, though, and continued, "The Power of Night has stopped corroding the other me."
"Soon, its influence on her will vanish completely."
Gu Yan froze.
He had suspected the Night King’s dagger affected the mind, but hearing it confirmed sent a chill down his spine.
Thank goodness.
Thank goodness he’d taken precautions—otherwise, Qingqiu might have ended up just like in the original storyline.
Xiao Leng seemed to sense his relief. Calmly, she added, "The fact that the other me is no longer affected by the Power of Night... is because of you."
"If you hadn’t appeared, she would have followed the destined path and become the Night King."
"Destined path?" Gu Yan frowned, not quite following.
Xiao Leng turned her head slowly, locking eyes with him. Word by word, she enunciated, "Absorb Leng Ling’er’s heart’s blood. Become the Night King. Destroy the world."
Thud!
Gu Yan’s heart skipped a beat. He stared at Xiao Leng in shock, while her lips curled into a dangerous smirk.
What the—?
How did Xiao Leng know this?
This was the original plot!
Gu Yan realized, belatedly, that he had never truly understood Xiao Leng.
Smoothing Ye Ye’s fur, Xiao Leng chuckled. "Be grateful. Your presence has rendered this prophecy obsolete."
"Prophecy?"
"Mm. Remember Xiao Xie?"
Xiao Xie was that ancient cursed tome—the one that granted wishes at a price.
Gu Yan nodded. "I know of it."
Xiao Leng’s eyes gleamed with amusement. "This prophecy was foretold by Xiao Xie."
"Otherwise... why do you think it sought out me and the other me?"
"Why do you think we were chosen to become the Night King?"
Wait—his brain was overheating.
Gu Yan took a deep breath. "Are you saying... the dagger that turns someone into the Night King... actually belongs to that cursed tome?"
"Correct."
"But before, you told me you didn’t know how the Night King came to be!"
"At the time, I didn’t. But after visiting the forbidden zone, as your bond with the other me deepened, my perception expanded."
Gu Yan still didn’t get it. "Your perception? Does Qingqiu have this too? And what does emotional closeness have to do with perception?"
Xiao Leng shook her head, smiling. "I refuse to answer the latter."
"But the former... I’ll tell you this: the other me only knows what I allow her to know."
"Because..."
She leaned in, closing the distance between them until their breaths nearly mingled.
Holding Gu Yan’s desperate gaze, she murmured, "I am the current master of the cursed tome."
"When the incident happened years ago, a second personality—me—was created within Leng Qingqiu’s mind. Devoid of emotions, I became bound to the tome, while the other me was bound to the Night King’s dagger."
"My role was to stabilize the host personality, ensuring she followed the prophecy to become the Night King."
"But you... shattered that prophecy."
"And in doing so, you birthed a new one..."
As she spoke—
Whoosh!!
The cursed tome materialized in midair.
Its pages flipped wildly before stopping abruptly.
Gu Yan’s eyes locked onto the freshly revealed prophecy:
[Gu Yan kills Leng Qingqiu.]
[Gu Yan annihilates the world of martial artists.]
[Gu Yan succeeds.]
After seeing these three prophecies displayed before him...
Gu Yan... was stunned.
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!"
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?!
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
