“Today, I want to tell everyone present here that I have someone I like, and I will not acknowledge this engagement.”
The moment Zhu Xing opened his eyes, he found a group of people staring at him. Some wore worried expressions, while others looked like they were waiting for a good show.
As for the man who had just delivered his pure-love declaration, he stood sternly on the stage, looking down at him.
“?” No, who even are you, buddy? Zhu Xing felt rather baffled. Maintaining a state of constant calm against all changes, he remained silent and kept calling his unreliable system inside his mind.
[250, what is going on with you? You didn’t tell me the plot, and where on earth did you bring me? Speak up!]
A small white cat appeared in his mind, speaking in a coy, high-pitched voice, [Master, please don’t call me 250, I am 520, meow.]
Zhu Xing’s forehead was covered in black lines as he faced the various gazes around him. He thought speechlessly in his heart, [Is that the point? You haven’t told me what the plot is. If I end up beating the protagonist to death later, don’t blame me.]
520 hurriedly sent the plot details to Zhu Xing.
It turned out that today was supposed to be the engagement day between the original host and the man on stage making that declaration. However, the original host was not one of the main protagonists; rather, he was the person abandoned right there at the engagement venue.
The man on stage was Ying Chi, the protagonist’s top in the novel My Overbearing Boyfriend, born with the classic background of a future domineering CEO.
As for the protagonist’s bottom, it was Lin Yu, who was born into an ordinary family.
Originally, the Zhu and Ying families had known each other for a long time, and the original host also liked Ying Chi. Before Lin Yu appeared, Ying Chi had no objections to the marriage either. After all, marriages of convenience among big families were common, let alone marrying someone he had grown up with.
However, the moment Lin Yu appeared, it was as if two predestined main characters were bound to attract each other, making Ying Chi feel a different kind of emotion. Thus, he began to oppose the engagement. But opposition was one thing; instead of discussing it beforehand, he had gone straight to the engagement venue to announce its cancellation.
Perhaps everyone present at the engagement venue was just part of their gameplay.
After finishing his speech, Ying Chi ignored Zhu Xing and stepped off the stage, while Ying’s father and mother hurriedly chased after him.
Zhu Xing cleared his throat and walked calmly onto the stage. “Thank you everyone for coming to attend my birthday party.” As soon as his words fell, the people below started whispering among themselves.
Wait, why is it a birthday party? Wasn’t it supposed to be an engagement banquet?
Originally, the Zhu and Ying families intended to announce the official date of their engagement on Zhu Xing’s birthday. The two families had been intertwined for years, and everyone in elite circles tacitly assumed they would become in-laws in the future.
Yet, Young Master Ying’s sudden statement had caught the Zhu family completely off guard. After speaking, Zhu Xing ignored the astonished crowd below and walked straight back to his bedroom.
[Alright, now tell me what my mission is?] Zhu Xing was a veteran employee of the Quick Transmigration Department, though the quality of his completed missions over the years had been quite hard to describe.
Initially, given Zhu Xing’s face, the jobs arranged for him were always saving white-moonlight roles like the protagonists. After all, with Zhu Xing’s looks, it was hard not to mistake him for part of the protagonist group.
That was until a certain 250 system assigned him a mission to help the protagonist defeat the villain. However, it failed to make clear who the villain actually was. Zhu Xing couldn’t tell who the villain and the protagonist were, so he went straight up and beat the protagonist to death. The small world collapsed instantly, and his points were almost completely deducted.
Ever since then, roles associated with riding the protagonist’s coattails were things Zhu Xing couldn’t even touch. He could only be sent to play characters abandoned and slapped in the face by various protagonists. In short, he had been kicked out of the protagonist camp and thrown into the villain camp.
[Master, your mission is to be slapped in the face and abandoned,] 520 said with a hint of cheekiness.
It felt no sympathy whatsoever about the fact that its host was going to be abandoned.
[250, do you feel like my points haven’t been deducted enough?] Hearing Zhu Xing’s threat, the system hurriedly tried to butter him up. [No, no, I feel so heartbroken for you, Master! Let’s work hard together and strive to return to the protagonist camp.]
Zhu Xing was indifferent to whether someone was a protagonist or a villain; it was just that the protagonist camp offered better welfare benefits and perks, and he really didn’t want to survive on the minimum living allowance.
Other people completed missions and received thousands or tens of thousands of points, relying on points to upgrade their physical condition, systems, and task options, because missions could be upgraded. Colleagues who entered the quick transmigration department at the same time were already fighting their way through fantasy worlds, while only he was still struggling in these campus romance stories.
He had spent several miserable years in the previous small world, only to net a settlement of 300 points. Zhu Xing felt that his job wasn’t tiring; his life was just bitter.
[Don’t worry, Master! As long as we follow the plot, we can earn points. We already have 6,520 points now. Completing this mission seriously can get us up to 10,000, which will let us upgrade to Level 1 and move on to a new world!]
Because the quality of Zhu Xing’s mission completion wasn’t high, jumping from the first world to the second world should have been the easiest, costing only 10,000 points.
However, Zhu Xing felt that being an unmotivated slacker who didn’t finish tasks suited him just fine. He would occasionally follow the plot, but frequently went on strike and loafed around.
That was why it took him until his tenth campus novel to scrape together 6,520 points, whereas a mission world evaluated as perfect awarded 10,000 points.
Noticing that Zhu Xing’s spirits weren’t very high, 520 hurried to comfort him.
Ten worlds per level upgrade, and the next level was only Level 2. The higher the level, the more points required, meaning the day when he could finish fantasy missions and gain complete freedom was simply nowhere in sight.
[Then what is the next plot point? Whose face am I going to have my face slapped by this time?] Zhu Xing asked, feeling half-dead. After having his face slapped so many times, he had become numb to it.
[The next plot point is at school. Because the protagonist’s top gave you a hard time at the engagement banquet, you are going to go make trouble for the protagonist’s bottom, and then get your face slapped by them.]
[Hmm.]
A sudden knock on the door interrupted Zhu Xing’s thoughts. “Come in.”
The person who walked in was Zhu Xing’s older brother, Zhu Yao.
“Xingxing, how are you holding up?” the tall man asked with a hint of worry.
“I’m fine, Big Brother. If this guy doesn’t work out, we’ll just swap him for the next one.”
Watching his younger brother give such a casual reply made Zhu Yao feel even more distressed. He knew very well how deep his brother’s feelings for Ying Chi were, yet Ying Chi had publicly humiliated him at the banquet. As an older brother, his heart ached for his sibling, and though anger surged within him, he didn’t show it on his face.
“Today is your birthday. We won’t talk about engagements or non-engagements, but we have to eat cake, right? It’s your favorite grape cake.” Hearing the slightly over-cautious tone in his older brother’s voice, Zhu Xing took the initiative to stand up and pull Zhu Yao toward the door. “Alright, alright, I was just getting hungry anyway.”
As Zhu Xing started to head toward the banquet hall downstairs, Zhu Yao quickly pulled him back.
“We aren’t going that way. Come on, I’ll take you over here.”
Zhu Yao led Zhu Xing to another room. There were no outsiders inside, only Zhu Xing’s parents and his grandfather.
It was clear that the original host’s family was afraid he would have to face strangers downstairs.
“Dad, Mom, Grandfather.” Not a trace of dejection could be seen on Zhu Xing’s face. But seeing this made Zhu Dad and Zhu Mom even more worried, fearing that Zhu Xing was keeping all his pain bottled up inside.
“Xingxing, cut the cake! Dad went specifically to order this from your favorite shop.”
After cutting the cake, they told Zhu Xing to make a wish.
[I hope I can have lots and lots of money, and lots and lots of points too,] Zhu Xing silently chanted in his heart.
“Xingxing, haven’t you always wanted to buy that car? We didn’t agree before because we were afraid, you’d drive recklessly, but today is your birthday. Grandfather bought it for you. As for anything else, your parents didn’t know what you wanted, so Dad, Mom, and your brother have each transferred 10 million to you,” said the Zhu family patriarch.
Does wishing work this effectively? Less than 3 seconds after making the wish, he had this much money. If he had known, he should have wished for mission completion and straight-up tens of thousands of points instead.
He truly miscalculated.