Jiangbei City.
Inside the Jiang family’s private villa.
“Ye Chen, you won’t die a good death, you won’t die a good death! Even if I become a ghost, I’ll never let you go…” Jiang Chengye lay sprawled on the ground, glaring viciously at Ye Chen sitting on the sofa and cursed through clenched teeth.
Ye Chen’s expression didn’t change at all. He simply watched quietly, as if enjoying Jiang Chengye’s final act.
After a while, Jiang Chengye finally stopped, his throat nearly scorched from the yelling. He cursed in his heart, “This author is seriously brain-dead. Is it really necessary to write so many lines of swearing!?”
Every time this plot point came around, Jiang Chengye suffered. These insulting scenes were the ultimate test of his acting skills and line delivery.
And Ye Chen, the protagonist, would always listen to the whole thing patiently. Honestly, it felt like he was addicted to it!
“Finished cursing? Then it’s time for you to go!” Ye Chen stood up and walked toward Jiang Chengye. “In your next life, try using your brain.” He stopped in front of him, lifted the corner of his lips into a charming smile, and spoke lightly.
Then Ye Chen’s size-42 leather shoe grew larger in Jiang Chengye’s vision. Jiang Chengye’s pupils shrank, his eyes full of terror.
Just then, a mechanical synthesized voice rang in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. Evaluation passed.]
In that instant, Jiang Chengye’s terrified expression shifted to one of joy.
“I finally passed!”
What happened next wasn’t described in detail, but the toe of Ye Chen’s leather shoe landed firmly on Jiang Chengye’s forehead.
Red, white, purple, green—colors exploded everywhere!
…
In a mysterious space.
Jiang Chengye slowly opened his eyes and saw a stunningly handsome youth standing in front of him.
But the youth’s figure was flickering, like he might vanish at any moment.
“Xiao Tong, what’s wrong with you?” Jiang Chengye frowned and asked.
This youth was the embodiment of the Villain System Jiang Chengye was bound to.
Unlike other systems that were merely tools, this one had its own consciousness and called itself Xiao Tong.
After each filming session, Jiang Chengye would meet him here.
In the past, Xiao Tong was always as real as any person and could even be touched.
But now he flickered like a dying lightbulb.
[Host, congratulations on finally passing this time. But I can’t send you back to your original world anymore. The Heavenly Dao ambushed me just now and left me seriously injured. I have almost no energy left… I’m sorry, Host.]
Xiao Tong’s face was full of guilt. As he spoke, his body grew even more transparent.
Jiang Chengye was stunned, staring at Xiao Tong with a complicated expression. Then he shook his head and smiled, “It’s fine. If it weren’t for you, I’d have died in that car crash. Besides, I had to retry so many times because my acting sucked. This is on me. If I can’t go back, then so be it. I should’ve died anyway.”
[Although I can’t send you back, I still have enough energy to let you restart once more. This time, there’s no Heavenly Dao, no plotline. You don’t have to live such a hard life anymore. And your power in this world is already unmatched. No one can defeat you. You can finally live freely and happily.]
“No Heavenly Dao? What do you mean?” Jiang Chengye was stunned again.
[I’ve forcibly removed the Heavenly Dao. This world no longer has one. And this world has now become completely real. With this restart, you’ll be carefree. Also, the power I had sealed inside you will be fully released. Originally, it was meant for you to return and show off with. I’m sorry for failing.]
Jiang Chengye’s eyes turned red. “No. Xiao Tong, I’m not restarting. Use the remaining energy to fix yourself instead.”
Xiao Tong smiled slightly.
[Host, it’s no use. I’m almost done. Let me do one last thing for you.]
As the words fell, Xiao Tong transformed into a ball of light. A mechanical voice came from within.
[Ding! Host evaluation failed. Host will return to the beginning of the story.]
Then a sphere of energy shot out from the light orb and enveloped Jiang Chengye.
“No! Xiao Tong!” Jiang Chengye reached out to grab Xiao Tong, but his body was already becoming transparent and vanished within the energy sphere.
After he disappeared, the light orb flashed, and Xiao Tong reappeared—this time perfectly solid again.
A girl in a maid outfit appeared out of thin air.
She was this world’s Heavenly Dao!
“Brother Tong, wasn’t it a little cruel to lie to the host like that?” the Heavenly Dao pouted and snuggled into Xiao Tong’s arms.
Xiao Tong raised an eyebrow and stroked her head, smiling, “I had no choice. If the host went back, I couldn’t stay with you. Besides, he has no family on Blue Star. Staying here is a better choice.”
The Heavenly Dao blushed. “Brother Tong, you’re so sweet.”
Xiao Tong smiled, “With the host left behind to guard this world, I can safely elope with you and travel everywhere.”
If Jiang Chengye heard this, he’d be so touched—damn system! A true bro! A backstabbing bro!
After nine restarts, the system and Heavenly Dao had gone from bitter enemies to bickering lovers, to now being completely united.
All thanks to Jiang Chengye’s tear-jerking acting.
“Oh right, Brother Tong, I didn’t delete Ye Chen’s memories this time,” the Heavenly Dao said playfully, sticking out her tongue.
Xiao Tong shook his head helplessly.
Of course, he knew why the Heavenly Dao didn’t erase Ye Chen’s memories. He also wasn’t worried Ye Chen could threaten Jiang Chengye.
Now that his seal was lifted, even the Heavenly Dao wouldn’t be able to beat him.
Though Jiang Chengye didn’t know that yet.
And since Xiao Tong and the Heavenly Dao were about to roam the myriad realms together, Ye Chen—without Heavenly Dao’s protection or plot armor—was just a slightly stronger ordinary man. His title of “Child of Destiny” was now nothing but an empty shell.
Actually, this was better. Their roles had completely reversed. In the ninth life, Jiang Chengye had perfectly assisted Ye Chen. But now, with Ye Chen still carrying his memories, he’d try to follow the original plotline, while Jiang Chengye was completely unbound and wouldn’t play along.
The story would undoubtedly become far more exciting—and Jiang Chengye wouldn’t be bored either.
Besides, the Heavenly Dao had often secretly complained that she picked the wrong protagonist. Ye Chen loved twisting his mouth too much.
One time, after she took back Ye Chen’s fortune, his mouth curved all the way to the back of his ear.
She was scared just looking at it!
“Other than that, what else did you do behind the scenes?” Xiao Tong chuckled. With his understanding of the Heavenly Dao, she definitely meddled with more than just that.
The Heavenly Dao stuck out her tongue again, “Well, marry a chicken, follow the chicken. Marry a dog, follow the dog. Your host is my host now. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have met you. I’d never hurt him again. Besides, don’t think I don’t know—you secretly did a few tricks too. Don’t think I didn’t notice! ╭(╯^╰)╮”
Xiao Tong looked a little embarrassed. He had indeed made a few tweaks. After spending so much time with Jiang Chengye, he couldn’t just leave him to start over alone with no company.
“Ahem.” Xiao Tong cleared his throat. “Let’s drop this topic. Let’s start planning our vacation.”
The Heavenly Dao nodded excitedly, “I’ll follow your lead.” Her eyes gleamed as she stared at Xiao Tong with deep affection.
Xiao Tong then took out a plan he’d long prepared and started going on about it.
As they talked, the two figures gradually disappeared from the space. The mysterious space trembled, and faint strange sounds echoed.
Then—this space shattered completely. Neither Xiao Tong nor the Heavenly Dao ever appeared again.
…
Inside the Jiang family villa.
“Xiao Tong! No, Xiao Tong!” Jiang Chengye sat up abruptly from bed, his eyes still wet with tears.
He looked around at the familiar surroundings.
The soft, comfortable bed. The exquisite crystal chandelier. The giant floor-to-ceiling windows with a clear view of the sea.
On one nightstand were several car keys: Porsche, Lamborghini, Koenigsegg, Bugatti Veyron.
On the other, more than a dozen luxury watches: Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Rolex, Cartier…
Yet Jiang Chengye felt no joy at all.
Thinking of how Xiao Tong was gone, his heart ached.
If he had passed the evaluation sooner, Xiao Tong wouldn’t have perished with the Heavenly Dao.
He’d been in this novel world for nearly two years now.
After two years of living with Xiao Tong every day, he’d grown used to his presence.
But now, he’d never hear that familiar [Ding!] again.
He still remembered—nine years ago, he was just an ordinary worker on Blue Star.
On his way home after work, he was hit by a red-light-running truck.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself here.
And then he heard a [Ding!] in his head.
Xiao Tong appeared in his life.
And told Jiang Chengye he was now inside a novel. His role? A villainous rich second-generation, a simp.
All he had to do was follow the plot, complete the missions, and achieve a passing score—then he could return to his original world.
Not only that, but he’d also gain godlike powers and three wishes.
The novel was called Urban: Return of the Dragon King, a typical trashy wish-fulfillment novel Jiang Chengye, a veteran reader, had surprisingly never read.
Thankfully, the system came with the plotline. All Jiang Chengye had to do was act it out.
The main plotline followed Ye Chen, of one of the four great families in the imperial capital. At eighteen, due to internal strife, he was assassinated, his parents died in a car crash, and he was saved by a stranger and exiled overseas.
Instead of collapsing, Ye Chen lived a blood-soaked mercenary life.
After eight years, he built a massive mercenary organization with over 100,000 members—called the Dragon King Hall.
He became known as the Dragon King.
After reaching the peak of his life, Ye Chen returned to take revenge, show off, crush enemies, and collect beauties.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chengye was the heir of the Jiang family, one of the four great families of Jiangbei.
He was also the key to the protagonist’s harem. Though a cannon fodder, he ran through the entire novel.
Every female lead had to pass through Jiang Chengye’s hands.
His persona: a flirtatious, arrogant, rich second-gen.
A loyal simp to the female lead, Tang Shiyu.
He lost IQ when he saw beautiful women, and it dropped further in front of the protagonist.
And whenever Ye Chen needed someone to slap, Jiang Chengye had to stick his face out and even apply hand cream—to avoid hurting Ye Chen’s hand.
But Jiang Chengye’s acting was terrible. He failed eight times.
After eight restarts, his acting finally reached Oscar-level.
This time, he finally passed. But the system was gone.
Life was unpredictable—truly sausage wrapped in intestines.
“Xiao Tong, I’ll carry your will and live on!” Jiang Chengye clenched his fists and said quietly.
But as he clenched, he felt an unprecedented surge of power.
“So this is the power Xiao Tong unlocked for me? This is terrifying! I wonder how it compares to this world’s martial arts peak.”
He felt like one casual punch could destroy the entire villa.
Every time a mission ended—even if he failed—Xiao Tong would give him generous consolation prizes.
Strengthening every aspect of his body: power, speed, vision, endurance (yes, that one), skin toughness, and tons of experience packs.
Even without Xiao Tong’s so-called divine powers, Jiang Chengye now felt ridiculously strong.
Each time, the system would seal his power and hold back the experience packs to prevent interference with the plot.
“Awesome! Xiao Tong, rest in peace! I won’t let you down. I’ll live well!”
Jiang Chengye felt the changes in his body and was exhilarated.
On Blue Star, he had no parents and grew up in an orphanage.
The only reason he wanted to go back was because the system had promised him so much.
Each restart made the novel world feel increasingly fake. Returning to Blue Star seemed more real.
His dream was to go back with godlike powers and flex.
Go for a stroll under the moonlight.
And shout out loud that he’d do whatever he wanted!
But now he couldn’t go back—he had to accept it.
Still, without the Heavenly Dao, he could live however he liked.
This world had become real.
And the things he once dreamed of… might now be within reach.
“It’s time to change. From now on, I live for myself!” Jiang Chengye declared, then flopped down and fell asleep.
After nine cycles, he hadn’t dared slack off even once, always nervously preparing for his performance.
Every time he woke, he had to gear up to be a simp—what a miserable life.
He’d finally sleep in peacefully.
As for the protagonist Ye Chen… sorry, go play in the mud by yourself!