After Helping the Protagonist Escape From a Madman, I Became His Target [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 1

The surroundings were pitch-black, save for the rhythmic, echoing thrum of dripping water.

Shen Luyang reached up to rub his nose, only to feel nothing but air. Am I… transparent right now?

His final memory was of a Porsche roaring over him. Before he even had the chance to consider his post-mortem affairs, he had ended up here.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

The void crackled with the “zzz” of a crashing computer. After a long pause, a clear voice finally chirped, “Hello there, darling!”

The voice was the crisp, pleasant tone of a young man, tinged with a hint of poorly concealed excitement.

[Ahem—static—click—Host, hello! To introduce myself formally: I am the ‘World Full of Love’ System. I am dedicated to maintaining peace across various minor worlds and am the embodiment of love and freedom~]

Shen Luyang froze for a moment before erupting into pure joy. “Am I about to transmigrate into a book? I’m not dead?”

Given his decade-long experience devouring Danmei and romance novels, he knew he had just hit the jackpot.

[Correct! Your physical body in your original world is completely dead. Now, you have two choices.]

[1. Accept me and join my mission to save this book’s world. 2. Return to your original world and accept your death. Countdown starts in three seconds. Three, two—]

“I choose option one!”

Only a fool would turn down a gift from the heavens.

[Biu~ Congratulations, Host. The contract is sealed.]

Shen Luyang looked up at the sky. Unsure where the “System” actually resided, he addressed the empty air. “What kind of book is it? And what is my mission?”

Communication was remarkably smooth, and the System’s tone grew even more cheerful. [It’s quite simple. It is the original work of the fanfiction you read last night—Mourning Love.]

Shen Luyang’s eyes widened. “Wait, Mourning Love Plus, the one I read, was a fanfic?”

He had just finished that morality-shredding ABO novel the night before. It had deeply shaken his worldview as a seasoned reader and even given him nightmares all night long.

The protagonist of that story was Shi Fan. Upon graduating, he was assigned to the same high school as the other lead, Xie Weihan, and they became colleagues. That marked the beginning of Shi Fan’s nightmare.

Xie Weihan was an S-class Alpha who, aside from his face, was pathologically deranged in every conceivable way.

Simply because he liked Shi Fan’s face; thinking it resembled a Samoyed he once owned. He pursued him with a terrifying obsession. When rejected, he used the sheer crushing pressure of an S-class Alpha to force a relationship with Shi Fan, who was also an Alpha. When met with resistance, he resorted to threatening Shi Fan’s family. His list of crimes was endless.

In short, Shi Fan’s experiences after meeting Xie Weihan were so tragic that Shen Luyang’s heart had ached for him. He had only forced himself to finish the book in hopes of seeing the madman finally brought to justice.

But!

By the end of the story, Xie Weihan never faced any punishment. Instead, he got exactly what he wanted and kept Shi Fan under house arrest in his villa for the rest of his life.

After seeing the words “for the rest of his life,” Shen Luyang had spiraled into depression.

The next day, he had stepped out of his house feeling groggy, only to be sent here by a Porsche flying far too low… and offered this mission.

And now he was finding out that the book he had wept and raged over was actually just a fanfic?

[Exactly. The original Mourning Love is actually a ‘crematorium’ novel about chasing a wife. It follows the protagonist, Shi Fan, as he reunites with his childhood sweetheart at high school. It’s a story of angst, deep love, and eventual reconciliation between him and his scumbag childhood friend.]

[However, most readers felt the scumbag didn’t deserve him. One particularly talented reader wrote a fanfiction that didn’t just scrap the childhood friend pairing, but also promoted Xie Weihan, who had a minor but brilliantly crafted role in the original to the position of the main lead.]

[In Mourning Love Plus, the handsome, mysterious, and wealthy Teacher Xie was rewritten into a murderous, arsonist psychopath.]

At this point, the System let out a very human sigh.

[The timeline of the fanfiction has severely impacted the original world’s timeline, causing the original characters to subconsciously mimic their fanfic counterparts. If Xie Weihan and Shi Fan are allowed to interact in the original world, there is a high probability that Xie Weihan will completely blacken, causing the original world to collapse!]

[Therefore!!!]

[Someone needs to step up and relentlessly prevent Shi Fan and Xie Weihan from interacting! Cut off the possibility of Xie Weihan’s corruption at the source! Save the world!]

Shen Luyang thought to himself, There’s really no need for such dramatic passion.

Still, the mission didn’t seem that difficult. It was just keeping two normal people from dating—

[Luyang~ I must remind you that while the original Xie Weihan remained a law-abiding citizen his whole life, the fanfiction wasn’t entirely made up.]

[Friendly Tip: The original Xie Weihan possesses certain antisocial personality traits. If he receives the right stimulation, including but not limited to the host failing a mission or too much timeline merging. It may trigger unpredictable consequences~]

Please don’t use such a cute tone to say such terrifying things!

So, the law-abiding citizen Xie Weihan could still turn into that grand psychopath?

[NO NO NO~]

Shen Luyang’s eyes shifted. He thought, Can you hear my internal monologue?

[YES YES YES~]

******

This System acted like it had a screw loose.

The System suddenly sounded aggrieved and accused him, [Luyang, you’re breaking my heart!]

Shen Luyang remained silent.

Sniffling with a non-existent nose, the System professionally continued its explanation: [The Xie Weihans of the two timelines are different people. Think of the fanfic version as a replica based on the original, a one-to-one recreation that infinitely amplified his malice and erased his goodness. If the two Teacher Xies faced off, I’d bet on the original one winning every time! A lunatic who can’t control himself isn’t a top-tier lunatic!]

Ignoring the System’s antics, Shen Luyang analyzed the situation optimistically. “So as long as I’m dedicated to my job and finish the missions, the original Xie Weihan won’t turn evil?”

[Calling it ‘turning evil’ would make Teacher Xie quite sad. He has always been a madman; he just hasn’t acted on it yet.]

This System was humanized enough to make one want to punch it back into a mindless AI.

Shen Luyang rubbed his forehead. “…Then what missions do I need to do? Can you give me a rundown?”

[You only need to take over the role of the cannon-fodder character who dies in the third chapter of Mourning Love Plus. Stay by the sides of Xie Weihan and Shi Fan as their colleague and complete various real-time missions to keep them apart~]

[The System also employs a humanized reward and punishment system to motivate our hosts~]

“Wait! There are punishments for failing?”

[Oh, don’t be scared, my darling! They are just light, trivial punishments, nothing to worry about! Once you succeed, you gain the right to live freely in this world! It’s a total steal!]

“No, I want to know what the punishment is…”

[Time is money, and money can’t buy time! Luyang, let’s go!]

A blinding red light flashed.

Shen Luyang barely had time to see a reddish-brown office door in front of him before he uncontrollably pushed it open.

The science department office was empty, except for a desk at the far right—where two men were tangled together in a single chair…

The scene mirrored the plot of Mourning Love Plus so closely that Shen Luyang nearly stopped breathing.

The cannon-fodder he had become was killed exactly because he witnessed Xie Weihan’s criminal behavior toward Shi Fan in the office! That poor kid hadn’t even survived past the third chapter!

The System’s voice chimed in perfectly on cue.

[Mission start~ Host, please separate Shi Fan and Xie Weihan within one minute to prevent further contact and stop Xie Weihan from blackening.]

[If the mission fails: Level One Divine Lightning Strike. Good luck, Luyang!]

Shen Luyang was horrified.

Good luck, my foot!

How was “Divine Lightning” a light punishment? One bolt of lightning and he’d be charred to a crisp and blown halfway around the world!

He forced himself to stay calm and locked eyes with the “top half” of the two men.

Perhaps feeling guilty, the System fell as silent as a crashed computer.

His initial glance had been too hasty. Looking closer, their posture wasn’t actually that suggestive. It looked more like one had lost his balance and fallen onto the other, while the other had politely reached out to steady him.

They were perfectly innocent.

He had been too quick to judge.

He wasn’t in Mourning Love Plus; he was in the original Mourning Love.

At least for now, Xie Weihan hadn’t turned evil yet. He was still the dedicated, self-controlled, good teacher!

[Stop swooning, Luyang! Thirty seconds left! 29, 28…]

Faced with a matter of life and death, Shen Luyang’s brain stalled, leaving only his unfiltered mouth to take the lead.

In his desperation, his voice cracked as he shouted, “Teacher Shi! Your student needs you for something! It’s an emergency!”

The word “emergency” hit a high note that practically hit the ceiling, sounding like a soprano aria.

Shi Fan froze. He stared at the man in front of him and blinked. After a few seconds, he seemed to snap out of a dream and stood up abruptly, looking embarrassed. “I’m so sorry, Teacher Xie.”

He had clearly intended to go to the breakroom. He didn’t know why he had wandered back to the office, let alone how he had tripped on flat ground…

If Shen Luyang could hear his thoughts, he would have told him: It’s because the plot of the fanfiction is affecting you, you poor kid.

The man leaning back in the black computer chair was blocked by Shi Fan. Shen Luyang could only see a pair of pale, slender fingers resting on the desk.

“It’s no trouble. Do take care of yourself, Teacher Shi.”

Shen Luyang’s throat tightened involuntarily.

Was that the legendary “magnetic bass” voice? It was incredibly attractive. Even as a grown man, the sound almost made his knees go weak.

No wonder so many people in the fanfic were desperate to chase Xie Weihan, even when he was a psychopath.

With natural charms like that, it made perfect sense.

Shi Fan hurried away. Just as Shen Luyang was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he was caught off guard by a pair of languid, predatory eyes. For a split second, he thought he saw something dangerous, but in the next heartbeat, those beautiful eyes held nothing but lazy indifference.

It was evening, and the blood-red glow of the sunset spilled across the man’s sharply defined features. His skin was pale, and his face was strikingly vibrant and intense. Thick lashes partially veiled pupils that looked like pools of dark ink. He had a high bridge to his nose and thin, slightly red lips that curled into a faint, unreadable smile.

He looked like a gorgeous, cold-blooded creature and beautiful, but enough to make one’s skin crawl.

He leaned lazily in his chair, his long legs stretched out beside the desk. The fountain pen between his fingers and the curve of his smile made him look harmless.

Rather than a teacher, he looked more like a student slacking off in the office, if one could ignore the unmistakable, suffocating pressure of a mature S-class Alpha.

Relying on a sudden instinct, Shen Luyang sensed the danger in the air. He took a small step back and gave an awkward smile. “Well, Teacher Xie…” I’ll be going now.

[Luyang, wait!]

[Solitude Mission initiated: Host, please invite Teacher Xie to dinner and work overtime together. Failure results in a Level One Divine Lightning Strike~]

[Get moving, Luyang! Quick, quick, quick! Don’t dawdle like an old lady!]

I’ll show you who’s an old lady, you piece of junk!

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