Save That Miserable Protagonist - Chapter 4

Early the next morning, Lu Xun was still immersed in a beautiful dream. In this dream, there was no falling and no Pei Tingsong. There was only his newly ordered yacht and the warm sunshine of the Mediterranean.

Just as Lu Xun was about to taste the chilled champagne in his hand, a piercing noise—comparable to an air-raid siren—suddenly exploded in his mind.

[Ding! Ding! Ding! Emergency mission! Host, please take action immediately!]

The voice in his head was so loud that Lu Xun was jolted awake. The veins at his temples throbbed, and his heart began to race wildly. A massive wave of “morning irritability” and fury at having his dream interrupted instantly swept over him.

Grabbing a pillow and slamming it over his head, Lu Xun let out a hoarse low growl. “Shut up! You had better have a reason as significant as the sky falling down!”

[The mission target is currently being harassed. Host, please hurry to Room 305 of the Third Teaching Building at Jiangcheng University to resolve the situation.]

Hearing this, Lu Xun gripped the pillow tightly. He squeezed the words out through gritted teeth. “What does him being harassed have to do with me? Why is that my business?”

Besides, he was here to “pursue” Pei Tingsong, not to be his personal bodyguard. Looking at the system’s implication, did it think Lu Xun was some kind of cheap muscle? Was he supposed to go running just because he was called? Did it have any idea what Lu Xun’s net worth was?

Hearing Lu Xun’s flat refusal, 888 flew out with a whoosh and hovered directly above him. Its mechanical voice actually seemed to carry a hint of urgency.

[This matter started because of you. The host must take responsibility!]

“Started because of me?”

Lu Xun laughed out of pure anger. With his hair in a disheveled mess, he sat up abruptly and glared at 888 in mid-air. “I only met him yesterday! Because of your existence, nothing even happened! If he gets cornered today, how is that my fault? Is there any logic to this system?”

[In the original world line, when the mission target had a dispute with Manager Wang at the bar last night, a classmate named Jiang Hao was present. He witnessed part of the process and secretly took a photo of the bar manager leading the mission target to the Presidential Suite.]

At this point, the system’s speaking speed increased due to its urgency. [The girl Jiang Hao has a crush on likes the mission target; therefore, he holds a grudge. After taking that photo, Jiang Hao began spreading rumors on the school forum and in private groups this morning. He is claiming the mission target hooks up with rich men at bars, is being “kept,” and stayed overnight in a Presidential Suite. The rumors are currently peaking, and someone is confronting him to his face.]

Lu Xun listened to the explanation with a look of utter disbelief, finding it borderline absurd. “That is it? Does Pei Tingsong not have a mouth? Was he not quite sharp-tongued yesterday? Can he not just explain?”

[A lie told often enough becomes the truth! In the original world line, you two actually had a physical relationship!]

The system flew right in front of Lu Xun’s eyes, staring at him directly. Its flat mechanical voice seemed to carry a trace of mockery. [Host, you know your own ‘preferences’ well enough. The marks on Pei Tingsong’s body would have left him with no way to defend himself.]

Hearing this pointed remark, Lu Xun felt a momentary flash of guilt. Then, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he barked out in embarrassed rage, “What do you mean ‘special preferences’? Are you spying on me?”

The system ignored him, simply flapping its wings quietly in mid-air. A heavy silence began to diffuse through the room. Soon, his guilt was overridden by logic. After snapping back to his senses, Lu Xun immediately retorted, “But you also said that was the original world line! Right now, we are clean and innocent. I did not even put an arm around his waist! What is stopping him from explaining now?”

[But the photo is real! You were the one who booked the suite! The trouble started because of you!]

The system seemed to lose its temper as well, its mechanical voice rising in pitch. [If the host had not been blinded by lust last night and taken the mission target to the suite, how would he have encountered this today? You are the root cause. If the host does not show up to resolve this today, Pei Tingsong’s reputation at school will be completely destroyed.]

As it spoke, the system’s body began to crackle with electricity again. With the blatant threat right in front of him, Lu Xun’s liver ached from suppressed anger.

“Fine, fine, fine! Get rid of the electricity! I will go! I will go, alright?”

Cursing under his breath, Lu Xun kicked off the blankets. He stepped onto the carpet barefoot, his expression terrifyingly sour. “Damn it. I really owe him one. This kid Pei Tingsong is a total magnet for trouble. I am really just asking for it, forcing me to wake up this early so I cannot even sleep.”

As he irritably grabbed clothes from the bedside and pulled them on, his mouth did not stop complaining. “What kind of school has so much drama, and why start so early? Besides, I am a student at this crappy school too. How come I have never seen him? If I had seen him earlier, it would not have reached this point.”

Lu Xun did not finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear: if he had seen someone so much to his taste earlier, he would not have waited until yesterday.

Hearing this, the system coldly interrupted his daydream. [Host, your attendance rate per semester is less than 10%, and you only appear on the Finance Department’s exclusive floors or in the parking lot. The mission target, Pei Tingsong, is a third-year medical student whose usual path consists of public teaching buildings and part-time job locations. Your lives have zero overlap.]

Lu Xun was choked up by those words. After a long pause, he muttered, “The low attendance is not my fault. I am going abroad next semester to get some ‘polishing’ anyway.”

[…]

The system seemed speechless for a moment before it urged coldly, [Pei Tingsong needs straight A’s and an unblemished personal record to maintain his high-level scholarship to pay for his tuition and living expenses. Otherwise, he might be forced to drop out next semester because he has no money. Therefore, please, Host, move faster.]

Lu Xun fell silent. All his complaints were suddenly stuck in his throat. He thought to himself: If he is out of money, can he not just apply for a student loan? Or work a few more jobs? Surely it is not bad enough that he would have to drop out and go home?

His lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but his mind flashed back to last night—Pei Tingsong’s stubborn, pale face under the warm lights and the tragic images of his future that the system had transmitted. Pressing his lips into a thin line, Lu Xun ultimately said nothing more and simply sped up his dressing.

Half an hour later, a matte-finish supercar with sleek, aggressive lines came to a sudden halt at the base of Jiangcheng University’s Third Teaching Building, its engine letting out a suppressed growl.

The door swung open, and Lu Xun stepped out with his long legs. He wore a pair of sunglasses that covered half his face and a set of casual clothes that bore no visible brand but were perfectly tailored. He looked entirely out of place among the youthful, plain students around him, radiating a powerful aura of “I am not in a good mood.”

Looking up at the teaching building, Lu Xun’s brows furrowed deeply behind his shades.

“Heh.”

With a light, mocking sneer, Lu Xun strode inside. He wanted to see exactly which blind fool dared to mess with someone Lu Xun had his eyes on.