Chapter 1.8

After returning home, Fan Yuan was physically and emotionally exhausted. He didn’t even want to deal with the male lead’s mood. Instead, he went straight to his room, flopping on the bed like a corpse.

“Xiao Wu, the current degree of progress on the plot is…”

“Ding. At present, the plot has advanced 1%.”

Fan Yuan closed his eyes and dozed off. As expected, that male lead was helpless. Without him, the plot would not be able to advance. It would be weird if any progress could be made.

“Tonight, seeing the male protagonist and the future boss’s fiery confrontation, for a minute there I got the weird feeling that I was walking down the female lead’s route. Tell me, Xiao Wu. I’m crazy, right?”

“…….” It chose to remain silent.

Fan Yuan said, “Even if I’m crazy, it’s because Gu Qi forced me into it. I’ve never encountered this type of situation before. It’s like the male and female leads are walking unknown routes, relying on the male side character to pull on their red string to get them to meet. The story-line is going ‘poof’ like clouds. Isn’t this too abnormal?”

“Ding. It is indeed abnormal. Normally, when a story deviates from the plot, the world will automatically adjust and push the plot forward. If the male and female leads miss each other, the plot will arrange their meeting by itself. It won’t let the lead couple stay as strangers.”

“But this type of thing is happening over and over. Could it be that an intruder has come and is interfering with the plot?”

“Ding. A foreign entity could indeed disturb the plot. Sometimes their presence will strongly influence the plot, but the power of a single person is limited. He can’t possibly go against the rules of the entire world. This occurrence indicates that his ability is far greater than the power source of this world. This assignment is thus completely meaningless.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ding. Although this world is a low-level world, the energy needed to sustain an entire world is extremely tremendous. If someone were to rely on their might to successfully challenge it, then Master’s current level isn’t even enough to act as that person’s toothpick. We’d be better off just giving up on this assignment and leave this world. Otherwise, it’s very possible that we would be discovered and then annihilated by the outsider.”

“…………”

“Ding. Master need not fear. According to system sensors, there has not been any trace of an outsider discovered in this world. For now, you can relax.”

Fan Yuan angrily denounced it, “Only for now?!”

# My system is seriously undependable I’m scaredddddd _(:з」∠)_#

When dinnertime came around, Fan Yuan did not want to eat even one mouthful of food, but as an actor, he had no freedom to choose. Even if he had no appetite, he still had to force himself to eat several mouthfuls.

Gu Qi rested his cheek in his hand, watching him eat. Seeing that his appetite wasn’t good, he attentively helped ladle some soup for him. His tone was indulgent and coaxing, like he was trying to placate an irritated kitty. He said, “Xiao Yuan, today Gege was wrong. It’s not easy for you to make friends and Gege shouldn’t have treated him so impolitely. Forgive Gege, okay?”

I won’t forgive you! I won’t! I definitely won’t!!!! You absolutely don’t know where your freaking fault actually lies! Fan Yuan wasn’t even in the mood to ridicule him. Hardening his face to stay in character was already the biggest concession he could make. He had already renounced this failure of a male lead.

”Ding. Master, your way of thinking is very dangerous.”

Fan Yuan exploded. “Dangerous your f*cking sister! Laozi can’t even ensure my own personal safety and you dare bring up ‘dangerous’ with me!”

Xiao Wu kept silent, pretending to be mute.

Fan Yuan brooded in silence. In contrast, Mama Gu and Father Gu were pleasantly surprised. Mama Gu excitedly asked, “Xiao Yuan made a friend today? That’s wonderful! What kind of kid is he? How is his character? What’s his personality like? Does he have any interests similar to yours?”

The corners of Fan Yuan’s mouth tightened, his head aching beyond belief. “Mom, I made a friend. It’s not like I got a girlfriend. What’re you trying to do, asking for all these specific details?”

Mama Gu did not agree. She persisted, saying, “This kid, you haven’t made friends before and don’t understand the wicked hearts of people these days. Mom is afraid you’ll be deceived. Of course we need to get the answers to these questions. Gu Qi, you too. It’s rare that your little brother is making friends, how could you…”

Gu Qi coldly interrupted. “That person is old man Yu’s only son, Yu Kai.”

As expected, Mama Gu and Father Gu were momentarily silenced. The Yu family was mixed up with the triads. The Gu family business empire was pure white and fostered close ties with political and government circles. Involvement with the Yu family was definitely inadvisable.

Father Gu put down his chopsticks. After a while, he gravely said, “Xiao Yuan, we as parents won’t involve ourselves in the middle of you two making friends. If you think that you and that boy have similar interests, it doesn’t matter if he’s a part of the Yu family. Your happiness is most important. We won’t put our children in fetters or shackle their feet to prevent them from doing something. As long as you follow your heart, it’s okay.”

On the surface, Fan Yuan was obediently nodding his head and thanking his parents, but inside, he was falling apart. F*ck! He didn’t want to happily make friends with Yu Kai in the first place! That guy wholeheartedly wants to do him, okay!

Gu Qi’s expression didn’t change as he stirred his soup, but behind his lowered lashes glinted a dark light.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Without noticing, two months slipped by.

The plot that should have advanced a full 50% only advanced 5%. This progress could be attributed to Fan Yuan’s painstaking work. Because the female lead had an extremely high level of self-respect, she was completely unwilling to accept and cherish the charity of a trust fund baby. When she would encounter the male lead at school, she would take small stacks of bills and return them to their rightful owner. After that, well, there just wasn’t any “after that.”

Contrary to what one might expect, sparks were flying between the male side character, Zhao Yuhao, and the female lead. This was a classic example of the male side character’s tendency to counter-attack. Did he not understand the arrangement? The arrangement is to maintain an ordinary xuezhang-xuemei relationship, okay?! Male side character, can you please be a little more aloof?

If Xiao Wu had not run a scan before, he would harbor suspicions that the male side character transmigrated!

Fan Yuan looked at the practically dead plot and smiled coldly. The male and female leads weren’t together, should he still stick to the script and cause trouble for her? To torment an unfamiliar girl for no reason at all, how berserk would he have to be to do that kind of thing…

Furthermore, with the way the male lead was currently pampering him, if he really was to kill the female lead for no reason, the male lead would probably be right by his side to hand him the knife and help him hide the body after. May I ask who would come to rescue the female lead in that calamitous circumstance? Rely on the male side character? The male lead would probably finish him off as well!

That’s right. He is indeed this savage.

The bald math teacher was still lecturing, saliva spraying everywhere. Fan Yuan slumped over his desk. He gazed out the window with an empty expression, seriously thinking things over. After all, regardless of the degree of plot progression, he clung to the idea of finishing up his own story-line and then happily f*cking off, or he could once again save the plot, this time for the final time.

Yu Kai, this bastard. He didn’t know why Yu Kai became his deskmate, endlessly jabbering on and on. He seriously harbored some suspicions that the primary reason why the male lead would become so mentally abnormal and perversely blackened could be chalked up to this guy!

Yu Kai moved close to his ear and clingily asked, “Gu Yuan, tell me clearly. What part of me isn’t as good as Gu Qi? Is it looks? Ability? Or is it wealth and power? If you answer me this one little thing, I promise that from now on, I won’t pester you again.”

Gu Yuan tamped down the urge to cover his ear. He turned his head and icily spat out two words: “Your age.”

Yu Kai: “………………”

It was finally peaceful and quiet around him. Fan Yuan took an incredibly satisfying afternoon nap, his spirits high and his mood invigorated. He decided to again try his best for the sake of the plot. If this assignment is a huge freaking letdown, well, he only cares about his own route and he will seriously act like a nutcase.

Looking all around, everyone had pretty much all left. It looked like school had already ended. He straightened and organized his desk and prepared to leave. The male lead-daren should still be at the school gate. Gu Qi, this guy. Aside from not advancing the plot, he was a model older brother(?) in all other aspects, so perfect one couldn’t find anything to nitpick.

Yu Kai hadn’t left yet, blocking Gu Yuan’s way and preventing him from going out. A determined expression in his eyes, he said, “I am going to change my birth date.”

“……You can also change your name to Gu Qi while you’re at it.”

Yu Kai hesitated for a split second, and then wrinkled his brow, saying, “I’ll have to talk that one over with my dad.”

Fan Yuan was so angry he wanted to hit someone. He furiously said, “Yu Kai, I think you should go to see a neurologist. You’re what we call sick in the head!”

Yu Kai grabbed him and pressed him against the wall, rendering him unable to move a single step. His eyes were crazed. In a voice laden with danger, he said, “That’s right, I’m sick. But who was it that caused me to develop this sickness? Do you know, before I met you, I was a f*cking normal person, a normal person who only liked women! You made me this way and now you want to wriggle out of responsibility. I’m telling you, there’s no way out!”

His face slowly drew closer to Fan Yuan, his eyes full of infatuation and desire. His intention to invade and plunder was obvious. Even when Fan Yuan struggled, he was unable to throw off the hands restraining him. The feeling of powerlessness was enough to make one crazy. Upon feeling Yu Kai’s lips lingering on his neck and his hot breath washing over his ear, Fan Yuan was finally unable to contain himself and exploded.

“What the f*ck does this have to do with me! What was the original host doing, provoking this pervert! Xiao Wu, exchange a strength-increasing pill, quickly, quickly! I want to flatten him!”

“Ding. Strength pills have been gauged to be ineffective in this situation. This item can only increase the foundation of the host’s body to a certain extent. You would still be much stronger than normal people, but in the Mary Sue world, the fighting abilities of the male lead and the boss are off the charts. I hope Master won’t bother engaging in such a futile struggle.”

“F*ck! To stop struggling—isn’t that just letting myself be done by a man?! Laozi is straight! Even if I wasn’t straight, I still wouldn’t want to be f*cking topped by someone!”

“Ding. Master does not need to be afraid. According to my sensors….” The male lead had already appeared within a 100-meter radius of them.

Fan Yuan was only aware that his body suddenly felt lighter. Yu Kai, who up until then had still been trapping him, was flung away. Thrown heavily to the ground, he unexpectedly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The next second, Fan Yuan was drawn into a tight embrace. Arms locked around his waist like steel, their strength practically folding him into the other’s body.

It was Gu Qi. Gu Qi had come to save him.

Fan Yuan’s body slightly trembled. As a man, being confronted by his profound powerlessness in the face of an assault by another man made him feel extremely unpleasant.

Since he took on the role of a gay male love rival, he always fought over men with various female leads. He had never succeeded, though, and thus had no experience with the matters between men. Of course, he certainly did not want to gain experience either. That feeling of being completely overwhelmed and suppressed was even worse than he had imagined.

After a long while, he slowly managed to calm down. He pushed Gu Qi away. In a small voice, he said, “Gege, let’s go home.”

Gu Qi uttered a soft sound of agreement. His voice was very low, as if coming from far away. Fan Yuan almost missed it as Gu Qi seized him in an embrace and carted him away. As they were leaving, Fan Yuan carelessly eyed Yu Kai, still on the floor. He was still in the same position as before, his body trembling. He appeared to be in a lot of pain.

Facing the male lead, the boss was unable to withstand a even single blow. Wasn’t this situation a little wrong? That the male lead’s fighting prowess eclipsed the boss by so much?

“Ding. There’s something Xiao Wu needs to inform Master of.”

”Hm?”

“The time when the system sensed that the male lead was within a hundred meter radius and the time when he appeared in the classroom was separated by a single second, perhaps even shorter.”