"System, get me a bottle of '82 Sprite."
Spirit City, a certain residence.
Lu Mingchuan lay on a wooden bed, holding a glass of red wine, his eyes full of exhaustion.
[Ding! Check-in successful. Reward: one bottle of red wine and +10 Soul Power.]
This ridiculous place had dragged him through it all over again. What a headache.
"Sure enough, you're the only one who's stuck by me through all these repeats, you goddamn system. My thanks to your ancestors for eighteen generations."
[Normally, the sooner you finish the plot, the higher the completion rate. Any plot you develop yourself will be judged as OOC.]
Just look at that thing. Shameless as ever.
So what if he didn't follow the script?
Wasn't a script just there to provide a general direction? Acting still depended on the performers' ability to improvise.
[The problem is, what the hell kind of script are you following? Could anyone come up with this?] [You pushed the protagonist you'd already ruined into a scene with his rival, pointed a real sword at his little brother, and played chicken with him until he was so furious all he could say was, "You've already sealed your own doom."] [And then there was the time you carried the protagonist's urn...]
"Stop... I get it. I'll act properly this time, okay? I'll be the best actor I can. How's that?"
It was just worried he'd blow up the original protagonist's world again.
But...
What kind of script was this? Did he have to become a villain who drew the protagonist's fire, like those gate guards in Nuoding City?
Only to become an indispensable part of the protagonist's experience points.
He was just a useless rich brat living off his ancestors' legacy in Spirit Hall. What difference would it make to Douluo Continent if one villain like him was gone?
Why did the protagonist have to step all over him?
"Bring up that ancient script."
"Oh, right. According to the script, I'm supposed to be obsessed with the Saintess of Spirit Hall right now."
After listening to the system recite the script yet again, Lu Mingchuan recalled the role he played in this ancient script.
He was a lovesick rich brat, hopelessly infatuated with the Saintess of Spirit Hall.
Yeah, real original.
Next, he was supposed to bring her 999 roses as a token of his love and confess to her.
After that, he'd lie peacefully in the street.
Dammit, how many times had he skipped this plot already?
How the hell was he supposed to play this simp? He was a sigma male. Why would he do something like this? At least give him a role that was as wild and arrogant as the lead actor.
If he refused to act, he'd get stuck here again and again, forced to relive this scene every time.
But acting like this as a villain was way too undignified. And they'd still given him this sort of script.
No way. He was going to live the good life.
There was absolutely no chance he'd let himself become just another nobody on the roadside.
Now, he'd show everyone how a villain made his exit.
Lu Mingchuan carefully planned in his mind how he would perform in a moment.
[Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang has already wandered to Spirit City. Once Xiao Gang makes his move, he'll put on that show where the whole world's knowledge of Martial Souls drops a hundredfold, while mine stays exactly the same.] [This is one of those famous scenes you can figure out just by speculating about Douluo. But how am I supposed to act along with this bunch of idiots?] [I left Spirit Hall before, so I've never experienced this part of the plot.] [Should I deliver the flowers, then get humiliated and lose my temper? Or should I curse the adulterous couple, pretend to die of a heart attack, and end my part in the script for a while?] [Who'd fall for a brainless idiot who's got less gray matter than a peanut? Only this script would indulge you. It knows you're stupid, so it even makes a point of giving you a brain.] [You're the only illiterate idiot in all of Spirit Hall.] [And on this continent, where everyone's a hopeless romantic, your Brother Chuan is practically Einstein.] [Bibi Dong, you should count yourself lucky to have Brother Chuan enlighten you.] [Hahahahaha~]
Thinking about the scene where he'd collapse on the ground and put on an Oscar-worthy performance—
Then live the good life until Tang San was born, before continuing with this script—
Lu Mingchuan grinned so widely his lips nearly reached his ears.
There was everything he needed in the system's space. He'd enjoy a few decades of comfort first.
He'd made a total blunder before, focusing so much on changing the plot that he'd forgotten to enjoy himself. This time, nothing—not even the gods—could make him forget.
[Bibi Dong, you should count yourself lucky to have Brother Chuan enlighten you.] [Hahahaha~]
Bibi Dong was holding a brush and studying how to help Spirit Hall handle some minor affairs. She yawned lazily, showing off her lovely figure.
After finishing her work, she was just about to take a book from the shelf and read for a while.
Then the voice in her mind suddenly startled her.
She summoned her First Martial Soul, the Death Spider Emperor. Four Soul Rings rose around her, and an aura of death and savagery instantly filled the room.
"Who's there? How dare you talk about this Saintess like that?" Bibi Dong's pretty face was ice-cold.
She never imagined anyone would be bold enough to spy directly on the Saintess of Spirit Hall.
The voice had sounded in her room, yet even the guards her teacher had assigned to her hadn't noticed. If the intruder had meant her harm, wouldn't she have fallen into the hands of a villain?
Bibi Dong searched the room. It was clean and tidy, with the occasional trinket adding a touch of girlish charm.
There wasn't anywhere that could possibly hide the person she'd imagined.
Could it be that she'd overtrained and was exhausted?
But that still didn't make sense. The words she'd heard hadn't sounded like they came from the room. It was more like they'd been transmitted directly into her mind.
She recalled what the voice had said.
Bibi Dong clenched her teeth and balled her fists.
Less gray matter than a peanut?
Illiterate?
Idiot?
She'd studied hard since childhood and always loved learning.
She might not be a fountain of knowledge, but she was at least one of the most knowledgeable people in the Soul Master World. How could she be the idiot that bastard had called her?
That last sentence, laced with laughter, made Bibi Dong's icy face darken.
Enlighten her?
Who was he calling an uncivilized monkey?
And Brother Chuan? Would he dare say that to her face?
At the same time, she wondered if someone had run into trouble while cultivating their spiritual power, since the voice had been transmitted directly into her mind.
But that familiar voice brought someone to mind. Bibi Dong shouted his name in fury.
"Lu—Mingchuan!"
She could recognize his voice anywhere.
That deeply annoying fellow who was always hovering around her—and she had no idea why her teacher and the others favored him so much.
Every time he saw her, he brought her flowers and sweet-talked her.
Yet behind her back, he thought of her this way, treating her like a woman without a brain.
Someone so two-faced had even managed to fool her teacher and the others. They all kept telling her to spend more time with this annoying pest.
It seemed his daily show of affection was just an act to put on in front of her teacher.
Bibi Dong had never imagined that the man who was always smiling could be so deep and calculating.
Before you continue