Chapter 1

Cannon Fodder Substitute Alliance by Eight Lord Party [Complete + Extras]

Synopsis:

Cheng Lang transmigrated into a novel-as one of the cannon fodder substitutes in an angsty romance about substitute lovers. The system required him to fulfill his role as malicious cannon fodder, courting his own destruction to advance the relationship between the main top and bottom and make the scumbag top see the error of his ways.

Then Cheng Lang joined forces with all the cannon fodder substitutes in the novel, including the main bottom. They started a company, built their careers, and created an integrated industrial ecosystem. After bankrupting the scumbag top, they kicked him to the curb-and successfully made him see the error of his ways!

System: You're not supposed to do it like that.

Cheng Lang: Did I court disaster?

System: "..."

Cheng Lang: Did the scumbag top regret it?

System: "..."

Cheng Lang: Did those two get their happy ending?

System: "..."

Lu Chengxuan had spent years juggling lovers, and everything had always gone smoothly. Until one day, a catfish barged into his pond. Not only did it lure away all his fish, it wrecked his pond, too. Worst of all, that damned catfish even stole away his unattainable first love!

As a professional malicious cannon fodder character, Cheng Lang had always considered himself dedicated to his job and eminently reliable.

Everyone: Reliable? You're just reliably wild!

Tags: Face-slapping, system, wish fulfillment, revenge, scumbag punishment

Search keywords: Main characters: Cheng Lang, Qin Mu | Supporting characters: | Other:

One-line summary: Take the scumbag top's path and leave him nowhere to go.

Theme: Overlooked malicious cannon fodder characters should unite to build an integrated industrial ecosystem.

Chapter 1

Thumping DJ dance music pounded into his ears. Overhead, laser lights spun wildly, bright enough to blind someone.

Having just transmigrated, Cheng Lang felt dizzy for a moment and nearly lost his grip on the tray in his hands. Just as the whiskey on the rocks and two cocktails were about to slide off and smash onto the floor, he reacted swiftly, adjusting the angle of the tray. The three glasses slowly slid back toward its center. The liquor swayed gently with their movement, gleaming like money under the dance floor lights.

That was close! Another second and nearly a thousand yuan would've gone down the drain! Cheng Lang grumbled inwardly. Could you pick a better moment next time you transmigrate me? What have you got against money?

No one answered.

Cheng Lang paid it no mind. He picked up the numbered slip tucked beneath a glass and used the order number to locate the customer who had ordered the drinks.

After delivering the drinks, Cheng Lang slipped unobtrusively off the dance floor and headed straight into the men's restroom. "All right, what's the mission?"

A line of dry text appeared before Cheng Lang-

[You have transmigrated into The Domineering CEO's Substitute Lover as the malicious cannon fodder character Cheng Lang. In accordance with the novel's premise, you must take Cheng Lang's place and fulfill his role as malicious cannon fodder, repeatedly courting your own destruction to advance the relationship between the main top and bottom, making the scumbag top see the error of his ways and realize that his true love is the main bottom, Shen Huaiyu.]

Cheng Lang waited patiently for a few minutes, but nothing else came from the system. Bewildered, he asked, "That's it?"

No one answered.

"Hold on! Where's my cheat?" Didn't these missions usually come with a cheat as standard equipment?

The system said nothing.

Unwilling to give up, Cheng Lang asked, "What about a pocket dimension? A spiritual spring? Miraculous pills and medicines? All those skills for showing off and putting people in their place?"

[Understand your standing. You are merely a malicious supporting male character.]

"What's wrong with being a supporting character? Aren't supporting characters people? Don't supporting characters have feelings?" Cheng Lang couldn't stand this discriminatory treatment. "...At least give me a System Shop where I can redeem skills!"

After a long silence, the system replied:

[I have no such worldly functions.]

So this lousy system was completely useless except for handing out missions!

At that instant, Cheng Lang recognized the system's true worth. "Absolutely worthless."

Faced with its partner's furious personal attack on its systemic personhood, the system remained silent.

Cheng Lang stormed out of the men's restroom. The moment he stepped outside, he ran into Shen Huaiyu, the original novel's main bottom.

As the male lead of a boys' love novel, Shen Huaiyu was the finest of the fine in both looks and bearing. He had a handsome face, gentle features, and an elegant, refined air. His quiet demeanor carried a melancholy and vulnerability that made people want to gather him into their arms. Cheng Lang's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help silently composing an elaborate classical ode in his praise.

Knowing its partner's nature all too well, the system quietly warned him:

[Remember your role!]

Cheng Lang turned a deaf ear to it and approached him with a look of concern. "Are you all right?"

A trace of shame, anger, and humiliation crossed Shen Huaiyu's face. That single greeting from Cheng Lang left him so mortified he wanted the ground to swallow him.

Cheng Lang knew what Shen Huaiyu had been through. He also understood what he was thinking.

As its title suggested, The Domineering CEO's Substitute Lover was an angsty romance about a substitute lover. Its protagonist, Shen Huaiyu, had originally been a gifted young man from a well-off family. His parents were both university professors, he excelled in both academics and conduct, and he had a younger brother who idolized him. After his college entrance exams, the family decided to take a spontaneous road trip to celebrate his admission to his dream university. Instead, they were caught in a car accident on the way. His parents died at the scene, and his younger brother suffered severe injuries that left him in a vegetative state. Only Shen Huaiyu escaped with minor injuries, recovering and leaving the hospital after a week.

Having his family shattered overnight was a devastating blow to Shen Huaiyu. If not for the hope that his younger brother might wake up, he would even have wanted to end his own life. Suppressing his grief, he arranged his parents' funerals, then decided to sell the family home to pay for his brother's treatment. He hated to part with it-the house held his family's happiest memories. But he had no choice. He urgently needed money.

Only after dealing with all of this did the dazed Shen Huaiyu have time to register at university. Because he had missed the official registration period, he wasn't assigned a dorm room with students from his own major. Instead, the university squeezed him into a room in the economics and management department-Cheng Lang's room. That was how he met the original Cheng Lang.

The original Cheng Lang was an orphan who had grown up in an orphanage. Having seen all too much of society's dark side from childhood, his heart had long since been stained black by its corrupting influence. But he was good-looking, skilled at putting on an act, and sweet-tongued, so the people around him never saw his true nature. He talked his way into free food and drinks, and even sailed smoothly into the most sought-after finance program at the city's most prestigious university.