From Big Boss to Player

[Reading guide: 1. Please leave your brain here before reading. This is a mindless wish-fulfillment novel, and the plot serves the romance.

2. Two male leads, infinite flow. For those who enjoy flirtatious push and pull and enemies-to-lovers stories.

3. There is no logic, so please don't take it seriously. The protagonist's cheats are outrageously powerful-a dungeon's big boss has entered the beginner village. All infinite-flow dungeon settings are the author's own inventions.

4. The synopsis ran out of room, so here are a few more details about the two male leads.

A cool, outwardly aloof but inwardly warm, sickly, seemingly innocent but secretly ruthless, seductive, venomous beauty of a puppeteer dungeon boss who gets riled up easily, the bottom × a clingy, devoted, slightly unhinged younger dungeon veteran who is an expert actor, a crybaby, and a manipulative little tease, seemingly innocent but secretly ruthless, the top.

As of September 1, 2023.]

"I look forward to our next meeting, Lord Puppeteer."

The boy's teasing voice still echoed in his ears. He could almost still feel the hot breath that accompanied those words.

Carefree, languid, and mocking, the boy laced every word with suggestive ambiguity, as though deliberately teasing the aloof, noble, long-haired young man who sat on an opulent throne, unable to move so much as an inch.

Intimately suggestive, teasing enough to make his skin tingle.

The long-haired young man had an exquisite figure. A black vest covered most of his white satin shirt, outlining his slender frame.

His fair, graceful neck was partially concealed by the satin collar.

Above it, his pale, thin lips were pressed into a tight line, as though he were holding something back, flushed an alluring red with a hint of impatience.

Higher still were his straight nose and the face concealed behind a gold half-mask. Only his mesmerizing, uncanny violet eyes were visible through it, now veiled in moisture, looking pitifully close to tears and all the more enticing for it.

His waist-length black hair was tied loosely at the nape and draped to one side.

The scene abruptly twisted into chaos before finally coalescing into a voice whose gender could not be discerned:

[Then you can earn the energy needed to repair the dungeon by clearing other dungeons. Of course, you are still one of my favorite subordinates. I won't let you die so easily.]

Chu Qingjiu's eyes snapped open, his uncanny violet irises reflecting his surroundings. Several people sat before him.

The people sitting in front of Chu Qingjiu had been discussing something when they happened to notice the long-haired young man, who had been resting on the sofa, suddenly open his eyes and sit up.

They immediately fell silent, every gaze drawn to that soul-stealing face.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

The long-haired young man suddenly began coughing violently. He turned his head aside and pressed a hand to his chest, his body shaking hard with every cough, as fragile as a dying butterfly.

A sickly weakling?

The same thought occurred to all of them.

The long-haired young man gripped the sofa's armrest with one hand, desperately suppressing the urge to cough. His slender fingers dug dents into the upholstery, his knuckles whitening with the force, the pale blue veins on the back of his hand clearly visible.

It was an exceptionally beautiful hand, with long, delicate fingers, neatly trimmed nails, and faintly pink fingertips-perfect for winding around something and leaving suggestive red marks.

Fortunately, it did not last long. The long-haired young man finally stopped coughing. Someone offered him a tissue, which he accepted with a quiet "Thank you."

When he looked up again, his eyes shimmered with tears. Mist clouded his uncanny violet irises, and tiny crystalline droplets clung to his long, raven-black lashes.

His nose and cheeks were flushed, and the upturned corners of his eyes had taken on an ambiguously alluring pink.

He might have been frail, but he was undeniably beautiful.

"I'm sorry... I've never been very healthy."

The violent coughing had left his voice husky, as rich and intoxicating as a full-bodied red wine.

The long-haired young man's pale, thin lips curved into a strained smile. His undisguised, fragile beauty immediately softened the heart of a girl sitting before him, and she hurriedly said, "N-no, it's fine. Here, have some water."

The girl poured him a cup of water from the teapot on the coffee table.

The long-haired young man accepted it politely but distantly. "Thank you," he said softly.

"Lin Ran, he's a sickly weakling. He'll be a burden."

The man in sportswear beside the girl spoke up.

What he meant was that there was no reason to put so much effort into helping a sickly weakling, since people like that generally did not survive long in dungeons.

Chu Qingjiu's gaze shifted to the man. He looked young, no older than twenty-three, with neatly cropped hair and clean-cut features.

He did not seem to like Chu Qingjiu very much, though.

Chu Qingjiu could see everyone's affinity toward him, and he had clearly watched the man's affinity plummet after Lin Ran helped him.

"Zhao Yang, I know, but we all started out as newbies too," Lin Ran protested.

As soon as Lin Ran spoke, Zhao Yang's affinity toward Chu Qingjiu dropped to just 20.

It seemed Zhao Yang liked Lin Ran.

"All right, stop arguing."

The middle-aged man beside Zhao Yang spoke. He was tall and broad, with a square face and thick eyebrows, and looked mature and dependable.

The square-faced man looked at Chu Qingjiu and said evenly, "My name is Liu Peng. You can call me Brother Peng."

Chu Qingjiu nodded slightly, studying the five people before him.

Besides Liu Peng and the other two who had already been introduced, two people had yet to speak: a man with a buzz cut on Liu Peng's left and a sexy, mature-looking woman beside Lin Ran.

"We all have some dungeon experience. Have you entered a dungeon before?" Liu Peng asked gently.

Chu Qingjiu shook his head. Zhao Yang's expression immediately darkened, and his affinity dropped from 20 to 10.

"A newbie, and a sickly one at that, in a supernatural dungeon like this? How can we be this unlucky?"

Lin Ran frowned. "Enough, Zhao Yang. Calm down."

An eerie silence immediately settled over them.

No one spoke. Chu Qingjiu carefully studied their expressions and realized they seemed afraid.

They feared this dungeon. They feared this sickly newbie who knew nothing, afraid he would bring disaster down on all of them.

"Oh? Why's everyone so quiet?"

A tall, straight-backed boy suddenly descended the stairs from the second floor and slowly approached the six silent people in the living room, his voice lazy and nonchalant.

The instant Chu Qingjiu saw his face, he abruptly tightened his grip on the sofa's armrest, but quickly caught himself and let go.

The boy's languid manner broke the silence. Liu Peng, whose expression had been grave, actually smiled in relief at the sight of him.

"Wu Qi, have you had enough rest?" Liu Peng asked with a smile.

The boy called Wu Qi stretched and gave a lazy sound of acknowledgment, then walked up to Chu Qingjiu with a smile.

"Can I sit beside you, big brother?"

Wu Qi had a beautiful smile, with a small dimple in his cheek and a pointed canine tooth that lent him a touch of youthful innocence.

Chu Qingjiu glanced at him, nodded, and silently shifted aside.

This was Qi Wu, entering a dungeon under an alias... the number-one player on the leaderboard...

A cold glint flashed through Chu Qingjiu's uncanny eyes.

If Qi Wu had not severed all his puppet strings, he would never have gone from being the Overseer's dungeon boss to a pitiful player struggling to survive.

He did not know why Qi Wu had concealed his identity to enter this relatively easy supernatural dungeon, but as long as he killed Qi Wu and recovered all his puppet strings, he could go back to being a dungeon boss.

"Big brother, you've been looking at me this whole time. Is there something you want to say?"

Qi Wu looked at Chu Qingjiu with a bright smile, appearing utterly harmless.

Chu Qingjiu turned his head away awkwardly. "...No. You're imagining things."

The little brat was pretty sharp.

Chu Qingjiu grumbled inwardly. He should only have given Qi Wu a casual glance just now, yet the boy had noticed immediately.

"Wu Qi, he's one of this dungeon's only two newbies, and he seems to be in poor health. What do you think?" Liu Peng asked after some consideration.

Since this dungeon had newbies, its safe period was a little longer than usual.

The safe period mainly allowed players to rest and prepare. Normally, it lasted one hour, but with two newbies in their dungeon, they had an extra two hours.

That time was mainly intended for veteran players to calm the newbies down and explain the basics.

But that did not make it easy. Most newbies refused to believe they had entered this terrifying world and would have to face all sorts of ghosts and monsters.

They would scream, lose their minds, and sometimes even hurt veteran players.

Fortunately, Wu Qi had brought one of the newbies, who was now sleeping upstairs. The other might have been sickly, but he was emotionally stable, which was why things were still relatively harmonious.

"I'll take him. It's what I'm good at, anyway," Qi Wu said casually.

"All right, let's introduce ourselves, then." Liu Peng looked at Chu Qingjiu with a kindly expression. "This is my third dungeon."

The buzz-cut man answered coldly, "Wang Hao. Second dungeon."

"Zhao Yang. Second dungeon."

The sexy, mature-looking woman crossed her legs. "Yu Nian. Second dungeon."

Lin Ran gave Chu Qingjiu a friendly smile. "Lin Ran. Second dungeon."

"Wu Qi. Wu written with 'mouth' over 'heaven,' and Qi as in 'prayer.'" Qi Wu stared intently into Chu Qingjiu's uncanny violet eyes. "This is already my fourth dungeon. Just stick with me, big brother. I'll protect you."

Chu Qingjiu found Qi Wu's constant cries of "big brother" extremely uncomfortable, but ultimately said nothing to object.

He had only just arrived and knew none of the rules. After all, he had previously been a dungeon boss rather than a player, and the Overseer had made him a player because he had failed to defend his dungeon.

"Thank you..." Chu Qingjiu said softly out of politeness. "Just call me Chu Qingjiu."

"Big brother Qingjiu..." Qi Wu drew out his name slowly, as though savoring something, then suddenly smiled. A hint of cunning lay deep within his clear amber eyes. "What a lovely name."

Listening to the boy's clear, pleasant voice, Chu Qingjiu lazily lifted his eyes and stared at him for several seconds, his uncanny violet irises clearly reflecting that handsome, spirited face.

There was only one thought in his mind:

I really want to kill someone.