The Yan family, with assets over a hundred billion, has two sons.
The elder son, Yan Jilan, is uneducated and relies on his good looks, entering the entertainment industry and thriving in a world recognized as corrupt among wealthy circles. Unfortunately, his acting skills are poor, and he has become an idol-like pretty boy.
The younger son, Yan Jicha, excels in both academics and character. He is the heir to the Yan family and a well-known exemplary child in the circle. On the well-planned road laid out by the Yan family, he strides forward, becoming a serious and stern businessman like his father.
One day, the elder son, Yan Jilan, sincerely wished to the heavens, asking for divine help to transition from a young idol to a serious actor.
In a mysterious space, a certain system heard his wish.
The next day, System 030 arrived at the Yan family, searching for a host who is “good-looking, young, and also surnamed Yan.” Such a host, who possesses strong initiative, is serious, diligent, positive, and confident in honing their acting skills, would be the most suitable for its current crossover mission.
After searching, it found Yan Jicha, who was on the rooftop enjoying the breeze.
At that moment, Yan Jicha had just found an excuse to slip away from his grandfather's birthday banquet. Despite all his efforts to avoid it, he still couldn’t escape the hidden mission at the banquet—his grandfather, at his old age, still had quite progressive thoughts. Under the guise of the birthday celebration, he invited various promising young people from well-matched families to attend the feast, allowing Yan Jicha to choose a future boyfriend from among them!
Yan Jicha sighed deeply, feeling dejected as he prayed to the heavens: as long as he could escape the pressure of marriage and matchmaking from his elders, he would do anything!
Just as he finished praying, a loud thunderclap struck, and he felt a voice appear in his mind.
System: “Chosen host, hurry and bind with me! The heavens have heard your wish. As long as you complete these crossover missions, you can achieve your heart’s desire!”
Yan Jicha slowly typed a question mark in his mind: ?
With a chime, before Yan Jicha could react, he felt dizzy and nauseous.
System: “Don't Panic! Binding successful, transitioning to the task world! Any dizziness or nausea is a normal reaction! I am your binding system No. 030! Please call me 030!”
A moment later, Yan Jicha endured the discomfort and opened his eyes again, only to find he was still standing in the same place.
Am I under too much stress lately?
Yan Jicha, filled with doubt, continued to stand on the rooftop for five more minutes, feeling nothing unusual, before expressionlessly turning around and leaving the rooftop.
Beneath his calm exterior was an inner turmoil drowned in shame.
Had he developed a strange illusion from drinking, believing he was the protagonist and that he was about to cross over? Was he really driven mad by the pressure of marriage, causing a relapse of his middle school syndrome?
The last time he had such an episode was during his student days, when he lost a game to his brother and shouted, “Don’t underestimate the youth!”—a line so cringeworthy that it had been ridiculed for many years, and the recording was still cherished by his brother.
Thanks to his brother, he never wanted to see such embarrassing lines or plots again.
Yan Jicha shook his head vigorously, trying to throw that terrifying memory, along with the fleeting sense of loss, out of his mind, and he rallied himself.
Thinking about it, the chosen protagonists are usually neon high school students, or useless otakus, or passionate youths. How could someone like him, a disheartened successful adult, possibly be the protagonist!
The villa hosting the banquet had three floors, with the event taking place in the first-floor hall, while Yan Jicha’s room was on the second floor. He slowly walked down the stairs and, just as he reached the second floor, he bumped into someone.
A young man in a fitted dark suit, clearly another guest at the old man’s birthday banquet, looked as if he had drunk too much. With his head slightly lowered, he had his back to Yan Jicha, his left fist pressed firmly against the wall, standing at the corner of the staircase leading to the first floor. Upon hearing Yan Jicha's footsteps, he suddenly turned around, and his eyes instantly filled with anger.
Yan Jicha instinctively stopped in his tracks.
“Yan Jicha!” the young man suddenly called out in a low yet forceful voice, shouting his full name, and then threw down a harsh line:
“Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, don’t underestimate the youth!”
After saying this, he huffed loudly, the echo lingering in the stairwell for a long time.
Having delivered his harsh words, he puffed out his chest, glaring at the second young master of the Yan family, waiting for a response to his provocation, eager to memorize the disdainful look on his face so he could return it at a later time from a perfect angle!
However, after waiting for a while and hearing no reaction from the visibly emotional second young master, he found Yan Jicha looking at him with an inscrutable expression instead.
Yan Jicha was actually not thinking about anything else; the scene before him was too familiar, making him see a reflection of himself from years ago. It was both shameful and somewhat sympathetic, filling him with mixed emotions, rendering his mind blank.
Feeling somewhat uneasy under Yan Jicha's gaze, the young man huffed again before turning to leave.
A few seconds later, Yan Jicha regained his composure and finally remembered who that crazy person was.
It seemed he had accidentally stepped on his foot...?
Was that it?
System: You didn’t step on his foot; you stepped on his dignity!
Yan Jicha: ???
Auditory hallucinations were happening again!
System: You must be very curious about what made him hold such a grudge against you.
Yan Jicha: …
No, I don’t want to know; I didn’t do anything.
System: The answer is, in this parallel world, it’s not that you stepped on his foot; it’s that you saw him as another good-for-nothing freeloader wanting to rely on the Yan family, trying to gain benefits by becoming a son-in-law, which led you to ridicule him in front of the guests.
Yan Jicha: That doesn’t seem… right?
Is he really trying to rely on the Yan family? It looks more like he’s trying to break the Yan family!
System: Good eye! He doesn’t want to rely on the Yan family; he is actually your half-brother, the illegitimate child of the Yan family, who only discovered his identity in the past two years but is not acknowledged. He snuck in here! But you, worried and flustered, concerned that your cousin might be deceived by this good-for-nothing, purposely mocked him in front of the guests, causing him to be ridiculed, and you even advised your cousin to avoid him.
The amount of information was overwhelming, and Yan Jicha didn’t know which aspect to critique first: “half-brother,” “illegitimate child,” or “worried (that the cousin with seven brothers, all champions) about being deceived by a good-for-nothing.”
But the confusion lasted only a second; Yan Jicha suddenly regained his senses and found the real focus: wait, you’re saying that in this world, it’s not me who’s being pressured into marriage at the old man’s birthday banquet… but my sister?
System: Yes, you’ve crossed over! Moreover, the technology tree in this world is different; it’s already transitioning into the interstellar era.
This was truly a stroke of good fortune.
Yan Jicha instantly straightened his back, shaking off his previous disinterest, his eyes brightening a few degrees.
System: If you still don’t believe it, you can go and see for yourself.
Yan Jicha immediately agreed: Then I need to take a look!
Back in the banquet hall on the first floor, as soon as Yan Jicha entered, he discovered that the interior decoration was indeed different. There were many shiny, high-tech unknown devices, which made him believe the system a little more.
Looking over at his cousin not far away, she had truly become one of the topics of conversation. As a polite and cultured person, she maintained a nearly rigid smile without a moment’s pause, engaging in conversations with those who were either coming to propose or trying to cozy up to the Yan family.
Yan Jicha kindly refrained from following his cousin’s bad example by gloating and creating hostility; instead, he sat not far away, secretly enjoying this rare spectacle as a side dish with his drink.
Delightful.
System: Now do you believe it? Look at your cousin’s dress, hairstyle, and makeup; they’re all different from those in your original world. Given how busy she is, she wouldn’t have had time to change.
Yan Jicha was taken aback: They’re different?
System: …
Seeing that he had accepted the situation, the system emitted a sound and directly transmitted the original plot of this world into Yan Jicha’s brain.
In simple terms, that young man who had just threatened him was the protagonist of the novel. At the beginning, he had a very low level of mental strength, a disgraceful identity, and no skills. He was looked down upon and bullied by many in the early stages, but later on, he would step by step turn the tables, doubling back all the humiliation he suffered, eventually being pursued and flattered by all kinds of people, ultimately reaching the pinnacle of the world.
And he, Yan Jicha, was one of the cannon fodder villains in this novel…
This story…
Yan Jicha gasped sharply, his pupils shaking.
No wonder he heard those long-lost lines earlier! This familiar formula, this long-lost taste—wasn’t it one of the story tropes he loved the most when he was deeply into his phase of being a delusional teenager?! Although the story's background was different from those he had read, the plot core was essentially the same!
Thinking back, he had been so infatuated with such novels; now it felt suffocating.
As if his face wasn’t bad enough, the system continued to stab: Don’t be discouraged! As long as you work hard on the tasks and play every role well, once your points are high enough, the next protagonist will be you!
Yan Jicha: …
Yan Jicha: Maybe not.
System: I love your grounded attitude! Then let’s start the first task!
Two lines of text appeared in front of Yan Jicha:
[Main Task: Use strategies (or persuasion) to prevent the biggest antagonist ‘Qin Shen’ from falling apart.]
[Task Guide: Play the role of the cannon fodder villain Yan Jicha, maintain the flamboyant, cunning gay persona, and complete the relevant plot of the original work.]
Yan Jicha: Excuse me, but what persona am I supposed to maintain?
System: The flamboyant, cunning gay persona.
Yan Jicha: ?
System: The task objective has appeared; now is the best time to approach him!
Yan Jicha instinctively looked up, following the system’s guidance, and saw four or five people standing together talking.
He reflexively asked: Which one is Qin Shen?
System: Look at the hint; it’s him.
A yellow scroll icon appeared above a certain young man’s head.
Not to mention, the antagonist was looking pretty…
Before Yan Jicha could get a good look at the big antagonist Qin Shen’s face, the system suddenly made a ding sound and sent him the corresponding plot introduction.
A piece of text appeared before Yan Jicha’s eyes:
[… The moment Qin Shen walked into the venue, the young master Yan noticed him.
It was him! This man, with an aura like an emperor, those deep, oppressive eyes, and a posture that carried a hint of danger with every move, was the kind of person everyone feared and dared not approach. Yet he was the idol Yan Jicha had admired for many years.
What a dazzling and outstanding man! No matter where he stood in the world, he was always the most eye-catching one, instantly noticeable by anyone!
Young master Yan gazed at him for a long time, his eyes filled with youthful infatuation and a hint of relentless ambition.]
Yan Jicha: …
Damn.
He silently held back the goosebumps all over his body, lowered his head to cover his eyes. However, upon closing his eyes, the text describing the plot directly projected itself in the darkness… clearer than before.
System: Now, please gaze obsessively and deeply at the task target for five minutes.
Yan Jicha: … Just send me home.
System: Be more confident! You can do it! If your gaze isn’t affectionate enough, it doesn’t matter; as long as you look for five full minutes, you’ll get the basic points!
030 naively thought that after all, he used to be an actor! No matter how bad his acting was, it couldn’t be that terrible! With this cheat on hand, there would be no problem.
Yan Jicha: That’s what you said.
Ten meters away, Qin Shen, who was tasting red wine, suddenly froze, a chill crawling up his back.
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