"Hey, have you read the latest update of 'Touch of Immortals'?!" A high-school girl's excited squeal resounds within the bus.
The moment he hears the words 'Touch of Immortals', Chen Yihai's ears begin to tune in on the girls' conversation, which he'd been trying to ignore for the past ten minutes. He casually shifts in his seat, staring out of the window as he watches the scenery pass by in a daze.
See, Chen Yihai is a simple man: he hears something remotely related to stallion webnovels, he listens. Besides, it's already rare enough for girls to be reading stallion novels in the first place, so of course he's interested in hearing what they have to say about it.
"Yeah, I can't believe Yun Shenwu is just that OP! Destroying the most powerful BOSS villain so effortlessly like that…" Girl B says, excitement lit up within her eyes.
Chen Yihai can't help but nod in agreement, though the girls didn't notice his action. To be honest, though most people dislike the BOSS villain simply because he was exactly that—a villain—Chen Yihai only feels sympathy towards him. After all, villains are the reason why novels become so amazing! Without a villain, the story would be completely bland and the protagonist would never be able to ascend to power. That's why Chen Yihai has a soft spot for villains, especially the ones that die by the protagonist's hands.
"Right, right?! And the villain then died within Yun Shenwu's arms… ahhh!" Girl A chokes out a sob, clutching her chest. "I can't believe my ship sank like that!"
"Wuwuwu… our poor OTP!" Girl B cries along with Girl A, using a handkerchief to wipe away her crocodile tears. "Now I have to drop this novel, since I no longer have a reason to read it anymore! No ship, no read!"
"Me too, I can't read it anymore! I'm going to drop it, then write a self-indulgent fanfiction about the BOSS villain and male protagonist!" Girl A grins, her eyes gleaming with an evil intent as she whispers the last sentence. "I was thinking about making them slowly fall in love with each other, and then do papapa every night once they get married… hehehe."
Chen Yihai: "..."
His face immediately fills with black lines. So the female readers only read stallion novels to ship two male characters together?
...Why are there so many women who love male on male action?
There are plenty of women in the male protagonist's harem to choose from, but instead of choosing to couple him with a woman, the girls decide to couple him with the male BOSS villain?
WTF?!
The power of women who ship men together was truly frightening…
But Chen Yihai did have to admit that even he, himself, thinks the protagonist of 'Touch of Immortals' is very good-looking.
"You'd better send it to me! I wanna read it, too!" Girl B says, putting away her handkerchief, an eager gleam within her sparkling eyes. "You should add a scene where the male protagonist gets protective of the BOSS villain—so protective, that Yun Shenwu betrays his own Sect just to be with his beloved villain!"
Chen Yihai suddenly doesn't want to listen anymore. Who could bear to listen to their favorite stallion novel being turned into some kind of BL novel?! How could they sully his super-cool idol of a protagonist like that?! While thinking this, he digs his hand into his bag to find his earphones.
"Oh. My. God! That's such a great idea! I'm going to start on it tonight and send you the document!" Girl A declares, grinning over at her friend, Girl B.
"Okay! I'm so excited to read it!"
…And then the rest of the conversation falls upon Chen Yihai's deaf ears. He has already found and worn his earphones, and long since plugged them into his phone. To ensure that he won't hear anything, he blasts some music at high volume. The song currently playing is a soft piano cover from one of the popular donghua that released earlier this year: Drunken Dreams of the Past, the opening of Mo Dao Zu Shi.
Although he knows that the novel is BL, he can't help but agree with many other straight men that the animation itself was spectacular. Since there's little to no BL in the donghua, after watching it, he found it to have an amazing storyline and plot.
Because of how much he enjoyed it, he couldn't even be angry about the company's choice to animate a BL novel instead of a stallion novel. The animation studio was truly intelligent to know how to appeal to both women and men alike…
Businesses are truly terrifying...
He couldn't wait to get home and wait until midnight for the author to release the next chapter of 'Touch of Immortals'. Since the BOSS villain died in the most recent chapter, the story was going to be wrapping up and ending soon. He couldn't help but feel a bit empty when he realizes this… but he can only pray that it will be a HAPPY END. Which woman will the protagonist pick in the end? Or would he just live with a harem his entire life?
There is just one thing he knows for certain: the super cool protagonist will never end up with the BOSS villain that died, that's for sure.
Hahaha!
---
Late in the night, Chen Yihai sits in front of his desk, staring at his monitor as he slurps his cup-noodles. His room is the embodiment of his natural habitat: action figures of male protagonists line his shelves, posters of handsome male protagonists litter his walls, and he even has a body pillow of the protagonist of 'Touch of Immortals' laying on his bed.
...To say he was a 'nerd' was an understatement. In Japanese terms, he would be what people would call an 'otaku'.
What was even more amazing was that Chen Yihai didn't even think for one second that it was strange that he only had male protagonists decorating his room. Other men would have figurines of cute girls, but why was it he only had males?!
'It's because they're so handsome and cool, ah! I want to be like them!' Is what Chen Yihai told himself, and never thought about it again. He is just very weak for good-looking protagonists, okay? Nothing's wrong with that! Can't he like handsome protagonists while being a straight, moral man at the same time?
Because that's what he is! Or, at least, that's what he's thoroughly convinced himself...
Chen Yihai slurps more noodles, glancing at the time.
It is now 11:59pm… one more minute, and then he'll be able to read the next chapter! Screw saving money to repay student debt, spending it on webnovels is totally worth it! A huge dweeb like himself needs these novels to live!
When the clock hit 12AM, he immediately uses his mouse to click 'refresh' on the novel page. Sure enough, the newest chapter has been updated!
Chen Yihai quickly finishes his cup ramen and clicks the new update, spending a few spirit-stones to unlock the chapter, before imprinting the information into his brain as if he were trying to memorize a textbook chapter before a test.
---
Yun Shenwu stares down at the bloodied man in his arms. He feels a tinge of sorrow within his heart—after all, this man was not just any villain. This man… was also his Shifu, who had taught him many lessons on how to become a proper cultivator. To think that his Shifu was only pretending to care, only to stab him and the entire Sect in the back, in the end…
Who wouldn't feel heartache after such an ordeal?
"Senior Yun…" A young male named Wen Xiuying murmurs, unsure of how to properly comfort his companion. Everyone knows just how important Shifu was to Yun Shenwu. One wrong word, and their tongues might as well be cleanly sliced off.
The other disciples are also silent, unable to say a word with their heads bowed down. Deep in their own hearts, they also loved their dearest Shifu. For him to have been playing them like strings on a guqin this entire time, was there truly anything else to say? Silence seems the only appropriate response.
"Everyone, please… say your goodbyes to Shifu." Yun Shenwu says solemnly, his expression hidden by the bangs falling in front of his face. However, one could tell by his tone that he is not joyful at all that he'd just single-handedly saved the entire Sect. His voice is soft and grief-stricken.
It was not easy for a disciple to kill their own Shifu...
One by one, they walk up towards Yun Shenwu with Wen Xiuying in the lead.
Yun Shenwu feels bitter tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision. He whispers, "Shifu…"
But once that word leaves his lips, he slowly shakes his head. "No, your name is not 'Shifu' anymore… your true name is——"
---
Suddenly, the monitor powers off! Not only the monitor, but the lights in the room as well!
Engulfed in a sea of darkness, Chen Yihai lets out a frustrated groan. "Nooo! I was just getting to the good part! What was the name of the BOSS villain?! Ahhhh! I want to know, I want to know so bad! How could there be a power outage right at the reveal?!"
Irritated, he grabs his phone and attempts to search the chapter up—but he soon realizes after the 'cannot connect to the Internet' page that since there's a power outage, even his wi-fi has turned off.
Chen Yihai's face fills with black lines once more. Since he lives in an apartment by himself, the circuit breaker was probably somewhere either inside or outside of the complex. But because it was late at night, he wasn't going to be stupid enough to try to find it himself! Plus, he was much too lazy to go outside anyway.
He'll call the electrician tomorrow if this issue isn't resolved by the morning!
Irritated out of his mind, he makes his way through the darkness, only to trip over his own feet. He feels his feet go out from under him before the edge of his desk rushes up to meet the side of his head.
---
[Ding!]
[System 707: Welcome, host! My name is System 707, or '707' for short. You have been selected to become the villain of the popular stallion novel, 'Touch of Immortals'! All of your destruction flags have already been raised, so you have no choice but to continue down the path of death!]
[System 707: If you have any questions, feel free to ask me! Oh, but the only way to summon me is to shout, "I love BL!" at the top of your lungs. Well then, please enjoy your time in 'Touch of Immortals'!]
[Initializing sequence…]
[Synchronizing data…]
[Rendering…]
[Loading…]
[Ding!]
[Successfully connected and bound to villain character: Chen Yihai]