"Lady Emily has rejected your dinner invitation again, for the twenty-ninth time this month."
"Emily? That name sounds so familiar..."
Daniel opened his eyes, and his unfocused pupils gradually concentrated as he looked at the maid in front of him. She wore a plain expression and a maid's outfit, and he swallowed in confusion.
"What did you just call me?"
The little maid, Fiona, sighed softly at his words, her fingers gently pressing on Owen's shoulder.
"Of course, I called you Master Owen. What's wrong with you today? You seem a bit off."
Daniel scratched his head.
Owen?
Aren't I Daniel?
And where is this place?
His mind was a chaotic mess.
Daniel rubbed his forehead hard and struggled to stand up. He asked in confusion, "What is you calling me again?"
"Master Owen, please don't joke around. I'm Fiona. Have you forgotten?"
Fiona, Owen, Emily... These familiar names gradually stirred some of Daniel's memories. Then, a flood of memories that didn't belong to him forced its way into his mind, causing Daniel immense pain.
"I... transmigrated?"
Daniel's face suddenly turned grim. Not only had he transmigrated, but he had also ended up in a familiar world...
It took a while for Daniel to accept the fact that he had become Owen. He shook his head and sighed lightly.
"Speaking of which, what did you just say? Emily rejected my invitation again?"
"Yes, Master Owen. Today is the first Silverday of the month, and this is already the twenty-ninth time this month."
"That's quite something."
Daniel pondered for a moment and said, "Alright. Fiona, I plan to meet Emily in person. You'll come with me."
Fiona immediately furrowed her brows and said coldly, "Must I come along?"
Just thinking of Emily's indifferent attitude made Fiona feel that Owen was being treated unfairly.
"I feel more confident with you there. Come on, go get ready."
"I don't want to see that woman..."
Fiona pouted but obediently fetched the suit for Owen, unbuttoning the collar and cuffs to help him change.
...
Oh, right, I almost forgot to introduce Daniel.
Daniel is a transmigrator. In his previous life, he was just an ordinary company employee, living a typical 9-to-5 life, a typical corporate drone. His only hobby in life was probably the challenge of trash novels.
In fact, Daniel had many like-minded friends. Some enjoyed challenging trash novels in the gaming realm, while others preferred those in the utterly brainless film category. Daniel was different.
He especially loved reading novels that were popular but had extremely disgusting plots, finding amusement in them.
As usual, Daniel was reading a trash novel he had been following for a long time while waiting for the subway during work hours. Just as he reached a critical point in the story, two playful high school students bumped into him from behind, and Daniel had a close encounter with a passing heavy-duty truck.
Everyone has their own fate in life, a phrase Daniel previously dismissed, but now he believed it.
When Daniel came to his senses, he had already transmigrated into this world. He was astonished to find that he had become a character in the trash novel he was reading, now known as Owen.
"But I just don't get it. Clearly, this character was the most promising at the start of the novel, with both background and strength, not to mention being handsome. How did he end up like this?"
Instead of being a true genius, he chose to become a simp for the female lead, Emily, and ultimately became a stepping stone on the male lead John's path to success.
He died without a trace, and everything he had was taken by John, making a wedding dress for someone else.
How tragic!
And the female lead, Emily, was even more bizarre!
According to the setting, she experienced the massacre of her entire family when she was young, and she was the only survivor.
The only relic her father left her was a badge from Crossbridge Academy.
Who knows what was going through her mind? Even though there were numerous clues left by the murderer at the scene, she neither collected nor pursued them. Instead, she spent her entire fortune to hire an obscure prophet to predict the identity of the murderer.
"The blood of a Crossbridge Academy prodigy flows in the murderer's veins."
It was precisely this ambiguous prophecy that led Emily to firmly believe Owen was the murderer of her family. She harbored a deep grudge against Owen, making it her lifelong goal to enroll in Crossbridge Academy, endure humiliation, and seek revenge against Owen.
Unfortunately, she blamed the wrong person.
Having read the plot, Daniel realized that the real murderer of her family was actually the father of the Original MC, John. As a former chief of Crossbridge Academy, he was expelled due to his unscrupulous nature, and Owen, who took over, ended up being wrongly accused.
But that wasn't the most outrageous part.
What particularly stuck with Daniel was a scene where Emily discovered that the real culprit wasn't Owen but John's father. Yet, after some persuasive talk from the MC John, she chose to forgive him!
Claiming that the hatred of the previous generation shouldn't carry over to the next.
Ha!
Are you kidding me?
Then did I die for nothing?
When Daniel read this part of the story, he wanted to grab Emily by the collar and slap her twice!
How could such a foolish woman be the protagonist?
Your entire family was killed by the protagonist's father. Your loving mother, your stern yet affectionate father, your beautiful family—all destroyed, and you just forgive them like that?
Yep, she actually did forgive them.
Scenes with such ridiculous plot twists were everywhere in the novel.
One could argue whether a game or novel can be considered a masterpiece, as opinions vary depending on individual perspectives. However, this trash novel is undoubtedly deserving of its title, without any controversy.
Daniel was particularly curious about the mindset required to create such an outrageous MC.
From the beginning, the MC set up a scheme to get involved with Emily, used her to gain entry into Crossbridge Academy, and cultivated with her to advance his abilities, stopping at nothing to become stronger.
Later, after getting involved with other women, he coldly sacrificed Emily to learn the art of mind control and even sacrificed his mentor, who valued him greatly and had taught him everything, in exchange for a god-tier spellbook.
Such monstrous behavior led to the MC John becoming incredibly popular because of the novel's unconventional path.
Daniel couldn't understand how there could be so many people who enjoyed reading trash novels like this one. How could a story with such twisted morals attract so many followers? Or maybe everyone had lost their minds, and he just hadn't realized it yet.
Thinking about it, Owen sighed, feeling a bit disheartened. It was as if a treasure he had cherished for a long time had suddenly been discovered by others and gained widespread attention, leaving him a bit disappointed.
If it were truly a treasure, it would be understandable, but this was undoubtedly a trash novel. How did it suddenly become so popular?
While lost in thought, Owen finished changing into his suit, and Fiona had also changed out of her maid outfit into a pure white long dress paired with white stockings, looking quite pleasing to the eye.
As one of Owen's most important admirers in the original work, Owen had a rather favorable impression of Fiona. She was beautiful and capable.
As an intelligence officer, she helped Owen gather a lot of information in the early stages. Unfortunately, in the original work, after Owen was taken down by Emily and the MC John, Fiona went mad and was expelled from the academy, leaving her story unfinished.
She was probably the only character in the original story that made Owen feel heartache.
What?
You ask about Owen himself?
He was a fool, nothing worth feeling sorry for.
Out of all the people he could have fallen for, he chose the protagonist's woman. If he didn't die, who would?
Noticing Owen's gaze, Fiona blushed and gently tugged at the hem of her dress, softly saying, "Why are you staring at me?"
"Nothing."
To be honest, the original Owen was definitely blind. He had a beautiful and devoted maid right beside him, so why go through all the trouble to chase after Emily?
In the end, not only did he fail to win the beauty, but he also lost his life.
Even though this is a trash novel world, Daniel might enjoy reading trash novels, but that doesn't mean he's going to live his life like one after transmigrating here.
As a transmigrator who knows the entire plot, Daniel absolutely won't let those things repeat in his own life.