In the piano classroom, the slight sound of clothes rubbing together caused the girl to gasp quietly.

“Ugh—Zhou Mu, be more careful, what if someone comes in?”

Su Qing leaned against the piano, nervously speaking to the boy in front of her. After she spoke, she bit her lower lip tightly.

The girl, still wearing a sack-like blue and white school uniform, seemed very shy. She fidgeted with the corner of her clothes, looking uneasy.

The boy opposite her, however, didn’t seem to care much. He looked at Su Qing with an indifferent expression and said: “It’s the long break, how could anyone be here?”

But just as he finished speaking, the sound of footsteps approached, and Zhou Mu’s carefree expression immediately froze.

He cursed under his breath and quickly pulled Su Qing to hide.

Su Qing, listening to the footsteps outside, grew more anxious, and hurriedly followed Zhou Mu behind the curtains.

The footsteps seemed to stop right at the door.

With the sound of the doorknob turning, Su Qing tightly shut her eyes.

However…

“Ye Wangxing! What the hell are you doing climbing a tree? I told you that persimmon isn’t ripe!”

The angry voice of the headmaster rang out from the door.

“It’s fine, Old Li! Just soak them in saltwater for a few days, and they won’t be bitter anymore! I’ll treat you to some crispy persimmons when they’re ready!” A boy’s voice responded with laughter.

The voices outside faded away, and the two behind the curtain immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Yet, the sounds of youth, carefree and innocent, still lingered.

But Zhou Mu didn’t share the same view as Su Qing.

“Heh, that Ye Wangxing, always doing childish things at school. Either picking persimmons or climbing trees. Someone even saw him shaking milk tea at a bubble tea shop outside the school. Such a poor vibe.”

Zhou Mu raised his eyebrows, speaking with a tone of disdain.

It was clear that he really disliked Ye Wangxing.

Su Qing, on the other hand, didn’t have any ill feelings toward Ye Wangxing. She used to avoid interacting much with boys, but since Zhou Mu disliked him, she stayed silent.

When they stepped out, they happened to see a boy holding up a few persimmons like a treasure, showing them off to two other boys.

The morning sunlight streamed through the persimmon trees along the road, split by the leaves, sprinkling golden shards onto the three of them.

The boy, with his dog-like eyes, had hair dyed golden by the sun, the soft strands shimmering with golden light. Even from a distance, one could feel the vitality radiating from him.

He was the complete opposite of the senior students who were already drained of energy.

The two boys facing him, however, were a completely different type.

Both of them were tall, nearly 1.9 meters tall, their physiques already close to those of adults.

But what drew more attention were their faces.

Both had the most perfect golden ratio, with features in perfect harmony. Only their different looks gave one a refined, handsome style and the other a wild, rugged charm.

While beauty is subjective, these two faces were the kind that even those who didn’t like their style would reluctantly admit were handsome.

Su Qing remembered these two boys, or rather, the whole school remembered them.

One was a student from Qingbei, recruited with great effort by Principal Zheng, while the other came from a powerful family, causing trouble on his very first day when he fought over the dorm situation.

But Su Qing remembered when these two first arrived in class. They were cold and distant, refusing to interact with anyone. Yet, now, after just three days, they had become so close with Ye Wangxing?

She watched as the troublemaker smiled while taking the persimmons from the boy, and the student from Qingbei, for once, showed a rare, gentle expression as he ruffled the boy’s hair.

And then the boy grabbed his wrist, shouting: “Don’t mess with my head, man!” and playfully started a scuffle.

The three of them looked like they belonged in a youth movie, drawing the attention of many classmates around them.

Zhou Mu shot a few more glances at the trio, sneered, and chose not to act on his irritation. He turned to play basketball with his so-called friends as soon as they returned to class, leaving Su Qing standing alone.

On the way out, they ran into the three boys again.

Zhou Mu had planned to teach the two new boys a lesson, but as he got closer, he realized something was off.

Wait a minute, why is the shortest one of the three already a bit taller than him?

Zhou Mu, who always claimed to be 1.8 meters tall, broke into a cold sweat.

And so, in the middle of the hallway, everyone saw the boy with his head held high, jaw clenched, suddenly change direction without hesitation.

—It was like a perfect Pan Zhoudan turn.
(Pan Zhoudan – refers to a Chinese student who became an internet sensation after a dramatic, shoulder-dropping, heel-turning walk onto the stage of the TV show The Brain led to him becoming a viral meme )

Everyone in the hallway: “…”

The trio, who were about to meet the “main character”: “…”

The boy holding the two persimmons in his hands couldn’t help but think.

【Is the main character… in a hurry?】

Ye Wangxing watched the main character walk past them with some confusion. He didn’t miss the jealousy in the main character’s eyes—those little emotions of a teenage boy upset over being overshadowed.

He was just curious why the main character walked away like that. He thought the main character might bump into him.

But, after all, such things had happened before—in the original plot.

However, Ye Wangxing soon cast the question aside, as something far more important was happening this afternoon.

—The plot point was approaching.

Ye Wangxing had arrived here a week ago. He had been working overtime and was on his way home when a piece of wall plaster fell off due to the typhoon, knocking him unconscious.

Before passing out, he had been relieved that he had somehow managed to get a temporary position in a government department.

“Full-time status is within reach—my colleagues in the publicity department will definitely hype this up!” Ye Wangxing thought, and then he peacefully lost consciousness.

When he woke up, he was in the system company, and he learned the bad news that he had turned into a vegetable.

Ye Wangxing stared at the large screen showing the comatose version of himself, along with a picture of his boss standing next to him: “…”

Less than ten minutes later, in order to resurrect and earn money, Ye Wangxing became a tasker, and with system 19, he was thrown into a novice task world.

Ye Wangxing and the system, 19, exchanged looks: “…”

The whole process took no more than half an hour. In fact, when Ye Wangxing stood at the school gate in his school uniform, he still looked dazed.

Meanwhile, 19, with its strong sense of professional ethics, transmitted the entire plot to Ye Wangxing.

The novice world was simple. The plot didn’t involve skipping class or unwanted pregnancies, but it did revolve around a pair of young lovers who were forced to separate by their families after sneaking a taste of forbidden fruit.

Ye Wangxing’s role was one of the school bully’s many victims, and his storyline ended with his forced transfer to another school.

This was actually better than other worlds where people frequently died, indicating that this world was indeed a novice task.

—Though bullying was still a bad thing, it was certainly less problematic than being crushed by a mud truck.

Ye Wangxing’s mission was to steal the attention from the male and female leads. Doing so would allow the laws of this world to break free from their control, turning this world into a true, independent one.

The system, 19, assigned to him by the company, would assist him with these tasks.

It included but wasn’t limited to: acting as an assistant, monitoring the plot development in real time, gathering all publicly available information, conducting big data analysis, and even occasionally playing the game for him.

However, the system couldn’t help Ye Wangxing achieve the peak of his life.

[This is the task for other teams. Our task is to steal the attention, and before the host arrived, the original Ye Wangxing was just an empty shell.]

[Generally, the most successful paths involve live streaming, research, or entering the entertainment industry. We do not recommend the civil servant route as it has low exposure and is harmful to the task. The suggestion is to complete small tasks, exchange for small props, and leave some Attention Value for emergencies…]

System 19 explained while pointing at the holographic screen in front of Ye Wangxing’s eyes.

At that time, Ye Wangxing listened seriously, his expression sincere as he absorbed the advice from the two-meter-tall system.

This seriousness made 19 think there was still hope for the host.

Although, after reviewing the information, 19 found that the host’s skills were limited to shaking milk tea, gossiping about celebrity ships, and letting his acting go wild. At least he was obedient.

—And then, 19 turned to see his host immediately using his points to gamble away for two biological bodies.

Watching Ye Wangxing’s Attention Value go from 30 straight to zero, 19 froze for two seconds. His golden eyes were filled with disbelief.

After receiving Ye Wangxing’s plan, 19 began to doubt his own system’s existence.

—The company didn’t just give him a gambler as a host, did they?

What kind of serious host starts off with a gamble like this?

But after reading the plan, 19 thought maybe Ye Wangxing had his own reasons.

…Though it was still worse than nothing.

The two-meter-tall system stared expressionlessly at the absurd love triangle script in front of it.

How was it possible for a system, fresh off the battlefield, someone who only evaluated targets based on how easy they were to kill, to play two jealous men fighting for a woman?

Wasn’t this madness?

But Ye Wangxing insisted he wasn’t messing around and even gave an example.

Watching the people in his world, who were so immersed in gossip that they were ready to get up and check what was happening, 19 fell silent.

Ye Wangxing continued explaining why he wanted 19 to take part.

[People’s preferences are really unpredictable. After all, this is another world. No one knows what interests the people here, so it’s better to use handsome guys as a backup.]

19 nodded. That point made sense, but it still didn’t explain why Ye Wangxing’s script was so full of melodrama.

To this, Ye Wangxing responded with conviction.

[—What if they like old-school comedy? Handsome guys and melodrama—at least one of those will work, right?]

19 stared at the black, chubby guy in the database: “…”

For the first time ever, the system’s poker face showed an expression of shock.

[Although this is a very niche thing, niche doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Especially among students, trends spread fast, and niche things become fashion items for them. So it’s better to be safe.]

Ye Wangxing continued, completely unaware that he had just said something completely ridiculous.

[At least the pursuit of handsome guys and beautiful women will never stop. Starting from this point will guarantee some attention.]

19 slightly reduced his calculations. Although the phrasing was a bit off, his host was still a normal person.

…Probably.

[If worse comes to worst, I’ll trouble you, 19. You can debut and announce a romantic scandal the day you go public, and then switch to a Magic Mike show.]

19, after searching up what a “Magic Mike show” was: now really feels that someone in the company is plotting against him.

—Which serious host persuaded their system to go into the sea?

However, the contract had already been signed, so they just made do with it. Could they still terminate it?

19 finally understood why his colleagues had said this and sighed. After accompanying his host to put the persimmons into the table drawer, he took advantage of the lunch break and went to the plot location.

It was the newly built toilet that the principal had just finished constructing.

Although he didn’t know why the male and female leads had to eat the forbidden fruit in the toilet, and why the female lead didn’t beat the male lead to death for making such a suggestion, he had to admit that this made it easier for them to grab attention.

19 quickly entered work mode, but while he was ready, Ye Wangxing had a problem…

【Host, you seemed very nervous.】

19 looked at his host, whose face was flushed red in the narrow toilet cubicle, and asked in confusion.

His host’s heartbeat had surged from ninety-one beats per minute to one hundred and forty, accompanied by a rise in facial temperature and rapid breathing, which left him puzzled.

Wasn’t this the script he had written himself?

But indeed, some humans did shrink back when the moment came…

What confirmed 19’s thought was Ye Wangxing’s silence.

However, if Ye Wangxing had known what 19 was thinking, he would have cried out in protest.

Just look at his current situation!

Ye Wangxing’s lowered gaze wandered around his own waist and abdomen, where two strong, muscular forearms were crossed, like shackles, holding him firmly in the arms of the boy behind him.

When he looked up, he could see a sharply defined, handsome profile right beside his own face.

He could even feel the other’s breath blowing against his neck.

In front of him, another boy was kneeling on one knee, his expression cold and stern.

Yet, despite that cold face, he extended his long fingers and grasped Ye Wangxing’s lower leg.

The warmth of his palm pressed directly against his skin, while his other hand was slowly rolling up the boy’s school trousers.

With the lighting and the confined space working together…

“[…19, the script execution was a bit too realistic. Could you tone it down a little?]”

Ye Wangxing said, his hands trembling as he covered his flushed cheeks.

He seemed to have miscalculated his own tolerance level.

After receiving a “No” as an answer, Ye Wangxing fell silent again.

He began to seriously ponder a question.

—With 19’s abilities, wouldn’t it have been a loss to mankind if he didn’t join the Magic Mike Show?

Immersed in his thoughts, Ye Wangxing didn’t notice that the time had already reached the plot point, and noisy voices were coming from outside.

19 didn’t stop either, but started following the plot. After scanning his host’s physical condition, he quickly adjusted the plan slightly.

What snapped Ye Wangxing out of his thoughts was the sudden increase of force from the person behind him and the strange movement from the person in front of him.

In the next second, Ye Wangxing’s eyes filled with tears, and he let out a startled cry.

“No, no, no! Stop, stop right now—!”

 

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