In a vast and desolate space, a tall, slender young man gazed at the light blue projection in front of him, a pleased smile curling on his lips.
It seemed that even systems could break.
The man’s name was Wei Xicheng, originally a student at the National Drama Academy, where his acting professor praised him as “the most talented student in the past decade.”
But before he could graduate, he was inexplicably bound to a so-called “system,” thrown into countless parallel worlds to complete dull, monotonous tasks.
Wei Xicheng loved acting, enjoyed creating lively characters, but being forced into worlds for tasks wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as he imagined. Instead, he had to destroy the characters he was creating to help the “child of destiny” rise to the top.
It felt utterly stifling.
But now… Ha.
Wei Xicheng didn’t know what had happened to the system, but after testing it across a few worlds, he was sure—it no longer gave him tasks, and it didn’t forcibly take control of his body when he resisted.
A smile spread in his ebony eyes,he seemed to be free.
With a few taps on the system’s light screen, he confirmed that, as he suspected, the system’s full permissions were now open to him. He had become the master of the system.
Perhaps the system had suffered an unknown malicious attack, and this damage was irreversible and catastrophic. That piece of junk would no longer be issuing any annoying tasks or interrupting him with its grating robotic voice.
Wei Xicheng laughed, the sound growing louder in the vast space where he had been trapped for who knew how long, until he was doubled over.
He wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes and stretched his hands wide open in front of him before clenching them into fists.
So this is what freedom feels like. Not bad.
Though he had long suspected it, actually experiencing it still made it hard to suppress his joy.
Wei Xicheng closed his eyes tightly, and when he opened them again, they glittered with color. Now that there were no more forced tasks, this situation was entirely to his liking.
Suddenly, the sounds of loud chatter and noise filled his ears. People of all kinds were dancing wildly in a pool of music. Wei Xicheng lowered his gaze, leaning back into the soft couch as he eyed the glass of wine on the table, receiving the “script” for this world in an instant.
With the system bound to his soul, while in parallel worlds, he could communicate with it through thought—now, it conveniently allowed him to navigate the plot.
The Zhu, Qi, and Meng families were among the top-tier, established families in the capital. Despite their three-way dominance, if any one of them stomped a foot, the entire political and business sectors of the capital would tremble.
The Zhu family’s eldest son had devoted himself to business, and with the retirement of Old Master Zhu from military and government roles, there were no more restraints. The eldest son expanded the business rapidly, leveraging his extensive connections to push the family to the forefront of economic leadership.
The Zhu family’s second son was a lifelong bachelor, leaving only the eldest son’s child—who was the only legitimate heir of the Zhu family’s next generation.
Since childhood, the original body had never tasted failure. Old Master Zhu was strict with his eldest son but completely doted on his only grandson. Though the original body didn’t have any major moral flaws, he was a little troublemaker and extremely arrogant.
Leaning against the couch, Wei Xicheng pondered these matters. To outsiders, he seemed merely uninterested in the scene. It was well known that, in the past, no one could out-party this guy.
“What’s wrong, bro? Not in the mood?” Meng Tao, who had been sitting on the sidelines, leaned over and whispered in Wei Xicheng’s ear.
The Zhu and Meng families had always been close, and the two juniors played together well. Though Wei Xicheng—now occupying Zhu Xingyuan’s body—was only two months older than Meng Tao, Meng Tao had always been guided to call him “brother” by the elders, a habit that stuck.
Wei Xicheng glanced at him, smiled faintly, and raised his glass to indicate he was fine. Meng Tao took this as a signal to continue his own fun and went off to find the pretty girl he’d been with earlier.
Left alone, Wei Xicheng swirled his wine glass, taking a small sip. The rich, full-bodied flavor lingered on his tongue—this place might be chaotic, but it wasn’t cheap. Just one sip of this wine could probably cover a regular family’s meals for a year.
Spotting a waiter, he waved them over, asking a few questions. Noticing the waiter’s strange expression as they nodded, he felt even more satisfied. Ignoring the waiter’s odd look, he sat there like a lord, one leg crossed over the other, awaiting his special delivery.
The chaotic environment didn’t affect Wei Xicheng’s good mood. If a psychologist were present, they would deduce from his posture and expression that he was extremely relaxed, with no signs of pretense.
The script for this world wasn’t bad, Wei Xicheng thought. At least he didn’t have to worry about food, clothing, or shelter. He was a young master from a wealthy family and could stay here for a long time, experimenting with acting and enjoying life.
A completely ambitionless, spoiled rich kid. Wei Xicheng shook his head, sighing at the thought of his decadent future life, before settling into it with satisfaction.
The waiter was quick, skillfully navigating through the crowd to arrive beside Wei Xicheng, holding a dark red tray with a single item: a bottle of yogurt.
The waiter looked through the bottle’s cartoonish animal mascot and glimpsed the dance floor filled with hot, scantily clad women, utterly unable to comprehend the aesthetic and taste of this top-tier rich young master.
Leaning in, the waiter politely asked, “Would you like me to insert the straw for you?”
Wei Xicheng waved a hand, grabbing the yogurt himself, expertly piercing it with the straw before sipping away.
Every time he saw wine, he couldn’t resist taking a sip, but he really couldn’t stand its taste. This cheap yogurt, on the other hand, was much more to his liking. He took two big gulps.
For this world’s character setting, Wei Xicheng didn’t put much effort into altering his behavior. The original body, Zhu Xingyuan, was already free-spirited and unrestrained. Any deliberate changes on his part would have felt even more restrictive.
Now that he acts according to his own mood, he is actually more easily accepted by others.
The young master has changed his preferences again, quite a common occurrence.
Wei Xicheng continued to laugh foolishly to himself, unaware that his silly appearance of biting the straw had already been completely seen by someone upstairs.
Although it was just one floor apart, the second floor seemed distant from the bustling first floor. Even the sounds reaching it were muffled, as if passing through a thin membrane. The music and voices blended together, becoming very indistinct.
The slight noise did not affect the elegant and low-key luxurious atmosphere of the second floor. As far as Zhu Xingyuan was concerned, despite having visited this club many times, he had never been to the second floor.
Naturally, he had no idea what kind of people frequented the second floor.
Zhu Xingyuan’s family background was almost the pinnacle in this world, but his younger status sometimes kept him out of more confidential circles. The world always favors certain people more.
“Is that the Zhu family’s kid?” The man looked in the direction of Wei Xicheng, and his gaze clearly conveyed to his assistant who he was referring to.
The assistant followed the boss’s line of sight and found Wei Xicheng sitting there, legs crossed and swaying, with the straw from his yogurt bottle still between his lips, swinging his legs in sync.
“Yes, Zhu Rongguo’s grandson, Zhu Xingyuan.”
The man took a sip of his drink, but his eyes remained on Wei Xicheng, lingering there without withdrawing.
The man’s name was Sheng Huasen. His return to the country this time had a clear purpose: Shengshi was no longer satisfied with the market in country M and wanted a share of the large domestic pie as well.
In just two days since returning, Sheng Huasen had gathered a clear understanding of the domestic situation. The importance of this young master of the Zhu family was clearly outlined in the file on his desk.
Why did he take extra notice of this young master? It was just because he felt that such a junior, if it is as the file suggested, might not be able to shoulder the Zhu family’s burden. If the Zhu family had no other heirs, perhaps in the not-so-distant future, Sheng Huasen could seize a share for himself.
Sheng Huasen stood up. He had stayed here long enough. It was time… He glanced back, only to see that the hall on the first floor was already in chaos.
He raised his eyes to look at his assistant, who immediately understood.
“Zhu Xingyuan and Qi Yiming from the Qi family have always been at odds; arguments between them are quite common.”
“Qi family?”
“Yes.”
Sheng Huasen frowned and looked downstairs again. After a brief moment of chaos, the crowd had already formed a large circle. No one was dancing or drinking anymore; instead, they were surrounding two small groups of youths who were clearly in confrontation.
Wei Xicheng appeared extremely agitated on the surface, and he was indeed feeling very excited inside. This was his first freely improvised scene! This is not a drill, this is not a drill!
The Qi family was not like the Zhu and Meng families, which were considered long-standing associates. The Qi family had forced its way into this circle, squeezing out the Meng family’s position.
On the surface, the three families seemed friendly, but in reality, they were constantly competing with one another. Even among old allies, interests were not easily shared.
There were unavoidable conflicts of interest with both the Meng and Qi families. Zhu Xingyuan didn’t hold any ill will toward Meng Tao, but he just couldn’t stand Qi Yiming.
Initially, the relationship between Zhu Xingyuan and Qi Yiming wasn’t so bad. The three of them often hung out together. But later, after Qi Yiming made Zhu Xingyuan take the blame for something once, their relationship slowly became irreconcilable.
In the original host’s simple mind, it wasn’t a big deal to take the fall for a brother, but it was different if that brother had set him up to take the fall. Being manipulated by someone he considered a friend left him feeling utterly disgusted.
Later, he gradually distanced himself from Qi Yiming, but never expected Qi Yiming to be so petty, constantly spreading rumors and causing trouble for him.
By then, the original host was genuinely enraged and thoroughly hated Qi Yiming, determined to teach him a lesson. After several rounds of conflicts, their relationship had deteriorated into the current state of mutual enmity.
When Wei Xicheng saw Qi Yiming, he felt a headache coming on. In the plot, the original host got nothing good out of being entangled with this person.
It was like sticky gum on the sole of a shoe—impossible to get rid of. After all their confrontations, not only did the original host gain nothing, but later, the media even captured some ambiguous footage. The public pressure led the government to investigate the Zhu family.
Moreover, Qi Yiming’s half-brother, who had yet to return to the country, was the real “Chosen One.” If that person didn’t provoke him, Wei Xicheng would prefer to avoid this mess.
But right now, backing down wasn’t an option; the character wouldn’t allow him to.
“Qi Yiming, aren’t you damn annoying?”
