The Tragic Novel’s Protagonist Turns Into a Couch Potato!

[See @Qianfeifeifei for extras and print publication updates.] [The ABO alternate-universe short story, Rose of the Forbidden Zone, set in the Canary World, is now underway.] Basically, it’s a story about a bunch of tragic-novel protagonists suddenly coming to their senses, abandoning all that tortured love-and-hate melodrama, and becoming happy couch potatoes. Story One: In his previous life, Su Zhi was a cool, delicate flower who remained proud despite being poor after his family went bankrupt. Unfortunately, he caught the eye of an extremely controlling CEO and became the blackened CEO’s caged bird. No matter how hard he fought, he couldn’t win the freedom he longed for. All he had was money and the CEO’s love! Then the CEO died unexpectedly, and Su Zhi regained his freedom. After half a lifetime of working 996, he finally shed tears of regret. Su Zhi: “Once, I had a job that paid a hundred thousand a month, gave me a house as an annual bonus, required no work or KPI reviews, covered all meals and lodging, and came with a devoted, muscular alpha with eight-pack abs. But I didn’t know how to appreciate it…” Then he was reborn. Su Zhi: “Yes! Time to lie down and slack off! Honey, get me some food, I’m starving.jpg” CEO: “Something seems off about my canary.jpg” Story Two: Bai Muxing was a once-in-a-century, S-class omega. He had a 100% compatibility rate with all four of the empire’s S-class alphas. In his previous life, despite his many achievements, his unusual glands made him the object of countless alphas’ rivalry, like a doll. No one cared that his only dream was to live an ordinary life. The jealousy and schemes his special constitution inspired led to his death in the turbulent currents of the galaxy. Given another chance at life, Bai Muxing chose to have his glands removed and become an ordinary person. With a huge retirement fund in hand, ordinary person Bai Muxing moved to a farming and ranching planet on the empire’s frontier, where he began a laid-back retirement growing crops. On the side, he met his handsome beta online boyfriend in person, achieving his life’s dream of “finding an honest man to marry.” Aside from his clingy, childish husband and the fact that Bai Muxing often fretted about back pain, life was pretty much ideal. That was until the scum alpha who’d once harassed him chased him all the way to the farming planet, and the husband he’d always thought was an honest man suddenly snapped the S-class scumbag’s leg with his bare hands. The figure revealed in his fury was none other than the alien king he’d once fought on the battlefield. Bai Muxing: “…I’ve been tricked into marriage.” The scammer who had disguised himself as a big, lazy lion and flopped down: Meow meow meow? Story Three: Xie Qingsui was a powerful official whose influence reached across the court. For over a decade, he worked himself to the bone, helping the young emperor, his childhood friend, hold together a kingdom in ruins. Just as everything seemed settled, he intercepted a secret edict in which the emperor ordered the elimination of his own allies. Xie Qingsui: “I’m done. I quit. Whatever happens, happens :)” From then on, the officials discovered that the aloof and proud Lord Xie had changed. The man who had always held himself to the strictest standards started showing up late and spending his evenings eating, drinking, and having fun. He had gone from an untouchable flower to a carefree dandy. At the welcoming banquet for the regent, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the bewitching dancer. Only one gaze, greedy as a wolf’s, cut through the crowd to settle on Xie Qingsui, sitting alone in a corner. Xie Qingsui looked up and met the regent’s eyes, full of greed and ambition. That night, he was thoroughly drunk and let himself tumble into bed with the man. The young emperor tossed and turned for a long time. To stand against the regent who had come to the capital, and to indulge the longing he didn’t dare confess, he decided to win back Xie Qingsui, whose name was known throughout the capital. He went in disguise and nervously pushed open the gate of the Xie residence, only to see the person he longed for being held in the regent’s arms. Regent: Your wife’s fine. Next second, she’s mine. World Four: A lazy, pampered, and demanding succubus lord x a dim-witted, blackened demon king who drools over his wife every day World Five: An aloof, beautiful, powerful, ruthless holy son x a blackened knight whose wife died centuries ago. (The outline turned out too long, so I’ll write it as a separate story someday.) … *The stories may not be written in this order. I’ll start with whichever one inspires me first. *Everyday romance and sweet fluff! Not a fast-paced face-slapping story! Written to satisfy my own cravings. *All the tops are devoted good boys. My completed stories are all sweet romances. For pure romance in the same vein: This Patient Is Beyond My Cure! [Quick Transmigration] For stories with a little more plot: A Hundred Ways to Become a God [Quick Transmigration], and All the Bosses I Picked Up Fell for Me [Quick Transmigration]. Please add my upcoming story to your collection! It also features a crazy top, the kind of lunatic who’s been widowed, making him even crazier: The Villain Can’t Figure It Out Either Blurb: In his previous life, Wen Zhou plotted to marry Xie Linxi, the master of Changlu Mountain Manor, in order to take revenge. In the end, his plan failed, and he died on the eve of his vengeance. Xie Linxi suffered from a serious illness and could barely walk. Mild-tempered and indifferent to worldly affairs, he lived in seclusion on the mountain year-round. He probably knew nothing of how cruel people could be, so Wen Zhou found it easy to deceive and use him, and felt guilty about it. Given another chance at life, Wen Zhou didn’t want to make the same mistakes and hurt them both. He asked Xie Linxi for a divorce. - This world is a book. The overpowered protagonist rises from humble beginnings, tramples the cannon fodder and beats the villains, then cultivates to immortality and becomes the ruler of the Five Provinces. The transmigrator looked at the script in his hands, then at the situation before him, and fell into deep thought. Wait, why has Wen Zhou, who was only cannon fodder in the original story, suddenly got the overpowered protagonist pinned down and beaten? And why is that villain who only appeared in the original story’s background information, the master of Changlu Mountain Manor, so different from his description in the book? Gentle and frail, a proper gentleman: all just a front. Beneath it was the cold-bloodedness of someone who viewed all living beings as ants. The transmigrator felt he’d brushed shoulders with death countless times, and lived in constant fear, struggling to survive. Perhaps the only person in all of Changlu Mountain Manor who believed Xie Linxi was truly harmless was his wife, Wen Zhou. The transmigrator wasn’t the only one who couldn’t figure it out. The original background villain, Xie Linxi, was also puzzled. He couldn’t understand why, after being reborn and clearing away everything that had bothered him, his once-innocent, delicate, and obedient wife wanted a divorce. Xie Linxi dragged out the transmigrator, who had been sneaking around and hiding under his nose for a long time. His face showed undisguised indifference and amusement. Beneath his handsome features, his voice was clear and gentle, yet to anyone who heard it, he sounded like a demon crawling back from hell. “Tell me, why is that?” Transmigrator: “…” Help! I knew there really was a ghost!!! - Wen Zhou died on a quiet, moonlit snowy night. It was the first snowfall he had ever seen on Changlu Mountain. He had thought he lived only for revenge, but as he lay dying, it wasn’t the hatred that had tormented him for half his life that crossed his mind. It was Xie Linxi, sitting in a wheelchair, weary and sickly, smiling gently as he kissed Wen Zhou’s trembling eyelids and softly promised to take him to the mountaintop to see the snow after Frost’s Descent. Wen Zhou closed his eyes and never saw how, after his death that night, the blood of his enemies covered the ground and stained the pristine snow crimson. Afterward, the snow never stopped falling on Changlu Mountain, piling up over the summit until it became snow that never melted all year round. The master of Changlu Mountain Manor emerged into the world, and Xie Linxi’s reputation as a demon spread far and wide. Wherever he went, people fled from him. He traveled across all five provinces, but never found Wen Zhou again. A seemingly frail and gentle gentleman who is actually a sadistic, controlling lunatic top x a mortal who’s the strongest fighter alive, appearing aloof but actually a little slow on the uptake bottom tips: -The top really is seriously ill, beautiful, powerful, and tragic, but he’s not weak. He’s a cultivation powerhouse, the strongest in the story. When he stands upright, he’s a 1.9-meter-tall mountain of muscle. He only pretends to be weak to fool his wife, and the bottom is the only person in the world who truly believes him (. -A crazy top, completely unhinged. Losing his wife made his already unhealthy mental state even worse, and there will probably be forced romance after he’s reborn. -Both are reborn, but the top remembers his previous life later than the bottom. -Sweet romance Theme: See through the haze and recognize your true feelings.