Name: I'm Not the Mastermind [Reset! Look for the Column with the Same Name!]
Author: Lone Boat Across the Seas

Synopsis

Because this story has been extensively rewritten, I've started a new version in my column. It's being updated alongside the rankings, and I'll be writing it there from now on. Please support it by adding it to your collection QWQ

[Mastermind protagonist + secret identities + unconventional infinite-game format + mythology + instances lean toward Western fantasy / Chinese horror / a little Lovecraftian horror]

Please read the content warnings in the blurb. Thank you!

I.

This is an endless horror game launched by the gods, known as the "Gods' Playground."

Yi Fengchu, a fan of the paranormal, has a mysterious phone connected to the Gods' Playground. In return for hearing all kinds of terrifying ghost stories, he lends a hand to player after player, helping them survive desperate situations and witnessing the rise of countless powerhouses...

But he never imagined that while he was engrossed in the players' stories as a mere observer, a legend about "Them" would begin circulating within the Playground:

They say that some lucky players find a mysterious person's phone in an instance. If they trade stories of their own paranormal experiences with Them, they can obtain a chance to survive even in the direst of circumstances.

They are called the "Narrator," an outsider to cause and effect, who calmly recounts the fates of life and death.

They are fate. They are eternity. They are the Ouroboros, the great serpent coiled at the edge of the world.

"This must be an infiltration of the Main God Space. They have clearly succeeded. Most of the powerhouses have received their help."

Yi Fengchu: "...I haven't."

"Maybe They're the mastermind behind all these nightmares, an observer from beyond our dimension."

Yi Fengchu: "...Who are you talking about?"

II.

A mysterious organization has appeared in the Gods' Playground. It's said to be made up of high-ranking ability users from various fields, and its members claim to be escaping the "plague of fate."

Among them:

One is a mysterious prophet from an ancient civilization, with intricate threads of fate reflected in his golden eyes.

One is a powerful witch whose face is hidden in shadow. Her fingers brush over a smooth silver mirror that can draw all things into the labyrinth hidden within its surface.

One is a bard who measures the worlds with his own two feet. Clad in a tattered gray robe, he plucks the strings of his lyre and sings of buried history...

Whenever these powerful ability users appear, they cause a sensation on the Playground's forums, provoking curiosity, awe, and wariness...

Meanwhile, Yi Fengchu's friends have all been worried about him lately.

They'd thought he was the only ordinary person around who hadn't been victimized by the Gods' Playground. Little did they know that when he finally made his move, he would astonish everyone:

Not only has he caught the attention of the god suspected to be the mastermind, the Narrator, but the mysterious organization "The Decameron" also seems to be operating around him, with a hint of conspiracy emerging from behind the scenes.

"Fengchu, none of those high-ranking occultists have a conscience. Don't let their little favors turn you into their pawn..."

Yi Fengchu was momentarily speechless:

Those are really just my secret identities!

*Content warnings:

1. [An unconventional infinite-game story! An unconventional infinite-game story! Basically, it's a wish-fulfillment novel!]

The protagonist is effortlessly cool, starts out at max level, and is extremely chuunibyou.

2. As the blurb says, the Gods' Playground is a tool for the gods' amusement, so [not every instance is a puzzle to solve]. There are instances cleared through force, instances where players kill one another, luck-based instances, and even instances that are theoretically impossible to clear. Some were never meant to be cleared at all.

Also, [some instances are only briefly mentioned and may not be important], so please don't complain if you're looking for a traditional infinite-game story qwq.

3. The protagonist won't enter the game in his true form. He joins using secret identities, so [there are many supporting-character POVs]. However, the story always keeps the protagonist in the spotlight, and there will be plenty of wild speculation and overthinking about him.

The general order is game instance - real world - game - real world. The real-world sections are the protagonist's main stage.

4. Some supporting characters mistakenly think the protagonist and his secret identities are connected as god and believer / father and son / friends / mortal enemies. Please don't read if that bothers you. There will be forum discussions, marked in chapter titles or subtitles.

5. There are female secret identities!! Their identities will be explained later.

Next novel: My Script Is Different from Yours. Female lead, no romance, spiritual qi revival, urban supernatural abilities, secret-identity story.

Blurb: #The Days of a Cheating Player Outwitting Transmigrators#

Meng Zhao transmigrated, and not just into one person.

Well, at least every body came with its own script. As long as she stuck to character, she could live in peace.

But

Her script: I'm a healing-type ability user, a doctor with a kind heart, cool on the outside but warm within.

Everyone else's script: She's a tyrant over life, a villain devoid of emotion.

Her script: I'm the leader of a mysterious organization, quietly safeguarding world peace.

Everyone else's script: That man is a ferocious beast, ambitious and unfathomable.

Her script: I'm an ancient creature, innocent by nature, recently awakened from the distant past.

Everyone else's script: She's a monster whose primal savagery can't be concealed, even beneath a human skin.