I Failed to Quit, So I Had to Save the World

[Updates at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m., with occasional double updates dropping at random w]

Zhou Wei is an utterly ordinary wage slave.

He handles lab mice, washes petri dishes, and occasionally gets roped into recording data.

If his all-knowing, all-powerful boss didn’t come from a higher dimension and wield authority over time and space; if lab mice weren’t equivalent to humans, and petri dishes didn’t represent entire worlds or planes, he might think this was a fairly decent job.

After an unknown number of years working 24/7 for the Lord of Time and Space, Zhou Wei, who was once a lab mouse himself, decides to quit.

Then his resignation fails, and he gets several thousand years of overtime as a consolation prize :)

That’s what happens when Zhou Wei is not only a repeat winner of Outstanding Employee, but also used to be the boss’s student long, long ago. He’s destined to contribute to the boss’s research.

As the saying goes: "The boss breeds mice, I let them loose. The boss does research, I flip the table."

Caught and forced back to work for the umpteenth time after trying to run away.

At last, Zhou Wei has an epiphany and decides to make a big move.

Since that’s the case, he’ll blow up the lab and save the world.

*

The world is in chaos. Aberrations roam the corners of cities and the sewers in packs, while secret cults lurk in the shadows, watching for their chance.

The servants of the Old Ones and outer gods are awed by his former renown, convinced that it’s all the command of some higher being.

To the investigators, he’s the prophesied savior, destined to turn the tide and save this world on the brink of collapse.

But Zhou Wei has neither the cultists’ willingness to sacrifice everything for their faith, nor the courage of a righteous comrade willing to lay down his life.

He fights for himself.

*

"I have no concept of 'death.'"

It looked at the human before it.

"Ah, I know. You told me that a long time ago."

Zhou Wei scoffed.

He met the gaze of the One Who Is All, the omniscient and all-seeing Lord of the Gate, without the slightest hesitation.

"I’m here to settle things with myself, and to bring things to a definitive end between us while I’m at it."

☆☆☆☆Reading Guide☆☆☆☆

1. A mixed concoction of Lovecraft and various other odd things. An emotionless, ruthless pretty boy speedruns saving the world. No tabletop role-playing rules involved, so it can basically be read as an original work.

2. CP: Yog-Sothoth, our great and radiant bubble. In my headcanon, he’s an advisor even more AI-like than AI (what kind of comparison is that?). The top doesn’t understand human feelings and controls and commands his incarnations; the bottom is catlike in personality.

Since "boss" can also mean mentor, this can be read as an unconventional workplace romance and an unconventional former teacher-student romance x

3. The protagonist, Xiao Wei, is [from the start] suffering from amnesia. He’s unhealthy in both mind and body, but he can fight. He’s beautiful, strong, and miserable, and everyone loves him w

4. Here’s some [romance]. It’s pure love, but dark, dark, dark. I’m indulging in a lot of twisted personal kinks to have fun. I’m sorry if it offends you, but I won’t change it.

5. Happy ending, somewhat open-ended. The extras will add plenty of sweetness.

6. If you like it, please leave lots of comments and encouragement. When the author is in a good mood, you might get an extra update w

Coming next: "The Protagonist of This Novel Is Utterly Ordinary"

Bo Yu was born with a bland, sickly appearance, and his personality was so mild and dull that he had no edges at all. He was the most inconspicuous person in the entire school.

Even when teachers mentioned the name "Bo Yu," they had to think for a long time before remembering that there really was a student like that in their class.

In this world, where incursions from other realms are becoming more and more frequent and aberrations can appear even in safe zones, simply surviving as an ordinary person is already a stroke of luck.

No one thought Bo Yu could graduate from school without trouble, join the Bureau of Aberration Control, and become a clerk.

Until that day, they saw...

The mysterious genius who once appeared with a lantern in the vast fog, guiding tens of thousands of people out of an incursion zone, calling himself "Chang Geng";

The peerless Sword Saint who killed an S-rank high-risk aberration with a single leaf, lived in seclusion, rarely appeared in public, and went by the name "Zhan Lu";

The youngest and most powerful alchemy master in history, who declared that he would outwit fate itself and went by "Tian Yi";

The stunning songstress called "Quan Xian," whose radiant gaze and voice could inspire people and dispel all fatigue;

Those prodigies, who had risen like meteors and shone like the sun, each a beacon of hope for humanity, stood before the sickly boy who had just finished a medical checkup at the hospital.

They were devoted and reverent, showing none of the slightest hint of mysterious aloofness or superiority. They even got into a fierce fight over who had the right to push his wheelchair.

Bo Yu: ...You probably won’t believe me, but all these people... all these people are me XD.

*Each secret identity has its own separate body. There are an absurd number of secret identities, and they all cling to the main body.

*The protagonist is physically weak because his power is too strong for his body to bear.

*Xiao Yu is a hidden heartthrob, and he’s actually very pretty.

Theme: Even when caught in darkness and despair, hold on to hope and keep moving forward.