Weak and Helpless, but a Killing Machine

A heads-up: I have a pre-release blurb for an esper crime novel with paranormal resurgence. Check below for details!

Novel blurb:

[Cold, vicious fake good guy addicted to acting obedient × seemingly innocent, truly obsessive and dark tentacle-bearing nonhuman top]

When Zhou Rong woke up in the Metamorphosis game, his combat power was lower than a dog's. And when he drew an ability, all he got was a rusty dagger of the lowest quality, with an unknown effect.

Zhou Rong: "..."

I would have been better off staying asleep.

*

Zhou Rong seemed completely out of place among the many cruel and violent players.

In everyone else's eyes, this new player was frail and sickly, taking three steps before coughing and five before gasping for breath. He was always getting low blood sugar, a pretty waste of space who had nothing going for him but his looks.

A low combat rating was bad enough, but he was also naive, obedient, and polite, with an almost excessively mild temper. In perilous instances full of lies and deception, people like him were usually the first to die.

Yet in the very first instance, a monster whose combat rating dwarfed his dragged Zhou Rong into its lair. While the other players watched coldly, expecting him to be slaughtered, he pulled out that rusty dagger.

The other players: Overestimating yourself.

Zhou Rong didn't attack the monster. Instead, he plunged the dagger into his own chest!

As Zhou Rong's health plummeted, his combat power soared. He raised a hand and crushed the monster's head!

The other players: ???

The healing items Zhou Rong had frantically stockpiled came in handy.

He became the instance's bizarre spectacle: too weak to look after himself → in danger → bringing himself down to a sliver of health and bouncing around the instance → healing up with medicine → too weak to look after himself.

The other players: ...

So you can't play unless you're on the verge of death?

*

The Metamorphosis game has both PvP and PvE modes. Players can tackle instances alone or compete against other players within them.

As Zhou Rong cleared instances, he poached members from his enemies to build his own team, becoming the uncrowned king of the Metamorphosis game. The governor of the Safe Zone even gave up his exalted authority and became a player, all because of one thing Zhou Rong said.

When the teammates Zhou Rong had poached were asked why they were willing to work for him

All his teammates: I really like the way his health bar dances around. And although he's nice to everyone, it's obvious I'm special.

Zhou Rong: (^_^)

It's not that I can't afford System items. My personal skill is just better value for money.

#If we're brothers, stab me in this instance#

#Urgently hiring a healer, I can't live like this without one#

*

Pre-release: I, the Human Cheat Code of the Paranormal Investigation Bureau. The strongest high schooler on Earth! Paranormal resurgence + esper crime!

Blurb:

[Fake teenage prodigy × genuine thousand-year-old ghost]

Xie Lin had always been a legend among exorcists.

A human weapon who had long held an unchallenged first place in combat power, mysterious and low-key, killing gods and ghosts alike. He had never failed a mission.

At the time, Xie Lin was still just a teenager.

So when the department was reorganized and standardized, he was forcibly dismissed and sent to complete compulsory education.

*

Several years later, paranormal phenomena resurged across the globe, and some people awakened supernatural abilities. To curb crimes by ghosts and ability users, Huaxia established the Abnormal Investigation Bureau.

His superiors couldn't stop worrying and invited Xie Lin to join again and again.

Xie Lin: "...That wouldn't be right. I don't have any abilities. I'm just an ordinary person."

His superior: "You can fool other people, but don't fool your own buddies."

Xie Lin hesitated. "But I still have school."

His superior, resigned: "I'll do your math homework for you."

Xie Lin, decisive: "Deal."

*

Group A of the Abnormal Investigation Bureau had a "high schooler" who'd gotten in through connections.

At first, everyone was disgusted by this sort of thing. But the boy was quiet, pleasant to look at, and polite. He never caused trouble, like a well-behaved kitten curled up on the sofa.

Group A members: He's actually pretty likable. We can treat him like a good-luck charm.

That is, until a mission took a wrong turn and they stumbled into a den of danger, surrounded by dense ghostly mists with death just a hair's breadth away.

Xie Lin's golden eyes shimmered, his black hair flying in the wind.

Standing before a host of demons and ghosts, he held a Tang sword wrapped in talisman paper and said coolly to the people beside him:

"Stand behind me."

The clueless members of Group A: "..."

#The good-luck charm is actually a future powerhouse#

#I shall punish myself with three drinks for my past recklessness and blindness#

The strongest top who dreams of retiring and stays in power-saving mode most of the time × a thousand-year-old ghost, still hopelessly in love with the one who caught his eye at first sight

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About this novel (Infinite Instances):

1. The protagonist has an overpowered golden finger. This is essentially a wish-fulfillment novel.

2. The top has visible tentacles. If that's not your thing, please take note.

3. There will be live-stream comments.

4. Both leads are madly in love with each other. A Mary Sue-style romance ahead, consider yourself warned ★

*

Theme: Stay resilient and strive forward even when faced with adversity