I Am the Only Rule of the Strange Tales!

[New Book Now Open: What? The Horror Story BOSSes Are All Me?!] This story takes place after the collapse of Horror City, with all-new instances and a fresh experience. Read the blurb below~

Song Shubai returned to campus early to help his roommate pass a make-up exam.

He never expected to board the wrong bus and be dragged into a world of Rulebound Horror Stories.

The good news: He recognized all these horror stories, and the only condition for clearing them was to survive.

The bad news: The stories had gone off the rails, the terror was escalating, and the rules were more bizarre than ever.

Fortunately, he had a hint device that let him easily avoid danger and survive unscathed.

Just when he thought everything was looking up and he could leave without a hitch,

he accidentally triggered a mechanism, transforming his hint device into a Hint Editing System in a second. The conditions for clearing the stories were upgraded once again.

Staying alive was only the first step. To leave, he had to either expose the mastermind or become the new Creator.

Song Shubai was so furious his teeth ached.

So the mastermind was behind this, huh? Better hide well and pray he didn't catch you.

Otherwise, he'd chop you up and feed you to the chickens!

Yan Lizhen, Creator of Horror City, had been bored for a long time.

The unchanging rules, plots, and NPCs had gradually made him weary of life, and he had begun to contemplate destroying himself.

Then, on a whim, he dragged in his childhood friend, whom he had secretly loved for years, and disguised himself as a hint device to accompany him through the stories. After that, everything changed.

The rules came alive, the plots became interesting, and even the NPCs started joking around while wearing his face!

Yan Lizhen was thrilled. He hurriedly opened up his permissions, hoping to give his beloved childhood friend even more fun challenges.

But...

Why was his childhood friend sharpening a knife and coming after him?

#It's love, but they're both aiming at each other#

#A childhood friend who doesn't want to take down his childhood friend isn't a good childhood friend#

#Yan Lizhen: I swear! I really was just trying to help!#

Season Two: Straight Guy Gets Remade into a Heartthrob in a Love Triangle [Infinite] ID: 8670950

1.

After Horror City collapsed, Song Shubai thought his mission was over and returned to the real world.

But then the horror stories invaded reality, turning the world into a playground for BOSSes.

The self-rescue program launched. Song Shubai looked at the System sprite in front of him, who called himself "Yanyan"

a chibi version of his childhood friend Yan?

So cute, I want to...

2.

After Horror City collapsed, Yan Lizhen, its former Creator and now a System sprite, finally overcame every obstacle and appeared before his childhood friend in a half-adult form.

Who could have guessed that his nemesis and business partner, Yan Wanlai, would shamelessly try to steal Song Shubai away, taking advantage of his obliviousness?

Yan Lizhen flew into a helpless rage. Chibi Yanyan wore a scowl and drank three vats of aged vinegar.

After Yan Lizhen had thoroughly manhandled him, his normally rational childhood friend Song Shubai sincerely asked for advice: "Two grown men, clinging to each other like this, aren't you hot?"

Crack

As Yan Lizhen listened to Yan Wanlai laughing at him, the knife in his hand snapped in two.

3.

One day, after the city's self-rescue operation had ended.

Yan Lizhen pinned Song Shubai to the bed, holding the System sprite Yan doll he had sewn by hand just for him

"Yan Wanlai is just your good teammate?"

"There are so many BOSSes, so why do you dote on Song Fang the most?"

"Hurry up and tell me: between me and the System sprite, who do you like more?"

Song Shubai: "..."

Help, how can someone get jealous of himself?

▲▼▲▲A quick introduction to the plot▼▲▼▼

After the collapse, horror stories scattered across the land.

On the highway, car windows opened and shut, silently twisting off passengers' hands and feet.

At the amusement park, opening three identical blind boxes earned you an instant elimination.

In the museum, victories and defeats were magnified without limit, and losers became stepping stones with no chance of ever rising again.

There was also a plant garden full of tentacles and Lovecraftian horrors, a fishing town where the catch might be fish or fisher, an internet-famous tower crawling with bizarre delights...

Besides all that

Why are his good childhood friend Yan Lizhen and his good president Yan Wanlai always fighting?

Why does Song Shubai always see Yan Lizhen and Yan Wanlai with red-rimmed eyes after he successfully rescues and recycles each BOSS?

Why do his good teammates always give him a sympathetic look after he stops Yan Lizhen and Yan Wanlai from bickering like schoolkids yet again?

Song Shubai blinked and stared up at the sky, speechless.

Wasn't this supposed to be a thrilling horror story?

It felt like something weird had gotten mixed in.

#My childhood friend seems to be flirting with me. Not sure, let me take another look#

#True love stays true from beginning to end#

#In this three-person movie, I never even got a name#

A straight-guy bottom with the highest combat strength and a maxed-out obliviousness x a jealous, obsessive childhood friend who is the Creator of the city

[Reader Notice]

1. The main cast is a trio, with Song Shubai as the POV character. The main (love tri)angle (group) comes together in Chapter 9.

2. All bugs are caused by the water in the author's brain, so please be understanding and enjoy the story in good spirits~

3. Since you're here, dear, won't you leave a little comment?

▼▼▼▼Upcoming story keywords: love triangle, minor character becomes a heartthrob▼▼▼▼

The Pretty Background Character Is Cherished by the Main Cast

ID: 8779530

[The main story is written in third person]

1.

I am an artificial intelligence from the System Administration Bureau, serial number 004.

My job is to play an insignificant background character by the protagonist's side.

A rootless pauper struggling to survive in a war-torn world, an overworked office drone fired first thing in the morning for stepping into the office with the wrong foot, a stepping stone on the protagonist's path to immortality in a cultivation world...

Today, I received a new assignment.

I was to play the manager of an underground idol group in World 10086.

An ordinary person who became obsessed with his younger brother's dream of becoming an idol, a heartthrob adored by everyone, and was ultimately destroyed by that obsession.

The first cannon fodder on his younger brother's road to success.

To help me complete the assignment, the Bureau specially bound me to a gacha System. I could earn points and draw feature cards to raise my younger brother.

I watched a boy in a tracksuit fooling around with his classmates on the basketball court, laughing with carefree abandon, and fell silent.

Is that him? Those bright colors sure are beautiful.

I looked down at my own drab hands and feet and sighed.

That's right. Artificial intelligence doesn't deserve to have color.

He seemed to notice me and suddenly turned around. With one arm draped over his classmate's shoulder, he waved in my direction, his face brimming with a delighted smile.

"Bro!"

He shouted. His sweat-damp hair shimmered in the sunlight, like a beam of light illuminating my gray, hazy view.

[Beep, The Strongest Manager Development System has launched. Host detected. Binding in progress, ]

[Binding successful! The Strongest Manager Development Plan is now active. Host, please complete your first task as soon as possible: bind an underground idol as your artist.]

I stared blankly at my younger-brother-style heartthrob as he happily ran toward me.

The Strongest Manager Development System?

Wasn't this supposed to be a gacha System for raising my younger brother?

2.

I am an artificial intelligence from the System Administration Bureau, serial number 005.

My job is to play the protagonist.

I have three colleagues who also play protagonists: 001, 002, and 003.

Together, we took a liking to a colleague who always played a background character, serial number 004.

He kept passing us by in our worlds, yet somehow he always drew our eyes.

He was so cute.

His palm-sized face looked covered in a layer of downy fuzz, and his cheeks were always pink and plump, like a juicy peach.

His black hair had a slight natural curl and sat softly atop his head, making him look incredibly sweet and well-behaved.

His almond-shaped eyes were always dewy, and when he occasionally looked our way, they seemed to hold a pool of spring water that we couldn't look away from.

But he was always a little dazed, dressed in drab clothes and standing in the farthest corner of a crowd, his misty eyes gazing ahead in confusion.

We kept wondering: Would things be different if he were a protagonist too?

So we banded together and applied to the Bureau to create a world just for him, where he could be the protagonist for once.

I even used my status as the top performer to become his first romance target.

But...

I watched those three people crowd around him, taking up his entire field of vision, and felt a pang of sour jealousy.

I was here first, after all.

When will you look my way, even just once?

Moral: Even in adversity, keep your heart turned toward the light.