[The main world has a happy ending and isn't angsty, but the side worlds are extremely, extremely angsty! Extremely, extremely melodramatic! Read with caution!]
There are people who are either the protagonist's beloved first love or the villain they hate most. They all die spectacularly in front of the protagonist, leaving them heartbroken and consumed by longing.
Jiang Wuyi has been assigned to play just such a character.
[The vicious disabled villain and the leveling-up protagonist]
As the leveling-up protagonist of a cultivation novel, the most important thing is, of course, to get some face-slapping revenge on all the people who once looked down on you.
But what if, when you return, the brilliant young genius who once stole your resources has already fallen, afflicted with a terminal illness and with little time left to live?
Only then do you remember: didn't you once fall for that flash of genius? Didn't you remember his face from the very first time you saw him?
[The young genius and the terminally ill good-for-nothing]
A low-talent outer-sect disciple gets an incredible opportunity.
He boldly deceives the amnesiac young genius and steals a few days of affection with him.
Later, the truth comes out, and he is driven away in disgrace. But no one knows that by then, he is already terminally ill.
[The little fool and the Third Prince]
The young master of the Jiang family was precocious and famous throughout the capital by the age of eight. He fell into the water while saving the Third Prince, and after burning with fever for three days and nights, became a fool.
The Third Prince devoted himself to caring for him for many years, until he finally lost patience after the other boy caused trouble and disgraced him.
"A Yi, I was eight when you were eight. But I'm almost twenty-eight now, and you're still eight. I've waited for you so, so long. I can't wait any longer."
The Third Prince never imagined that these would be the last words he said to the little fool.
In the bitter winter that year, the little fool fell into a raging river while trying to retrieve the jade pendant the Third Prince had given him.
The Third Prince, who cared most about his dignity, wept aloud before the coffin.
[The clan leader from a broken-engagement story and the Dragon-Ao Tian]
When he was young, Long Aotian's cultivation disappeared overnight, and his engagement was broken off. He would never forget the look on the young clan leader's face.
The young ruler held a little girl by his side and ripped the spiritual root from Long Aotian's body. "A good-for-nothing like you dares to covet my sister?"
Years later, Long Aotian became a Demon Venerable ruling over a vast territory. The first thing he did was seek revenge.
He forced his enemy to swallow the most insidious Icefire Parasite. When the poison took effect, its victim would alternate between freezing in icy wastes and being tormented in a blazing hell, while their mind grew weak.
He had fully intended to laugh at the arrogant man, but never expected that the amnesiac would be so sweet and tempting.
By the time he came to his senses, he was already traveling everywhere in search of an antidote.
But a parasite like this, born in defiance of the laws of Heaven and Earth, could have no antidote. Where could he possibly find one?
All he could do was watch the other man grow weaker, paler, and more withered by the day.
Perhaps it was a final flicker of life. In the end, the other man regained his memories.
Long Aotian thought he would be angry, or sad.
But the other man only said, trembling, "It was all my fault. Let me atone with my life. Please don't take it out on my clan."
After that day, Long Aotian's hair turned white overnight.
[The little deer whose soul was taken]
The little deer had been cherished all his life and had never suffered hardship. Then, on his eighteenth birthday, his beloved older brother, parents, and master all held him down viciously. They skinned him, broke his bones, and extracted his soul.
They did it to revive someone else, his eldest brother who had died young.
"We've shown you kindness for so long. You should give your body back to our son," his parents said.
The little deer closed his eyes, and a tear rolled down his cheek.
All right. I'll die so the person you love can come back.
[The obnoxious, arrogant hotshot at military academy]
No one expected that the most arrogant guy at the military academy would pilot a spacecraft straight into an asteroid to stop it from crashing into a passenger ship.
"So what if I die? What's the big deal?"
[The obsessive and his mute nightingale]
Gu Zichong was both the best singer and the worst singer. He was born with a beautiful voice, while his little nightingale, who had lost his voice in an accident, gave him one brilliant score and set of lyrics after another, elevating him to the heights of fame.
At the very moment he reached the top, his little nightingale died quietly in the hospital.
He didn't attend the funeral.
He drank a glass of wine, took the ring he'd bought for his little nightingale, put on his finest formal clothes, and lay down beside the grave.
The next day, when people found him, he had a smile on his face.
No one knew he had gone mad many years ago.
[The hated side character in an infinite-flow story]
He was the most hated character in the infinite-flow story, a liar who never stopped talking.
But his final lie was:
"You all leave. I can handle this. I'll survive."
[The guide who demands repayment for saving someone's life]
A dark sentinel was rescued during a mental breakdown. His rescuer demanded repayment and insisted on becoming his guide.
But dark sentinels cannot accept guides.
After spending a short time together, he secretly fell for the other man. Still, he stubbornly refused to admit it, left for a mission on another planet, and didn't come home for three years.
When he finally returned, all he saw was a lonely grave.
People told him that his guide had always been in poor health, and that saving him had taken all his strength. He hadn't had long to live.
Someone handed him a letter of apology.
"He said he was sorry. Also, he seemed to miss you very much."
[Reentering a small world after a bad ending]
"Look carefully. I'm not that short-lived man who died young."
1. This will not follow the romance-scammer route. The shou loses his memories in the side worlds, and his love is genuine.
2. The final world is:
[The shou loses his memories, but the gong knows he is his lover who already died. The shou doesn't know and thinks the other man sees him as a substitute.]
Theme: Cherish the person before you
