After the Universally Hated One Disappeared, They Went Mad

01

Ruan Nuo was universally disliked.

His father blamed his bad birth chart, saying he brought misfortune to his family and drained their finances, causing the family business to suffer one setback after another.

His older sister resented him for causing their mother's death, angrily asking why he hadn't been the one to die in the car accident.

His younger brother thought he was clumsy and dull, an embarrassment to the family, and told his friends to their faces that he didn't even know this ugly loser.

He'd once had a friend.

That person plagiarized his work, then grinned after winning an award and said, "They wouldn't believe it was yours anyway. It doesn't matter if the credit goes to me instead, right?"

He'd once had a fiance.

That person always smiled at him tenderly and told him he could rely on him. "Nono, I'll love you forever." Later, he saw that person with a cigarette between his lips, sneering at his friends as they egged him on. "Love? Don't make me sick. That idiot's just a dog I keep around for fun."

Ruan Nuo knew none of them were wrong. The one at fault was himself, for foolishly dreaming of more.

He wasn't worthy of anyone's love. Not family, not friendship, not romance. He didn't deserve any of it.

He accepted it all with calm resignation. But after fainting one day, he heard a cold voice in his mind.

[Disappearance countdown: 7 days]

02

The voice called itself the System. It told Ruan Nuo that an error had appeared in this world, and that to fix this serious bug, the existence of "Ruan Nuo" had to be erased.

[As compensation, we'll provide you with a new identity. You will be reborn in this world, but all your past relationships will be reset, and everyone will forget you. Is that acceptable?]

Ruan Nuo fell silent for a moment, then softly replied,

"Yes."

03

Seven days later, Ruan Nuo disappeared.

He received a new identity, a new home, new friends, and even... a new lover.

But he didn't know that the System had lied to him.

Not everyone had forgotten him.

"Where's that jinx?" Ruan Nuo's father asked his assistant, frowning after not seeing his son for a long time.

"Where'd that ugly loser go?" His younger brother asked his older sister, frowning because he hadn't received a birthday present on time.

"Where's that idiot Ruan?" His friend asked his roommate, waiting to copy his latest work.

"Should I go play with that stupid dog again?" His fiance asked his friends, bored out of his mind.

But every one of them got the same answer:

"Ruan Nuo? Who's that?"

04

Ruan Nuo was gone.

People stared in shock as a group of people suddenly went mad. They kept muttering about someone who didn't exist, frantically searching every day for a person named "Ruan Nuo."

They babbled that they could hear Ruan Nuo talking with the "System," that they knew he was still alive in this world, and that they knew they'd been the ones in the wrong. They had to find Ruan Nuo and make it up to him with all the love in the world.

But they didn't know they'd never be able to find him again.

First published 2024.5.20

Theme: Cherish the people you have.