This Character Is Off-Limits!

After binding to a game System, Ling Qi learned that the world he had lived in for over a decade was actually a virtual game. And he was the most insignificant cannon-fodder NPC in the game. So much of a background character that tonight, he would be infected by a high-risk dungeon and turned into a minor monster, killed by players, and made to contribute his drops and experience points. Ling Qi: “...” Ling Qi: “Is there no more dignified way to die?” System: [There is! The game believes popularity is everything!] NPCs with a bad reputation are marked as worthless pawns. But the opposite is true too: characters loved by players become the world’s [protagonists] and receive all kinds of buffs. As long as players love you and you become popular, even cannon fodder can turn the tables. Ling Qi repeatedly confirmed, “All emotional fluctuations, whether it’s the heartache of being tormented or the physical pain of being tortured to death, can be converted into popularity points, right?” System: [That’s right.] Looking at the boss identity he held in his hands, Ling Qi curled his lips into a smile. “I understand.” As the first fully immersive virtual game released online, Abyssal Depths took the world by storm as soon as it launched, thanks to its stunning character models and incredibly realistic maps. There was one character in the game who was every player’s beloved. He was the game’s original guide, the mentor of the protagonist team, and the quest-guiding NPC players trusted most. He died protecting them in a high-risk dungeon that had suddenly appeared, becoming a phantom that lingered in every player’s heart. When the protagonist team inherited the guide’s ideals and obsessions, and finally defeated the boss leading the contaminated creatures after countless hardships, a presence emerged slowly from the depths of darkness. Beneath its mask was a face they knew all too well. The savior who had given everything for humanity exhausted all his strength purifying the contamination, only to be betrayed by those he had protected and accused of crimes he had never committed. The young man, consumed by contamination, was covered in blood. His gaze remained cold and haughty, while the faction marker above his head slowly changed into the hostile crimson that signified corruption. [The high-risk, S-rank dungeon battle “Dawn Fades Before Daybreak” is about to begin. All players, stay alert!] Amid the game System’s ear-splitting alarms, Ling Qi smiled as he guided the players, directing their skills at his vital weak points. “Don’t hesitate. Kill me.” “Just like I taught you.” P.S.: 1. The pairing is listed with the protagonists. The top and bottom are both pure in body and heart, 1v1. Please don’t switch their roles or project fantasies onto them. 2. Content warning: The protagonist is absolutely at the peak of his power. Expect an excruciatingly tragic, beautiful-and-strong character and a groveling redemption arc, as well as faked death elements. 3. The top has many secret identities. He isn’t split into multiple versions; they’re more like his main account and alts. His identities aren’t limited to players. To avoid spoilers, only his real name is listed with the protagonists. 4. This isn’t a BL story, so please don’t force that interpretation on it. That includes, but isn’t limited to, parental romance, replacing words with obscure characters, or bringing BL discourse into a danmei novel. 5. Updates are usually at midnight. I’ll post a notice if anything comes up. Here’s a preview of another upcoming story in my collection. If you’re interested, please add it to your favorites [finger heart]. Title: Working Hard to Pass as an Ordinary Person Blurb: Lin Yuan has a secret. By day, he’s an unremarkable ordinary person. But once night falls, he transmigrates to a world of supernatural powers and constant danger. The effects of this other world, from dazzling supernatural abilities to superhuman physical prowess, are synchronized with Lin Yuan’s real-world body in real time. Lin Yuan finds it a real headache. After all, in the real world, he’s just a college freshman. When Lin Yuan accidentally snaps a steel bar with his bare hands to save a classmate trapped beneath a collapsed wall, he cries indignantly, “Damn shoddy construction and the greedy people behind it! They used plastic for building materials. What a rip-off!” When Lin Yuan is accidentally taken hostage by a serial killer, his innate defensive ability reflects the attack and bends the knife in the assailant’s hand. He picks up the ruined alloy blade and tentatively asks, “Sorry about that, man. I don’t have to pay for the knife, do I?” When Lin Yuan accidentally tears a monster that has appeared in the real world in half right in front of his roommate, he wipes the blood from his face, comforts the roommate who saw the whole thing, and asks with a smile, “That was just an act. I didn’t scare you, did I?” In this way, Lin Yuan barely manages to maintain his ordinary-person identity. But why are the people around him looking at him more and more strangely? His disguise should be absolutely flawless. Lin Yuan is baffled. Until one day, he passes the anime club and hears its members discussing a supernatural-themed manga that has recently taken the internet by storm. A manga based on the other world Lin Yuan transmigrates to. The manga features a highly popular villain. He’s beautiful, but vicious by nature, a madman who disregards life and kills without blinking. He’s powerful, yet commits countless atrocities, pinning the manga’s protagonist to the ground as he mocks and toys with him. And he also... The villain also has Lin Yuan’s face. Wait, isn’t the villain actually him?! Lin Yuan feels like he’s been framed! By all rights, his disguise should be completely foolproof. How could anyone have figured him out? * A catastrophe strikes the real world. A manga called Tarot invades reality, and the monsters and supernatural powers within it begin appearing in the real world one by one. What gives the Supernatural Affairs Bureau the biggest headache is that the manga’s villains have started appearing too, especially Ling Yuan, the behind-the-scenes boss who is both the most powerful and the most unpredictable character in the series. [High-risk arriving entity. Threat rating: S] The Bureau issues a warning: “Activate the highest level of security. Be alert for any arriving entity suspected to be Ling Yuan!” Meanwhile, in his rented apartment, Lin Yuan, who was dragged into cosplaying the manga’s Ling Yuan by the anime club president because they look alike, casually rips an unknown contaminant in half and tosses it into a corner his roommate can’t see. Lin “High-Risk Entity, But Just an Ordinary College Guy” Yuan hugs his roommate, mourning the loss of his living expenses with tears in his voice. “Why? Why does a bundle of five clothes from a street stall cost me half a month’s living expenses, even though they’re knockoffs?!” “And they don’t even offer installment payments!” If he can’t pay in installments, does that mean he’ll have to live on instant noodles for the rest of the month? Theme: The world is beautiful. Treasure the present.