The Depressed Slacker Saves a Gloomy Tycoon by Playing the Victim

After graduating, Lin Wan spent three years cooped up at home, determined to live to a ripe old age while doing as little as possible. Then, out of the blue, he applied for a job as a junior gardener at the wealthy Shen family estate in City A.

The reason? A System had shown up and told him that the world he lived in was an old-school romance novel about a heroine who ran away while pregnant. If he couldn't change the fate of the heroine's gloomy, reclusive older brother, who was doomed to die young, the entire little world would be shut down.

Lin Wan was so delighted by the news that he couldn't sleep a wink that night.

At last, he wouldn't have to keep living.

With only eight hours left on the countdown, he learned that the heroine was the very person who had once saved him, the one who'd always held a special place in his heart!

The lazy fish leapt to its feet, ready to repay the favor.

The pale, gloomy mogul stood by the lake and coughed softly.

A blood-red "-1" slowly appeared above his head. His health bar was almost empty.

Lin Wan: "!!!"

There's no way he can survive this. He can't possibly survive.

Desperate, Lin Wan struggled to hold out a pair of long johns. "Please, put these on."

Shen Yubai: "?"

*

Shen Yubai lost both parents when he was young. Holding his little sister's hand, he fought his way through a pack of hungry wolves and took firm control of the great ship that was the Shen family.

He achieved success and fame, and his sister went abroad to study. At last, the nerves he'd kept taut for years could relax.

Whatever he wanted was within reach. Life became utterly dull.

He couldn't stop himself from growing gloomy and volatile, his moods unpredictable. The people around him trembled with fear and instinctively backed away.

But what did it matter?

Shen Yubai gave a scornful smile, shut himself away in a prison of his own making, and withered day by day like a plant deprived of sunlight.

Until the housekeeper hired a strange personal assistant who clung to him like a ghost and always managed to find him, no matter where he hid.

Shen Yubai hid to avoid eating.

The assistant appeared out of nowhere and offered him two buns. "Skipping breakfast is bad for you."

Shen Yubai had another episode and locked himself in his room, lying rigidly on the bed as he felt the darkness consume him.

The assistant picked the lock, then used a strength that seemed impossible for his skinny frame to drag Shen Yubai into a wheelchair. "Getting more sunlight is good for you."

Shen Yubai dug his nails into his own hands, holding back a furious, trembling voice. "Lin Wan, what makes you think I'll keep indulging you forever?"

Lin Wan met his gaze, his lips parting slightly.

Shen Yubai's heart raced, full of an expectation he hadn't even realized he felt.

The young man's eyes drooped at the corners, and he seemed almost relieved. "So you're not planning to live anymore? Can you take me with you when you die?"

I'm so tired. Being a gloomy mess is exhausting enough, and then I have to talk people out of dying too. It's really exhausting.

Shen Yubai: "...I'll live, I'll live! Is that good enough?"

So I have to live after all... The lazy fish sighed regretfully and set to work on his missions.

Wake him at six in the morning, then chase after him on an electric scooter for five kilometers: Life Points +1

Handle business from nine to six, increase profits: Reputation +1

Attend an art festival and gallery exhibition on the weekend: Artistic Value +1

People in City A noticed that the head of the Shen family, rumored to suffer from some kind of mental illness, had been showing up at events all over town lately, always accompanied by a personal assistant who seemed to be his kept lover.

Everyone marveled at the power of love.

Meanwhile, the person who'd been roped into all this was utterly numb. "Whenever I say I don't want to live, he looks like he's about to die before I do..."

*

Every night before bed, Lin Wan counted his points. The moment he reached 60, he couldn't wait to pack his things and go back to lying around. By chance, he found a photo of Shen Yubai dressed as a girl when he was a child in Shen Yubai's bedroom.

The little lazy fish was bewildered. He looked so familiar...

Before Lin Wan could figure it out, the grown-up in question appeared and pulled him into his arms, gritting his teeth. "You made me unable to die, and now you think you can run away?"

His scorching lips hovered just short of a kiss. "You owe me the rest of your life."

Ding!

Happiness +1,314,520

P.S. The original heroine gets to shine on her own, and the story takes a different direction. This special someone is the love interest, has no cross-dressing fetish, and the childhood outfit happened only once for a special reason.

Theme: Everyone is their own light.