Five Years After Being Rejected, the Brooding Male Lead Starts Losing It

[A clueless, wooden heroine who rejected someone for five years without realizing it X a gloomy tentacle monster hero who finally snaps after reaching his limit]

Told in third person.

My name is Ye Qingshi. I'm a walk-on character from some obscure little sect in a dark, level-up fantasy novel aimed at male readers. Today is the second day the male lead has held me captive.

I don't know what I did to offend him, but for my own safety, I need to escape first.

But when I slipped out of the cave without the slightest effort, I found the male lead blocking the only path home, smiling sweetly and obediently:

"Little Senior Sister, going out for a walk again today? I'll come with you."

*

My name is Ye Qingshi. Today is the seventh day the male lead has held me captive.

To avoid making him angry, I've temporarily given up on escaping and started studying the male lead's diary, which I found by chance. There must be some weakness in it I can exploit.

XX/XX/XX: Finally found Little Senior Sister. She wiped my face for me.

XX/XX/XX: Little Senior Sister is ignoring me.

XX/X/X: Little Senior Sister is ignoring me.

X/X: We met, but Little Senior Sister ignored me.

: I scared her. Little Senior Sister is so cute.

: Failed to give her a gift. I'm so useless.

: Read a lot of books and learned how to woo her. Still failed.

: I made a mistake. I repent today.

: Failed to give her a gift and made another mistake. She's so cute. Little Senior Sister is good, I'm bad.

: Touched her hand. It smells so nice. I made a mistake.

: Failed to tell her how I feel. I don't know how to talk. I'm a useless man. I made a mistake.

It seems the male lead's diary is completely useless as a reference. It's full of things I have no memory of. The next time he came to help nurse me back to health, I worked up the courage to try to win him over with our sect's deep bonds:

"Little Junior Brother, what did you do wrong? If you're willing to tell me, I'll find a way to help you fix it."

Before I passed out, I saw his face turn red, with countless glowing tentacles flickering behind him.

"I-I make mistakes like this."

*

My name is Ye Qingshi. Today is the tenth day Little Junior Brother and I have been making mistakes.

Every day is packed full. The tentacles are great. Thank you, tentacles.

1. Mutual healing. No one gets hurt in this story.

2. The male lead is a gloomy, insecure overthinker who secretly spies on her. His true form is an egg-laying tentacle monster, and his thought process is a little unusual. He's not a yandere.

3. The heroine has lots of inner monologue and a strong possessive streak, and she is strongly desired in return.

Upcoming: Bound to a Strategy System with My Nemesis. The aloof, proud senior sister & the upright, sincere, chosen-one hero.

[The aloof, proud senior sister & the upright, sincere, chosen-one hero]

Yue Gushuang, the personal disciple of the head of the Guixu Sword Sect, was one of the most outstanding young cultivators in the cultivation world and the undisputed top disciple of her sect... the previous one.

Lin Yuan was a common outer-sect disciple in charge of the spiritual fields a year ago. A year later, he rose to prominence, defeated Senior Sister Yue, and became the greatest under heaven.

Everyone said the two couldn't stand each other and were fighting to the death for the position of top disciple.

Whenever she heard such rumors, Yue Gushuang scoffed.

What she wanted had never been the top spot. It was that man's life.

Because she'd awakened memories of her past life and learned how the plot would unfold:

She was the haughty, defeated female rival in a good-for-nothing's rise-to-power story. Facing the male lead, who had a cheat code capable of reaching the heavens, no matter how hard she worked at cultivating, it would only add a twisted flavor to her role as a loser. No matter how often she challenged him, it was just another haughty test she'd fail to pass.

What a humiliation! How could she not eliminate the male lead who was responsible?

Lin Yuan hated that woman.

In public, she acted pure and aloof. In private, she was vicious to the extreme, treating him like a thorn in her side and using all kinds of methods to try to kill him and the people around him.

One day, he and that woman fought until both were badly injured, then got trapped in a pocket dimension. A thing claiming to be a strategy system forcibly bound itself to him.

System: Your lives are linked to your target's. If neither of you reaches max affection within three months, you'll both die.

Yue Gushuang laughed with glee, rolling on the ground. "Young Master Lin, there are so many little sisters who like you. Now you've finally got your chance. Remember to invite me to the wedding. I'll bring a fine gift."

Lin Yuan was so furious his head spun.

"System, make her my target. Miss Yue, either you'll hold a wedding with me, or we'll both die!"

Recently, a strange rumor had spread through the Guixu Sword Sect.

"The other night, I saw those two locked together in the bamboo grove behind the mountain..."

"Locked in combat?"

"Locked in a kiss."

Theme: Good health matters most.