Delicate Social Recluse, Tyrant Filter

1.

The protagonist used to be a homebody who freelanced on commission. Then one day, he transmigrated into an emperor from a fictional novel, a foolish ruler bound to a Tyrant System.

The System's most powerful feature was the [Tyrant Filter]. Once activated, everyone who faced the protagonist would feel a certain degree of imperial authority bearing down on them.

He attended court and suddenly found himself surrounded by a crowd of strangers. His heart raced, and panic took over.

The ministers saw the emperor remain silent for a long time and became even more frightened than he was, breaking out in cold sweats.

The System explained, "Once the story reaches its ending and the regent prince rebels and usurps the throne, Host, you'll be able to go home!"

Only then did the protagonist breathe a sigh of relief. "That's wonderful. At last, I have something to look forward to. Sob..."

So the protagonist diligently played the part of a volatile tyrant, picking out the wicked who deserved to die. He had heads chopped off every five days and people exiled every three, leaving the court in a state of constant alarm.

2.

Day after day, the protagonist played a tyrant whose personality was the complete opposite of his own. The pressure was immense, and on top of that, he had to deal with the regent prince, a crafty old fox with near-superhuman intelligence and overwhelming influence at court.

At first, he was afraid the Tyrant Filter might affect the regent prince too, and stop him from rebelling. He was so anxious that he deliberately acted as if the regent prince had him completely fooled, placing his utmost trust in him and relying on him heavily.

Later, he realized that the regent prince was the only minister who wasn't terrified by the Tyrant Filter and dared to look him in the eye again and again. That put his mind at ease.

No wonder the regent prince was capable of great things! Sooner or later, your very presence will bring peace to the realm and prosperity to its people!

The protagonist happily promoted the regent prince and raised his pay again and again, gave him every reward he could, and put even more effort into playing the tyrant, counting down the days until the regent prince seized the throne.

In the original story, the regent prince's final step was to use his beauty to beguile the tyrant, and his body to make him lose himself in pleasure and neglect affairs of state.

The protagonist quietly played along to the very end, but the regent prince never usurped the throne. Instead, the realm entered an age of peace and prosperity.

Unable to resist, the protagonist tested the regent prince. He didn't know what the regent prince had misunderstood, but the man personally returned his military token and other items, then turned himself in to accept punishment.

The protagonist was dazed. The protagonist was bewildered. The protagonist was utterly at a loss.

Wait, is this... how things are supposed to go?

3.

Before long, the protagonist discovered that his introverted nature had become a gentlemanly virtue celebrated by everyone. Scholars and refined guests took pride in being calm and gentle, keeping their talents understated, and speaking little.

His social anxiety had not flared up in a long time. The last time he felt uncomfortable was when the regent prince smiled as he dealt with the person causing him social stress, then delivered the cruelest slander in the gentlest voice:

"His Majesty is the Son of Heaven. Anyone who makes the Son of Heaven frown should simply be killed."

He thought he was a notorious tyrant known by every household, so he always stayed cooped up in the palace, afraid to go anywhere. He couldn't bear to face the fearful or resentful eyes of innocent, kind people.

The first time he went out of the palace on a whim, he discovered that at some point he had become a wise ruler praised in every theater, while the regent prince was impeached day after day and condemned by the people as a wicked minister who corrupted the emperor.

Only at the very end did the protagonist discover that the regent prince had been reborn!

And he had recognized from the beginning that the protagonist wasn't the original emperor!

Damn it!! No wonder he was never afraid of him!

So the regent prince had just been quietly watching him perform this whole time, ahhhhh

This is so mortifying, help, I don't want to wake up, System, let me go

Then, with a sudden rush of blood to his head, he fainted.

"No, Host. The plot has changed, so we have to stay here and see it through to a happy ending before you can go home~"

Theme: Face life with a positive attitude! Embrace a bright tomorrow!