Can NPCs Have Love Triangles Too? [Infinite]

Taking a break. I'll update again when the story above is finished.

Blurb:

Shen Junlian was once the pride of Central University and the moonlight in countless people's hearts.

Now he was just a poor, frail beta from the lower classes, with nothing but his good looks. To afford the exorbitant cost of staying alive, he'd moved into a semi-basement in a notoriously disreputable slum.

At first, he thought he was just frequently falling into dreams where his mind wandered beyond the world.

The consciousness of the world told him in his dreams:

[You are a pawn they sacrificed, an NPC in a game. You are weak and worthless, and no one cares even when players humiliate you.]

Shen Junlian: Mm-hmm... (obedient) (nods)

He gave a perfunctory answer and continued to lie flat.

Until...

A damp, clammy tentacle tightly locked around his wrist, radiating a powerful desire to control him. The owner lowered his head and pleaded, "No. Don't leave me."

His adoptive father and brother, who had once looked down on him, now intended to lock him away in a secluded residence and make him their pet.

It took Shen Junlian a while to realize: Could NPCs get caught in a love triangle too?

Later, the consciousness of the world wept as it tried to repair the collapsing bugs.

"I only made him an NPC. How did all the bosses become love-struck idiots and break down completely?"

"What happened to my huge army of players? They're all hanging on his every word!"

This can't be right, can it?

Shen Junlian: Huh? I thought it was all a dream.

World Consciousness: That's no reason for you to go wild like that, ahhhhh!

#They seemed like bosses, but they're all fish in his pond.

#A beginner, but a big shot braves the infinite flow.

#Grandpa, your moonlight has come home!

#That kind of pet play is easy to censor, but you get the idea.

Reader's guide:

1. The protagonist is neither purely kind nor weak. A long leveling-up story with a slow build.

2. An entirely fictional setting with no real-life prototypes.

3. Lots of one-sided crushes, but there is an official partner! One-on-one romance.

4. Comments are welcome. My tastes are pretty twisted, and I write whatever I dream up.

Theme: Persevere and keep striving