Chapter 328: |
【Ding. Host remotely manipulated events, causing the protagonist Ren Jiaojiao to suffer social death and fail to make any close girl-friends. Host awarded 1800 villain points.】
【Ding. Ren Jiaojiao’s main plotline has collapsed; she has lost her protagonist status.】
Is that it?
After a whole day of effort, he only gained 1,800 villain points.
Wang Haoran felt a flicker of disappointment, but it passed quickly. Ren Jiaojiao was an unusual kind of protagonist—female, surrounded by women—so she wasn’t worth lingering over and slowly milking for gains. In a dorm full of girls, she would too easily prey on the female leads; it was better to deal with her fast.
Now that Ren Jiaojiao suffered social death and lost her protagonist status, she’d be kicked out of the girls’ dorm in no time. Forget becoming friends with the female leads—ordinary women would avoid her like the plague, as if she were contagious. She no longer posed any real threat.
It was late.
Wang Haoran stretched and was about to sleep when his phone rang. Rain Ning’s name lit the screen.
“Master, I overheard a huge secret!” Yu Ning reported in a low, urgent voice the moment he answered.
“This was risky to get. I almost got caught—if I did, who knows what punishment I’d have faced.” Yu Ning’s voice trembled a little at the memory.
“You did well. I’ll reward you,” he said.
“I’m not doing this for rewards,” she protested, flattered. Then, shy as a girl confessing something, she added, “But if you have time, Master, could you come see me? Even just seeing you once would make me so happy I couldn’t sleep.”
Having said that with a bashful flutter, she dropped the real bombshell. “Master, Feng Xuansu actually has a husband.”
Wang Haoran’s expectant smile stiffened.
That was it? That was the big secret?
“You don’t believe me? I heard it myself. It can’t be wrong.” Yu Ning hurried to reassure him when he didn’t answer.
“No, I believe you. Good work,” he said, feeling like he wasted an expression but not wanting to kill her enthusiasm.
If word spread that the first beauty of the hidden martial arts world had a husband, it would be explosive. But for Wang Haoran, that information was useless.
“Anything else?” he probed, hopeful.
“No.” Yu Ning answered automatically.
He sighed. “Keep listening. If you hear anything special about Yan Yuntian or the people around him, report it immediately.”
“Master, would the movements of Yan Yuntian’s fiancée count as something special?” Rain Ning suddenly remembered and added.
“Of course,” he replied quickly, then froze. “Yan Yuntian has a fiancee?”
“Not just one—there are five that I know of,” she said.
“Five that you know of? The real number must be more. Is Yan Yuntian even constrained by law?!” Wang Haoran exclaimed.
“In the hidden Martial Arts World, men having several wives and concubines is normal. It isn’t surprising,” Yu Ning said matter-of-factly.
Hearing that, Wang Haoran sat in stunned silence for a while before it finally clicked. In the archetype of the domineering, unnaturally charming male lead, it was almost expected that he would be surrounded by a number of women. Lin Chen, that prodigy protagonist, had seven goddess sisters in his mainline plot.
But with every protagonist he struck down, the number of female leads around him only grew. One by one, they gathered at his side—each dazzling in their own way, each carrying their own tempers, secrets, and expectations. What began as manageable flirtation was now starting to feel like a siege. And Yan Yuntian? His harem wasn’t just large—it was absurd. Compared to him, even Lin Chen’s seven goddess sisters seemed like child’s play.
Even with Lin Chen’s seven goddess sisters, Wang Haoran had only managed to patch things up with six; one mysterious elder sister still hadn’t shown herself. If it were just one or two female leads, he wouldn’t mind intervening, but a whole pile of them? No thanks.
Besides, the relationships among the female leads around him hadn’t been fully smoothed out—most of them didn’t even know of each other. For now, there was a fragile balance. If he dared provoke another female lead now, the delicate balance he painstakingly maintained might unravel in an instant.
He didn’t want more trouble. Dealing with Yan Yuntian directly would be better achieved by striking at other angles: pressure on his father’s conglomerate, or blows against the power of the Fengxi Sect. Those were Yan Yuntian’s closest ties; crushing either would inevitably chip away at Yan Yuntian’s Protagonist Halo. Once Yan Yuntian’s Protagonist Halo dropped below 2,000, his Fatal Damage Rebound Halo would fail.
At that point, Wang Haoran could simply one-shot him.
When Wang Haoran remained silent, Yu Ning continued, “One of Yan Yuntian’s fiancées has come to Qingling. Her name is Feng Anna. She’s twenty-one, nearly flawless in face and figure, and comes from a prominent family. Her father is the head of a top commercial family that’s been rooted in Hong Kong for three generations; her mother has blood ties to Y country’s royal family.”
“Feng Anna was born with a silver spoon, but she’s no trophy. From a young age she showed brilliance far beyond her peers, skipped grades to get into a top foreign university, and before graduating she founded a clothing brand that grew into a multi-billion company in just a couple of years.”
Yu Ning took five full minutes introducing Feng Anna—beautiful, deeply connected, educated, capable; the sort of goddess who could steal everyone’s breath away.
If she wasn’t a female lead, then what was?
Yet Wang Haoran had no intention of tangling with her.
“Alright, I got it. Tell me if anything new comes up,” he said.
“Yes, Master,” Yu Ning replied respectfully.
They hung up, and Wang Haoran lay down again.
Morning arrived soon enough, and a phone call jolted him awake; the caller ID read “Fourth Cousin—Zhen Simin.” Zhen Simin was the daughter of his third aunt. They hadn’t kept in close touch lately, but he remembered their relationship had always been good.
He answered while he was still half-asleep.
“I’m furious, furious!” his cousin’s anxious voice burst through, angry at someone he didn’t yet know. “Haoran, I’ve come to Qingling. Where are you?”
“What happened? Why so mad?” he asked.
“A shameless woman with a face tried to embarrass me in public and ruined my reputation. Haoran, you have to help me!” Zhen Simin snapped.
“Anyone who dares humiliate you isn’t ordinary. Who is she?” Wang Haoran frowned. The Zhen family was a big, respectable commercial clan—most people wouldn’t dare provoke them.
“She’s called Feng Anna—came from Hong Kong, maybe mixed blood, and with some clout. But Qingling is your Wang family’s turf; why should we fear her?” Zhen Simin ranted, then suggested a crude plan.
“Haoran, she’s pretty. Go find some men to abduct her so you can give her a proper lesson. You’ll both enjoy yourself and avenge me—two birds with one stone. Record it and use the video to threaten her; she won’t dare cry about it!”
Wang Haoran stared, baffled.