Time passed by slowly.
All Ethan did every day was laze around, following the system's strange demands like some obedient NPC. Tasks popped up one after another, trivial yet oddly intimate.
> [Side Quest: Make the Male Lead Happy – Reward: Favorability +5]
[Optional Task: Massage Damien's shoulders for ten minutes]
Ethan stared at the floating blue screen, his eyelid twitching.
"…Massage?" he muttered.
Another task followed right after.
> [Hidden Task: Accompany Damien during afternoon tea and smile naturally]
Ethan double-took.
Smile… naturally?
He sat back on the sofa, rubbing his chin, deeply puzzled about his real purpose in this world. Wasn't his original goal to make the two main characters—Jamie and Damien—have their happily ever after?
Then why did Damien seem to be paying more attention to him?
And why had the so-called main character slowly faded into the background, like an extra who missed his cue?
Ethan scratched his head.
Was this a good thing… or a very bad thing?
"You are doing great so far, Host!" Xixi gave him a thumbs-up, jumping in midair like a happy mascot. "The plot deviation rate is stable!"
Ethan stared at it.
"No… something is definitely not right."
"Xia Lan?"
"Mmm?" Ethan snapped out of his thoughts and looked up.
Damien was sitting opposite him, his fingers gripping the armrest of his wheelchair unconsciously. His expression was tense, brows slightly furrowed as he stared at Ethan like he was facing a life-or-death problem.
"Is everything alright?" Damien asked.
Ethan blinked. "Yeah?"
Damien's gaze slowly dropped… and fixed itself on Ethan's increasingly bulging stomach. His voice lowered, serious in a way that made Ethan's scalp prickle.
"Is the baby kicking?"
Ethan coughed violently, choking on his saliva.
"Cough—!"
He covered his mouth, face flushing red, completely caught off guard.
"…Sometimes," he replied carefully after a moment of silence.
Nowadays, he could barely move properly. Walking made him tired, sitting made his back ache, and sleeping was practically a full-time job. Most of the time, Damien stayed nearby, quietly arranging things, handing him water, adjusting pillows, even reminding him to eat.
Was this… the benefit of high favorability?
Was Damien finally seeing him as a friend?
Ethan reached out and patted Damien's shoulder with a gentle smile. "That's good."
Damien stiffened slightly but didn't move away.
Unnoticed by them both, a pair of eyes watched from afar.
Jamie stood at the edge of the hall, fingers clenched tight enough for his nails to dig into his palms.
Lucas had already left him.
No... Worse than that.
Lucas had returned to Damien's side as if nothing had happened, acting all chummy, laughing softly, as though he had never assisted Jamie in betraying him.
Ethan noticed it too.
Seeing Lucas hover around Damien again, speaking gently, pretending to be innocent—Ethan's lips twitched in unconcealed disdain.
Hypocrite.
What disgusted Ethan even more was that Lucas even tried to suck up to him now.
"Xia Lan, you look tired. Want me to get you something?" Lucas asked with a forced smile, his eyes flicking nervously toward Damien.
Ethan didn't even bother responding.
Jamie's jealousy festered like poison.
The men he thought he had wrapped around his finger—his world, his supporting characters, his guarantees—were turning their attention to this nobody.
This unremarkable, fat, replaceable canon fodder.
No.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
He quietly observed, watched, and followed Ethan when the opportunity appeared.
Later, when Ethan excused himself, walking slowly toward the garden behind the building for some air, Jamie followed silently, his steps soundless.
This was his world.
He was the main character.
So why were everyone turning their attention to someone who was supposed to have died by now?
Why was the story veering off the original script?!
Ethan leaned against a stone bench, breathing lightly.
"Xixi," he muttered internally, "I feel like someone's staring at me."
Before Xixi could respond—
> [WARNING—WARNING—]
[MC Emotional State Unstable]
[Blackening Value: 20%… 50%… 80%…]
Ethan's eyes widened.
"Hey. What's going on?!" he cried internally.
Xixi's cheerful expression vanished, its screen flickering red.
"Host, get out of there!" Xixi shouted. "The MC is going to kill you!"
"…Wait what?!"
Ethan turned around just as footsteps stopped behind him.
Jamie stood there.
But something was wrong.
His figure flickered like corrupted data, his face distorting for a split second before snapping back into place. His eyes were hollow, glowing faintly blue, as if someone had overwritten his soul.
"What the fuck…" Ethan took a step back.
"Who are you?" Jamie asked.
His voice glitched, tuning in and out unnaturally, layered with something mechanical as he stepped closer.
Ethan swallowed hard.
"Xixi," he whispered in his mind, "is this supposed to happen?"
Xixi spoke rapidly, panicked but precise.
"This world operates on narrative stability. As the designated MC, Jamie has partial authority over world correction. When deviation exceeds tolerance, his role activates a 'self-defense protocol'—eliminating anomalies."
"…Anomalies?" Ethan asked weakly.
"You," Xixi replied grimly. "You're a transmigrator. Your energy signature doesn't belong to this world."
Jamie tilted his head, eyes locking onto Ethan.
"You are not from this world, are you?"
Ethan's heart slammed against his chest—but his face remained blank.
"No."
"I can tell!" Jamie laughed, eyes wild. "Your energy source is different. You're not the original character. You're a glitch!"
Ethan frowned.
Glitch?
Right now, Jamie was the one flickering like bad reception.
"To ensure this world's safety," Jamie said robotically, raising his hand, "all glitches must be eliminated."
A blue flame ignited in his palm.
"Holy sh..!"
Ethan dodged clumsily, his heavy body moving a split second too slow. The flame barely missed his head—
Whoosh.
"Ha… ha…" Ethan sighed in relief.
Then he smelled something.
Burnt.
His scalp felt strangely warm.
"Host," Xixi screamed, "YOU ARE ON FIRE!"
"WHAT?!"
Ethan shrieked, flailing wildly. "What's wrong with the goddess' worlds?! Even NPCs can gain consciousness?!"
He dropped to the ground and rolled, slapping at his hair like his life depended on it—which it did. He grabbed a nearby water fountain hose and sprayed himself indiscriminately, soaking his clothes and face until the flame sputtered out.
Jamie didn't stop.
Another attack came.
Ethan screamed and ran.
"I need help. Only the male lead can help me!"
He burst back into the main hall, panting, nearly crashing into Damien's wheelchair.
"Damien!" Ethan gasped, eyes shining like he'd just found his savior.
Damien frowned. "What?"
Then he saw Jamie.
Empty. Hollow. Like a shell controlled by something else.
Jamie didn't even spare Damien a glance.
He attacked.
Damien's expression turned icy.
He grabbed Ethan by the wrist and pulled him behind the wheelchair in one smooth motion.
"Stay there."
Ethan stared, stunned.
The pressure in the air shifted.
Damien's aura exploded outward—sharp, oppressive, terrifying. The cultivation energy surged like a tidal wave, cracking the stone floor beneath the wheelchair.
Ethan's mouth fell open.
"You can fight… like this?" he whispered internally. "Since when?!"
Xixi replied softly, "Host… the male lead was never weak."
Damien lifted one hand.
The air trembled.
Jamie was slammed back violently, blue flames extinguished, his glitching form destabilizing as Damien's power crushed him like an insect.
The fight was brief.
One-sided.
Jamie collapsed, unconscious, his blackening value dropping rapidly.
Silence fell.
Ethan exhaled shakily...
And then froze.
"…Damien," he said slowly.
"Yes?"
"I think…" Ethan's face turned pale.
"…I think my water just broke."