The Dark-Themed Novel's Male Lead

Wen Yiqian had transmigrated.

Well, this wasn’t exactly a big deal.

After all, such a stroke of luck usually only befell those one-in-a-million Children of Destiny.

Now that it had happened to him, it could be considered a blessing from his ancestors.

From now on, a loser’s comeback, a powerful rise, defying fate: all of that would be a piece of cake.

At the very least, he’d be granted a noble title, live without worry for food or clothing, and have a harem of wives and concubines.

But Wen Yiqian was a little panicked right now.

He had transmigrated into a novel he had written, and he had become the male lead.

That didn’t sound too bad.

However, Wen Yiqian was a veteran deadbeat writer who specialized in dark-themed novels.

The kind where the male lead could casually step out the door and run into several serial killers!

…

“Why did I have to transmigrate into this damned world?”

Inside the rented apartment, Wen Yiqian felt like crying but had no tears.

He was like an ant on a hot pan, restless and uneasy.

If heaven gave him another chance, Wen Yiqian would absolutely never write dark-themed novels again.

Wouldn’t it be better to write a simple, wish-fulfillment novel like a Long Aotian-style story?

Wide audience, low reader expectations, no worries about getting banned.

If he had transmigrated into the male lead of that kind of novel, he would have laughed in his sleep. He wouldn’t be as anxious as he was now.

After finally calming his nerves, Wen Yiqian slowly began to sort out his thoughts.

First, it was certain that this was the world of the novel he had written, “Mask.”

Second, he had transmigrated into the male lead of this novel: Wen Yiqian.

Yes, that’s right. The male lead of the novel he wrote had the exact same name as his real one.

Writers who did this kind of thing were, to some extent, either a bit chuunibyou or brain-dead.

Wen Yiqian was probably both.

He talked big online, but in real life he was timid and submissive, not even daring to watch horror movies alone.

Yet every novel he wrote was a dark-themed horror thriller.

“Mask” was Wen Yiqian’s new serialized novel, with fewer than two hundred thousand words written so far.

The story wasn’t too complicated. In the novel, the male lead’s parents died early.

Because both parents had mental illnesses, he was born with a brain defect, making his thinking extremely slow and causing him to appear very dull, leading others to mistake him for an idiot.

Bullied since childhood, he one day suffered a blow to the head, like a key opening a certain door.

His originally sluggish mind finally returned to normal.

It turned out that the male lead wasn’t an idiot but a genius with exceptionally high intelligence.

Having witnessed too much of the harshness of human nature since childhood, seeds of madness had long been planted deep in his heart.

The male lead gradually descended into the abyss of darkness.

In the novel, Wen Yiqian wasn’t just the male lead but also the biggest villain boss.

The story after his awakening was much simpler.

It was basically him using his extraordinary intelligence to toy with various serial killers.

The male lead’s only cheat in the novel was his exceptionally high intelligence.

Now that Wen Yiqian had transmigrated into the male lead, even this sole cheat… was gone.

He was self-aware: he was just a simpleton.

The male lead’s extraordinary intelligence in the novel was something he had painstakingly crafted using his god-like perspective and racking his brains.

If Wen Yiqian himself had to outwit those serial killers, he’d probably be scared stiff.

“May 31, 2019.”

Wen Yiqian took out his phone and looked at the date on the screen. His expression turned dazed.

This was exactly where his novel’s latest chapter left off.

In other words, even as the author of this book, he couldn’t predict what would happen next.

There was no other way: for a perennial deadbeat writer like him who wrote wherever his imagination took him, things like saved drafts or outlines simply didn’t exist.

“If I can’t even foresee the plot, what’s the point of transmigrating into a book?”

“Heaven wants to destroy me!”

Wen Yiqian clutched his hair in agony.

The lit phone screen gradually dimmed, reflecting his face.

“So handsome…”

Wen Yiqian, who had been in pain just moments before, froze, a silly smile unconsciously curling at the corners of his mouth.

In his original setting, the male lead of “Mask” was an incredibly handsome, high-IQ psychopath.

But that was merely imagination. Now, seeing it with his own eyes, he was still struck by his own handsomeness.

“Unfortunately, compared to the real me, it’s still a little lacking…”

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong!

The sudden sound of the doorbell interrupted Wen Yiqian’s thoughts.

Since he couldn’t predict the subsequent plot, he had no idea who was outside.

Mulling it over, he walked forward and opened the door.

Standing outside was a still-charming young woman dressed in casual home clothes, with a smile as warm as a spring breeze on her face.

“Who are you?” Wen Yiqian instinctively asked.

Immediately after, he noticed that the door to the room directly across the hall was wide open, clearly indicating that this young woman lived right across from him.

A young woman living across from the male lead’s home…

Xu Xuanmei, 33 years old, lived across from the male lead with her husband, Zhang Yi.

On May 27th, Xu Xuanmei returned home to find her husband having an affair with another woman.

After a heated argument, she accidentally killed her husband and, deciding to go all the way, killed the other woman as well.

She stayed at home without eating or drinking for two days before finally stepping out, at which point the male lead across the hall noticed something was off.

On the evening of May 30th, which was last night, the male lead, having nothing better to do, paid her a special visit.

As the author of this book, Wen Yiqian knew every detail about this woman’s background.

In the book, she was just an insignificant minor character: a murderer, yes, but not even qualified to be more than a toy for the protagonist.

According to the plot in the book, the male lead had deliberately visited her yesterday and, through some probing and deduction, had roughly guessed the truth. He had then toyed with her, deliberately provoking her before leaving.

Thinking of this, Wen Yiqian felt cold sweat trickling down his back.

Despite her gentle and lovely appearance, this young woman had two lives on her hands. Having spent two days with the corpses, her psyche had long since twisted.

If it were the actual male lead, a character like her could easily be manipulated and played with.

However, the current Wen Yiqian was nothing more than a deadbeat writer, all talk online, and a complete fool.

Seeing a murderer for the first time with his own eyes, he was so terrified that his body stiffened.

“Playing dumb isn’t a good habit, little brother…” Xu Xuanmei said with a gentle smile, extending her hand to reveal a gleaming fruit knife, pressing it firmly against Wen Yiqian’s abdomen.

Wen Yiqian could even feel the sharp, cold tip of the knife ready to pierce his flesh at any moment. He instinctively raised his hands.

In the past, whenever he watched TV and saw hostages easily taken by kidnappers, he couldn’t help but scoff.

Like idiots, why didn’t they dodge? Why didn’t they resist?

Now, Wen Yiqian finally knew the answer: because they were scared!

Fear made his body stiffen and his brain slow to a crawl.

Even in this situation, he didn’t have the courage to call for help or turn and run.

After all, if he got stabbed, even if he didn’t die, it would definitely hurt a lot, right?

(End of Chapter)