Chapter 1: The World Collapses, Do It All Over Again
“Shihan! Shihan! Where are you?” In the dim warehouse, Lin Tai kept running forward, searching, unaware that a dark gun barrel was already aimed at his back.
The trigger was pulled, the silencer effectively muffling the gunshot. In the darkness, the bullet instantly pierced through Lin Tai’s heart.
“I can finally go home.” Lin Tai’s eyes stared blankly at the ground, his consciousness gradually fading. But he didn’t forget the ending scripted for him. With difficulty, he used his index finger to write the three characters “Xia Shihan” on the dusty warehouse floor.
“I’m back!” Lin Tai leapt up from a soft Simmons mattress, shouting loudly toward the window.
A gentle breeze rustled the exquisite curtains, and the elegant, grand European-style decor filled the room. The desk was adorned with a display of various luxury watches from around the world.
“This environment … why does it feel so familiar?” Although Lin Tai had been transmigrated for over a decade, his memories of his real-world home were nothing .
“Hiss, you damned system, come out and explain what’s going on!” Lin Tai was a transmigrator, and like many others, he was bound to a system—the Salted Fish System.
[Beep, Host, severe damage to the plot has been detected. The Heavenly Dao has reset the world. Please start over.]
“Damn it, screw this!” Lin Tai was furious. “I was 99% done with the plot, and you’re telling me I ruined it? Why do I feel like you’re messing with me?”
[Please rest assured, Host. The Salted Fish System is fully aligned with you and will never screw you over.]
Over a decade ago, Lin Tai was born into a wealthy family with loving parents and harmonious siblings, living a carefree and joyful life.
But then this damned system showed up out of nowhere, unreasonably binding him and dragging him into this world, turning him into the simp supporting male character in the novel Emperor’s Return.
The Salted Fish System told him that as long as he idly followed the original plot of the novel, he could return to Earth and reunite with his family.
Emperor’s Return was a traditional male-oriented power fantasy novel. It followed Ye Bai, the eldest grandson of the top family among the four major clans. As a child, his parents were ambushed and killed, and he was exiled abroad.
After eighteen years of laying low, he returned to the country, collecting a harem of beauties and building his own commercial empire—an ultimate wish-fulfillment story.
In this novel, everything imaginable—and even the unimaginable—was included for the sake of indulgence. The heroines numbered over eighty.
Of course, none of this had anything to do with Lin Tai. He had transmigrated into a vicious supporting male character of the same name, who was repeatedly humiliated and had his love interests stolen by the protagonist in the early stages.
But Lin Tai didn’t care. As long as he completed the plot, he could return to the real world and live freely with the Salted Fish System.
For years, Lin Tai had diligently maintained his villainous persona, finally completing the life of the vicious supporting male character. And now, he had to do it again?!
“Damn it, I’m done! Send me back right now!” Lin Tai didn’t care anymore.
Unfortunately, all he got in response was the system’s silence.
After a long while, Lin Tai gave up. Without the system, he had no way to return.
“What’s my situation now? Do I have to start from birth again?”
[Host, the Salted Fish System has skipped the first eighteen years and will restart from the point where the plot was altered.]
“Oh, now you show up,” Lin Tai sighed, realizing he had no choice but to accept reality and do it all over again.
“What’s the current plot?”
“Emperor’s Return, Chapter 35: The Lin Family Birthday Banquet.”
The Lin Family Birthday Banquet was straightforward. It marked Lin Tai’s first appearance in the novel as the vicious supporting male character.
His persona was that of a super devoted simp (true love) for the icy CEO heroine, Xia Shihan. When Xia Shihan brought the protagonist Ye Bai to his birthday banquet, Lin Tai, as the antagonist, stirred up trouble, only to be humiliated by Ye Bai, who used the event to make a name for himself in high society.
“I’m warning you, this is the last time. If I complete the plot and still can’t go back, I’m done!” Lin Tai was dead serious.
Knock knock. A knock came from the door. “Young Master, the suit for your birthday has arrived.”
“Coming!” Lin Tai took a deep breath, a thrilled smile curling on his lips as he quickly walked to the door and opened it.
After over a decade, his acting skills were polished to perfection, and he could switch expressions in an instant.
“Young Master, here you go.” The maid handed him an exquisite suit box, sighing softly as she watched Lin Tai’s excited figure retreat.
Their young master was such a fine young man—why did he have to fall for a cold-hearted woman like Xia Shihan?
Lin Tai changed into the new suit and put on the watch he thought matched best before heading downstairs.
The Lin family’s mansion was massive, spanning over a thousand square meters in a European duplex style. The wooden staircases on both sides were made of premium golden nanmu wood, and the grand living room in the center featured a sofa crafted from the world’s most precious silk.
The living room was tastefully decorated with carefully placed antiques and famous paintings, making the entire house feel like an artistic palace.
Emperor’s Return was set in a fictional world where the four major clans and ten minor clans were outrageously wealthy. The real world’s top tycoons, like “Old Ma,” wouldn’t even register in their presence.
The Lin family belonged to the ten minor clans, with a family fortune and industrial chain worth hundreds of billions and a corporate group valued at trillions, though no precise figures were ever tallied.
With this status and background in the real world, he’d be an untouchable second-generation heir.
Even someone like Principal Wang would have to step aside.
Unfortunately, in the novel, he was just a devoted simp.