The Beginning After The End (Web Novel) - Chapter 20: Proclamation

I, Fang Cheng, an Immortal.Although I had developed many hit games, there was one question I never quite figured out.Games, why are you fun?

Leo had a problem. Don't be like Leo!It wasn't that he was poor. It wasn't that he was unlucky. It was that he had been cursed, or blessed by the Accidental Tycoon System.The rules were deceptively simple. Any money he lost on an investment would be returned to him, doubled. And any money he gained, aside from system reimbursement couldn't be used by him on himself.His life's new mission was crystal clear. He had to go bankrupt.In a high-tech world of S-Rank Heroes, magic, and newly-contacted alien civilizations, this should have been the easiest thing to achieve in the galaxy. He just had to become the biggest, most spectacular loser the universe had ever seen.So, he tried. Oh, how he tried...He threw billions at publishing a dungeon guide written by a 10-year-old. The maps were in crayon, and it listed the final boss as a Big Grumpy Badger.[Breaking: New S-Rank dungeon called 'The Whispering Labyrinth' appears! All high-tech mapping drones fail. A lost F-Rank porter used the crayon guide... and it's 100% accurate. The final boss is a 50-foot divine badger. The Galactic Union has declared the guide a 'holy text' for exploration!]He bought the galaxy's most useless moon, planning to build a 'Museum of Paint'.[Alert: Ancient magical ley-lines discovered under the moon's surface! It's the only place in the universe that can safely grow the 'Star-Lotus,' the key ingredient for immortality!]To the Intergalactic Hero's Guild, the Magic Academies, and the Alien Federations, Leo was the god of investment whose every move was like 5D chess that ordinary people couldn't understand.Heroes would soar with his sponsorship. Alien emperors offered him their daughters' hands in marriage for a single 'tip'.But Leo just stared at his bank account, which now displayed his wealth that he couldn't use on himself, with tears streaming down his face.“Please,” he cried, “I'm trying to fail! Why won't you just let me be poor?!”

To Gu Mo, everyday life seems like a peculiar online game. He gets 'knocked offline' after being awake for 8 hours and can see other people's IDs and health bars.And even worse, he could enter some mysterious places in the city.“Buzz...for protecting...buzz...physical and mental health, users under 18 are subject to the anti-addiction system restrictions, your...online hours have reached eight, forced offline...login restriction...please complete quickly...buzz...official certification...”

There was a time when I used to think, “How nice would it be if I got transported into a novel world?”Yeah, I know, it sounds childish—but who cares?It was just a passing thought. I never imagined those silly wishes would actually come true.And yet, I opened my eyes to find myself possessed by the villain of a romance fantasy novel.Not just fantasy—romance fantasy.The worst part? I wasn’t even the main villain, just a stepping stone for the female protagonist… who also happened to be my fiancée.Thankfully, the engagement was broken off, and I thought I could fade into the background as a mob character, ruined by the plot.…But for some reason, the female lead won’t let me go.