Survival Guide for the Charming Villain
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“You haven’t even settled your household registration, and the family head has already passed away. We, mother and son, have no one to rely on in the Lu family. Be good, Rong Rong. You need to get along with your eldest brother. Why bother with that illegitimate child, Lu Feng? What’s the point of paying attention to him?”
Mother suddenly tugged hard on his sleeve, speaking impatiently, “What are you spacing out for? Do you still want to stay in the Lu family and live as your wealthy young master?”
Xi Rong, around eight years old, stared blankly into the air with his beautiful eyes, looking as if he were daydreaming.
No one could see the lines of text that appeared in the void.
Above the head of the woman with meticulously done makeup appeared a line of annotation.
[Stepmother]
Just two short words, not even a name. It seemed she was an even more marginal character than him.
At least his annotation was 'Lu Feng’s sworn brother' After the system captured his information, it even added his name, 'Xi Rong' along with a smaller line explaining his role in this story.
[A shadow over the male lead Lu Feng’s youth, who took pleasure in bullying Lu Feng from a young age]
A proper villain.
Though a relatively marginal one, his fate in the game was tragic.
Moreover.
This game had already gone haywire.
The currently trending full-immersion game 'Gentel Trap' had brought the company massive profits within just three months of its release.
With its perfect character models, unique male lead personas, innovative plot settings, and sweet romance as its selling points, it attracted countless girls to spend money like crazy.
Not only that, due to the high difficulty of character conquests, it hooked players like a fish on a line, making even male players skilled in such games dive into 'Gentel Trap', claiming it was worth it.
But a few days ago, the game was suddenly attacked by an unknown virus. The characters in the game began to malfunction one after another, launching attacks on the players.
“He pulled out a knife from a sweet cake.”
“The prince bit off my head the moment he kissed me.”
“The archangel who exchanged rings dug out my heart.”
The eerie and insane collapse-style killings sent players fleeing in panic. Even the background NPCs became highly aggressive.
What was even more terrifying was that a large number of players couldn’t log out of the game normally and were killed by NPCs countless times.
Xi Rong received a mission to disguise himself as an in-game NPC and enter *Gentel Trap' to save the players.
Unexpectedly, the game’s exit checkpoint detected that all players had logged out and promptly sealed the exit.
Xi Rong, as an in-game NPC, was left in this world.
Then, upon opening his eyes, he saw a soft little kids calling him 'brother'
If it weren’t for the annotation above the little kids’s head, Xi Rong might have thought he had just woken up in a hospital, with someone else’s young master lost and tearfully calling for his brother.
The six- or seven-year-old child, soft and timid, called out 'brother' and said he was hungry. No one’s heart wouldn’t soften.
“I understand, Mom.”
Based on the current information, Xi Rong followed his mother to the Lu family. Unfortunately, his stepfather passed away before he could even register his household.
Although the mother and son could still live in the Lu household, their days were filled with anxiety. From a young age, his mother taught him to flatter those in power and look down on the weak.
The pitiful Lu Feng was an illegitimate child. After Lu Feng’s mother passed away from illness, he had no choice but to be raised in the Lu family.
The eldest brother, who had just reached adulthood, took over as the family head. He despised Lu Feng’s mother the most, while Xi Rong and his mother were secondary targets.
At the bottom of the hierarchy, Lu Feng naturally became the most bullied.
"Alright, Rong Rong, be good and go to bed early. Tomorrow morning, you’ll go to school with your cousin. Don’t pay attention to that jinx."
Hmm.
As expected, the childhood of a strong yet tragic male lead is always dark. Especially for Xi Rong, who knew the plot, he couldn’t help but feel deep sympathy for the male lead.
This was Lu Feng, the male lead from the popular school arc 'Top Ambiguity' in the full-immersion game 'Gentel trap'. His popularity was undoubtedly among the top three. Compared to other fantasy arcs, this one didn’t have as many flashy settings, but Lu Feng’s character design was absolutely top-tier.
Whether it was his appearance, personality, or the artistic and academic buffs he possessed, he perfectly fit the fantasies of countless girls. Coupled with his tragic childhood and his success in breaking away from his family to start his own business at a young age, it was clear that this set the stage for a sweet, doting romance with a future domineering CEO.
Lu Feng’s tragic childhood was a key point for players to conquer him. Although the game’s high difficulty meant that no player had fully conquered Lu Feng in the three months since its release, according to strategies by veteran players, Lu Feng’s childhood past was definitely a major selling point.
For example, the fact that Lu Feng had claustrophobia^ was a rare drop. If a player managed to trigger this and cure him, his favorability could increase by ten points.
And the person who caused Lu Feng’s claustrophobia was none other than his sworn brother.
Xi Rong glanced at his own annotation.
[Lu Feng’s sworn brother]
It was indeed him.
I heard that helping Lu Feng while making him feel embarrassed could increase his favorability by five points.
Thanks a lot.
The school arc had a place for him, and he was the kind of villain who could increase Lu Feng’s favorability by being dealt with.
It was easy to imagine how much damage this sworn brother had caused Lu Feng.
Following the original plot would be suicidal.
Xi Rong yawned and prepared to go to bed.
The Lu family’s main residence was like a large estate. The main building, five stories tall, was for the family members. Xi Rong’s room was on the third floor.
The corridor lights were dimmer than those on the second floor. Just as Xi Rong was about to enter his room, he suddenly noticed a timid little figure standing by the doorpost.
So cute!
Xi Rong was a standard corporate drone at his company, not only a programmer but also a part-time illustrator. Due to his personal hobby, he often secretly created character designs and raised 'children'.
The chibi version of Lu Feng was his creation. He had many unreleased original artworks and had secretly collected nearly 100GB of character designs.
He had once unintentionally created a chibi version of Lu Feng and instantly fell in love with it. He never expected to see a real-life version now!
The five- or six-year-old Lu Feng was half a head shorter than him. As he walked closer, Xi Rong could see his soft, fluffy black hair and tiny head.
"Brother, hold hands~"
Timidly, he extended his small hand.
Adorable!
Almost as if possessed, Xi Rong reached out his hand.
It wasn’t just because he feared the male lead would suppress him later according to the plot or that his fate would be tragic after the game malfunctioned.
The seven- or eight-year-old child looked almost identical to the chibi version he had designed.
It was impossible to refuse.
But suddenly, a glitch-like phenomenon occurred. A large "Warning" sign appeared in the void.
It was unclear what the warning was about.
Xi Rong paused for a moment but didn’t pay too much attention. He took the chibi’s small hand in his.
So soft. It felt like breaking through the dimensional wall.
He had participated in the beta test of 'Gentel Trap' and gone through the game’s storyline. The full-immersion characters were incredibly realistic, even down to the touch.
But now, it was too, too, too realistic. The texture of the character’s skin was no different from that of a living person, just like a real human.
Little Lu Feng showed a sweet smile, but the next moment, his smile froze, and he revealed a hurt expression.
Because his 'brother' had flung his hand away as if touching something contaminated.
No! Please don’t look so hurt. It wasn’t intentional.
The tongue-tied Xi Rong couldn’t explain such a complicated reason.
The texture of the skin felt too real. Having not been in contact with anyone for a long time, Xi Rong broke out in goosebumps all over. His old condition had flared up again.
He suffered from severe haphephobia^ and a strange form of skin hunger.
Coming into contact with someone else’s skin would trigger a full-body, hair-raising reaction. In severe cases, it could cause dizziness, flushed cheeks, a racing heartbeat, and rapid breathing—essentially, it was like a rejection phenomenon.
At the same time, his body would immediately crave the sensation of being touched, creating a contradictory response.
The episodes were terrifying, so he rarely interacted with people. As a programmer and illustrator, he had previously used his own models in a single-person full-immersion pod for treatment during his recovery. Now, his symptoms had improved significantly.
He had thought that being in the game wouldn’t trigger any reactions, but unexpectedly, he experienced the same symptoms as when touching real human skin in reality.
Thankfully, it was just a child.
And his symptoms were already much milder.
Xi Rong tried to speak as gently as possible. "A-Feng, why aren’t you sleeping?"
Xi Rong was a standard social introvert and not very good at communicating with others.
Fortunately, children weren’t too much pressure.
Lu Feng said pitifully, "The door is locked."
Xi Rong was slightly stunned.
In the Lu family, even the servants treated Lu Feng poorly. Late at night, if Lu Feng called for someone, no one would respond. He might have to spend the night outside again.
When Xi Rong had first entered this NPC’s body, he heard Lu Feng calling out that he was hungry. He had taken him to eat and shown him kindness, so Lu Feng had instinctively come to him for help. Xi Rong’s room was six doors away from Lu Feng’s.
The lock was high up, and it was indeed locked tight.
The servants were on the first floor. Xi Rong went downstairs and found a servant to unlock the door.
"Thank you, brother."
After saying this, Lu Feng obediently went into his room.
He looked so well-behaved. It was hard to imagine him崩坏后 (after the collapse) pulling out a knife from a cake to attack someone.
The warning signs in the void terminal had appeared several times already. When he went downstairs with Lu Feng for breakfast the next morning, the warnings had clearly spelled out the message.
[NPC behavior abnormal. System warning: NPC behavior abnormal!]
It seemed to be protesting Xi Rong’s attitude toward the male lead.
However, if he followed the original trajectory, his fate would be tragic.
He couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Moreover, Xi Rong wasn’t actually an NPC in the game.
He could leave.
His body was immersed in a full-immersion nutrient pod in the real world. He couldn’t stay here for long. Last night, he had already found a way to exit. If nothing went wrong, he could leave tonight.
For now, he was just treating the child the way he naturally would.
Besides, the child looked so much like the chibi version he had created.
By the time they returned home from school in the evening, the warnings had accumulated to a terrifying level. Xi Rong felt a slight sense of unease. The code he had written last night had already taken effect, and the exit channel had been opened. Soon, he would be able to log out of the game.
"Goodbye, A-Feng."
He couldn’t resist touching the chibi Lu Feng’s hair. It wasn’t skin contact, so it was fine.
After closing the door, the entire space was filled with dense lines of code. The exit channel was fully open.
[Alert! Abnormal data is escaping through the port! Seal it! Seal it!]
How could this be?
[Eliminate all abnormal data with full force!]
This couldn’t be a mistake, right?
[Port fully closed!]
Before Xi Rong could react, his consciousness began to blur. The entire world was filled with large, blood-red warning signs, and it felt as if the entire space was heating up.
The world gradually darkened, and Xi Rong finally lost consciousness.
He didn’t know how much time had passed. It felt like he was half-asleep, half-awake when a cold electronic voice sounded in his ear.
[First-generation system Alpha at your service—]
[Scanning player’s physical data.]
[Zzz... Zzz... Zzz! Data abnormal. Alpha binding to abnormal NPC.]
[Welcome to the infinite horror real-life game 'Gentel Trap', school arc 'Top Ambiguity' (crossed out)... Welcome to the school arc 'Mingde High School'—]
[Loading plot for the host—]
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Claustrophobia is the fear of confined or enclosed spaces. People with claustrophobia often experience intense anxiety or panic when in situations like small rooms, elevators, crowded places, or tight spaces.
Haphephobia is an intense and irrational fear of being touched. People with haphephobia may experience extreme anxiety, discomfort, or even panic when someone touches them, regardless of whether the touch is gentle or from someone they know.