Wutong Subdistrict Police Station, Lan’ang District, Shangcheng City.

A young woman sat across from two police officers, a man and a woman. She wore a short-sleeved T-shirt layered under a three-quarter sleeve blazer, paired with loose jeans, giving off the look of a casually dressed office worker. 

Her appearance was ordinary—not stunningly beautiful, but her facial features were pleasing.

She said she needed help but had been silent for several minutes, repeatedly hesitating to speak.

The female officer gently encouraged her, “Don’t be afraid. You can tell us anything.”

The young woman finally spoke, “I’m afraid you’ll laugh at me if I tell you.”

The male officer said earnestly, “Then you must have watched too many movies. We serve the people; why would we laugh at you?”

At last, the young woman began, and once she started, the words poured out in a rapid torrent:

“A tall, handsome CEO is madly in love with me. He sent me a private jet and a luxury yacht. He also bought out my company, got jealous and bankrupted several small businesses, and then locked me in a dark room. I just escaped.”

“……”

It seemed these words had circled in her mind countless times before she finally let them out. She spoke fluently and quickly, not even pausing for breath. 

After finishing, she looked at the two officers across from her, studying their reactions. 

“Do you feel like laughing?”

The two officers took a fresh, serious look at the young woman, perhaps trying to find traces of why a domineering CEO might be crazily obsessed with her—or something else.

The female officer remarked, “This sounds familiar. Did you two ever have conflicts, like a breakup or something? And then in some dimly lit place, he pinned you against the wall with red-rimmed eyes, begging you to come back?”

The young woman’s mouth twitched as she nodded, “Something like that.”

The male officer: ???

“What on earth???” He thought the private jet, luxury yacht, and bankrupting other companies were already fantastical enough. How did his colleague manage to deduce such realistic-sounding details from such an absurd scenario?

The female officer asked, “Which website have you been reading novels on lately? This kind of classic plot never seems to go out of style, huh?”

“A very harmonious website,” the young woman replied quickly, then added, “No! It’s not a novel! It’s something that really happened to me!”

The male officer suddenly realized: Another person poisoned by fictional fantasies.

Because honestly, what kind of family casually gives away private jets and luxury yachts while pursuing someone?

What kind of villainous CEO bankrupts other companies on a whim, ruining countless livelihoods in the process?

And he dares lock someone in a dark room? Does he even know that’s a crime?

They had seen such cases before—people so engrossed in fictional worlds. But most were adolescent boys, not adults who had faced life’s harsh realities.

The male officer said, “It’s fine to read novels, but novels are just novels. You can’t take them seriously. We still have to live in reality.”

“You really don’t believe me,” the young woman said painfully. 

“It’s not a novel. It’s real! If you don’t believe me, investigate. Actually, never mind, you don’t need to investigate. He’ll come here to grab me and carry me back to the dark room anytime soon!”

“……”

“He dares come to the police station to kidnap someone?”

The story sounded so outlandish that they couldn’t afford to waste too many resources on it. But since the young woman insisted they investigate, they wouldn’t ignore it entirely.

“We can’t handle him giving you private jets and luxury yachts,” the female officer said. 

“If he locked you in a dark room, that’s illegal detention and kidnapping. As for bankrupting other companies, we’ll check if there’s any economic crime involved.”

“Please register his name and any other information you know about him.”

The video ends on the image of the young woman clutching her head in frustration.

In the meeting room on the second floor of the Wutong Subdistrict Police Station.

The station chief addressed a group of five specialists from the Novel Crisis Management Bureau:

“Xu Xue is still at the station. She’s afraid the CEO will come to catch her, so she refuses to leave.”

“As for what she said, we investigated—and it’s true.”

Wang De: “What the heck! He actually gave her a private jet and a luxury yacht!”

After discovering that Jiang Nian and Zhu Zhu were protagonists at the Novel Crisis Management Bureau, Wang De asked the staff member if protagonists were allowed to go on missions with team leaders. The romance-obsessed staffer nodded.

Protagonists typically have certain unique abilities, are less easily influenced by other novels, and are generally quite useful. 

Therefore, it was common for the bureau to have protagonists accompany team leaders on missions. All three team leaders had several protagonists under their command. And one of the current first-team leaders was even a protagonist from a novel.

However, this privilege was reserved for those who hadn’t committed major mistakes. Male leads like Wang De, who hadn’t truly caused harm to any female characters, were generally allowed to participate.

After receiving confirmation, and seeing that Duan Chunshui and his team were about to leave, Wang De blurted out his desire to join them.

Still, the staff member reminded him that whether he could go depended on the team leader. Not every protagonist was accepted.

As soon as Wang De voiced his request, he regretted it. Not because he didn’t want to go on a mission, but because he knew Duan Chunshui would never take him. Duan Chunshui’s disdain for him was obvious; Zhu Zhu even mentioned that Duan Chunshui wanted to punch him.

Unexpectedly, Duan Chunshui stopped in his tracks, turned around, and beckoned him with a curled finger.

At that moment, Wang De felt as though all eyes were on him—more than he had ever felt, even back when he was the protagonist in his school.

He was thrilled to join Duan Chunshui on a mission. He was curious about what other novels and protagonists were like. He also wanted to see how other protagonists fared under these four team leaders.

But the sight of the first protagonist shattered him: A private jet, a luxury yacht… How was there such a stark contrast between protagonists?

The station chief nodded. “Yes, he gave her those, along with a motorhome and jewelry.”

Xiao Xu exclaimed, “What kind of family has that much money?”

The station chief replied, “It’s Ji Chunshan.”

“……”

Almost no one in Shangcheng City didn’t know about Ji Chunshan—he was a famous wealthy man. Many people from outside the city probably knew him as well, considering he’d once trended on social media under the hashtag

#NovelCEOEntersReality#.

Now it seemed reality’s CEO had entered a novel instead.

Duan Chunshui, who had been silent until now, chuckled. “Now this is interesting.”

Jiang Nian glanced at the girl in the video. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly before quickly falling again.

Wang De didn’t follow their train of thought. “What’s so interesting?”

Xiao Xu explained, “If it’s Ji Chunshan and this girl named Xu Xue, then who’s the protagonist?”

“Ji Chunshan, obviously,” Wang De answered immediately.

When he first saw the video, he’d assumed some foolish protagonist from a novel had appeared in Xu Xue’s life and expressed his over-the-top CEO love for her. If it was Ji Chunshan, a real person, then he must have been given the halo of a novel protagonist, just like Wang De.

Ji Chunshan was even worse off—he’d been given a protagonist halo that only caused him to spend lavishly, using his own money.