The Second Male Lead

The three novels take place in different areas of Lujin City.  

The overbearing CEO novel is set in the East, the e-sports novel in the South, and the entertainment industry novel in the West.  

In each district, Nan Pei’s tasks and personas differ.  

The system reminded Nan Pei, “Host, since your persona in the e-sports novel differs from that in the overbearing CEO novel, you must change your outfit now to avoid any risks.”  

Nan Pei asked, surprised and puzzled, “Change now? Is there enough time?”  

The system replied, “You have residences in all three areas. Before each storyline begins, you must go to the residence in that area to change clothes to better fit the persona.”  

“I understand,” Nan Pei nodded.  

Changing costumes before filming is a basic skill for actors juggling multiple roles.  

“By the way, if the personas differ, won’t there be unexpected issues?” Nan Pei frowned, a hint of worry in his eyes, “Like the e-sports male lead noticing my brainless persona in the CEO area and discovering my lapdog behavior for other male leads.”  

“There is indeed such a risk,” the system replied, “If that happens, it will likely lead to plot deviation. So, host, make sure the male leads never discover each other’s existence.”  

Nan Pei couldn’t help but sigh, “High-paying jobs really do come with high risks.”  

Half an hour later.  

TKT E-sports Club.  

A negotiation was taking place in the meeting room.  

The negotiation was about Nan Pei investing in the TKT club.  

In the e-sports novel, TKT Club is where the main character gong, Duan Heng, belongs.  

Initially, this club was small and mediocre until Duan Heng led the team to win the league’s runner-up, gaining sudden fame.  

In the storyline, Nan Pei is Duan Heng’s pursuer and has done a lot for TKT, like buying equipment and renovating.  

But Nan Pei doesn’t understand e-sports, and he did these things just to get close to Duan Heng, which made Duan Heng very annoyed.  

Now, as the male lead of the e-sports novel, Duan Heng’s luck is insufficient, and TKT Club is facing a serious crisis—  

Investors are starting to withdraw.  

In Duan Heng’s eyes, this isn’t a big deal since the league is about to start.  

But Nan Pei knows that once investors withdraw, TKT won’t be able to recruit new members, nor will they achieve good results in the league.  

Because the team that achieved results in the original book wasn’t the current team but a reorganized one.  

The butterfly effect caused by insufficient luck is that this team hasn’t been formed yet.  

In the original plot, Nan Pei invested a small amount in TKT but didn’t interfere with club matters—this was Duan Heng’s request.  

Now, Nan Pei plans to use this investment storyline to increase his investment, become the club’s owner, and gain real power.  

Only then can he change TKT Club’s fate.  

After signing the contract, Manager Ruan of TKT Club, with a face full of smiles, said to Nan Pei, “President Pei, I really didn’t expect you to invest so much money. You truly are a big boss.”  

Nan Pei, dressed in a gray suit, with neatly combed hair and gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, looked fair and delicate.  

After changing his outfit, Nan Pei no longer had the playboy aura from the CEO novel, looking every bit like a well-mannered noble young man.  

“In addition to the investment, there’s also a batch of new equipment arriving today,” Nan Pei said with a slight smile, “I hope to see a brand-new TKT team.”  

Manager Ruan praised endlessly, “President Pei, you’re practically a savior to everyone…”  

After the meeting, Nan Pei officially became the owner of TKT Club.  

He walked out the door, and TKT members were waiting outside, greeting him warmly.  

Except for one person hiding at the back of the crowd.  

Nan Pei immediately spotted the most conspicuous boy and gently called out, “Xiao Duan, long time no see.”  

Everyone tactfully made way for Nan Pei.  

Duan Heng had nowhere to hide, frowned slightly, and pursed his lips without responding.  

Nan Pei walked up to Duan Heng and asked expectantly, “Are you satisfied with the new club venue’s renovation?”  

Nan Pei not only provided a new venue for the club but also decorated it in Duan Heng’s favorite style.  

Duan Heng, tall with long legs, fair skin, bangs hanging over his forehead, had sharp, clean eyes, and a shallow mole on his straight nose.  

His aggressive appearance was softened by his youthful age of nineteen.  

Duan Heng had a very irritable temper, and facing Nan Pei’s attempt to claim credit, he frowned and said coldly, “Not satisfied.”  

Nan Pei was momentarily stunned, disappointment flashing in his eyes, but he quickly perked up and cautiously asked, “What style of renovation do you like? I’ll change it right away…”  

“No need,” Duan Heng interrupted Nan Pei impatiently.  

In everyone’s eyes, Nan Pei was a good investor, generous and polite.  

But in Duan Heng’s eyes, Nan Pei was just a hypocritical rich kid trying to get close to him with money, so naturally, he had no good attitude towards him.  

“Xiao Duan, President Pei just signed a multi-million investment contract with TKT,” Manager Ruan quickly intervened, “He’s doing this to let you focus on the competition…”  

“Investing so much, isn’t it just to control the club?” Duan Heng said bluntly, looking at Nan Pei with a hint of sarcasm, “What can someone who doesn’t understand e-sports bring to the team?”  

Nan Pei awkwardly froze in place.  

Manager Ruan quickly said, “President Pei, Duan Heng lost a few matches recently, so he’s in a bad mood. Please forgive him.”  

After saying this, Manager Ruan winked at Duan Heng, “Duan Heng, didn’t you say you wanted to play games with President Pei a few days ago? Now’s a good time, why don’t you two…”  

“When did I say that?” Duan Heng looked at Nan Pei, sneered, and said disdainfully, “I don’t want to play with noobs.”  

Not long ago, Manager Ruan arranged for the two to play games together to secure Nan Pei’s investment. For Duan Heng, who had a strong sense of pride, this was nothing short of humiliation.  

Moreover, as an e-sports genius, Duan Heng naturally looked down on players who were bad at games.  

After saying this, Duan Heng turned and left.  

Manager Ruan glanced at Nan Pei’s stunned and saddened expression and immediately chased after Duan Heng, “Where are you going?!”  

Nan Pei stood there for a while, then eventually followed.  

The people at the door, seeing this, didn’t dare to speak, only starting to whisper after the three had left.  

“This is the first time I’ve seen such a humble investor.”  

“How much does Nan Pei like Duan Heng to invest so much money?”  

“Too bad Duan Heng doesn’t like him, money can’t buy everything.”  

Their words were filled with confusion and sympathy for Nan Pei.  

Around the corner, Manager Ruan caught up with Duan Heng and asked, “Duan Heng, what’s with your attitude?”  

“I’m not throwing a tantrum,” Duan Heng said nonchalantly, hands in his pockets, “I just find him annoying and don’t want to see him.”  

“President Pei taking a liking to a poor kid like you is your blessing,” Manager Ruan said seriously, “Besides, President Pei hasn’t forced you to do anything, at most just play games and eat with you. Other investors would have forced you into bed by now.”  

Duan Heng sneered and sarcastically asked, “So I should be grateful?”  

Manager Ruan frowned, “TKT Club was saved by him. You can offend him for your pride, but have you thought about your teammates?”  

Hearing this, Duan Heng seemed to be hit in a soft spot, his fingers involuntarily clenching.  

Though he had the worst temper in the team, he was also the most loyal.  

“Besides, TKT’s performance isn’t great,” Manager Ruan continued to persuade, seeing Duan Heng waver, “You don’t have any trophies, and besides President Pei, no one would invest so much in you.”  

Duan Heng’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his eyes lowered, his jawline tense.  

He closed his eyes, hiding the unwillingness and resentment in his eyes.  

Why didn’t they achieve good results in the last league? If he had tried harder and made fewer mistakes, would TKT not need to be held hostage by someone like Nan Pei…  

Before long, Nan Pei caught up.  

Duan Heng looked up at Nan Pei, a flash of hatred in his eyes, but he quickly looked away, hiding all his emotions.  

“President Pei, Xiao Duan is young, please don’t take it to heart,” Manager Ruan apologized to Nan Pei, nodding and bowing, “I just scolded him, and he realizes his mistake.”  

Nan Pei, however, scolded Manager Ruan, “Don’t scold Xiao Duan next time.”  

Manager Ruan was stunned, quickly saying, “I wouldn’t dare, I just said a few words.”  

Then, Manager Ruan pulled Duan Heng’s arm and said to Nan Pei, “Xiao Duan just said he actually wants to play games with you, let’s go to the training room now.”  

The gloom in Nan Pei’s eyes disappeared, and he said in surprise, “Really?”  

Duan Heng looked at Nan Pei, didn’t speak, but didn’t refuse like before either.  

Manager Ruan seized the opportunity to flatter, “Xiao Duan has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. President Pei is so good at games, of course, he’d want to play with you.”  

Nan Pei looked at Duan Heng with joy, and Duan Heng’s face remained expressionless, only letting out a reluctant “hmm” after a long while.  

Afraid Duan Heng would change his mind, Manager Ruan quickly led them to the training room, bringing Nan Pei to Duan Heng’s seat. Seeing the computer was on, he said to Nan Pei, “President Pei, you can sit here and use Xiao Duan’s account.”  

Then he told Duan Heng, “Borrow an account from someone else, so President Pei doesn’t have to log in again.”  

Next, Manager Ruan gathered a few of the best players to team up with Nan Pei for ranked matches.  

The atmosphere was a bit stiff, and the other members didn’t dare to speak much.  

Nan Pei glanced at Duan Heng, who was staring at the screen, expressionless.  

Playing games was part of the storyline.  

Nan Pei could use this opportunity to understand TKT’s current situation and get closer to the members, making future decisions easier to implement.  

A few minutes later, the game began.  

Except for Nan Pei, everyone else was around eighteen years old, and as soon as the game started, they began chatting, lightening the mood.  

While chatting, everyone except Duan Heng was subtly trying to please Nan Pei, their benefactor.  

The benefactor himself was a bit nervous and asked the system, “Even though I’m good at MOBA games, I haven’t played this one. Will it break my persona?”  

“Stay calm, host. I’m transmitting the game data of ‘Crown of Thorns’ to your brain,” the system replied calmly, “And don’t forget, in the e-sports novel, Nan Pei’s skills are supposed to be bad.”  

In this book, although Nan Pei is a young elite from a wealthy family and became a president at a young age, he has one skill he can never master—playing games. Because of this, he greatly admires Duan Heng.  

Remembering this, Nan Pei felt much more at ease.  

During the hero selection phase, the teammates let Nan Pei choose first.  

Nan Pei quickly understood the game through the system’s data and locked in a support role, choosing the simplest one.  

The TKT members cooperatively took other roles, leaving the ADC position for Duan Heng, which is often paired with the support role.  

Duan Heng said nothing and locked in an ADC with many mobility skills.  

“Oh, that’s your signature hero,” Manager Ruan watched from the side, thinking Duan Heng finally got it, “Looks like he’s going to show off in front of President Pei.”  

The other TKT members also gathered to watch the match.  

Once in the game, Nan Pei followed Duan Heng to the bottom lane.  

Duan Heng played aggressively from level one. Nan Pei followed behind, watching him perform dazzling moves, and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow, amazing.”  

Although he had played MOBA games before and was quite skilled, it was his first time playing with a professional, so he was naturally amazed.  

Hearing Nan Pei’s voice, Duan Heng frowned slightly.  

When playing games with Duan Heng, Nan Pei was always reserved and nervous, rarely showing emotion, and often not focused on the game, just using it as an excuse to get close to Duan Heng.  

But now, Nan Pei seemed genuinely captivated by Duan Heng’s gameplay, even giving compliments full of e-sports flavor.  

However, Duan Heng didn’t pay much attention to Nan Pei’s small change because he soon noticed that Nan Pei’s skills were still as terrible as before.  

In e-sports, being bad is a sin.  

Others might tolerate Nan Pei, but Duan Heng wouldn’t.  

At this moment, a small skirmish broke out in the jungle, and Duan Heng used his mobility skills to dive into the crowd, with Nan Pei following closely.  

However, after showing off for a bit, Duan Heng retreated, leaving Nan Pei surrounded.  

Nan Pei couldn’t help but exclaim, “Why are there so many people?”  

Even though other teammates came to rescue Nan Pei, they couldn’t save him.  

After his screen went gray, Nan Pei glanced at Duan Heng, who still acted normally.  

A teammate awkwardly laughed, “Heng Ge made a small mistake just now.”  

Once might be a mistake, but Duan Heng persistently repeated it two or three times…  

Each time, he led Nan Pei into danger and then decisively retreated.  

In less than fifteen minutes, Nan Pei’s score, after being repeatedly betrayed, became 0/8/1, a very tragic score in a MOBA game.  

However, Duan Heng’s lips curled slightly.  

After the match ended, Nan Pei’s performance could only be described as “eye-searing.”  

Manager Ruan wiped his sweat and awkwardly laughed, “The opponents kept targeting President Pei, and their lineup countered ours, making it really tough.”  

However, the other four had already dominated, and Duan Heng easily got a quadra kill. It could be said that the four carried Nan Pei to victory.  

Duan Heng effortlessly humiliated Nan Pei in his own way.  

“President Pei, follow me next time.”  

“Or follow me.”  

Everyone was busy comforting Nan Pei, while Nan Pei stubbornly said, “It’s okay, I’ll stick with Duan Heng.”  

Everyone: “…”  

In the following matches, Nan Pei’s skills remained as bad as before.  

In fact, Nan Pei was gradually getting the hang of the game. After all, in his original world, his gaming skills were considered very good among ordinary people.  

To fit his persona, Nan Pei had to pretend to be bad. Once, during a team fight, he didn’t die, but Duan Heng did, so he deliberately took a few enemy skills to successfully die.  

Nan Pei sighed in relief, “Phew, almost survived…”  

After realizing his mic was on, he quickly added, “What a pity.” This prevented his teammates from suspecting anything.  

However, as the main character of the e-sports novel, Duan Heng had sharp observational skills and soon noticed something off about Nan Pei—this guy seemed to be deliberately taking enemy skills at times, and his predictions were spot on?  

But at this moment, his hatred for Nan Pei overshadowed his suspicion, so he didn’t think much of it.  

The outcomes of the following games were the same as the first.  

Duan Heng, satisfied, took off his headphones and looked at Nan Pei, sarcastically saying, “President Pei, we won these games, you must be very satisfied, right?”  

When Duan Heng and Nan Pei’s eyes met, Duan Heng saw disbelief written all over Nan Pei’s fair face, his delicate features showing a hint of astonishment and helplessness.  

Duan Heng had never seen Nan Pei show such an expression.  

He curled his lips in satisfaction, eyes filled with a sense of revenge, showing no sympathy for Nan Pei.  

The atmosphere was chillingly cold, and no one dared to speak, fearing Nan Pei might suddenly say, “I’m withdrawing my investment.”  

Manager Ruan quickly comforted Nan Pei, “President Pei, professional players are at a high level, and playing with them matches you against strong opponents.”  

Others also chimed in to comfort.

“Yeah, President Pei, don’t take it to heart. It’s just a game, having fun is most important.”  

“President Pei, we didn’t perform well this time, we’ll do better next time.”  

Duan Heng watched as everyone comforted the emotionally drained Nan Pei, his lips curling into a mocking smile, enjoying the show.  

Nan Pei lowered his eyes slightly, softly saying, “It’s not your fault, it’s because I’m too bad…”  

His eyes dimmed, his fair and handsome face pale, clearly having his self-esteem hit hard, struggling to maintain composure.  

Seeing this, Duan Heng thought of his own days of wounded pride and felt a sense of satisfaction.  

Just as everyone was comforting Nan Pei, a notification popped up on his game screen.  

Nan Pei clicked on the notification, and after reading it, he asked in surprise, “What does this mean?”  

The people around also gathered, falling silent after seeing the notification—  

Nan Pei’s game account was banned by the system for intentionally feeding, suspected of being a “smurf,” banned for half a month.  

The system also saw the notification and said in surprise, “This game is so advanced, it even knows your past profession.”  

Nan Pei: “…That’s not what ‘smurf’ means in the game.”  

Manager Ruan quickly explained, “President Pei, this clearly isn’t your fault. I’ve always said ‘Crown of Thorns’ has a lot of system bugs, always banning accounts randomly.”  

“Yeah, I’ve been wrongly banned before too.”  

“It’s not the game’s fault.” To maintain his devoted side character persona, Nan Pei lowered his eyes and sighed, saying softly, “It’s my fault for being too bad, not fulfilling my support role, and not protecting Xiao Heng.”  

His tone carried three parts self-blame, three parts righteousness, and four parts deep affection.  

Everyone was moved by Nan Pei’s words—clearly, Duan Heng deliberately sold him out, yet he wasn’t angry at all.  

Manager Ruan, somewhat touched, said, “President Pei, I’ll immediately help you apply for an unban…”  

“Manager Ruan, please don’t unban it,” Nan Pei said seriously, “Let this ban be a lesson for me. In the future, I’ll practice more to avoid dragging Xiao Heng down.”  

Everyone was suddenly in awe of Nan Pei’s self-reflective spirit.  

“President Pei, you’re truly a great teammate.”  

“Next time, you’ll definitely perform well, President Pei.”  

“As expected of President Pei, your perspective is so broad.”  

Meanwhile, compared to Nan Pei’s magnanimity, everyone felt Duan Heng’s actions were excessive and began criticizing him.  

“Duan Heng, President Pei trusts you so much, how could you treat him like this?” Manager Ruan scolded, “Have you thought about the fact that this is a team game?”  

Others echoed, “Yeah, Heng Ge, you were really not cool today.”  

“There were several times President Pei didn’t have to die, like that one time…”  

Duan Heng was stunned, then his face turned cold, his enjoyment of the show instantly vanishing.  

He didn’t expect everyone to collectively speak up for Nan Pei.  

He admitted he sold out Nan Pei in the game, but Nan Pei was already bad, dying several times after taking skills, and these people blamed him for it?!  

A teammate said, “President Pei’s account got banned because of you, and it takes a long time to unban. Heng Ge, you should comfort President Pei…”  

Duan Heng’s expression grew darker.  

Nan Pei, on the side, softly said to everyone, “Don’t blame Xiao Duan, it’s all my fault.”  

The system couldn’t help but say, “Host, you’re deliberately adding fuel to the fire, everyone’s blaming Duan Heng.”  

Nan Pei told the system, “Oh, how could that be? I’m just maintaining my devoted side character persona.”  

While everyone was feeling indignant for Nan Pei, Duan Heng’s face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot.  

His fingers clenched tightly, and after a long silence, he finally suppressed his anger, gritting his teeth and saying word by word:  

“The account that got banned is mine!”  

The air suddenly went silent.  

Everyone finally remembered.  

It seemed…  

Nan Pei was indeed playing on Duan Heng’s account.  

Author’s Note:

Xiao Duan: I was careless.  

Please continue to shower me with love~!