Their reactions were a mix of surprise and excitement, with the most enthusiastic response coming from Li Heng. He was the very same person who, a few days ago, had suggested in their group chat that Duan Chunshui go to the Ji family’s house for gossip.

Li Heng was a rookie on Team Three and wasn’t aware of Duan Chunshui’s connections with the Ji family. When he found out in the group chat that Ji Chunhua was Duan Chunshui’s cousin, he rode off on his motorcycle instead of accompanying the team to the Ji family.

For the past two days, he’d been running external fieldwork nonstop, terrified of running into Duan Chunshui at the Bureau and getting chewed out.

Seeing Duan Chunshui smile today, Li Heng finally felt a sense of relief in his worn-out heart.

When Duan Chunshui headed upstairs, he was no longer smiling and with his usual stoic demeanor, Li Heng eagerly approached him. “Captain! You’re here! Over the past two days, I brought back two main characters and even shut down some trash talk from Team One members in the group chat!”

“Have there been any particularly difficult novels to handle these past two days?” Duan Chunshui, seemingly satisfied with Li Heng’s performance, didn’t mention the incident from a few days ago.

While Duan Chunshui had taken a break for two days, Team Three still had tasks, which the team members handled themselves.

Originally part of Team One, they specialized in dealing with the most dangerous types of novels. Thus, the challenges of Level Three novels were relatively easy for them—almost boring. On the first day, Duan Chunshui personally led a mission as their Captain, but afterward, he didn’t need to supervise everything.

If his team members couldn’t even handle Level Three novels, he wouldn’t have been qualified to be their Captain in the first place.

“Nothing much. Piece of cake!” Li Heng waved it off. “Not even worth bothering our Captain. You can keep catching up on sleep. However…”

Duan Chunshui slowed his pace. “However, what?”

“There is one novel that’s quite unusual,” Li Heng said. “We detected someone who’s likely the main character, but they appear to be attempting suicide. Xiao Xu and Jiang Nian are already following them.”

“A suicidal novel protagonist?”

That was indeed unusual.

In all his years of work, Duan Chunshui had encountered countless novel protagonists, but never one who was trying to take their own life. Most invading novels treated their world as a paradise to be enjoyed, exploiting its resources to the fullest. If someone wanted to die, why would they invade?

This was the first time he’d seen a protagonist treat their world as a graveyard.

Duan Chunshui said, “Let’s go take a look.”

“Alright!” Li Heng’s enthusiasm showed as he spun around dramatically, preparing to follow.

“Not you,” Duan Chunshui interrupted. “Have Xu Xue accompany me.”

“……”

---

“The suspect’s name is Sang Manman, 26 years old, a model by profession. Her identification records look clean,” Xiao Xu reported as Duan Chunshui and Xu Xue got into the car outside the city’s Xiehe Hospital. He displayed Sang Manman’s details for them to review.

On the surface, there didn’t seem to be any issues with her. She had a high income, stunning looks, and didn’t fit the typical profile of someone chosen for novel invasion.

Xiao Xu pointed out one unusual detail. “She attempted suicide six months ago, reportedly due to depression. Investigations suggest it was because of a man.”

At this, Xiao Xu glanced at Jiang Nian, who furrowed her brows despite having heard this before.

They had only identified Sang Manman as a suspect yesterday, so their investigation into her past was still limited, lacking concrete details.

“She’s currently at Xiehe Hospital due to a car accident,” Xiao Xu continued. “We began suspecting her because of the accident.”

He pulled up footage from the accident’s surveillance cameras. “The man about to be hit by the car was the one she likes, named Zheng Yu. At the time, she was quite far from him—too far for any normal person to sprint over and push him out of the way.”

The video only captured a blurry image. Sang Manman, who had been several meters away, dashed forward at inhuman speed to shove Zheng Yu to safety. She then got hit by the car herself and flung into the air.

“She was badly hit but sustained no life-threatening injuries. After being transferred to a regular ward, she signed an organ donation agreement for her corneas two days ago. Yesterday, she inspected the windows and doors of her hospital room, stole the key to the hospital rooftop, and examined its surroundings. We suspect she’s planning to end her life.”

This left them stumped.

Duan Chunshui, nicknamed the “Protagonist Bane” at the Bureau, earned his title for his skill in dealing with protagonists, not because he understood them particularly well. He didn’t enjoy reading novels as a child, and even after becoming familiar with certain genres for work, his knowledge was limited to supernatural and horror novels.

Jiang Nian was even less informed, with her mind focused solely on governance and citizens.

Only Xiao Xu and Xu Xue had any real knowledge of novels.

Xiao Xu, having access to the world’s most comprehensive novel database, often searched for clues. However, this time, searching keywords like “corneas” and “jumping off a building” only turned up melodramatic teen fiction and excessively tragic stories, which didn’t match their current scenario.

Xu Xue mentally sifted through the novel genres she’d read. “Could it be a ‘Tragic Unrequited Love’ troupe?”

Duan Chunshui: “Tragic enough to end her own life?”

“.…..”

Xu Xue timidly explained, “Some of those novels are incredibly frustrating. The male lead doesn’t suffer much, but the female lead has a terrible time.”

Jiang Nian: “The key issue is her intent to end her life.”

“Would she really die?” Duan Chunshui continued watching the accident footage, repeatedly analyzing Sang Manman’s rescue actions.

It clearly wasn’t the speed of a normal human. If she wasn’t ordinary, she might belong to the category of protagonists with special abilities he had dealt with before. “It’s possible she won’t actually die.”

“A fake death?^[1]殉葬 (Fake Death): is often used to create suspense, protect a character, or as part of a larger scheme. Also used to advance the plot, depend on the novels.” 

Xu Xue’s eyes lit up with this new idea. “You know about ‘Quick Transmigration’^[2]Also known as Fast Wear (快穿): This refers to a genre where the protagonist “hops” between different worlds or scenarios, completing tasks or missions in each world. novels, right?”

“She might just be a fast-wear protagonist passing through our world.”