Chu Wanlai was racing motorcycles with some thugs late at night. The rain made the roads slippery, and raindrops blurred the visor of his helmet. One roaring motorcycle after another sped through the quiet streets. Chu Wanlai was confident of winning this race. Just one more turn, and he would reach the finish line—still in first place.

One moment, he was thinking about getting home for a hot shower and conning his useless younger brother into buying him hot pot the next day. The next moment, he and his motorcycle were sent flying ten meters through the air. His body tumbled along the road like a piece of luggage, rolling several times before finally stopping. Rain kept pouring onto his face and body.

In his last moment of consciousness, Chu Wanlai thought bitterly: ‘Jiang Xiaotian! You idiot! You’re really going to get me killed this time! How will you pay me back for this…’

A thug rushed over and patted his face.
“Boss! What do we do… he seems really…”

“The brave leave this world first” — Chu Wanlai, The End.

—

Blinding lights shone above Chu Wanlai’s head as he gradually regained consciousness. He was about to clap and celebrate the fact that he hadn’t died when he realized something even more shocking: not only was he alive, but he was standing up.

What kind of nonsense was this? He had clearly been sent flying, so why wasn’t he on a stretcher?

Suddenly, Chu Wanlai noticed his hands were moving uncontrollably, reaching forward. Panic surged in his chest as he forced his eyes open wider. In front of him stood a broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted man in a suit.

They were on the landing of a staircase. If his hands really stretched out any further, there was a 99.99% chance he’d become a murderer. ‘No way! I refuse to go to jail!’

At the last moment, his arms suddenly lost strength and dropped to his sides.

The man, Yu Qingyue, noticed someone behind him. He turned, only to find it was Yu Wanlai—standing far too close for comfort. A trace of disgust flashed in his eyes as he stepped back.

Chu Wanlai’s eyes widened in panic, and he quickly grabbed Yu Qingyue’s waist, pulling him back from the edge. Once steady, Chu Wanlai let go of the staircase railing, exhaled deeply, and pulled Yu Qingyue further down the corridor.

Yu Qingyue shook off Chu Wanlai’s hand with a look of disdain, brushing off his clothes as if he had been contaminated. His voice was cold:
“What are you trying to do this time?”

Chu Wanlai blinked innocently, giving him a shouldn’t it be obvious? expression.
“Isn’t it obvious? I saved you.”

Yu Qingyue took a deep breath, gritting his teeth.
“Then what were you trying to do *before* that?”

I don’t know either! If you ask me, who should I ask?

But under Yu Qingyue’s intense gaze, Chu Wanlai had no choice but to bluff:
“…I guess… I was trying to push you?”

Yu Qingyue was momentarily speechless. He had been caught off guard by this idiot twice today.

“…Yu Wanlai, stop trying to stir trouble between our parents. Keep your fox tail hidden where it belongs.”

Chu Wanlai stared at him, dumbfounded. ‘What?’
‘My name is Chu Wanlai! You’re the one surnamed Yu! Your whole family is surnamed Yu!’

Suddenly, a chilling realization hit him. He blinked, wide-eyed, and scanned his surroundings.

‘This… this isn’t a hospital…’

Or had he actually died? Was this the afterlife?

To test, he pinched his arm hard.
“Ow… Okay, that hurts… definitely not dead.”

But then, what the heck was happening?

“Wait… hold on… Did you just call me Yu Wanlai? My surname is Yu?”

Yu Qingyue shot him a side glance, clearly unimpressed.
“Aren’t you the one who insisted on taking the Yu surname? What, suddenly regretting it?”

Chu Wanlai felt his knees go weak and instinctively reached out to grab something for support—only to accidentally press against Yu Qingyue’s abs.

Yu Qingyue instantly recoiled in disgust, slapping his hand away like it was dirty.

“I’m not dealing with this,” he muttered coldly and turned to leave, heading downstairs. Moments later, Chu Wanlai heard the sound of a car door slamming shut. Yu Qingyue had driven off in a black Bentley Bentayga.

Chu Wanlai leaned against the second-floor railing, deep in thought as he stared at the front door.

After standing for a while, he got tired and noticed a door across the hall. Looking around and seeing no one home, he took a deep breath and pushed it open. His gaze swept across the room before landing on a framed photo on the nightstand—of himself.

Finally relaxing, he threw himself onto the soft bed, face full of regret.

Why… why did I have to click on that novel?

Yes, that’s right.

Chu Wanlai hadn’t died from that crash—he had transmigrated into a novel. And not just any novel, but a ridiculously melodramatic wealthy family drama full of backstabbing and betrayal.

His new identity? The ultimate villain.

The original Yu Wanlai was a grade-A scumbag who stirred chaos wherever he went. Not only did he break up his parents’ decades-long marriage, but he copied everything the male lead did—clothes, career, even sabotaging him out of jealousy.

And now, Chu Wanlai was stuck living as him.

The male lead got engaged to the Bai family’s heiress, so he also wanted to marry her. However, the Bai family’s heiress looked down on him, seeing him as a useless failure. As a result, the original character began to recklessly hover on the edge of the law—kidnapping someone today, drugging someone tomorrow, and eventually even tampering with the male lead’s car, causing a crash that left the male lead paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair for life.

As for himself, his schemes backfired terribly. The blackened male lead eventually broke all his limbs and abandoned him in the wilderness, left to fend for himself.

The mere thought of being torn apart by wild dogs in the future made Yu Wanlai’s hands tremble and legs go weak.

No one knew that a massive emotional storm was raging inside him at this moment. He was so kind, so warm-hearted, so eager to help others—how could fate be so cruel to him?

Other people who transmigrate into novels become the male lead with cheat codes and golden fingers. Yet here he was, with nothing, stuck as the villain!

Yu Wanlai looked around the room and tentatively called out, “System? Are you there? 007? 110?”

There was no response. The room remained dead silent, and Yu Wanlai felt completely crushed.

Covering his face with both hands, he muttered, “Might as well find a block of tofu to smash my head on and end it all!”

But… he didn’t dare.

Suddenly, he remembered the true culprit behind all this—Jiang Xiaotian!

If it weren’t for Jiang Xiaotian, he wouldn’t have been racing that night, wouldn’t have been hit, and certainly wouldn’t have transmigrated into this ridiculous novel!

Even the book was Jiang Xiaotian’s fault—he had insisted on recommending it, saying male-oriented upgrade novels were boring and female-oriented novels were far more interesting, especially since a character shared his name!

So it wasn’t his fault! It was Jiang Xiaotian’s!

Yu Wanlai shot up from the bed, a plan forming in his mind.

In short, all he needed to do was go against the villain’s original path, right? Maybe if he reversed his behavior, he’d wake up back in his original world!

At noon, Aunt Wang knocked on the door, calling Yu Wanlai down for lunch.

He responded to the door, but then a terrifying thought hit him. He turned back to look at the photo on the bedside table and then rushed to the bathroom mirror.

Pinching his cheeks, he saw his reflection copying the motion perfectly.

“Whoa, I really do look just like him! How weird. No wonder the male lead didn’t recognize me this morning.”

“But wait… why was I being controlled back then? This isn’t supposed to be a supernatural novel… right?”

Shrugging it off, Yu Wanlai jumped out of bed with a dramatic flip, deciding not to think too hard about things he couldn’t figure out.