"XIE YUCHEN—?!"
Lin Xiayu's scream echoed violently through the enormous chamber as she staggered backward, almost falling over the edge of the oversized bed.
But what came next wasn't just panic.
It was denial.
Pure, stubborn, desperate denial.
"No. No no no. Absolutely not."
She grabbed her own hair tightly, pacing in a small circle like a trapped animal trying to argue with reality itself.
"This is not happening. I did NOT wake up as the final boss. That is not a life update. That is not a patch note. That is—THAT IS ILLEGAL!"
She pointed sharply at the mirror.
"I demand a rollback!"
Silence.
The reflection remained unchanged.
Cold.
Tall.
Perfectly still.
Unbothered by her emotional collapse.
Xiayu's voice cracked slightly.
"…At least react. Pretend this is normal."
Nothing.
That silence made her stomach drop.
She slowly backed away until she hit the bed again and sat down hard.
Her breathing turned uneven.
"No… no, I'm dreaming."
She nodded quickly as if confirming her own diagnosis.
"Yes. Dream. Stress dream. Comic overdose. That makes sense. I've been waiting for the final chapter for too long, my brain is just… buffering."
She slapped her cheeks lightly.
"Wake up. Wake up, Lin Xiayu. You have exams. You have a normal life. You do NOT have villain responsibilities."
She lay down on the bed.
Stared at the ceiling.
The ceiling did not respond.
Slowly, she turned her head.
Still the same luxurious, suffocating villain room.
Black curtains.
Silver patterns.
Cold blue flame candles flickering like they were part of a budget for a final arc.
Xiayu frowned.
"…This is too detailed for a dream."
She sat up again instantly.
"No, no, no. Dreams don't have architecture consistency. I've watched enough TikTok psychology videos to know that."
She stood up.
Paced.
Stopped.
Pointed at the mirror again.
"Okay. New test."
She walked closer cautiously.
"…If I'm dreaming, I should be able to wake up if I sleep again."
Logical.
Very logical.
She nodded firmly to herself.
"Yes. That's how dreaming works."
Without hesitation, she climbed back onto the bed.
Lied down dramatically.
Pulled the blanket up to her chin.
Closed her eyes tightly.
"Wake up in my room. Wake up in my room.
Wake up in my room…"
Ten seconds passed.
Nothing.
She opened one eye.
Still there.
The same oppressive ceiling stared back at her.
Xiayu groaned loudly.
"Nope."
She rolled to the other side of the bed.
Closed her eyes again.
"Wake up in my room. Wake up in my room.
Wake up in my room—"
Still nothing.
She flipped again.
This time aggressively.
Like she was trying to shake herself into another universe.
Nothing changed.
She sat up sharply.
"This bed is broken."
She looked around suspiciously.
"Or I'm in a cursed save file."
Another idea hit her.
She snapped her fingers.
"Okay! Maybe I just need a different position!"
She stood up.
Walked to the floor.
Lied down on the floor.
Closed her eyes.
Silence.
She opened one eye
Still villain room.
Xiayu sat up slowly.
"…The floor is also real."
She stood again.
Walked to the mirror.
Stared at her reflection.
Still Xie Yuchen.
Still terrifyingly composed.
Still unbearably handsome in a way that felt like a personal attack.
Xiayu pointed at him weakly.
"…Why are you so calm about this?!"
The reflection did not answer.
She sighed deeply.
Collapsed back onto the bed again.
Face down this time.
Voice muffled into the blanket.
"I want to go home…"
A pause.
Then she lifted her head slightly.
"…No wait."
She sat up again, eyes wide.
"Maybe I died."
She nodded slowly.
"Yes. That makes sense. I died from cliffhanger stress and now I'm being punished."
She pointed at the ceiling.
"Author, if you're listening, this is NOT funny!"
Silence.
No reply from heaven.
Xiayu slowly lowered her hand.
"…Okay. So I'm either dead or insane."
She paused.
Then added quietly:
"Or both."
A long silence settled over the room.
The only sound was the faint crackle of blue flames.
Then—
Xiayu slowly turned her head toward the mirror again.
Her expression changed.
The panic was still there.
But something else had started creeping in underneath it.
Observation.
"…Wait."
She stood up again, but this time slower.
Careful.
Studying the room properly now.
Not just reacting.
The black curtains.
The cold atmosphere.
The precise layout.
The furniture she remembered from panels she had zoomed in on too many times.
Her voice dropped slightly.
"…This is exactly the villain's chamber from Chapter 37."
She swallowed.
"…The author even got the lighting right."
A beat.
Then her face twisted again.
"…WHY DID THE AUTHOR GET THE LIGHTING RIGHT?!
She grabbed her head.
"This is too immersive! This is not budget-friendly transmigration!"
Then she froze.
Slowly turned back to the mirror.
Her voice quieter now.
"…So it's real."
A pause.
She stepped back.
"…It's actually real."
Silence.
Her shoulders dropped slightly.
The comedy faded for a moment.
Just a moment.
Then—
She whispered:
"…I really became Xie Yuchen."
And for the first time…
The weight of that name finally started to settle in.Xiayu stood frozen in front of the mirror.
Still.
Silent.
Waiting for reality to change.
Anything.
A glitch. A loading screen. A system message. A refund notification. Anything at all.
Nothing happened.
Her breath became shaky again.
"No… no, this is still wrong."
She grabbed her own arms suddenly and shook herself hard.
"Wake up! Wake up, Lin Xiayu! This is not your life! You're not Xie Yuchen! You're not a final boss! You're a normal human being who complains about plot holes online!"
She shook harder.
Her voice cracked.
"Wake up!!"
Still nothing.
Her grip loosened.
Slowly.
Her hands fell to her sides.
"…Why isn't it working?"
Silence answered her again.
Something inside her snapped.
Not loudly.
Just quietly.
Her knees weakened and she suddenly dropped down onto the floor.
Hard.
The impact echoed slightly in the massive room.
She sat there for a second.
Then—
She hit the floor once.
Twice.
"Wake up… wake up… wake up…"
Not strong.
Not dramatic anymore.
Just tired.
Frustrated.
Lost.
Then she stopped.
Breathing uneven.
"…This is stupid."
She clenched her fists.
Then hit her own arm.
"Why me?!"
Another hit.
"I didn't even write bad comments THAT seriously!"
Another hit.
"I just said the author was being unfair!"
She paused.
Then suddenly looked up sharply.
"…Wait."
Her eyes widened.
"Oh my god…"
Her face turned pale.
"Is this because of that comment?"
Silence.
Her pupils shook.
"No. No no no…"
Her mind immediately started replaying her past behavior like a courtroom trial.
She pointed at herself.
"I didn't mean it like that!"
She stood up abruptly and began pacing again.
"Okay think. Think logically.
Who have I offended in my life?"
She stopped.
"…Grandma?"
Pause.
Her face softened slightly.
"Grandma did say I should eat more properly…"
She gasped.
"Oh no."
She grabbed her head.
"…Did I get cursed for skipping meals?"
She turned sharply.
"Or is it karma for saying I'd 'start dieting tomorrow' every day for three years?!"
She paced faster.
"No no no, that's too small. That's too small for villain transmigration punishment."
She suddenly stopped.
Her eyes widened in realization.
"…The author."
She pointed at the ceiling.
"I CRITICIZED THE AUTHOR."
Her voice cracked immediately.
"I called him a bad writer!"
Silence.
Her shoulders dropped instantly.
"…Oh no."
She slowly turned toward the mirror again.
Xie Yuchen stared back calmly.
Judging her.
Always judging.
Xiayu slowly fell to her knees again.
This time more dramatically.
Like the world had officially ended.
"I take it back…" she whispered.
"I TAKE IT BACK!"
She bowed slightly toward the air.
"I'm sorry, author-nim! Writer-sensei! Big brain god of plot twists!"
No response.
Her voice got louder.
"I WAS WRONG! YOU ARE A GENIUS! A LEGEND! A MASTER OF SUFFERING YOUR READERS!"
Silence.
Still nothing.
Her face slowly twisted again.
"…Why isn't it working?"
She looked around desperately.
Then suddenly stood up again.
"Okay okay okay—new strategy."
She clapped her hands once.
"Maybe it's spiritual punishment."
She nodded seriously.
"Yes. That makes sense. I offended higher forces."
She immediately turned toward the ceiling again.
Then bowed.
Deeply.
"Dear universe…"
She straightened slightly.
"Dear fate…"
Another bow.
"Dear transmigration department…"
Pause.
"Dear karmic justice system…"
She bowed again.
"Dear whatever entity is responsible for this absolute nonsense—"
She paused.
Then suddenly raised her head.
"I AM SORRY!"
Silence.
No thunder.
No light.
No divine email.
Nothing.
Xiayu stood still.
"…Okay this is officially unprofessional."
She turned around again slowly.
Eyes scanning the room like she was.
searching for hidden cameras.
"This has to be a prank."
She pointed around the room.
"Hidden show? Reality TV? I consent! I SIGN CONSENT NOW!"
Nothing.
She lowered her hand slowly.
"…No one's coming?"
She swallowed.
Her voice became smaller.
"…So I just… live like this?"
Silence.
The realization finally started sinking deeper now.
Her expression softened.
Not funny anymore.
Just tired.
"…I really became Xie Yuchen."
She looked at her hands again.
Then whispered:
"…Why him out of all people?"
Then suddenly—
Her eyes lit up again slightly.
She snapped her fingers.
"Oh wait!"
Hope returned.
"Yes yes yes—there must be a system!"
She spun around.
"System! Status window! Cheat skill! Hello?!"
She waited.
Nothing.
She clapped again.
"Interface! Menu! Inventory! At least give me a tutorial!"
Silence.
Her smile slowly faded.
"…No tutorial?"
She stared blankly.
"…Not even beginner rewards?"
A pause.
Then she whispered:
"…This transmigration service is garbage."
And finally—
She slowly collapsed back onto the bed.
Face down.
Voice muffled.
"I want my refund…"Xiayu sat on the cold floor for a moment, staring at nothing.
The room didn't change.
The mirror didn't blink.
Xie Yuchen still looked back at her with that calm, emotionless face that somehow made everything worse.
Her lips trembled slightly.
"…No."
Her voice came out quieter now.
"No, this is not happening."
She suddenly grabbed her own face.
Hard.
As if trying to physically pull herself out of the body.
"Wake up… wake up… wake up…"
Her voice cracked.
She squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
"I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming. I'm—"
She stopped.
Silence.
Then—
Her shoulders started shaking.
"…No."
Her hands slowly dropped.
And for the first time since waking up, her voice lost all its chaotic energy.
Just… empty.
"I should be crying right now."
She said it like she was stating a fact.
Like it was supposed to happen automatically.
Because in every transmigration novel she had ever read—
this was the moment.
The emotional breakdown.
The tears.
The denial turning into crying fits on the floor.
But nothing came.
She blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Her eyes burned slightly.
But dry.
Completely dry.
She touched her cheeks slowly.
Nothing.
No tears.
No wetness.
No relief.
"…Huh?"
Her brows furrowed slightly.
She tried again.
Squeezed her eyes harder.
Forced her face to scrunch up.
"Come on…"
Silence.
Still nothing.
Xiayu slowly opened her eyes.
Confused.
"…Why can't I cry?"
A beat.
Then it hit her.
A memory surfaced.
Her reading comments under the comic.
Readers used to say something casually.
"Xie Yuchen never cries no matter what happens… it's like he physically can't."
Xiayu's face slowly went pale.
"…No way."
She looked at her reflection again.
Xie Yuchen's face stared back.
Calm.
Cold.
Unbroken.
Emotionless.
She whispered:
"…This body can't cry?"
She tried again immediately.
Squeezed her eyes.
Forced emotion.
Even hit her chest slightly.
"Cry… just cry… please just—"
Nothing.
Not even a single tear.
Her hands dropped slowly.
"…That's so unfair."
Her voice cracked, but still no tears came.
She let out a shaky breath.
"…Even my breakdown is broken."
Silence.
Then suddenly—
Her brain, still refusing to accept reality, tried to cope in the only way it knew how.
Information overload.
Logic.
Novel knowledge.
She sat up slightly.
"…Okay."
She nodded slowly.
"I've read transmigration novels."
She raised one finger.
"First step: panic."
Second finger.
"Second step: cry."
Third finger.
"Third step: accept system."
She looked around.
"…Where is the system?"
Silence.
She frowned.
"…Okay maybe delayed activation."
She nodded again.
"Yes. That's normal.
She stood up suddenly.
Pacing again.
"Some MCs wake up in palace. Some wake up in apocalypse. Some wake up in weak bodies. Some wake up with cheat systems—"
She stopped.
"…I got none of those."
She turned slowly toward the mirror.
"…I got Xie Yuchen."
Pause.
Her face twitched.
"That's not a starter pack. That's a final boss DLC."
She pointed at the ceiling.
"This is pay-to-lose!"
Silence.
Then her shoulders suddenly dropped again.
"…But why am I not crying?"
Her voice got smaller again.
"I should be crying…
She touched her chest.
"I read so many stories… they all cried…"
She looked down.
"…Why can't I do it?"
A pause.
Then quietly:
"…Is this what he feels like?"
Silence.
The room didn't answer.
Only the faint blue flames flickered in the distance.
Xiayu stood there for a moment longer.
Then suddenly—
Her face changed again.
"Wait."
She snapped her head up.
"No, no, no—focus!"
She clapped her hands.
"Cry later! Survival first!"
She pointed at the mirror again.
"Okay Xie Yuchen, you're not crying now, but you ARE going to survive this nonsense!"
A pause.
Then she froze.
"…Unless the hero arrives tomorrow."
Silence.
Her expression slowly dropped.
"…Oh."
Very quiet.
"…I'm cooked."
And this time—
she didn't even argue with it.