The Male Lead in a Novel Without a Female Lead?!
To be honest, Qin Luo had considered many possibilities.
But he had never imagined that the reason he shouldn’t form emotional ties with this world was because he was the male lead in a novel without a female lead!?
Wait, no!
The male lead in a novel without a female lead??
Qin Luo pointed at himself and turned to Doctor Ya, asking, “What do you mean? Am I also a character in a fictional world?”
Doctor Ya nodded, then shook her head. “To be precise, from your perspective, you are a real person in the real world.”
“But from the perspective of the Heavenly Dao, you are all characters following a script dictated by the Heavenly Dao’s will, walking along predetermined paths.”
Why is the Heavenly Dao’s will coming into this now?
Qin Luo rubbed his temples. “Hold on, let’s sort out the current situation first.”
He looked at Doctor Ya. “First, explain why I ended up here?”
“And why do I have this system and this mental hospital?”
Time travel?!
Su Muwan glanced at Qin Luo. So Qin Luo is a time traveler?!
And he has a system?
Just like in the novels I’ve read, time travelers always have systems!
Then...
Then! What about me? Why didn’t I get a system when I was reborn?
Doctor Ya spoke slowly and seriously, “Because the Heavenly Dao... has gone mad.”
The Heavenly Dao... gone mad?!
Qin Luo and Su Muwan exchanged glances.
The Heavenly Dao can go mad?
Are you kidding? Is that even still the Heavenly Dao?
Doctor Ya continued, “Imagine countless worlds as a giant aquarium.”
“The aquarium is divided into several sections by partitions, each with different water qualities and different creatures that cannot coexist.”
“The water represents the Heavenly Dao, and the creatures represent the living beings of each world.”
“Now, the water has been polluted by external forces, and the partitions have corroded and broken. The creatures from all sections are forced to coexist in one space, leading to conflicts due to incompatibility.”
“This will only worsen the water quality, ultimately destroying the entire ecosystem.”
“This is the state of the world now. Apart from this world, the other worlds belonging to the Chosen Ones have been severely contaminated and damaged.”
“The boundaries have broken, and the worlds have merged.”
“After the Heavenly Dao went mad, the malice it generated gave birth to [Evil Entities].”
At this point, Qin Luo seemed to understand something.
The Heavenly Dao’s malfunction caused the Chosen Ones from various worlds to merge into this one.
This explains why there are so many Chosen Ones now.
Doctor Ya looked at Qin Luo and explained, “And you, Qin Luo.”
“You were chosen by the last remnants of the Heavenly Dao’s will to be... the [Janitor].”
“The system is the power granted to you to fulfill your duty.”
The Janitor!
Qin Luo was stunned.
In the ocean, the janitor fish is an invasive species with no natural predators and strong survival abilities. It feeds on fish eggs and can severely damage local ecosystems.
“This Destiny Mental Hospital is the last bastion of the Heavenly Dao’s power.”
“You were chosen to be its director, and your duty is to contain all the Chosen Ones from other worlds!”
“Each of their rooms contains the original paths and world scenes of the Chosen Ones. By persistently observing these, the damaged worlds can be repaired.”
Doctor Ya sighed at this point. “Unfortunately, you were originally the male lead of a novel without a female lead, chosen for your strong sense of ambition.”
“But... you ended up falling in love with a Chosen One from this world.”
“By doing so, you’ve deviated from your original script, and this might affect you.”
Qin Luo took a deep breath and asked, “But... I don’t remember having any strong ambition?”
“In my previous life, wasn’t I just an ordinary person in an ordinary world?”
Hearing this, Doctor Ya shook her head. She said seriously, “The day after you were sent through time, the sky of your world was torn apart, and countless terrifying [Evil Entities] invaded your world.”
“Under normal circumstances, you would have fought your way through that world until all the [Evil Entities] were eradicated.”
She added, “Oh, and there would have been no romance subplot.”
Qin Luo: “......”
Su Muwan listened in a daze. She looked at Qin Luo, then at Doctor Ya.
Finally, she gritted her teeth, stepped in front of Qin Luo, and stared at Doctor Ya. “Stop beating around the bush. Just tell us what we need to do!”
“Is it just about containing the Chosen Ones?”
Doctor Ya nodded. “You could say that.”
“Then there’s another question.”
Su Muwan pointed at herself. “What was my original script?”
“In my previous life, I was ganged up on by the Chosen Ones and killed!”
Qin Luo tilted his head, looking at Su Muwan in surprise. “Miss, you were reborn?”
“Hey! Why are you so shocked? If you can time travel, can’t I be reborn fresh and lively?”
Su Muwan rolled her eyes.
“It’s simple,” Doctor Ya explained. “According to your original plot, you were supposed to be the female lead in a rebirth novel.”
“In other words.”
“You are this world’s Chosen One, commonly known as the female lead.”
“To put it in simpler terms, if this world were turned into a novel, the title might be something like *Reborn to Dominate: Conquering the World with Unrivaled Power*.”
“You would be reborn once and eliminate all enemies standing in your way...”
Doctor Ya made a gesture. “Wipe them out!”
“Oh, and there would be no romance subplot either.”
???
What!?
Su Muwan was shocked. So my rebirth was inevitable??!
Just as she was about to say something, Doctor Ya gave her a strange look and sighed. “However, something went wrong along the way.”
“Although your original script was set in an urban world, as the worlds merged, you ventured into martial arts.”
“And then... you managed to provoke every Chosen One from other worlds...”
“This is something I still don’t fully understand.”
At this point, Doctor Ya furrowed her brows, deep in thought.
Why would someone provoke so many Chosen Ones?
And how did her martial arts talent become so strong that it took all the Chosen Ones in the world to defeat her?
Even then, her defeat might have been triggered by some specific condition.
That condition being... Su Muwan’s original script...
She had to be reborn once.
It’s likely due to the butterfly effect.
After all, according to the original plot, Su Muwan was destined to provoke many people.
But after the worlds merged, those people became Chosen Ones, making the difficulty level incomparable...
Su Muwan twitched her lips and snorted. “What’s so hard to understand? It just proves that I’m unparalleled in talent. Once I start cultivating, no other protagonist stands a chance!”
Qin Luo also nodded in agreement: "Based on the background of the young lady I saw when I first traveled through, that's indeed the case."
So everything made sense now.
The Heavenly Dao had gone mad for unknown reasons, causing the worlds of various protagonists to collapse and merge.
That's why they all fused together in this... let's call it the [Main World].
At first, they all followed their own unique scripts.
But unfortunately...
They encountered Su Muwan.
Su Muwan's talent was too overpowering, which led to all the protagonists joining forces to eliminate her.
This resulted in Su Muwan being reborn.
And at that time, she happened to meet me.
Time travel, rebirth, and chosen ones.
In reality, all of this happened because the Heavenly Dao had gone mad.
As for the reason behind this madness, it remains unclear.
So, in the end.
Qin Luo looked at Doctor Ya and confirmed once again: "How many chosen ones do we still need to contain?"
Upon hearing this, Doctor Ya closed her eyes and thought for a moment: "One empty room, two empty rooms..."
After muttering to herself, she opened her eyes and looked at Qin Luo, saying: "We're still short of 99 world protagonists."
"Once the Destiny Mental Hospital reaches full capacity, the contamination of the Heavenly Dao will come to an end."