1: Chapter 1 A Life Manipulated by Capital

[A "retired" author; main account banned for adult content, now using a level 5 alt account.]

[Male-oriented light romance, not a fast-paced battle novel. Focuses on nurturing yandere BOSSes, daily interactions, and the husband-chasing arc after the protagonist fakes his death.]

[Not a harem novel, but there will be yandere battlegrounds.]

[Begging you to finish the first five chapters; it's worth the investment.]

At dusk, in the most remote activity room of Jianghai City University of Science and Technology.

A man and a woman sat facing each other.

"Name?"

"Su Chen, male, twenty years old."

"Why do you want to join our Demon Slaying Society?"

"As you know, our club only has me as the president. Plus, we do the dirty and exhausting work; one slip-up could cost you your life."

"Not to mention, some people outside don't believe in the existence of demons and supernatural powers, thinking we just make them up..."

Su Chen looked at the perky-butt senior sitting before him, clutching a Tang blade and wearing black silk stockings with high heels, and swallowed hard.

"I'm short on money. I want to make some."

"I heard that you're the wealthiest among all the club presidents, so I came following the rumors."

"I believe you are D... Oh, no, I mean, I believe they exist."

"You!"

Jiang Luoli's face flushed slightly, but she calmed herself and continued asking.

"Let's introduce ourselves. My name is Jiang Luoli..."

"Of course I know. You're a celebrity at school, Senior."

"Top of the University of Science and Technology's beauty rankings, one of Jianghai City's top ten influential figures, the eldest daughter of the Jiang Family, and holding high positions in three listed companies at such a young age. Am I right?"

"..."

"Then that makes things easier. Student Su, do you believe in the existence of supernatural powers?"

"I do."

"Why?"

"Because I've been set up by capital."

Su Chen said calmly.

"??? What do you mean 'set up by capital'? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. I've always suspected that the Will of the World, the biggest capitalist on Blue Star, has set me up."

A normal person might think Su Chen was seriously ill.

But unfortunately, Jiang Luoli was not a normal person.

"Oh? There's such a thing as being set up by capital? What's the specific logic behind that?"

Seeing Jiang Luoli leaning forward, with the view inside her loose top about to be revealed.

Su Chen caught the scent of gardenias on her and suddenly lunged forward with both hands.

"You!"

Jiang Luoli jerked back, her face crimson as she stared at the junior who dared to use the 'Breast-Grabbing Dragon Claw' on her.

"Don't misunderstand. It's not like I haven't seen a 36D before."

Su Chen explained calmly, making a 'paper' gesture from Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Jiang Luoli played ten rounds of Rock-Paper-Scissors with Su Chen and was shocked to find that he didn't win a single round.

This truly couldn't be explained by mere bad luck.

The young woman dazed for a moment.

"If you lost to me on purpose, would it..."

"It's useless."

"My parents died when I was young. My grandmother passed away in a car accident when I was ten. I messed up my college entrance exams—I scored over a hundred points less than my usual grade, which would have gotten me into Imperial Capital's Q University, and ended up here instead."

"Even the sister my grandmother adopted, the one I grew up with and love most, was diagnosed with brain cancer last year. She's in a vegetative state now, kept alive only by tubes."

"Setting aside the big things, even in small matters—I choke on plain water, and I trip over unknown obstacles just walking down the street."

"They all say I have the fate of a novel protagonist, some kind of 'Disaster Attraction' resonance or something..."

"I don't believe it. Su Chen, from now on, you're a member of my club. Let me see just how unlucky you are!"

Jiang Luoli waved her arm and spoke with grand bravado.

"Alright. Thank you, Senior."

...

Ten days later, inside a hospital ward.

Jiang Luoli looked at the boy who had just been wheeled out of the emergency room, lying on the bed and wrapped so tightly in white bandages he looked like a mummy, and asked anxiously.

"What happened to Su Chen?"

Blood dripped incessantly from the bed. The girl bit her lip and asked in disbelief.

Not long ago, he was still the handsome, black-haired youth talking to her.

How had he turned into this in the blink of an eye?

Standing beside her was a long-haired woman in a black qipao with model-like long legs and an incredibly explosive figure. She held a pipe, looking like a mature woman who controlled the lives of all.

She was the advisor of the Demon Slaying Society, a Fourth-Realm Martial Artist, Teacher Wang Jin.

"Last night, you gave him a five-hundred-yuan subsidy. He took the money to buy some ribs to stew at home."

"Who would have thought the gas quality in his rental was so poor? It accidentally exploded, blasting him onto the road where a heavy truck happened to run him over..."

Jiang Luoli felt a pang of distress. Although she had only known Su Chen for a few days, she knew he wasn't a bad person at heart.

How unlucky must a person be to suffer such a tragic fate?

"This kid had less than two hundred yuan left on him. I had to advance his medical fees."

"I found the best doctor in S City who specializes in treating martial artists to see him."

"But even though experts from the whole hospital came and used the green channel to get him onto the operating table, they carried him right back off without doing anything."

"He has 99% surface burns, and his internal organs were crushed by the truck. His life force is gone; surgery is useless."

"I'm afraid... it'll be tonight."

Jiang Luoli said nothing.

"Doesn't he have any... relatives by his side?"

"His immediate family is all dead. As for his extended relatives, after all his misfortunes and with a vegetative sister, those unscrupulous relatives left one after another once they finished bleeding his parents' estate dry."

"Oh, right. This kid probably doesn't know he has three or four types of late-stage cancer in him too."

"Tsk, even the old doctors were amazed. It's a miracle among medical miracles."

Teacher Wang Jin took a deep drag and left with the pipe in her mouth.

"Anyway, he's... likely beyond saving. Tsk, I thought he might have some cultivation talent, though it was poor. Maybe throwing resources at him would have given him a chance, but now he's so badly injured..."

...

Su Chen's sensory cells were all burned away; he couldn't feel a single bit of pain.

Suddenly, a warm drop fell onto his arm.

Then, a jade-like hand grasped his mangled, burned left hand.

"Senior, don't cry. I'm not dead yet."

Su Chen tried his best to squeeze out a smile, though he knew he was wrapped up like a mummy and she couldn't see it.

"How did you know it was me?"

"The scent of gardenias. Senior, don't get too close to me. I'm quite obvious wrapped in these bandages; I don't want to be carried into the morgue with three legs."

"You!"

Jiang Luoli was so angry she laughed instead of crying, her Tang blade creaking in her hand.

"I really want to slash you to death, you little scoundrel."

Su Chen nodded seriously.

"Then you'd better strike quickly, Senior, or else I'll die first."

"Ugh..."

She gripped Su Chen's hand even tighter.

She wanted to comfort him but didn't know where to start.

Finally, she could only choke out one sentence.

"Dying like this... you're only twenty."

"Don't you... feel bad?"

"I don't. I've been prepared for a long time."

"It's just that I'm still a bit worried about my sister."

"Senior, after I die, sell any of my organs that are still usable. See how much money they can get to pay for my sister's medical bills..."

"Okay?"

Jiang Luoli nodded, and Su Chen gave a smile of relief.

"Beep—Beep—Beep!"

The piercing sound of the monitor suddenly rang out. Jiang Luoli's eyes widened as she saw Su Chen's blood pressure plummet and his heartbeat slowly turn into a flat line.

"Move!"

"Nurse, push three milligrams of adrenaline!"

"Old Zhao, prepare the defibrillator!"

The hospital's most elite emergency team swarmed around Su Chen's bed, leaving her standing there alone, stunned.

"Su Chen!"

"If you can survive, I'll support you!"

"You must, you must survive!"

"Do you hear me, Su Chen, you bastard? You promised to be my club member; you're not allowed to break your word!"

After her shouts, Jiang Luoli didn't even realize she was already covered in tears.

...

Su Chen's consciousness slowly blurred, like falling into an endless, icy river.

So cold.

Live on?

But living is so tiring.

He was actually well aware of his own body, which was like a leaking sieve.

Even if Jiang Luoli was willing, she probably couldn't save him.

"Senior, if there is a next life..."

Suddenly, a flash of white light!

["Why wait for a next life?"]

A strange mechanical voice rang out, and Su Chen was stunned.

["Do you know why your senior can be so wealthy at such a young age?"]

["It's because she knows how to invest!"]

[The "angel investor" system has been activated!]

["Young man, do you want to become an 'angel investor'?"]

["I guarantee that your future achievements will be no worse than those of the Heroic Spirits enshrined in the Hall of Valor!"]