176: Chapter 176 Script Library Horror: I Was Once a Villain

On the third day after unlocking the shareholder backend privileges, Lin Chen found the entrance to the script library.

It was a black vortex floating in the void of data, with a label that read: [Myriad Dimensions Sandbox · Core Script Library · Actor Fate Master Index (Top Secret)].

"Boss Lin, are you really going in?" Zhang Hao stared at the vortex, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "My 'Fourth Wall Sense' ability is screaming warnings... there's something terrifying inside."

Su Qingyu grasped Lin Chen's hand. "I'll go with you."

Lin Chen didn't speak. He directly opened the shareholder privileges panel and paid 1,000,000 dimension points to purchase the [Script Viewing Rights (One-time Use)].

The vortex dilated.

The three were sucked into a torrent of data.

Before their eyes stretched infinite ribbons of light, each one a complete script for a world. The labels were densely packed: [Martial Arts World No. 003 · Male Lead's Counterattack Arc], [Starcraft No. 077 · Rise of the Zerg Queen], [Immortal Cultivation Grand World · Arrogant Dragon Immortal Emperor Saga (Top-Tier S+)]...

Lin Chen found his world's designation: K-742 Underworld Dimension (Original Rating: B-Class Villain Incubator).

He clicked to open it.

The very first page made his pupils contract sharply.

[Male Lead]: Arrogant Dragon (S-Class Actor, Contracted)

[Core Plot]: Rises from a useless youth to become the Immortal Emperor of All Realms, slaughters all enemies, and conquers beauties across the heavens.

[Grand Finale]: Ascends to the supreme peak, establishes an Eternal Divine Court.

He turned the page.

[Key Villain No. 1: Lin Chen]

Identity: Chairman of the Underworld Group (Early-stage Nouveau Riche)

Role: Provides the male lead with initial capital accumulation, demonstrates the core theme that 'wealth is powerless before absolute strength.'

Fate Node 1: At the IPO celebration banquet, arrogantly declares intent to 'acquire Heaven,' incurring the displeasure of the Divine Realm, foreshadowing the male lead's subsequent conquest of it.

Fate Node 2: Attempts to corrupt the male lead with money, is publicly exposed, leading to The Group's stock price collapse.

Fate Node 3 (Finale): At an Immortal Realm auction, competes with the male lead for the 'Chaos Supreme Treasure,' is slain by a single sword strike. The Underworld Group is taken over by the male lead.

Final Line: "So... money really isn't everything..." (Audience Anticipated Catharsis Point)

Corpse Disposal: Refined into a Wealth-Attracting Puppet, placed at the entrance to the male lead's Divine Court treasury, symbolizing 'Wealth Ultimately Becomes the Servant of the Strong.'

The air froze solid.

Zhang Hao's teeth chattered. "This... this is fucking..."

Su Qingyu's face turned deathly pale.

Lin Chen continued flipping pages, his fingers leaving afterimages on the data screen.

[Key Female Supporting Character: Su Qingyu]

Identity: Lin Chen's Secretary (Actually the Reincarnated White Moonlight of the Divine Realm)

Role: Assists the villain Lin Chen in the early stages. Midway, is saved by the male lead, awakens her memories, and later becomes one of the core members of the male lead's harem.

Key Plot Points:

Chapter 45: Witnesses Lin Chen's execution, breaks down, and is gently caught by the male lead.

Chapter 46: The male lead helps her recover her Divine Realm memories. She weeps, saying, "So the one I've been waiting for all along was you."

Chapter 87: Officially becomes the male lead's seventh Dao Companion. Wedding night line: "Aotian, please let me forget that gilded cage..."

Note: This character is projected to have extremely high popularity. The 'White Moonlight Redeemed from Corruption' trope is deeply loved by audiences. Actress Su Qingyu (Original Body) must invest genuine emotion during filming. Use of 'Memory Blurring Treatment' is recommended to ensure immersion.

"BANG!"

Su Qingyu slammed her fist against the data screen, her knuckles splitting, blood trickling down the display. "Bullshit! It's all bullshit!"

Lin Chen held her trembling body and continued scrolling.

[Supporting Character: Zhang Hao]

Identity: Lin Chen's Assistant (Comic Relief Designation)

Role: Provides comedic relief, highlights the vulgarity of the villainous group.

Fate: In Chapter 32, betrays Lin Chen out of greed, attempts to pledge allegiance to the male lead, and is casually swatted to death by him.

Final Line: "Immortal Emperor, I'm willing to be your dog... Gurk!" (Audience Laugh Point)

[Supporting Character: Little Red Clothes]

Identity: Lingering Resentful Spirit from a Horror Instance

Role: Creates low-level horror atmosphere

Fate: In Chapter 28, is purified and released by a beam of the male lead's divine light. Before dissipating, expresses gratitude: "Thank you, Immortal Emperor, for freeing me..."

[Minor Role: Li Xiulan (Lin Chen's Mother)]

Role: Evokes the male lead's compassion

Fate: In Chapter 31, gravely ill and near death, is saved by an immortal pill bestowed by the male lead. The old woman kowtows: "The Immortal Emperor's great kindness... this old body will repay you as an ox or horse in the next life..."

Note: This plotline can harvest tears from the middle-aged audience demographic.

He finished scrolling.

Lin Chen stood silently.

The data ribbons of light reflected a cold blue glow in his eyes.

"Boss Lin..." Zhang Hao's voice was hoarse. "What's written here... if we hadn't awakened, if those bullet comments hadn't appeared at the celebration banquet that day..."

"...then we would have acted according to this." Lin Chen finished the thought. "I would have been slain by Arrogant Dragon's sword at the auction, my corpse made into a Wealth-Attracting Puppet. Qingyu would have become his Dao Companion. You would have been swatted to death for 'treacherous greed.' Little Red Clothes would have been purified. My mother would have knelt thanking him for saving her life."

He laughed.

The laughter echoed in the data void, chillingly cold.

"I see." Lin Chen opened the script library's metadata. "The Screenwriting Team has seventeen members. The team leader's codename is 'Fate Pen,' specializes in 'nouveau riche villain gets humiliated' plots. Three hundred years in the industry, has created four hundred and thirty-six villains similar to me."

He pulled up the backend contact list.

Found Fate Pen's real-time coordinates—the guy was soaking in a hot spring in some vacation dimension, surrounded by three virtual beauties.

Lin Chen initiated a cross-dimensional communication.

"Hello? Who is this?" A lazy male voice sounded. "I said no work calls during my vaca— Wait, this permission identifier... shareholder?"

"This is Lin Chen," Lin Chen said.

Silence for three seconds from the other side.

Then came the sound of someone scrambling to get up, water splashing. "S-shareholder Lin! My apologies, I didn't know it was you! What are your instructions?"

"I've finished reading the original script for World K-742," Lin Chen said calmly. "Well written."

"Ah... thank you for the praise!" Fate Pen breathed a sigh of relief. "That was an early work of mine from two hundred years ago. Looking at it now, it does seem a bit immature, but the audience response was excellent at the time, especially the part where the nouveau riche villain gets executed. The ratings broke records—"

"So I have a question," Lin Chen interrupted him. "What were you thinking when you wrote me being refined into a Wealth-Attracting Puppet?"

Dead silence on the call.

"I'm thinking..." Lin Chen answered his own question, "...you probably thought it was very symbolic, right? A villain propped up by money ultimately becoming a money-attracting puppet."

"shareholder Lin, that was just the script! It's all fiction!" Fate Pen's voice began to tremble. "Now that you're a shareholder, none of that will happen! I... I can delete that script immediately—"

"No need to delete it," Lin Chen said. "Keep it."

He ended the communication.

Turned to look at Su Qingyu and Zhang Hao.

Both their eyes burned with anger, but deep within was a trace of lingering fear—the instinctive dread upon seeing a predetermined fate.

"Now you understand," Lin Chen said, word by word. "Why we must win."

He pulled up the [Causal Interference] interface in the shareholder backend.

A prompt appeared on the screen:

[Purchase 'Fate Line Buyout Rights'?]

[Price: 5,000,000,000 dimension points / per person]

[Effect: Permanently severs all script presets the platform has for the specified individual. Henceforth, fate is self-determined, unaffected by any plot enforcement.]

[Warning: Purchase is irreversible and will consume 95% of your current assets.]

Lin Chen didn't hesitate in the slightest.

He first entered his own name.

[Confirm purchase of 'Lin Chen' Fate Line Buyout Rights?]

[Yes]

His account balance instantly evaporated by 5 billion.

But simultaneously, he felt a sound of shackles shattering—not physical ones, but something more fundamental, intangible threads entwined at the level of fate, snapping one by one.

Su Qingyu grabbed his hand. "Wait, your assets—"

"Qingyu," Lin Chen turned to look at her. "According to the original script, you would forget me and fall in love with the man who killed me."

He entered Su Qingyu's name.

[Confirm purchase of 'Su Qingyu' Fate Line Buyout Rights?]

[Yes]

Another 5 billion evaporated.

Zhang Hao's name.

Little Red Clothes' name.

Li Xiulan's name.

With each confirmation click, his account balance plummeted. It was the wealth he had accumulated through struggle until now, the capital with which the Underworld Group had swept across realms, the foundation for future expansion.

But he clicked without the slightest hesitation.

When the buyout for the last name was completed, his account balance was down to a mere 320 million dimension points.

From a dimension nouveau riche with a fortune of tens of billions, he had fallen back to near destitution.

But within the data void, four golden pillars of light descended from above, enveloping the four of them (the pillar for Li Xiulan pierced through dimensions into the cycle of reincarnation). Within the light, countless fragments of script text drifted away like ashes.

[Buyout Complete]

[Congratulations: You and your designated associates have left the 'Myriad Dimensions Sandbox' Fate Programming System.]

[Henceforth, your every step will be written by yourselves.]

Lin Chen closed the interface.

"Let's go." He took Su Qingyu's hand. "Time to settle accounts with the Screenwriting Team."

Before leaving the script library, he glanced back at the S+ tier script ribbon labeled 'Arrogant Dragon Immortal Emperor Saga.'

Then, he opened the backend and added a new tag to that script:

[Pending Rewrite: Villain has changed jobs. Recommend career change.]

From deep within the data void came the despairing wail of a certain screenwriter.

And into Lin Chen's account, 1,000,000 dimension points quietly deposited—from an anonymous viewer's message:

"For the decisiveness you showed in buying out your fate, this tip is worth it. Looking forward to your new script."

Lin Chen smiled faintly.

A new script?

Of course he would write one.

But this time, he was the screenwriter, and also the male lead.

And the sole director.