249: Chapter 249 Cross-Book Finance Professor! I Turned the Dead Protagonist into Futures

The real-time collapse of the 'I Run a Supermarket in the Apocalypse' world was directly projected onto the Underworld Group's monitoring center through data entanglement in the Narrative Layer.

On the screen, the world Lin Chen had saved with his fund was disintegrating at a visible rate—products on the supermarket shelves turned into garbled code, zombies on the streets pixelated and vanished, and even the sky was peeling away in chunks.

At the very center, the corpse of the protagonist, Lin Bei, lay on the ground. A massive textual wound was on his chest: [The Author wrote: "Lin Bei had his heart ripped out by the Zombie King. The End."]

The three characters for "The End" hovered above the corpse like a curse, emitting an aura that chilled every story to its core.

"Has the Author gone mad?!" Arrogant Dragon stared at the screen. "It's only been ten minutes since he signed the daily update agreement, and he's already killed off the protagonist and abandoned the story?!"

"Not abandoned," Future Lin Chen analyzed the data stream rapidly. "It's a 'forced conclusion.' The Author rushed to end this book to start writing his new one, 'star overlord.' According to Narrative Layer rules, after a story concludes, its world enters an 'archival state' and slowly dissipates."

"How long does archiving take?"

"Seventy-two hours," The Librarian pulled up a countdown. "But the moment the protagonist died, the world's stability dropped below the threshold. It won't need seventy-two hours; this world will completely collapse into garbled code in three hours, then infect us through data entanglement—because our universe saved it, there's a debt linkage."

Debt.

Hearing this word, Lin Chen's eyes lit up.

"If this world collapses," he asked, "what happens to the bailout loan we gave it?"

"Bad debt," Future Lin Chen said. "According to the agreement, we'd lose thirty-six thousand dimension points in principal, plus all income share rights it generated before repaying the loan."

"In other words," Lin Chen summarized, "if it dies, we lose money."

"Correct."

"Then we can't let it die."

Lin Chen pulled up the financial backend and began to operate.

Step One: Create a new product [Protagonist Resurrection Bond].

Bond Description:

[Funds raised by this bond will be used for the 'Resurrect Lin Bei, Protagonist of *I Run a Supermarket in the Apocalypse*' project.]

[If the resurrection is successful, bondholders will receive:

1. 30% of the world's future revenue share.

2. Leasing rights to Lin Bei's 'Protagonist Aura' (100 dimension points per hour).

3. One free opportunity to enter that world and open a branch store.]

[If the resurrection fails, the principal will be refunded in full, with an additional 10% penalty compensation.]

Bond Issuance Volume: Ten thousand units, each priced at 1000 dimension points.

Sold out in thirty seconds.

Funds Raised: Ten million dimension points.

"The money is enough," Lin Chen looked at Future Lin Chen. "How do we resurrect him?"

"Conventional methods won't work," Future Lin Chen shook his head. "A character killed off by the Author is a 'plot kill.' Narrative Layer laws forbid resurrection. Unless—"

"Unless what?"

"Unless we find a 'stand-in'," The Librarian pulled up the rules. "Use another character of the same type to overwrite the data, tricking the world's 'Protagonist Detection Mechanism.' But the stand-in must be willing, and the data compatibility must exceed 90%."

"Same type of character..." Lin Chen scanned the meeting room. "Apocalypse, runs a supermarket, surname Lin, has a system..."

Everyone's gaze focused on him.

"I'm not going," Lin Chen refused flatly. "I'm the Chairman, not a stand-in actor."

"But your data compatibility is the highest," Future Lin Chen analyzed. "You also have a system, you're also a business-management type protagonist, and your surname is Lin. Compatibility: 87%. Just a bit short."

"How do we make up the missing 13%?"

"Make up for it with money," Lin Chen initiated a second operation. "Post a bounty: Purchase 'Apocalypse Survival Experience Data Packs,' 'Supermarket Operation Memory Modules,' 'Zombie Fear Emotion Fragments.' 100 dimension points each. Limited purchase of 1300 units."

The bounty was issued. second-hand dealers across the entire Narrative Layer began rummaging through their stock.

One minute later, 1300 data packs arrived.

Lin Chen loaded them all into his character database.

Compatibility rose to 99.7%.

"That's enough," Future Lin Chen began operating the cross-world transmission. "But you must be aware—after entering that world, you will temporarily become 'Lin Bei,' inheriting his memories, emotions, and... the death countdown."

"What do you mean?"

"It means you only have three hours. Within three hours, you must reverse the 'The End' outcome and get the story serialized again. Otherwise, you and Lin Bei will be permanently archived together."

A transmission light pillar descended.

Lin Chen took a final look at the monitor. "Arrogant Dragon, if I'm not back in three hours, initiate Plan B."

"What's Plan B?"

"Buy the copyright to that book and hire a different Author to continue it."

With that, Lin Chen vanished into the light pillar.

The Apocalypse World.

Lin Chen—now appearing as Lin Bei—awoke on the cold ground.

The text-described wound on his chest was still bleeding, but the pain had been blocked by the system. He looked around. The supermarket shelves were warping, and the sky outside the window had shattered into mosaic.

The world was about to vanish.

He opened his system panel and found all his skills had changed:

[Current Identity: Lin Bei (Protagonist of *I Run a Supermarket in the Apocalypse*)]

[System Type: Apocalypse Supermarket Management System (Temporary Version)]

[Time Remaining: 2 hours, 58 minutes, 17 seconds]

[Main Mission: Reverse the Conclusion, Resume Story Serialization]

[Mission Hint: The reason the Author hastily concluded was 'poor data, can't write anymore.' You need to create a 'sensational twist' the Author cannot refuse.]

A sensational twist.

Lin Chen thought for a moment, walked to the supermarket checkout counter, and opened the computer—it still worked.

He logged into this world's "Apocalypse Network Forum" and posted a thread:

Title: [Shocking! I Discovered the Truth of the Apocalypse in the Supermarket Basement!]

Content: "I'm not hiding it anymore; I'm a reincarnator. The zombie virus isn't a natural disaster; it's a conspiracy by the 'Interstellar Consortium'! They will descend upon Earth in three hours to purchase all survivors as slaves! Only my supermarket has the weapons to fight them—but we need everyone to crowdfund to unlock them!"

At the end of the post, he attached a payment QR code.

Then, he called up the financial tools he brought from the main world and embedded a purchase link for [Apocalypse Survival Crowdfunding Bonds] in the post.

The bond description was simple: For every 1 can (this world's currency) invested, you receive 0.0001% of the future spoils share "after victory against the Interstellar Consortium."

After posting, Lin Chen sat behind the checkout counter and waited.

Five minutes later.

The forum exploded.

"Real or fake?!"

"Wasn't the OP dead last chapter?!"

"Reincarnation plot? Did the Author change the outline?!"

"I'll invest 10 cans! Taking a gamble!"

cans began to arrive.

Ten cans, a hundred cans, a thousand cans...

Meanwhile, outside the Narrative Layer.

The Author's backend suddenly issued an alert:

[Abnormal Data in the *I Run a Supermarket in the Apocalypse* World]

[Reader Activity +300%]

[Donation Revenue +500%]

[Comment Count +1000%]

[New Settings Detected: 'Interstellar Consortium,' 'reincarnator,' 'Crowdfunded Resistance']

Author Lin Chen, sitting at his computer and about to close this book's document, paused his finger over the "Save" key.

He looked at the skyrocketing data in the backend, then at his newly started book *star overlord*—only two chapters written, single-digit followers.

He hesitated for three seconds.

He deleted the three characters for "The End."

Re-typing:

"Lin Bei awoke from death, his memories now containing a warning from the future: In three hours, the Interstellar Consortium descends. And his supermarket system suddenly unlocked a hidden panel—[Interstellar Trade System]."

"He looked at the endless stream of can investments in the forum and smiled."

"This time, his goal wasn't survival."

"It was a counter-acquisition."

Document saved.

The *I Run a Supermarket in the Apocalypse* world instantly stabilized.

The collapse stopped. The mosaic sky returned to normal. The garbled code on the shelves turned back into products.

The textual wound on Lin Chen's chest began to heal.

[Mission Complete]

[Return Transmission Initiating...]

Back in the Underworld Group conference room.

Lin Chen, restored to his original appearance, looked at the monitor—the apocalypse world was not only alive, its data was ten times better than before.

"So," Arrogant Dragon summarized, "you helped the Author devise a new outline, boosted the data, and he couldn't bear to end it?"

"Correct," Lin Chen nodded. "The Author is essentially a merchant. Data is his sales volume. As long as the story can make money, he has the motivation to write."

Future Lin Chen, however, frowned. "But this treats the symptom, not the root cause. The Author is concurrently writing four books. If any one of them performs poorly, he might abandon it at any moment."

No sooner had he spoken.

Another alarm sounded.

This time, it was the *immortal emperor returns* world.

The monitor showed: That book's protagonist, Long Haotian (Arrogant Dragon's prototype), had been trapped in a "Heart Devil Tribulation" for thirty chapters.

The Author's log displayed: [Stuck on the writing. Don't know how to have Long Haotian break through the Heart Devil. Maybe just write him going berserk from cultivation deviation, cut it, and start over?]

"Writer's block..." Lin Chen looked at the Immortal Emperor on the screen, who looked ninety percent like Arrogant Dragon. "Can we save this too?"

"Yes," The Librarian pulled up data. "The essence of the Heart Devil Tribulation is 'internal character conflict.' The Author is stuck because he can't devise a reasonable breakthrough scenario. If we can provide an exciting Heart Devil breakthrough plot—"

"The Author will copy it," Lin Chen understood. "But how do we provide it? We can't enter a xianxia world."

"We can 'send a dream'," Future Lin Chen said. "Inject the plot solution directly into the Author's subconscious through data entanglement. But the risk is high—if the Author realizes we're intervening, he might angrily abandon the story."

"Then don't let him realize," Lin Chen had an idea. "We package the solution as a 'reader prediction post' and post it in the *immortal emperor returns* comment section. When the Author sees it, he'll think a reader guessed the plot correctly and just use it."

They got to work.

Lin Chen called upon Arrogant Dragon. "You understand the Heart Devil Tribulation best. If it were you, how would you break through?"

Arrogant Dragon thought. "The Heart Devil traps one's obsession. Long Haotian's obsession is 'being invincible under heaven.' So the Heart Devil would show him 'the emptiness after achieving invincibility.' The key to breaking through isn't defeating the Heart Devil; it's... accepting that he doesn't need to be invincible."

"Specific plot?"

"Have him see, within the Heart Devil illusion, a future where he achieves invincibility but all his loved ones die because of him. Then give him a choice: give up invincibility to bring everyone back to life. The moment he chooses to give it up, the Heart Devil shatters—because the obsession is gone."

Lin Chen quickly wrote this into a "reader prediction post," used technical means to disguise it as posted three months ago, and pinned it to the top of the *immortal emperor returns* comment section.

One minute later.

The Author's backend log updated:

[Huh? There's a godly prediction in the comments!]

[It's almost exactly like the outline I was thinking of...]

[I'll use this one!]

In the *immortal emperor returns* world, Long Haotian broke through the Heart Devil, and the plot continued.

Two books were temporarily stabilized.

But Lin Chen knew this was like walking a tightrope—the Author was concurrently writing four books. He could drop one at any moment due to exhaustion, poor data, or simply a bad mood.

And if any one was dropped, it could drag their universe down through data entanglement.

Just as he was thinking this.

A third alarm arrived.

This time, it wasn't a book.

It was the Author himself.

The monitor showed: In the real world, at Author Lin Chen's computer, he was staring at the backend data of his four books, his face pale.

Three empty energy drink bottles sat on the desk.

His fingers were trembling.

His browser search history updated:

[Probability of sudden death from writing four books concurrently]

[Maximum daily word count with fastest typing speed]

[If characters gain sentience, will they help me write?]

Below the last search entry, the Author slowly typed out a line and posted it on a certain writing forum:

"Help, I think my characters have really gained sentience. They seem to be... helping me write the books."