Web Novel

A Little Spirit Mushroom has been reborn as a human-weak, pitiful, and recently orphaned with no home to call her own.

To get a bite to eat, a place to stay, and to settle her karmic debts, the Little Spirit Mushroom diligently (not really) became the personal maid of a powerful patron.

When her master worked, she slept. When her master had pastries, she stole them. When her master drank tea, she tasted it first. When her master was targeted by assassins, she was the first to run.

The Little Spirit Mushroom successfully annoyed her master and was punished with reflection against a wall.

But later, her master couldn’t bear to punish her anymore.

Finally, through her efforts, her patron helped her complete her revenge.

Her mission accomplished, the Little Mushroom prepared to retire, secretly asking her master to grant her a small territory where she could live out her days in peace.

However, once the Little Mushroom grew up, her master dragged her off to become the Empress.

The Little Mushroom sighed; being an Empress was even harder than being a mushroom.

Jiang Li starts in hell, in a mental hospital, her money embezzled by her stepmother, and her boyfriend taken away by her stepsister. Now, she is unexpectedly caught up in a supernatural side quest, confronting the bizarre head-on…

A strange voice filled with malice says: “Please select the most important thing in your life.”

With sincere eyes, Jiang Li replies, “Family! Without them, there would be no me now!”

“Now officially entering the first side quest: Horror Anniversary. The mortality rate is extremely high, please prepare, chosen one.”

In the side quest, there are sounds of meat being chopped in the middle of the night, a toilet constantly flushing, and a long-haired woman hiding under the bed…

Is it a rhythm to kill? Hah, Jiang Li laughs instead of being scared. She doesn’t know if she will die, but they are definitely doomed. Facing the big screen, Jiang Li gently makes a “shh” gesture to her family. “My dear family, I wish you—Happy Death Anniversary.”

Rule-based horror descended upon Blue Star, and each country had one Chosen One selected to enter the Horror World and fight for survival.

If a contestant died, their country’s national fortune declined and disaster struck.

If they successfully cleared the scenario, the country’s national fortune rose and the entire population received rewards.

Su Chen happened to be selected and entered the terrifying zoo horror scenario.

1. If the elephants you see look different from what you know elephants to be, do not panic. Open your eyes wide and tell yourself that seeing is believing.

2. This zoo has an Aquarium. If a staff member offers to sell you an Aquarium ticket, accept. There is a backup exit there.

3. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the zoo’s safety measures. No animal could possibly escape, and small herbivores in particular are kept in sealed enclosures where they cannot be touched. Therefore, if you see a rabbit running loose, pet it and carry it to a staff member. Rabbits can comfort you…

Just then, Su Chen awakened the Horror Rule Analysis System. As long as he deciphered the rules of the Horror World, he could earn rewards.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have received the Death Rollback reward!]

From that moment on, the entire Horror World took a turn for the bizarre.

Su Chen: What do I do now that I’ve turned the zoo into a vacation resort? Urgent, waiting online!

The Mountain Trail, Mental Hospital, and School Horror Scenarios: Stay away from us!

Longguo: Su Chen is truly a blessing to Longguo!

Ugly Nation + Kimchi Nation + Sakura Nation: I’d like to report someone for cheating, but I have no proof!

[Rules Horror + Dark Fairy Tale + Little Red Riding Hood + Smart Characters + Thriller + Ensemble Cast]

[High-IQ Unhinged Female Lead × Hell-Level Rules Horror]

No saintly nonsense! No dumbing down!

Top-tier plays from start to finish. Every Eerie Entity gets pushed past its breaking point!

–

“Are you a good person?” the System’s cold voice rang beside Wei Sen’s ear.

Wei Sen looked at the person she had just killed. The body was still warm. She couldn’t help laughing. “What do you think?”

The next second, she was thrown into a rules-horror world, and her opening difficulty was S-rank:

Instance: Dark Fairy Tale: Little Red Riding Hood.

The good news: she had bound the Protagonist Aura System. As long as she did good deeds, she could gain Merit Points and exchange them for heaven-defying abilities!

The bad news: she was born rebellious. The word “kindness” didn’t exist in her dictionary!

[A Long-Planned Scheme + Forceful Possession + A Powerful Man Bows His Head for Love + Both Leads Chaste + Two Strong Leads Join Forces]

Pei Xianjing, the eldest legitimate son of the Duke’s household, enjoyed the Emperor’s deep favor. Accomplished in both civil and military affairs, fair-minded and incorruptible, he was hailed by all as an upright gentleman and a capable minister who could save the realm-an aloof, unattainable flower blooming upon a frozen peak.

A savior delivered all beneath heaven.

And so, when Xing Shuwei came to him four years ago with nowhere else to turn, he had shown her generous compassion and allowed her to stay. “From now on, you belong to me.”

Overwhelmed with gratitude, Xing Shuwei regarded him as the lifeline that had saved both her and her younger brother. She obeyed his every word.

Then, on the day after her eighteenth birthday, Pei Xianjing pinned her against his desk.

The courteous gentleman had become a ravenous wolf. “Weiwei, do you like the birthday gift I gave you?”

“You are the rose I planted with my own hands. Even if every inch of you is covered in thorns, I am the only one you may prick.”

(A completely brainless, silly story)

Yun Youyou opened her eyes and found that she had inexplicably become an NPC in a Horror Game.

The stingy Game: No salary, no benefits-as long as it doesn’t kill you, work until you drop.

Yun Youyou: “Then I’ll just have to pretend I’m a pile of crap.”

As long as I don’t create any value, it’s the same as not working.

Relying on nothing but her silver tongue, Yun Youyou forcibly turned the Horror Game into a comedy game.

The Horror Hotel Dungeon?

Change it! Change it into a Pool Cyber Chanting Party!

The Horror Doctor loves performing sterilization surgeries?

Change it! Change it into a Gentle Nurse who cures all ailments!

In the beginning.

Facing the most terrifying and brutal Player in the Game.

Yun Youyou clung to Ji Lin’s leg, weeping bitterly as she cried, “Please let me go! I’m not like the other ghosts!”

Ji Lin sneered, “How are you different?”

Yun Youyou sniffled, “I have no dignity.”

Ji Lin: “…”

Later on.

“Yun Youyou, come here and tell me-why does this Male Ghost have your contact information?”

Ji Lin’s eyes were cold and sharp, his voice carrying a hint of danger.

Yun Youyou, whose wings had grown strong: “I’m the queen; if you don’t like it, deal with it.”

Noble Consort Qin was a peerless beauty, alluring enough to make the emperor cast aside his first wife and depose his legitimate son.

With tender eyes, Noble Consort Qin murmured, “His Majesty and I were joined as husband and wife in our youth. We are as devoted as a pair of mandarin ducks…”

Emperor Gaozu, inveterate male chauvinist: “Lady Qin is a mere concubine. How could she possibly have been joined to Us in our youth?”

“Throw this insolent wretch into the cold palace at once-and bring Us five hundred jin of memorials!”

◆ Male-chauvinist emperors with a single-minded devotion to a rich nation and a powerful army ◆

◆ We have no need of love. We want GDP! ◆

Notes:

1. This is a male-lead story in a fictional setting, and an unconventional quick-transmigration novel told through feudal monarchs who enter romance stories.

2. The emperors are written as typical rulers of feudal eras. They care only about raising GDP and have no time for romance. And yes, they truly are male chauvinists. Emphasis very much intended.

3. This is a wish-fulfillment story hostile to the pampered-concubine trope, with face-slapping and scum getting what they deserve. The emperors’ values do not represent the author’s. Please do not derail the discussion.

4. The direction and pace of the plot are entirely the author’s decision, and the author reserves the final right of interpretation.

[A brother-obsessed System top + mystery + male/male romance + a horror-game NPC + two powerful leads + wish fulfillment + the Fourth Calamity]

Your newly bonded System tells you that you’re actually cannon fodder in a melodramatic romance novel. Your opening act is to humiliate the campus beauty and beat up the man she’s cheating with: the classic setup for an overpowered hero’s rise.

But when he coaches you through your lines, he’s so embarrassed that he stammers and stalls. His tone turns peculiar, yet he still mischievously coaxes you along.

[Ge, repeat after me. Thirty years on one bank of the river, thirty on the other. Never look down on… um…]

And you, Zhao Xiuming, can only ask, “Huh?”

You know there’s more to the System than he lets on, even if he insists he’s an adorable Cuddling System, a warm, nurturing system.

But at school, you encounter a campus beauty carrying a ghost fetus.

At the hospital, her lover rises from the dead as an alien creature, muttering, “Bro, you smell so good.”

In your rented room, you share a bed with a blood-drenched young boy pretending to be a girl.

At your part-time job, the killer in the shop can’t get enough of you. And when you enter an isolated-island horror story, you finally discover who you are…

You, Zhao Xiuming, are certain the Horror System is keeping you captive as his pet. He even plays puppy in front of you on purpose. [Woof.]

Then you realize you aren’t normal either. You stop fearing the System and praise him. “Good boy, Little Darling.”

Before you read: Don’t approach this as a conventional story about a player clearing instances. The protagonist is an anomaly NPC, through and through. Read it as a mystery.

Players from different horror games enter the protagonist’s world, creating all kinds of instances. The “Fourth Calamity” tag is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the havoc players wreak on a world’s native inhabitants.

Crossed-inspired (but toned down; mere skin exposure does not cause infection) / apocalypse / strong female lead / survival / pseudo-ensemble cast / alternate world / no romance / no supernatural abilities / dark fiction / not a power fantasy / no easy victories / everyone suffers / desperate survival. The female lead is not the decisive, ruthless type. She is emotionally sensitive and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

In her previous life, Qingshui had fought tooth and nail to survive the apocalypse. When zombies overran the base, she risked everything to escort the base’s sole surviving researcher onto a plane, only to die in the jaws of the undead herself.

She thought that was the end of her life. Instead, in the blink of an eye, she was reborn into a vibrant world she had never seen before. There were no zombies here. No starvation. No bloodshed or chaos.

During her first year here, she even thought she had arrived in the paradise Aunt Chen used to talk about, despite the many classes she could not understand.

Just as she was finally beginning to accept her new life, the dream shattered…

In the middle of an unexpected exam, a piercing scream rang out from the classroom next door, awakening Qingshui’s long-honed survival instincts. Ignoring everyone else’s warnings, she grabbed the Dorm Leader and insisted they run back to their dorm.

Severed limbs littered their path, and the stench of blood filled the air. In mere moments, the entire campus became a living hell.

These creatures were even more terrifying than zombies. They tore people apart and devoured them alive, tormenting their victims for sheer amusement. Anyone caught by them would be better off dead.

And in this world gone mad, Qingshui will have to find a way to survive!

[Light Horror + Infidelity + Plot Twists] A beautiful Southern Girl, a knock on the door in the middle of the night, a silent delivery driver, someone crouching under the bed… Qin Song’s life descended into an inescapable hell because of an extramarital affair.