Chapter 85 - 80: Plot Kill

Chapter 85: Chapter 80: Plot Kill

[Kill her in another world]

Those few words caused Yin Zhen’s eyes to snap wide open, gleaming with a startling brightness.

Nan Jiamu had indeed lied to Sheng Yehan; her survival was not forcefully tied to Ancient Abyss!

[And, make her lose her protagonist halo]

To her surprise, the System added another sentence.

"How do I make her lose her protagonist halo?"

Yin Zhen asked aloud. The System didn’t respond. This was the second question, and her chance was used up.

However, this question didn’t need the System to answer; Yin Zhen had already figured it out.

Word count!

If someone’s word count exceeded Nan Jiamu’s, would this protagonist still be considered a protagonist?

How high was Nan Jiamu’s word count?

She didn’t even need to think to know the answer—it was the word count of the entire book where she was the protagonist.

Depriving Nan Jiamu of her protagonist halo by hoarding word count, then killing her—this path was far too long, fraught with countless variables. Perhaps before that time even came, the Villain Card would vanish from her table. Yin Zhen immediately vetoed this plan.

Yin Zhen continued to inspect the item she anticipated most: the Golden Item, Plot Kill.

[Plot Kill] (Golden Item)

[Effect]: Consume word count to summon a ’writer’ to compile a piece of plot for you, helping you achieve a certain goal over the following period of time.

Writer Level:

Consume 50,000 words: Summon a ’Third-class writer’ (a flopping author who excels at self-indulgent writing). Their plot tropes are stiff and full of logical loopholes, but the advantage lies in being cheap. There is a chance for them to perform exceptionally well (an exceptional flop is also exceptional, mind you), with a success rate of about 40%.

Consume 100,000 words: Summon a ’Second-tier Writer’ (a contracted author whose strength is stability). Their plot logic is consistent and transitions are reasonable, but they lack surprises. The success rate is about 60%.

Consume 200,000 words: Summon a ’First-class writer’ (a god-tier author with guaranteed quality). Their plots are exquisite, with interlinked causes and effects, making all accidents seem perfectly logical yet entirely unexpected. The success rate is about 80%, with a chance to trigger a ’Divine Brush’ that grants you extra rewards.

Consume 500,000 words: Summon the ’System’. It is the incarnation of the rules itself, with a 100% success rate. (If you have this much word count, why bother playing with a Plot Kill? Wouldn’t it be better to just be the protagonist?)

[Special Explanation]

The plot drafted by the writer must adhere to the basic logic of the story. They cannot have meteors fall from the sky, nor can they make a target drop dead on the spot out of nowhere.

Above the minimum consumption, you can continue to consume more word count to raise the stakes. The more words consumed, the higher the success rate.

(A secret just for you: the Third-class writer has a hidden attribute. The plot they write has a 10% chance of going completely off-track. After all, a flopping author can’t even keep their own books from collapsing, let alone your life. But sometimes, going off-track brings unexpected surprises. Do you dare to gamble?)

"System, are you back again?"

Seeing the familiar snark, Yin Zhen couldn’t help but ask.

The System did not answer.

Yin Zhen glanced at her current total word count: 81,333 words. At 100,000 words, she could upgrade to a Silver Card and become a major supporting Character. If she used it on Plot Kill now, she could only summon a Third-class writer.

"Let’s try resonance with the Black Domain Walker’s Extraordinary Ability first."

[Resonance Failed]

[Resonance Failed]

[Resonance Failed (Don’t force it if they don’t love you)]

Yin Zhen tried many times, and every single time it was a failure. She kept trying until her Assimilation Degree skyrocketed to 70% due to the resonance. Her teeth itched so much she wanted to bite someone, but it still resulted in failure.

"Am I not worthy of this Extraordinary Ability? Or is it that you, a trash System, lack the authority to give it to me?"

The System didn’t dare to respond.

Yin Zhen temporarily unequipped the Character Card and waited for her Assimilation Degree to drop a bit before trying again. The result was still a failure.

In the end, Yin Zhen had no choice but to accept reality and give up on resonance with the Extraordinary Ability.

Perhaps it was an exclusive villain ability specially distributed by a higher-authority entity to cultivate a new villain, much like how she couldn’t achieve resonance with Zoe’s ability either.

Finally, Yin Zhen performed one last resonance with the Black Domain Walker’s memories.

She outright ignored those mundane slice-of-life fragments. Anyway, this content would be stored in that space in the form of a book. She could go flip through it whenever she needed to. Normally, as long as she didn’t deliberately recall them, she wouldn’t be disturbed by an outsider’s memories.

What Yin Zhen focused on seeing was what happened after the Black Domain Walker became a Player.

However, the situation was the same as it had been with Sheng Yehan: Yin Zhen couldn’t directly see the color of the Black Domain Walker’s Character Card, and she didn’t inherit his Character Card this time either.

As for why the Black Domain Walker hadn’t used his hacking abilities to improve his current life, it was because of his vindictiveness. He wanted to force his wife to leave him before making himself rich, just so she would regret it.

Even just roughly skimming through his memories from the Black Domain Walker’s perspective, Yin Zhen could tell that his wife was a woman of character. She had been working constantly to support the family, staying by the side of a useless piece of trash like the Black Domain Walker for three years. If it hadn’t been for their child, she absolutely wouldn’t have been driven to the point of cheating.

"Truly the trashiest of trash!"

The Black Domain Walker left behind two items of inheritance: one Game Backpack (Small) and an invitation.

The Black Domain Walker previously had a death-substitution item, which he had generously given to Quentin. But that had merely been to set Quentin’s mind at ease, molding Quentin into the most useful blade in his hands.

[Cross-border Invitation Letter (Consumable)]: A dark gold invitation with the word "Invitation" written on the cover in hot-stamped gold font.

[Effect]: Consume word count to write down a person’s name on this invitation letter. They must be a real, living person whom you have seen with your own eyes. They will follow you to another world for the duration of one crossover.

After the crossover, the invited person will randomly possess someone within a 500-meter radius around you. During this period, they will possess the host’s memories (from the last 7 days) and Extraordinary Abilities (if any).

Once the round ends, the target will automatically return to their own body, and the possessed person will revert to normal with no memory of what happened. During this time, the invited person will not gain forum access, nor will they be recognized by the System as a ’Player’. It is merely a ’temporary trial card’.

If the target dies during the possession period, they will die in reality. Please use with caution.

"An item that’s useful, yet seemingly not of much major use."

Yin Zhen stored the invitation letter and sat beneath the eaves of the dilapidated bungalow, waiting for sunrise so the sunlight could dispose of the Black Domain Walker’s corpse.

She needed to see him turn to ash with her own eyes to feel at ease, just as she had with Sheng Yehan.

Yin Zhen kept gazing at the sky in the East, pondering how to use the Plot Kill to maximize her benefits and achieve her ultimate goal.

Yin Xiaoying silently took out the game console it had sneakily slipped into Yin Zhen’s backpack before they left. The pitch-black humanoid shadow leaned against Yin Zhen’s back, playing games at a very soft volume.

Whenever it died in the game, Yin Xiaoying would soundlessly throw a flurry of punches at the empty air before continuing.

The night sky faded from deep blue to light blue, then seeped into a pale gray. The sky was gradually brightening.

The first ray of sunlight shone into the small courtyard and touched the Black Domain Walker’s corpse. Starting from his fingertips, he crumbled into ash bit by bit, leaving behind only the clothes he had been wearing.

Yin Zhen’s eyes gradually regained their bright color. She stood up and burned the Black Domain Walker’s clothes. As she watched the flames slowly die out, her final plan had already taken shape in her mind.

Yin Xiaoying was still squatting in the shadows under the eaves, hugging the game console and scratching its head in frustration.

Yin Zhen chuckled and picked up her backpack. "Let’s go, Ying. We need to go back and prepare for our fourth crossover."

Yin Xiaoying shoved the game console back into the backpack and jumped into Yin Zhen’s shadow.

"When we pass the market, I’ll buy some beef brisket. Do you know how to make braised beef brisket? Also, I want Yuxiang shredded pork, twice-cooked pork, home-style tofu, and sweet-and-sour pork. I’m so hungry!"

Under the sunlight, Yin Zhen’s shadow clutched its head.