Chapter 3: Everyone's Nervous (Part 3) Click 1 to hear my revenge plan. ...

Zhang Deng had insomnia that night and tossed and turned until three in the morning before he fell asleep. At seven in the morning, he was woken up by a phone call - he forgot to turn off Liu Yan's call!

Zhang Deng fluttered his eyes and took a long time to open them. This time he answered the phone.

Liu Yan seemed to have expected that his temper would only last a day at most. After he answered the phone, he was not surprised and said bluntly: "You should delete the video."

Zhang Deng asked vaguely, "Why?"

"This isn't good for either of you."

Zhang Deng didn't say anything.

Liu Yan said, "What else? Do you really want to make such a fuss?"

"You know," Liu Yan said, "Xiao Qiu has depression. He threatened to cut his wrists yesterday. What else do you want?"

Zhang Deng: "Ah, then take some medicine."

Liu Yan said angrily: "Am I telling you this?"

But you have to take medicine. That’s what Zhang Deng did. Besides taking medicine, what else can you do when you’re sick?

Liu Yan said: "You delete the video, Xiao Qiu will not express any position anymore, so stop arguing."

Zhang Deng asked slowly, "Do you think we are arguing?"

Liu Yan choked for a moment, but still said firmly: "You are already an adult, don't do such irrational things anymore."

"I'm not rational to begin with," Zhang Deng said calmly, "I've never been rational."

Zhang Deng wanted to say, if I were really rational, I wouldn't let He Qiu take my article and wouldn't let him bully me for so many years, but in the end, I felt that there was no point in saying anything, so I just said, "You love him very much, but your love is blind, so you only protect him, but I don't love him. I can't let everyone scold me for him. Even though no one loves me, I still have to protect myself."

Zhang Deng's words were very logical and irrefutable. Liu Yan fell silent.

Zhang Deng waited politely for a moment before announcing, "I'm hanging up now."

"Wait a minute," Liu Yan suddenly asked, "how much do you want?"

Zhang Deng: “?”

Zhang Deng was confused for a moment. He clenched the phone tightly, paused for a few seconds, and said, "I'm going to hang up."

As he said this, he immediately hung up the phone as if he was afraid of hearing anything else.

There was some hazy morning light filtering through the curtains. Zhang Deng stared at the ceiling in confusion. It was the kitten that came over and called out softly, waking him up. Only then did he react and said, "Xiao Mi, are you hungry?"

Then he put on his slippers, stood up and put food in the cat's mouth.

Zhang Deng's care for Xiao Mi was not very meticulous, because he was too busy with his work and could not accompany his kitten. He could only feed cat food and occasionally open a can of food. When he bought it, he knew that he might not have the energy to keep a pet, but when he saw it at the morning market, he was still like possessed and stubbornly took it home. Along the way, he kept apologizing to Xiao Mi for making such a bad decision for it without authorization.

Now that he was finally unemployed, Zhang Deng solemnly opened a can of food for Xiao Mi, washed the water bowl again, and filled it with fresh mineral water.

Maybe it was because of the thousands of dollars worth of streaming that Zhang Deng bought, or maybe it was because He Qiu was really popular, but this matter was fermenting rapidly at a rate that no one expected.

Zhang Deng's videos have been viewed over six million times, he has gained 100,000 followers, received hundreds of insults in the background, and many people have sent him private messages wanting to add his contact information.

At around ten o'clock in the morning, He Qiu also posted a video.

In the video, his eyes were red, and he looked exceptionally thin in a loose sweater. He came up and bowed, saying, "I'm sorry."

He Qiu said: "I am sorry for hurting the people who love me, but I did not plagiarize——"

Zhang Deng immediately backed out, but after a while, he clicked it again and continued watching. He Qiu denied all plagiarism and presented a series of evidence. Zhang Deng had never seen the pictures he produced, so they were probably photoshopped.

Zhang Deng was stunned.

He Qiu said: "Moreover, this incident has caused me great distress. I have suffered from depression for a long time. I haven't eaten or slept for two days."

"Maybe Zhang Deng really hates me too much," He Qiu shed a tear, "but I really don't want to blame him."

Zhang Deng: “…”

This time Zhang Deng did not respond.

Zhang Deng's phone has been ringing non-stop these days. Many authors and colleagues he has met have contacted him. Some are curious, and some really care about him. However, Zhang Deng couldn't tell the truth from the false, so he didn't reply.

By the afternoon, his number of fans had increased by 200,000. He couldn't tell from the comments whether there were more people supporting him or scolding him, but the data was obvious: He Qiu had lost 50,000 fans.

Zhang Deng hadn't eaten anything for the past two days, probably because he was too excited to feel hungry. But this afternoon, he suddenly felt extremely hungry. He quickly ordered a takeaway of curry rice and paid directly without even having time to choose a set meal.

He lay in bed, feeling like his stomach was about to fall out of the bed. Finally, the takeaway arrived. There was a knock on the door three times, and Zhang Deng went to open it dizzy.

"09:12," Zhang Deng said, looking down at the package. "Thank you."

But the rider didn't let go.

Zhang Deng was suddenly startled, thinking that this might be someone coming to assassinate him. He looked up fearfully and was frightened again when he saw the glasses under the man's helmet.

Such a tall person, such bright eyes.

Those were a pair of very deep and bright eyes, with a very youthful and penetrating look. Zhang Deng seemed to be frozen in an instant.

The man took off his helmet, glanced at his watch, as if confirming something, and then smiled and said, "Hello."

I don’t know if it was because of his smile or because Zhang Deng was hungry, but Zhang Deng felt dizzy and fell down with his head tilted back, and fainted.

When he woke up again, Zhang Deng found himself lying on the bed. The man was wearing inappropriate slippers and leaning on the sofa playing games. His cat was sleeping at his feet.

Accompanied by the killing music of the game, the man found that he had woken up. He said, "You should drink something first."

Zhang Deng then noticed a glass of water on his bedside table. He was a little cautious. Although he was thirsty, he didn't dare to drink it. The man said at the right time: "I made you some sugar water."

The familiarity in his tone seemed to indicate he had known Zhang Deng for a long time. Zhang Deng was moved by his words and, indeed, very thirsty, so he thought, "Never mind, I'll just die." He then took a sip. It was surprisingly still warm and sweet. The moment he drank it, his stomach felt much better.

The man put his phone aside and asked, "How long have you been hungry?"

Zhang Deng recalled carefully that the most recent meal he had seemed to be the lunch he had with Xiao Deng that day.

Everything was so confusing. A handsome stranger stood in the cramped living room of Zhang Deng's house, operating his microwave, heating up the rice for two minutes, bringing it to the coffee table, and saying, "Let's eat."

He slowly got up, his brain starting to work. He said, "I'm sorry, did I delay your work?"

Zhang Deng found that he might be a little strange. He actually felt okay about a stranger invading his space.

Maybe it’s simply because humans love beauty without any limit, like good-looking people, and are particularly tolerant of them.

“Huh?” The man laughed. “I’m not a delivery man.”

The man placed the food in front of Zhang Deng, then pulled out a palm-sized notebook, pointed at the photo on it, and said to his face, "This is my work ID."

"Special Affairs Bureau, World Tree Branch, employee number 679," he said. "My name is Wei Yuanye."

Zhang Deng might have not eaten for too long, causing damage to his brain function. He blinked slowly, obviously confused.

Wei Yuanye smiled unconsciously and said, "You can simply understand it as, I'm here to help you."

Zhang Deng: "What can you help me with?"

Wei Yuanye: "Simply put, your world is about to collapse. You have serious mental problems. Someone around you is using their magnetic field to influence you and absorb your strength. We generally call this supporting role syndrome."

"Everyone in this world wants to be the protagonist," said Wei Yuanye. "Some people will resort to various means to destroy the luck of others in order to make their own lives happy. We call these people 'evil'. They themselves are unaware that they are doing evil, but those around them are affected by them, and many even end up in a very tragic situation."

Wei Yuanye said: "In your world, He Qiu is 'evil', I am here to help you eliminate this 'evil'."

Wei Yuanye said, "I've been looking for you for a long time, but couldn't find you. Finally, I saw you while watching videos today. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."

Zhang Deng: "Are you... also sick?"

"That's not what I meant," Zhang Deng explained hurriedly. "I'm sick too. It's okay. But aren't you seriously ill? Have you seen a doctor?"

Wei Yuanye: “…”

"I know you're sick," Wei Yuanye said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "But I'm not. I have a physical examination every year. Don't worry, I'm not crazy."

Zhang Deng: "Do you have super powers?"

Wei Yuanye: "It's hard to say."

Zhang Deng: "Which hospital are you from?"

Wei Yuanye quickly said, "I do, I have superpowers, I can show them!"

Wei Yuanye quickly took out his pager and said, "This thing is my 'magic weapon'."

Wei Yuanye pressed a button and suddenly disappeared on the sofa.

Then the next second, he reappeared in the same place, holding a cup of milk tea in his hand and placed it on the lamp table. He pushed it in front of him and said, "Is this okay?"

Zhang Deng completely froze.

Zhang Deng rarely crashes, but this is the first time in his life that he can't find any coping methodology in his mind. After he fell ill, Zhang Deng has thoroughly classified all the problems he might encounter to avoid any out-of-control behavior. For example, he only buys necessities when shopping. If someone scolds him, he will endure it at least twice before fighting back. If the work is too hard to bear, he will apply for a salary increase.

For many years, he has been living by some self-made codes of conduct, but these methodologies are now completely ineffective.

I have never seen Zhang Deng before.

Wei Yuanye waved his hand in front of his eyes. Zhang Deng was startled and exclaimed, "Ah!"

Wei Yuanye laughed and said, "How come your reaction time is so long?"

Zhang Deng reached out and touched his hand. Wei Yuanye was stunned for a moment, but didn't pull his hand away. Zhang Deng realized that this was actually real. He said, "Oh my God."

He moved as slowly as a snail and looked weak when surprised.

Zhang Deng asked, "Has my condition worsened?"

Wei Yuanye: “…”

Zhang Deng was so frightened that he was about to cry. He seemed to be talking to himself: "Am I hallucinating? Am I going to have schizophrenia?"

Wei Yuanye couldn't laugh anymore and quickly said, "No, don't misunderstand me."

"This is not an illusion," Wei Yuanye held his hand, exerting a little force, "It will hurt, don't scare yourself."

"The office where I work is like the intersection of your worlds," Wei Yuanye said, "but I can't enter everyone's world. I can only enter the world of people like you who are in pain. Your world has been almost destroyed by 'evil', and you are sick, so I can come in to help you."

Zhang Deng suddenly realized that he was still holding Wei Yuanye's hand, and quickly let go, his face flushed: "Sorry."

Wei Yuanye inserted the straw into his milk tea and said, "Red bean mochi."

Zhang Deng asked, "Then how can you help me?"

"What do you need?" Wei Yuanye said.

Zhang Deng: "I want people online to stop scolding me, okay?"

Wei Yuanye said: "Okay. But I must also abide by the rules of your world."

"In your world, there's no magic or third-party forces. Everything operates according to the laws of physics," Wei Yuanye said. "So, since I'm in your world, I must also abide by your rules."

Wei Yuanye said, "I can only help you legally and reasonably within your rules. Because this is how you live."

Zhang Deng didn't fully understand, but he roughly understood what Wei Yuanye meant.

Zhang Deng asked, "There are many other worlds with different rules, right?"

"Yes," Wei Yuanye said, "but I haven't seen it either. This is my first mission."

This was a very novel worldview. Zhang Deng couldn't help but ask a few more questions. He said, "Then how did you know me? Has anyone been watching me?"

"We can't see you," Wei Yuanye said. "When the World Tree writes the progress of each world, it will make some errors, tending to give more resources to the same person, which will devour the happiness of others. It's like a novel, all the good things go to the protagonist, and others get less."

"But if the real world proceeds this way, it will cause many problems. The 'protagonist's' greed will inevitably affect the normal operation of the world. When it exceeds the critical value, we will be able to detect that something is wrong with the world. This world is not as stable as you think. It will collapse or split at many times. A different choice will create countless world branches. You are currently at the port of the world split. If your mind completely collapses, then the world will continue to split endlessly."

Wei Yuanye said: "To avoid this kind of chaos, we will find out what is causing your breakdown and help you get through it smoothly."

Zhang Deng's ability to understand slowly returned. He asked, "Is every mentally ill person a gateway to the world?"

"You could also understand it this way. They likely sensed the unstable fluctuations before the world split, causing their minds to become confused and fractured," Wei Yuanye said. "But every world has a 'core,' and the 'core' of this world is you. 'Evil' has influenced you, causing you to develop a strong sense of self-destruction. If you continue in this state, it will inevitably cause the world to split endlessly."

"You might not quite understand it yet," Wei Yuanye said, using a more accessible approach. "You can think of it this way: you live in a world like a novel, but you're no longer willing to play along and give up your place as the protagonist. Then, you possess the power to destroy this world. Your strong desire to awaken will eventually cause this world to split into countless parallel universes, just as you wish. If this happens too often, the World Tree will collapse."

Zhang Deng: "Me?"

Wei Yuanye said: "It's you, but you won't go that far."

Zhang Deng said, "I definitely won't."

Zhang Deng has no intention of destroying anyone.

Although he was still skeptical about all this.

Because in Zhang Deng's world, he always thought of himself as a supporting role. He was He Xiaoqiu's shadow, and few people even noticed him.

How did he suddenly become such an important person?

Zhang Deng's instinctive reaction was disbelief.

Wei Yuanye didn't rush to convince him, but suddenly changed the subject and said, "Actually, your problem is easy to solve."

Wei Yuanye's tone was firm, and Zhang Deng could even sense his indifference to many issues. Wei Yuanye said, "The online comments are already leaning in your favor."

Zhang Deng hesitated to speak, Wei Yuanye asked, "What do you want to say?"

"Actually," Zhang Deng said, "I just want an apology."

Wei Yuanye was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Is it He Xiaoqiu's?"

Zhang Deng nodded.

He was ashamed of his stubbornness.

Wei Yuanye said nothing, but just said: "Then work hard for it."

Zhang Deng: "He's not someone who will admit his mistakes."

Wei Yuanye: "If everything goes smoothly for you, you won't be willing to admit that you make mistakes. Humans are just like that, they are very susceptible to weightlessness."

"Just let him lose once." Wei Yuanye said simply.

Then, Wei Yuanye added: "I don't have a valid ID card, so I may have to stay with you for a while."

"Actually, I can rent a house near you," Wei Yuanye said, looking down at him, "but you're not very emotionally stable, so you need someone to take care of you."

Zhang Deng rarely refuted this, saying, "I'm very stable."

"Being too stable is also a kind of instability." Wei Yuanye made a direct judgment.

Zhang Deng opened his mouth, but was speechless for a rare moment, unable to find any point to refute.

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