The Returner - Chapter 404: That’s why we’ve ended up in this state (4)

Kim Jeongjin, an editor of a publishing company on the brink of closing due to bankruptcy, ends up transmigrating inside a fantasy novel as the incompetent youngest son of a wealthy family.

And here he thought that he should live a rich life in this life…

“Why was I given a high-level skill? Don’t even bother!”

Before the disfigurement, everyone loved Ling Chunan. After the disfigurement, Ling Chunan became a plague that everyone avoided. He was held on captive by his own agent afterwards because he was so ugly now, desecrating his love. Finally, Ling Chunan chewed himself to death because he was starving. After his death, a thing that claimed to be the counterattack system 098 found him.

A long time after, a certain counterattack system of a host with a 100% success rate posted a message in the System Forums.

《Emergency Help Request, my host is a masochist! He won’t be happy if every meals doesn’t have meat, and if he doesn’t have meat to eat, he will start to gnaw himself! How to treat this illness?!》

Great God : No need. I have a fast recovering ability. I will let him bite me.

- Description from Novelupdates

As part of the imperial family, every move by Chu Yuan in this game of chess is made with apprehension, fearing that with a moment of inattentiveness, the whole match will be lost in a single move.

Ascending to the throne at eighteen, not half a year passes before civil strife erupts in Yun Nan. Though the thoughts of the old guard at the imperial court are not exactly identical, they are all waiting to see how the new emperor will put an end to this.

Unexpectedly, before this side could make a move, a few thousand miles away, the King of Xi Nan, Duan Bai Yue, had already personally commanded troops to attack in all directions; not half a year had passed when peace was restored.

Sparse moonlight shines into the palace; Chu Yuan stamped the wax seal himself, and had a secret letter sent urgently to Yun Nan 800 miles away — this time, what must we(1) give in exchange?

Brush marks passed through the back of the paper; it almost can be seen, when writing this line, how angry the young emperor was.

Duan Bai Yue spread out a piece of paper unhurriedly, replying with only one word.

You.

Notes:
(1): Chu Yuan is using the royal ‘we’ here.

- Description from Novelupdates

Lu Qingyan was once the perfect daughter—an obedient, soft-spoken high school girl known for her academic excellence and fragile health. But the one person she loved the most was her older brother—hentle, dazzling, and far too burdened for his age, he was her everything.. No one noticed his silent suffering… until it was too late. The day he took his own life, she shattered.Months later, while saving a child from an oncoming car, Lu Qingyan dies and awakens inside a familiar story: the school novel “A Thorn in the Crown”, one she read during her lowest days.But she’s no longer just a reader.She’s now Lu Qingyan, the infamous younger sister of Lu Mingxuan—the novel’s violent and cold-hearted villain feared across campus. A notorious delinquent, and ironically, the sworn enemy of her favorite character: Wang Jingyuan, the story’s tragic antagonist turned misunderstood villain.In the novel, Lu Qingyan is little more than cannon fodder—a delusional girl who idolizes her brother, gets caught in the crossfire between Lu Mingxuan and Wang Jingyuan, and ends up being dead.Determined to change the plot, she initially plans to curry favor with Wang Jingyuan—to save him from his doomed fate.But everything shifts the moment she lays eyes on Lu Mingxuan.He has her brother’s face.The same weary eyes.The same lonely back.The same silent cry for help no one else hears.And in that moment, Lu Qingyan’s plan shatters.This isn’t just a story anymore.So Lu Qingyan vowed to protect him this time, even if it means dragging her brother out of gang fights, squaring off against entitled rich kids, or defying the other villain himself—Wang Jingyuan, the school’s cold and brilliant golden boy... and Lu Mingxuan's sworn rival.In the original novel, Wang Jingyuan was one of the big villains—the cunning and miserable friend of the male lead. Now, he’s front and center... and watching her a little too closely....Lu Mingxuan always disliked his bootlicking sister, but one day he discovered that she had stopped following him around.Later, he unexpectedly found his sworn enemy, Wang Jingyuan, trapping his sister against the wall and between his arms. With an ambiguous and languid expression, he coaxed in a soft tone, “Just give up on that useless brother of yours. What Lu Mingxuan can give you, I can too.”Lu Qingyan: ???Wang Jingyuan, you dog!!That’s my sister!! Stop daydreaming!!