Protagonist

"What? 34%? How is that possible?" Li Yangyi jumped forward and looked at the numbers. "Oh my god! It's really 34!" His mouth shot wide open. He had only gotten 12% himself—adding in all the pain and humiliation he suffered, he simply could not imagine what would be necessary for 34%. That was almost triple his numbers.

Zhang Yong himself could not believe it either. The man still remained stunned, as his eyes fell on the screen. He didn't know what to make of it. In fact, he was more stunned than Li Yangyi, as he had witnessed the whole process of Li Yinyi's life in that world. She had been there for a mere 2 hours, 3 at most. In that time, she had not interacted with anyone except for that witch—if getting killed by her could count as interaction.

Shou didn't say anything.

Zhang Yong, witnessing the youths silence, shouted out loud, "Shou, why are her numbers so high? Isn't that unfair? Could it be that you are playing favorites just because she is cute? I thought you'd be better than this." If that was true, he'd truly be disappointed. Such things did not bode well with his sense of justice.

"As if, kiddo. Don't start accusing me out of nowhere." He paused. "The numbers are fair."

"But then why has she reached one-third of the completion-rate already? That doesn't make any sense."

Shou didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked around and reached for a chair. He calmly seated himself, his arms resting on the crest rail, his legs stretched out and his back lazily arched. "Well, why don't you answer me this: How do you raise the completion rate?"

Zhang Yong took his time and seriously thought about it. "To assimilate in the world, right? The enjoyment here is living in another world and slowly become part of it. The closer we get, the more the rate rises. That is why I had only 1%—I never did anything after all. Since it is like living in a story, we continue until the end. And that's the completion rate, right?"

"Nope," Shou cut him off, "It's to change its fate."

"Even if you say that, how exactly are we supposed to do such a thing?" Zhang Yong frowned. "Isn't it basically the same?"

The Li siblings also listened attentively. It was an interesting topic after all.

'No, no, no." Shou shook his head. "Let me ask you this—You read books, right? In these stories there's always a protagonist. Have you ever asked yourself why the author chose that particular main character?"

"Oh, me, me! Pick me!" Li Yinyi jumped forward and raised her hand. "It's because they are the most noble and dashing. He will always come in to save the day and do the right thing, so they are like a role-model for society."

"I bet there are many stories like that in this era, but no, that is not the reason." Shou gently patted Li Yinyi's head. "Morals change over time—what's good and bad changes with it. There are no stories that can have a noble character throughout the ages."

"Because the author can relate with them, thus they are easy to write." Li Yangyi tried his luck with a cynical answer.

Shou stared at him and sighed. He flicked the boys forehead. "Nope, wrong."

Li Yangyi held his head in pain.. '...Why am I being treated a lot worse than my sister?'

"I don't know. There are so many stories. Tragedies, comedies, poems, autobiographies, cautionary tales... even the little figures in martial arts scrolls could count as stories." Zhang Yong knitted his brows. He rubbed his temples but could not find the answer.

"It's easy, you know?"

"No... No I don't." Zhang Yong felt oddly disappointed. He was sure the person in front of him was just a youth, maybe half his age, but he currently felt like he was standing in front of his elder and was being tested—and he had failed to find a satisfactory answer. "So what makes a protagonist?"

Shou stood up again. He shoved the chair back under the table. "It's the one that drives the narrative." He pointed at Zhang Yong. "That is the difference between assimilating in the world and changing its fate. Ask yourself this—is the way you are living your life a story worth telling?"

"I—uh..." The man was stumped by the question. He grumbled, and his face scrunched into a knot. The more he thought about it, the more surprised he was about the profound idea within the statement. "I will have to return to my home and meditate about it." He bowed down, his hands in a fist salute. "Thank you for the guidance."

"Woah!" Li Yangyi held his sister and exhaled audibly. A mere mortal managed to give a pointer to Zhang Yong, one of the powerhouses of this city! He had truly seen it all tonight.

"The story is called 'Witch Hunt'. If you did nothing, the title will stay like that, acting as a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you try hard enough to even change the title, you should have managed to change the fate of that world, and in process changed your own." He nudged Li Yinyi. "Apparently, this girl is the closest to doing so."

"Understood," Zhang Yong thanked him sincerely. "Little Yinyi and Little Yangyi, I think we have intruded long enough for tonight. Let us return."

Li Yinyi wasn't satisfied. "Uh, but I want to stay longer."

"Don't be so selfish! We should leave the boss to himself. You can always come back tomorrow," Zhang Yong reprimanded.

'...weren't you thinking of doing the same thing?' He stopped the trio from walking out the door. "Hey don't forget this boy over there." He pointed at Wang Jing in the corner.

"Who?" Zhang Yong looked at the boy. "Ah, yes. Little Yangyi, your houses are close, true? Carry him to his house then."

"Huh, me?" Li Yangyi immediately showed a face of disgust.

"Of course, who else? Stop dilly-dallying. I feel like I'm close to an epiphany. If I lose it, it's your fault!"

Though he really didn't want to, he could not go against Zhang Yong. He sighed, and then lightly lifted Wang Jing up, even holding his breath, as if he was touching a pile of trash.

They all walked out of the door, with Shou waving behind them and seeing them out.

Li Yangyi turned around one last time, his eyes fell on the small store. From the distance, it looked no different than any other. The warm light emitting gave it a cozy feeling in the dark night—no one would have guessed that it hid tremendous potential.

"Ah... The words probably already been spread about the three families meeting today. What should I tell father?" He closed his eyes and felt a headache approaching in the near future.

...

"Hey you, wake up!"

Wang Jings head felt heavy. He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by the beautiful night-sky. He looked around and realized he was lying on the ground, the cold floor caressing his smooth skin. Right in front of him, Li Yangyi stared at him with an irritated face.

"How long have I been out?" Wang Jing rubbed his head, his memories were fuzzy.

"300 years." Li Yangyi said seriously. "Welcome back."

"Huh?" Wang Jing stared blankly at him.

Li Yangyi cupped his hands and his face was solemn. "Truthfully, just after you went to sleep, an unknown race attacked us, starting the war which will later be known as 'The Great Daxian Rebellion' and 'The Massacre of Humorless Hill'. The person who had knocked you out was of such race—they had infiltrated our ranks. Carrying indescribable technology and arts far surpassing humanities imagination—though we outnumbered them—they swiftly got the upper-hand and drove us into slavery. Under the harsh conditions, we were forced to evolve; cultivation got better and our lifespan expanded, but we were still no match," Li Yangyi said bitterly, his voice low, "Your father decided the world was too harsh and put you into indefinite sleep until we won the war." He then remained silent. "Unfortunately..."

"Unfortunately what?" Wang Jing fell into shock. His mind could not process the information as he just woke up.

Li Yangyi stared away, little tears leaving his eyes. He hid his mouth behind his hand. "His last wish was for me to carry his dreams on... I have his final words. he hoped you'd hear them."

"Oh my god." Wang Jing slumped down. "What are they?"

Li Yangyi edged closer and whispered in his ear: "Nah, I'm just fucking with you. It's been six hours." He then casually walked away. "Well, bye then. Have a nice sleep!"

"You fucking asshole!" Wang Jing screamed at the disappearing back. He gritted his teeth and threw his fan at his direction. First, he was done in by a mere shop-owner and now that Li Yangyi even tricked him—it was the worst day of his life.

"Wang Jing, is it you? Why are you screaming in the middle of the night?" A female voice resounded behind the walls; he recognized it as his mother. She did not say anything about the time, as she was used to him being out for long. Instead, she addressed something else. "Everyone heard of the news, the three families meeting. Such an important thing, why did you not return promptly?"

"I apologize," he said nonchalantly.

"Nevermind that. Someone wants to meet you."

"Eh, whatever. Is it dad? Tell him I don't feel like it today." Wang Jing shrugged his shoulders. he didn't feel like talking. "Or is it perhaps even grandpa? Even if he's the family-head, he can't just give me orders in the middle of the night," Wang Jing complained like a spoiled brat.

His mother slowly stepped out. "No it's..." The pale moonlight illuminated her body. Her clothes were disheveled, barely hanging low on her shoulders, and her hair unkempt. Her cheeks were rosy red and her eyes seemed hazy. She had sweat running down her face. The mother opened her lips and muttered with ragged breaths, "...Miss Mei Xue."

A heavy shudder ran down Wang Jings' spine and his face drained of all color. "El—Eldest Cousin?" he managed to stutter out.