Chapter 23

Just as Sullivan was about to lose consciousness, he heard a robotic voice saying, “Warning! Warning! Both the male and female protagonists’ lives are in danger! Vital signs are steadily decreasing. The world is about to collapse!”

Male and female protagonists? What did that mean? Whose voice was he hearing? Was he hallucinating?

Before Sullivan could figure out what was going on, he blacked out.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a mysterious dimension. Endless lines of code flooded the space. He tried to touch them, but his hand merely passed through.

A light sphere floated over to him and scanned him. Immediately, a red exclamation mark appeared in front of the code.

“Abnormal data. Data cleansing required. Data cleansing mode initiated!”

The voice that came from the light sphere was robotic and emotionless as it gave the command. As soon as it finished speaking, Sullivan felt the stinging pain again. He immediately sensed that an unseen power was forcibly trying to wipe his memories.

He was horrified to find that he was starting to forget the memories he shared with Madeleine!

As fear gripped his heart, he wanted to flee this place, but he couldn’t. He tried to fight back, but he couldn’t even touch the light sphere.

What the light sphere proceeded to say next terrified him even further.

“The relationship between the male and female protagonists has developed abnormally. Data cleansing and reformatting required.”

“The male protagonist has developed feelings for a side character. Data cleansing and reformatting required.”

“The male protagonist has developed murderous intentions toward the female protagonist. Data cleansing and reformatting required.”

With each sentence, Sullivan slowly pieced the situation together. He stared at the light sphere and growled through gritted teeth, “Are you the thing that has been controlling me? I’m the male protagonist? I’ve developed murderous intentions toward the female protagonist?

Is Isabel the female protagonist? Is Madeleine the side character?”

The light sphere paused briefly before responding, “As the system, my responsibility is to ensure that this world progresses as intended. I am not required to answer these questions.”

However, its refusal to answer only solidified Sullivan’s belief that he had guessed correctly. A sense of absurdity gripped him. Anyone who abruptly found out that his life was merely part of a world controlled by another would feel utterly helpless.

Out of the blue, Sullivan recalled what he heard before he passed out.

“Both the male and female protagonists’ lives are in danger! Vital signs are steadily decreasing. The world is about to collapse!”

It hadn’t been a hallucination, after all. Both he and Isabel were about to die, and the world was at risk of collapsing; that was why he had been dragged into this dimension for further inspection.

Sullivan’s eyes flickered in thought. He thought that since Madeleine could free herself from the shackles of the plot by taking her own death, he could do the same, changing his identity to gain his freedom.

He hadn’t found the right opportunity to give it a shot yet, but now, the chance to be completely freed from the plot was right in front of him.

Since the death of the male and female protagonists would lead to the collapse of this world, and the so-called system’s goal was only to ensure that the world progressed as intended, he had a way to negotiate with the system now.

“Release me,” Sullivan hurriedly demanded. “I don’t want to be your male protagonist. I just want to be with Maddie!”

He was anxious, afraid that the system would continue to wipe his memories. He would rather die than forget about Madeleine and become a puppet controlled by another.

The light sphere flickered, as if it couldn’t quite understand what Sullivan was saying.

Maddie. Even if I forget about these things now, once I’m gone, there will come a…

Sullivan continued, “You can wipe my memories, but you can’t erase my love for Maddie. The woman I love isn’t some random female protagonist you people chose for me. If you force me to live according to the plot, I’ll kill myself instead!”