Absolute Protagonist C01

Genius Deduction Method 1

“You little brat, I told you not to go astray!”

The man’s curses echoed from inside the narrow room, reaching far beyond the door, followed by the sound of fists and kicks.

“I told you to work honestly and make money, but you went and tried to seduce some female student! You made me lose all my face today! I’ll kill you right now!”

The neighbors were startled by the commotion, instinctively peeking through the windows. They shook their heads and sighed, then casually looked away, as if used to such scenes. All that could be heard was the continuous dull sound of collisions coming from inside the room.

Occasionally, a weak voice from the boy could be heard pleading: “That’s not true, I didn’t…”

“Still daring to lie! I knew you were asking for a beating!”

The man suddenly raised his voice, drowning out the boy’s cries. At the same time, a heavy impact echoed.

“Bang!”

When Chu Si regained consciousness, his head was still ringing. Stumbling up from the floor, the intense dizziness made him instinctively clutch his forehead.

Amid the sharp pain, bright red liquid oozed through his fingers, staining his hands and face, blurring his vision. Chu Si’s eyes widened in disbelief—

He was actually injured, and quite badly too? emmmm, this was a long-lost feeling.

Before he could process what had happened, a whooshing sound came from behind, and he instinctively dodged.

The man, unable to stop in time, stumbled forward and fell to the ground with a grunt, presumably twisting something in the process, groaning in pain.

His face twisted in fury as he stood up, grabbed a nearby bottle of alcohol, and threw it at Chu Si’s head.

“You little brat! You still dare to dodge!”

“Mm?” Chu Si furrowed his brows, feeling the pain all over his body. He looked at the unkempt, foul-smelling, and menacing man before him, and suddenly understood something.

Seeing the man charging toward him, he extended one hand, gently pushing and pulling to sidestep him. With the other hand, he struck the man’s wrist quickly, using a skillful twist to snatch the bottle from his hand. Then, he kicked the man in the stomach.

“Crash!” The man was sent crashing into the wooden table behind him, and the bottle rolled off the table, shattering into pieces on the floor.

Chu Si took a few steps forward, kicked the man onto the floor, and then slammed the bottle against the wall, shattering it further.

“You overestimate yourself…” He picked up the remaining half of the bottle, raised it over the man’s head, and slowly turned it, “You really need to wake up.”

The man cursed, struggling desperately: “You little bastard, you’ve gone too far! Let go of me! Or I swear I’ll show no mercy!”

Chu Si remained unmoved, intensifying the pressure on the man, making him cry out in pain.

However, he overlooked the fragility of his own body, and the dizziness from blood loss was becoming stronger. Chu Si’s vision blurred as he staggered.

The man on the ground seized the opportunity, getting up and grabbing the broken half of the bottle, hurling it at Chu Si’s head.

At that moment, Chu Si felt a sharp pain in his wrist. The man let out a horrific scream as Chu Si tightened his grip on his wrist and twisted it hard, using his knee to knock the man back to the ground.

Chu Si then seized the man’s right hand, using the broken bottle to aim at his neck, thrusting it down with force.

“Ahhhhh!”

The man, who had looked so menacing moments ago, now screamed like a pig being slaughtered, and the sound was cut off by a piece of cloth shoved into his mouth.

Fear reflected in the man’s eyes as he looked up at the boy before him.

The boy’s torn shirt was stained with blood, and his messy black hair was stuck together with dried blood. More blood trickled down his forehead, covering his face and making his cold, indifferent eyes seem even more terrifying. He silently but resolutely drove the bottle deeper into the man’s neck.

The boy’s movements were slow, his gaze fixed firmly on the man’s eyes, like a skilled hunter leisurely watching his prey’s final struggles.

For a moment, the man was filled with growing terror.

At this moment, the boy before him was no longer the obedient son who endured beatings and insults. He looked more like a ghost or demon risen from hell.

【Stop! Host, please stop!】

A strange mechanical voice suddenly rang out. A system that had just connected with its new host had witnessed this scene, its voice almost distorting in panic.

“…What! A system? Who are you?” Chu Si asked, his actions continuing without pause.

【Hello, Host, I am your exclusive system 666—No! Host, please stop!】The system 666 instinctively answered halfway before letting out another urgent cry.

Chu Si ignored it, completely unmoved.

“Disaster, disaster, disaster!” In the system’s virtual space, system 666 panicked, spinning around in place. The white light orb emitting strong fluctuations, “It’s my mistake! I didn’t select the right host and ended up choosing this devil! Now I can’t even change hosts because I don’t have enough energy! What should I do?”

After spinning in circles for countless times, seeing the failure of the first world approaching, system 666 suddenly had a flash of inspiration: 【…In this world, killing people is illegal!】

Chu Si finally stopped his actions, raising an eyebrow slowly, “Oh?”

【Yes, yes! Host, I’m not lying to you, this world is a civilized society. Any crime will be punished by law. You can’t act impulsively!】

“Fine.” Chu Si appeared to regretfully pull back the bottle, then slapped the man on the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious. He sighed lightly, “Then forget it.”

Seeing the host so “obedient,” system 666 let out a sigh of relief, a sense of comfort gradually emerging.

…It seemed this host wasn’t so bad after all. Maybe all the terrifying things he did before were misunderstandings.

The next moment, Chu Si asked, “Now, can you explain to me clearly? What exactly are you, and why did you bring me here?”

He smiled deeply, but his smile made system 666 shiver involuntarily. The mechanical voice began to tremble.

【It’s, it’s like this…】

Chu Si felt a flash of white light before his consciousness was connected to a pure white special space. In the center of the empty space, a glowing little orb stood out prominently.

He observed the small light orb with interest.

【…Not long ago, due to a void storm, most of my system’s database was destroyed. Not only can I not return to the original timeline, but even the energy to sustain myself is running out…】

System 666 explained seriously, the white orb’s surface displaying a crying face emoji.

【So, I wanted to make a contract with you, the host, and travel through different small worlds. I hope you can help me earn enough energy…】

“So, not only did you forcibly kidnap me to another world, but you want me to work for free to earn energy?” Chu Si smiled, his voice sharp as he said, “I refuse.”

【Wait! Host, let me explain. Actually, the world you were in was gradually changing and collapsing, which you should have realized by now. I brought you out just before it completely turns to ruins.】

“…You mean, I should thank you?” Chu Si remained unfazed, not showing much trust in system 666’s words.

【Hehe, you don’t have to thank me.】 System 666 cheerfully spun around in the system space, 【As long as you agree to contract with me and help earn energy, that’s all I need.】

“So what exactly is this energy you’re talking about?”

【I need a lot, I’m not picky!】

System 666’s mechanical voice was full of joy.

【Low-level mental powers, such as belief power; high-level luck, merit, even the origin of the world. The highest level is the time and space power created by fate and cause and effect, which is the special energy that allows me to travel through worlds.】

Chu Si: “…”

What is all this nonsense? And you call yourself not picky?

He twitched his lips, “Forget it, I still refuse.”

【No, no, no, Host! Once the energy runs out, I’ll be forced to go into permanent sleep, and you’ll be stuck in this time and space forever!】

“Hehe… I suddenly think permanent sleep doesn’t sound so bad.” Chu Si’s smile grew brighter as he firmly locked onto the small white orb in the system space, his voice softer.

An extremely terrifying virtual mental storm began to form in the system space, filled with an almost uncontrollable destructive aura.

The white orb trembled under the storm, speaking cautiously: 【Actually… making a contract with me has benefits for you, too. You’ll be able to experience the scenery of different worlds, and you’ll also get a share of the energy. Maybe, someday, you could use the time and space power to fulfill your own wishes. We can do a 50-50 split… no, a 60-40 split… maybe 30-70?】

…

After a while, both the host and the system were satisfied with the unequal agreement.

Chu Si finally shifted his attention, his gaze landing on the man who was lying unconscious on the floor. During the conversation, the man had regained consciousness once, but had been knocked out cold again without mercy.

At this point, Chu Si had pieced together everything from the original host’s fragmented memories.

The original host’s name was Chen Mo, and the man on the floor was his father—a gambling, alcoholic scumbag who was heavily in debt and had a tendency for domestic violence.

The original host had lived under this scumbag’s roof for sixteen years, until just now when he was beaten and his head struck the table corner, leading to his death.

Chu Si’s gaze grew cold as he swept the floor, then crouched down to search the man’s body, pulling out a phone. Using the memories left by the original host, he dialed the emergency number and the police.

“Beep—”

The phone connected, and he immediately fell into character, his voice low and desperate, almost a whisper: “Help…”