CHAPTER 43 – The Hacker Forces the Plot
Outside her mind, alarms began shrieking on Gu Yanzhou's laptop.
The hacker, Zhou Meilin, had detected his intrusion and countered with a devastating, novel form of attack: a complete, forced narrative override.
New code.
New commands.
A critical protocol forced through the compromised system.
The hacker's text appeared rapidly on Gu's screen, a taunting, triumphant message:
If the male lead refuses to die, President Gu,
the story will correct itself.
I will force the predetermined reality.
Gu Yanzhou's eyes narrowed to lethal slits.
"What the hell does that mean?"
More text appeared, chilling and explicit:
A car accident.
Chapter 42 of the original novel.
The designated point of divergence.
You were supposed to die there, Yanzhou. You altered the fate of the entire narrative when you survived.
Gu felt a bone-deep, cold chill race down his spine, a primal terror that the world he fought for was fundamentally unstable.
Xiao Xi stirred violently on the bed, forced into a terrified, half-conscious state by the immense external digital power surge.
"Yanzhou…" she gasped, her eyes flying open.
He grabbed her hand instantly, his voice a low, fierce anchor.
"I'm here.
What's happening?"
The hacker typed again, their tone shifting from mockery to ultimatum:
Your survival destabilizes the world.
So I'll recreate your death.
Tonight.
On the expressway leading from the hospital.
And a live video file popped up on Gu's screen: traffic footage—a familiar black car registered to his company—speeding brakes—a massive truck swerving violently—the exact, devastating geometry of the accident he had narrowly avoided weeks ago.
Xiao Xi's breath hitched violently, her eyes fixed on the screen she could barely see. "That's… your accident…"
Gu froze, his heart pounding a frantic, terrifying rhythm against his ribs.
The hacker wasn't just manipulating data; they were manipulating physics, forcing the world's reality back onto its original, fatal track.
The hacker whispered one final, devastating sentence:
Let the story play out, Gu Yanzhou.
The sacrifice is required.
Or I will kill her instead.
She is in my control.