Lucien Sinclair was the young master of a wealthy family, pampered beyond measure by his parents and his older brother, Miles Sinclair. However, heaven rarely bestows every blessing upon one person. Perhaps seeing that he was far too happy, the heavens decided to take away his legs.
In an accident when he was three years old, the lower half of Lucien Sinclair's body completely lost all sensation. Even though the Sinclair family exhausted all their connections and spared no expense on medical treatments, nothing could be done.
Fortunately, their love was profound enough to help Lucien grow up exceptionally well. He entirely maintained his kind-hearted nature, never turning into a gloomy, antisocial outcast.
Lucien felt that he did not have too many issues himself, perhaps because he had been properly educated by the adults in his family since childhood and was given an abundance of care and attention. The only thing was that he was already twenty years old, yet he had never experienced a single romance.
Lucien had never felt insecure about his condition.
Mainly, since reaching puberty, he had realized that he had no interest in girls, he only liked boys. Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair had no objections whatsoever regarding his sexual orientation.
But the reality remained that Lucien was paralyzed from the waist down.
People always say that love goes hand in hand with physical intimacy. He had no way to fully enjoy the kind of passion that could drive people mad, as everyone often spoke of. Therefore, Lucien did not place too much importance on matters of the heart.
He lived for his passions, Lucien loved painting and enjoyed studying acting. The Sinclair family did not object, and his brother even hired private tutors to teach him at home.
Lucien also had a little hobby, which was reading romance novels.
If I cannot fall in love myself, then I will just watch others fall in love!
Lucien even read R18 and R21 stories, with their vivid and steamy descriptions. He had also tried to imagine himself becoming the main character in those tales.
It was truly a pity. If it were at all possible, he would have also wanted to experience this feeling for himself.
Yet Lucien did not dwell on this matter too deeply; if it happens, it happens, and if not, so be it. Compared to many others, he felt that his life was already perfectly fulfilled.
That was until one day, when Lucien was being driven out for a ride by his brother, and they encountered another traffic accident. Right before losing consciousness, Lucien felt that his parents really should have invited a priest to read his fortune beforehand.
They needed to be warned that he had a blood feud with automobiles!
Why was it that every time he got into a car, he ended up in an accident?
"Hiss... my head hurts so much." Lucien raised a hand to touch his head, feeling an unbearable dizziness washing over him. He braced his arms to push himself up, softly calling out: "Mom?"
No one answered, and only then did Lucien look around. This was not the familiar hospital room that he had been imagining. The surroundings were pitched in total darkness, so gloomy that no objects could be seen clearly.
"Where... is this?"
[Greetings to you.]
Out of thin air, a highly mechanical voice suddenly rang out, making Lucien jump in shock: "Who are you?".
[Allow me to introduce myself. I am a system from the Novel Universe, designated as 000. You may call me 000.]
Does getting hit by a car cause hallucinations? Lucien felt that there might be something wrong with his brain. As if hearing the thoughts in his head, 000 spoke up once more: [I am a system that executes tasks to accumulate points. Once enough points are gathered, we will help fulfill one wish for you. The reason I sought you out is that the hidden desires within your heart are immensely profound, which attracted me.]
"It seems... I do not have any deep desires, nor do I hold any special dreams that absolutely must be fulfilled."
[Do you not wish for your legs to be cured of paralysis, so that you may stand up like a normal person?]
[Do you not wish to find someone who loves and cherishes you, just as your father loves your mother?]
[Do you not wish to experience the feelings you have been reading about in books all this time, where you always imagined yourself as the main character?]
"..."
This utterly detestable system!
I did not need you to speak so bluntly, tearing open the secrets buried in my heart like that!
Thus, Lucien stubbornly retorted: "What if I do not need it? I do not want to, and I do not like doing your tasks. Get lost, and return me to my mother.".
[You are already dead.]
"..."
For the second time, this damned system rendered Lucien speechless: "Who trained you to speak to clients like this? Tell them to go back and reinstall your chip, or else one day someone is going to smash it to pieces.".
[I am speaking the truth. The accident has caused you to fall into a vegetative state.]
[If you agree to sign a contract with me, after accumulating enough points, you will awaken in the real world, and your legs will be fully healed.]
[If you refuse, your physical body in the real world will die. As for your brohter, he will be consumed by regret for the rest of his life.].
Lucien fell silent.
In truth, he did not care much about life and death. While alive, he would be happy and enjoy whatever he had. If he died, then so be it, the dead have nothing to regret. If there was a next life, that would be even better, for in the next life he would be a healthy person, no longer tormented by a defective body.
However, if he died... Miles would undoubtedly be deeply remorseful.
Lucien was not supposed to go out today, but Miles saw him staying indoors all day and, fearing he would be bored, insisted on dragging him outside.
In the end, they met with an accident.
If Lucien died because of this reason, Miles would certainly blame himself and live in regret for his entire life.
"But what if I just cannot accumulate enough points? Five years, ten years, twenty years... what happens if I never gather enough? Will Miles and the Sinclair family have to watch me clinging to life on a bed for all those years? Forget it, it is better to just die and be done with it.".
Prolonged pain was worse than a swift end, dying would still be less agonizing than letting his loved ones watch him remain a vegetable for decades.
[The flow of time in the mission universe differs from real time. Each world will take a maximum of about one month on the outside. If you complete things quickly, you could wake up in less than a year.]
That sounded genuinely tempting.
"But what do I need to do?"
[Assume the roles of supporting characters in the plot worlds, execute the side quests proposed by the system, and ensure that the novel worlds do not collapse.]
"Then what if I mess up the plot? Will I be struck by lightning?"
Lucien remembered that the novels he often read frequently featured this exact trope.
[You only need to follow the system's tasks and ensure the world does not collapse. That will be sufficient.]
That sounded far too simple.
Yet the easier things seemed, the more hidden traps there usually were.
It was just that... Lucien no longer had any other choice.
"Alright, I agree."
[Please sign the agreement contract below.]
A contract appeared right before Lucien's eyes, the preliminary information included his name, System 000, and some miscellaneous introductions. To sum it all up, he would perform the tasks outlined by the system, and the system would help him fulfill a single wish.
Very well, if he had to sign, he would sign. He was already dead, so what else was there to fear?
The moment Lucien finished signing, his surroundings faded to a pitch-black ink once again.