NOVEL WEB Chapter 001: Reborn in the Novel World - Chapter 001: Reborn in the Novel World
Chapter 001: Reborn in the Novel World
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“This station reports that this evening, based on a tip from the public, police discovered a young man dead at his computer desk in a rented apartment in the city. According to the content on the computer and statements from his roommate, the young man was a contracted writer for a well-known original literature website. The cause of death is suspected to be sudden cardiac arrest induced by long-term irregular living habits and high-intensity writing. Additionally, as the young man has no surviving relatives, the matter has been handed over to the relevant authorities for handling. Here, we urge the public to cherish life and maintain a healthy routine…”
……
“Truly, the wicked live long. Why didn’t he just fall to his death and save everyone the trouble? Dr. Shen, stop treating him. Once this young master recovers, he’ll just start harassing you again.”
A woman’s voice chattered incessantly in his ears. He slowly opened his eyes, greeted by a white ceiling. Turning his head, he saw various medical equipment and an IV drip hanging by the bed.
He was in a hospital…
Thankfully, he had been lucky…
“Forget it. Since it happened in the hospital, we can’t just stand by and do nothing. No matter how bad this person is, we can’t abandon our duty as doctors,” another clear female voice chimed in.
With great effort, he lifted his heavy head and looked toward the source of the voices. Standing in front of the bed were a doctor and a nurse, dressed in white, engaged in conversation.
The nurse was facing him and, noticing he had woken up, quickly covered her mouth with her hand and gave the doctor a meaningful look.
The doctor noticed and turned to glance at him, speaking through her mask, “You’re awake.”
“You…” He tried to sit up to ask questions, but a sharp pain shot through his ribs.
“Hey, don’t move! Your ribs have just been set!” The doctor hurried over to stop him but kept her distance, her eyes betraying a hint of wariness and even a touch of disgust.
Once the pain in his ribs subsided slightly, he gasped and asked, “I remember collapsing in front of my computer. How did my ribs get broken?”
The doctor was visibly stunned and replied with surprise, “You must be mistaken. Two days ago, you fell down the hospital staircase and were seriously injured. Your broken ribs even punctured your internal organs, causing massive bleeding. You were on the brink of death!”
In an instant, he was completely bewildered.
He clearly remembered being at his computer, frantically typing away to meet his monthly word count, when suddenly a sharp pain gripped his heart, followed by darkness as he lost consciousness. But how could the doctor be saying he had fallen down the hospital stairs?
The doctor glanced at his bandaged head, furrowing her delicate brows, and murmured, “Could it be temporary amnesia caused by a concussion… Do you know where you are?”
He looked around and suddenly realized that this so-called hospital room seemed excessively luxurious, more like a presidential suite in a five-star hotel.
Seeing his confused expression, the doctor’s frown deepened. She turned to the nurse and said, “Xiao Wang, hurry and call the neurologist.”
After the nurse rushed out, the doctor continued probing, “Then do you remember who you are?”
“Of course I do. My name is…” He was about to say his name when he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the LCD TV on the opposite wall. The faint reflection showed a face that looked… strange.
“Um, do you have a mirror?” he asked inexplicably.
The doctor was thoroughly puzzled but complied, retrieving a round mirror from the bedside drawer and handing it to him.
When he looked into the mirror, he saw it clearly—and was utterly stunned. The face staring back at him was completely unfamiliar!
Could it be… he had been reborn?!
As a novelist, he had read countless stories that began with the protagonist waking up after a rebirth, but he never expected to experience it himself!
But was this really not a dream?
To confirm, he tried moving his facial muscles and mouth while looking in the mirror, even pinching himself.
As his mind raced, the doctor observed his strange behavior thoughtfully before suddenly sneering, “Song Shicheng, stop putting on an act in front of me.”
His body trembled slightly, and he turned to meet her gaze, stunned. “What did you call me? Song Shicheng?”
Not only was he confused by the name she used, but it also sounded eerily familiar: it was the name of the villain in the urban novel he was writing!
This villain was a super-rich young master, portrayed by him as despicable, vile, shameless, and lustful, committing all sorts of heinous and unforgivable acts.
Following the typical urban novel trope, the villain’s sole purpose was to be continuously humiliated and defeated by the protagonist, eventually becoming a stepping stone for the protagonist’s rise to power before being killed off in some chapter.
Before he lost consciousness, he had been writing a scene where the villainous young master clashed with the protagonist in a hospital stairwell. In the end, after being brutally beaten by the protagonist, the villain was kicked down the stairs, severely injured, and left unconscious…
Wait, kicked down the stairs and severely injured?!
Instinctively, he looked at his injuries and then at the doctor, recalling what she had said about how he had been injured and lost consciousness!
“Could this be real?” The doctor, seeing his genuine confusion, couldn’t help but mutter to herself. She tilted her chin up and asked, “Then, do you at least recognize me?”
Seeing that he still looked completely lost, the doctor removed her mask, revealing a stunningly beautiful face, and said in a mocking, cold tone, “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your dear old auntie, Young Master Song?”
His gaze shifted from her oval face down to her ample chest, where the name tag clearly read: “Shen Xiaoyan.”
Shen Xiaoyan?!
Wasn’t that the name of the female lead in his novel?!
In an instant, he was struck dumb with shock, and an unbelievable thought popped into his mind.
“My name is Song Shicheng… Your name is Shen Xiaoyan… So this is… Qingmao Hospital in Huahai City?” He mentioned the fictional location and hospital from his novel, and when “Auntie” nodded in confirmation, he was utterly petrified.
What was going on?! Not only had he been reborn, but he had also been reborn into his own novel!
Even more absurdly, the person he had been reborn as was the villainous young master from his novel!!
And then, an even more terrifying thought occurred to him…
He clearly remembered that the protagonist of his novel, though of humble origins, possessed extraordinary skills in traditional Chinese medicine!
The last scene he had written before collapsing at his computer was of the protagonist, a skilled healer, walking up to the villainous young master and secretly inserting a silver needle into his lower body, rendering him impotent for life!!!