“Not long after leaving, I regretted it. I messaged you, called you, but you never replied… I thought you hated me, were fed up with me. I know how awful and pathetic I was then; it was right for you not to bother with me. But…”
His breathing grew ragged.
“But I never imagined you couldn’t even answer my calls or messages! You were hurt, so badly hurt, and I knew nothing! I knew nothing…”
He repeated it endlessly, murmuring, his gaze gradually unfocusing, vacant.
Xun Ji was silent for a moment before reaching out to rub his reddened eye corner.
“Liar. Said you weren’t crying.”
Tears slipped through his fingers. Lu Zhou turned his head, gripped his hand, and pressed scorching kisses to it.
“Xun Ji, I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
Three years were so long. Pain was like fire on oil, bearable; longing was ten thousand ants gnawing his heart, devouring his chest day by day.
Only after three years did he understand—he didn’t even have the right to pain or longing.
Lin Yule was right. It was all meaningless, all his own fault.
But why was Xun Ji the one hurt? Why did Xun Ji hurt?
His eyes filled with sorrow. Word by word, he begged plaintively.
“Xun Ji, Xun Ji, I was wrong. Punish me. Punish me, okay?”
Punish him, as harshly as needed. But, but don’t abandon him.
Don’t abandon him.
Could a naughty little dog be forgiven by its Master?
Lu Zhou didn’t know. But it didn’t matter. He would stay by Xun Ji’s side, at any cost.
Lu Zhou kept kissing Xun Ji’s slender fingers, devout and fervent.
【Ding! Warm reminder: Protagonist Blackening Value has reached 90%. Congratulations, Host—blackening task nearly complete.】
Xun Ji: …
A confession pushes the Blackening Value to 90%. The Protagonist indeed.
【Host, Host, the Protagonist seems even more twisted! Just reject him harshly, max out the Blackening Value, and we can leave this Small World!】 The System suggested eagerly.
Xun Ji wanted to take the easy way, but he couldn’t.
He pulled out his kiss-dampened hand and wiped it clean bit by bit, frowning.
Lu Zhou’s black eyes watched him darkly, as if prepared for something.
Xun Ji looked down at him coldly. “Do you remember what I said to you the first time we met?”
A flicker of daze crossed Lu Zhou’s eyes.
“I remember,” he said. “In the Abandoned School Warehouse, you gave me two choices: drop out, or be your dog.”
Lu Zhou had chosen the second.
At first, he thought it would be endless humiliation. Later, he realized how wrong he was.
It was Xun Ji’s grace.
Xun Ji nodded. “Three years now, and I’m tired of this game. Lu Zhou, from now on, you’re no longer my dog, and I’m not your Master.”
Lu Zhou’s fingertips dug harshly into his palm. Though expected, his heart still stabbed with pain.
He forced an ugly smile on his face and nodded. “Okay. As long as it’s your wish, I respect it.”
A disobedient little dog getting discarded was normal, right? But Xun Ji didn’t know—he wasn’t the little dog from three years ago. Those dark, unspeakable cravings, he would fulfill in ways Xun Ji would despise, even if it meant…
“From today, I’ll punish you. Everything of yours no longer belongs to you—it’s all mine to control. So…” Xun Ji looked down imperiously and commanded, “Be my boyfriend, Lu Zhou.”
“Okay.” Lu Zhou nodded numbly.
A moment passed.
“…What did you say?!”
Xun Ji’s face darkened menacingly. “What? You want to refuse?”
“I-I…”
Like a horror movie theater suddenly cutting to a kids’ cartoon, Lu Zhou’s brain short-circuited. He froze in place.
【OOC Warning! OOC Warning! Please mind your words and actions, Host. Prohibited…】
“What’s wrong with my words and actions?” Xun Ji retorted confidently in his mind to the System. “Heart wicked, person cocky, face stinky—I’ve done it all. Who says a vicious School Bully and a dark Protagonist can’t date?”
【…】
【System judging… OOC alert temporarily lifted. Please maintain School Bully image even if da-ting.】
The words “dating” glitched oddly, but no OOC Punishment triggered. Xun Ji breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he noticed Lu Zhou still frozen.
No way—really unwilling? Didn’t he just confess?
Xun Ji eyed him suspiciously, hesitated, then decided to test. He cleared his throat, rubbed his cheek, and struck the classic School Bully wicked grin:
“What’re you spacing out for? Do I need to teach a boyfriend what to do? So stupid.”
He pinched Lu Zhou’s chin and tentatively leaned in, kissing the corner of his lips.
The black-haired youth kneeling on the ground stiffened like a statue, pupils dilating sharply, body unmoving.
【Ding! Warm reminder: Protagonist Blackening Value has reached 89%.】
Xun Ji perked up. Dating works after all—just a bit slow.
No matter. Little by little adds up.
He kissed again.
【Ding! Warm reminder: Protagonist Blackening Value has reached 88%.】
Another kiss.
【Ding! Warm reminder: Protagonist Blackening Value has reached 87%.】
Xun Ji was pumped, about to go for a real one, when his cheeks were suddenly cupped by a pair of slightly trembling hands.
“Xun Ji… say that again.” Lu Zhou’s nose tip touched his, breath feather-light.
Xun Ji blinked, lashes brushing Lu Zhou’s.
“So stupid?”
“Not that.”
“What? You wanna refuse?”
“The one before.” Lu Zhou murmured low, coaxing gently.
“……Be my boyfriend, Lu Zhou.”
Scorching breath swallowed the end of his words. Lu Zhou drank down the antidote maliciously named as such, laid open his soul to welcome the grace dubbed punishment. The response he had mulled over a thousand times deep in his heart overflowed from between his lips and teeth:
“……Okay.”
After a long wait, the prisoner received his verdict.
The malicious judge struck the gavel, imposed punishment, and sentenced him to eternal imprisonment in the river of love.
![No Redemption for Dark Protagonists [Quick Transmigration]](https://i0.wp.com/dobynovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/quickkk.jpg?resize=151,215 "No Redemption for Dark Protagonists [Quick Transmigration]")
