I Refuse to Log Off - Chapter 1

The instant I opened my eyes, something tightened around my neck. Someone behind me was clearly trying to strangle me with something.

My gaze sharpened. I grabbed them and executed a shoulder throw.

“Ah!”

The woman behind me slammed onto the floor with a cry of pain.

I snatched up a nearby stand and raised it to strike her—only for the woman to speak.

“Mingyue, what are you doing? I was just trying to put a scarf on you.”

My name was Mingyue, all right, but I had no idea who she was.

At that moment, a flood of memories that did not belong to me poured into my mind.

A moment later, I stared down at the woman with bright, alert eyes.

Had moral standards for novel heroines fallen this low?

Good news: I was still alive after drowning, because I had transmigrated.

Bad news: I would not be alive for long, because I had become Zhou Mingyue—Victim Number One, the woman written out in the opening pages of a mystery novel.

There were three hours left until the original owner’s scheduled death.

Three hours from now, she… or rather, I, would be tortured to death by a deranged serial killer. There would not even be enough pieces left to make a whole body.

After my death, the male lead, Qin Mubai, and the secondary male lead, Zhao Xianzhi, would investigate my murder. During the case, they would meet the heroine, Lin Shuying—the woman currently sprawled on the floor. She was my friend and roommate.

The aloof, proud medical examiner with a sharp tongue and a soft heart. The gentle, dependable captain of the criminal investigation brigade, a champion of justice. And the heroine who looked lively and kind but was really a master of disguise with a heart as black as ink.

The three of them solved crimes while dancing around their romantic feelings, earning themselves the nickname “Fenghai City’s Iron Triangle.”

My death was what brought them together.

I looked at Lin Shuying as she climbed to her feet. In the original plot, the original Zhou Mingyue’s death had been entirely her doing.

Her younger sister had been murdered three years ago. To avenge her, Lin Shuying used Zhou Mingyue—who dressed in a similar style to her sister—as bait to draw out the serial killer.

There was nothing wrong with wanting justice for her sister. What I could not accept was her willingness to sacrifice another innocent life to get it.

Especially when Zhou Mingyue had never wronged her. If anything, she had been Lin Shuying’s benefactor.

In a flashback, the novel explained that when Lin Shuying first arrived in this city, her phone had been stolen. Penniless, she sat beside the road and cried.

Zhou Mingyue took pity on her and brought her back to her tiny apartment.

She let Lin Shuying live with her for two whole years without charging a cent of rent, right in the middle of a city where every inch of land cost a fortune.

How could anyone arrange the death of someone that kind and still sleep at night?

Oh, the plot insisted that Lin Shuying had not meant to get Zhou Mingyue killed. She had only wanted to use her to lure out a murderer who had not struck in years. Something went wrong with her plan, and she failed to save Zhou Mingyue in time.

Afterward, she was tormented by pain and regret. She wished she had been the one who died.

Claiming she wanted to atone, she took care of Zhou Mingyue’s parents. Her sincerity eventually won their forgiveness, and when they died, she inherited everything they owned.

I understood that the author wanted this plotline to show how loyal and compassionate the heroine was, but come on! Hadn’t Lin Shuying caused every tragedy that befell the Zhou family?

I drew a deep breath. Heaven had not reborn me in this cannon-fodder character just so I could die again.

Sorry, but the plot would have to change.

I refused to go offline. I could take someone else offline first—starting with that serial killer.