From Villain to Virtual Sweetheart: The Fake Heir's Grand Scheme(BL)-Chapter 584: Lost Data, Lost Fates

Inside the quiet hospital room, the air felt heavy. Machines hummed softly, and the faint smell of antiseptics lingered. Noas’s body lay motionless under the thin blanket, but inside his head, chaos erupted.

"Host...host..." the mechanical voice buzzed, the sound breaking with static. "The key characters from the book are near you."

The transmigrator’s consciousness stirred, irritated. "Who is it? Can you identify them?"

"Sorry. My power is insufficient."

"Damn it. When will the first mission activate then?"

"When you are within one hundred meters of the key figures." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The host let out a long, mental sigh. "Great. Just my luck. I might as well wake up quickly at this rate."

"The system suggests the host check the book completely before doing so."

He growled internally. "I just took a look at the category and genre, and already lost interest. This world is so dull compared to Wuxia and interstellar realms."

"Even so, the system had warned the host of the upcoming danger waiting in this world."

"Fine, fine. I read the damn thing."

Minutes passed. The host skimmed through the incomplete story in his mind, each missing Chapter raised his frustration to another level. The more he read, the more his expression, if he had one, would have twisted.

A few minutes later...the transmigrator finally lost it. "Fuck. Are you kidding me? Why is this novel half-assed? It’s like the author suddenly had a seizure in the middle of writing. None of this makes any sense. Who even is the protagonist supposed to be?"

The system chimed mechanically. "That is why this is a difficult mission. After the first host had performed poorly, the data for this world had been lost, or jumbled. The following hosts had no idea who the protagonist was."

"Oh?" the host’s voice sharpened. "So tell me who they picked? How did they fail?"

"The data is not stored in the system database," it replied monotone. "After a mission fails, the host is ejected and the system restarts. The ejected hosts retain no memory aside from a deep fear of this world. None of them were willing to try it again."

The host scoffed. "Useless... completely useless. So how am I supposed to figure out who the protagonist is? It could be anyone among the true and the fake young masters."

"The system has no authority to interfere in the mission or influence the host’s decisions."

"Yeah, yeah. I know..." the host said, frustrated. "Still...if I think out of the box, maybe I can guess right. The most obvious answer would be the real young master of the Ramsy family. He is smart, successful with a sob tragic backstory. Classic main character template. In comparison, the fake young master is famous for being trash with a shitty personality. But if all of them failed, that means only two things. First, they picked the wrong protagonist." the host reasoned. "Second, the protagonist is a major character whose personality is nothing like the incomplete novel described. Maybe someone capable of noticing the existence of the system or someone whose desires differ from the plot."

There was a pause. "Either way," the host concluded. "I should see them up close before deciding. After so many missions, I’m sure I can tell who the true son of the world is."

"The system wishes the host the best of luck. Due to insufficient power, the system will now enter a dormant state. When the host encounters a key figure, the system will automatically awaken to assist."

A soft hum of acknowledgment echoed from the host. "Fine. Go take your nap."

The room fell silent again, no voices, no mechanical commentary, just the rhythmic beeping of machines.

Then, several minutes later, the patient on the bed stirred. It was small at first. A twitch of fingers, then a faint movement under the blanket. His eyelashes trembled. His throat contracted slightly as he tried to swallow around the tube.

Outside the room, Nabil had ended his call, pacing restlessly near the glass window. The moment he saw movements, his eyes widened.

"Noas?" His voice cracked. He spun around and sprinted toward the nurse’s station.

Nurses rushed in, paging the doctors.

Nabil stood outside, watching as the medical staff examined his younger brother. Then, Noas began to struggle, violently wanting to pull out the tube in his mouth.

The doctor quickly injected a mild sedative, calming him down. After the check-up was done, the medical staff worked with practised efficiency and disconnected the ventilator tube from the patient’s mouth. They checked the oxygen level multiple times. After making sure everything was okay, they moved Noas to another room.

Nabil blocked the doctor’s way, demanding answers. "How’s my brother? Why is he unconscious again?"

"The patient is stabilised. Rest assured, he will wake up shortly. Afterwards, we’ll perform another set of examinations. But we are optimistic the danger has passed." The chief doctor explained calmly, being used to the aggressive behaviour of patients’ families.

Nabil’s expression softened slightly, tension leaving his demeanour.

Not half an hour had passed when Noas opened his eyes again, coughing violently. Nabil stepped closer instinctively, patting his back.

The doctors returned again, examining him. Throughout the process, Nabil’s eyes, worried, didn’t leave one moment from his younger brother’s body.

The lead nurse gave Nabil a reassuring nod. "He’s fine. Keep things calm. Don’t overwhelm him."

Nabil sighed in relief, seeing his younger brother awake.

On the bed, Noas Lobart, aka the newly awakened host 8553, blinked up at the bright lights, pupils adjusting slowly. His chest rose shakily. His fingers curled weakly against the sheets. He turned his head and locked eyes with the older brother.

At first, there was no emotion in his eyes. No confusion. No warmth. A sporadic cough filled the silence between them.

Nabil’s breath hitched. "Noas? Are you alright? Can you speak? Are you thirsty?"

Host 8553 studied him silently, taking in the older brother’s tense stance, his red-rimmed eyes, the faint tremble in his fingers.

There was no reaction from the system. So this older brother, the head of the Lobart family, the dragon king’s son, was not a key figure? Not even a supporting role?

What a letdown. He thought he could activate a mission the moment he woke up. So who was the key character the system had sensed earlier?

Nabil leaned closer from the lack of response. "Noas?"

The host blinked, masking his apathetic attitude. He parted his dry lips, voice hoarse. "Brother."

Nabil’s shoulders sagged with relief, and he reached out, brushing Noas’s hair from his forehead. "Mmm, brother is here."

Host 8553 watched the gesture carefully, assessing. Well, even if he wasn’t an important character, at least he was a powerful one who cared for the original owner. Having his backing, being in his good book would not be without merit.