...[How To Keep The MC Safe From "MySelf"]...

Rayne Lyle died once. Fortunately, he was summoned by the Deity into the very novel he had written. If he could complete the mission and save this world, he would earn the right to live on.

But the identity he took on… was the final villain boss, whose fate was to die by the MC’s hand.

Life wasn’t easy to get back, so of course Rayne wasn’t stupid enough to go anywhere near the MC.

Except life loved playing pranks. The more he tried to avoid him, the closer they got, until they ended up tangled together with no escape.

^^^“Heaven sent you to me… isn’t that^^^

^^^its way of making up for everything I’ve lost?”^^^

...----------------...

...[Warning]...

This work contains elements of violence, horror, gore, and scenes that may be disturbing. Readers under 18 or those who are sensitive should consider carefully before reading.

The characters’ actions, thoughts, and behaviors do not reflect the author’s personal values or worldview. The author does not condone violence, inhumanity, or inappropriate relationships in real life. Such elements exist solely to serve the story’s world-building.

This is a work of fiction meant for entertainment and is not suitable for readers who prioritize strict realism or have high demands for factual accuracy. Please enjoy the story with a relaxed mindset and avoid over-scrutinizing.

...----------------...

...[Author want to say]...

Hello! I’m Náo Náo Cô Nương, or you can call me Mis’chief, an author from Vietnam.

[ How To Keep The MC Safe From "My Self" ] is my original work written in Vietnamese. I decided to share it more widely, so I translated it into English and posted it on Noveltoon. My English isn’t very well, so I used a translation tool to help. I know it might not be as good as the original, but I’ll do my best to keep the quality consistent.Thank you for giving this story a chance. Please enjoy it to your heart’s content.

Love you~♡

Human beings are strange creatures. Once the brain has accepted something as an absolute truth, it never considers the possibility that a bizarre, abnormal phenomenon might one day happen to itself.

Rayne Lyle was human too, and he believed in science, believed in the advancement of the modern world. Yet no matter how many times he ran through the logic, he still couldn’t have foreseen this: with just a blink, the blooming sea of flowers before him vanished, replaced by a pure-white ceiling. Spatial displacement, something that should have been utterly impossible, had suddenly become his reality, leaving him dazed and disoriented.

It took him a full three seconds to regain clarity. The crystal chandelier above his head, blurred by his unfocused vision, gradually came into sharp view. The unfamiliar surroundings instantly put him on alert. His first reaction was to survey the room cautiously, only after confirming that no one else was present did he slowly sit up.

Rayne was sitting on a large bed at the center of the room. All around him were meticulously crafted furnishings in luxurious cream-beige tones. After assuring himself there was no immediate danger, he swung his legs off the bed, intending to examine the room more thoroughly.

But the moment his foot touched the carpet, a metallic scent of blood hit him sharply. Rayne frowned and looked down, discovering that the white shirt he was wearing was soaked through with dark red. The smell was coming from him. Over his heart area, the fabric was ripped open a small bullet-sized hole. Chaotic fragments of memory surged up, making his vision swim.

He sat back down on the bed, forcing himself to piece together the flashes in his mind. Just minutes ago, he had been at home, casually admiring the flower field outside his balcony while savoring a cup of hot, fragrant coffee. Then, within his field of vision, he noticed a streak of light rushing toward him. His instincts told him to dodge, but the streak, no, the bullet was too fast. He couldn’t evade. The fatal shot pierced directly through his left chest, precisely where the heart lay.

There was no chance he could’ve survived. He remembered his body collapsing, uncontrollable, the sky overhead dimming as scattered clouds blurred from his sight the moment he closed his eyes for what should’ve been the last time.

But after he “died,” he hadn’t truly died. In that hazy in-between state, he felt an invisible force pulling him away. The world around him was pitch-black, he could perceive nothing,not sound, not touch, not light.

And then, when he opened his eyes again… he was here.

Rayne placed a hand over his left chest. There was no pain. The skin was smooth, untouched, almost as if everything he remembered had been a strange dream. But if it was just a dream… then where did all this blood come from? And what was this place?

A torrent of questions crowded his mind, but no matter how he searched, he couldn’t find a single clue.

“Waaa! You’re awake!!!”

A childish, ringing voice suddenly burst through the silence. Rayne tensed instantly: “Who’s there?”

As soon as he spoke, a blinding flash exploded in the room. He shielded his eyes on instinct. When he opened them again, a tiny child, no bigger than a grown man’s palm, was floating midair before him. The little creature blinked large, amber-gemstone eyes and circled him, its twin braids swaying as it moved.

A housekeeping system? Rayne wondered. He lived in one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world; it was common for households to use projection-based assistant systems. They came in various forms, many designed to look like adorable children, especially in homes with actual kids.

Operating under that assumption, he reached out to touch the floating figure, and his hand passed straight through. A projection indeed. Confirming that it posed no physical threat, Rayne finally asked: “Who are you?”

“If you truly wish to know, then I shall bestow my blessing upon you with an answer!”

The tiny figure lifted its chin proudly, eyes half-squinted as if looking down on him.

“I am the Deity!”

Rayne didn’t react, clearly refusing to take that as a serious response. He stared the child down and repeated: “Who are you?”

The child’s smug expression faltered, but it stubbornly answered the same thing: “I am the Deity!”

Looking slightly wronged, it floated closer, pointing at the bullet tear in Rayne’s blood-soaked shirt as it explained,

“Look here! You were shot, right? You know that! I was the one who saved you! It took a long time to heal that wound, it used up so much energy!”

As it rambled, it waved its hands dramatically, summoning dozens of translucent panels full of scrolling data.

“And also, and also! I know everything about you, even your secrets! Look, look! These, and these! Check if they’re right!”

Rayne’s expression turned serious as he skimmed the information. A growing tension sharpened his gaze: “Where did you get this classified data?”

“I told you already, I’m the Deity!” The child cried, looking on the verge of tears: “The Deity knows everything!”

Rayne didn’t speak. He read the contents again.

Displayed on the screens were his personal files, not just private information, but confidential military records.

Rayne had once held a highly classified position. He previously served in the military, assigned to the Alliance Infantry Special Operations Corps, a top-tier combat unit of the Northeastern Continent. He had been the Deputy Commander of Special Unit Zone 6, and before that, the Commander of the Alliance Sniper Special Ops Unit, Special Zone 2. Although he had retired over a year ago, all Special Operations divisions were protected under national-level secrecy. Their files were locked behind the strictest barriers, aside from high-ranking military officials and operatives within the Alliance, no one could access them. Even within the units themselves, members used identification codes instead of names, meaning that personal identities remained concealed.

Yet the child before him had produced information that even fellow operatives would never know, details only Rayne himself possessed.

Under any normal circumstances, this should have been impossible.

But it made the child’s repeated claim “I am the Deity” far harder to dismiss.

Since the being didn’t appear hostile, and it had apparently saved his life, Rayne lowered his guard slightly and asked calmly: “Thank you for saving me… but I assume you want something in return?”

Nothing in this world, or beyond it, comes without a price. Any entity with the power to revive the dead certainly wouldn’t intervene out of boredom.

And Rayne’s guess was correct. The self-proclaimed Deity brightened instantly. No longer needing to prove anything, it beamed and pulled up another screen, one he hadn’t seen before.

“This! Look at this!”

Rayne leaned in. This time, the display wasn’t classified information. Instead, it was a familiar website, the global novel-hosting platform he often used. On the screen was a page showing the cover of a novel titled Apocalypse Chronicles.

At first, he didn’t understand. He looked at the Deity, then back at the elegant room around him.

An intuition struck him.

“This is… the world of the novel?”

The Deity visibly brightened at his words, praising him without restraint: “You’re so clever! This is exactly the world of the novel Apocalypse Chronicles!”

No sooner had the little child confirmed this than Rayne asked: “So… right now, I’m…Rayne Lyle ?”

It might have sounded like a silly question, but the Deity wasn’t foolish. It nodded in affirmation: “Yes!”

Rayne’s usually calm expression twitched ever so slightly. Compared to the shock of the Deity having dug up his top-secret, classified information, the realization that he was now “Rayne Lyle” struck him far harder.

Of course, the “Rayne Lyle” here wasn’t actually him, it was just a namesake.

A little over a year ago, after leaving the military, Rayne had no worries about money or work. With ample free time, he had indulged in reading novels for entertainment. Discovering a knack for writing, he had gradually started his journey as a web novelist.

Apocalypse Chronicles was a post-apocalyptic zombie novel he had recently finished. In fact, he had completed it less than twenty minutes before being shot, so the story’s details were still vividly etched in his memory.

The character “Rayne Lyle” in the novel was the ultimate villain doomed to be eliminated entirely by the main character.

As for why he had given the villain his own name, Rayne had a perfectly reasonable explanation: he hadn’t thought of a name at the time, so he used his own, and after writing too many chapters, he didn’t want to change it.

Now, that very justifiable reason had landed him in this awkward predicament.

The Deity explained that this world was the novel’s world, and Rayne was now “Rayne Lyle.” In simpler terms, he had become the ultimate villain boss, destined to be crushed to death by the main character.

Yup… literally his head would be crushed.

Of course, since he was still standing there talking to the Deity, the future wasn’t set in stone. Death might still be avoidable.

But here’s the kicker: the villainous “Rayne Lyle” wasn’t even human…

He was a zombie.

Rayne took a deep breath, steadying himself, and met the Deity’s gaze directly :“So… right now, am I human or... a zombie?”

The Deity froze. When it received the question, its gaze dropped, head lowering timidly: “Th-that… I… I don’t… know…”

The words were barely audible, shrinking even smaller with each hesitant pause. Just moments ago, it had exuded confidence in its boundless divine knowledge, yet now it seemed utterly unwilling to face Rayne directly.

Rayne simply exhaled: “Not knowing is fine.”

It was just being a zombie, he could face up with that problem…

Or could't he?

He had never been a zombie before, so he didn’t rush to conclusions. For now, he wanted to understand the Deity’s purpose: “Can you tell me why you saved me? What exactly do I need to do in this world?”

“Well…” The Deity began a long, convoluted explanation, but Rayne could distill it into a single, clear point:

He had to save the world.

It didn’t matter whether he did it personally or assisted others, the outcome was what counted. The process was irrelevant.

Easier said than done. Actually carrying it out? That was a whole different story.

Rayne began weighing the possibilities.

According to the Deity, because he had been brought into this world, a butterfly effect had occurred: the original “Rayne Lyle” in the novel had been erased in terms of identity. He wasn’t dead, but he existed under a different guise, no longer “Rayne Lyle.” Yet his role remained the same, ultimate villain boss, aiming to annihilate humanity in his zombie form, including the main character.

To save the world, Rayne had to eliminate him.

And because the original “Rayne Lyle” had been replaced by him, this new identity brought an additional complication regarding the main character.

In the novel, the story opens with the main character battling the ultimate villain. The MC loses, is killed by the villain, then revives thanks to a miraculous, retaining memories and resentment from the previous life, with the sole objective of killing the villain.

Given the cause-and-effect bridge, if the MC now revives, he will go after “Rayne Lyle”, and since Rayne is “Rayne Lyle,” that means he will be the target.

Of course, the death isn’t set in stone, but the MC’s hatred won’t waver. Therefore, whether Rayne can successfully complete the mission of saving the world remains uncertain.

Either he saves the world and then is killed by the MC,

or he is killed before saving the world.

The critical factor is the main character.

The MC is the foundation of this world, if he dies, the world collapses. Until the villain dies, this cannot change.

Simply put: defeating the villain isn’t enough, the main character must survive.

But the original “Rayne Lyle” would always target the MC, the MC would target him, and he would target the original “Rayne Lyle.” This vicious cycle determines who dies first, it’s impossible to predict.

“I-I have something to say…” The Deity, observing Rayne’s furrowed brow, offered a suggestion: “If it’s too difficult… why not team up with the MC to kill the villain? If the MC knows you’re not the one, he probably… probably won’t kill you… right?”

Rayne eyed the Deity suspiciously, blurting out: “How long have you been a Deity?”

“Today is my first day!” Came the innocent reply, tinged with pride.

Rayne said nothing, inwardly impressed. Of course it could be so straightforward on the first day.

Human resentment is unpredictable, and human nature cannot be tested.

He had created the main character, but that was theory on paper. In reality, he had no way of fully understanding him.

Rayne sighed. He truly had no solution in mind.

But even without one, he would still complete this mission.

He couldn’t repay a life saved with ingratitude. Moreover, he valued life greatly, having died and been given a second chance was truly precious.

Besides, this was his own creation, he had to save it. The people here were real, their lives real. Even as a zombie, even as humanity’s enemy, he would protect them.

Rayne looked at the tiny Deity and earnestly said: “No matter what it takes, I will complete the mission.”

Although it had only recently become a Deity, the child could still read the emotions in Rayne’s eyes. Its amber gaze brightened, a fierce determination igniting within it: “I’ll ask my master to give you the strongest weapon! You will surely succeed! I’ll tell my master right now!”

The Deity excitedly flew around him, its tiny hands constantly performing gestures, as if casting magic.

Its form began to fade, yet it happily circled Rayne.

Just as it was about to disappear completely, it suddenly remembered something, shouting: “Aaaa, I forgot, I can only manifest once! We won’t meet again! Remember… don’t die too soon! I can’t save you a second time! Remember…”

“Take care!”

The final words rang out as the Deity vanished entirely. The room, once filled with its high-pitched voice, fell into silence.

Its appearance was sudden, its departure even more so, the whole episode seemingly long yet fleeting.

Rayne couldn’t help but recall the Deity’s clumsy demeanor, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips: “Probably just an errand-running child. Its master must be the real Deity.”

The thought flickered but didn’t linger long.

Having understood everything, Rayne let his guard down and relaxed into a bath, freeing himself from the bloodstained clothes.

After changing and drying his hair, a soft knock sounded at the door.

Outside stood a young maid in uniform. Seeing him, she seemed tense, taking a few seconds to gather herself before speaking: “The master has returned, sir. Please… please come down for lunch.”