Yan Tingting tilted her head and nodded matter-of-factly: “Yeah, so have you figured out how to stop me?” Now, where was she supposed to find a hitman again?
[Host, you can’t kill the female lead. If the female lead dies, this world will collapse, and everyone will disappear.]
Yan Tingting pulled the car over to the side of the road. “What did you say? Say it again!”
[The world was built around the female lead and the male lead. If they die, of course the world will cease to exist.]
“If the male and female leads die, just get new ones. What’s so hard about that? I think I’d be a pretty good fit.” Yan Tingting said this with perfect composure, not the slightest awareness of how outrageous her words were.
[No, you can’t. They are people blessed with great fortune. Don’t provoke them—you’ll die.] The System felt like crying again. Why did it have to bind to such a difficult host on its very first mission?
“Fine then!” Yan Tingting restarted the car and changed direction.
[What are you going to do?] the System asked, puzzled.
“Going home to sleep!”
[…Sleep. Sleep is good… sleep is very good.] The System’s tears turned to laughter. Its host was finally done causing trouble.
Yan Tingting smiled. Great fortune, huh? If that fortune were to disappear bit by bit, would they still be the male and female leads?
[Host, as long as you don’t provoke the female lead and manage to stay alive, the System will reward you!]
“What exactly is your goal? Don’t give me that ‘helping you survive’ nonsense. I don’t believe a word of it.”
Can’t touch the male and female leads, can’t deviate from the plot—honestly, was this thing really not sent by Jiang Xinyue to destroy her, Yan Tingting?
The System went silent for a moment, not daring to make a sound.
“If you won’t tell me, I’ll just go kill the female lead. Everyone disappearing together sounds fine to me.” Yan Tingting’s spoiled tone carried a hint of madness.
[It’s because in the previous life, this world collapsed, and we…] the System said quietly.
“If the world collapsed, wouldn’t it be better to find the male and female leads with great fortune instead of me?” Yan Tingting wiggled her fingers, admiring the manicure she’d gotten not long ago.
Why come looking for her, a pretty vase, of all people?
Another stretch of silence!
Yan Tingting blinked, and a thought flashed through her mind. “Don’t tell me… the world’s collapse has something to do with the male and female leads?” What the heck—previous life? Had a lifetime already passed?
[…] The System was too shocked to speak. How did she know?
Yan Tingting: “…” How else would I know? You just said it yourself!
“Not talking? Looks like someone’s feeling guilty!” Yan Tingting took a deep breath, feeling an indescribable irritation rising in her heart.
Which meant that beyond the plot she knew, events kept unfolding, and the world collapsed.
Can’t kill, can’t provoke, can’t deviate from the plot. She had always been a spoiled brat, and on top of that, she’d offended both the female lead and the big villain. The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she got!
In that case, her previous plans were useless. According to the book’s plot, ten days after the Apocalypse arrived, the big villain would come to Yanjing to find her, then go to the Yan family. After failing to find her, he’d even posted notices at all the major bases.
So she couldn’t go to any base either. The Yan family… she couldn’t go back to the Yan family for now, either.
Forget stopping the world from collapsing for now. The top priority was figuring out how to save her own little life.
After all, in a place like Yanjing, she didn’t have many friends—but she’d certainly offended plenty of people.
Of the thirty-six stratagems, the best one is to run away!
That wouldn’t work either. Tomorrow at eight in the evening, the red moon would arrive, followed by black mist swallowing everything. After that, many people would develop high fevers and fall into comas—waking up either as Ability Users or as Zombies.
In the book, she had been among the first batch to develop a high fever, which was why Jiang Xinyue had been able to push her, completely defenseless, into a horde of Zombies.
Whether she was going to turn into a Zombie or become an Ability User, she would have to sleep through a fever for a while.
If that happened on the road like in the original book, with her identity as the vicious supporting female character, she’d most likely be done for. She needed to find a safe place in Yanjing and hide out for a while.
By the time she got home, it was already two in the morning. With eighteen hours left until the apocalypse began, Yan Tingting set an alarm and collapsed into bed.
The next morning, it wasn’t the alarm that woke her, but the doorbell ringing nonstop. Yan Tingting walked to the door full of resentment and pressed the video intercom—only to see the person she hated most.
“Miss Yan, Miss Yan, I know you’re home. Please don’t be mad at me anymore, okay…”
“Yan Tingting, I know you’re in there. Stop hiding at home like a coward.”
Yan Tingting crossed her arms and puffed up her cheeks. “System, as long as I don’t kill her, it’s fine, right?”
【Ah… right, we can’t kill the female lead.】The System couldn’t quite figure out what Yan Tingting was thinking, but instinctively felt she was about to stir up trouble—and secretly looked forward to it.
“Mm, got it.” Yan Tingting made a call to the property management office, then opened the door and walked out.
Before anyone could react, she slapped Jiang Xinyue across the face with all her strength, and while Jiang Xinyue was still stunned, followed up with several more slaps.
Crisp smacks rang out one after another. Seeing Jiang Xinyue’s little face swell up, Yan Tingting turned around, went back inside, and shut the door with a clean snap.
The System was struck speechless by Yan Tingting’s actions.
Watching the stunned group through the video intercom, Yan Tingting felt wonderful.
Jiang Xinyue had disgusted her at school for nearly three months, and this was the first time she’d fought back. She had to admit—it felt pretty good.
“You pushed me down the stairs and nearly killed me. Keep your cheap apology for yourself. Tch, why do I feel like slapping you a few times was letting you off too easy!” The moment Yan Tingting finished speaking, she saw Jiang Xinyue’s humiliated, twisted expression on the screen.
“Yan Tingting, your engagement with the Nan family is broken off. None of the three great families will protect you anymore, and Chen Xuan has returned to the Chen family. Don’t even think about bullying Xinyue again.” Song Jian jabbed at the doorbell furiously, his face flushed with anger.
“Just as they say—when the tiger’s away from the mountain, the monkey declares himself king. But I’ve already bullied her. What are you going to do about it, you trash?” Yan Tingting watched the group hopping mad outside the door, along with the teary-eyed Jiang Xinyue, and laughed happily.
The Song family and the Yan family were business rivals, and she and Song Jian had long been at odds. No wonder they’d rushed over to make trouble the moment they saw the Yan family fall on hard times!
Song Jian was enraged. He kicked Yan Tingting’s door and roared at the others, “Are you all just going to stand there? Help!”
“So what if the engagement with the Nan family is broken? My Yan family still ranks above your Song family. Hah!” Yan Tingting watched the group’s meltdown with complete calm.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The elevator doors opened, and a group of men in black suits surrounded them.
When Yan Tingting saw who had arrived, her voice turned pitiful. “Uncle, they were trying to break in and assault me.”
The group’s eyes went wide, and Song Jian flushed red with rage. “Yan Tingting, you bitch!” The moment the words left his mouth, the whole group was restrained by the suited men.
One of the men in black spoke in a gentle tone. “Miss, would you like us to call the police for you?”
“Yes, Uncle, please call the police. I’m so scared.” Yan Tingting’s voice remained pitiful, but the smile on her face was radiant.
Yanjing was full of powerful people everywhere. With the Song family’s connections, it would take at least seven or eight hours to get these people out—and only twelve hours remained until the apocalypse.
Tsk. Once they got out, Jiang Xinyue and Song Jian would definitely come looking for her to get even, wasting even more time. Then Jiang Xinyue’s start in this life would be the worst possible scenario.
“Hey, have you got it wrong? Didn’t you see the slap mark on her face? She hit someone first!” Song Jian shouted.
Jiang Xinyue hurriedly explained too, “He didn’t hit her—it was the one inside…”
“Uncle, I didn’t hit her, he did… And, and he’s slandering me.” Yan Tingting quickly worked up some tears in her eyes and walked out looking utterly pitiful.
“What a scumbag. Don’t be afraid, Miss. We’ll send them to the police station right away, and we’ll notify the property management so these people are never allowed in again.” Seeing Yan Tingting in this state, the suited man glared furiously at Song Jian and the others.
“Thank you so much, Uncles.” Yan Tingting nodded, her face full of gratitude.
The suited men immediately escorted the group toward the elevator. Song Jian roared unwillingly, “Yan Tingting, you bitch! Just you wait—I’ll kill you!” A suited man immediately clamped a hand over his mouth.
In a corner out of the suited men’s sight, Yan Tingting smiled provocatively.
Playing the vicious female supporting character—this was perfectly normal.