“……What is this thing?”
Zhu Shuiwen moved her gaze away from the panel and asked the system.
Where there had originally been nothing, something like a progress bar had suddenly appeared.
The reason she said “something like a progress bar” instead of directly calling it a “progress bar” was because it wasn’t a traditional bar-shaped design—it was a chamomile flower with a hollowed-out structure.
It looked more like an ornamental decoration from a coloring book.
At the very bottom of its vines, a small amount of dark liquid was rippling—though there wasn’t much of it yet, only about the size of a puddle of water in a shallow basin.
It might have been an illusion, but Zhu Shuiwen kept staring at it, and the more she looked, the more she felt… that the faintly filling darkness was not something good.
The system said: [An unknown form of “corruption” has appeared. Investigation is in progress.]
“Corruption? Why?” Zhu Shuiwen was still a little confused. “Weren’t all the plot points completed…?”
[Unknown cause.] The system thought for a moment. [It may be because the villain and the male lead came into contact early, causing the plot to deviate.]
Hearing this, Zhu Shuiwen remembered.
In the “dream,” the male lead and the villain in high school had almost no interaction at all.
Yet just now, those two had actually added each other as contacts.
Though from Zhu Shuiwen’s perspective, that action didn’t look like friendliness at all—it looked more like: adding you to an assassination list.
“What happens if there’s ‘corruption’?” she asked.
[The uncertainty of task execution will increase, and fixing deviations will become more difficult.]
…Uncertainty?
She felt a little dizzy, but she understood the part about “increased difficulty in patching things,” and immediately tensed up. “It’ll get even harder?”
—The current difficulty already felt like a nightmare!
Fortunately, the system’s words eased her a little: [At present, the corruption level is not high. The plot is still within a controllable range.]
However, it immediately added: [But as the value increases, it’s hard to say what it will become later.]
Zhu Shuiwen deflated. “I shouldn’t have taken that photo of the menu.”
The system, however, disagreed: [I don’t think it has anything to do with the menu. The real core issue may be that, Xiao Shui, you disrupted two originally parallel storylines and caused the once-fixed future to become chaotic again.]
“…Huh? That’s my fault?”
[Yes. In order to complete the villain-related plotline, you asked the female lead to tutor you in math. The female lead, in order to turn down a friend’s invitation, had to claim she was sick. Because of that, the male lead made a choice completely different from the original storyline: he gave up his motorcycle and went to visit the female lead instead.]
[—That is the real reason the male lead and villain crossed paths early.]
The girl stared blankly.
The system summarized: [The villain’s storyline exists only within the narrative and has not actually occurred, so his actions are difficult to predict in advance. If the female lead and villain continue interacting, similar plot corruption events may increase.]
—Until the plot completely collapses and the mission becomes impossible to complete.
However…
The system’s internal code briefly became unstable.
It actually couldn’t determine what “corruption level” truly referred to.
From the most common interpretation, it should refer to the plot.
But perhaps it referred to—people.
Yet for some reason, it did not voice this possibility.
The girl felt a headache coming on. “So you’re saying I should avoid letting my sister meet the villain? But if I want to complete the plot, then my sister has to…”
[Xiao Shui, I need to correct one thing. That is not a “must.”]
Zhu Shuiwen froze.
She understood what the system meant—but precisely because she understood, she couldn’t believe it.
After a long pause, she tentatively asked, “You mean… I should keep pretending to be my sister?”
[I am only presenting you with a more convenient shortcut.] the system said. [You can consider it, but it is not mandatory.]
This method would also solve a rather troublesome issue—
When the sister and the villain chatted, the girl wouldn’t have to stand nearby like a nervous supervisor, secretly eavesdropping and worrying that inconsistencies between their statements would cause everything to collapse.
Rationally speaking, this was indeed the optimal solution right now.
But…
Zhu Shuiwen’s gaze fell on the chamomile in the vase, and she hesitated.
After a while, she said softly, “I don’t really want to do that.”
The word “villain” sounded cold and distant—but that day in the stairwell, what touched her fingertip had been human body temperature.
Someone who would obediently apply medicine, who would bring her flowers—he was a living, breathing person.
How could what makes him happy be an impostor?
The system spoke rather harshly: [He was never going to receive the female lead’s love anyway.]
So it didn’t matter if it started from a lie. It didn’t matter if it was false.
—Light falling into the abyss would eventually be taken back entirely.
So why should it matter whether what he held in his hands was a copy, a counterfeit?
[Moreover, compared to the male lead, the villain is far more unpredictable, and more likely to damage the storyline…]
After seeing the girl’s expression, the system stopped itself.
A few seconds later, it said: [Xiao Shui, I hope my words didn’t hurt you.]
The girl replied, “No. I think what you said makes sense.”
—She just didn’t want to do it.
That was all.
Her phone vibrated slightly.
The account that had only one added contact popped up with a new message.
He Xueqi: “I got home.”
She didn’t reply.
Three hours later.
Another message appeared in the lonely chat window.
He Xueqi: “Good night.”
The girl let out a breath and logged out of the account.
…
Yuan Xiaxian: “Ah Fei, are you feeling better?”
Zhu Feifei, who had originally been leaning against her bed, jolted upright when she saw the message.
—She had forgotten to reply to her friend.
That was extremely rare for her.
She opened the chat history. The messages from four hours ago were still sitting there alone at the top.
“Ah Fei, this juice is really good—but it’s so expensive… rolling on the floor crying, when will I ever be as rich as you!”
“Playing arcade games…”
“The game coins are really not durable anymore. I only played a few rounds before the boss kicked me out [poor thing].”
“I saw such a cute plush bear! But when I was paying, I was just a tiny bit short of money, so I had to put it back… I’m going to skip lunch for a month! Ah Fei, you can’t stop me!”
…Great. She missed all of them.
Just as she was about to reply, a new message suddenly popped up.
Gu Jinyan: [Website link]
It was a game titled: “People with IQ below 150 cannot escape this room,” along with a screenshot showing it had been cleared.
“Niyange completion time: 47:34. This score beats 99% of players worldwide! Try it yourself!”
What a childish provocation.
Zhu Feifei thought this while honestly tapping into the game.
19 minutes and 17 seconds later, she threw a screenshot back into the chat showing “beating 99.99% of players worldwide,” a surge of irritation rising in her.
—What an idiot game. A complete waste of twenty minutes of her life.
Gu Jinyan: “Damn, impossible! You cheated, didn’t you?!”
Zhu Feifei replied: “Only someone who needs guides to beat a trash game would assume everyone else is like them [head-smack].”
The other side quickly responded: “I don’t believe it. Wait, I’ll find another game.”
Zhu Feifei: “..…”
Before another garbage game could be sent, she decisively blocked Gu Jinyan.
Turn off the lights. Go to sleep.
…It feels like she forgot something.
Unfortunately, before she could remember, drowsiness swept through her mind, and her consciousness sank into deep sleep in an instant.
…
The door banged loudly.
Yuan Xiaxian recognized it as her mother’s voice.
“Xian Xian, still not sleeping?”
She replied impatiently, “Why are you rushing me? Don’t I know I need to sleep?”
“Go to bed earlier, don’t study so late…”
“I know, I know! I’m memorizing things, stop bothering me!”
“Oh.” Her mother added, “How about I heat you up some milk…”
“I don’t want it! I’ve already said I don’t want it! And have you even looked at how cheap the milk you bought is? Even pigs wouldn’t drink it, and you’re trying to give it to me!”
As soon as those words came out, the hallway outside fell silent.
A few seconds later, the sound of hesitant footsteps gradually faded away.
Yuan Xiaxian stared at her phone. After confirming that Zhu Feifei still hadn’t replied, she clicked her tongue.
Zhu Feifei rejecting her invitation was a very bad sign for Yuan Xiaxian.
Because of that, she had deliberately tried several excuses throughout the afternoon to test her.
In the past, Zhu Feifei would already have sent her red packets by now, but this time there had been no response at all.
If Zhu Feifei was truly too sick to even look at her phone, that would actually be a good thing.
What she was worried about was that Zhu Feifei was faking illness to stay with that so-called “younger sister.”
Maybe she was overthinking it.
She slipped off the little sheep dolly bracelet she was wearing and placed it on the table, slowly running her fingers over the gold and jade beads.
The golden shine and the warm smoothness of the jade complemented each other, giving her just the right look for a gathering.
She knew very well how much Zhu Feifei hated this “sister.”
There was no way she would switch sides so quickly.
Otherwise, wouldn’t all the effort she had spent fanning the flames have been for nothing?
With a click, the box closed, swallowing the bracelet into darkness.
However, it wasn’t long before Yuan Xiaxian realized that the uneasy feeling faintly lingering in her mind that day was not unfounded paranoia.
“Ah Fei, you should sing too.” Holding the microphone, she walked over to Zhu Feifei. “Why are you still doing homework at karaoke?”
For an entire week, Zhu Feifei had been in this extremely “abnormal” state from her perspective.
The disco ball above was turned off, and the room was brightly lit. Amid the chaotic, off-key singing around them, Zhu Feifei kept her head down, writing furiously.
Hearing Yuan Xiaxian’s voice, she continued writing “x = 1.75” while replying, “You guys go ahead and sing. I’ll finish this problem first.”
Yuan Xiaxian’s smile stiffened slightly. “You’ve been saying that for the past two hours.”
“I’m almost done,” Zhu Feifei said. “I’ll let you copy it when I finish.”
“I want to take it home.”
“That won’t work…”
Yuan Xiaxian’s voice suddenly rose. “Why not?”
Her volume even overpowered the karaoke backing track.
Zhu Feifei froze slightly.
Yuan Xiaxian pressed her finger onto the paper, pointing at the detailed steps, and asked sharply, “For that country bumpkin? You’ve been doing nothing but homework every time we go out lately—is it because of her?”
Zhu Feifei frowned slightly, though her tone remained calm. “What ‘country bumpkin’? She has a name…”
Yuan Xiaxian fell silent.
The instrumental track continued playing without anyone singing, the melody soft and smooth, but it only made the atmosphere between them feel more tense.
After one song ended, Yuan Xiaxian finally spoke again.
“Ah Fei, you haven’t forgotten what we discussed before, right?”
“Which part?”
“That the ‘country bumpkin’ might be your biological sister.” She enunciated each word clearly.
She had thought this trump card would make Zhu Feifei at least change expression drastically, if not explode outright.
Unexpectedly, the other girl seemed as if she had considered it countless times already and replied with surprising calmness, “Yeah, I remember.”
Yuan Xiaxian drew in a sharp breath, barely controlling her rising agitation, and pressed further. “So you’re admitting she’s your sister?”
Zhu Feifei clearly understood what she meant but deliberately sidestepped it. “She’s my cousin to begin with.”
“Ridiculous. Cousin? No one has ever heard of such a relative before. She never shows up during holidays, and suddenly appears in your second year of high school, then moves into your house for two years. Such an outrageous request—and your parents actually agreed, going out of their way for her, treating her even better than they treat you! Does that sound normal?”
Yuan Xiaxian said bitterly, “Ah Fei, if you really believe she’s just some ‘cousin,’ then you’re wasting your intelligence!”
—This was clearly a case of a biological second daughter being brought back into the family after being raised elsewhere!
“If you keep being softened up like this, sooner or later they’ll use ‘adoption’ as an excuse and register her into the household!”
Zhu Feifei replied, “You already analyzed all this with me that day. Xian Xian, thank you.”
She closed her workbook. “But even if my parents really are like what you said, it has nothing to do with Zhu Shuiwen. Don’t drag her into it.”
“Ah Fei—!” Yuan Xiaxian looked at her in disbelief. “It’s only been a short time, and you—are you being brainwashed? Or did Zhu Shuiwen cast some kind of spell on you? Ah Fei, we’re your friends—why are you taking her side? Do you not want us anymore?”
Seeing her emotional state escalate, Zhu Feifei had no choice but to take the microphone from her and change the subject. “Alright, let’s not talk about that anymore. Sing, sing.”
Just as she lowered her head to search for a song, her friend said quietly, “Showing mercy to an enemy is cruelty to yourself. Ah Fei, when she starts taking your things and your inheritance, you’ll realize having a sister like that is completely unnecessary.”
She paused for a moment.
But before she could respond, the door was suddenly pushed open with a loud bang.
The door rebounded and immediately hit Deng Xujie right on the backside as he was swaying his head in self-indulgent singing.
“Who—!”
He yelped in pain, but the moment he saw who it was, his angry expression instantly faded and his voice got stuck.
“Gu… Gu… Gu…”
The boy beside him mocked, “Are you a pigeon? ‘Gu gu gu’ non-stop?”
Gu Jinyan, followed by a group of underlings, strode in arrogantly and sat down as if he owned the place.
The two followers instinctively stood guard at the doorway, blocking it firmly like gatekeepers.
Seeing this, Yuan Xiaxian’s eyes flickered. She quickly grabbed her makeup bag and slipped into the private room’s attached restroom.
“What’s with all those faces? Why so tense? I’m just here to exercise my rights as a creditor.”
The young man leaned lazily on the sofa and waved a hand.
One of the followers immediately nodded and pulled out his phone, casting a video onto the screen—
“Sister Fei was insane tonight! Absolutely insane!”
“So cool and heroic!”
“That so-called Young Master Gu? They even stripped him of his clothes!”
“That kid Gu Jinyan immediately dropped to his knees begging for mercy! He kowtowed three times—thump thump thump!”
After the playback ended, no one in the room dared to speak.
Among them, the most thunderstruck, of course, was the person who had been loudly bragging in the video.
Deng Xujie: …………
Who the hell filmed this?
Who! Which traitor?!
The young master sighed.
“Sigh… you owe me so much money, how are you still in the mood to come out singing? I was thinking I might as well send you to one of those loan lending places. The kind where if you’re one minute late paying, they chop off a finger. What do you think?”
—That’s just an illegal loan shark operation!
“Mr. Gu, Mr. Gu, I was wrong!” Deng Xujie immediately dropped to his knees with a thud. “Please, give me a bit more time, I… I was out of my mind… Do whatever you want to me, kill me or beat me, I deserve it…”
“Alright then.”
Gu Jinyan signaled him to come over.
—Then handed him a phone.
On the screen was a game titled: “People with IQ below 150 cannot escape this room.”
Deng Xujie looked a little confused.
The young master lifted his chin, his expression impatient.
“Play it.”
…
Standing at the corner of the corridor, Zhu Shuiwen quietly held her breath and slowly, carefully backed away step by step.
Once she confirmed she was safe, the girl grabbed her head and fell into chaos.
What do I do, what do I do!
Why is the male lead suddenly here?
This is supposed to be a plotline involving the villain…!