Chapter 2: World One

Nian Zhi’an belatedly opened the information the system had given her.

It turned out that ten years had already passed in this world.

Her original body had turned to ashes, so the system had found her a new one.

The original owner of this body had died instantly in a car accident, and the system had hurriedly repaired it before stuffing her inside.

In the information the system had provided about itself, she found the reason why the Main System had thrown her over here.

After being bound to the previous system, Nian Zhi’an’s task had been to eliminate the antagonist who hindered the Male Lead’s development by any means necessary. Unfortunately, she had been a bit rebellious.

As a result, she hadn’t taken out the antagonist, and the Male Lead had been “accidentally” dragged down with her. Nian Zhi’an curled her lips.

Later, a major upheaval occurred, and with the Male Lead in mortal danger, the Main System decided that the one who tied the bell needed to untie it, so it had kicked her over to clean up the mess she had made.

This was a world with relatively low stakes. The original plot was about a tycoon so rich he could drill for oil on his own land and his goody-two-shoes assistant with a hidden manipulative streak having a cheesy, soap-opera-style encounter on a rainy day, kicking off a story that pushed the boundaries of the law.

The antagonist in this world was Mu Yixuan, who had just left. She was supposed to be the Male Lead’s fiancée but ended up as his stepping stone, meeting a tragic end with her reputation in ruins and leaping to her death from a building. However, things had gone slightly off-script in this world. As the antagonist, Mu Yixuan hadn’t followed her fated path, which was why she had come here. She remembered that the last time she had arrived in this world, her identity had been Mu Yixuan’s neighbor.

The previous system had been afraid she couldn’t handle the antagonist once she grew up, so it had sneakily rewound time to when both the Male Lead and the antagonist were still kids, hoping she could grow stronger quietly in the meantime.

She had indeed been quite “impressive.” Though she still couldn’t fully match the antagonist, she had at least taken over her family’s business at the same age the antagonist took over hers. She had always been dedicated to opposing the antagonist—even at five years old, she had made her cry with a caterpillar.

But she had failed during a high-stakes showdown with the antagonist, “accidentally” dragging the Male Lead down with her and bankrupting them both. She still remembered how s-232 had cursed her out in rage back then. It was a shame she hadn’t recorded it!

Afterward, the antagonist who had swallowed up her and the Male Lead’s businesses expanded her own empire, while the Male Lead’s attempts to make a comeback landed him in prison, where he spent a decade doing hard time stitching uniforms.

Things had progressed normally up to that point. But for some reason, the antagonist suddenly snapped. She tortured the Male Lead to death right after he got out of prison and was trying to achieve something. The Female Lead, upon seeing his fate, was so terrified that she fled and drowned in a river on the way.

And now, there were only three months left until the antagonist went completely dark.

Her task was to find the real reason behind the antagonist’s breakdown during that time, then redeem her and stop it.

Heh…

Did the Main System think that by dumping her here, she would obediently do its bidding?

【Host, she’s this world’s antagonist, remember? Last time, you played her arch-nemesis. According to the data, she still holds a grudge even now…】

Nian Zhi’an flopped onto the bed and peacefully pulled the blanket over her head, blocking out the system’s nagging.

【Gr… Host, Host, don’t give up! At least don’t go out of character…】

“Click…” The door to the hospital room opened again, and the system nimbly dove under the bed.

Mu Yixuan had already left. The one who entered now was the secretary.

She was far gentler. She walked to Nian Zhi’an’s side and carefully asked about her condition. She told her not to worry about school—they had already gotten leave from her advisor. Then she paused and asked, “Do you need President Mu to handle the rumors at school?”

After faking her death, Mu Yixuan had thrown herself into philanthropy, sponsoring many students each year to help them finish their studies. The original host had been one of them.

Not only that, when the original host’s parents died in a car accident, Mu Yixuan had lent the money for her hospital treatment. It was pocket change to Mu Yixuan, who told her not to pay it back. But the original host refused and gave her an IOU, promising to repay it once she had the money.

As for interest, that silly girl had wanted to add it too, but Mu Yixuan wouldn’t hear of it. Instead, she asked the original host to repay her in another way: modeling for her paintings once a month or every two months.

But one time, someone photographed her getting into a Mu family car. People at school spread rumors that she was being kept as a mistress. Unable to withstand the gossip, she had wandered onto the road in a daze and gotten into the accident.

If it had been the original host lying there, she certainly wouldn’t have wanted to trouble the kind person who had helped her so many times. If not for that personality, she might not have met her end in a car crash.

But now it was Nian Zhi’an lying there. Her long career of tasks had worn away most of her sense of morality. She absolutely wouldn’t stand on ceremony with her arch-nemesis when she could get her to handle the trouble. In three seconds, she mustered some tears and looked frail and pitiable. “Secretary Sister, won’t this trouble President Mu too much?”

The perfect mix of vulnerability, sweetness, and a hint of green tea perfectly stirred the secretary’s maternal instincts.

“Of course not. This was our oversight too. You rest well, and by the time you return to school, those rumors will be gone.” The secretary’s voice grew even gentler, and as she left, she patted her head.

As soon as the secretary was gone, Nian Zhi’an’s tears vanished without a trace.

The system breathed a sigh of relief. The Great Demon King was still the Great Demon King. As long as she got serious, this kind of task would be a piece of cake, right?

Unfortunately, its host had zero motivation to work. For the first couple of days, she had lain on the hospital bed staring at the ceiling. If not for the rise and fall of her chest, it would have thought there was a corpse on the bed.

Later, who knew what clicked for her. She stopped staring blankly and started scrolling videos on her phone instead. Aside from eating and sleeping, she was lost in the online world, especially obsessed with watching people trim horses’ hooves.

Anyone with eyes could see she was just slacking off. The system saw it too, and it was frantic.

【Auntie! Ancestor! If you don’t do something soon, this world is done for! We’re running out of time!】

“What’s that got to do with me?” In the midst of her “busy” scrolling, Nian Zhi’an lifted her head. Her expression looked pure and innocent, but the system tensed up.

【H-How could it not? If the world ends, your mission fails. Mission failure means you could get erased!】 The system figured dangling her life over her head would make her shape up.

Then it watched as Nian Zhi’an’s gaze shifted from expectant to disdainful before she looked away and dove back into her videos.

The system took several deep breaths, then silently logged into the systems’ internal network to post for help.

Help! New system paired with hell-mode host, what to do?#

Host seems mentally off with zero survival instinct, how to get her motivated?#

Day whatever: Great Demon King refuses to talk to me again…#

As a system, my only use is scratching the host’s back#

…

Replies came in quickly.

【Heard that legendary Executor got paired with a new system for a mission world. That unlucky one wouldn’t be you, would it?】

The system teared up. Who else?

The other systems, eager for gossip, offered advice to their junior.

“Host!!!” The system, which had been browsing the posts, suddenly yelped in shock.

“What?”

“Th-This, this, this… Doesn’t the owner of this body look like someone to you?”

Like who?

After slacking off this long, Nian Zhi’an hadn’t properly checked out her new body. Prompted by the system, she slowly fished a mirror out of her bag and examined it closely.

“Like who?” She really couldn’t tell.

“Like your original self!”

“???!!!”

Ningjiao Cemetery.

The person who had just left the hospital stood before a tombstone, holding a bouquet of lilies.

The woman in the photo on the tombstone beamed with a brilliant smile. Even in grayscale, one could feel how dazzling and proud she had been in life, like a little sun.

“I… The girl who looks a bit like you got into a car accident. I stopped by to see her today on my way here, so I’m late.” Mu Yixuan placed the flowers in front of the tombstone. She looked at the proud girl, her lips twitching into a stiff smile. “If you knew I found a girl who resembles you and kept her by my side, would you be mad enough to jump out of your grave?”

The dead, of course, couldn’t answer.

“I’ve brought your hated lilies again.”

If she were still alive, she would have picked up the flowers and smashed them in her face, then dumped a truckload of foxtails into her house. But… she had been dead for ten years.

Mu Yixuan’s ugly smile faded.

“I don’t believe you killed yourself. I’ve found some leads lately too. Once I catch the killer, I’ll send them to join you.”

“When I die and come find you underground, I’ll have a good laugh at you. You even needed my help for revenge—mad yet?”

No one responded except the wind scattering her words.

Mu Yixuan stood before the tombstone. She occasionally shared trivial matters, and when she ran out of things to say, she simply stood silently beside it, wordlessly accompanying the one who lay eternally asleep here.

Until the setting sun was about to dip below the horizon and her phone buzzed in her pocket.

“I’m leaving.” Mu Yixuan squatted down and meticulously wiped the layer of dust from the photo, her expression carrying a gentleness and sorrow that even she herself hadn’t noticed. “That kid said I’ve gotten old. After all, ten years have passed, and everyone’s getting on in years.”

“Only you, you crafty schemer, have kept your time frozen in your early twenties… You’re rotten to the core.” The girl in the photo was very young, and she would remain forever so young. Mu Yixuan herself would gradually grow old, and she didn’t know if, should they meet after death, the girl would still recognize her.