Chapter 4: World One

Why was it Mu Yixuan?!

“Cough cough cough…” Nian Zhi’an felt like her coughing was tearing her insides apart. She instinctively shot to her feet.

Her forehead was still wrapped in gauze, and her coughing had been so violent that tears clung to her eyelashes. She looked utterly pitiful, transforming in an instant from a raving maniac into a bullied little thing.

Zhang Qin screamed when she saw water sprayed all over her expensive dress, eager to make Nian Zhi’an pay. Mu Yixuan frowned. Before the counselor could even intervene, she strode forward and grabbed Zhang Qin’s arm.

One pitiful little thing and one crazy woman—who was bullying whom? Wasn’t it obvious?

“Y-You… how did you get here?” The girl kept her head lowered, her voice soft and timid, as if she were extremely nervous.

Zhang Qin’s eyes bulged as she watched Nian Zhi’an switch from lunatic to victim in a split second. She wanted to unleash a torrent of abuse, but just then, her father called.

For the first time, the father who had always spoiled her scolded her harshly. He said she had jeopardized his business deal with President Mu. Zhang Qin, who had never endured such treatment, burst into loud sobs right there on the spot.

Nian Zhi’an kept her head down and said nothing. Her hearing had been enhanced, so she easily overheard what Zhang Qin’s father was saying. No wonder Mu Yixuan had come in person—it involved some business rivalry.

Nian Zhi’an breathed a sigh of relief. That was somewhat normal. Otherwise, it would have been too frightening.

The counselor braced herself and told Zhang Qin to leave first. The noisy office fell quiet at once, leaving only the counselor’s rambling explanations. Nian Zhi’an could tell that even now, she was still biased toward Zhang Qin. She downplayed Zhang Qin’s earlier bullying while exaggerating Nian Zhi’an’s injury to a classmate this time.

Did she think Mu Yixuan was an idiot?

Nian Zhi’an nearly laughed out loud. No, she had to hold it in, or Mu Yixuan might think she was crazy too.

Sure enough, as Mu Yixuan listened, her expression grew icy. Nian Zhi’an blinked hard to squeeze out more tears, then handed her phone to Mu Yixuan with the video she’d recorded.

The voices in the video were shrill and piercing.

“Yes! I did it.”

“But what can you do about it? My dad is…”

The counselor bowed her head in shame. Facts proved that a pig teammate was beyond saving.

“It seems in your eyes, it’s only a big deal if someone dies.”

“N-No, that’s not it. I didn’t know Zhang Qin had done something so outrageous…” Who could have guessed that spoiled young lady was one step away from murder?

“I’ll discuss this matter with the principal.”

Mu Yixuan didn’t bother listening to any more of the counselor’s excuses. She pulled the seemingly stunned little girl by her side and left the office.

Nian Zhi’an, who had been stifling a laugh: ?

She stared at Mu Yixuan’s hand holding hers. In her hesitation between struggling and not struggling, she somehow ended up stuffed into the car.

Nian Zhi’an couldn’t fathom Mu Yixuan’s intentions. After agonizing over it for a while, she finally asked, “Does President Mu need something from me?”

Mu Yixuan was equally direct. “I’m going abroad at the end of the month, so we need to start your job a bit early.”

Her job—as a model for painting.

Oh, that was it.

Nian Zhi’an quietly breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.

“About that Zhang Qin business.” Mu Yixuan paused for a moment before saying, “You did the right thing.”

Nian Zhi’an looked up in surprise.

“The weaker you act, the more she’ll bully you, and each time with no bottom line. I told her father that if she bullies you again, you hit back directly. Of course, if she brings others and you can’t win, remember to run.”

Nian Zhi’an suddenly burst out laughing. She’d almost forgotten that this was just how Mu Yixuan was.

Clink. Mu Yixuan happened to glance in the rearview mirror, and the keys slipped from her hand.

She froze for a moment before bending down to pick them up.

Had she been working too hard lately? Why was she having these hallucinations?

Mu Yixuan glanced in the rearview mirror again. The girl in the back seat was being very obedient, just like before… No, not quite the same. After the car accident, she seemed a bit more lively.

But surely not to that extent…

Mu Yixuan forced a bitter smile. Why on earth was she seeing that person in the back seat? In her youthful form from back then…

Ten years had passed. Was she finally going mad?

Was her face looking particularly awful?

The System suddenly realized it had heard the Host’s voice, even though she hadn’t spoken aloud. It thought it had misheard until Nian Zhi’an shot it a glance.

【She looks pretty serious… Could it be because of what you said that day about her looking so much older? Human women generally don’t like hearing that. Is she holding a grudge?】

Nian Zhi’an had pretty much forgotten about that incident already. If the System hadn’t brought it up, it would have slipped her mind entirely.

Hmm…

She wouldn’t hold a grudge that long, would she?

Nian Zhi’an, who had once snatched Mu Yixuan’s breakfast and nearly gotten her butt paddled black and blue for it, silently told herself: She would.

Nian Zhi’an quietly patted her own mouth. Why hadn’t she controlled herself back then?

Was it still not too late to jump out of the moving car?

【Oh, right—the Original Host owes the Antagonist over 200,000 now, which you’ve inherited! Don’t forget to pay it back, or you’ll end up a deadbeat debtor.】

“…”

May the System and this world pick one to be destroyed!

After crossing half the city, Nian Zhi’an finally arrived at Mu Yixuan’s home. It wasn’t the house where they had been neighbors back in the day, but an apartment closer to Mu Yixuan’s company.

In the Original Host’s memories, she had always come here trembling with fear, never taking a proper look around. Nian Zhi’an was different. The first thing she did upon entering was to carefully observe everything in sight.

The apartment was impeccably clean, with everything neatly arranged, but it felt terribly empty, as if no one really lived there.

She soon noticed a small photo frame on the table, holding a picture of two people together.

It was her former self and Mu Yixuan.

Was it… from the time Mu Yixuan’s birthday?

Nian Zhi’an frowned. Some words were bubbling up inside her, but after thinking it over, she swallowed them back down.

The more said, the more mistakes. Better to keep quiet.

“Are you hungry? Your counselor held you up until now—you probably haven’t eaten yet.” Mu Yixuan opened the fridge. There were only a couple of lettuce leaves and some eggs, not even any noodles.

“I’ll order takeout. What do you want?”

“Strawberry cake!” Nian Zhi’an was lost in thought and blurted it out on instinct.

“Okay.” Mu Yixuan glanced at Nian Zhi’an, her expression seeming even gentler—or perhaps more profound. “You like strawberry cake too?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“I know someone who loves strawberry cake. You two must be fated.” Mu Yixuan looked down at her phone, a hint of melancholy in her eyes.

“Ha… Th-That’s really quite the fateful connection…” Nian Zhi’an silently averted her gaze.

Fated nemeses were fated, after all.

Mu Yixuan ordered a chocolate cake. The two of them sat facing each other to eat, just like in their student days long, long ago.

They wouldn’t go home for lunch, so they’d often hit the school dessert shop for a sweet treat and a milk tea. Nian Zhi’an favored strawberry flavors, while Mu Yixuan went for chocolate.

They’d eat while chatting about schoolwork or other things, taking jabs at each other’s weak spots.

She couldn’t out-snark Mu Yixuan, but she had to admit that among all antagonists, Mu Yixuan had one of the better tempers. In those days when the System oppressed her to the point of suffocation, bickering with Mu Yixuan had become one of the few things that let her relax.

She never imagined that years later, she’d get another chance to sit across from her like this, eating cake in silence. It left her a little dazed.

“System, I’m not used to this.” Nian Zhi’an complained to the System in her mind.

【What aren’t you used to, Host?】

“Mu Yixuan isn’t roasting me. It’s so weird.” To be honest, even though she knew this gentleness was meant for the Original Host, Nian Zhi’an still felt covered in goosebumps.

【…】

Nian Zhi’an ate absentmindedly. After they finished the cake and cleaned up the trash, Mu Yixuan told her to head to the studio first while she prepared the tools.

Following the directions from the Original Host’s memories, Nian Zhi’an entered Mu Yixuan’s studio. It was neatly kept too, with the only mess being the trash bin stuffed full of crumpled sketch papers.

Nian Zhi’an walked over to the bin and quietly unfolded a sheet that had been torn in half and balled up. It depicted a girl sitting in a chair—everything drawn in detail except for blank eyes.

【Host, isn’t that you?】

The System might have been timid and useless, but it always knew exactly how to rub salt in her wounds.

Nian Zhi’an quickly glanced at the other discarded sketches. Every portrait was of her, not even leaving her room for self-deception.

All the drawings had been destroyed. It wasn’t hard to imagine the fury behind it—what seething hatred?

【Whoa, does the Antagonist have a secret crush on you?】

The corner of Nian Zhi’an’s eye twitched involuntarily. “Do my pitiful sketches look like love to you? More like hatred.”

She remembered their last encounter—Mu Yixuan hadn’t given her a good look, which was what she had wanted. But that slap still stung when she thought about it.

【Host, Mu Yixuan’s coming!】

Nian Zhi’an immediately balled up the paper and tossed it back into the bin. Then she sat down in the Original Host’s “dedicated” chair.

【Host, I get the feeling that your relationship with the antagonist isn’t half bad, huh?】

One person painted while the other served as her model, and there was no conversation between them. The silence was oppressively heavy, and even the system felt stifled by the atmosphere, so it resorted to making small talk in the hopes that its host would pay it some attention.

“……”

【Host?】

“zzz……”

【……】Its host had actually fallen asleep! The system nearly slid to its knees before this exalted ancestor in desperation.

Because she had to pack her things for discharge from the hospital, Nian Zhi’an had suffered from a bit of insomnia the night before and had gotten up early that morning—about an hour ahead of her usual schedule. So now, as soon as she sat down in the chair, drowsiness overtook her, and in no time at all, she had nodded off.

Mu Yixuan glanced at her but didn’t wake her. She continued painting with the brush in her hand, only pausing slightly when she reached the model’s eyes.

The trash can was filled with the sketch papers she had discarded, all because whenever she tried to imagine those eyes, memories flooded back of the last time she had seen her. Her brush simply refused to touch the paper.

At that point, her family had gone bankrupt, her parents had fled with the money, leaving her alone to face massive debts. Even so, the other woman refused to admit her wrongs or show any remorse. The light in her eyes had still burned fiercely and passionately, brimming with vibrant life…

So how could she possibly have killed herself?

The bloody scene from downstairs in her memories spread once more.

No, she couldn’t have committed suicide.

Mu Yixuan only felt the familiar pain throbbing in her head again, more intense than ever before, so she had no choice but to set down her brush and take a moment to recover.

She regretted it. She shouldn’t have… If only she hadn’t left…

All the thoughts in her mind were regrets stained with blood, each word dripping with it.

“Pa-da.” Mu Yixuan’s trembling hand accidentally knocked her brush off the table.

【Host! Host, wake up quick! Something’s wrong with the antagonist…】 Before the system could finish speaking, Nian Zhi’an had already appeared at Mu Yixuan’s side.

【？？？】Can you teleport or something? Or were you not asleep at all?!

“…Are you okay?” Nian Zhi’an forced down her awkwardness as she looked at Mu Yixuan’s deathly pale face.

“I’m fine.” Mu Yixuan didn’t want to show any weakness in front of an outsider.

Her face was this pale, and she claimed she was fine.

Nian Zhi’an wasn’t one to meddle in others’ business. Asking once was already out of consideration for their past connection; she wouldn’t ask a second time, so…

As she used techniques she’d learned from other worlds to give Mu Yixuan a massage, she mercilessly cursed herself out in her heart.

Spineless!