Chapter 26: How Does It Not Count?

“Ham~”

An Yu walked along the road to school.

Today’s breakfast was a meat bun and soy milk, both made by Wang Man.

She had slept well last night.

As expected, doing something before bed really helps with sleep. I, An Yu, am truly a genius.

Though she didn’t know why, the System seemed strangely quiet today.

This morning, An Yu had greeted it, but the System hadn’t responded.

Maybe it hasn’t woken up yet. Such a lazy dog System.

Enjoying the steaming hot bun, An Yu shook her head.

She didn’t really care all that much.

“Ham~”

After taking the final bite of her bun, half a cup of soy milk remained.

Just as she finished, she arrived at the classroom door.

Like always, she pulled the door open and stepped inside.

Today’s duty student was…

An Yu didn’t recognize her.

Then again, she hadn’t recognized the duty students from the past few days either.

So, she deliberately stopped and stood still, staring at the girl on duty.

“Uh… An Yu, good morning?”

Being stared at so intently made the unfamiliar classmate nervous, and she greeted An Yu awkwardly.

An Yu tilted her head slightly as she looked at the flustered girl.

Hmm. Confirmed. Definitely don’t know this one.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be reacting like that, right?

It wouldn’t make sense for someone she’d already met to look that panicked. That’d be unscientific. Illogical.

“Mm.”

Expressionless, An Yu nodded politely.

Even if she didn’t know the person, manners must be maintained.

Now that courtesy was done, she was free again.

And since there were no roadblocks like Cheng Shimeng today, that was great.

Ignoring the puzzled duty student, An Yu calmly walked to her seat and sat down.

She took out her smartphone from her bag.

Still early.

Since no one had wasted her time today, she could do something else before class.

She hadn’t finished watching the girl band anime from yesterday, so now was the perfect time.

With that thought, An Yu took out a pair of earphones—a set she’d picked up at home, probably discarded by Jiang Qinghe.

No one had been using them, and since An Yu didn’t have any herself, she simply took them.

As for why she didn’t have any before…

The original An Yu’s phone didn’t even have social apps, let alone accessories like earphones. A total primitive.

Setting aside useless thoughts, An Yu put on the earphones, scrolled to last night’s episode, and tapped “continue watching.”

She remembered…

Last time, the band had just disbanded, and the vocalist was trying to make peace.

Perfect time to see if they can pull it off.

……

……

【Ugh…】

Even though the System was, well, a system, it still had a headache.

It hadn’t slept at all last night because it was desperate to know what would happen next in the story.

Yesterday’s haunting had already kept it up all day, and now this drama had kept it awake again.

By the middle of the night, fear had crept back in—it had felt like the house might be haunted again.

Eventually, overwhelmed by both drowsiness and terror, it had passed out.

So when An Yu greeted it that morning, it hadn’t heard her.

Now, it was finally awake.

And when it looked around, it realized they were already in the classroom.

Great. I really overslept.

For a system, having a habit of sleeping wasn’t exactly ideal…

After silently reflecting on its own failure, it was just about to greet An Yu—when it caught sight of her phone screen.

In that instant, the System’s world collapsed.

What… what was it seeing?

Why was its host watching that anime again?!

And—wait—how had those five girls already made up?!

The System almost exploded.

It had been so excited last night that it couldn’t sleep… and now its host had secretly finished the episode without it?!

What?!

【Host, what are you doing…?】

“Hmm? System, you’re awake.” An Yu’s tone was calm, utterly indifferent. “Watching yesterday’s anime.”

【……】

So she really had gone on without it.

The System wanted to scream, but nothing came out.

It couldn’t exactly admit that it had told An Yu to watch the show because it wanted to see it, right?

Where would its dignity go? How could it keep any authority as a System then?!

So instead, it swallowed its frustration whole.

【……Nothing.】

“Oh.”

An Yu only gave a soft “oh,” then said nothing more—as if that was the most natural thing in the world.

She didn’t think too much about what the System might be feeling.

She simply tapped pause and put her phone away since class was about to start.

Meanwhile, the System ground its metaphorical teeth.

If it had a body, it would’ve looked like a little loli with tears in her eyes and puffed cheeks of frustration.

It swore silently that one day, when it had a physical form, it would definitely spank An Yu’s butt!

Unaware of the System’s dark thoughts, An Yu covered her mouth and yawned softly, her small hand half hidden in her sleeve.

“Ha”

A tear sparkled at the corner of her eye.

Her petite frame and lazy motion made her look even cuter.

For a moment, the System nearly melted.

No! No, bad System! Cute or not, her butt is still doomed! Hmph!

Trying to rebuild its mental fortitude, the System focused itself.

“System.”

【Ah? Ah?!】

Startled, the System panicked—did she somehow hear its thoughts?!

But An Yu didn’t seem suspicious at all.

Her lips curved slightly as she tilted her head, sunlight spilling gently across her drowsy face.

“Good morning.”

【Ah… good morning? What’s this all of a sudden?】

“Mm. This morning, I greeted you. You didn’t hear, so I’m saying it again.”

As she spoke, she raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight.

It was a little too bright.

【Uuu…】

A pure, sleepy girl smiling sweetly while saying that—who could withstand it?!

In an instant, the System’s heart felt like it had been shot down.

No… this isn’t right! Am I still spanking her or not?!

“System, what’s wrong?”

Hearing the System make a strange noise, An Yu asked softly.

【……】

The System went silent for a long moment.

Then finally responded.

【System analysis complete. Host’s survival probability has increased. Natural resistance +1.】

Instantly, the sunlight didn’t feel quite so blinding anymore.

But that brought a new question.

Why did the System suddenly give her a reward?

Had An Qing’s conscience awakened?

An Yu didn’t notice that the System had said “survival probability increased,” not “hatred value decreased.”

Don’t ask why—this was a Villain Survival System, not a Hatred Reduction System.

So if it got happy because of her… how could that not count as improving her odds of survival?