The Greatest Crisis!?
**[That’s right, Host. Please think carefully.]**
The System’s voice continued to whisper in Su Wanli’s ear.
**[Looking at the current situation, if you continue to act as impulsively and without a plan as you have in the past, there is a high probability the System will interpret your behavior as a subtle way of showing kindness to the Heroine.]**
‘Showing… kindness?’
Su Wanli scratched her forehead and fell into deep thought for a moment.
‘Wait, the task the System gave me today was to confine Meng Huange at home. It just so happens that Meng Huange came down with a fever today. Therefore, my act of keeping her at home might be interpreted as being concerned about her physical condition.’
**[Correct. As long as you understand. That is to say…]**
Before the System could finish, Su Wanli suddenly slapped her palm, a flash of inspiration crossing her mind.
‘In other words, today’s series of tasks… is actually a great opportunity to gain the Heroine’s favorability!’
**[…]**
The System remained silent for a long time before finally speaking again.
**[Host, the System understands your underlying anxiety. It is reasonable to want to avoid the Heroine’s excessive loathing. However, before you take action, please take a look at your current Villainess Value.]**
The System enlarged Su Wanli’s Villainess Value and displayed it right before her eyes.
**[Current Villainess Value: 82. Extra Virtuous Girl Value: 0. There are no Female Villain Potions in your inventory, and you only have a handful of empty Villainess Points. Even if you want to use Villainess Points to buy some room for error, you would still need to rely on the lottery to trade for shards.]**
**[Therefore, today’s task is a situation where one wrong move could lead to total disaster. No matter what action you take, there is a possibility of stepping into the abyss. With such a low tolerance for error, even if you want to teach yourself a lesson for your immature ideas, now is not the time.]**
‘That… that’s true.’
Since she had misunderstood her exam results yesterday morning and said a bunch of messy, sentimental things to Meng Huange, Su Wanli’s Villainess Value had been unstable. If she made any mistakes in her role-play, it would drop below the 80 mark.
Su Wanli nervously bit her thumb.
‘From a rational perspective, the System is right. My current state doesn’t allow for reckless actions. If a word or two triggers a debuff like nearsightedness or a distorted sense of taste, it wouldn’t matter much. But if I end up like I did in Math Class—with my left foot stepping on my right and laughing uncontrollably—and I don’t have a Female Villain Potion to immediately boost my values, I’ll be truly finished.’
**[However, although the situation is tricky, the Host doesn’t need to worry too much. As for why—as your most loyal partner, the System has already prepared a countermeasure for you.]**
After a jingle-like sound effect, the System’s voice became much more excited.
**[And that is this brand-new Villainess Item: the Villainess Teleprompter Glasses!]**
‘…Teleprompter Glasses?’
**[That’s right, Host. Do you often feel frustrated by your lack of dialogue experience? Do you often feel annoyed by how cliché the task plots are?]**
**[Don’t worry. After putting on these newly manufactured Villainess Teleprompter Glasses, multiple lines of dialogue suitable for the current scene will naturally appear in your vision when you face key situations.]**
**[Of course, if that were all, they wouldn’t be much different from your own flashes of inspiration. In reality, the most important function of these glasses is that they show you the upcoming increase or decrease in Villainess Value before you even speak!]**
**[For example, when three dialogue options, A, B, and C, appear on the lenses, they will be followed by a clear number. Red indicates an increase, while green indicates a decrease. When you are indecisive, you can use the Villainess Value data to make your judgment.]**
‘Huh? There’s actually such a convenient item? It just so happens that I haven’t been able to think of any suitable villainess lines lately. I keep repeating the same things.’
Su Wanli rubbed her nose and pulled the White Dumpling out of her pocket, shaking it toward the air.
‘…So, how many Villainess Points will it cost me?’
**[Hey, although it’s a god-tier item that allows the Host to treat the villainess role-play as if it were a cracked version of a game, the price is actually not that expensive. Moreover, you have already accumulated two days’ worth of task rewards. After converting them all into Villainess Points, buying a pair of glasses will still leave you with more than enough.]**
Before Su Wanli could feel happy, the System immediately followed up.
**[Roughly speaking, it should leave you with about 10 Villainess Points.]**
‘This is what you call “more than enough”!? I’d rather spend all those points on the lottery!’
If she drew a few more Villainess Potion Shards, she could exchange them for several bottles of the actual potion!
**[Oh, sorry. While the Host was asking about the price, the System already placed the order for you. Once this item is issued, it cannot be returned or exchanged. It is recommended that you use it carefully and avoid any bumps or scratches. We wish you a pleasant user experience.]**
Looking at the gold-rimmed glasses that suddenly appeared in her palm, Su Wanli took a deep breath and shrugged helplessly.
‘Forget it. I never expected this trash system to give me anything truly good anyway. My Villainess Value is indeed in a dangerous spot, so having a teleprompter as a reference isn’t a bad thing.’
Su Wanli placed the glasses on the bridge of her nose. After checking herself in the mirror for a while, she pushed open the bathroom door.
“Oh, Miss Su, good morning.”
Zhang Ma was pushing a small cart covered with a white tablecloth. She greeted Su Wanli near the stairs.
“This is the breakfast Miss Meng Huange prepared for you. May I ask how her health is? Is she recovering well?”
Before Su Wanli could respond with a casual word or two, three gold-shining dialogue options suddenly floated in front of her eyes.
A. “Good morning, Zhang Ma. Meng Huange is much better. I believe with your help, she will recover quickly. Thank you for your concern.” — Villainess Value decreases by 10 points.
B. “Does Meng Huange’s health have anything to XX do with you? Do you XX know who’s paying you? Being so XXXX and arrogant, see if I don’t kick you out of the Su household!” — Villainess Value increases by three points.
C. “Hmph, her health? Who are you to her? It’s enough for me to watch over Meng Huange alone. You aren’t allowed upstairs all day today. Stay downstairs, do you hear me? If you understand, get out of my way and stop being an eyesore!” — Villainess Value increases by five points.
Option A was a negative example; saying it would result in a debuff. Option B had too many swear words, and the Villainess Value it provided was quite meager, making it not cost-effective at all. Option C’s rhetoric seemed more normal, and it could increase her Villainess Value by five points in one go.
Having made a rational decision, Su Wanli folded her arms without hesitation and recited the line to Zhang Ma.
“Hmph, her health? Who are you to her? It’s enough for me to watch over Meng Huange alone. You aren’t allowed upstairs all day today. Stay downstairs, do you hear me? If you understand, get out of my way and stop being an eyesore!”
“…Un—Understood, Miss Su! The meal cart can be pulled up using the wheels if you place it on the smooth edge of the stairs. I will come up later to retrieve… No, I will wait downstairs for you to bring it down. I wish you and Miss Meng Huange a pleasant meal!”
The effect of the Teleprompter Glasses was indeed extraordinary. Under the pressure of Su Wanli’s cold and arrogant villainess persona, Zhang Ma didn’t say another unnecessary word. She let go of the meal cart and turned toward the kitchen deep within the ballroom.
Watching her Villainess Value, which had already risen to 87 points, Su Wanli raised an eyebrow and took the glasses off, holding them in her hand.
‘Hmm? I didn’t expect the effect of this item to be so good. The System finally gave me something useful this time.’
‘However, now that I think back on it, were those words I just said to Zhang Ma a bit… ambiguous?’
‘Is it just me?’
‘Never mind. Perhaps keeping a trace of mysterious subtext in one’s speech is also part of playing a villainess!’
Su Wanli confidently placed the glasses back on the bridge of her nose and pushed the small meal cart toward the room on the third floor.
how did i never notice how controlling the system was before… making up all these things, making decisions for our MC on its own and manipulating her thoughts. even this teleprompter is definitely suspicious. i’m sure there’s no malice but what is really the mission of the system? and where do its capabilities lie. this all seems to moving quite quickly, but maybe it’s just because i only just realised something that has been in our faces the whole time. i thought the system really wanted her to maintain this persona, but it seems the entire time it has had different ideas. everything has been so convenient this whole time and i never considered it…
2 things also make me ponder on their impact on the story: the system secretly having human-like emotions when it sighed in relief after our MC snapped out of spiralling in the previous chapter due to the original body’s memories, and also the fact that su wanli was started to get affected by past memories that supposedly aren’t her own in the first place.
thank you so much for all your comments and review for this novel~