When she realized she had Failed the Task, Su Wanli’s mind was unusually clear for once, though the little fans around her reminded her to look over the Grade List again, and her brain suddenly blanked out like a wire had snapped, producing a deep, strangled sound in her throat.
There were two Su Wanli on this Grade List, one ranked twentieth, the other fiftieth.
So, which one was she really? And did her math score really get cancelled for cheating?
[According to the Network System within the Academy, the scores you uploaded for the Opening Exam are: Chinese 82, Math 72, English 72. The total is 226, which successfully meets the average level of Class Three, Year Two.]
As if answering Su Xiaoli’s confusion, the System’s prompt buzzed softly in her ear at just the right moment~ one.
[(Congratulations, Host. After three days of diligent study and practice, by using the method of having the female protagonist provide you with Notes, you have smoothly completed this Opening Exam Task.)]
Pushing aside all the ridiculous details the System liked to add, since it said her Task was already complete, that meant…
So she’d just been overthinking—she actually wouldn’t be leaving this world, the story of the Villainess was far from over, and Meng Huange was still her designated antagonist…
Su Wanli turned her head in a daze, looking back at the girl who always asked her for a hug after school, with wild hair and an exhausted expression.
After being pushed away by Su Wanli, Meng Huange still stood where she was, maintaining her usual reserved look.
Her expression seemed to carry a hint of disappointment.
Well, considering that normally, they exchanged sharp words and would get physical over the slightest disagreement, anyone would find it suspicious for the young mistress to suddenly change her attitude so dramatically.
Still, thankfully, she hadn’t said anything too outrageous just now, otherwise…
She should be safe, right?
“—Thank you, Meng Huange. Without you, I wouldn’t have made it this far.”
“—Maybe you can’t tell, but these days with you… I really, really was happy.”
“—Maybe saying this now is weird, but—”
“—Actually, I really… like—”
Su Wanli silently swallowed the rest, glancing at her own already devastated Female Villain Value, and the debuff below that kept flashing red.
As expected, she’d still said it! The real crisis she was facing now was actually all those chaotic words that had just spilled out of her mouth!
All because of this lousy System! It obviously knew the truth about her Task, so why didn’t it tell her sooner!?
[Please, Host, the System did spend some time querying the Network System in school to confirm your real scores, but your act of “destroying everything” was so swift that even the System didn’t have time to intervene.]
No time, my foot! You kept going on about “Female Villain Value dropping to this or that”—none of that was useful! Just tell me I didn’t Fail the Task!
[You misunderstood. Host, the Female Villain Value change alert is automatically triggered, not something the System controls behind the scenes.]
You…
Su Wanli clenched her teeth, then took a deep breath, trying to calm her head down.
No matter, as long as the Task wasn’t a failure, her Female Villain Value only dropped by eighty points, it wasn’t the first time. As long as she adjusted her image in time, applied a little Villainess Potion to ease the debuff, she could recover and keep carrying out her grand villainess mission!
Besides, that dangerous line she’d blurted out to Meng Huange just now had been interrupted by the others, so Meng Huange probably hadn’t even heard it!
Even if she did catch a word or two, with Meng Huange’s constant sixty or seventy points of “disgust” toward her, she’d surely gloss over it with her usual tact, just like she had at the welcome party on the first day, smoothing over embarrassing moments with a few words.
Sure enough, after taking a few seconds to recover from the sudden embrace, Meng Huange didn’t immediately show any embarrassment from having been “violated.” She just quietly straightened her collar and, as if nothing had happened, walked up to Su Wanli.
“…Su Xiaoli, congratulations on reaching twentieth place. It’s wonderful things went so well.”
“Yes, yes, that’s right, I’m actually a bit excited, ha ha, really, ha ha…”
“I understand how you feel. I’m also very happy I was able to win you that invitation to the Late Night Party.”
Looking at Su Wanli’s shining eyes, Meng Huange narrowed hers with a faint smile, then leaned in close and whispered in her ear,
“So, the sentence you were about to say before they interrupted—what was it you wanted to tell me?”
She knows it was interrupted but still pretends she didn’t hear! Since when did she become so tactless!?
“…No, no, what interrupted words? What are you talking about? Zhang Shiyu, did you hear anything? I definitely didn’t say anything.”
Su Wanli instinctively turned, wanting her loyal villainess subordinates to back her up. But those girls must have sensed the coming danger and, after warning her, had promptly vanished from the classroom without a trace.
Her subordinates had all abandoned her? This was just like having three straw soldiers!
After hearing Su Wanli’s words, Meng Huange just gently raised her eyebrows, said nothing, and subtly shifted her position, thoroughly blocking off Su Wanli’s escape route.
“Well, let me think, it was that sentence—something about you actually really like… what was it?”
“…I actually really like… what…”
“Sorry, Su Xiaoli, I was a little distracted just now, I didn’t quite get what you meant.”
Meng Huange smiled as she leaned down, bringing her face right next to Su Wanli’s.
“…So, what is it that you like, really?”
No, please, stop forcing me! That sentence really did just slip out! At the time, I thought I’d disappear at any moment, so before I vanished, I wanted to say something explosive and see Meng Huange’s shocked expression.
Why did I have to say something so suspicious? There were plenty of other things that could have startled her!
…Since things have come to this, I’d better come up with something to clear up her doubts.
“Well, I, what I really like is…”
“What is it?”
Su Wanli swallowed hard, gaze darting everywhere, and finally slipped past Meng Huange’s body, landing on the title of a student’s textbook behind her.
“—It’s studying! What I really like is studying!!!”
0 End