“In short, after a series of coherent schemes, the villainous eldest young lady, Su Wanli, successfully lured Meng Wange onto the stage of the academy festival — a stage filled with conspiracies and plots — through provocation and deliberate guidance.”
“One evil plan after another was slowly taking shape in Su Wanli’s mind…”
“…‘Heh heh, Meng Wange, aren’t you fond of being in the spotlight? Then today, I’ll let you shine to your heart’s content!’”
“Watching the pitiful young lady who remained utterly unaware of her own predicament, Su Wanli revealed a meaningful smile.”
Still deep in her sleep, Su Wanli frowned tightly. She subconsciously reached her hand under her pillow toward the fluffy white puffball nestled there.
“…Shut up. What’s all this noise so early in the morning? Activate silent mode…”
But before she could finish her words, a sharp sense of alertness surged through Su Wanli’s heart, jolting her most of the way awake.
…No, something was off. She shouldn’t do that, should she?
Right now, she needed to please it as much as possible. Otherwise, the System was no longer the System she could push around as she pleased. If she couldn’t stay by Meng Wange’s side after the finale, then she’d never have the chance to make up for the wrongs she had done to Meng Wange — and even less so to let her know her true purpose and true feelings!
Alarms blaring in her mind, Su Wanli immediately opened her eyes wide and rolled over, sitting up in bed.
She carefully pulled the white puffball out from under her pillow, holding it up toward the first ray of sunlight filtering through the curtain gap, as if performing some sacred ritual.
“Ahem, well, good morning, System… L-Lord…”
“…Mm? Good morning, Host. Today’s weather is sunny, with temperatures ranging from 12 to 21 degrees Celsius. No rain expected, but there will be gusts of wind in the afternoon. Please dress warmly.”
After inexplicably broadcasting a weather forecast, the System shifted gears and pointed out the task Su Wanli needed to complete today —
【As for today’s task, you must continuously antagonize Meng Wange throughout the entire day, negating any friendly suggestions she offers. The count must accumulate to over 30 times, thereby crushing Meng Wange’s confidence and destroying the prestige she has built among her classmates.”
I see. “Accumulate over 30 negations of Meng Wange’s friendly suggestions” — it doesn’t sound like an overwhelmingly difficult task to complete…
Perhaps because this was still the early stage of the new setting — the academy festival — the System hadn’t assigned her any particularly vicious tasks yet.
It seemed it intended to gradually lure Meng Wange step by step into a bottomless abyss, like boiling a frog in warm water…
‘Forget it. That’s a problem for my future self to worry about. At least today, all I need to do is keep denying whatever Meng Wange says to me, and I’ll finish the task.’
But what exactly did “negating” mean? Did she need to refute every single one of Meng Wange’s points, or just deny one sentence?
Just as Su Wanli was still mulling over how to complete the task, a soft knock suddenly sounded, interrupting her thoughts.
Then, a familiar voice came from outside the door —
“Miss Su, good morning. Are you awake?”
‘Ah — that’s definitely Meng Wange’s voice. But why didn’t she just come into my room like before, wait by my bed until I woke up, and instead knock and stay outside? I’m pretty sure I didn’t lock the door last night, did I?’
Having gotten used to seeing Meng Wange first thing every morning, Su Wanli suddenly felt a faint sense of unease.
‘Ah!? Could it be that because I wasn’t able to sort out my thoughts last night, I was cold and distant toward Meng Wange on the way home, and even spoke harshly to her, so she mistakenly thinks I’ve started hating her?!’
Thinking back, on the way home from the furniture store, Meng Wange had been trying to strike up a conversation with her, but she hadn’t been able to muster the energy to respond…
The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
But today’s task just wouldn’t allow her to go along with whatever Meng Wange said. The required number of denials was as high as thirty times — in theory, every time Meng Wange said something, she would have to immediately refute it…
“…Miss Su? Are you there?”
There was a faint trace of hesitation in Meng Wange’s voice from outside the door.
‘Forget it! I’ll worry about that later! The priority right now is to complete the task! As long as I can smoothly reach the plot’s end, and please the System as much as possible so it gives me more time, I’ll find a way to mend my relationship with Meng Wange!’
‘Besides, it’s just denying what Meng Wange says. It’s not that different from what I’ve been doing all along. In the nine days of villainess roleplay before, I often denied her, so she should be used to it by now!’
‘Alright, I’ll start by refuting the first thing she said…’
Su Wanli sat up in bed, thought for a moment, and then spoke calmly toward the door —
“The morning is not good, I’m not awake yet, and I’m not here.”
“…”
‘A-As expected, that’s not the way to refute, is it?!’
The System said to deny “friendly suggestions” with the ultimate goal of crushing Meng Wange’s confidence and damaging her prestige. Such a childish rebuttal sounded more like she was throwing a little tantrum!
Even Meng Wange outside the door was silent for quite a while before she could rephrase her words.
“I see, Miss Su hasn’t woken up yet… Then, after you’ve freshened up, please come down to the banquet hall on the first floor.”
“I’ve added some after-meal desserts to the breakfast I prepared before. I hope they meet with your approval.”
‘Really?! Desserts made by Meng Wange! Great. She isn’t angry with me for my brief lapse last night, and she hasn’t given up on the habit she’s maintained over the past few days. She’s still making breakfast for me…’
Though a warm current did flow through Su Wanli’s heart, she couldn’t help but clear her throat, putting on a stern tone and speaking to Meng Wange outside the door:
“Hmph! Not at all! I won’t go down to the banquet hall! And what do you mean, after-meal desserts for breakfast? I won’t be satisfied at all!”
【Negation count 2. Current cumulative count: 2. 28 more required.]
Looking at the prompt box that appeared before her, Su Wanli nodded in understanding.
‘So I need to deny dialogue that actually carries substance to increase the count. Something like that “good morning, are you awake?” kind of talk — even if I deny it, it’s meaningless…’
However, even though Su Wanli was only testing the System’s judgment on the task, her words were heard in full by Meng Wange outside the door.
“…I’m sorry, Miss Su. It’s my fault for not asking for your opinion beforehand.”
The brunette girl outside was silent for a moment before speaking again —
“Also, if you’re in a bad mood today, I’ll try to keep some distance from you. I hope that might improve your spirits a little.”
‘Crap! This is the first time I’ve ever heard Meng Wange say something like that! That harsh denial just now seems to have genuinely hurt her feelings!’
Realizing this, Su Wanli’s heart suddenly raced with panic.
Without thinking, she jumped out of bed and threw open the door in front of her —
“Huh? W-What nonsense are you talking about?! What’s wrong with you?! Don’t keep your distance from me! That won’t make my mood any better!”
Before her, Meng Wange stood somewhat at a loss at the doorway.
Looking at Su Wanli’s slightly heaving chest and the generous expanse of snow-white skin accidentally exposed, Meng Wange instinctively tilted her head back, controlling her gaze to look straight into Su Wanli’s eyes.
“…I-Is that so? Then, would you like me to come closer?”
“No! Don’t come too close… No, that’s not what I mean either, I mean…”
The more she tried to refute, the more confused her mind became.
Stammering, she simply took a step forward, went down the stairs ahead of Meng Wange, and waved her hand coolly behind her —
“A-Anyway, figure out the distance between us yourself! You’re a grown woman! Don’t you have any social skills at all?!”
“I’m sorry, Miss Su. I’ll be careful.”
“T-Too careful! It’s fine if you’re a little closer!”
“…I see. Is this distance acceptable?”
“No! You don’t understand at all! Don’t get in my way while I’m walking!”
Faced with this chaotic scene, the System only emitted an indifferent notification sound in Su Wanli’s ear —
【Negation count 6. Current cumulative count: 8. 22 more required. Keep it up, Host.]
【…Also, given your usual style of behavior, it might be advisable to first sort out your priorities.]