Plot Line Activated

Bang—crash! Bang! Bang!

Early in the morning, the jarring noise came from outside the door, mixed with a slightly hurried middle-aged woman's voice.

"Keep it down, don't wake your sister."

"What time is it? It's not like she doesn't have school either."

A male voice, hoarse from his voice changing, sounded like a duck's quack, expressing his dissatisfaction with even more noise.

"I'm in a hurry to get to school. If she can't be ready, she can just take the bus herself."

"You're really something..." The middle-aged woman replied, exasperated.

Fu Liangxia was woken by the noise, her skull pulsing with pain, as if she'd been yanked out of a long sleep, her brain still sluggish.

She took a few seconds to recover, realizing her surroundings were unfamiliar.

Then it hit her—she wasn't herself anymore.

The wallpaper on the ceiling was pristine, the bed beneath her was too soft. The room's decor was neutral, as new as a showroom in a furniture store.

Rubbing her temples, she sat up, and a young woman's face appeared in the mirror by the wardrobe.

Her features were clean, not bland; her bone structure was excellent, her face well-proportioned, neck slender, skin fair and smooth, with gently furrowed willow-leaf eyebrows.

Her eyes, squinting in pain, were misty, but the corners tilted up in a seductive curve, radiating a strong and contradictory beauty.

"Are you done yet? Girls are such a hassle..."

The boy outside was clearly impatient, and with a few rapid footsteps, he slapped his hand against the door.

The sudden noise broke her train of thought; she looked up and saw the boy standing at the door, staring at her with obvious annoyance.

It was the original owner's younger brother.

Fu Liangxia scoured her memories, recalling his name as Fu Liedong.

True to his name, Fu Liedong's features, which shared a three-part resemblance with hers, were pinched together, his brows raised high, his auburn hair slicked back, revealing a sun earring on his right.

Despite the similar face, when he looked at her, there was no fragility—only bold arrogance and sharp aggression.

"Did you get so stupid in the Lower City that you forgot when school starts?"

Fu Liedong's brows drew together, and because he was in a hurry, his tone was irritated; he grumbled, "You're still as sickly as ever."

Fu Liangxia had been in this world for over half a year, but only recently had she fully received and digested the original owner's memories. Combined with what the System that came with her had told her, she was currently in an old-fashioned novel.

The novel was called "The Saintland Pact," a typical aristocratic academy story. It took place in a federal republic, with a plot full of melodrama and Mary Sue, where conglomerates ruled, and money and power were the universal laws of this world.

The story began with the poor but resilient female lead enrolling, and from the moment she entered, she was plunged into conflict, offending the untouchables at Saintland Academy, thus starting a dangerous and thrilling plot.

The tenacious heroine and the arrogant second-generation heir clashed fiercely; she caught the eye of a playboy, competed with the aloof student council president... From initial confrontation to gradually becoming friends or lovers, the whole story was complex and convoluted, giving Fu Liangxia a headache.

The original owner was just a minor character who appeared infrequently, not even a proper supporting role.

She had lived in the Lower City before, and through an accident, she met Cheng Xingzhou, one of the F4, and fell for him.

But not long after they spent time together, Cheng Xingzhou disappeared.

It wasn't until the original owner's family struck it rich with mining and obtained a ticket to the Upper City, gaining entry to Saintland, that things changed.

Her brother, Fu Liedong, had enrolled half a year earlier. She had stayed in a sanatorium in the Lower City to recover from an illness for six months before coming to the Upper City.

Up to this point, it was information she'd extracted from the original owner's memories.

The novel's timeline began with the female lead transferring in her sophomore year, which was today. Coincidentally, the original owner was also a transfer student that day; in the original story, she was mistaken for the special admit and bullied badly.

Later, at an event, the original owner saw Cheng Xingzhou again after a long absence, learning that he was actually a top-tier figure in high society. Knowing the gap between them, she could only hide her affection in her heart.

However, her feelings were discovered by Cheng Xingzhou's Fan Club, who applied constant pressure, causing her parents' work to falter and forcing her to apologize to her abusers... One by one, these incidents became the straws that broke the camel's back, driving her to a dead end.

After reading the original plot, Fu Liangxia had only these six points to say:

...

Or maybe the study load just wasn't heavy enough.

In the original book, apart from romance, these people spent all their time bullying others over romance. Fu Liangxia thought they'd be better off doing a few more practice tests and getting higher scores.

But then again, these people studied just to get a nice diploma; if they failed, they could use their money to study abroad, so they probably didn't need to study at all.

The System had told her that the original soul had been sent to another novel world due to an error. But since the plot hadn't started yet, someone had to fill that identity and drive the plot, which was why Fu Liangxia had been shoved in here.

"Strictly speaking, you're not a complete person yet, just temporarily in this body. Until you complete all the plot tasks and correct the worldview, you won't fully own this body and gain freedom. Otherwise, you could be eliminated by the world's will at any time."

But compared to where she used to live, this place was already much better.

At least the original owner's status was better than her previous life.

The Fu family was just a nouveau riche family, while in her previous life, she had only escaped the mud with great effort...

At that thought, a dark glint flashed in Fu Liangxia's eyes.

She was tall and slim, looking like a gust of wind could blow her away. But her gaze was cool and detached. Though she was shorter than Fu Liedong, standing in front of him, she somehow exuded more authority.

Fu Liangxia didn't react to his provocation with any irritation; instead, she smiled. "I just arrived in the Upper City and don't know Saintland well yet. I'll have to rely on you for help."

Fu Liedong's expression froze, as if he hadn't expected her to respond like that, and he awkwardly scratched his nose. "Well, since you're my sister, here's some advice from half a year of personal experience. I wouldn't say this to just anyone."

"Saintland has the best educational and social resources in the country. There, whether you're a talented student wanting a good resume for a top university or a schemer wanting to network, you can get what you want."

"But correspondingly, the rules revolve around those two things. At the top of the food chain are the heirs of top families, followed by children of excellent executives, then well-off second-generation heirs, and at the bottom are special admits with only their grades."

He said the last part with a hint of disdain.

"Those special admits are all unbelievably proud, but their lives are as fragile as paper. Everyone knows they only got in because of our tuition fees, and after graduation, the best they can hope for is to work for their classmates, yet they always act so condescending... Hmph, stay away from them."

Suddenly reminded of something, Fu Liedong added, as if warning her, "And those who dream of climbing the social ladder by riding on others' coattails—those second-generation heirs aren't stupid. They're mostly destined for arranged marriages, so they're just playing around. Such people never end well."

This world was never short of people looking for shortcuts, and Fu Liangxia guessed he wasn't just talking about special admits but also aiming at her.

But he'd be disappointed.

Even though she wanted to stay out of the drama and stay safe, the System wouldn't allow it.

She was destined to be dragged into the vortex.

...

The friendliness of the morning seemed like a misconception; when they arrived at Saintland's gates, an awkward silence hung between them.

Only when the stately and elegant campus came into view did Fu Liangxia close her practice book and stuff it into her bag. Meanwhile, Fu Liedong on the other side had already jumped out of the car eagerly.

She followed his gaze.

Several boys in white and gold uniforms were standing at the school gate, chatting and laughing. One of them seemed to sense something and looked up, his brown eyes unreadable. His appraising gaze met hers through the car window, a brief touch, then he quickly moved on, as if noticing Fu Liedong by the car, breaking into a smile and walking over with the others.

One of them noticed Fu Liangxia and winked, "Did you bring everything... Wow, Fu Liedong, you dog! Is this your new girlfriend? Pretty cute."

"Yeah, everything's ready."

Fu Liedong answered the first half first, then glanced at Fu Liangxia, who was getting out from the other side, and said impatiently, "Get lost. You're the girlfriend. This is my sister."

At that, a chorus of "Sister!" rang out.

There was no respect in their voices, only curiosity and suspicion.

"Since when do you have a sister?"

"Your sister is our sister, introduce us properly..."

The boys shoved each other, winking and grinning. When Fu Liangxia was about to lose patience and leave, a deep voice came from the side: "What's everyone blocking the gate for?"

Hearing the voice, Fu Liangxia turned her head and found it was the boy who had met her gaze earlier.

Unexpectedly, amidst the noise of cars and chatter, and under the scorching sun overhead, she met his gaze again.

From this distance, close enough to appreciate his good looks, she could even see a small mole under his left eye.

But he only glanced at her, then looked away, as if she wasn't worth his attention, casually slinging an arm around one of the others. "Aren't we supposed to be doing something?"

Fu Liangxia took a half step back.

Just then, the System gave its first task-related directive.

[Target "Su Xingshu" has appeared. Current Affinity Points: 16.]

[Task 3 (Activated): Establish a friendly relationship with Su Xingshu (reaching 60 Affinity Points counts as completion).]

Fu Liangxia recognized the name.

In the original novel, Su Xingshu was handsome, rich, and romantic, with his own band, and he was quite popular.

He was also a "playboy."

According to the stories, he'd had many girlfriends, each seated in the VIP section to hear him sing the so-called songs he'd written for her.

But having read the original, Fu Liangxia knew that these were just sweet nothings to charm them; the only one who ever really got written into his songs was the female lead.

"Different towards you alone"—classic old-school drama.

At that thought, she found it a bit amusing and couldn't help but curl her lips in a slight smirk.

"...We can still take sis to class and then we'll go, no problem..."

The friend was still rambling, and Su Xingshu, annoyed by their foolishness around beautiful women, turned his head impatiently, only to catch that smile.

The girl, standing about chest-high to him, had slightly curved eyes, her upturned corners forming an alluring arc that made one's heart itch.

Su Xingshu had been annoyed this morning that Fu Liedong was late, waiting at the school gate for a while, only to be hit on by several groups of boys and girls, which irritated him.

But now, he suddenly felt the wait wasn't so bad.

Just then, a piercing scream came from behind them.