Chapter 1

The autumn sky was clear and cloudless.

Luxury vehicles loaded with freshmen streamed through Iya University City in an endless procession.

Both sides of the road were lined with ancient buildings dating back to the Middle Ages. Churches and towers stood in close succession, their soaring spires piercing the azure sky. Intricate stone carvings bore the mottled ochre stains of age.

Ruan Ning rested her head against the car window, her eyes vacant.

Today the whole family had come to see her off for the start of the school year. It should have been a happy day, but she couldn't muster any joy. She sat alone in the back seat, lost in thought.

Soft music played in the car. Her father gripped the steering wheel and remarked, "Iya's scenery is really something. Visiting after getting in feels completely different from visiting before."

"No kidding." Her mother sat in the passenger seat, holding up her phone to record a video, the corners of her mouth not having dropped since they left the house that morning. "It's all thanks to our Ningning's hard work. Our family finally has an Iya graduate."

Just thinking about their daughter getting into Iya University, the top school in Country A, had the Ruan couple smiling in their sleep. They chatted away until they were nearly at their destination, when they realized their daughter hadn't spoken a single word since getting in the car.

"Ningning, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Uh... no, no." Ruan Ning sat up and tried to muster some energy. "I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well last night because I was too excited."

Fearing her parents might not believe her, she forced out a standard good-girl smile, showing all eighteen teeth.

But a mother knows her daughter best. Ruan Ning's mother, Qiu Yan, sighed, turned around, and took her hand, rubbing the fingers that had been picked raw until they bled.

"Don't lie to me. You've had this habit since you were little—picking at your skin when you're nervous."

The half-moons at the base of her fingernails were torn and bloody, and crimson beads of blood seeped from beneath the skin. Ruan Ning didn't feel the pain, though. Only when her mother's warm palms rubbed over them did she feel a faint, needle-like sting from the wounds.

Qiu Yan's heart ached for her. "I know you're afraid of going to school with rich kids again. But this is Iya. If anyone bullies you, tell us, tell the school—we'll all protect you."

Seeing the concern in her mother's eyes, Ruan Ning hesitated, then spoke in a small voice, "Mom, what if I don't want to go to Iya?"

The music in the car seemed to stop. Her father frowned. "Ningning, you should look forward."

"What did you say?" Her mother's carefully applied foundation cracked into a fine line of wrinkles. "We sacrificed so much for you to get into Iya. How can you just decide not to go? What happened?"

Ruan Ning opened her mouth, then closed it.

Of course, she knew that Iya was a world-renowned university that had been in the top three for years, and it had always been her dream hidden deep in her heart.

In its thousand-year history, the school had produced countless brilliant minds—scientists, artists, thinkers—who had left their mark on history and shone brightly in their fields. Students from all over the world dreamed of getting in, and royals and nobles from every country were eager to send their offspring there for a gilded education.

She still remembered the thrill of seeing "Iya University" in her inbox among a pile of spam emails. She clicked it with trembling fingers and fainted before she even got halfway through.

But...

Her mother kept chattering on, her complaints echoing conspicuously in the cramped car.

Ruan Ning's father, Ruan Dahong, reached over and patted his wife. "Alright, alright. We're almost at the school."

Qiu Yan remembered the doctor's advice and regretted almost losing control again. A flash of guilt crossed her brow. "I was too hasty just now. I was wrong. I shouldn't have sent you to that terrible school in the first place. But it's been so long now. Ningning, let it go, okay?"

Ruan Ning let out a soft "mm," warmth flooding her chest.

How could she explain to the people closest to her in the world that she might die soon, and that the ones she couldn't bear to leave were her parents?

Just a few days ago, Ruan Ning had suddenly awakened to find that she was actually the villainess in a Mary Sue aristocratic academy otome game.

[Beep—detected that the villainess Ruan Ning has awakened. Activating backup program...]

[Villainess template loaded successfully!]

[Quest triggered: Freshman Ball incident targeting heroine Zeng Shuya.

Quest requirements: Prevent the heroine from meeting Male Lead #1, Jiang Yihao.

Failure penalty: Erasure of consciousness.]

Ruan Ning thought she was seeing things, but the system flashing with colorful effects told her this wasn't a dream.

In the original story, the villainess met the poor, pure heroine Zeng Shuya at the freshman banquet.

The villainess was jealous of her pure beauty and feared she might steal one of the male leads, Jiang Yihao. So before the ball officially began, she tricked her into a dark, cold room and locked her in for the night, nearly freezing her to death.

Besides Jiang Yihao, the other two male leads in the game also loved Zeng Shuya devotedly. Thus, the villainess, burning with jealousy, schemed and sabotaged the heroine time and again, ultimately enraging the male leads, who threw her into international waters, ending her sinful life.

Ruan Ning shuddered. She had lived her whole life law-abiding and cautious. How could she have become the villain in someone else's story?

In reality, she was the commoner who got bullied and harassed.

In her first year of high school, her family had gritted their teeth and sent her to the most famous aristocratic girls' school in the area. The school had an Iya acceptance rate of 30%; if she studied hard and kept her grades up, getting into Iya was almost certain.

She had entered the school with excitement, but in her first week, a horse owned by a count's daughter kicked her square in the chest.

Ruan Ning collapsed to her knees in pain, stars dancing in her vision, completely clueless about what was happening.

The young ladies' arrogant, contemptuous laughter rained down from above: "Look what we kicked. Oh, a country bumpkin."

Then, with a well-coordinated relay of torment, the rich girls showed her: You don't belong here.

In a school brimming with the children of the wealthy and powerful, a commoner like Ruan Ning, whose family ran a small business, was already a prime target for exclusion and bullying. Her naive, slow-to-warm personality only fueled the spoiled girls' desire to humiliate her.

She was tormented to the point of a mental breakdown and lost her voice. Eventually, she had no choice but to drop out.

After dropping out, Ruan Ning rested at home for six months. Her family took turns watching over her, and with daily medication and doctor visits, they managed to bring her back. Later, she transferred to a regular public school and gradually moved past the trauma.

Though it had been three years, just seeing that school's emblem still made her teeth chatter.

After that nightmare, even if Ruan Ning encountered the male leads, she only wanted to stay far away. How could she possibly take the initiative to seduce them, let alone harm others?

Her mother always said she had the personality of an ostrich, and now she'd added a turtle shell. That was spot on. Just thinking about the freshman ball five days after classes officially started made her so scared she didn't even want to go to school.

But she didn't dare tell her parents the truth, afraid they'd think she'd relapsed and send her back to the hospital.

"Beep—beep—" The car suddenly braked. A fleet of brand-new black luxury cars came driving down the narrow asphalt road, which had been converted from an old street.

An escort car led the way, its headlights flashing alternately in blue and white, exuding a powerful deterrent.

Vehicles and pedestrians on both sides moved aside on their own. Scenes like this were usually only seen during motorcades for celebrities or politicians.

Ruan Ning noticed the leading car's emblem was the same brand as her family's. But theirs was a used, base model bought for business, while the other was a brand-new, fully loaded top-of-the-line model—exuding luxury and splendor.

She curiously followed it with her eyes. As the vehicles passed each other, a cold, handsome boy flashed by in the half-open window of the oncoming car.

He wore a cap and a mask, wrapped up tightly, but his deep, handsome eyes exuded an aloof, aristocratic arrogance. Ruan Ning hastily averted her gaze just as the escort car smoothly passed by.

Qiu Yan was impressed and quickly pointed her camera at it. "Is this a royal motorcade? What a show of power!"

"That's the Duke of Tapei's family, the Jiangs. Their son seems to be in the same class as our Ningning. What's his name... Jiang, Jiang Yihao?"

Ruan Ning's nerves snapped taut.

The one person she was desperate to avoid, and she'd run into him on the street!

Though Country A had been a republic for centuries, the Duke of Tapei remained one of the most powerful families in the land. They had a legacy of eight hundred years, with several notable figures in the textbooks.

In Talun City, the capital of Country A, the King's Street where young ladies and gentlemen bought bags and clothes, Gold Bridge Street where the stock exchange and the national bank were located, and the land around Iya University all belonged to the Jiang family.

Besides the inherited wealth of real estate, minerals, and cultural treasures, the Jiang family's influence stretched across Country A's energy, real estate, finance, technology, luxury goods, and entertainment industries.

And all this money—more than one could spend in ten thousand lifetimes—belonged solely to the duke and duchess's only son: Jiang Yihao.

Jiang Yihao was also the most persistent and devoted of the three male leads when it came to the heroine. The thought of having to cross him while targeting Zeng Shuya made Ruan Ning wish she were dead.

She patted her chest and silently chanted, Bad vibes, pass by. Don't bother me.

Qiu Yan stopped filming and turned around. "By the way, isn't there a freshman ball after classes start? Will you run into this Jiang Yihao?"

"Ah."

Ruan Ning froze, and the curious smile on her mother's face made her feel uneasy.

"Ningning, now that you've gotten into university, you can start thinking about other things. Look around at your classmates. How's the preparation for the freshman ball? Do you need to buy a new dress?"

Ruan Dahong glanced at his daughter through the rearview mirror.

Ruan Ning caught her mother's hint, and her face flushed bright red.

She had to keep one eye on Zeng Shuya and one on Jiang Yihao, with two equally important figures waiting in the wings. She had no energy for romance. Ruan Ning was frustrated but couldn't say it.

She shook her shoulders and whined, "Mom—we're at the world's academic holy land. Can we not talk about such mundane things? Didn't you just tell me not to mess with the rich and powerful?"

"How is finding a boyfriend mundane? We sent you to school, not to a nunnery. You're not planning to stay unmarried your whole life, are you?"

"But you were practically sparkling when you filmed him just now! You're not seriously suggesting I go after him, are you? No way, no how. I'm not asking for trouble."

"I wasn't sparkling. I was just curious. We can't get someone that good, but someone a step down is fine. Iya students are the cream of the crop. Don't tell me none of them catch your eye."

Qiu Yan was eager to see her daughter bring home a boyfriend, so her voice involuntarily rose again.

Actually, they were content with a modest life and had no grand ambitions to marry her into the upper crust. But when they'd discussed dating a few days ago, her daughter's outright refusal had worried them.

"I don't want to. I just want to graduate smoothly. I really don't—" Ruan Ning hugged her knees in a defensive posture, like a lamb in a pen about to butt its head.

Qiu Yan was getting angry. "You two are cut from the same cloth, so stubborn. Going out with a handsome boy is great. Why do we have to beg you?"

"I don't want to, and that's final—"

Ruan Ning refused to budge.

The mother and daughter couldn't see eye to eye, and in the end, Qiu Yan gave up and fell silent. The family had spent years helping the shadow fade; they couldn't push their daughter too hard.

Ruan Ning sighed in relief, though her brows remained furrowed, signaling the topic was closed.

Deep down, she understood her mother's good intentions, but the system could end her life at any moment, and she simply didn't have the energy to think about such trivialities.

If she could, she'd never want to hear Jiang Yihao's name or lay eyes on him again.

In the game, Jiang Yihao had an incredible memory. One glance and he could match her name and face, easily tracking her down.

So she needed to keep her face hidden from him at all costs. The farther she stayed from Jiang Yihao, the safer she was.

The brief brush with him moments ago had already given her goosebumps; she couldn't imagine a direct encounter. Fortunately, Young Master Jiang hadn't noticed her, a nobody villainess.

Just then, her father, who had been silent, suddenly pressed on the accelerator.

"Ningning, you can't keep running away. I hope you'll be brave and try getting along with different people."