Chapter 1

Darkness.

It was like being submerged in a pool of black ink.

Open her eyes, close them, open them again.

Tang Yiling finally confirmed her situation.

Almost unconsciously, she lifted a hand and held it straight out in front of her.

She couldn’t see a single finger. This was the first time in her life she had ever encountered such complete darkness.

As expected of a painstakingly built novel world!

Tang Yiling made no further move and sat in the dark as though her soul had been drained away.

After a long while, she let out a soft sigh.

Sigh.

This was the first day she had come to the novel world.

Just a few hours ago, she had still been lying in bed in her rental apartment, tucked beneath her soft cotton blanket, enjoying the quiet before sleep.

Several weeks of overtime had swallowed far too much of Tang Yiling’s private life.

In silent protest, she had started staying up later and later out of spite.

The clock ticked round and round as Tang Yiling switched between several apps.

At three in the morning, she finally stopped on a novel.

It was a “two female leads” story.

One heroine was cool and intellectual; the other was warm and gentle. Both of them fell in love with the same boy.

The drowsiness that had finally begun to creep in vanished.

With her vivid imagination, Tang Yiling perfectly pictured the entire process of the two heroines going from rivals to lovers.

And once she started reading, she stayed up for three straight nights.

But the plot she had been waiting for never came.

At dawn on the fourth day, Tang Yiling finally had to face reality.

This so-called “two female leads” novel was actually one where each of the female leads had her own story with the male lead.

In the end, the white moonlight went abroad, and the little sun got everything she wanted.

The moment the word wedding appeared, the last shred of Tang Yiling’s hope shattered, and her vision went black.

The golden light already seeping in through the window slowly faded.

The quilt on her body felt as heavy as a mountain, pressing so hard it hurt all over; she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move.

Tang Yiling thought she really should go to sleep.

She was so tired. If she didn’t have to get up early for work, it would be nice to sleep a little longer.

In fact, Tang Yiling really did sleep for a very long time.

She was woken by someone calling to her. The person was patting her shoulder and saying, “Classmate, you can’t lie down here.”

Tang Yiling abruptly opened her eyes and looked around in confusion at the unfamiliar surroundings.

She was half-reclining on a sofa; the overhead spotlights made her dizzy.

People not far away kept glancing over, their attention drawn to her side.

Tang Yiling sat up and subconsciously apologized. “Sorry, may I ask where this is...”

Before she could finish, the classmate who had woken her suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth in excitement, barely holding back a squeal. “Li Lan, it’s Senior Sister Li Lan!”

Following her gaze, Tang Yiling looked over just in time to see a tall girl walking into the banquet hall.

Her long hair was casually pinned up. Paired with a shirt and long skirt, she looked more like a department head coming to inspect the place.

Her fair, cool-toned skin seemed to glow. Her thin lips were lightly pressed together.

The beautiful lift at the end of her phoenix eyes gave her a sharp edge, but her gaze was icy, as if she didn’t care at all about everyone’s attention.

Her beauty carried a certain aggressiveness, but because of her indifferent expression, it came across as cool and composed instead.

Just like everyone else, Tang Yiling couldn’t look away; her mind had only three words left in it: So beautiful!

Wait...

Li Lan. Why did that name sound so familiar?

Tang Yiling turned her head and caught the text on the screen to her left.

“Ancheng University Freshman Welcome Banquet.”

It hit her all at once. Wasn’t this the novel she had just been reading?!

The story took place in Ancheng, and the white moonlight heroine in it was also called Li Lan.

Had she really been so furious that she’d been sent into the book?

Come to think of it, Tang Yiling had another reason for following this novel.

That was because she shared the same name as the third female character in the book.

The third Tang Yiling was a textbook cannon fodder role.

She had lived in the Tang family for twenty years, only to find out in her second year of university that she had been switched at birth, the rich family’s fake daughter.

The real daughter, Tang GeYun, was her classmate at the same school, in the same year, though in a different major.

To vent the grievances she had bottled up over those twenty years, Tang GeYun saw her as a thorn in her side.

Not only did she drive a wedge between Tang Yiling and her adoptive parents, she also bullied her at school.

And Tang Yiling’s role existed only to prove just how vicious the real daughter was.

In the end, she was pushed until she had no way out and jumped from the top floor of the library.

In the book, this incident caused quite a stir.

The two heroines then began to reflect on their careers and feelings, heading toward different endings.

Tang Yiling almost cried on the spot.

How had she ended up in this role? She wasn’t really going to have to jump, was she?

That would hurt like hell!

Besides, that ending was way too undignified!

Tang Yiling no longer had the heart to keep looking at Li Lan; she hurriedly searched the banquet hall for Tang GeYun.

If she remembered correctly, Tang GeYun would be here, hand her a cup of “special” lemon water, and lock her in the banquet hall storage room.

That cup of water would leave her completely wrecked, and Tang GeYun would take the chance to snap some photos, disappointing her adoptive parents all over again.

Tang Yiling wasn’t sure which one was Tang GeYun, so she could only start with the lemon water.

Tang GeYun would definitely take the one closest to her; then all she had to do was move the lemon water on this side farther away.

Like a thief, she quietly carried and swapped the cups of water.

Although doing this wasn’t exactly right, who told this to be a novel world, and who told it to contain only her, a “living” person?

By the time Tang Yiling made her final trip to the drinks table, a bright voice suddenly rang out behind her.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Sure enough, a fake world was a fake world.

The plot was that precise; the character appeared as if she had materialized out of thin air.

Tang Yiling turned around and looked at the person behind her, who was wearing a formal dress.

Tang GeYun actually looked somewhat similar to her, but her demeanor carried a hint of arrogance.

Tang Yiling clasped her hands behind her back and quietly set down the last safe cup of lemon water she had swapped.

Because she was nervous, her voice came out a little hoarse. “I-I’m not doing anything!”

Tang GeYun’s scrutinizing gaze fell on her face. She casually picked up a cup from the table and brought it to Tang Yiling’s lips.

In a short, no-nonsense tone, she said, “Drink.”

Tang Yiling instinctively took half a step back.

Did this character push the plot along this directly? Not even a bit of small talk, not even a shred of politeness?

Tang GeYun looked displeased.

Tang Yiling couldn’t be bothered to keep pretending to hesitate, so she tipped her head back and drank the lemon water in one go.

Sweet and sour; it actually tasted pretty good.

Under Tang GeYun’s gaze, she turned and left with breezy nonchalance.

Tang Yiling didn’t know what would happen if she went against the plot.

What else could happen? At worst, they’d just kick her back to the real world and make her keep being a corporate ox!

Unexpectedly, a few minutes later, Tang Yiling was struck by a violent headache.

She wanted to leave the banquet hall, but after only a few steps, she collapsed into a lounge chair.

When she opened her eyes again,

she was in this pitch-black space.

Tang Yiling felt a little dazed.

She lay there without moving, carefully checking for any changes in her body.

No heat, no weakness, and no urgent need to find some kind of outlet.

It was just as if she had simply slept soundly again.

What was going on?

Had Tang GeYun switched the drug at the last second?

Tang Yiling propped herself up and found her phone in the pocket of her coat.

The screen lit up. Even without a signal, that sliver of light still gave her a sense of security.

She picked up the phone and shone it around the room.

About two meters away, she saw another victim of the plot.

The top button of the shirt had been undone, revealing a slender, fair neck.

The long dress was smeared with dust, but that couldn’t hide how expensive and high-end it looked.

Straight, thick black hair fell forward, covering half her face.

But even so, it only made the sharp line of her brow bone and the high bridge of her nose stand out more.

Tang Yiling instinctively held her breath.

It was Li Lan; she and Li Lan had been locked together, exactly as in the novel’s plot.

In the book, Tang GeYun had locked her and Li Lan in the banquet hall storage room.

For a whole night.

Because it wasn’t an important plot point, the author had only mentioned it in passing.

The result was that she was scolded by her parents, and Li Lan remembered Tang GeYun as that vicious supporting villain.

At the moment, Li Lan didn’t seem to have noticed Tang Yiling’s presence.

Her eyes were closed, fine beads of sweat gathered on her forehead, as if she were desperately enduring something.

Tang Yiling held up her phone and sank into deep thought.

Why did it look as if Li Lan had drunk the lemon water that was supposed to have been hers, and the two of them had still ended up in this scene by mistake?

Since she was one of the heroines, there should at least be some special privilege, right?

The chance to grab onto a thigh was right in front of her; it just depended on whether Tang Yiling could seize it.

Probably because the phone’s flashlight was bothering her, Li Lan lifted her eyes.

Even in this awkward situation, her expression remained calm and indifferent, like an unfathomable pool of water.

Li Lan’s lips moved. “You...”

Before she could finish, Tang Yiling had already lunged at her.

She grabbed Li Lan’s arm, her voice urgent.

“S-Senior Sister, don’t be afraid. I’ll think of a way to get us out.”

Li Lan’s body stiffened.

The storage room fell silent again.

Just when Tang Yiling thought she would be rejected, Li Lan raised an arm and rested it against the back of her neck.

With a little force, she drew Tang Yiling closer.

Her palm was warm; it burned so hotly that Tang Yiling’s breathing quickened too.

Li Lan’s voice was very low, as if deliberately trying to lure her in. “Help me.”

Tang Yiling lifted her head and met Li Lan’s eyes.

This posture was far too intimate; she tried to pull back slightly. “How am I supposed to help?”

“You agreed.”

Li Lan no longer asked; it sounded more like she was stating a fact.

She extended her arm. The hand resting at Tang Yiling’s neck slid around, and her long fingers brushed against Tang Yiling’s soft, rounded lips, pulling her fully into her arms.

Tang Yiling was slightly stunned.

The original text had never mentioned what happened during this night, so she didn’t know whether this was part of the plot or something else entirely.

Her lips were brushed and rubbed over and over, leaving them faintly numb.

The clear, woody scent on Li Lan’s body drifted into Tang Yiling’s nose and wrapped around her.

Tang Yiling’s phone slipped to the floor at some point.

The flashlight pointed downward; the light was almost imperceptible, and the whole room sank back into darkness.

“I..."

Tang Yiling didn’t know what she was supposed to say. Her brain had completely stalled, like a hangover from the lemon water.

Li Lan gave a quiet “Mm.”

It sounded like a response to her; it also sounded like comfort.

Then Tang Yiling heard the breathing beside her ear grow heavier and faster by the second.

Li Lan’s other hand brushed over her back and waist before disappearing into the folds of her own skirt.

It was clearly Li Lan who had been drugged, clearly Li Lan who was trying to ease it.

And yet Tang Yiling somehow developed a strange sense of shared suffering; her heartbeat grew louder and louder.

Li Lan held her tighter, the sound pressed down in her throat threatening to spill out.

Then she suddenly lowered her head and kissed Tang Yiling’s lips.

Tang Yiling’s breath caught.

It felt as if a tightly drawn string in her mind had finally, as expected, snapped.