After Being Bound to the Scummy Alpha System, I Became Famous Thanks to My Face Blindness - Chapter 1

“Please, please don’t come any closer.”

The desperate plea echoed near Tang Ling’s ear, distant one moment and close the next, making her head throb like it was about to split open. She tried to answer, but no sound came out. Frowning, she struggled with all her strength, and finally managed to open her eyes—her smooth forehead already damp with cold sweat.

The air was thick with the heady scent of sweet osmanthus and sandalwood, wrapping around her in waves that made her whole body burn with inexplicable heat.

At that moment, she was cornering a young girl against the door. The girl leaned weakly against the wall, fumbling with the doorknob over and over, but the lock refused to budge.

When she finally turned back, her chestnut-brown hair was tousled from struggle, and tears glittered faintly at the corners of her eyes. Yet despite the mess, her gaze remained clear and defiant—like a pear blossom in the rain, fragile yet bright and pure.

Tang Ling frowned at the unfamiliar girl before her, her gaze pausing at the embroidery on her chest.

A white-and-pink training uniform—embroidered with the Big Dipper constellation.

Wait a second, wasn’t that the trainee uniform for The Big Dipper Star-Making Project?

A sharp pain pierced through her skull. A torrent of memories—ones that didn’t belong to her—flooded into her mind, battering her consciousness like a storm.

It hit her all at once.

She had transmigrated.

Just a few days ago, Tang Ling had idly read a trashy ABO romance novel called Sweet Petal Love. In that story, there was a minor villain named Tang Ling—same name as hers—a scummy Alpha born into wealth and arrogance. She had toyed with everyone on a talent show, forcibly marked the heroine Omega, then dumped her. In the end, she got her comeuppance when the “real” Alpha showed up, exposed her as a fake socialite, and left her ruined and picking trash off the streets.

And now, it seemed she had become that scummy Alpha.

Which meant that the girl in front of her must be—probably—Tan Shiyi, the novel’s heroine.

Why “probably”? Because it wasn’t that her memory was incomplete—no, the real problem was that Tang Ling suffered from prosopagnosia—face blindness.

So, no matter how vividly the novel had described the heroine, no matter how completely the original Tang Ling’s memories had merged into hers, and no matter how stunningly beautiful the girl before her was, Tang Ling simply couldn’t tell who she was.

Fortunately, the plot itself rushed in to confirm her suspicion.

“You—you actually hit me!” Tang Ling roared, advancing step by step on Tan Shiyi.

Tan Shiyi pressed herself weakly against the wall, biting her lip yet still proud. “Tang Ling, you’ll get what you deserve!”

“Deserve it? Me?” Tang Ling sneered, an evil smile curling her lips. “We’ll see how long that attitude lasts!”

The rest of that scene was not fit for print.

Tang Ling’s toes curled in embarrassment. What kind of tasteless villain talk was that? She remembered this plot clearly—it took place during the May Day holiday, when all the show’s mentors, trainees, and staff had gone home for a break. Tan Shiyi, being an orphan with nowhere to return to, had stayed in the dorms.

The original Tang Ling had used that opportunity to spray a heavy dose of Alpha pheromone suppressant in her room, then lured Tan Shiyi over—intending to trigger her heat, record her reaction, and use it to blackmail her.

Tan Shiyi had slapped her instead. Tang Ling, furious, had lost control and forcibly marked her on the spot.

Now, the Tan Shiyi in front of her looked flushed, breath uneven—clearly already in heat. She whispered hoarsely, “Tang Ling, if you let me go, I’ll pretend none of this ever happened please?”

Another wave of osmanthus-scented pheromones washed over Tang Ling, and for the first time, she understood what it felt like to be afraid of one’s own pheromones. Even though she wasn’t in her susceptibility period, the sheer potency of the scent made it hard to control herself.

If she lost it and marked Tan Shiyi now—she’d be doomed!

Forcing herself to look away, Tang Ling gritted her teeth. “Fine. I’ll let you go.”

Suddenly, a mechanical chime sounded in her head:

“Ding! Host’s Scummy-A Value has decreased by 5 points. Current Scummy-A Value: 45.”

Tang Ling: “?”

A syrupy electronic voice rang out in her mind.

“Hello, Host! This is the Scummy Alpha Training System! Customer service representative No. 43, Xiao Nan, at your service! You can communicate with me directly through your thoughts!”

Tang Ling: “What do you mean, ‘Scummy Alpha Training System’? Do I have to be a scumbag?”

“That’s right, Host!” chirped Xiao Nan. “Being scummy has its perks! As the saying goes, the scummier the Alpha, the stronger the Alpha! By increasing your Scummy-A Value, you can complete missions, upgrade your appearance, and even unlock special perks!”

Tang Ling deadpanned. “Yeah, no thanks. I don’t need to be any ‘more Alpha,’ and I definitely don’t want your perks. Please unbind me.”

“I’m sorry, Host,” Xiao Nan replied sweetly, “once the binding is complete, it can’t be undone.”

“Then what happens if I don’t increase this so-called Scummy-A Value?”

“Your Scummy-A Value fluctuates with your behavior. If it drops below zero, you’ll undergo a secondary differentiation into an N-class Omega. Please reconsider carefully.”

In this world, every person experienced two differentiations. The first, around age sixteen, determined their base gender—Alpha, Beta, or Omega. The second, around twenty, decided their final gender and class.

The hierarchy went from highest to lowest: SS, S, R, and N. N-levels were at the bottom—often unattractive, unintelligent, and physically frail.

Most people’s second differentiation didn’t change much from their first. As an Alpha, Tang Ling would most likely stay an Alpha—unless the system was right and she somehow turned into an N-class Omega.

Absolutely not.

Tang Ling took a deep breath. “Fine. How do I raise my Scummy-A Value, then? What’s the standard?”

“Simple!” Xiao Nan trilled. “Whenever your behavior counts as ‘scummy’ in the target’s eyes, you earn points! Just gain twenty Scummy-A points to complete your first mission and unlock your starter reward—a full set of eight-pack abs!

Good luck, Host!”

With a whoosh, the brainwave connection cut off.

Tan Shiyi’s eyes flickered with a glimmer of hope. “So, you’ll really let me go?”

“Wait a second.” Tang Ling turned around, lifted her shirt, and stared down at her abdomen in disbelief.

“Don’t tell me, I don’t have abs anymore?”

Tan Shiyi: “…”

Tang Ling was still reeling from the devastating shock. Before transmigrating, she had worked out every day, proudly sporting defined abs and a perfect waistline—and now? Just like that, they were gone?

What the hell—gone, just like that?

Tan Shiyi gritted her teeth. “Tang Ling, are you playing with me?”

It was only then that Tang Ling snapped back to the urgent situation before her. Right—this was the female lead she was dealing with. The one person she absolutely couldn’t afford to offend. She had no plans to spend her future scrounging for scraps on the street.

Taking two quick steps forward, she grabbed the door handle. “Wait, I’ll get you out of here right now.”

Unfortunately, the original body had tampered with the lock. No matter how she twisted it—left, right, harder—it wouldn’t budge.

With a sharp click, the handle snapped off and landed uselessly in Tang Ling’s hand.

A frail body with no abs shouldn’t reasonably have that kind of wrist strength!

Tang Ling rammed her shoulder against the door a few times, but it didn’t move an inch.

She stood there, mortified. “Uh sorry, looks like we’re kind of stuck for the moment.”

Tan Shiyi glared at her, hatred flashing in her eyes. She folded her arms and crouched down in the corner, shrinking in on herself like a small, trapped animal—fragile, yet stubbornly defiant.

A flush crept over her pale face, spreading quickly until her skin burned hot to the touch. Her breathing grew heavier, uneven.

Tang Ling froze, completely at a loss. Under the influence of pheromones, she could feel her own body reacting—desire unfurling inside her, rising and pooling in her chest until it threatened to spill over.

Tan Shiyi looked unbearably tempting.

Especially the way she furrowed her brows, bit down on her lip, and trembled while trying to hold herself back—it made Tang Ling want to get closer.

Then she cursed herself inwardly. What the hell, Tang Ling? You just transmigrated, and now you’re turning into some lecherous Alpha? Have some shame!

She backed away a few steps, then hesitated. “Should I, um, help you to the bed?”

Tan Shiyi’s head snapped up, eyes full of alarm and fury. “Don’t you dare.”

Just then, a syrupy electronic voice chimed in her mind:

“Detected: Host’s Scum-A value +3. Congratulations! Current Scum-A value: 48.”

Tang Ling: “…”

Great. Just great.

She hurried to explain, “No, no, I didn’t mean that! I just—You look like you’re in pain, and we can’t get out or call for help right now. If you rest on the bed, it might be easier on you.”

Tan Shiyi bit out, “You can call someone to unlock the door.”

Tang Ling scratched her head awkwardly. “Better not, word getting out wouldn’t be good for either of us, right?”

Please—if anyone found out, she wouldn’t even need the real male Alpha to show up before she got thrown in jail.

Tan Shiyi let out a cold snort through her nose and looked away.

Another notification sounded in Tang Ling’s head.

“Scum-A value +2.”

The air grew thick with pheromones. Tang Ling’s susceptibility symptoms worsened; her pulse quickened, her body responding instinctively. She forced herself not to look at Tan Shiyi again, suppressing the primal urge to mark her, and went to sit on the farthest bed from the door.

“Are you sure you don’t want to lie down?”

“I said I don’t need to.”

Time crawled by.

A heavy silence.

Tan Shiyi’s heat only grew more intense. Her whole body trembled as she bit down hard on her lip, her fingers digging into her own shoulders until her knuckles turned white. But she couldn’t stop the soft, desperate sounds escaping her throat.

Tang Ling couldn’t stand it anymore. She was trembling herself. “Can you still hold on?”

No response. Tan Shiyi’s consciousness was fading—she only gave a weak shake of her head.

Tang Ling realized things were turning dangerous. The medical-grade pheromone dose was too strong. Without a mark, Tan Shiyi’s body might burn out—literally—until her system collapsed.

After a moment’s hesitation, Tang Ling said carefully, “How about I help you? Just a temporary mark, nothing else. I promise.”

In this world, Alphas could mark Omegas in two ways—temporary or permanent. Both could suppress heat, but temporary marking only required biting the gland to inject pheromones, while permanent marking formed a mating bond within the reproductive cavity, binding the Omega for life and preventing any other Alpha from marking them ever again.

This time, Tan Shiyi didn’t refuse. Or maybe she was simply too weak to do so.

Tang Ling took it as silent consent. She coaxed softly, “Good girl, let me see your neck.”

Gently, she pulled down the collar of Tan Shiyi’s training suit. The skin there was flushed, and the swollen gland pulsed faintly—enticing in a way that made Tang Ling’s throat go dry.

She licked her lips. “Let’s move to the bed, okay?”

Tan Shiyi bit down on her lip, then finally gave a small nod.

Tang Ling scooped her up from the floor, and the moment their bodies touched, she couldn’t help but shiver.

Her body was so hot—so soft, so light.

“Relax,” Tang Ling murmured.

Maybe because her mind was hazy, Tan Shiyi obeyed. She let her body go limp, arms wrapping weakly around Tang Ling’s neck, hanging against her.

Her forehead pressed into Tang Ling’s collarbone, her burning breath brushing against Tang Ling’s skin, melting her last shred of composure.

Stumbling toward the bed, Tang Ling laid her down and was about to straighten up when Tan Shiyi suddenly grabbed her by the collar.

“Tang Ling.” Tan Shiyi’s eyes were hazy, but her grip was shockingly strong as she pulled Tang Ling down and kissed her wildly.

With a buzzing roar in her ears, Tang Ling felt her mind explode into white noise.