After Redeeming The Beautiful and Tragic Heroine [Transmigration] - Chapter 1

“Wow, this girl is really gorgeous.”

Yu Yuan stood before Xue Qingshu, tilting her chin up with one finger, drawling the words at a lazy pace.

Yu Yuan: …
Yu Yuan: !

She sat stiffly in her chair, and in her ears buzzed the sound only she could hear. The cold, mechanical voice of the system.

It had taken the form of a kneeling alpaca beside her.

[Host, please complete the storyline task.]

The system’s indifferent voice rang out again, then immediately began reciting the original script over and over, as if determined to keep droning until Yu Yuan gave in.

Or rather, this brainless piece of junk had no concept of “silence” and couldn’t understand that sometimes a host just needed peace and quiet to get things done.

Yu Yuan tried several times to block the damn system, but each attempt failed. In the end, she could only give up.

After all, she had transmigrated into this book for twenty years, and the system had never once issued her a mission. She had no experience in rejecting one.

Besides, in the original novel, she was nothing more than a nameless extra. From beginning to end, her only line had been the one the system had just quoted.

So really, if completing the entire plot amounted to nothing more than saying a single line of dialogue, this was about the simplest task a transmigrator could ask for.

Even if Yu Yuan wanted to refuse, it felt too embarrassing to back out now.

And yet, she couldn’t help thinking she was being CPU’d.

Why should transmigrators be forced to do missions?

Did they pay you? Nope.

So basically, wasn’t she just free labor?!

Yu Yuan bristled. She was ready to righteously tell the system to shove its mission—

But then the system added:

[Upon completing this mission, the host will receive: one Invisibility Cloak.]

[Invisibility Cloak: Maxes out the host’s stealth ability. When worn, the host becomes like air—undetectable even to the greatest cultivators.]

Invisibility cloak?! The words of refusal froze in Yu Yuan’s throat.

To someone with social anxiety, this was basically the ultimate treasure.

Not just for going out, but even for staying home. It would be useful everywhere.

As the young sect master of the Miaoyin Sect, she had disciples coming to her door every single day, wanting to spar or discuss music theory.

With an invisibility cloak, she could dodge them all.

The more she thought about it, the more tempted she felt.

But then her gaze fell on the two people in the center of the hall. One was standing and the other one was kneeling. They were surrounded by a sea of watching disciples, and her courage shriveled again.

Why… why were there so many people?!

In the original story, when “Yu Yuan” said this line, didn’t she realize how utterly embarrassing it was?

Yu Yuan sat frozen, silently bargaining with herself to retreat.

At her side, the system was already counting down. When there was just one second left, the alpaca-shaped system lifted a hoof and shoved her clean off her chair.

Yu Yuan: !

Her pupils shook as she looked up in horror, straight into the sea of eyes fixed on her. Her breath caught.

Help. She wanted to die.

[Host, please complete the mission.]

The culprit reminded her again.

Yu Yuan’s face flushed red. After an intense inner struggle, she finally gave up resisting.

She’d already embarrassed herself this much. A little more humiliation wouldn’t make a difference, right?

With that thought, she pushed herself to her feet. The moment her gaze locked with those pure silver eyes across from her, she stepped forward until she stood right before their owner.

*******

This was Xue Qingshu, the heroine of the original novel.

She looked about twenty-one or twenty-two. Though her roughspun gray-brown robe was patched all over, and her face was smeared with ash, none of it could hide her breathtaking beauty, like a goddess painted into existence.

In the novel, she was an ancient Phantom Demon. Phantom Demons were born cold and stunning, and Xue Qingshu was unmatched among them.

But she was also unmatched in cruelty. She was bloodthirsty and merciless, killing without hesitation.

Throughout the book, she had been like a machine without emotions. Yu Yuan had always wondered how such a heroine could possibly fall in love with the male lead.

Driven by curiosity, she had read the entire novel cover to cover.

And the ending? Well… very O. Henry.

Because in the end, the heroine burned everyone to ashes. Everyone except herself.

Yu Yuan had been so shocked, she left a four-word review at the bottom of the original: Holy crap, badass.

But badass or not, now she regretted ever reading the book.

If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have drawn this world when queuing up for reincarnation at the underworld. She wouldn’t have been reborn as this thuggish young sect master.

And she wouldn’t be stuck living through this painfully awkward first-scene plot.

In the original, Chapter One went like this: a family at the foot of Miaoyin Mountain was found slaughtered, suspected to be the work of an evil spirit. So the sect leader sent their most idle immortal, Lord Wen Ti, to investigate.

Wen Ti’s conclusion? The family wasn’t killed by a spirit at all, but by their own servant—a beast named Xue Qingshu.

Yu Yuan, having read the book, could only scoff. Because she knew perfectly well the real murderer had been Immortal Lord Wen Ti herself.

Her thoughts skipped ahead. She darted a guilty glance at Wen Ti Immortal standing to the side, and swallowed nervously.

Immortal Wen Ti: the original novel’s minor villain and also her master.

Yu Yuan felt her luck couldn’t be worse. Of all people, she had to end up apprenticed to a petty villain.

And worse still was Xue Qingshu, the heroine who later switched careers to become the ultimate villain.

Yu Yuan’s eyes stung. How had she ended up entangled with these two?!

[Host, complete the mission!]

The system’s alpaca eyes bore into her, urging again.

Yu Yuan: …

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and placed her hand under Xue Qingshu’s chin. Then, with a voice far too loud, she shouted:

“Wow, this girl is really gorgeous!”

And immediately bolted back to her chair, head bowed like an ostrich burying itself in the sand.

With so many people watching, Yu Yuan decided maybe it was time she fled the sect for a while.

No, actually. It might be best to flee this entire beautiful world.

As the sect’s young master, her usual image was cool, aloof, dignified.

Now, after a display like this—like someone had stolen her body—an uproar spread through the hall.

“Wait… was that really the young master speaking?!” One disciple, who had been dozing off, suddenly craned his neck.

The disciple in front of him, still stunned, nodded repeatedly. “I think it was.”

“The young master can say things like that?!”

“She must really think the beast looks good.”

“No way, I don’t believe it. Sit lower, let me see.”

Yu Yuan, with her cultivator-enhanced hearing: … She wanted to cry.

The elders sitting at the front, staring at her in unison, wondering if their young master had been possessed: … They wanted to cry too.

Finally, the sect leader himself, Yu Yuan’s father, spoke and the growing commotion fell silent.

“Yu Yuan. You are the young sect master. If you ever utter such frivolous words again, you will present yourself at the Discipline Hall for punishment.”

Yu Qinzhong’s voice was deep and solemn, carrying a pressure that weighed on everyone present.

Yu Yuan bowed her head and whispered, “Yes, Sect Leader.”

She dared not say another word.

At the same time, Wen Ti Immortal withdrew her gaze from Yu Yuan and turned back to Yu Qinzhong.

“Sect Leader, I investigated. There is no spirit causing trouble at the foot of the mountain. That family was slain by this Phantom Demon.”

As she spoke, she tugged the binding rope in her hand, dragging Xue Qingshu forward to kneel before Yu Qinzhong.

Yu Qinzhong glanced over Xue Qingshu, then asked, “And why did this beast kill them?”

“That family enjoyed tormenting their beast servants. This one struck back in self-defense,” Wen Ti replied smoothly.

Yu Qinzhong nodded slightly. “If that is so, then she acted out of survival. But killing is still a crime. Lock her in the Demon Prison Pavilion. Strip away her beastly nature. Then she may be released.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.” Wen Ti bowed her head.

“Also, about your disciples—see that they stay disciplined.”

His words carried an obvious meaning, and he cast Yu Yuan a pointed look.

But Yu Yuan was still drowning in the aftermath of her social death, and distracted by the system’s voice. She didn’t notice at all.

[Host, storyline mission complete. Reward has been deposited in your storage bag.]

[Now issuing main quest: Redeem the heroine, Xue Qingshu. Lower her blackening value. Prevent her from massacring everyone at the end.]

The system’s voice droned on. Yu Yuan only caught the gist. She didn’t bother to accept or reject. Instead, she asked the key question:

“What’s the heroine’s blackening value right now?”

In the original, the heroine had been naive and unworldly at first. At most, Yu Yuan guessed her blackening would be around fifty or sixty.

But the system scanned the kneeling girl and spat out a number:

[Heroine’s blackening value: 99.999%.]

[Achievement unlocked: ‘Just a Step Away from World Destruction!’]

[Achievement reward: one talisman named ‘Are You Crazy Today?’—stick it to anything, and it will instantly go berserk.]

Yu Yuan: …
Yu Yuan: ?!

Expression blank, she stared at the talisman that had appeared in her hand, and muttered flatly:

“Good grief. She’s beyond saving.”

With the heroine in this state, Yu Yuan figured the safest choice was not to accept the mission at all.

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