Did I Succeed in Redeeming the Villain Today? - Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Ruining My Reputation

Why say “don’t be afraid”?

Mu Qiuyu didn’t know; it seemed like a comfort etched deep in her memories. She didn’t remember ever saying it to herself, but the moment she realized Lu Ning was in danger, she did it.

The system’s punishment hit Lu Ning and Mu Qiuyu almost simultaneously. The pain Lu Ning felt, Mu Qiuyu shared not a bit less. Yet, even so, she put Lu Ning before herself.

The moment she realized Lu Ning was about to fall, only one thought occupied Mu Qiuyu’s mind: Don’t let Lu Ning get hurt.

The thought was strange, not something she felt she should be thinking. And yet, it was her true intent.

“Protect her.”

For the first time, Mu Qiuyu’s thoughts merged with that voice in her head. So, she lunged forward without a second thought.

The little hedgehog’s quills were indeed a bit prickly, pressing into Mu Qiuyu’s palm. But that pain was nothing compared to the churning in her stomach. Mu Qiuyu kept her expression relaxed, her brow even carrying a trace of warmth.

True warmth.

The setting sun cast a soft glow over the artificial lights in the room. Lu Ning looked at the person shielding her in their palm, her heart racing so fast it almost drowned out the drilling pain in her stomach.

It turned out someone really would protect her regardless of their own safety.

“…Host.” Lu Ning tremulously reached out her hand, trying to hold Mu Qiuyu’s hand.

But why were human palms so large? The little hedgehog stretched her arm as far as she could, only barely managing to touch one finger. Finally, Mu Qiuyu’s hand closed slightly, cradling Lu Ning’s hand in her palm. “Lu Ling, you…”

Lu Ning watched Mu Qiuyu’s lips move, but suddenly her voice began to sound distant. She had just held Mu Qiuyu’s hand, and before she could even rejoice in their current connection, the churning in her stomach struck again.

“Lu Ning.”

“Lu Ning.”

A gentle calling drifted into Lu Ning’s ear. She felt light passing through her eyes and opened them dazed and confused. She found herself back in that pitch-black place. It was so dark she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face; only sounds were clear.

That voice was inappropriately tender, calling her name over and over: “Lu Ning.”

“Who are you?” Lu Ning looked around warily, trying to find the speaker.

To her surprise, the voice told her: “I am not in the same dimension as you.”

For some reason, Lu Ning found those words familiar. She frowned, half-suspicious and half-certain: “Are you the Main System?”

The wind blowing past Lu Ning carried a hint of gratified laughter. The voice said, “Yes.”

Upon receiving this confirmation, Lu Ning immediately remembered the system punishment and hurriedly appealed on Mu Qiuyu’s behalf: “Then you’ve come at the right time. Isn’t this punishment a bit unreasonable? We’re already actively completing the task, so why punish us?”

“And last time, you guys missed the mark because you judged the task a failure prematurely. Shouldn’t the punishment mechanism wait until after the task is finished to settle accounts?”

“We are improving on that matter,” the Main System admitted the error Lu Ning pointed out, but then added: “However, Mu Qiuyu’s attitude is indeed not upright enough. You know this better than I do, don’t you?”

Lu Ning was momentarily silenced. Mu Qiuyu’s first task was completed in a muddle; she had no desire to complete the current task, so she hadn’t progressed it at all.

“Actually, I think Mu Qiuyu saving the kitten counts as ‘integrating,'” Lu Ning tried to argue.

The wind facing Lu Ning wavered, as if the Main System were shaking its head. “But there is a reason the system set such a task for Mu Qiuyu. It cannot be changed on a whim.”

“What reason?” Lu Ning asked, confused.

“You are her system. Shouldn’t that be a question for you to ponder?” the Main System countered. She watched the human in the darkness gently, reminding her: “If you want to stop Mu Qiuyu from repeating her mistakes, you must make her accept herself and accept this world.”

“You are moving too slowly.”

“We don’t have much time.”

The Main System’s arrival was like an unpredictable wind. She gave Lu Ning cryptic hints about Mu Qiuyu’s situation and then vanished from the black world.

But why was this conversation even less helpful than the last, especially since there was no rejection from Mu Qiuyu’s Inner World this time? Lu Ning didn’t understand what “we don’t have much time” meant—wasn’t there still several years before the original protagonists’ storyline began? Not to mention Mu Qiuyu, who only appeared in the later stages of the million-word novel.

And what did “accepting oneself” mean? Was it referring to Wutong?

But these past few days, Mu Qiuyu had been desperate to catch the person impersonating her and shoot them dead. Lu Ning felt it wasn’t just that Mu Qiuyu couldn’t accept Wutong; Wutong’s desire to have Mu Qiuyu accept her was also practically zero.

If Mu Qiuyu and Wutong met, what would that look like? Lu Ning shuddered at the thought. She felt she would inevitably have to step in to soothe them both, only to be torn apart by the two of them.

In the darkness, Lu Ning seemed to see Mu Qiuyu and Wutong appear simultaneously. They had identical faces, but one was extremely cold while the other wore a standard mask of gentleness. They looked at her with a rare, unified possessiveness in their eyes: “Which one do you choose?”

“I…”

Just as Lu Ning instinctively tried to step toward Mu Qiuyu, a bright light flashed before her eyes.

“How is it? Does it look okay?”

“No problem. The pupils aren’t dilated; it’ll wake up in a bit.”

Two voices drifted into Lu Ning’s ears. Before she could hear clearly, a completely unfamiliar face entered her vision. The “forced-to-reboot” little hedgehog rose from the medical mat in a panic, her quills standing straight up at the person.

“Oh, awake so soon?” The woman looked surprised at Lu Ning’s rapid recovery. Her gloved hand moved slowly behind Lu Ning to soothe her. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. We’re the good guys. You just fainted, and we’re treating you.”

Hearing this, Lu Ning’s wary eyes turned into shock. She looked around the clean environment smelling of disinfectant and hurriedly searched for her host. If a fainted hedgehog had been found, there was no reason Mu Qiuyu hadn’t been discovered either.

Mu Qiuyu was currently lying on a nearby hospital bed. Unknown medicine was slowly being injected into her body through an IV drip. Despite the distance, Lu Ning could see her pale face.

She had been pulled into the black world by the Main System—what about Mu Qiuyu? Had she been sent to the “dark room” punishment again? Lu Ning became anxious, hopping over the tray to attempt a jailbreak in broad daylight.

Of course, such behavior wasn’t allowed. Lu Ning had only run a few steps before her path was blocked by a hand as large as a mountain.

“No can do,” the woman sternly stopped Lu Ning. As if unaware that hedgehogs couldn’t understand human speech, she told her: “Don’t wake her up. Do you know your fruit nearly killed Qiuyu? Acute gastroenteritis!”

“How can a hedgehog hide fermented wild berries? Don’t you know they’re toxic?”

“And this Qiuyu, too—how does she dare eat anything?”

The woman’s words were both scolding and distressed as she looked down at the blocked hedgehog. This little creature seemed to understand her, squatting there in a daze.

Lu Ning was stunned to learn that her and Mu Qiuyu’s stomach pain was caused by her fruit. Good heavens! She knew how to distinguish toxic fruit; she had tested them before giving them to Mu Qiuyu!

True, it had been a while since they were picked, but time was supposed to be static within the system space—how could they ferment into toxic fruit?

Wait. Lu Ning realized something. Her black eyes flashed with unmistakable murderous intent.

Don’t anyone stop her! This d*mned system punishment! I’ll kill you! Punish me if you must, but why ruin my reputation?!

If Mu Qiuyu thinks the same… she’ll be taking the fall for the system!

“No one is making you take the fall.”

Just as Lu Ning was screaming internally, a cold voice cut through her panic. Lu Ning curled into a ball as if she’d seen a ghost. But then, she peeked through the gaps in her quills at Mu Qiuyu. The girl had woken up at some point and was meeting Lu Ning’s gaze calmly.

“Host, when did you wake up?” Lu Ning asked tremulously in her mind, while secretly reviewing if she had let anything slip just now.

“When you were about to kill the system,” Mu Qiuyu said flatly, implying she was awakened by Lu Ning’s internal screaming.

Whew. She had only been complaining about the system and hadn’t mentioned anything else. While waking Mu Qiuyu wasn’t ideal, Lu Ning felt relieved compared to the bigger pressure.

She said to Mu Qiuyu in a tone of surviving a disaster: “The system deserves to be cursed; it tarnished my innocence.”

Listening to Lu Ning’s forceful voice, Mu Qiuyu glanced at the little hedgehog in the distance who had eaten more fruit than she had. “You seem to be fine now?”

“Completely fine,” Lu Ning nodded. Then she noticed that even though Mu Qiuyu was awake, she still looked unwell. “Are you still feeling very sick?”

“Mhm,” Mu Qiuyu replied faintly. She opened her eyes tiredly, staring at the ceiling. Everything was a blur of white. The fluorescent lights were a bit piercing, but fortunately, they weren’t directly overhead, so they were tolerable. The stomach pain, however, refused to subside, a dull ache spreading through her abdomen.

Mu Qiuyu thought that if it were Lu Ning, she would probably be curled up in pain right now. For some reason, thinking of this made her feel relieved. A sense of “luck” arose in her mind—lucky that the one in pain was her, and not Lu Ning.

Seeing Mu Qiuyu remain silent for a long time, Lu Ning became worried. “Host, does it hurt a lot? I’ll get some special medicine for you from the mall.”

“It’s useless,” Mu Qiuyu shook her head, her tone suggesting she had already tried. “System items cannot negate system punishments.”

“D*mmit…” Lu Ning cursed the system again.

“Qiuyu, you’re awake?”

As they conversed in their minds, an excited voice reached them. Pei Yinyue, who had just finished messaging the team, looked up and noticed Mu Qiuyu’s open eyes.

“Mhm.” Compared to speaking in her mind, Mu Qiuyu had even less desire to speak in reality.

Pei Yinyue didn’t mind the coldness. “How do you feel? Is it still very painful?”

Mu Qiuyu shook her head, simplifying her words as much as possible: “Just the stomach pain.”

“You have acute gastroenteritis. If you aren’t up for the preliminary tomorrow, don’t go.” Pei Yinyue wasn’t overly competitive; she always prioritized health.

Mu Qiuyu’s gaze shifted slightly. She looked out the window at the dark night sky. In the far distance, there were signs of the sun coming out—a hazy white line.

It was just an insignificant competition. She didn’t have to win a medal for extra points; if she didn’t go, she didn’t go. But why did she feel unwilling? Mu Qiuyu lowered her eyes, making it impossible to tell if it was fatigue or reluctance.

Pei Yinyue couldn’t tell either. Mu Qiuyu was too hard to read; sometimes she cared deeply about things that seemed meaningless, and other times she cared less about things everyone expected her to value.

What about the shooting club? What was its place in her heart?

Knock, knock.

There was a knock at the ward door. Several girls who had just received word from Pei Yinyue were standing there. They squeezed into the narrow doorway and asked carefully: “Can we visit the patient?”

The woman in front of Lu Ning was the doctor. Seeing the girls, her first instinct was to refuse. But thinking about how they had run here late at night out of concern, her heart softened. “Ten minutes. You have a match tomorrow; go back and rest soon.”

“Thank you, teacher!” The girls bowed and entered the ward.

Lu Ning peeked around the doctor’s back. As expected, Zhou Wan was among them. The little hedgehog felt she had spoken too soon to Mu Qiuyu—her stomach felt like it was hurting again.

“We went to the cafeteria to make some porridge for you.”

“It’s not too hot anymore. We didn’t add any seasoning; it’s good for the stomach.”

“Get some sleep after eating, and the pain will be gone when you wake up.”

The girls spoke one after another as Zhou Wan brought over the steaming porridge. One couldn’t say it was incredibly moving, but Mu Qiuyu did see people who had stayed up until the early hours for her—more than one person, even when they had a match the next day.

Mu Qiuyu had always believed that tangible things like medals and honor were far superior to human connection and care, but some people clearly didn’t think so. They gave their time and energy with a foolish passion for someone who might not even appreciate it.

Mu Qiuyu looked at the porridge Zhou Wan offered. In her peripheral vision, she saw the little hedgehog on the tray, looking at her huffily. Under the bright lights, Mu Qiuyu let out a faint smile deep in her eyes.

Zhou Wan, standing right in front of her, saw it clearly. She thought Mu Qiuyu was moved by her actions, but…

“I can’t eat anything right now. Take it back and eat it yourselves. I’ll probably have to take medicine for a few days, so don’t bother.” Mu Qiuyu flatly and politely rejected them. She was telling the truth, but she was also intentionally saying it for a certain someone to hear.

As expected, the little hedgehog on the tray sat up, unable to hide her feelings as she stared intently at Mu Qiuyu. Zhou Wan looked a bit awkward and placed the porridge on the table. “Then we’ll ask the doctor first next time.”

Pei Yinyue, sensing the awkwardness, changed the subject: “Zhou Wan, did you guys get any rest? You have a match tomorrow; go back and sleep.”

“We also came to see if Qiuyu could still compete tomorrow,” a girl standing further back said. “Without Qiuyu, it feels like we’ve lost our pillar.”

Mu Qiuyu’s brow furrowed slightly. Another girl noticed and quickly explained: “Don’t misunderstand, she didn’t mean it that way.”

“We aren’t forcing you to compete, Qiuyu. You should recover first. High tension on the field isn’t worth it.”

“Exactly. We just felt that if you were there, we’d be more confident.”

“You don’t know—as long as you’re there, that group from No. 1 Middle School acts like quiet quails. We feel so safe.”

They spoke all at once, some being less articulate than others. But the central idea was the same: they wanted Mu Qiuyu to be there to watch them compete. Perhaps starting from when she punished that boy, her position in the team had become irreplaceable. Before, she was a solitary genius on the fringes; now, she was the default anchor. Without her, they felt uneasy.

This was a feeling she had never experienced before. Personal feelings were the last thing that should exist in her team. That was probably why she had ended up abandoned by everyone in the past. People bound by interest will eventually fall apart because of interest.

Mu Qiuyu leaned back against the pillow. Her body’s fatigue and pain were warning her to recover and not run around tomorrow. But a voice in her heart made it impossible to refuse their expectations.

“Host, you actually want to go to the competition, don’t you?” That little hedgehog seemed to read her mind again, asking her from afar.

Wrapped in their lowered expectations, Mu Qiuyu hadn’t expected Lu Ning to say that. she was momentarily stunned and didn’t answer for a long time. She was lost in a daze. The theme was whether to follow the rules she had always lived by or to break them and try something new.

Just then, the person who had always been by her side gave her a timely push: “If you want to go, then go. As long as it’s what you want, I can find a way to help you.”

“Are you that capable?” Mu Qiuyu countered, both out of distrust for the system and a desire to delay her answer.

“Of course! I am your super system that keeps learning and improving!” The little hedgehog’s eyes shone with sincerity, proud and cocky. Then she whispered in an extremely low voice: “And only we will know. I won’t tell anyone.”

Lu Ning’s voice was so low it was as if she were right by Mu Qiuyu’s ear. Her twitching nose brushed Mu Qiuyu’s earlobe—warm and moist—giving Mu Qiuyu her first desire to let herself be driven by emotion.

“What are you going to do?” Mu Qiuyu asked, which was her initial nod to Lu Ning.

Lu Ning smiled mysteriously and cryptically: “You just need to get a good night’s sleep. When you wake up tomorrow at noon, you’ll get the good news that you passed the preliminary!”

The day of the competition was beautiful. The lighting at the range was excellent. Because it was a national youth competition, schools from all over the country were present, and there were many contestants in the preliminary. They stood in a row, aiming at targets so small they were almost invisible, working toward the same goal.

“BANG!” 10.7

“BANG!” 10.6

“BANG!” 10.8 …

“Sigh, this kid is making a few too many mistakes.”

“The score isn’t as stable as last time.”

“A pity. Still affected by the rhythm of the venue.”

Watching Mu Qiuyu’s fluctuating scores, several judges who were focusing on her couldn’t help but look disappointed. Xu Lan spoke up for her: “This girl had acute gastritis last night and was on an IV all night.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is…”

“Tsk, as expected, girls still can’t handle the pressure.”

Two male teachers nodded as if they understood, shaking their heads with a look of “pity.” Xu Lan’s brow furrowed, and she said coldly: “It was food poisoning. What does gender have to do with it?”

Everyone felt Xu Lan’s displeasure. The two male teachers smiled awkwardly and tried to smooth things over: “Yes, yes. Many boys get sick from being too nervous as well.”

“We still need to do some necessary emotional counseling,” one of them said, looking at Xu Lan seriously.

Xu Lan ignored them, her eyes fixed on Mu Qiuyu. It was the last round; the girl was right on the edge of qualifying for the finals. She wondered if she could hit another 10.8.

“BANG!” 10.9

The electronic screen quickly displayed the score. Mu Qiuyu looked at it calmly and let out a silent but heavy breath. Good. Despite the instability, she had scraped into the finals.

“AAAAGH!”

“I knew Sister Mu could do it!”

“Great job, Qiuyu!”

The front row of the audience erupted. The rifle team, led by Pei Yinyue, celebrated excitedly.

But Mu Qiuyu was clearly unsatisfied with the score. After confirming it was valid, she put down her gun coldly, clutched her stomach, and pointed to the exit. She signaled to her celebrating teammates that she needed to leave for a moment.

Pei Yinyue understood immediately. “Go on, go on. We’ll wait for you here.”

“Thanks.” Mu Qiuyu nodded and exited.

The heavy door opened and closed, and the roar of the crowd was instantly cut off. At that moment, Mu Qiuyu let out a long breath that was completely out of character. Her dark pupils held a warmth that didn’t belong to her.

“Is this her life?” That cold voice whispered a sigh. Looking at her familiar hands, they felt foreign.

“It certainly won’t be yours.”

Just as those words were spoken, an extremely cold voice rang out from a corner of the corridor.

The “Fake” Mu Qiuyu looked at the voice identical to hers and watched in shock as a girl stepped out of the shadows.

Mu Qiuyu looked cold, approaching the person who looked exactly like her step by step. “Who are you?”

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