The Beautiful Idiot Is Forced To Play The Villain [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

“If you find me so annoying, I just won’t follow you anymore!” After saying this, Lan Zhen buried his head and bolted like a streak of smoke, giving the “dog of a man” no chance to defend himself.

Xing Shixi was quick to follow. As he passed Pei Ran, he didn’t forget to drop a remark: “If you don’t fall for this, there are plenty of people who will. Thanks for being so self-sacrificing.”

Lan Zhen was caught just as he reached the entrance of the laboratory building. He had assumed Xing Shixi and Pei Ran were on the same side and that the former was chasing him to settle an account; he shrank his neck and tried to hide.

The other man looked at him and, without any warning, spoke abruptly: “From the first moment I saw you, I was captivated.”

Lan Zhen: “…?”

Did I hear that wrong? Why does it feel like we suddenly jumped into a romance drama?

Actually, his impression of Xing Shixi was quite good. The man had proactively taken him to the infirmary before and had spoken up for him in front of Pei Ran today. By all accounts, he seemed like a genuine “good guy” who had nothing to do with the grim nature of an infinite flow dungeon.

“I originally thought you and Pei Ran were mutually in love, so I kept this buried in my heart.”

Xing Shixi followed his confession with a blatant lie. He had only just realized that Lan Zhen seemed to like Pei Ran. “Mutually in love”? If a guy like Pei Ran could actually develop feelings for a dungeon NPC, iron trees would probably start blooming flowers.

“I’m not as powerful as him, so I’ve always felt inferior—like I wasn’t worthy of you.”

Another lie. He had always viewed Pei Ran as a meathead who only had combat stats; if the two of them clashed in a dungeon, it was anyone’s guess who would come out on top.

“You don’t need to feel burdened by my words. I’m just afraid I’ll regret it later, so I wanted to say it out loud. I don’t mean anything else by it.” Xing Shixi’s face was calm and restrained, his tone as gentle as ever. Only upon close inspection could one detect the hint of sorrow in his eyes.

Lan Zhen couldn’t keep up with his rhythm. Before he could think, he was forced to listen. In his panic, his wandering gaze met Xing Shixi’s, and he felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of guilt.

So… so that’s how it is? Then haven’t I been terrible, breaking his heart like that?

Lan Zhen fell into deep thought.

“If you’re willing, you could tell me what exactly happened between you and Pei Ran that made him misunderstand you so much.” Xing Shixi paused, his tone becoming somewhat dejected. “He and I are somewhat acquainted; I’m willing to help try and persuade him for you.”

A hand gently touched the tip of Lan Zhen’s chin, as if a palm were being tenderly placed beneath it. His palm-sized face was cradled, and then a finger with a slight chill brushed over the sides of his chin.

The cool sensation of the finger touching his face made Lan Zhen realize that Xing Shixi was holding a tube of ointment. Pei Ran had used it on him before; it was very effective, but apparently very expensive. The area the finger was stroking happened to be the spot Pei Ran had pinched red earlier.

The long string of words sounded fine, and Xing Shixi looked like he was about to crumble into pieces. Lan Zhen felt that if he refused, it would be quite cruel.

Dazed by the series of moves, Lan Zhen began to recount the events of that day following the man’s lead. The part about dropping the diary was normal enough, but the things that happened right before entering the file room were a bit embarrassing.

It’s not that important, so if I don’t go into detail, it should be fine…

He glossed over the part where he accidentally sat on Pei Ran’s face and moved on to what happened after entering the file room.

“I remember now!” Lan Zhen moved suddenly. The hand resting on his chin shifted, accidentally poking his plump labial tubercle, but he didn’t have time to care about that.

A blurry file in his memory suddenly became clear. The face in the photo that had just come through the fax machine was exactly the same as the ID photo in Xie Ningqing’s file.

Remembering that Xing Shixi was also a player and that this information might be useful to him, Lan Zhen was almost impatient to share the news.

The bullet comments in the stream were shocked for a moment, followed by endless lamentation:

[Waaaah, my baby is being tricked out of everything by these stinky men. At this rate, he’s going to be bullied so badly later.]

[You bad thing! I can see the fox tail behind you. You want the clues AND the person, don’t you? Let go of my baby right now!]

“Mhm, I understand. I’ll go talk to Pei Ran.” Xing Shixi agreed verbally, but his eyes were fixed on the tender, dewy lips near his hand. His gaze was so blunt it couldn’t be hidden; only Lan Zhen, who was busy celebrating his own “cleverness,” failed to notice.

Pei Ran was right. No matter how you looked at it, the Lan Zhen in front of them was suspicious. A school bully who didn’t act like one, with a soft and mushy personality that seemed easy to bully, yet constantly followed them and provided key help or clues at critical moments. He looked very much like a “hook” released by the dungeon to mislead them.

But he was truly enticing.

A bit stupid, a very gullible little beauty—one who would probably follow a stranger home after a few words, only to be held tightly in someone’s arms. Someone who would have a tongue thrust into those sweet red lips to lick them wet and suck them soft, before having his legs parted to do even more excessive things, just to see if the inside was as sweet as the outside.

Even Xing Shixi had to admit that the design of this dungeon really understood what men liked.

Once the school rules were broken, the little beauty—having done so many bad things before—would surely be desperate to find a suitable person for protection. Imagine him scurrying into your arms in a panic, timidly saying he’d do anything as long as you protected him. He believed no one could refuse that.

Lan Zhen likely had no idea that the man in front of him, looking so affectionate and gentle, was actually fantasizing about how to trick him into his territory later, like a spider spinning a web to slowly trap its prey and enjoy the final result.

When in a bad mood, one should have an extra-large milk tea. Lan Zhen took a sip; as luck would have it, a pearl got stuck in the straw. He didn’t suck anything up, but the suction made his lips ache, and his already rounded labial tubercle became visibly swollen.

[System, even the milk tea is bullying me, waaah. Is there any way to help me clear the straw?]

370: […]

I told you, a system can’t do everything.

However, watching him stay aggrieved wasn’t a solution. 370 thought for a moment and said: [You did very well today. Shouldn’t you be happy?]

[Eh?] Previously, Lan Zhen was the only one who praised himself. This was the first time 370 had said he did well. Lan Zhen’s attention was instantly diverted, and he even forgot the hateful straw.

[After you left, the protagonist used an item to repair the wall. The dungeon wasn’t demolished, so the primary goal of this trip was completed.]

[Your presence caused a key clue to appear early, speeding up the dungeon progress. Furthermore, you’ve increased the protagonist’s loathing toward you, preparing for your future death.] 370 paused, then added another compliment: [Everything was perfect.]

Thinking about it that way, he really was amazing!

This was the most 370 had spoken at once. Though he didn’t know why, Lan Zhen just felt that what the system said made a lot of sense—it definitely wasn’t lying to him.

Mhm, even the milk tea in his hand started to taste better. After all, it was extra-large!

With his mood improved, there was no need to keep wandering outside. After a busy day, lying down in the dorm was the ultimate happiness.

Lan Zhen hummed a little tune as he made his way back to the dorm. On the road, he ran into Mo Changfeng, who had just come out of the school clinic carrying several boxes of medicine.

“Did you get into a fight?” He ran in front of Mo Changfeng with his milk tea, actually wanting to see if the man had been beaten up badly.

Mo Changfeng’s rank wasn’t very high. In Lan Zhen’s mind, with a mouth like Mo Changfeng’s, it was a miracle he hadn’t been beaten until now. Lan Zhen took one look and quickly lost interest.

It was obvious he had been in a fight; there were several bruises on his face. However, the positions were quite clever—instead of looking bad, they made Mo Changfeng’s already handsome face look “rebelliously cool,” like a total bad-boy high schooler.

In short, it was a far cry from the image Lan Zhen wanted to see.

“Why do you look so disappointed?” His disappointment was too obvious. Mo Changfeng chuckled and gave Lan Zhen’s cheek a tug. “I already apologized. If you took the stuff, it means you’ve forgiven me.”

Lan Zhen clutched his face and backed away a few steps. “That’s not right. Each matter has to be settled separately.”

It was clearly a nonsensical argument, but Mo Changfeng just smiled and said nothing. Being disliked by the kitten in such a harmless way meant, by extension, that the cat had lowered its guard. The boy knew that acting a bit spoiled in front of him wouldn’t lead to rejection. How was that not a different form of flirting?

He gloated inwardly for a long time before remembering an important matter. He quickly asked, “How is your studying going?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he felt there was no need to ask. Lan Zhen’s performance in class had been very clear; through their interactions, he could tell the boy was more of a “beautiful idiot.”

“There’s a test the day after tomorrow, and the rankings will be reshuffled. If you don’t do well, it will be very troublesome for you, holding the name ‘Lan Zhen’.”

Lan Zhen knew this, of course; he had been mentally prepared since his first day here. He kicked a small pebble at the edge of his shoe. He didn’t want his rank to plummet and be bullied either, but reality was reality—he had even deleted his learning assistance software.

Mo Changfeng believed the boy still didn’t realize how cruel the reality was. Though he didn’t want to scare the sensitive kitten, the boy at least needed a basic sense of crisis.

“The bottom ten in the ranking… will lose their lives,” he said succinctly, his face filled with an inescapable sense of helplessness.

If possible, he wanted to keep the kitten sheltered in his palm forever, but reality didn’t allow for it. The punishment for cheating or having someone take the test for you would be even more severe. The name ‘Lan Zhen’ attracted too much attention; there was no way to tamper with things. The kitten had to learn to withstand the wind and rain on his own.

Lan Zhen pressed his lips into a pale, thin line. Upon closer look, they were trembling slightly.

[370, if… I’m saying if… I rank at the bottom in this test…] He couldn’t bring himself to finish.

[If you die before the protagonist breaks the school rules, the mission automatically fails.] 370 saw his state and hated to tell the truth, but the rules set by the Main System could not be changed.