The Beautiful Idiot Is Forced To Play The Villain [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

“The name sounds familiar.” Nie Liang’s well-defined fingers tapped lightly on the file as he said warmly, “I have some impression of it. He seemed to be a student with excellent grades. How do you know about him?”

“I happened to see his results once and thought he was amazing,” Lan Zhen replied quickly, without a hint of hesitation.

Nie Liang nodded, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He hadn’t expected this little troublemaking tyrant to care about someone else.

He looked up toward the top of the teaching building. The sky was blue against the tall structure, and the faint sound of students reading drifted down. After a moment of silence, he said, “No matter how amazing he was, he’s in the past now. Focus your mind; your grades are no worse than his.”

This wasn’t mere flattery. Since enrollment, Lan Zhen had consistently ranked first, except for this recent sick leave. Even though most teachers were dissatisfied with his arrogant behavior, it didn’t negate his talent.

Some students had even set up a betting pool on whether Lan Zhen would hold the top spot until graduation. The number of participants was staggering, and word of it had even reached the teachers’ ears.

A few teachers had actually joined the bet, wagering that he would. This sick leave must have cost them quite a bit.

After saying this, Nie Liang took a phone call and left in a hurry, not forgetting to warn Lan Zhen to study hard and stop skipping classes.

Lan Zhen watched him leave, his breath hitching slightly. After a while, he shifted his aching legs and whispered to the system: [370, it turns out teachers tell lies too. I thought only ‘bad kids’ did that.]

Under the constraints of the Main System, 370 couldn’t respond, but Lan Zhen seemed to know this and treated it like talking to himself.

Although his time looking at the student files had been brief, he clearly remembered that Xie Ningqing was a student from over a decade ago.

Nie Liang looked to be only twenty-seven or twenty-eight at most. Because of his high teaching quality, he had been exceptionally promoted to class monitor. When Xie Ningqing was in school, Nie Liang would have only been a teenager himself, likely buried in books at some other school. How could he possibly have an “impression” of Xie Ningqing?

Even the idea that Nie Liang had seen the file didn’t quite add up. That was a file marked for destruction, buried at the very bottom of the archives. If the protagonists hadn’t dug it up for their mission, it would have stayed there forever, never seeing the light of day.

What reason would a busy class monitor have to look at that specific file?

Add to that Xing Shixi’s claim that Xie Ningqing might not be dead—could this also be related to Nie Liang?

The information was a jumbled mess. Lan Zhen couldn’t organize it all at once, so he used another flimsy excuse to stick close to the protagonist group, wondering how he could “accidentally” pass this information along.

“You’re saying your heart has been fluttering lately, but you feel much better as soon as you see Pei Ran?” Xing Shixi raised an eyebrow.

Lan Zhen looked up at him and gave a small nod.

It was a lie, of course, but they couldn’t exactly send someone to listen to his heartbeat. This kind of excuse didn’t need to be perfectly realistic; it just needed to be useful.

He had said it offhandedly, and the other players didn’t seem to take it seriously. However, Pei Ran—who usually claimed he didn’t fall for such tricks—didn’t treat it as a joke. His expression was serious as he asked in a low voice, “Were you frightened recently? You should rest for a while longer.”

Lan Zhen froze, not quite sure how to respond to that.

“Forget it. Zhenzhen came all this way to find you; are you really trying to drive him away?” After intentionally twisting Pei Ran’s meaning, Xing Shixi smiled at Lan Zhen. “We’re going to eat. Does Zhenzhen want to come along?”

Lan Zhen nodded quickly, using the invitation to change the subject. “You said before that Xie Ningqing is still alive. Have you found anything new?”

Hearing this, a small smile touched Xing Shixi’s lips. “Zhenzhen seems very concerned about this.”

The line at the cafeteria was long. Pei Ran set down the textbook he was holding and gave Lan Zhen a few instructions not to get squeezed in the crowd, heading off to line up for him.

“Pei Ran definitely won’t know what I want to eat. I should go myself.” Lan Zhen felt a bit embarrassed standing there. Now, feeling Xing Shixi’s questioning gaze, his face turned red, and he made a move to squeeze into the crowd.

Xing Shixi caught him and pressed him back into the seat, his voice dropping low. “You aren’t a regular NPC of this dungeon, yet you’re very concerned about our mission. Why is that?”

“Wh—what?” Lan Zhen’s brain stalled for a moment. It took a few seconds to realize his “mask” was about to be stripped away.

“I’ve heard there are items that allow people to disguise themselves as NPCs to enter the game, but such items are extremely rare. Isn’t it a waste to use one on a dungeon like this?” Xing Shixi spoke with total confidence. “You don’t need to struggle. Pei Ran has a God-tier item that can take an NPC out of a dungeon. He used it on you that day, but it had no effect at all.”

“What do you think that means?”

What else could it mean? It meant he wasn’t a dungeon NPC.

Lan Zhen pursed his lips. Hearing that the other had already come up with an explanation for him, his pale complexion improved significantly.

It turned out someone had really used the right formula but plugged in the wrong numbers—the process was perfect, but the result was completely wrong.

Xing Shixi lowered his gaze, his lips thinning. “You didn’t really enter this dungeon just for Pei Ran, did you?”

It wasn’t that he wanted to guess wildly; it was just that Lan Zhen’s actions were too attention-grabbing. He was constantly hovering around Pei Ran—calling it “trying to get noticed” was an understatement.

Pei Ran was clearly infatuated, willing to use even that kind of item. He probably already considered Lan Zhen his “wife” in his heart.

As the man in the middle, Xing Shixi couldn’t stand the sight of such mutual affection and wanted to do something to tear them apart.

“No.” Lan Zhen spoke sincerely, his eyes not wavering. Seeing this, Xing Shixi’s expression softened, and he didn’t press further.

[370, he said all that with such intensity. What exactly is he trying to do?]

He thought something world-shaking was coming, only for the conversation to veer off into a strange direction.

370: [Nothing. Someone is just frustrated.]

The brief exchange ended, leaving an awkward atmosphere. Lan Zhen held the water he’d bought on the way, taking small sips. The rim of the cup pressed against his lip, leaving a faint mark and leaving his mouth quite moist.

He stared expectantly at the food line, which in Xing Shixi’s eyes, looked like he was staring at Pei Ran.

“Am I not good enough?” The frames of his glasses hid most of the emotion in his eyes, his tone sounding a bit dejected. “Whatever he can give you, I can too. You can ask me anything you want to know. We can fight side-by-side, while he’ll only tell you to ‘rest well’.”

He had intended to act sad to gain Lan Zhen’s pity, but as he spoke, he felt like he was actually catching real feelings.

He couldn’t quite describe the sensation. Having been born with a silver spoon, he had always been the “golden child” in others’ eyes; there was nothing he wanted that he couldn’t get.

Even after entering the Infinite Game, his scores remained something for everyone to look up to. Though he was often compared to Pei Ran, deep down, he never took someone like Pei Ran—who had all brawn and no brains—seriously.

Lan Zhen’s choice was likely the first time he had experienced total defeat.

He didn’t even understand where he had lost. Why was Lan Zhen so fixated on that idiot?

Lan Zhen blinked blankly, feeling like a “scumbag” two-timing two different people.

On one side was the fiery Red Rose with a high combat value; on the other was the pitiful White Lotus who triggered his sympathy. He was stuck in the middle, failing everyone.

Xing Shixi moved a bit closer. Lan Zhen was startled, feeling they were far too close. He tried to lean back, but the movement caused him to lose his balance, nearly falling off the chair.

He was caught by the shoulders and hauled up. His bottom was spared, but looking at their current posture, Lan Zhen’s face turned scarlet with embarrassment. The heat rushed to his head, nearly making him faint.

He was sitting completely on Xing Shixi’s lap. Even though he scrambled to sit as upright as possible, the space on the chair was narrow. Squeezed in there, his limbs were awkwardly tucked in, and he could clearly feel a body temperature that wasn’t his own.

Xing Shixi’s eyes lowered, his nose almost touching Lan Zhen’s face. “Don’t be afraid of me. Even if you don’t give me a ‘status’, I can accept it.”

Hearing this, Lan Zhen’s eyes widened into perfect circles.

Wait, what “status”? Did he give Pei Ran a status? How come he didn’t know?

Xing Shixi didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with his words. He almost forcefully kept the boy on his lap and continued to himself, “I suspect Xie Ningqing simply changed his identity to stay on campus. Breaking the school rules is simple—we just have to solve the person who raised the problem.”

“Don’t worry about this. I’ll handle it and take you out of here. It’s just that you’re too likable… it makes me feel a bit miserable.”

Lan Zhen was listening seriously at first, but by the end, he couldn’t take it anymore.

Weren’t they talking about Xie Ningqing? How did it jump to him being “too likable”? What on earth was he talking about…?

A crisp clatter sounded nearby. He turned his head and saw that Pei Ran was back.

“You’re back! Thank you for the hard work.” Their current posture was awkward. Lan Zhen’s fingers kept picking at his school uniform by his knees, his face pink as he offered his thanks.

Pei Ran was carrying two metal trays. One had simple dishes, while the other was practically a feast—it looked like he had bought one of everything available.

At that moment, he slammed the tray with fewer dishes onto the table. Whether intentional or not, some soup splashed onto Xing Shixi, yet it perfectly avoided Lan Zhen, who was stacked on top of him.

With no tissues at hand, Xing Shixi gave Pei Ran a fake smile, the air between them thick with hostility.

The veins on Pei Ran’s arms bulged and throbbed. Heaven knew how angry he was when he saw Lan Zhen sitting on Xing Shixi’s lap, and the bullet-chat was only fanning the flames.

Lord Judge, the baby is sitting on someone else’s lap and still thinking about your hard work. He loves you so much!

The little sister’s heart is fluttering; what’s wrong with sitting on a lap? It’s all your fault, you big pig trotter, doing nothing but standing there with a wooden face telling him to ‘rest’.

Calm down, stay cool. Even though we saw the scene live, you better not do anything. It’ll be bad if you scare my baby.