The Female Lead is Quite Unusual - Episode 1

A stormy night.

Rain pounded against the window frames, the air thick and damp. If one listened closely, the humid breeze carried a faint, almost imperceptible floral fragrance.

A bolt of lightning, thick as a child’s arm, split the sky, tearing through the pitch-black room and illuminating the pale face of a girl sprawled on the floor.

It was a face that perfectly matched Lin Wan’s aesthetic.

Radiant as a pearl in the dark, breathtaking at first glance, so dazzling it was impossible to ignore.

The girl’s condition looked dire: her eyes were tightly shut, her body curled into an unnatural position, her breathing rapid and shallow.

Behind her, a strange panel had materialized out of thin air, glowing with an eye-catching numerical value: “50%.”

Lin Wan had no time to examine the bizarre panel that had suddenly appeared. She stepped forward to check on the girl, only to jolt violently as the memories of this body along with the development arc of this minor world flooded into her mind like a tidal wave.

Lin Wan had woken up half an hour ago.

She had crawled out of the ruins, only to find that the once peaceful and prosperous world had turned into a living hell, engulfed in smoke and chaos. At the same time, a weak, dying voice echoed in her mind.

“Lin Wan, as you can see… I’m almost finished!”

“She set up a destruction program. In one month, I’ll vanish completely…”

The voice claimed to be the World Consciousness, the one who had resurrected Lin Wan.

It told her that a terrifying individual had seized control of the world’s laws and intended to bring about its destruction in a month.

To stop them, the only hope rested on Lin Wan: she had to travel to various minor worlds, gather their fortunes, and repair the damaged world before the destruction program activated.

“Your memories from the three years before your death, I took them.”

The World Consciousness hesitated. “I needed them to investigate something.”

“Your death back then wasn’t an accident like I thought. Everything was out of control.”

Lin Wan had countless questions, but the fading World Consciousness seemed too weak to continue the conversation. It only hurriedly told her that one day, she would learn the whole truth, and begged her to gather the fortunes and protect herself.

Then, in a flash of white light, Lin Wan arrived in this minor world.

–

The surging tide of memories gradually subsided.

Lin Wan opened her eyes in the darkness, her lips pressed together in a complicated expression.

The theory of minor worlds was not unfamiliar to her.

She was, after all, an outstanding graduate in Spacetime Management, and her post-graduation research had focused on constructing pathways between dimensions to access various minor worlds.

But just as the World Consciousness had said, Lin Wan’s own memories were fragmented. She couldn’t recall what had happened after graduation, nor could she remember the cause of her death.

The World Consciousness claimed she had died three years after graduating.

Lin Wan had directly joined the Spacetime Bureau after graduation, working in research, a field with extremely low risk. She had been wholly dedicated to her studies, rarely making enemies, and her social circle was simple. She couldn’t fathom what could have led to her death.

The whole situation reeked of absurdity and strangeness. Lin Wan’s head throbbed painfully, and all she wanted was to find a quiet place to rest, sort through everything, and plan her next steps.

But the girl before her was in critical condition. She couldn’t afford to wait.

The girl on the floor seemed to have already lost consciousness: her breathing was faint, her slender arms pale and delicate beneath a pure white cotton nightgown, her jet-black hair cascading around her like a waterfall, resembling a serene water lily in full bloom.

If no one intervened soon, the girl would likely wither away on this stormy night, just as Lin Wan had seen in the development trajectory of this minor world.

…

Recalling the tragic life of the girl in the received worldline, Lin Wan’s gaze wavered. She took a deep breath and steeled her resolve.

Suppressing the turmoil in her chest, she followed the memories she had inherited and flipped the light switch by the door.

Bright light instantly flooded the study.

Lin Wan’s eyes quickly scanned the room, landing on an overturned glass beneath the desk.

She swiftly moved forward, using a tissue to wipe up the spilled liquid on the floor. Then, she opened the window and tossed both the tissue and the glass into the bushes outside, allowing the damp, chilly air to rush in and dispel the stifling atmosphere.

Once this was done, Lin Wan deliberately knocked over another cup of tea on the table, quietly slipped the scattered pillbox near the girl’s hand into her pocket, and only then did she exhale in relief before lifting the frail girl into her arms.

–

The girl in her arms, barely clinging to life, was none other than Bai Yin, the protagonist of this world.

Unlike the high-tier world Lin Wan originally belonged to, minor worlds operated under their own centers of influence. The fortune of these worlds manifested in specific individuals, meaning some were destined to be the protagonists of their realities.

Blessed by the world’s consciousness, these protagonists usually led smooth, fortunate lives until their natural deaths.

But if they met with misfortune, the minor world itself would suffer severe damage sometimes even leading to the destruction of its consciousness.

Clearly, Bai Yin was highly favored by this world. The panel behind her displayed her fortune value, and she alone accounted for 50% of the entire world’s fortune.

If Lin Wan succeeded in saving Bai Yin, who was fated to die young, she would undoubtedly receive this minor world’s fortune as a reward.

Up close, Bai Yin truly lived up to her role as the world’s beloved protagonist, possessing breathtaking beauty like a fragile yet exquisite crystal sculpture. As Lin Wan held her, she couldn’t help but soften her grip.

But even with the gentlest touch, Bai Yin’s brow furrowed slightly as she let out a faint whimper, weakly struggling in Lin Wan’s arms.

Bai Yin wasn’t fully unconscious?

Realizing this, Lin Wan froze, her heart sinking.

This body was also named Lin Wan, a recently graduated nurse who had only been working in this villa for a month.

On the surface, she was just one of many unremarkable caretakers in the household, but in truth, she had been secretly leaking Bai Yin’s information to her stepsister.

According to the original worldline, Bai Yin’s death would ultimately be ruled an accident, but in reality, she had been deliberately murdered.

After Bai Yin’s mother passed away, her father revealed his true despicable nature: openly bringing his mistress and illegitimate daughter into the Bai family, publicly declaring the girl as Bai Yin’s stepsister.

Later, under the pretense of recuperation, he exiled Bai Yin who had lost the use of her legs in a car accident to this remote villa.

Even if Bai Yin didn’t fight or compete, her stepmother and stepsister had no intention of letting her off. The stepmother interfered to ruin Bai Yin’s engagement, spreading rumors outside that Bai Yin had gone mad, while the stepsister stole Bai Yin’s fiancé and even attempted to kill her.

Bai Yin had a severe pollen allergy, and her stepsister’s plan for the original body exploited this: swapping Bai Yin’s usual medication, slipping an untraceable sedative into her water, tampering with the surveillance on a rainy night, and having the original body secretly release pollen into Bai Yin’s room.

Clearly, the stepsister, who had always been jealous of Bai Yin’s beauty, had deceived the original body with malicious intent. The drug she provided wasn’t a sedative at all. She likely wanted Bai Yin to suffer in full awareness before her death.

But since Bai Yin had remained conscious, she might have noticed the stepsister’s earlier actions to destroy evidence. If an investigation were launched.

Lin Wan pressed her lips together.

She couldn’t expose her identity now: Bai Yin’s stepsister had failed to kill her this time, and there would likely be another scheme later. Staying in the shadows and pretending to cooperate would make it easier to protect Bai Yin.

Worried, Lin Wan couldn’t help but glance at Bai Yin again.

In her arms, Bai Yin’s eyes were tightly shut, her face pale, her brows slightly furrowed. She looked increasingly fragile and weak.

Recalling Bai Yin’s timid and gentle personality in the original storyline, like a little rabbit, Lin Wan relaxed slightly after a moment of thought.

Bai Yin couldn’t open her eyes. Even if she knew someone had tried to harm her, she wouldn’t be able to trace it back to Lin Wan anytime soon.

Besides, it was good that Bai Yin was awake. At least she would be more cautious now. The previous Bai Yin had been harmed repeatedly precisely because she was too trusting and defenseless.

With this in mind, Lin Wan grew bolder.

Summoning her courage, she tightened her grip on Bai Yin’s hand, seemingly oblivious to her resistance, and lifted her onto the wheelchair.

“Do you know why I didn’t just kill you outright?”

Lin Wan pushed the wheelchair into the breezy corridor and whispered—

“You’re so beautiful, so delicate and adorable like a little white mouse in a cage. Of course, it’s more fun to toy with you a few times, watch you struggle on the brink of death!”

To make Bai Yin fully grasp the danger, Lin Wan took a deep breath, deliberately pinched Bai Yin’s cheek in a teasing manner, covered her eyes, and leaned close to her ear, adopting a sinister tone.

Clearly, Bai Yin had taken her words to heart.

The lashes beneath her palm fluttered rapidly, and a faint blush spread across Bai Yin’s pale cheeks, her breathing growing uneven.

Startled by Bai Yin’s intense reaction, Lin Wan instinctively stroked her back to soothe her.

Perhaps frightened, Bai Yin’s spine was rigid to the touch, like a tightly drawn bow.

Lin Wan awkwardly withdrew her hand.

After staring at Bai Yin’s pallid face for a while, worried that the poor girl might live in constant fear and further weaken her already frail health, Lin Wan spoke again.

“What a shame!”

“Your butler Zhao is too loyal. He’s sealed every gap around you. Finding another chance to get close won’t be easy.”

Bai Yin’s surroundings were a den of snakes, but Butler Zhao was an old retainer left by her mother. In the original storyline, after Bai Yin’s death, he was the only one who persisted in seeking the truth.

After Bai Yin, if she were to report this incident to Butler Zhao, the loyal butler would surely become vigilant. With Butler Zhao’s wholehearted protection, Bai Yin would face fewer dangers.

“But I’ll find an opportunity eventually!”

Lin Wan puffed up her cheeks, dutifully playing the role of the villain, delivering her premeditated lines with a threatening tone while observing Bai Yin’s expression.

As if realizing the futility of resisting her current predicament, after that earlier struggle, Bai Yin pressed her pale lips together, and her face regained its composure.

No longer exposed to the allergens in the study, Bai Yin’s complexion looked much better than when she had been on the verge of collapse earlier. She was likely out of danger now…

Lin Wan let out a sigh of relief.

She removed her hand from covering Bai Yin’s eyes, took a step back, and pressed the alarm button beside the wheelchair.

As the shrill alarm sounded, Lin Wan quickly ran off, hiding in a blind spot near the staircase.

The quiet villa instantly lit up with several lights.

Before long, Butler Zhao arrived with the family doctor, accompanied by several nurses, hurriedly carrying a pile of medical equipment.

As Bai Yin was wheeled into the medical room by Butler Zhao, Lin Wan couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination but through the brightly lit corridor and the bustling crowd, it seemed as though a gaze had pierced through the throng, looking far into the direction where she was hiding.