Transmigrated as the Heroine’s Perfect Alpha - Chapter 4

Lin Man, the female lead’s fated partner, appeared right on cue.

In the icy pool, two figures, one in black and one in white, an Alpha and an Omega, bobbed up and down, struggling to swim toward the shore.

Xie Ling stood on the bank, watching coldly. In truth, that was not the case; as soon as she had steadied herself, she had been shouting for help at the top of her lungs.

Perhaps because the atmosphere in the banquet hall was just too pleasant, those people were a bit slow to arrive.

Lin Man kept a cold face as she supported Ji Xue, swimming slowly toward them. Xie Ling did not have time to study her face; she instinctively bent down, picked up the scarf on the ground, and unfolded it, immediately wrapping it around the soaked Lin Man.

Then, she snatched the plush shawl from her own shoulders and wrapped it around Ji Xue, whose lips were already turning blue from the cold.

This was her instinctual reaction; she simply wanted to do what she could for the two people who had fallen into the water.

However, once she realized what she had just done, a sudden clarity washed over her.

That was right! If you cannot beat them, join them!

Based on the way the plot had unfolded tonight, she strongly suspected that she was being controlled by something. The very people she had wanted to avoid were the ones she had been unable to dodge at all.

Therefore, did this not have some sort of connection to that mysterious system that had suddenly appeared?

Or rather, was everything that had just happened orchestrated by that system?

If that were truly the case, then the infuriating plot twists to come.

Xie Ling narrowed her eyes. She felt that she was in danger.

Following this line of reasoning, the system’s demand that she “deeply experience the supporting character’s inner journey” likely meant it intended for her to experience death itself.

And the truth behind her rebirth was simply an act of revenge from that so-called “Villain Support Group!”

If that were the case, listening to the system was certainly not a good choice.

Trying her best to be kind to the female lead and changing Xie Ling’s villainous persona had, instead, become the only straw she could grasp to save her life.

Unfortunately, the next second, her system’s dedicated customer service shattered her hope.

The voice of the system, Xiao Fan, sounded slightly more rounded than when it had first appeared, and the mechanical tone had diminished considerably. “Danger! Danger! Danger!”

Xie Ling had a headache from the noise and could not help but roll her eyes. “Danger? Can you stop screeching in my ear so suddenly?”

Xiao Fan: “System alert: Your thoughts are extremely dangerous. Before you deeply experience the bitterness and suffering of the supporting character, any behavior that violates the original character setting is a violation of the rules. Violations will trigger electric shock punishments.”

Xie Ling: “…”

Xiao Fan: “Your behavior just now has been judged as a violation, and you will be subject to an electric shock warning.”

Just as the notification in her ear faded, Xie Ling felt a numbing pain in both her hands, far more intense than the discomfort she had felt before.

!!!

So that was it!

The reason she had accidentally dropped the gift box earlier was because she had been shocked!

“Why did you not give me a heads-up before the electric shock?”

Having understood the basic rules, Xie Ling gnashed her teeth in hatred.

Customer Service Xiao Fan: “The situation was critical. In order not to affect the development of the plot, the system enabled the no-notification permission.”

Xie Ling furrowed her brows in exhaustion. Her expression was one of pure disgust; what kind of system was this? Was it really this capable of adapting on the fly?

However, that expression, viewed by Lin Man, who could hear nothing, meant something else entirely. Lin Man swept a cold, indifferent glance over Xie Ling’s changing expressions and, as if no one else were there, walked away with large strides, holding the shivering Ji Xue and leaving the crowd of late-arriving onlookers behind.

“Hey?” Xie Ling raised her hand, a moment too late. She had wanted to suggest they go to a guest room upstairs to change into dry clothes, but another warning sounded in her ear.

Fearing the sudden electric shock might hit her hands again, Xie Ling hurriedly pulled her hand back and tucked it behind her back.

He Rong rushed over. Although she did not know what had happened, she did not ask a single question after seeing her daughter was unharmed. She merely gave her a look filled with complex meaning, then found a random topic to smooth things over, leading the gathering guests back to the banquet hall.

After watching them leave, Xie Ling looked down at her hands, which were still faintly tingling. She curled her lip and shook them. She thought about it for a moment, then took off her high heels. Just before stepping into the water, she braked in time and tapped the system customer service in her ear.

“If I go back now to retrieve that box, does it count as breaking my character? Will you shock me again?”

Xiao Fan answered instantly: “Dear, as long as you do not carry the contents of the box with you, the system cannot judge whether the behavior is a violation.”

“So, that means it does not count?” Xie Ling asked.

Xiao Fan: “You can understand it that way.”

Xie Ling opened her mouth, and silent profanities drifted from her lips.

A moment later, she adjusted her mood, took two earnest deep breaths, and then took a small step forward.

The icy sensation immediately spread from her toes. Xie Ling’s molars knocked together repeatedly, accompanied by a sharp intake of cold air.

Shivering, she continued to step forward until the water reached her thighs, then she wobbled to a halt.

By this time, the bone-chilling cold had swept through her entire body. Xie Ling felt as if she had lost control; even her trembling wrists were covered in goosebumps.

Fortunately, the heavens showed mercy, finally allowing her to see the red ribbon, which had been cradled in her palm not long ago, in the dark water.

Xie Ling confirmed the location of the ribbon, took a deep breath, and crouched down. The edge of the pool, only half her height, immediately submerged her completely.

Lying on the bottom of the pool, feeling for the square gift box with her hands, Xie Ling could not help but complain internally. Lin Man had jumped too far; it was just a small koi pond, after all. It was impossible for anyone to drown, and there was no need to be so dramatic.

However, after feeling around for a long time, Xie Ling was on the verge of suffocating.

In desperation, she withdrew one hand, clamped it tightly over her mouth to stop herself from gasping, and stubbornly grabbed at the bottom one last time.

Finally, she caught it.

Holding the box, Xie Ling stood up from the water. Her dark blue evening gown floated on the surface as she moved. She spat out a mouthful of pond water and dragged her body, which was experiencing abnormal heat, back toward the shore.

As the cold wind blew, her thin frame shivered uncontrollably.

Xie Ling numbly climbed onto the bank and, barefoot, went back to her room via the wooden stairs behind the villa.

Being rich is certainly nice; the floor heating made the room feel like a different world from the outdoors.

Xie Ling stood behind the door and threw the wet box onto the entryway cabinet. She opened it to take a look and was surprised to find the inside of the box was dry; she had underestimated the waterproof wrapping paper.

In the center of the square box, the three-thousand-yuan ladies’ watch refracted the overhead spotlights, the tiny diamonds on the dial casting beautiful, starry points of light. It was very pretty.

Actually, the watch was truly nice.

Xie Ling shook her head as she thought this. She opened the overhead cabinet and carefully placed the box inside.

Following the original character’s setting, she certainly would have looked down on this watch. But to an ordinary person, it was considered expensive, especially to someone like Xie Qing, who had to work incredibly hard just to avoid going hungry; it was basically a luxury item.

Thinking of that frugal past life, Xie Ling could not bear to truly ignore it and let it sink into the piles of koi feces at the bottom of the pool.

Looking back, when she designed this plot, she was only a fifteen or sixteen-year-old teenager.

At that time, being somewhat naive, she had just been hurt in a similar way before starting the story, so she understood better than anyone the sadness of having one’s heart trampled upon. Plus, writing for the first time, she had wanted to build up hatred for the villain from the very first chapter.

Through various coincidences, I Want to Love Like This began with this very plot.

Unexpectedly, now that she was experiencing it all over again from a different perspective, she felt such a sense of helplessness in her heart.

After putting the watch away, Xie Ling took off her wet, dirty dress and turned on the faucet in the bathroom.

Warm water poured down from above. Both the shower head and the ceramic faucet on the bathtub were running. Xie Ling looked down at the bath bomb that had just begun to bubble in the tub, leaned against the edge, closed her eyes, and tapped the system that liked to discharge electricity.

“Can you give me a simple introduction to the rules of the game?”

Customer Service Xiao Fan gave an “Eh”: “Our rule is that there are no rules.”

Xie Ling refused to accept this: “If there are no rules, by what right do you say I am breaking character? And by what right do you shock me?!”

Thinking of that numbing, stinging sensation of electrocution, Xie Ling flared up. However, before her anger could reach her head, her closed eyes saw a row of bright red ellipses in the darkness.

Xiao Fan explained: “This is because letting the original author personally experience the plight of the supporting character is the primary mission of this system.”

“The system’s development team firmly believes that there is no such thing as empathy in this world. Therefore, before the original author completes soul synchronization and absolute self-reflection, she must follow the plot of the original work.”

“This, too, is a form of respect, respect for the version of yourself that created this character and this plot.”

Xie Ling “hehe-ed”: “According to you, if I finish the entire plot without having a spiritual awakening, Revenge! It is blatant, barefaced revenge! I strongly suspect the true intentions of your development team now!”

“I do not trust you at all right now!”

Xiao Fan: “That is not important.”

Xiao Fan: “But if you really are that resistant, as long as you meet our system conditions, you can unbind yourself and return to your original world.”

Xie Ling tilted her head back, her index fingers tapping lightly against the edge of the bathtub. This was a habitual tic she had when she was thinking.

“What are the conditions?”

Xiao Fan: “Write a novel in this world from the perspective of the supporting character. It must be the original plot of I Want to Love Like This, and the creation time is seven days.”

“Impossible.” Xie Ling waved her hand, thinking that this system was indeed here to take revenge on her.

Not to mention that I Want to Love Like This was over three hundred thousand words long, she had long since forgotten the original plot. In a short seven days, over three hundred thousand words, that averaged out to fifty thousand words a day. Even if she died from overwork eight times, she could not write that.

Besides, she was already a dead person in her original world; what would returning there even matter?

Xiao Fan: “Yes, so you have no choice.”

“…”

“How shameless! As a side note, I think your voice is sounding more and more like Ms. Siri.” Xie Ling looked at the pale blue bathwater and scoffed coldly.

That scoff was filled with her dissatisfaction and anger.

The bathroom, originally filled with the scent of the bath bomb, was suddenly permeated with the heavy smell of coffee.

Xiao Fan: “No, the reference object for my voice pack when it was established was Xiao Ai…”

Xie Ling suppressed the urge to vomit, hurriedly pressed her hand against the gland at the back of her neck, stood up from the bathtub, and went to find a new suppressant patch.

In the oversized smart mirror was Xie Ling’s naked body. Her fair, tender skin was covered in glistening water droplets, but at that moment, she could not care about drying off with a bath towel. She hurriedly tore off several stickers and pressed them onto her neck.

The scent of coffee, which had surged due to her anger, instantly faded by half. Xie Ling did not even bother to rinse off the remaining soap foam; she grabbed a bathrobe hanging to the side, wrapped it around herself, and fled the bathroom as if escaping, not forgetting to turn on the exhaust fan before closing the door.

Her aversion to the smell of coffee had only begun in the six months before her rebirth.

When she first started feeling this discomfort, Xie Qing had lived frugally for several days to visit a nearby hospital. After a series of tests, the elderly doctor told her that it was because she drank too much coffee, which had caused some damage, and that she should not take it too much to heart.

“Coffee is not really a good thing anyway; if you take this opportunity to quit, it is a good thing.”

Xie Qing, who was severely sleep-deprived, was confused when she heard that, but thankfully she caught the keywords “it is nothing” and “a good thing.” After she went back, she obediently threw the case of coffee packets she had hoarded during the 11.11 sale into the trash.

She never expected that after being reborn into an ABO world, the smell that made her feel nauseous would become the scent of her own pheromones.

It really is, it really is, ugh! She suspected that this was very likely another way the system was deliberately messing with her!

Xiao Fan, who refused to take the blame, slapped back immediately: “The scent of Xie Ling’s pheromones was decided by you personally. The original work is the proof; this system does not accept malicious slander.”

Xie Ling: “…”