Gu Qianran never expected she would wake up again. The sharp scent of blood filled her nostrils, and a cold, metallic voice droned insistently in her ears, repeating a steady drip.
[Host Gu Qianran, binding complete. I am System No. 01 of the world of Overbearing Young Master Loves Deeply. Please execute Task One: bandage your wounds.]
The system's voice cleared the fog in Gu Qianran's dully aching head. She felt a sudden influx of memories in her mind, detailed scenes from the book. The further she recalled, the more she realized this story seemed to be a direct assault on her sense of reason.
Was this even a story? It was more like a trap designed to torment the reader. Every cliché stacked on top of the last, a title so painfully basic it could trigger an eye-roll, and the plot dragged on with monotonous absurdity. The background characters seemed custom-made to ridicule, the supporting cast blindly devoted to the male lead, and most importantly, the experience of the female supporting character she had been reincarnated into was identical to her own past life. Suddenly, she understood why she had been transported here.
Because she knew how to handle this scenario! And with her intelligence, there was no way she would throw herself at a scumbag male lead.
Gu Qianran had never liked leaving her fate in the hands of others, let alone a machine. Using years of experience navigating cunning relatives, she tried to extract useful information from the system's terse commands.
First, since she could still move, the system should have no power to interfere with her actions. Then what was the purpose of issuing tasks? How could it ensure that she would comply?
[Host, please complete Task One: bandage your wounds immediately.] The system's voice interrupted her thoughts. Only now did she feel the fine, sharp pain across her body. Carefully checking herself, she confirmed the original girl was fifteen, in her final year of middle school. The story was about to begin, but the original girl had not yet been claimed and was still suffering under her cruel biological mother.
Yes, cruel biological mother. The original girl's mother was utterly useless, obsessed with climbing the social ladder. She had kept her daughter around only to curry favor with her father. She constantly berated the girl, hitting or scolding her at will, leaving her physically frail and mentally twisted. All the original girl's future missteps were fueled by this mother's meddling. Gu Qianran reasonably suspected that this cheap mother's intelligence was on par with the author's.
School, the high-stakes entrance exams, the second round of aristocratic family schemes—Gu Qianran thought about the disasters to come and sighed. Accepting her fate, she dug iodine and bandages from the cabinet and tended her wounds. With her past injuries from her previous life, there was no going back, so if she had a second chance, she might as well cherish it.
She accidentally pressed on a sore spot and winced in pain. Thinking that these troublesome injuries were courtesy of her mother, Gu Qianran's eyes narrowed into a familiar arc, the expression she always wore when plotting mischief.
Her principle had always been: don't provoke me and I won't provoke you. That approach still applied in this world. She just hoped her mother had a little discernment and would stay out of her way. As for the storyline where she would fawn over a scumbag male lead, Gu Qianran decided that if she had to comply, she wouldn't even be Gu Qianran anymore. She was not here to be a puppet for some ridiculous system.
"System, what about the task reward?" Gu Qianran asked.
[Reward? What reward?] The system sounded puzzled.
"I've seen other novels where completing tasks from a system always gives a reward. If there's no reward, why would I do the task?" Gu Qianran flopped onto the bed, shameless. She was subtly probing the system's limits. If possible, she wanted to avoid the scheming plot. It was one path, but not the easiest.
[This system… does not currently have that function.] The system sounded awkward. It had assumed the host was young and easy to fool, but now it seemed otherwise. As the world abandoned by the main deity, the host's capabilities somewhat dictated the system's authority, so it politely asked, [Host, what reward would you like?]
Gu Qianran's eyes twinkled mischievously. "How about a body gene enhancement? Or a million yuan? Or maybe I could awaken a superpower? I've seen novels where that's what happens."
[The system has no authority to interfere with the host's body. I cannot modify you.]
"Then just owe me. No reward, no task." Even if there were rewards, she wouldn't do it. Gu Qianran thought. The information she wanted was already hers. The system couldn't control her, which meant she could act freely. The initiative was hers. As for the high-society scheming, she knew how to handle that. No male lead nonsense, no task nonsense, she wouldn't participate. With the lessons from her past life, she would trust no one. She could defeat all the demons and villains, then relax and enjoy life, counting money at a resort. The system, unable to interfere, could just buzz beside her like an annoying mosquito.
Her thoughts wandered over her idyllic plans until outside, darkness had fallen. Only then did Gu Qianran remember that the original girl had school to attend.
"School… back when I was claimed early, I had one-on-one tutoring and hadn't gone to class in ages," she murmured, a hint of nostalgia in her voice. In her past life, there were too many regrets. She resolved to start anew in this unfamiliar world.
With a touch of exhaustion, Gu Qianran closed her eyes again.