'I'm doomed...'
Christmas carols echoed through the hot spring villa at dusk as young men and women chatted with beaming smiles.
But Renee Jennings couldn't feel any of the festive cheer. Her mind was consumed with a single thought: she had offended the protagonists and was doomed to be torn to pieces by the age of twenty-five.
'I'm so screwed!'
An hour ago, a headache had sent Renee Jennings looking for a room to rest. As she drifted off, she had a dream.
In the dream, she learned that the world she lived in was actually a novel, and she was a supporting character controlled by the plot—a vain, malicious, and two-faced schemer who would stop at nothing to get her way.
As she grew up, she came to despise her older half-sister, the novel's heroine, Diana Jennings.
Diana Jennings was set up, and a twist of fate led to a one-night stand with the male lead, Jaden Forrest. When she became pregnant out of wedlock, Renee Jennings seized the opportunity to convince their father to throw her out.
After Diana gave birth to a pair of boy-girl twins, Renee would secretly bully them and even managed to "lose" the girl.
Renee Jennings also impersonated Diana, lying to Jaden Forrest and claiming to be the woman he'd spent the night with five years ago. She then spent his money to support other men.
Later, upon discovering she was the true heiress of a wealthy family who had been swapped at birth, Renee Jennings resolutely abandoned the parents who had raised her.
But the vicious supporting character was destined for a bad end. Her biological parents despised her, the male and female leads saw through her deception, and even her adoptive parents were utterly disappointed in her.
In the end, Renee Jennings suffered a gruesome revenge and was torn to pieces, even dragging down her best friend, Michelle Fuller, who was left permanently disabled for trying to help her.
As Renee Jennings finished recalling the contents of her dream, her entire body was drenched in a cold sweat.
'How horrifying...'
Renee Jennings lit up her phone screen. Three hours had already passed since she had "lost" Jasmine.
Her heart turned to ash as she murmured, "It's over. I'm going to die."
[Trigger keywords "It's over. I'm going to die." detected. Congratulations, Miss Jennings, on binding with the Turnaround System. System 009 is at your service.]
Renee Jennings's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
She had heard this voice in her dream as well.
[System 009: Trigger keywords "What do you mean?" detected. Randomly dropping a new user reward: Feline Dictionary.]
Renee Jennings: "Huh?"
[System 009: Trigger keyword "Huh?" detected. Randomly dropping a new user mission: Find Jasmine Jennings. Please complete the mission within 4 hours. Success will grant the following rewards: Canine Dictionary and one million cash. Failure will result in remaining under the plot's control.]
A red digital timer then appeared before Renee Jennings's eyes, the seconds ticking away.
She struggled to remain calm. "What do you mean by 'Turnaround System'?"
[System 009: The Turnaround System is a system that helps you turn your life around.]
"..."
Renee Jennings thought about the crazed, vicious person she would become while controlled by the plot, and she couldn't help but shudder.
'No! Absolutely not!'
She decisively rushed out of the villa.
"Hey, Renee Jennings, why are you running off?"
"Renee, where are you going?"
Renee Jennings glanced back at Michelle Fuller and left with a quick, "Something urgent came up, I'll call you later," before leaving.
She drove to the spot where she had abandoned Jasmine earlier. It was empty.
Renee Jennings quickly got out of the car to search, pulling out a photo to ask the surrounding shopkeepers and passersby. Everyone just shook their heads and waved her away, and her heart plummeted.
'Can I really not escape the fate of being controlled by the plot?'
Renee Jennings stood under the night sky as snowflakes fell onto her, one by one. Her nose was red from the cold, and the rims of her eyes were red, too.
The countdown timer before her showed less than an hour remaining.
"Did Brute eat that human cub?"
"She was crying so miserably. He must have eaten her."
The voices of a conversation abruptly reached Renee Jennings's ears. She looked over but saw no one, only two cats lying lazily beside a noodle shop.
"She said she was waiting for her auntie to come back with oranges. What's taking her auntie so long?"
"You're asking me? Who am I gonna ask?"
Renee Jennings's dark pupils contracted violently, her small, frost-reddened face a mask of disbelief.
Cats...
The cats were talking!
And she could actually understand them?
[System 009: This is your new user reward!]
When she had left Jasmine here, Renee Jennings had indeed said she was going to buy some oranges and told the child to wait for her to come back.
Her body reacted faster than her mind. She was already walking toward the two cats in her high heels, asking excitedly, "Did you see Jasmine? Can you tell me where she is?"
The human's approach made the two cats flee out of instinct.
"Why did she suddenly come over here? She scared me to death," said the calico cat.
The tabby cat said, "I hate humans with no sense of personal space."
Renee Jennings said as she chased after them, "I didn't mean to scare you..."
The two cats exchanged a look of surprise. 'What the hell? This human can actually understand us?'
"I wanted to ask where the little girl who was waiting for her auntie to come back with oranges went," Renee Jennings explained.
The two cats gradually slowed to a halt.
The calico cat said, "We're hungry."
Renee Jennings: "..."
She immediately went to a nearby convenience store and bought a few cans of cat food.
Only after they had eaten and drunk their fill were the cats willing to provide information.
"That human cub was probably eaten by Brute."
"Who's Brute?" Renee Jennings asked with a frown.
The calico cat: "A big black dog."
The tabby cat: "A real scary one."
Renee Jennings's heart tightened. "Which way did she run?"
The cats stared at the cans of cat food in her arms and agreed to lead the way.
After winding through several pitch-black alleys, they finally saw a faint light.
A foul smell hung in the air. Renee Jennings could faintly make out the shadow of a dog standing in front of a trash can.
"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"
Noticing the human's presence, the big black dog let out a few warning barks.
The calico and tabby cats retreated in perfect sync.
Renee Jennings looked back and asked, "Is that the Brute you were talking about?"
"Yes!" the two cats responded in unison.
Renee Jennings took a deep breath and asked the big black dog, "Where is the little girl you were chasing just now?"
The big black dog: "WOOF WOOF WOOF!"
Renee Jennings's hands, hanging at her sides, clenched into tight fists. Tiny beads of sweat broke out on her forehead.
She could understand cats, but she couldn't understand the big black dog.
Just as Renee Jennings was feeling utterly helpless, she suddenly heard a faint, childish voice.
"Auntie..."
Her head snapped up, and she looked at the trash can in front of the big black dog.
The big black dog began to bark furiously. It even jumped onto the lid of the trash can, its sharp teeth grabbing the handle as it tried to pry the lid open.
A spark of hope ignited in Renee Jennings's heart. "Jasmine, are you hiding inside the trash can?"
A small, tearful voice drifted out from inside the trash can. "SOB... Auntie, I'm sorry... Jasmine didn't mean to not wait for you, but the big doggy is so scary..."
Even though she was scripted to be a malicious, two-faced villain, upon hearing the child's apology, Renee Jennings actually felt a pang of guilt.
"Don't be afraid," Renee Jennings comforted the child, her voice a little stiff.
She stared at the nearly frantic big black dog, her heart pounding like a drum.
'I have to find a way to make it leave.'
However, the big black dog wasn't afraid of people. No matter how Renee Jennings tried to scare it, it remained utterly fearless, continuing to gnaw frantically at the trash can lid.
After a standoff that lasted about half an hour, Renee Jennings suddenly thought of something and turned, sprinting back the way she came.