The Stand-In Alpha Goes Viral on a Dating Show - Chapter 2

I am not moved! Not even a little! Chi Wan screamed silently in her heart—but reality left her no room to escape.

As she made her way toward the filming set, she mentally calculated how to complete this infuriating task. According to the plot of the original novel, the original host would encounter five exes on this dating show. Three of them were Omega guests: an extreme sports enthusiast, a mega-popular influencer with millions of followers, and a CEO of a company valued at over a billion.

The other two exes were staff members on the show: assistant director Chu Rou, who came from a prominent family, and Meng Lan, a follow-cam videographer responsible for tracking the guests.

Chi Wan quickly sorted through her options. The three Omega guests were surely already on set, eager for a glimpse of their so-called “white moonlight.” Wall-pinning one of them (a kabedon) was unrealistic. The camera crew was probably also fully in place by now, making another wall-pinning just as unlikely.

Which left only one possible target…

With that thought, she turned on her heel and headed toward the backstage room she remembered. Sure enough, when she pushed the door open, Assistant Director Chu Rou was still inside.

She was muttering under her breath, clearly agitated, and stood up abruptly from the floor.

“Chi Wan, how could you treat me like this? One day, you’ll regret it!”

“Oh? Is that so?” Chi Wan raised a brow with a smile. “I’d love to see how you plan to make me regret it.”

She stepped into the room with elegant poise, her beauty glowing like a blooming peach blossom. The corners of her lips curled into a teasing smile. Walking from the dimly lit corridor into the chandelier-lit room, she looked like a fairy who had accidentally wandered into the mortal world.

Once inside, she gently pressed her wrist back, naturally closing the door behind her.

Click. The sound of the latch sliding into place made Chu Rou’s heart skip a beat.

Tap, tap, tap— the rhythmic click of red heels on the tile echoed through the room, like a slow drumbeat threatening to sync with the erratic rhythm of Chu Rou’s heartbeat.

It was only a three-meter distance, but Chu Rou’s slender neck tensed slightly, and she subconsciously swallowed hard.

“Chu Rou, are you nervous?” Chi Wan asked with a soft smile. Her voice was like jade striking jade, mellow and melodious. She reached out a hand toward the assistant director’s cheek.

“C-Chi Wan… what are you trying to do?” Chu Rou stammered, her voice trembling. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

“What am I doing?” Chi Wan smiled. “I just want to touch you.”

Her fingertips slipped into Chu Rou’s silky shoulder-length hair, and the cool pad of her finger brushed against the now-burning tip of Chu Rou’s ear. A faint, hoarse sigh escaped her lips.

“So warm. So hot.”

Chu Rou shivered uncontrollably. She had never imagined she’d be a voice kink—just a few words from Chi Wan, and her knees were already going weak.

She was probably blushing like crazy now. How humiliating.

And that gaze Chi Wan gave her—it practically sparked. Chu Rou hurriedly averted her eyes, no longer daring to meet her gaze. Lips pressed tightly together, she struggled to suppress her body’s reactions.

“The shoot’s about to start,” she murmured quickly, trying to regain control.

“Me?” Chi Wan tilted her head, deliberately interrupting her with a rhetorical question. Her light chuckle echoed around Chu Rou’s ears. Before the assistant director could recover, Chi Wan’s hand slid down from her ear and firmly pressed her shoulder, pushing her against the wall.

Chu Rou’s back hit the cold wall with a jolt. Her body flinched involuntarily. Just as panic started to rise, a smooth, fair hand slid through her hair, trailing down the curve of her neck and resting firmly against the wall beside her.

“Chu Rou,” Chi Wan whispered, “I’ve been wanting to do this to you.”

A breathy sigh lingered in the air, like a stone skimming the surface of a still lake, sending ripples through Chu Rou’s heart. In that moment of eye contact, she saw tears glistening at the corners of Chi Wan’s eyes and an unreadable smile tugging at her lips.

That wounded yet dangerous expression made Chu Rou’s heart pound even faster—tinged with a strange ache. In the end, she could only slump helplessly against the wall.

But when she finally snapped out of her daze… the room was empty.

________________________________________

【Congratulations, Host!】

Task completed: Successfully kabedon-ed any one of your exes.

Reward: +2% Charm (Electric Eyes)

【Next task: Within 3 days, acquire a personal belonging from a non-ex Omega guest.

Reward: +2% Sexy Red Lips】

What?! A personal item?

Do glasses count? Necklaces? Earrings?

【Regretfully, none of those qualify. Please figure it out yourself, Host!】

Are you kidding me?! Chi Wan nearly slipped into a snake-like sidestep from sheer frustration. She had just completed a mission, her mood had barely relaxed—and now this?

If that’s the case, why don’t you just say it straight: underwear or bust?

But if she did take an Omega guest’s underwear and got caught—wouldn’t that just make her look like a pervert?

This system is trying to ruin me! Chi Wan was fuming. Back in the real world, she had been peacefully working on her PhD. Graduation was right around the corner. She was set to stay on as a university lecturer with a six-figure salary.

But out of nowhere, the day before graduation, she was bound to this system and transmigrated into a book.

【Come on, Host! Look on the bright side. You’re several years younger now—just 19! Such a youthful and radiant age!】

Excuse me?! I was only 24 when I got my PhD—that’s still young! Give me back my PhD! Give me back my teaching position! Give me back my six-figure salary!

【Correction: You were only making tens of thousands a year. Where’d the six figures come from?】

It was just a matter of time, okay?!

Still bickering with the system, Chi Wan arrived at the filming location—an elegant three-story European-style villa.

As she pushed open the door, she locked eyes with several guests lounging on a long sofa. The air grew awkward in an instant.

Chi Wan froze because she had just remembered the original host’s luggage was still in a back room. She hadn’t picked it up. She was standing here empty-handed, which made her look suspicious as hell.

The Omega guests on the sofa stiffened out of guilt. They had all once treated the original host as a substitute—then ruthlessly abandoned her.

Sitting from left to right were: Lu Xin, the extreme sports enthusiast; Ruan Xiao, the influencer with tens of millions of followers; and Su Yao, the CEO of a billion-dollar company.

All three had sharp eyes. With one glance, they noticed the tear stains at the corner of Chi Wan’s eyes and sneered internally:

See? Still the same cowardly little crybaby. Chu Rou probably already handed her the script. Hmph—this’ll be good.

Chi Wan didn’t have time to study their microexpressions. Her mind was on that annoying mission: she had to get a personal item from a non-ex Omega guest.

In “Endless Heartbeats,” there were only five Omega guests total. Eliminating her three exes left just two options: Mo Wei, heiress to a major conglomerate, and An Ran, a university student.

Between the two, An Ran seemed like the easier target… if she wasn’t the final boss, that is.

In the novel, An Ran was introduced as a pure and innocent girl, but later transformed into a ruthless business tycoon. She founded a company and systematically bankrupted every supporting character. But the catalyst for her transformation was never explained.

As for the original host—tragic to the end. Not long after the dating show ended, she developed severe depression and jumped from the rooftop of a high-rise.

Years later, the villainess An Ran, having destroyed all her rivals, felt life had lost meaning. With manic laughter, she dove into the icy sea.

Neither Chi Wan nor An Ran had a happy ending.

Chi Wan quickly reviewed the original storyline in her mind and decided to first test whether An Ran was still in her “innocent girl” phase. If not, she’d have no choice but to target Mo Wei.

There were still three days left, so no need to rush. With a plan in mind, Chi Wan glanced around the villa and darted off toward the room where the original host’s luggage was stored.

The place turned out to be huge. She had to pass a lake to get there.

In the distance, she spotted a white-clad figure struggling to drag a suitcase.

White dress? Sun hat?

Chi Wan’s heart skipped a beat. Her steps faltered.

If she remembered correctly, the only one who wore a white dress on the first day… was the big villain herself—An Ran.

Well, whatever. If it’s fate, I won’t run from it. We’re going to be living under the same roof anyway.

An Ran stared at her broken suitcase, the wheels stuck and refusing to turn. Her lips curved into something like a sneer. Beneath the wide-brimmed sun hat, her expression was wooden.

She hadn’t expected to be reborn—yet here she was, waking up the day before the dating show. How pointless. Still, as if guided by fate, she decided to follow the path of her past life for now.

Just… see where it went.

She knew the suitcase would break. She hadn’t fixed or replaced it.

So under the sweltering sun, she trudged slowly forward, dragging the stubborn luggage behind her.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, a burst of color caught her attention.

A figure that shouldn’t have appeared in her past life.

The sunlight was blinding. An Ran squinted—and when she finally saw clearly, a flicker of shock crossed her mind.

Her?