“What?! Everyone Except Me Is a Villain (GL) - Chapter 10

Zhen Xier wanted to respond, but before she could speak, the math teacher’s sharp voice cut through the air.
“Those two in the back no whispering during the test!”

At once, Jin Buning looked down at her paper and pretended to focus on answering questions.

Zhen Xier, on the other hand, gave her a few long looks, her eyes filled with confusion. Soon, though, sensing the attention from their classmates, she put on a soft smile, turned to her own paper, and began writing with practiced ease.

If Jin Buning were to ask her again how to be so well-liked, Zhen Xier would have told her that the secret was simple to be good at everything.

Today’s exam was easy. For someone like Zhen Xier, already pre-admitted into Paradise University, it was practically meaningless. But she liked the atmosphere of school—the sense of control it gave her. Here, she could steer her own fate, instead of drifting along the dull path her father had paved for her.

Without realizing it, her gaze drifted back to Jin Buning. The girl’s brows were furrowed tightly, her fair skin faintly flushed, her whole expression earnest and focused. She had that bright, sunlit look that Zhen Xier could never possess.

People like Zhen Xier those who lived in the shadows, instinctively despised that kind of radiance.

Yet, perhaps because of all the strange things that had happened today, for once, Zhen Xier didn’t feel disgusted. Instead, she felt… intrigued. Maybe this ordinary transfer student would be the only spark of chaos in her otherwise uneventful life.

System message: Warning. Hostility detected from Zhen Xier.

The mechanical voice chimed in Jin Buning’s mind. She heard it but didn’t care. Compared to Zhen Xier’s obvious malice, the math problems in front of her were far scarier.

She had once completed a full high school education. But after that, she had spent over a thousand years cultivating in the immortal realm. When she returned, she had been trapped reliving that same night over and over again.

So, when faced with a senior-year math paper, she stared at it as if it were written in another language. Honestly, compared to this, fighting the villain bosses had been easy.

She tried to recall the formulas she used to know but failed miserably.

“Time’s up. Pass your papers forward.”

The math teacher’s sudden voice made her jolt. Jin Buning blinked in disbelief. Two hours had already passed. Which meant she had survived another two hours.

Still, she felt deflated, like a balloon losing air. The blow to her confidence was almost physical.

“The exam today was very simple,” the teacher announced coldly. “Anyone who didn’t pass will take a make-up test.”

And though the teacher’s tone was even, Jin Buning couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d been looked at a beat too long.

Around her, students groaned and complained. Jin, however, sat motionless expression dead, soul deader.

System message: Warning. Hostility detected from Zhen Xier.

Jin turned stiffly, catching Zhen Xier staring at her with that same faint smile curious, playful, as though watching some fascinating little creature.

“Xier,” Jin said awkwardly, “you must’ve done really well on the test, huh?”

She discreetly checked the system’s “event log” and saw that Zhen Xier had stopped writing halfway through the exam around thirty minutes in, and had spent the rest of the time watching her.

Which meant the test was too easy, and Zhen Xier had gotten bored enough to use her as entertainment.

Just the thought made Jin’s scalp tingle. If there were a thousand ways to die, she was sure Zhen Xier’s gaze alone could have killed her ten times over.

Zhen Xier’s lips curved sweetly. “Oh, not bad. But I know you, Ning Ning top student from Ocean High. Judging by how serious you looked, you must’ve done great too.”

The tone was honeyed but dripping with irony.

Jin, however, let out a breath of relief.

The reaction made Zhen Xier blink. She didn’t understand. She had just insulted the girl why did she look relieved?

“N-No, not really,” Jin said quickly, playing along. “I’m not very smart. I just… try harder than most.”

She added with utmost sincerity, “I’m also very patient and easy to get along with.”

Zhen Xier was speechless. For a second, she wondered if the girl in front of her had been switched with someone else. The Jin Buning in her files was supposed to be arrogant and unyielding, not… this oddly earnest, polite creature delivering what sounded like a dating profile.

Even Zhen Xier who had dealt with all kinds of people, found herself at a loss for words.

“So,” Jin continued, lips dry but smiling bravely, “if I fail this test… would you mind tutoring me sometime, Xier?”

Her goal was simple: get close, act harmless, survive.

If she played the fool, Zhen Xier would feel superior and lose interest. Besides, she truly didn’t remember a thing about math anymore.

Zhen Xier blinked, startled. “What?”

She couldn’t tell if she’d misheard. Was this the same girl who used to compete with her over every score?

Maybe the fall this morning really had scrambled Jin Buning’s brain.

A hot flash of irritation rose in Zhen Xier’s chest. Without thinking, she shot up from her seat. But she wasn’t used to sudden movements and accidentally banged her knee against the desk leg. Pain shot up her leg, and she almost teared up but the humiliation stung worse.

Before she could think of what to do, Jin Buning subtly kicked her own chair, making a loud clatter.

The noise drew the class’s attention, but when they saw it was Jin, they quickly turned away and went back to chatting about lunch.

“Xier,” Jin said softly, “time for lunch.”

Just then, Zhen Xier’s friends appeared at the door all of them stunning, glamorous in their own way. Yet no matter how they dressed up, none could outshine Zhen Xier’s natural, bare-faced beauty.

Zhen Xier hesitated for a moment, glancing at Jin, her expression faintly questioning.

One of her friends, the curviest of the bunch, eyed Jin with open curiosity. “Wow, who’s the new beauty? Haven’t seen her before.”

Jin remembered these girls. In every previous loop, each of them had met a miserable end. Seeing them alive now felt… strange.

She straightened and smiled politely. “I’m Zhen Ning, the transfer student.”

The group froze at her surname. There weren’t many people in Paradise City who could afford to carry the Zhen name.

“Oh,” one of them said slowly. “Zhen Ning… as in, the Zhen family’s daughter?”

At that, Zhen Xier’s eyes darkened. Everyone knew the truth that she had been replaced. And everyone also knew what it meant to be tied to the Zhen family’s name. Their reputation was so rotten that even dogs would kick them if they could.

If Jin Buning was Zhen Ning now, then the one meant to be hated would be her.

“Yes,” Jin said with a sunny smile. “And you are…?”

Her tone was gentle, her smile dazzling. It caught the girls off guard they had expected arrogance, not warmth.

“Let’s go,” Zhen Xier said quietly, tugging her friend’s sleeve. “I’m starving.”

Sensing her discomfort, the others didn’t linger. They followed her out.

The classroom fell silent again. Jin packed up her things and headed for the cafeteria.

On the way, Teacher Dong messaged her privately, explaining how the cafeteria worked and even sending payment instructions so thoughtful it made Jin’s chest ache a little.

She didn’t understand the woman’s kindness. But she believed that one day, she would. Sooner or later, she’d uncover this place’s secrets.

For now, though, she needed an unregistered phone and a fake identity the system couldn’t trace. Maybe, just maybe, the so-called dating app could help her with that.

“Hey, that’s Zhen Ning, right? She looks decent enough, but who knew she’s the Zhen family’s wicked daughter!”

“Ugh, can you believe she became Lord Baili’s assistant? If my parents were as rich as hers, I’d be his dog too!”

The cafeteria buzzed with whispers.

Jin Buning found herself almost nostalgic. Some rumors, after all, were true. She had broken the school heartthrob’s arm once because he wouldn’t keep his mouth clean. Years of combat training had made her reflexes sharp, and he’d just happened to test her patience one too many times.

She hadn’t actually broken it completely, she wasn’t stupid but the incident had been enough for the Zhen family to ruin his entire family’s fortune in retaliation. Then, using the excuse of “improper school conduct,” they had conveniently transferred her to Paradise High the real daughter’s school.

And as rumors spread, the story became more twisted.

In some versions, it wasn’t the boy who harassed her it was her who attacked him out of lust and failed, crippling him in rage. In others, she was a violent bully who ruled the school with fear.

Every version painted her worse than before.

Because she bore the Zhen name, her every flaw was magnified into sin.

Even after being cast out of the family, the stain never washed away.

If her countless deaths could be divided, one-third were caused by the five villains, one-third by her cursed identity as the Zhen heiress, and the last third by absurd, inexplicable “accidents.”

But now, she wasn’t so sure those accidents were accidents at all.

Perhaps every death had been murder. And those five “geniuses” had simply hidden their crimes too well.

The dating app hadn’t just given her a new mission it had shown her the truth.

“Student, your rice bowl’s ready.”

The cafeteria lady’s voice pulled her back to reality. Jin looked down at the steaming bowl of red-stew rice, nodded, and reached for it.

System message: Warning. Abnormality detected in rice bowl.

She froze mid-step, sighed quietly, and sat down again, staring at the food in front of her.

Even her lunch wanted her dead.