“What?! Everyone Except Me Is a Villain (GL) - Chapter 28

The perspective shifted back to Jin Buning.

Her brief encounter with Baili Ruobing had killed what little appetite she had left. Just imagining the gossip and stares she’d get at the cafeteria was enough to make her lose her will to eat. So instead, she opened the Love App’s shopping mall and bought some bread and milk, sitting down somewhere quiet in the garden to eat.

Unexpectedly, the things she bought through the app actually tasted better than the real versions. As she ate, her stamina bar rose from 40 to 60.

After a few experiments, she realized stamina was a composite stat that represented a blend of combat strength, endurance, and burst power. The displayed value was just the average of those three. That meant a high stamina score didn’t necessarily equal being “strong,” just that one aspect of those stats was unusually good.

That realization calmed her slightly. She continued nibbling on the bread while browsing the other goods in the app’s marketplace. The list was enormous, tens of thousands of items, but only a few thousand were available for her to purchase.

According to the rules, she could only buy things she had physically touched before. Anything she hadn’t used would remain locked until she made physical contact with it in real life.

It was a logical setup, but still felt like one of those annoying game mechanics where you have to grind stats to unlock new content. Because of it, she could only buy a few types of traditional medicine for now. The worst part was that while Western medicines came in boxes she could easily handle, most Chinese herbs required direct handling with gloves or bare hands.

If she went around touching every kind of herb, she’d probably get beaten up or worse, trigger an early “Game Over.” But if she tried buying a bunch and then touching them afterward, that might make the Zhen family suspicious.

Jin Buning frowned, feeling a headache coming on. She flipped through her contacts, searching for someone in her social circle who could help her gain access to the herbs she needed. She had to take this first step if she wanted to start refining pills again and increase her usefulness.

Her eyes soon landed on the perfect candidate, Xu Yixin, the effortlessly charming girl who turned heads wherever she went.

Every villain had a certain “irresistible” quality about them, but Xu Yixin was different. She had something the other big bosses lacked a fatal weakness.

Notification: You’ve transferred 521 credits to Xu Yixin.

The moment she sent it, a new pop-up appeared.

System message: “Transfer any amount to Xu Yixin for thirty consecutive days to earn 100 memory fragments. (Current streak: Day 1.)”

The Love App’s manipulative little romance gimmicks were back at it again. Jin Buning didn’t even blink, she just sent a pulsing heart emoji and typed: ‘I want to see you.’

Since her every move was monitored, she could only speak in hints. Of course, this kind of flirtatious message wasn’t new she’d done this many times before. To outsiders, it looked like Jin Buning was hopelessly simping for Xu Yixin. Only Jin Buning knew she was merely a convenient “tool.”

People thought she was bewitched by beauty, always running errands for Xu Yixin. In truth, their relationship was one of mutual benefit.

And Xu Yixin, for her part, loved to blur the line between friend and flirt. She’d stroke Jin Buning’s face, interlace their fingers, and even straddle her lap face-to-face at times. But both of them knew the truth, neither had any romantic interest in the other.

Because of that, Jin Buning didn’t really mind the fake affection. Unfortunately, every one of Xu Yixin’s “special events” required money. A lot of money. Collecting all her memory fragments would cost at least a hundred million credits and require meeting a long list of bizarre conditions.

But the biggest reason Jin Buning kept her distance? She wasn’t stupid enough to actually fall for a villain. That would be a one-way ticket to an even more miserable death than any of her previous 138 endings.

Three minutes later, Xu Yixin replied.

[Private Chat | Xu Yixin]: “Miss me already? Too bad I can’t leave right now. Let’s meet after school, okay?”

She’d accepted the 521 credits without hesitation. Her reply came with a sticker of a winking kitten—it was almost too easy to picture her tossing a teasing smile.

[Private Chat | Jin Buning]: “Okay. I’ll wait.”

Expressionless, Jin Buning sent back a simple heart emoji and ended the chat. She lifted her milk carton, intending to finish the last sip.

Alert: Warning! Hostile intent detected!

The sudden system warning startled her so much that she choked on the milk, coughing violently. For a moment, she panicked, had someone poisoned her drink while she wasn’t paying attention?

“Cough, cough—!”

Thankfully, the system didn’t register any real abnormalities. Jin Buning scanned her surroundings carefully but saw no one suspicious. Maybe the person was just hidden really well. Or maybe this entire Paradise Academy was riddled with hidden passageways.

It wasn’t the first time she’d sensed this kind of malicious intent, but one thing was clear: it wasn’t coming from any of the main villains.

Her coughing finally subsided, though her throat still burned. She stood up, intending to buy another drink from the vending machine nearb, then caught sight of a figure in the distance.

The woman stood bathed in sunlight, painting quietly. Her concentration, her posture, the gentle gleam of her brush, all of it made the world around her fade away. The light fell just right, framing her and her canvas like a living painting.

Jin Buning couldn’t look away. She froze where she stood.

Unfortunately, her staring didn’t go unnoticed. The woman looked up, and the moment their eyes met, a sharp chill shot through the air. Her expression darkened, eyes filled with irritation as if Jin Buning had trespassed into her private world.

Her face, beautiful and cold, now carried an edge like a rose with thorns, gorgeous, but dangerous to touch.

System message: “New character detected. Would you like to view details?”

Jin Buning automatically selected “yes.”

Name: Zheng Si
Age: 28
Occupation: Teacher / Designer
Stamina: 100 / 10
Intelligence: 100 / 10
Charm: 100
Overall Rating: S-Class, Chosen One
Favorability toward Host: -999 / 50

Jin Buning inhaled sharply. Those stats were absurd. But more alarming was how split they looked like they belonged to two completely different people.

“What are you doing here?”

Zheng Si’s voice cut through the air, cold and hostile. The paintbrush in her hand looked like it could turn into a weapon at any moment.

This was a side of Zheng Si she’d never seen before. Normally, she was quiet, polite, the picture of a soft-spoken, slightly timid teacher-next-door type. But now? She looked like a predator ready to strike.

“I’m sorry,” Jin Buning said instinctively. “I just wanted to buy some water.”

To her own surprise, she felt intimidated. That look in Zheng Si’s eyes, she’d only seen something like it from demonic cultivators in her past lives. Eyes honed by countless kills.

If she had to compare, Zheng Si wasn’t a thorny rose she was a black dahlia, dangerously beautiful and utterly lethal.

At her apology, Zheng Si’s expression softened slightly, and she returned to her painting, ignoring Jin Buning. Relieved, Jin Buning quickly bought a bottle of water and retreated to a corner out of sight. Even then, she couldn’t shake the feeling of unease.

Curious, she opened Zheng Si’s event list.

[Event]: Spend one night in Zheng Si’s room +100 memory fragments
[Event]: Spend 100 nights in Zheng Si’s room +1000 memory fragments
[Event]: Share a confined space with Zheng Si for 100 hours +10000 memory fragments

If Xu Yixin’s tasks were about money, Zheng Si’s were about risking her life.

Every line screamed danger. Jin Buning couldn’t help but suspect that the secret tunnels beneath the Zhen estate had been designed by Zheng Si herself. And maybe just maybe some of those 138 deaths she’d experienced before had been at her hands.

The Love App’s existence made her reevaluate everything. It was all starting to make a twisted sort of sense now, and not in a comforting way.

She tightened her grip around the water bottle, lost in thought. Just then, she heard something soft, but off. Instinctively, she crept toward the sound.

Zheng Si had fallen to the ground, pale as a ghost, staring at her own painting in horror. It was as if her dominant personality had just returned and was terrified of what her other self had drawn.

Jin Buning hesitated. She didn’t want to get too close and risk being remembered, but curiosity won out. What on earth had she painted to scare herself like that?

“…Are you okay?”

She asked, glancing toward the easel.

Zheng Si jumped at her voice and, panicking, lunged forward to block her view. But she was too slow. Jin Buning caught her easily. Zheng Si was barely over 160 centimeters and, holding her steady, accidentally saw the painting.

“Is… that me?”

Her eyes widened.

On the canvas was her Jin Buning herself depicted in a sensual pose, barely clothed, staring straight at the viewer. The artwork was stunning, technically brilliant, bold, and charged with emotion. The sensuality almost leapt off the paper.

Heat rushed to Jin Buning’s face. For the first time in ages, she felt genuinely flustered.

Zheng Si struggled frantically in her arms, cheeks flaming red, trembling all over. Despite her earlier aura of menace, she was now like a fish out of water, weak, panicked, and on the verge of tears.

“Why did you paint me?” Jin Buning demanded, trying to make sense of it. The only time they’d seen each other before today was that morning, yet Zheng Si had painted her perfectly, down to every curve and shadow.

“I… I…”

Zheng Si’s voice broke. She was completely frazzled, unable to form a coherent excuse. Her eyes darted away, refusing to meet Jin Buning’s, shoulders trembling.

The contrast was almost dizzying just moments ago, she’d looked like she could kill with a glance. Now, she was a terrified mess, like a child caught doing something shameful.

And Jin Buning could only stand there, caught between shock, confusion… and a dawning sense of secondhand embarrassment.

Because no matter how she looked at it, Zheng Si had just socially died on the spot.