“What?! Everyone Except Me Is a Villain (GL) - Chapter 33

Xu Yixin kept her usual smile, as if hiding what she was really thinking. Jin Buning knew she was being too hasty, but sitting here guessing endlessly would only waste time.

Then, just as she finished speaking, a pop-up window appeared before her eyes.

It was as if the dating app had judged her stats too low to qualify as Xu Yixin’s ally and then immediately offered alternative “strategy routes.”

Jin Buning stared at the screen, speechless with irritation, when Xu Yixin’s calm voice brought her back.

“I’ll have to think about it.”

Even when rejecting her, Xu Yixin’s tone remained gentle and polite. If it weren’t for the app’s prompt, Jin Buning might not have realized she’d just been turned down.

But thinking about it, Xu Yixin’s response made perfect sense. In her eyes, Jin Buning was a girl trapped in a heavily surveilled house, with no power, no wealth, and no influence at best, a potential sidekick. And yet, even knowing that, Jin Buning refused to settle for such a role.

She walked back toward her bedroom, noticing the red dots scattered everywhere cameras, obvious and deliberate. But those were only the decoys. The real ones, the ones invisible to the naked eye, were hidden in every corner of the villa. She remembered ironically it was Xu Yixin who had once told her where they were.

Inside, the system’s alert tone chimed again, detecting multiple surveillance devices nearby. Ignoring it, Jin Buning went straight into the bathroom the only relatively private place and opened the app’s “Store” tab.

Instantly, a cascade of virtual items appeared before her. She navigated to the “Medicine” section and saw the long list of herbs she’d cataloged earlier thousands of ingredients, but only a handful could actually be refined into pills. The real problem was that alchemy required equipment, and she didn’t have a furnace.

She could buy one from the interdimensional store but the price was steep: 1,000 Memory Fragments.

Her heart sank. Scrolling further, she found a cheaper alternative: “Beginner Alchemy” came with a basic furnace.

“One hundred?” she muttered.

Checking her balance, she realized she only had ten fragments left after buying “Beginner Sword Control.” The gap felt discouraging. Gathering fragments was painfully slow almost as if this so-called “Dating App” didn’t want her to succeed.

Just then.

Ding-dong.

A new notification appeared.

Message: Hey there! Frustrated about not earning enough Memory Fragments? Try our Limited-Time Missions for massive fragment rewards and skill bonuses!

The cheerful tone was unsettlingly aware like the app had been reading her thoughts.

Are you spying on me? she asked silently.

No response. The cheerful message just lingered on-screen, seductive as a poisoned apple. And in this strange, empty world, Jin Buning realized she had no one to rely on but herself.

She exhaled deeply. “Fine,” she said aloud. “Start limited-time mission.”

At once, a glowing envelope materialized, marked with a bold B-rank insignia indicating moderate difficulty.

Message: Reminder: Failure to complete a limited-time mission will result in immediate termination.

Her stomach dropped. Still, she told herself that early missions couldn’t be too hard. “Confirm,” she said.

The envelope burst open, revealing the mission text.

[Reach the Zhen Family Estate within one hour.]
Reward: 10 Fragments
Failure Penalty: Death

Jin Buning frowned but at least it sounded doable. She quickly called No. 9, her new driver-bodyguard.

“Miss, it’s already nine p.m.,” No. 9’s voice came through, faint under the thumping background noise of a bar. “I’m off duty.”

“But I need to get to the Zhen estate right now it’s urgent.” Jin Buning tried to sound calm, though she hadn’t the faintest idea what she’d do once she got there.

Before she could finish, No. 9 hung up.

Jin Buning cursed under her breath. She’d have to go alone. But when she pulled up the map, her face paled.

The Zhen estate was at least an hour away in a straight line two by road, counting traffic and stoplights. Even if No. 9 came speeding, she’d never make it in time.

Minutes slipped away. Her mind raced. Then, suddenly she remembered.

Sword Control.

The thought hit her like lightning.

She rummaged through her room and dragged out an old skateboard.

“Activate Beginner Sword Control!” she declared, trying not to cringe at the words.

A faint glow formed around her hands the familiar hum of qi she hadn’t felt in ages. The skateboard trembled, then lifted off the ground… before smashing straight into the ceiling with a loud crack.

The light overhead flickered. The board darted erratically around the bathroom like a possessed spirit, knocking into walls. But Jin Buning didn’t care. She caught it, steadied her breath, and sprinted out the door.

Night cloaked the world outside. The black skateboard was nearly invisible as she stepped on it, praying it would hold.

The instant her foot touched it, gravity vanished. She shot upward, the cold air slapping her face. The higher she rose, the harsher the wind bit at her skin but pain was nothing compared to the thought of dying.

She pushed faster. Her heart pounded. The city shrank beneath her feet until, after a nerve-wracking thirty minutes of gliding and stalling, she finally spotted the sprawling Zhen estate below.

Only ten minutes left.

She hovered near the gates, waiting for the completion notice but nothing happened.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Desperate, she rang the doorbell. Once. Twice. No response.

Anxious, she pounded on the massive gate, but before she could do anything rash, the system’s warning appeared:

Message: Detected attempt to infiltrate Zhen estate. Success rate: 1%. Mortality rate: 99%.

The estate flickered into grayscale before her eyes revealing a network of glowing red dots, hundreds of hidden traps. Step inside, and she’d be vaporized by military-grade defenses.

Five minutes left.

She had no choice. She tried calling Zhen Wangzi blocked. Everyone else useless. Then, scrolling down her contacts, she saw one name that made her hesitate: Pei Fuliu.

Three minutes remaining. She hit “Call.”

And then—

A ringtone chimed behind her.

Jin Buning froze, turning slowly.

There, being pushed in a wheelchair by Aunt Liu, was Pei Fuliu herself—dressed in an elegant black suit, looking like she’d just returned from a gala. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of Jin Buning.

“Buning? What are you doing here?”

Her mind blanked. Of all people why her? But with death looming, Jin Buning threw away her pride and rushed forward.

“Madam Pei, please let me in! I left something important in the guest room!”

Pei Fuliu blinked, clearly unconvinced.

Desperate, Jin Buning crouched down to meet her gaze, feigning panic. “It’s a medical condition! If I don’t find it soon, I’ll… I’ll go crazy!”

For a moment, silence. Then, slowly, Pei Fuliu smiled.

She didn’t believe a word but she nodded anyway. “Very well. I’d like to see what’s so precious that you’d sneak here alone.”

The moment Pei Fuliu agreed, the system chimed softly in Jin Buning’s ear.

Mission complete.

Jin Buning exhaled in relief but the tension didn’t fade.

Because now that she was inside, she’d have to make her next set of lies convincing enough to survive Pei Fuliu herself.

“Madam Pei, I’ll just find it and leave,” she said quickly. Her voice trembled. She’d cleaned that room spotless earlier; there was nothing to find.

Pei Fuliu’s smile deepened. “No hurry. I was just thinking of taking a walk. Why don’t I join you? I’m curious to see what could make you run all the way back here.”

Her eyes glimmered with amused danger, as if she could already see through every single one of Jin Buning’s little tricks.

And Jin Buning could only force a shaky smile in return.