“What?! Everyone Except Me Is a Villain (GL) - Chapter 5

Just as Jin Buning stepped into the car, a translucent message box popped up before her eyes.
The mission appeared as a floating envelope. She glanced at the driver in the front seat, then quietly reached out and took hold of it.

The once-illusory envelope solidified in her hands it was warm, almost as if freshly forged.
When she touched it, a mechanical voice chimed: [Identity verified.]
The envelope unfolded into glowing lines of text.

The very first mission was simple and brutal.
Jin Buning read it several times, trying to spot any hidden traps between the lines.
The biggest trap, of course, was also the most obvious.

Her current stats were displayed clearly: Stamina: 50 / 100.
That meant those extra 10 points weren’t going to come easily.
Surviving 24 hours on the first day at a new school especially a place filled with people who might want her dead was anything but simple.

Still, the reward system hinted at something more.
If she could really gain power through this so-called “Love App,” maybe she’d finally have a way to restore her cultivation.
If she could use her immortal skills again, no matter how cruel those villains were, she’d have nothing to fear.

A sharp glint flashed in her eyes.
Pretending to scroll through her phone, Jin Buning discreetly explored the App’s interface.
Most of the features were locked, but she could still make out categories like Skills, Store, and Social.

She never thought she’d end up relying on a dating app—of all things—to deal with five dangerous villains.

“Miss, we’ve reached the school gates. From here on, you’ll have to walk.”

The driver’s polite reminder pulled her back to reality.
“Got it,” she replied calmly, closing the App screen before stepping out of the car with her backpack.

The moment she set foot on the ground, sunlight spilled across her face.
It was warm gentle in a way that made her strangely at peace.
For reasons she couldn’t name, the same sunlight she’d seen countless times now felt new, alive.

A few students nearby stole glances her way.
She caught their eyes and smiled politely.
That single smile sent them into a fluster.

“Who’s that? I’ve never seen her before!”
“Right? Someone that pretty, I’d definitely remember. Maybe a transfer student?”
“But she’s wearing a senior badge who transfers this late into senior year?!”

Paradise High School.
A classic elite academy.

Every student here was born into wealth or power.
It was the social battlefield where the city’s next generation of nobles, heirs, and politicians trained for the future.

And the Zhen family, her so-called family was at the top of that world.
Zhen Batian, the current head, was the city’s richest man.
But his reputation was a disaster: ruthless, cunning, and surrounded by enemies.

From his father’s generation down to his son’s, the Zhen men all shared the same streak of arrogance.
The mere mention of their name could get you punched in some circles.

Zhen Batian’s paranoia had driven him to a new level of madness.
When a fortune-teller claimed his daughter, Zhen Xier, wouldn’t live past eighteen, he created a horrifying plan.
He’d find a fake daughter to take her place.
That fake daughter was Jin Buning.

This was the year she officially began “switching identities” with Zhen Xier.
A year later, during Xier’s eighteenth birthday banquet, the two would exchange roles again.
To prevent the real daughter from being “tainted,” the Zhen family kept the girls completely apart for seven years.

Jin Buning took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.
She’d done this too many times already revisiting the same painful memories, the same fear.

As she walked through the opulent corridors of Paradise High, she realized the place was even larger than she remembered.
It was both familiar and foreign.
She was supposed to report to the teachers’ office first before being led to class…

But this school was a maze.
Every corner gleamed with luxury marble floors, chandeliers, gold accents.
Students hurried past in clusters: some with makeup kits and handheld consoles, others clutching textbooks like their lives depended on it.

The hardworking ones aimed to become assistants or aides to the wealthy heirs.
The rest? Even the poorest of them owned multiple properties and had no real worries in life.

[Warning! Unknown hostility detected!]

The system alert jolted her.
Someone was watching her closely.

Jin Buning didn’t look around.
Instead, she calmly opened her navigation app and said aloud, “Start walking navigation.”

The voice guidance began to play, and through her phone’s reflection, she subtly scanned her surroundings.
No one is obvious.
But the hostility level indicator dropped from 80% to 50%. Whoever it was had lowered their guard, maybe mistaking her for a clueless rich girl.

Good. That was the image she needed to project.

Still, the sensation lingered someone was watching her from afar.
And if she had to guess, it could only be one of the five villains.
No one else in this world hated her that much.

After several cautious turns, she finally exited the danger zone and found the senior-year teachers’ office.

“Hello, I’m the new transfer student—Zhen Ning.”

The woman at the desk, plump with a kindly face, looked up in surprise.
“Zhen Ning? Oh! Didn’t I text you to go straight to your classroom?”

The teacher fumbled for her phone, double-checking her messages.
In her haste, her cup of soy milk toppled over.

Jin Buning reacted instantly, catching it midair.
Her reflexes were sharper than ever.

“Good reflexes! Welcome to Class 3-A, Zhen Ning.”

“Thank you, teacher. I didn’t receive your message, so I thought I should report in person,” Jin Buning replied evenly.
She hadn’t been allowed a phone until this morning, much less any contact info.

“Oh? Maybe I added the wrong account then. What’s your username?”

“‘SleeplessEveryNight.’”

The moment she said it, she cringed inwardly. What was I thinking back then?

“Huh… I must’ve added someone else. Who was I chatting with, then?”
The teacher turned her screen around, showing a profile picture of a golden peony.

Jin Buning recognized it instantly it belonged to the Zhen family’s butler, Wang.
He must’ve replied to the teacher in her place, then forgotten about it entirely.

“Probably just a mix-up, Teacher. Why don’t we add each other properly now?”

They exchanged contacts and joined the class group chat.

“The students are quiet, so we mainly use the group for announcements,” the teacher explained.
Her earlier irritation had completely vanished maybe catching that soy milk had helped.

Jin Buning smiled politely, though her gaze briefly flicked to the system overlay.

Name: Dong Xuewen
Stamina: 10
Intelligence: 80
Charm: 50
Overall Rating: D-class NPC

For some reason, the ranking system irked her.
She had higher stats overall but was still just an E-class cannon fodder.
At least most people around here seemed to be D or E. That was… something.

“Everyone’s probably at the auditorium now,” said Teacher Dong. “Still, it’s impressive you found this office. If you hadn’t, you might’ve died wandering around!”

She froze right after saying it, horrified at her own words.
“I mean, uh—gotten lost! It’s just such a big school, you know?”

Jin Buning nodded calmly. “I can imagine starving to death here after getting lost.”

Her tone was so serious that the teacher laughed awkwardly.

But Jin Buning didn’t smile.
Because she had died in this school before being starved to death, hunted by one of the villains.

Her gaze darkened. This world was suffocating five intertwining fates, five monsters in human skin, and her, caught right in the middle.

Just then, the system blared again:

[Warning: Incoming hostility detected!]

She snapped to alert.
Something was coming fast from above.

Jin Buning ducked, narrowly dodging as a heavy flowerpot smashed against the ground beside her.

Her heart pounded. That could’ve killed her.

Before she could react further, a panicked voice shouted.

“Xier! Are you alright?!”

That name froze her bl00d.

Zhen Xier.

The real daughter.
The beginning of every tragedy.

And just like that, Jin Buning realized.

 Surviving 24 hours might be much harder than she thought.