Chapter 1

[Let me show you something good.]

Her phone chimed several times. Ruan Xin opened the message and saw that it was from her older sister, Ruan Meng.

Still half asleep, she tapped the link.

Reborn: The Spirit-Eyed Heiress of the Underworld

Synopsis: Before her rebirth, she was the treasured daughter of her family, only to have her place stolen by her white-lotus best friend. Her boyfriend cheated on her, her vicious younger sister framed her, and after her reputation was utterly destroyed, the three of them delivered the final blow from behind.

After her rebirth, she returns with supernatural powers and a pocket dimension, vowing to reclaim everything that rightfully belongs to her. She exposes her best friend’s false façade, kicks her scumbag boyfriend to the curb, and takes both the underworld and the business world by storm…

Ruan Xin couldn’t help laughing.

As a longtime reader of this sort of Mary Sue rebirth novel, she was all too familiar with the formula.

Of course, she no longer enjoyed reading them.

It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with the genre itself. Certain plotlines simply rubbed her the wrong way—plagiarism [unauthorized copy]and stealing other people’s work, for instance.

These female leads were often reborn as victims, yet were completely incompetent at heart. They only managed to rise to the top by copying other people’s creations.

They criticized others for being vicious all day long, but never seemed to realize how disgusting their own actions were.

Ruan Xin hadn’t thought much of it at first, but the more she read, the more uncomfortable it made her feel. It was like opening your mouth to yawn, only for a fly to zoom straight inside.

Eventually, she came to hate this trope so much that whenever she encountered a novel like this, she couldn’t rest until she had thoroughly torn it apart.

Ruan Xin rubbed her hands together, ready to unleash a devastating barrage of criticism.

Expressionlessly, she opened the novel.

The first chapter followed the usual formula and introduced the background.

The female lead of The Spirit-Eyed Heiress of the Underworld was named Ye Muyan—a perfectly standard Mary Sue name with a hint of freshness to it.

Ye Muyan came from a wealthy family, but she had fallen out with them many years ago. As a popular celebrity, she naturally relied on her ethereal public persona and beauty to make a living.

But how could Ye Muyan possibly be an angel?

In private, she raced cars and drank. Her personality could be described as spoiled to the point of arrogance. However, she wasn’t actually malicious and treated the people around her exceptionally well. She was the classic sharp-tongued but softhearted type.

Someone like that was practically begging to be taken advantage of.

Sure enough, disaster struck before even half the chapter had passed.

First, Ye Muyan was framed. Then a scandal broke, and basketfuls of dirt from her past were dug up, including some unsavory incidents from her school days.

In an instant, jealous netizens across the internet began viciously attacking her.

To escape the uproar, Ye Muyan planned to hide at her wealthy best friend’s house for a while. Unexpectedly, her driver took her to the outskirts of the city and made up an excuse to get her out of the car.

Naturally, Ye Muyan believed him.

While she stood outside calling her best friend, the driver suddenly stepped on the gas and ran her over.

“Is she dead?”

As soon as those words fell, the villainous trio made their entrance.

They were the fake best friend, the scumbag boyfriend, and the vicious younger sister. Ruan Xin nearly cursed aloud when she reached this part, because the female lead’s younger sister was also named Ruan Xin!

Ruan Xin could already guess what would happen next, but because of this character, she continued reading.

The best friend stopped and raised her chin, looking down at Ye Muyan as she lay in a pool of blood.

Perhaps she found the sight disgusting, or perhaps she couldn’t bear to look at it. She glanced at the blood staining the car, where black and crimson seemed on the verge of blending together.

While the other two were fighting back their nausea, a trace of satisfaction flashed through the younger sister Ruan Xin’s eyes.

She then wrapped her arm around the boyfriend and gave a delicate smile. “Sister, you’ll give us your blessing, won’t you?”

“Blessing, my ass!”

Ruan Xin said it on the female lead’s behalf.

Ye Muyan, however, felt as though venomous creatures were biting into her heart. She didn’t understand. She had always doted on this stepsister, so why…

“You’re going to die soon, aren’t you, Sister?”

The younger sister continued, “All these years… I’ve been so exhausted. I don’t understand why a worthless piece of trash like you gets to live better than me. I’ve been better than you at everything since we were children, but I never once showed off. Yet you—”

Her tone abruptly changed.

“Why did you always have to flaunt everything in front of me? Being branded a thief by the entire school back then must have felt awful, didn’t it? Do you know why he chose my side? Because your temper is unbearable, just like your mother’s! Do you really think anyone wants anything to do with you? Your assistant and your friends all hate you!”

The supporting character Ruan Xin stared straight at Ye Muyan, her eyes brimming with venomous hatred.

“So you deserve this! Do you understand? You deserve it!”

“…”

The Ruan Xin reading the novel nearly choked with rage. She could finally feel the malice behind her ridiculous sister’s recommendation…

Although this supporting character shared her name, Ruan Xin wanted nothing more than to kick such a weak and pathetic piece of trash into oblivion.

In short, the second chapter did little more than explain to the female lead and the readers that those three had been responsible for every misfortune she had suffered over the years.

For instance, her best friend had stolen Ye Muyan’s bracelet and taken her place, allowing her to live in luxury and happily enjoy the life of a wealthy young lady. The scumbag boyfriend acted like the perfect partner in front of Ye Muyan, but he had actually been involved with her younger sister for a long time.

Ruan Xin could predict most of what happened afterward.

Following her rebirth, the female lead became completely ruthless.

She showed no mercy to anyone who provoked her. As the story progressed, she gradually lost all compassion and warmth. It seemed that no one except the male lead—and nothing except money—could catch her eye.

As a result, the comments split into two camps. One side complained that the female lead was too coldhearted and vicious and could afford to be a little kinder. The other praised her for acting decisively without dragging things out.

Ruan Xin had no particular fondness for Ye Muyan. She skimmed most of the story and focused only on the vicious younger sister’s scenes.

Still, she had to admit that the villainous Ruan Xin was ridiculously tenacious.

By the time she reached the end, Ruan Xin had grown somewhat numb. She even began to find the character rather pitiful.

The female lead’s daily life consisted of three things:

Building her career, falling in love, and beating up her younger sister.

And she didn’t merely beat her—she found all sorts of creative ways to do it.

The supporting character Ruan Xin was equally dedicated to her role. Every time the female lead crushed her, she would crawl back up and become stronger. Once she had leveled up, she would challenge the female lead again, only to get beaten once more. The same cycle repeated endlessly.

Given Ye Muyan’s personality and abilities, killing her younger sister would have been incredibly easy. Yet she remained attached to their shared past and still held on to the tiniest scrap of mercy.

But it truly was only the tiniest scrap.

Finally, six chapters before The Spirit-Eyed Heiress of the Underworld was due to end, the vicious stepsister could no longer endure the humiliation and chose death.

Ruan Xin put down her phone and rubbed her eyes.

She felt tired. When she looked up, she found the room completely dark.

Was it already nighttime?

She yawned, suddenly overcome with sleepiness.

“Boo-hoo… I’m so miserable.”

A faint, feeble voice whimpered beside her ear in the darkness.

“Who’s there?”

Ruan Xin sprang up in fright. When she opened her eyes, she saw a woman. She couldn’t make out the woman’s face, but blood was gushing from her neck.

It seemed she was having a nightmare about a ghost.

Ruan Xin calmed down and asked, “Who are you? I’ve never wronged you, so why have you come looking for me?”

The woman replied, “I’m Ruan Xin—Ye Muyan’s younger sister.”

“You really did have it rough,” Ruan Xin blurted out.

After speaking, she rubbed her face and wondered if she had become too absorbed in the novel.

“This isn’t a dream.”

The supporting character Ruan Xin seemed to see through her thoughts. She then asked, “You hate Ye Muyan too, don’t you?”

Trying to remain impartial, Ruan Xin replied, ​stolen content​“Not really. If you’d treated Ye Muyan better, you wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

“Shut up!”

The supporting character Ruan Xin flew into a rage and began ranting incoherently. “Why should I have to grovel before her? Am I supposed to spend my entire life barely surviving in her shadow? I don’t want to be like those lapdogs, picking up whatever scraps she leaves behind! I don’t care—you’re the person I finally managed to find, so you have to help me!”

Ruan Xin sneered. “Why are you yelling? Will it accomplish anything? You’re already dead, yet you still have so much to say.”

The supporting character Ruan Xin sounded almost deranged. “I couldn’t defeat her, so you do it! Go ruin her life! Replace her! Steal her men! Make her spend the rest of her life alone! I hate her! Why do so many people love her? Why?!”

Ruan Xin cursed inwardly and tried to escape the dream.

“Heh. You can’t leave.”

Before she could retreat, the supporting character’s sinister chuckle came from behind her.

The next moment, Ruan Xin felt someone kick her. The ghost behind her burst into wild laughter.

“Off you go!”

…

“No…”

Ruan Xin struggled. The instant she opened her eyes, she found herself staring at an enormous face.

“Ruan Xin! Class Monitor Ruan!”

The speaker was a skinny, dark-skinned girl with buck teeth, dressed in a gray-and-white school uniform.

Ruan Xin looked dazed. “Are you talking to me?”

As she spoke, she looked around. No matter how she examined her surroundings, this place looked like a school infirmary.

“This is bad! Really bad! Someone’s trying to beat up your sister! There are so many of them!”

In her panic, the girl grabbed Ruan Xin and pulled her up. Yet the moment their hands touched, she quickly withdrew hers, as though afraid she might dirty Ruan Xin.

“What?! Who dares lay a hand on her? I’ll kill them!”

Furious, Ruan Xin shot to her feet, put on her shoes, and stormed toward the door.

Her reaction terrified the girl. In a voice as faint as a mouse’s squeak, she said, “Shouldn’t we… tell a teacher first?”

Tell a teacher?

Those words snapped Ruan Xin back to her senses.

Something was wrong. She and Ruan Meng had already graduated.

A few days ago, Ruan Meng had gone on a trip with her partner while Ruan Xin had stayed home reading. Then there had been that voice…

Ruan Xin lowered her head and looked at her hands.

They were pale, soft, and incredibly slender, so fragile they looked as though they might snap with the slightest pressure. Her delicate fingers were tinged with faint pink, while a piece of medical tape remained stuck to the back of her hand, with a layer of cotton beneath it.

“This…”

She opened her mouth, her throat slightly hoarse.

Ruan Xin looked at the girl again and asked, “Who are you?”

The girl’s mouth fell open in fright. She hurriedly reassured her, “Class monitor, did your fever muddle your head? You’re in poor health, so you shouldn’t get too worked up. I’m the math representative, Li Zishu. Li—Zi—shu.”

“Li Zishu… Pear tree…” Ruan Xin tilted her head in thought and nearly swore aloud.

Wasn’t this the female lead’s younger sister’s lackey?!

According to the original novel, Ruan Xin naturally looked down on someone so unattractive and meek and would never truly consider her a friend. She merely wanted to make use of Li Zishu.

Ruan Xin was the center of the entire class, while Li Zishu was an outcast. Befriending her made Ruan Xin appear kind and generous. Li Zishu’s appearance also served to make her look even better by comparison. Most importantly—

She was useful.

“Li Zishu. I remember now.”

Coming back to her senses, Ruan Xin nodded stiffly. Inwardly, she cursed the original character countless times.

As someone who had spent years reading novels, she immediately understood what sort of situation she had landed in.

Reading about other people transmigrating Read on BaiLianTales into novels was nothing unusual, but transmigrating into one herself was another matter entirely.

Instead of rushing off to find the female lead, she glanced at the name badge pinned to Li Zishu’s chest.

Grade Seven, Class A: Li Zishu.

When Ruan Xin was in seventh grade, Ye Muyan was in ninth.

Ninth grade…

Combined with the current events in the story, Ruan Xin concluded that the female lead had already been reborn for nearly two months.

Buzz—

A dull vibration sounded, and Ruan Xin suddenly felt a slight sting in her neck.

She reached up and touched it. It felt as though something were steadily tightening around her throat, each contraction accompanied by a jolt of electricity.

Immediately afterward, a cheerful notification rang beside her ear:

“As an intruder, please fulfill the original host’s wish: [Erase the love Ye Muyan’s current male admirers feel for her.]”