After Transmigrating into a Book, I Became the Vicious Female Supporting Lead - Chapter 1

The June heat was at its peak. The sun blazed high, and the asphalt roads were baked to the point of nearly melting.

Outside the gates of No. 5 High School, however, it was exceptionally lively. The shade under the trees was packed with people. Crowds of parents stared longingly into the campus, their expressions a mix of nervousness and urgency.

“How much longer?”

“It’s past four; should be soon.”

“God bless, please let everything go well.”

A woman using a flyer to fan herself glanced inside, then looked down at her watch. Beside her, a woman in a qipao stared at the flapping paper for a moment before she couldn’t resist asking, “What’s written on that?”

The woman fanning herself didn’t seem to understand why she’d ask, but in the spirit of not offending anyone today, she spread the flyer out. “A cram school for GaoKao repeaters,” she said casually, not realizing the weight of her words. “These people really aren’t afraid of the heat, handing these out one by one under the big sun…”

The woman’s voice stopped abruptly. She looked at the paper again as if she’d seen a ghost, her face instantly turning sour as she flung the paper away.

“What kind of nonsense is this? Handing these out at the entrance of a GaoKao testing site? What are these people thinking?! How unlucky!”

Ding-ling-ling—

A crisp bell rang. Lin Qiyan packed her things and walked out of the examination hall. Having finished three years of grueling high school life, she felt so light she was practically floating.

The campus remained quiet; other exam rooms hadn’t finished collecting papers yet. It wasn’t until Lin Qiyan stepped out of the school gates that the surroundings erupted into noise.

The sun hung in the sky, the air shimmering with heat waves like a Van Gogh oil painting. Parents swarmed forward, ignoring the scorching sensation of skin-to-skin contact in the crowd.

Lin Qiyan stepped out of the gates and stretched. At that exact moment, the already loud surroundings doubled in volume. A gap suddenly opened in the crowd.

Lin Qiyan looked toward the noise. A wobbly van scraped the edge of the gap and headed straight for her in the center.

Time seemed to stretch infinitely. The relaxed smile on Lin Qiyan’s lips hadn’t fully formed before horror flickered into her eyes, frame by frame. The next moment, she was sent flying, drawing a graceful arc in the air before landing steadily on the burning asphalt. Right by her hand was a discarded flyer for GaoKao repeaters.

First came a deathly silence. Then, the scene erupted into chaos.

Traffic police on duty quickly dispersed the crowd, cordoning off an area centered around Lin Qiyan. Many people pulled out their phones to take pictures. In the photos, the smile on the young girl’s lips had not yet faded.

Unlike the chaos below, Lin Qiyan, floating in mid-air in a soul state, stared expressionlessly at the flashing little ball of light in front of her.

She had just grasped the secret of the world. This little light ball, blinking like a star from a nursery rhyme, was called a “System” from the Transmigration Bureau. The little thing had targeted the wrong host, turning her into a ghost under a van.

Lin Qiyan: “…”

Seriously, I’m speechless.

Under her gaze, the System’s glow grew dimmer and dimmer until it shrunk to the size of a fingertip. A weak, childish voice said, “I… I can compensate you…”

Lin Qiyan stared at the light ball until she was almost cross-eyed, maintaining a cold face. “How?” She pointed at her corpse below. “Can you bring me back to life?”

The System cringed. “I can send you to an alternate world. It’s a roundabout way of resurrection. Life is… well, life. It should be the same no matter where you are… right?”

Its voice grew smaller, clearly lacking confidence.

Lin Qiyan stared at it seriously for a while, various thoughts flashing through her mind, before finally sighing. “What kind of alternate world?”

The System instantly perked up, rustling through its main database. Its childish voice sounded cheerful. “Found it!! A female supporting character in a book world!”

It explained: “It’s like this: the original owner died due to some personal reasons. But her family is wealthy, and most importantly, her social circle is very simple. You don’t have to worry about going out of character (OOC), and there’s a high degree of freedom. You can treat it as living a new life in a new environment with a new identity.”

Lin Qiyan felt helpless. “Fine.”

Regardless, things were already like this. How much worse could it get?

At this moment, Lin Qiyan didn’t realize that if this System was unreliable enough to mess up its host, how could its words be trustworthy?

A vast expanse of white light flooded over her, enveloping her. Before her consciousness faded, she heard the System’s final words:

“I’ll give you one more thing as a bonus gift. I wish you a happy resurrected life! See you if fate allows!!”

Before Lin Qiyan could ask what the gift was, she blacked out.

She woke up again because of a sensation of weightlessness. She felt like she was in a free fall from a great height. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming.

Blood rushed to her head, her eardrums throbbed wildly, and all external sounds were blocked out. Only the heartbeat in her chest was violent enough to near shock.

The near-death sensation vanished quickly. When her feet finally hit solid ground, Lin Qiyan opened her eyes and blinked, quickly adapting to the light.

She found herself in a dim alleyway. The sour, rotten smell of trash mixed with sewers hit her nose. She was standing on an abandoned plastic bag. She lifted her foot off the poor piece of trash and moved aside.

Just then, memories belonging to the original owner surged up. The massive influx of information made Lin Qiyan’s head buzz. Her already unstable footing swayed like a ship at sea.

She instinctively reached out to steady herself against a wall but missed entirely, falling uncontrollably to the ground. Her hand pressed onto that poor plastic bag again.

The alley was quiet, save for her heavy breathing. Sitting on the ground, Lin Qiyan’s face grew paler and paler, looking as if she had swallowed a fly.

She muttered in disbelief, “I actually got scammed twice by that little ball of light.”

Lin Qiyan was reeling.

What do you mean ‘simple social circle,’ ‘no need to worry about OOC,’ and ‘high degree of freedom’?!

Did the original owner even have social relationships? She was a straight-up bully! Relying on her wealthy family, she bullied other students and even formed a small gang for school violence.

Could you expect a person like that to have friends? A long list of enemies was more like it! Ask anyone on campus—who hadn’t she bullied?

She took two deep breaths to calm herself, comforting her soul. It’s okay. At least the family is wealthy. No one would dare do anything to me.

With that thought, Lin Qiyan regained her confidence. She stood up, patted down her clothes, and prepared to head back to her warm, comfortable, and luxurious home to soothe her wounded heart.

The next second, her phone rang. Suppressing a bad omen, she pressed “answer.”

The deep blue curtain of night hung in the sky. Stars are rarely seen in the city, so the space above was as black as a bottomless pit. Occasional sounds of passing cars came from the alley entrance; the streetlights glowed quietly while a few bugs circled them.

The sanitation workers had already clocked out. A summer evening breeze blew gently, carrying a piece of trash someone had just tossed down the street.

Desolate. Just like Lin Qiyan’s mood.

She had just received the news: The Lin family is bankrupt. The original owner’s parents have both passed away. Fearing she’d be lonely, they specially left her a massive debt to keep her company.

Lin Qiyan looked up at the sky, her face full of the weariness of ages.

What touching parental love. It would be even more touching if it weren’t happening to me.

It was near midnight. The streets were nearly empty. Occasionally, a few drunks would pass by, but as they approached a certain area, their noses would twitch, their expressions would change instantly, and they would scramble away in a panic.

Under the small pool of light from a solar streetlight…

A tall girl leaned against the wall. In the space around her—unseen by the naked eye—floated a thin layer of pheromones and pressure. It signaled that this top-tier Alpha was in a state of agitation, which was why the drunks had sensed danger from so far away.

Slightly curly long hair obscured her eyes; only her straight nose and vivid red lips were visible. Yet, she was so exquisite she didn’t look like a real person. The light stretched her shadow long across the ground.

The phone she was idly playing with in her fingers rang. The girl lowered her eyes slightly to look at the screen for a moment, then swiped to decline.

As she moved, a lock of hair fell over her chest. A hint of impatience surfaced in her eyes. She seemed to be looking for something to tie her hair back, but she had nothing on her but a phone.

The girl frowned slightly. She tossed the vibrating phone aside and gripped the hem of her oversized T-shirt. With a bit of force, she easily tore off a strip of fabric. She raised her hands to tie her curly hair into a low ponytail.

Just as she finished, the girl’s eyes sharpened. She looked toward the side and asked in a cold, emotionless voice, “Who is it?”

Lin Qiyan hadn’t expected to see a girl lingering on the street at this hour. She was startled herself but also felt sorry for scaring the other person. “Sorry, I’m just passing through to get over there. No ill intent.”

Mu Yunge’s gaze flickered over her briefly before she looked away, uninterested.

Lin Qiyan watched as the girl bent down to pick up her broken phone. She turned it over in her fingers, trying to turn it on, but it seemed useless. Thus, she could only clutch the phone with its shattered screen, looking at it quietly, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Lin Qiyan gripped her own phone and continued walking toward the hotel she had just booked.

However.

After two steps, Lin Qiyan stopped. She looked back at the girl, hesitating. “Um, it’s already dark. It’s not safe for a girl to be out alone. If you have nowhere to go, do you want to come with me?”

Fearing the other might misunderstand her intentions, Lin Qiyan added, “It’s okay if you don’t want to. I saw a police station on my way here; the lights were on. You could stay there until dawn; it would be safer.”

She pointed back in the direction she came from.

Mu Yunge, who was considering whether to just crush the phone in her hand, turned her head. Her gaze scrutinized Lin Qiyan with a subtle shift.

Lin Qiyan felt uneasy under the stare.

[Does she think I really have bad intentions? This girl is so pretty; it really isn’t safe to be out alone. There are too many stories in the news about girls getting hurt.]

Mu Yunge frowned, her beautiful peach-blossom eyes filled with inquiry.

Being stared at for so long made Lin Qiyan increasingly flustered. Her throat felt dry, and her fingers curled nervously.

[How can I get her to stop suspecting me? Should I show her my ID?]

Mu Yunge watched as she cautiously fumbled in her pockets, only for her expression to instantly stiffen. Another voice reached her ears.

[Damn it! The original owner didn’t even bring an ID when she went out! What is she doing?!]

Mu Yunge: “…”

She looked away coldly.

Lin Qiyan was anxious, her mind racing. The back of her neck felt strangely hot. To ease the awkwardness, she raised her hand and rubbed it a few times.

Suddenly, Mu Yunge caught a scent of flowers. It was refreshing and subtle, yet impossible to ignore. Her irritable mood calmed almost the instant she smelled it.

Once the lingering agitation dissipated, it was replaced by even deeper defensiveness and scrutiny.

Time ticked by. Lin Qiyan’s toes curled in embarrassment as she kept her hand over the hot spot on her neck. In front of her, the girl’s eyes darkened in a way she couldn’t see, her thoughts shifting in a split second.

The next moment, Mu Yunge’s expression softened. She lowered her voice: “Thank you. But… would it be too much of a bother?”

Lin Qiyan had thought she wouldn’t reply. Hearing the voice, she froze for a moment then shook her head. “Not at all.”

Mu Yunge looked up and smiled at her. “Then I’ll trouble you. My name is Mu Yunge. Hello.”

Her dark eyes held a superficial smile, but in the depths, suspicion and testing hadn’t faded one bit.

Lin Qiyan greeted her politely: “I’m Lin Qiyan.”

Mu Yunge looked at her for a while, then nodded with a smile. “Lin Qiyan. That’s a very nice name.”

Lin Qiyan smiled back. “Thanks.” She looked up at the sky. “Let’s go. It’ll be dawn soon.”

Mu Yunge walked over slowly. The floral scent became more pronounced, and her heart grew even calmer. Only when the girl stood in front of her did Lin Qiyan realize how tall she was.

“What’s wrong?” The girl blinked.

Lin Qiyan snapped out of it, realizing her staring was rude. “Ah, nothing, nothing.” She led the girl forward.

When she first heard the news of the family bankruptcy, Lin Qiyan’s inner world had collapsed. The comfortable mansion was gone. She had checked her person and luckily found a bit of petty cash on the original owner’s phone—enough to book a hotel for an emergency so she wouldn’t be sleeping on the streets.

By the time she registered with an electronic ID at the front desk and got the room card, it was even later. Lin Qiyan swiped into the room and turned on all the lights before letting Mu Yunge in.

She was about to tell her to wash up first, but when she turned and met those eyes, she froze.

Her offline brain finally revived in the air conditioning and began to work. Her pupils trembled.

If the System hadn’t taught her incorrectly, there was a very famous character in this novel—not the protagonist, but a mysterious “big boss” even more powerful than the leads.

Distinguished family, peerless talent and beauty.

Her name seemed to be Mu Yunge.

The only person the original owner had never poisoned, and indeed, never even had the chance to approach.

She had actually invited that person to stay in a run-down hotel with her.

And the person actually came!