Chapter 8

【Host! The current character-collapse rate is 70%. When it collapses to 90%, most of your authority will be withdrawn. When it reaches 100%, the mission will be on the verge of failure!】

Inside her mind, the system’s anxious voice reported the rules of this world. Although it itself sided with He Lingxing, it could not ignore the rules and act recklessly.

The automatic punishment in her head was still causing trouble. He Lingxing took several deep breaths before finally adjusting herself. When she turned her eyes, she met the concerned gazes of her friends. Especially Qiao Muxi—originally, she had only been half-joking, and had not expected He Lingxing to react so strongly.

“I promise I won’t pursue Shu Minglan. I’ll stay far, far away from her, all right? Xingxing, don’t scare me!”

He Lingxing said, “That’s not…” She caught her breath and gently rubbed the center of her forehead. “Don’t pursue her right now. If you chase her away, how am I supposed to deal with her? Shu Minglan has made me suffer so much anger. Shouldn’t I properly settle accounts with her?”

“All right, Xixi. This is President He’s little romantic game. Just let President He properly ‘deal with’ her.”

Wu Luoluo gave her an ambiguous look for her to understand on her own, and Qiao Muxi also blinked with a mischievous grin. After hearing the nurse’s bell summon them, she hooked an arm around the shoulders of the young man beside her, Rong Chen, and took him out with her.

The more she explained, the darker it got.

He Lingxing simply gave up on explaining in frustration.

In truth, when she heard Qiao Muxi say she wanted to pursue Shu Minglan, she did not have much emotional fluctuation. The reason she had instinctively blurted out a rebuttal in that instant was only because she did not really want the original owner’s friend and Shu Minglan to be together. Otherwise, it would always feel strange somehow.

She did not do yuri, and judging from the original work and the current situation, Shu Minglan was also absolutely straight. Up to now, He Lingxing felt that there was not the slightest ambiguity in their interactions. How could there be any talk of getting together or “dealing with” her?

As for that charming dream from before, she only treated it as pheromones acting up and did not really pay it much attention for the moment.

When she received the reminder of the new plot progress, He Lingxing pushed open the door of the VIP lounge and walked toward her friend’s hospital room.

In the original book, the original owner had a total of four especially close friends: the carefree eldest young lady Qiao Muxi, the gentle and steady Wu Luoluo, the quiet and taciturn Rong Chen, and Zhan Minglu, who had just differentiated into an Omega.

The clean, white VIP single ward was filled with the fresh scent of calming perfume. Only after the nurse had dealt with all those scents did she allow the Alphas to enter the room.

Zhan Minglu had a small, delicate, very Omega-like oval face. Among Omegas, she could also be considered quite pretty, but to He Lingxing, this overly fragile beauty was not quite to her taste.

She had a small frame, and at this moment, she was curled up on the hospital bed with a pale face. Her body was covered by a relatively large blanket, making her appear even more petite. When she saw the concerned expressions on the familiar faces of her friends, a faint smile appeared in her watery eyes.

“Minglu.” Following the original owner’s memory, He Lingxing called out to her.

The system had told her earlier that Zhan Minglu also counted as one of the male lead’s harem members in the original setting, though she was only a minor cannon-fodder character who did not rank very high. Although she was beautiful and would become a somewhat famous celebrity in the future, the male lead did not like her pheromones very much. After playing with her a few times, he directly threw her aside. Later, Zhan Minglu made a huge fuss, and the male lead, annoyed beyond endurance, blacklisted her.

He Lingxing had received another inhuman mission: to push this girl toward the male lead.

However, it seemed she did not need to speak up. The “male lead” in this script was like a magnet, constantly attracting those people toward him.

“Ah Xing.”

Exchanging pleasantries with the others was clearly not what Zhan Minglu wanted. After casually responding with a few words, her pretty doe eyes shifted their gaze to He Lingxing.

“I heard before that Murong Feng plans to cooperate with an artist from your company to shoot an advertisement, right? If the promotional effect of this advertisement is relatively good, will they later consider letting them act in King of the Jungle? I remember that one requires an Omega and an Alpha together.”

This part of the plot was still further ahead, so He Lingxing had not expected her to know the news so quickly. “There is such a plan, but that’s actually a light yuri script.”

The script was about two women loving and killing each other. The romantic scenes were not very obvious, but the ambiguous tension was abundant. One male second lead had a good impression of the female lead in the early stages and would push the plot forward, making the female lead realize her true sexual orientation.

Since Zhan Minglu had asked around, she naturally knew the news. Hearing this, she nodded lightly.

“That Omega director is supposedly interested in Shu Minglan, but I want…” After all, she was asking to use connections to snatch someone else’s role, so once the words came out, Zhan Minglu felt quite embarrassed. “Ah Xing, can you change her role or change her to another project? I want to play the female lead.”

He Lingxing’s refusal blurted out again. “No.”

Seeing Zhan Minglu’s surprise and disappointment, He Lingxing was afraid that the rule judgment would say she was breaking character again, so she hurriedly said:

“First of all, that’s a script with romantic scenes. You’d have to have intimate scenes with an Alpha. If things go smoothly, it’ll start filming after some time. Your differentiation hasn’t stabilized completely yet, so it’s best not to have such close contact with an Alpha. You’re straight, right? If something happens after contact with a female Alpha, what will you do?”

“And besides, Shu Minglan was chosen by the director before this. This matter has already spread. With her personality, if you dare steal her role, she won’t let it go.” Without waiting for Zhan Minglu to refute, He Lingxing continued calmly, “Minglu, I know you want to help me get revenge, which is why you want to bully Shu Minglan, but you can’t ignore public opinion either. That woman Shu Minglan is very scheming. Marketing accounts are also very good at using public opinion. I’m afraid it would be unfavorable to you.”

After He Lingxing said this, Zhan Minglu could no longer voice those little thoughts of hers. After all, He Lingxing still seemed to like Murong Feng at present, and Zhan Minglu was too embarrassed to openly steal the person her good friend loved.

The system’s reminder came at the right moment: 【Sister Xing, remember to push the mission.】

In all fairness, He Lingxing did not really like using connections to snatch other people’s resources, nor did she want these girls to throw themselves toward the male lead one after another like they did not care about their lives.

If he were truly a high-quality man, then fine. But this kind ​unauthorized copy​of goods—she would not even bother looking at him if he were given to her. How did he become such a hot commodity just because the author gilded him with a layer of gold?

Were his pheromones a magnet or superglue?

For the first time, He Lingxing felt a strong impatience toward this mission and even began regretting accepting this seemingly simple assignment. For so many years, when she completed missions, she had always followed her own heart. Things like harming Shu Minglan or pushing girls toward the male lead clearly violated her values.

“However, if you want, I can give you the advertisement shoot. I only need to discuss it with your President Li.”

Right now, Murong Feng had just finished filming a xianxia drama and could be considered a popular character in it. He had just begun to show signs of rising. A resource handed over for free should not be wasted. The other party would definitely agree.

This way, she could be considered to have completed the mission.

“Thank you, my precious Ah Xing!”

Having achieved her true goal, Zhan Minglu beamed. She herself did not really want to act in that drama; it was only because the male second lead in it was Murong Feng. Now that she would have a chance to be alone with him for the advertisement shoot, Zhan Minglu was so excited that her face turned red.

To be honest, He Lingxing did not really like this kind of Omega like Zhan Minglu. When the other party acted spoiled toward her, goosebumps faintly rose on her skin. In comparison, Shu Minglan felt much better. They were both Omegas, but Shu Minglan’s manner was much more natural.

And Shu Minglan’s figure was also very good.

Beauty was in the bones, not the skin. But according to He Lingxing’s aesthetics, blindly pursuing fragility was not the best posture for an Omega. An overly thin frame might look fine on camera, but in daily life, it was not especially attractive.

Shu Minglan had flesh in all the right places and proper proportions. Her purity was just right—not coquettish, not seductive, and not affected. Compared with Zhan Minglu’s deliberate cuteness, she was far, far more natural. For some reason, after staying here for a while, He Lingxing actually began to miss Shu Minglan, who had thrown little fits at her before. Perhaps it counted as a mission worker’s instinctive concern for the heroine.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first. I’ve been discussing a project recently, so I’m quite busy.”

He Lingxing was not very interested in being friends with someone like Zhan Minglu. From the moment Zhan Minglu opened her mouth to ask her to snatch someone else’s resource, her initial impression score had dropped directly. There were indeed many matters at the company that needed to be handled. If she had to waste time, it would be more worthwhile to go raise the heroine’s friendship value.

It was not until the crisp tapping of high heels against the hospital floor gradually disappeared from their ears that the silent Zhan Minglu suddenly raised her eyes and looked at the companions standing around her.

“Xingxing wasn’t like this before.”

The previous “He Lingxing” had had an especially good relationship with her. Even if she had not obeyed Zhan Minglu in everything, for a small matter like taking a resource, she would not even have hesitated. But now, she had actually used such high-sounding reasons to argue with her. If He Lingxing had not ultimately compensated her in another way, Zhan Minglu even felt that she would have been unable to keep smiling.

“Did Shu Minglan do something?”

Zhan Minglu was not a fool, nor was she a three-year-old child. Whether He Lingxing’s words just now had leaned toward her or toward Shu Minglan, she could naturally tell. Precisely because of this, she found it even more unbelievable.

The people beside her were mutual friends of hers and He Lingxing’s. To them, Shu Minglan was only an outsider—and an outsider He Lingxing had previously hated to no end. Which was more important should have been immediately clear. Wu Luoluo looked at Zhan Minglu lying on the bed, her small hand tightly gripping a corner of the blanket, with a complicated expression. She could not help feeling a trace of pity and softly threw out a sentence:

“Their pheromone compatibility is 100%. I’ve lived for more than twenty years, and this is the first case I’ve ever seen.”

**

【Host, please listen to your orders. A new wave of plot is about to arrive.】

【The heroine’s drama is about to change filming locations. When she returns to the city, it will be time for her and the male lead to begin the important plot of [temporary marking]. In order to restore the vicious female supporting character setting, please complete three things to humiliate the heroine!】

It had finally come. He Lingxing, who was handling emails, slowed her movements when she heard the voice.

In truth, on the way back to the company today, she had also thought for a while. Her character setting had collapsed repeatedly. In her work history, this could be considered an extremely rare and extremely embarrassing occasion. When she completed the mission and returned, her colleagues might even laugh at her.

Therefore, when facing the heroine, she had to harden her heart and could not be so indecisive again. In any case, even without her pushing things along, the heroine would most likely become love-brained and approach the male lead anyway. Why was she worrying for nothing?

After reading the script, He Lingxing was exceptionally proactive for the first time. “Speak!”

【First, indirectly kiss the heroine and make sure she knows it.】

【Second, make the heroine wear a bunny girl outfit and take photos.】

【Third, soak in a hot spring together with the heroine and stroke her gland. When she reacts, say, “Bitches are so pretentious.”】