I Turned Out To Be The Paranoid Villain’s White Moonlight - Chapter 1

One o’clock in the morning, Yunlan Bar.

Zhan Yao opened her eyes groggily. Before her vision could even clear, the woman beside her jabbed her with an elbow.

She glanced sideways and found herself looking at a delicate, handsome face with red lips and pearly white teeth. The only flaw was that the whites showed beneath the woman’s irises, making her look inexplicably fierce at first glance.

“Are you made of wood?” The woman leaned closer and lowered her voice. Although she was smiling, her words were vicious. “I brought you here to make me look good, not to sit there like a corpse.”

“What makes you so special? Everyone else can drink, so why can’t you?” she said. She picked up a glass of alcohol from the table and shoved it into Zhan Yao’s hand. Her smile grew gentler, but she ground out each word even more quietly. “Drink it. If you don’t, you’ll regret it!”

Zhan Yao was rendered speechless. “…”

The last person who had dared to speak to her like that had gotten beaten up.

“If your girlfriend can’t drink, then forget it. Don’t force her.” Before Zhan Yao could respond, a man beside them joined the conversation. “She’s so quiet and refined, nothing like us. Anyone can tell she isn’t the type who spends all her time drinking in bars.”

“Exactly.” As soon as he finished, someone else quickly chimed in. “I heard she’s still a university student. She isn’t underage, is she? It wouldn’t be good to pressure a minor into drinking.”

There was more than a hint of mockery in their words.

The woman’s expression immediately grew strained, but for the sake of appearances, she maintained her smile. “What are you talking about? I’m not some bastard. Yaoyao has been an adult for ages.”

“She’s just a little shy around strangers.” She smiled and turned back toward Zhan Yao, her gaze gentle and sincere. “They’re all friends. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Be good.”

That single “be good” nearly made Zhan Yao vomit. At the same time, however, the memories inside her mind were becoming increasingly clear.

The scene before her seemed terribly familiar—

Zhan Yao paused, suddenly recalling an old-fashioned novel a friend had shown her some time ago.

The protagonist of the novel was also named Zhan Yao. Because they shared the same name, she had paid a little more attention than usual and remembered roughly seventy or eighty percent of the plot.

Although the Zhan Yao in the novel shared her name, their personalities and lives were completely different. She had grown up in a feudal family that valued sons over daughters and had rarely experienced any familial care or warmth. She had even earned most of her tuition by working part-time throughout her education.

The ridicule of her peers, the hardships of life, and her parents’ favoritism and indifference—one blow after another had nearly crushed Zhan Yao beneath their weight. She desperately longed to be loved, yet believed it was nothing more than a hopeless fantasy. As a result, she bound herself in restraints and lived every day cautiously and carefully.

The other female lead, Xu Yingxi, appeared at precisely this time.

In Zhan Yao’s eyes, Xu Yingxi was a ray of light that had suddenly entered her life. The two happened to meet at a library and happened to reach for the same book. Zhan Yao had intended to let her have it, but when she turned around, she found herself facing a captivating smile.

“Herlaust’s five-part mystery series. He’s a niche author, but his writing has a unique spirit. I didn’t expect anyone else to enjoy his stories as much as I do.”

“It’s a shame there’s only one copy left.” Standing behind her, Xu Yingxi smiled faintly and said, “You can have it.”

The two became acquainted because of that book. When Zhan Yao sat at a table to read, Xu Yingxi naturally took the seat beside her. She carried a pleasant fragrance, and her voice was beautiful and gentle. It was the first time Zhan Yao had ever encountered someone like her, and she could barely concentrate on the book.

Before leaving, she received a cup of coffee and a note tucked beneath it.

【Here is my contact information. I hope we can meet again sometime. Perhaps we could discuss our thoughts on the book.】

That was the beginning of Zhan Yao’s nightmare. She had believed Xu Yingxi was her salvation, never imagining that she was actually the demon who would drag her into hell. From then on, they began meeting frequently, and their relationship grew increasingly close. Three months later, they officially became a couple.

What Zhan Yao did not know was that her first meeting with Xu Yingxi had been deliberately orchestrated from beginning to end. Xu Yingxi appeared aloof and elegant on the surface, but her private life was chaotic and promiscuous. She had only approached Zhan Yao because she was attracted to her looks and wanted to play with her out of boredom.

Unfortunately, Zhan Yao was a particularly difficult bone to chew. Everything she had experienced in the past had made her cautious and reserved. They had barely even held hands, much less done anything more intimate.

As time passed, Xu Yingxi gradually became tired of her. Coincidentally, her business had also been encountering one problem after another recently. In a bad mood, Xu Yingxi began suppressing and belittling Zhan Yao in every possible way.

…Just like she was doing now.

By the time Zhan Yao recalled this much, her thoughts had become completely clear. Her instincts told her that she had somehow transmigrated into the novel.

She had gone from being a pampered and distinguished young heiress to a pitiful girl who had been subjected to long-term emotional manipulation. That development was already absurd enough, but what left Zhan Yao even more speechless was the pure white panel that suddenly appeared inside her mind.

Words soon began appearing across it, accompanied by a mechanical voice reading them aloud.

【Host binding successfully detected. Vital signs are stable.】

【Tasks will now be issued. Please take the original character’s place, complete the upcoming plot, and restore the development of the world’s timeline.】

Zhan Yao: “?”

Unless she remembered incorrectly, the upcoming plot involved Zhan Yao being left with no choice but to obey the scumbag and drink several glasses in a row. In the end, she vomited so violently that she barely knew which way was up, only for the scumbag to despise her for being useless and slap her across the face inside the car.

As though the emotional manipulation was not enough, Xu Yingxi was actually going to hit her this time.

They might as well ask her to die rather than expect her to follow the predetermined plot.

The panel inside her mind was still announcing something, but Zhan Yao gave a derisive laugh and ignored it. Instead, she held the glass of alcohol and rose to her feet with a radiant smile.

Zhan Yao had always been beautiful. Unfortunately, she usually acted so timidly and tried so hard to hide herself that no one ever noticed her brilliance. Naturally, they overlooked her beauty as well. When someone finally did appreciate it, that person turned out to be a scumbag.

To be fair, that piece of trash Xu Yingxi had pretty good taste.

Completely unaware that she had been promoted from “scumbag” to “piece of trash,” Xu Yingxi continued pretending to be concerned. “Why did you stand up, Yaoyao? Are you feeling unwell?”

“No.” Zhan Yao shook her head. Her almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly, and her thin, rose-colored lips slowly curved upward. Beneath the bar’s dim and suggestive lighting, she possessed a charm entirely her own. “How am I supposed to toast you without standing up?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she overturned the entire glass directly over Xu Yingxi’s head.

“…”

In an instant, everything around them fell silent. Even the system, which had been chattering endlessly, had gone quiet at some point.

A moment later, new words appeared on the panel—

【…Holy shit.】

More than ten minutes later, Zhan Yao emerged from behind a partition.

What she had just done had been so far beyond Xu Yingxi’s expectations that the woman failed to react for quite some time. By the time she finally recovered, Zhan Yao had already disappeared.

Xu Yingxi was a wealthy second-generation heiress who had grown up in a privileged family. She had always lived an elegant and meticulous life. She had never suffered such humiliation before. No matter how good she usually was at maintaining appearances, she could no longer prevent her expression from darkening.

“I have something to take care of, so I’ll leave first. We can get together another day.” After hurriedly leaving those words behind, she rose and prepared to chase after Zhan Yao.

“Oh, is your girlfriend angry?”

“Don’t be polite. We’ll help you chase her down.”

Everyone at the gathering today was a wealthy second-generation heir or heiress. Each came from an exceptional family, and none of them feared the others. They loved nothing more than watching a spectacle and stirring up trouble. The moment they saw what was happening, they immediately stopped drinking and smoking. Several of them followed Xu Yingxi in a loose procession, eager to watch the excitement.

As Zhan Yao watched them leave, she could not help giving another amused snort.

She had only just transmigrated here and knew neither the people nor the place. How could she possibly run outside? Hiding here until the trouble passed was clearly the wiser choice.

Though in the past, her bodyguards would have stepped in and resolved something like this long ago.

Why exactly had she transmigrated here? Was it merely because she shared the same name as the novel’s Zhan Yao?

Remembering that there seemed to be a bargain-bin system inside her mind, Zhan Yao tapped at it and asked her question. Unexpectedly, the system stammered for a long time before finally producing a single answer: “Secret.”

Zhan Yao: “…” Forget it.

She had always been highly adaptable. Since she was already here, she might as well make the best of it. Even if she learned the reason, what difference would it make?

With that thought, Zhan Yao roughly searched through the original character’s memories and recalled that she should be living in a university dormitory. She was about to head back when she had barely turned around before accidentally bumping into a woman.

She was exceedingly beautiful, with defined and exquisite features. Her raven-feather eyelashes were thick and dense, and her carefully tailored black dress appeared both restrained and sensual.

Her complexion looked slightly pale, yet this only made her lips seem even redder and fuller. Because they were standing so close, Zhan Yao could even smell the fragrance drifting from her body. It was not overpowering. It resembled freesias beaded with raindrops after a shower, elegant and soothing.

“I’m sorry.” Zhan Yao turned back and apologized.

A moment later, she saw the woman behind her widen her eyes. A pair of fair, slender hands reached toward her and tightly seized her wrist.

The woman’s gaze fell upon the cinnabar mole in Zhan Yao’s palm. Whatever she thought of, the fingers wrapped around Zhan Yao’s wrist began to tremble faintly.

Zhan Yao had no idea what was happening and demanded sharply, “What are you doing?”

The woman raised her eyes. Because of the sudden surge of emotion, a trace of hoarseness entered her beautiful voice. “You… don’t remember me?”

“Huh?”

Zhan Yao swiftly searched through the original character’s memories. She did not believe the original Zhan Yao had ever encountered such a stunningly beautiful woman. Besides, judging by the woman’s clothing and bearing, she did not seem like someone who would have had any connection to the original character. That question was probably nothing more than an excuse to flirt with her.

“I’m sorry, but you’ve mistaken me for someone else.” Zhan Yao frowned and tried to pull her hand back. Unexpectedly, the woman was quite strong. No matter how hard she struggled, she could not break free.

“??”

Just because she was beautiful did not mean she could openly harass people like this!

Zhan Yao immediately became angry and raised her small handbag.

The system’s voice rang out at that moment. Its mechanical tone was filled with such intense anxiety that it sounded almost comical. “Stop! She is—”

“I don’t care who she is!” Zhan Yao said.

As soon as she finished speaking, the handbag in her hand swung directly into the woman’s head.

“…”

The next second, the system fell silent once again.