Stalemate

Ding, your underling was beaten. The host chose to inform the teacher, slightly altering the original plot direction. Gained 200 Villain Points.

Ding, the host's current Villain Points exceed 500. The System Shop has automatically unlocked.

The moment Song Zhenyu left, Wang Haoran received the system's notification.

This was within his expectations.

His underling got beaten, and he told the underling to report it to the teacher—this directly broke away from the typical villain routine. It would be strange if the plot didn't change.

200 Villain Points.

He accepted them with satisfaction.

In his mind, besides his own attribute panel, a System Shop interface had appeared.

But the shop displayed no items, only a lottery option.

"I've got 600 Villain Points now. What can I exchange for? Show me everything." Wang Haoran asked the system directly.

Reply to host: 600 Villain Points cannot exchange for any item. The cheapest item in the shop requires 1000 Villain Points.

It is recommended that the host choose the lottery. Each draw costs 500 Villain Points. The host has a chance to win a super luxurious reward, but may also get nothing.

"I'd need to save 400 more to exchange for an item, and it might not even be what I want. I'll just go for the lottery." Wang Haoran decided to try his luck.

A wheel appeared on the shop interface. It spun, and soon the result came.

Ding, congratulations! The host's luck is explosive. You've drawn the "Peach Blossom Eyes," worth 1500 Villain Points. Use immediately?

From the literal meaning, it was easy to understand what this was.

A man with Peach Blossom Eyes easily attracts women.

This was a good thing!

Wang Haoran naturally chose to use it immediately.

After using it, he took out his phone to take a selfie and secretly checked his eyes, but found no change at all.

However, Wang Haoran noticed that his Charm Value on the attribute panel had increased from 198 to 268.

The extra 70 Charm Points should be due to the Peach Blossom Eyes.

"Let me see if there's any difference from before?"

This thought popped into Wang Haoran's mind, so he used the excuse of continuing their unfinished math discussion to get up and swap seats with Xu Muyan's female deskmate.

He continued discussing math problems with Xu Muyan.

Wang Haoran clearly felt that Xu Muyan was looking at him more often, and even when her gaze landed on him, it lingered for a long time.

"Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?" Wang Haoran asked deliberately.

"No, I just think your eyes are really beautiful." Xu Muyan said it involuntarily.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Xu Muyan's face turned red, and she quickly looked away.

The shy look of that youthful girl was simply too charming.

Ding, one of the Female Leads, Xu Muyan's Affection toward the host +10. Current Affection: 20 (Very Friendly).

Ding, Chu Bai's Protagonist Halo -10. Host's Villain Halo +10.

"Looks like the Peach Blossom Eyes are pretty useful. Not bad, not bad."

He checked the attribute panel again, which had also changed.

Host: Wang Haoran

Combat Power: 89

Charm Value: 268

Villain Halo: 129

Villain Points: 100

Skills: None

After the morning class ended, Chu Bai and the other three still hadn't returned.

Wang Haoran headed straight to the Moral Education Office to watch the commotion.

Just as he reached the door of the Moral Education Office, he heard a flurry of arguments inside.

Clearly, the issue hadn't been resolved well, and they were stuck in a deadlock.

Wang Haoran stood boldly at the door, watching.

The deputy director of the Moral Education Office saw a student coming to gawk and was about to shoo him away, but upon recognizing Wang Haoran, he swallowed his words.

This was the advantage of being a villain—he had pull at school. Except for the protagonist's faction, everyone else would give him face.

After all, Wang Haoran's family background and academic performance spoke for themselves.

The reason the fight issue was stuck in a stalemate was this:

Fan Jian and the others claimed they blocked Chu Bai's way after school because they didn't like the look of him, and that's when the fight broke out.

In Song Zhenyu and the Moral Education Office Vice Director's view, both sides were at fault.

Fan Jian and his crew's fault was that they started the trouble first.

Chu Bai's fault was that after easily taking down Fan Jian and the other two, he still slapped them dozens of times, leaving their faces bruised and swollen.

Both sides were wrong.

So why not punish everyone? Because Fan Jian and his crew threatened to call the police.

This was naturally instigated by Wang Haoran.

Fan Jian and his crew struck first, and Chu Bai acted in self-defense, but he went too far—it crossed into excessive force.

They had ample reason to call the police.

But the school absolutely didn't want that.

Once the police got involved, the matter would blow up, and the school's reputation would take a hit.

So the Moral Education Office Vice Director and Teacher Song had no choice but to mediate between Chu Bai and Fan Jian's group.

Under mediation, Fan Jian and his crew backed down, saying they'd just slap Chu Bai once and call it even.

But Chu Bai wouldn't agree to that.

What protagonist isn't stubborn? So he'd rather let Fan Jian and his crew call the police.

The school wasn't happy about it.

And so, they were at a standoff.

"Chu Bai, I'm trying to reason with you, and you're still being stubborn, huh? Once the police get involved, this gets serious. You could end up with a record and get expelled. Are you going to agree or not?"

The Moral Education Office Vice Director was a fierce-looking man named Yan Zan, in his forties or fifties. Seeing the deadlock, he started threatening.

"Vice Director Yan, doing that would ruin Chu Bai's future. You can't do this," Teacher Song immediately objected.

Wang Haoran watched silently from the doorway.

Teacher Song had been furious earlier, looking like she was ready to kill, but now her face was full of concern, so protective of her student.

She was really kind.

With that personality, Teacher Song seemed like one of the female leads.

"Teacher Song, I've already given him a chance. He's the one being stubborn. Don't blame me," Yan Zan said, his mind made up.

He'd spent dozens of minutes pleading with Chu Bai, but the kid just wouldn't take the hint.

Now he'd lost his patience and wouldn't listen to Song Zhenyu's objections.

Song Zhenyu had only been at the school for two or three years—she had little seniority and no backing.

Yan Zan didn't care about her opinion at all.

Besides, he was acting in the school's interest.

Even if the higher-ups found out, they'd approve of his approach.

"It's that easy to take him down?" Wang Haoran found it hard to believe.

If Chu Bai really got expelled, he'd lose all chance to interact with Xu Muyan and Song Zhenyu, and there'd be no way to win over these two female leads.

That would severely weaken his Protagonist Halo.

And Wang Haoran's Villain Halo would skyrocket.

Wouldn't Chu Bai be finished? But soon, Wang Haoran spotted an old man with a graying beard walking straight toward the Moral Education Office.

Wang Haoran recognized him.

It was the principal.

"What's the principal doing here all of a sudden?" Wang Haoran wondered.

The principal was rarely seen around campus; most matters were handled by the Vice Principals. Many students didn't even recognize him.

His sudden appearance here was really strange.

Could it be... Wang Haoran suddenly had a bad feeling.