While Song Jici was still having a friendly exchange with Shen Hui and the others, Jiang Nian was talking to the system.
System, come out.
Jiang Nian rubbed her hands together. It was time to settle the score.
A cutesy electronic voice rang out, completely different from the indifferent voice she had heard earlier:
[Here I am, darling! My code name is 8888. You can call me 88~]
...Wait, system, aren't you breaking character?
This was nothing like the system from before!
[Oh, I had to make a good first impression! How else could I show you how dependable and reliable I am?]
Thanks, but you don't seem very reliable at all.
If the system had a physical form, Jiang Nian had no doubt she would be looking at a smug little brat puffing out its chest.
Cut the crap. Were you the one who brought me into this world?
Jiang Nian demanded an answer.
[Yes, host~ I belong to the Greater Worlds Administration Bureau and am responsible for keeping small worlds running smoothly.]
88 explained the reason for her transmigration.
[This was originally a small world developing steadily, but the disappearance of a key character, Jiang Nian, threw the plot into chaos, eventually causing the world to collapse and cease functioning. We therefore sought you out to assist us by taking the original owner's place, keeping the world running, and maintaining its timeline.]
Jiang Nian lowered her brows in thought. While changing clothes, she had taken a look at the original owner's appearance. She had a lively, playful face, with adorable dimples when she smiled, and looked exactly like Jiang Nian herself. As a wealthy young lady, however, the original owner had a more polished appearance.
Was that one of the reasons they had chosen her?
When did the original owner disappear?
[Your body is a little unusual. Six years ago, its soul suddenly disappeared. But as a supporting female character, she was indispensable to this world. Our administration therefore took over managing her body, resulting in the storyline where the original owner went abroad and faded from public view.]
No wonder the original owner had suddenly gone abroad for several years and only returned now that the plot was beginning.
If I refuse to help you, will I return to my original world?
[Of course, host. However, your life there has already ended, so choosing to return would be no different from suicide.]
Jiang Nian recalled the pain of being sent flying by the car, and the corner of her mouth twitched.
Since you want me to replace the original owner and keep the world running, is it okay that I didn't fly into a rage like she did this morning, or follow the original novel and let people misunderstand me?
[Everything in existence develops according to certain rules. As long as your actions have cause and effect, do not violate the laws of reality, and allow you to participate in the upcoming plot in the original owner's place, they count as keeping the world running.]
In that case, as long as she followed the rules and behaved lawfully, couldn't she avoid the original owner's prison sentence?
She would go crazy if she had to spend the rest of the story in prison until the ending.
Then what do I get for helping you?
[If you successfully make it to the end of the storyline, we will arrange a new body for you so you can start a new life. This body will also be reclaimed by the administration!]
After considering 88's words for a long time, Jiang Nian finally made up her mind.
All right. I agree.
Refusing would only mean returning to certain death anyway. She might as well try this chance at survival. After all, before her brother left, he had told her to live well.
If all else failed, she would just go with the flow and coast until the ending.
"Finally, I sincerely wish all of you an unforgettable time at Pluto Academy, one that will benefit you for the rest of your lives."
The principal's speech brought the opening ceremony to a close.
The students stood and stretched before heading outside in waves. Jiang Nian followed the stream of people out of the auditorium and made her way to her classroom.
Inside the classroom for Class 2 of Year 1, students were already sitting in small groups and chatting.
By the time Jiang Nian followed the directions to the classroom, a third of the forty seats were occupied. But neither the male lead nor the supporting male characters, nor the female lead or supporting female characters, had made an appearance yet.
She hadn't expected to be the first of them to arrive.
Jiang Nian shrugged, picked a seat by the window near the back, and sat down. She gazed at the scenery outside as she waited for the main characters to arrive.
Naturally, all the major characters in the book had been placed in the same class.
In the original plot, after Fu Zhenzhen framed the original owner over the pool incident, many people had labeled her spoiled and unreasonable.
She had already been heartbroken when she climbed miserably out of the pool and watched Jici, whom she hadn't seen in years, carry away the person who had framed her, while everyone around her pointed and whispered.
After forcing herself to sit through the ceremony and reaching the classroom, she saw all four male leads sitting around Fu Zhenzhen, fussing over her. That only made the original owner feel worse.
Why didn't anyone believe her? Why didn't even Song Jici believe her?
She quietly picked a seat, but no one in the class wanted to sit with her. Only the future villainous second female lead-Tong Chuhe-was willing to sit beside her.
In a sense, had that laid a solid foundation for both of their future prison sentences?
Now, the male leads hadn't misunderstood her, Fu Zhenzhen hadn't fallen into the water, and she had even apologized to Jiang Nian.
Although Fu Zhenzhen had still managed to reunite with Song Jici as she wished, judging by what had happened that morning, Jiang Nian probably wouldn't be ostracized by her classmates, right?
She didn't particularly care whether she was ostracized, but she did rather want to share a desk with the villainous second female lead. After all, she was widely recognized as the campus goddess.
If not for Fu Zhenzhen, the second female lead wouldn't have turned evil and joined the original owner in doing bad things.
Jiang Nian was gazing absently at the birds outside when the slightly noisy classroom suddenly fell silent for a moment, then erupted into whispers.
"Holy craaaaaap-those guys are so handsome!"
"Aren't those the young masters of the Song Family, Wen Family, Tan Family, and Shen Family? I'm actually in the same class as them!"
"Oh my god, what kind of dream class is this?"
The constant exclamations around her drew Jiang Nian's attention.
She turned toward the doorway. The four male leads filed in as though they were walking a runway, each more handsome than the last, effortlessly drawing everyone's eyes.
When Jiang Nian's gaze met Song Jici's, she gave him a polite smile, only to see all four of them head toward her.
"Wait-why are they all sitting around that girl?!"
A student cried out in surprise.
"Didn't you hear about what happened this morning? Apparently, she's Song Jici's childhood friend!"
"No way! I heard the one who pushed her into the water was Song Jici's childhood friend!"
As her classmates continued gossiping, Jiang Nian looked at Song Jici on her left, Tan Xuguang in front of her, and then Wen Jincheng and Shen Hui behind her, feeling rather bewildered.
I didn't ask any of you to come over!
Before you continue