Chapter 17 - Self-Rescue Manual of a Villainess

Chapter 017: The Grievance of Nan Xi Initially, Nan Yin had intended to save Xia Yi Yi. After all, this character was portrayed as a complete tragedy from beginning to end in the original work — her role was merely to awaken some realizations in the protagonist, Su Xiao Yu, with her death. While she was playing the game, Nan Yin didn't feel much as Xia Yi Yi was just a sacrificial pawn. Yet when the innocent girl appeared before her in person, a pang of sorrow washed over Nan Yin. Unexpectedly, after Nan Yin had proactively reached out to Xia Yi Yi, the system didn't issue any tasks related to Xia Yi Yi. Upon weighing the situation, Nan Yin decided to temporarily put Xia Yi Yi’s matter on hold. After all, the girl's tragic plot hadn't begun yet, and there wasn't much practicality in trying to save her now. Securing some money seemed like a better idea for the time being… After all, sympathy couldn't satisfy hunger. ………… Tianzhou City, Roland High School East Gate. Today was Friday, commonly known as the day of school dismissal. Even students who usually stayed on campus would return home to see their families whom they had been apart from for a week. At this moment, among the stream of students pouring out of Roland High School, one group was particularly eye-catching. Leading them was a handsome young man with a pair of cat ears, flanked by four attractive young girls whose figures and looks were top-notch. It seemed that these four beauties had a good relationship with the young man, a fact which prompted envy and jealousy from many of the passing male students from Roland High School. "Big brother, I won't be able to participate in your adventure today. My master wants me to come over early. He intends to teach me some skills on advancing in the field of demon extermination," conveyed a long-haired girl, also possessing a pair of white cat ears, who stood next to the young man. "Then you should go. Send my regards to Master Wang and remember to pick up the delivery," Su Xiao Yu nodded in agreement without objection. Yes, this young man was none other than the protagonist, Su Xiao Yu. The girl who just had a conversation with him was his sister, Su Ran Ran, who was also a cat-eared demon exterminator. The three girls next to him… While surveying the scene through a telescope from outside the school gate, Nan Yin paused when she saw the detailed features of the girls. Besides Su Ran Ran — whose romance with Su Xiao Yu was destined never to occur — the three girls beside Su Xiao Yu surprisingly were all harem members from the original work. Good Lord, the plot had only just begun, hadn't it? And there were harem members already vying for the protagonist? Nan Yin began doubting the hope of this world with these thoughts. At the moment, it's evident that this world was a cliched game world centered on the male protagonist, Su Xiao Yu. “Ah, don’t lose heart. Considering my current state, there’s definitely a chance for change in this world,” interrupted the daily consolation from the disembodied voice. Nan Yin did not respond to the girl inside her head. Instead, she picked up her telescope to observe the three girls once more. As mentioned, these three girls were part of the original game's harem. The first was Su Ling, whom Nan Yin had saved from Yan Li Li a few days ago. This girl, sharing the same surname as Su Xiao Yu but not from the same clan, was the first harem member to appear in the original work. Therefore, Nan Yin wasn't surprised to see her. As for the second… Nan Yin adjusted her telescope angle to focus on the other girl, and a frown set on her face. Except for Su Ran Ran, the second girl currently accompanying Su Xiao Yu was surprisingly her own sister, Nan Xi. The identity of the third girl didn't matter anymore, as Nan Xi had already stolen all of Nan Yin’s attention. "What's going on? Nan Xi has already encountered the protagonist this early?" Nan Yin frowned and sighed. Even though she wanted Nan Xi and Su Xiao Yu to meet, this reunion happened much faster than she anticipated. So fast, in fact, that Nan Yin hadn't been able to process it. "Them meeting so quickly… I wonder if it'll affect my task…” Nan Yin quietly muttered. Lost in her thoughts, Nan Yin scanned through her telescope once again. Thankfully, although the world derived from a romance game, the World's Will did not make all female roles infatuated with Su Xiao Yu mindlessly. At this moment, apart from Su Ran Ran, who was Su Xiao Yu's sister, the attitudes of the other three girls, including Nan Xi, towards Su Xiao Yu seemed quite normal. Their relationships should be no more than friendship at most. Nan Yin nodded in satisfaction. After all, her mission revolved around the heroines. If the heroines fell for the protagonist too quickly, Nan Yin would be left in a lurch. However, speaking of tasks… Nan Yin frowned and picked up the telescope again. Where was Xia Yi Yi? Why wasn't she there? There was no sign of Xia Yi Yi by Su Xiao Yu's side, and the fourth girl was not Xia Yi Yi either. This confused Nan Yin. Even though Xia Yi Yi was merely a tool used to give protagonist Su Xiao Yu a costly lesson with her death, she was one of the earliest side characters in the original work to fall in love with the protagonist. Therefore, it made no sense for her not to be present when Su Ling and Nan Xi were. Indeed, Nan Yin's purpose in bringing her newly recruited henchman, Fuhu Zhengsi, to Roland High School that day was not to pick up her sister. She was here to assess Xia Yi Yi's situation and gauge the progress of the plot. In the original work, Nan Xi was the first female character whose storyline unfurled. Now that Nan Yin's arrival had neutralized Nan Xi’s storyline, the only one left was Xia Yi Yi’s. The start of Xia Yi Yi’s plotline was her experiencing school bullying and subsequently falling into depression. Nan Yin simply wanted to catch this plot at its onset. After scanning her surroundings again with the telescope, Nan Yin finally spotted a lone blue-haired girl trailing at the back of the crowd. Hmm… She didn't seem to carry any signs of being assaulted and even had a smile on her face, she probably encountered Su Xiao Yu today. For now at least, she had not been bullied at school and since Nan Yin did not receive any tasks either, it seemed like Xia Yi Yi was safe. Upon confirming that Xia Yi Yi was safe, Nan Yin let out a sigh of relief. After expressing a lament about the difficulties of task performers like herself, she prepared to leave. It had been stated earlier, she came here for Xia Yi Yi. Now that nothing seemed amiss on Xia Yi Yi’s side, she naturally intended to leave. And what about Nan Xi? It had been clarified at the start that Nan Yin did not come to pick her up from school. Besides… considering Nan Xi had been staying at the school dormitory for a week, she probably didn't want to see Nan Yin, right? Just when Nan Yin was about to leave after casually passing the telescope to Hattouri Masashi, she noticed that Su Xiao Yu’s group was heading straight towards her. Nan Yin: Excuse me? "Nan Xi, isn't that your sister?" The observant Su Ran Ran spotted Nan Yin, clad in a black hoodie and cap, as soon as they exited the school gate. Admittedly, even with her hoodie put on, her beautiful snow-white hair was too conspicuous to miss. Su Ran Ran's loud shout not only made the initially departing Nan Yin halt her steps but also drew the attention of a thoughtful Nan Xi and others, who turned their gazes towards Nan Yin. Upon seeing Nan Yin, Su Ling was slightly taken aback as she remembered that this was the girl who had saved her that night. Su Xiao Yu, on the other hand, looked at Nan Yin with a puzzled expression on his face. Hadn't Nan Xi said that her sister was extremely horrible to her? It didn't seem like that at all. Wasn't she here to pick her up from school? At this moment, Nan Xi’s emotions were undoubtedly chaotic. Her sister… came to pick her up from school? Impossible, right? How could this wicked person be so kind-hearted? Despite her skeptical thoughts, a complex emotion flickered in Nan Xi’s eyes. After pondering for a moment, she headed towards Nan Yin. Since she had come to pick her up from school, it wouldn’t be polite to just leave… Huh? What Nan Xi wasn’t expecting was the moment she drew closer, Nan Yin just cast her a glance, then turned her back and walked off without saying a word. Upon seeing this, Nan Xi froze on the spot; then, after coming back to her senses, she instinctively cried out, "Wait... wait!" Nan Yin halted, turning back to look at her with a puzzled expression. "You… why are you here?" Nan Xi asked nervously, her heart pining for an answer. "…Why am I here?" Nan Yin frowned at the questioning before looking at the silently standing Hattouri Masashi and then back at Nan Xi with Su Xiao Yu and the others. "I came here to watch a person. Anything else?" Wait! Of course, there's something else! Other than her, who else would her sister come to Roland High School to see? Could it be Jiang Mi? But Jiang Mi wasn't at school today. Nan Xi wanted to ask, but the seemingly honest expression on Nan Yin’s face made it impossible for her to voice her doubts. "Alright then," Nan Yin, observing Nan Xi’s blank expression, twitched an eyebrow, completely ignoring the protagonist behind Nan Xi. "You probably aren't coming home this week, right? If there's nothing else, I’m leaving." Having said that, Nan Yin turned around and nonchalantly walked off with Fuhu Zhengsi, not giving Nan Xi a chance to respond. No... it can't be... Feeling an infinite sense of grievance, the girl who thought her sister had a change of heart and was going to be kind to her now felt that some great injustice had been done to her. She didn't understand what she did wrong or why her sister had to be this way to her. She… she was planning to go home this week… The girl’s eyes reddened.