CH 1

Late at night.

Lin Xinghe raised her head and inspected the huge, high-tech gate in front of her. It was mostly blue, purple, and green making it lean towards the cyberpunk style (1).

Two big, neon words blinked above her head—Villain School.

Borrowing the light, she glanced down at the lacquer scroll in her hand. Written in calligraphy were the two words: Admission Letter. She rolled it open and read—

Student: Lin Xinghe

Our school has decided to admit you to the Modern Era Department to study reform. Please bring this letter and report to the school on time before dawn.

Below, there was even the official seal of the Villain School.

Lin Xinghe looked at the school gate and then at the admission letter. They had completely different styles. For a moment, she thought that she was at the wrong place. This strange sense of discord brought her to a standstill in front of the deserted gate and kept her from moving forward.

It all happened so suddenly.

In fact, she still hasn't completely processed what happened.

An hour ago, she was wearing a couture dress to the Hundred Flowers Awards Ceremony in which her debut film "April and the World" was nominated for an award.

From the director to the screenwriters, to the production team to the actors, the entire film was put together by unknown newcomers. Even so, it became this year's dark horse.

When Lin Xinghe stepped onto the stage to accept the Best Actress Award, she felt that her win was both appropriate and yet unexpected.

She... This person... Her luck is incredible. She was shopping for snacks at the supermarket one day when she caught the eye of the director of "April and the World." She then successfully auditioned for a spot in the cast and went on to shoot the award-winning hit.

But sometimes she's really lucky and sometimes she's not. Otherwise, the weather wouldn't have turned violent right after she left the awards ceremony. The rain was pouring down so heavily and she was struck to death by a lightning bolt that was as thick as a tree trunk.

There were so many people at the scene that were taller than her, but against all odds, she was killed on the spot with pinpoint accuracy. It was like she was holding a lightning rod.

Before she could reflect on her brief life or even admire her charred remains, a burst of light rushed towards her. It pulled her soul into a strange place that was surrounded by nothing but a vast expanse of white.

It was at that time that she found a scroll floating in mid-air.

She reached out and touched it and the scroll fell into her palm. It was like she activated the switch to another world. The white void split apart as if it was cut open by a knife. The light disappeared and was replaced with this bizarre world.

As soon as she looked up, she saw the unimaginable Villain School.

... Are you going in?

... You're still not going in?

The gate slowly opened to both sides.

Rapid footsteps sounded.

A tall, slender girl appeared in front of Lin Xinghe. She looked her up and down and said with a flat tone, "Classmate Lin Xinghe, right? Hello, I'm Lu Qin, the president of Class 1 of the Modern Era Department. I'm very sorry for making you wait. When I read the notice, I thought it said to come in the morning. I didn't expect you to come here in the middle of the night." As the conversation picked up, Lu Qin suddenly asked her, "Have you killed anyone?"

Lin Xinghe slowly shook her head.

"What was your job before you died?"

"Actress."

"Ah, actors are the most useless. They're not good at selling pork (2)."

Lu Qin seemed somewhat disappointed and muttered: "Besides, it's impossible for the Modern Era Department to get any good students..."

Lu Qin's enthusiasm dropped a little.

... This girl was an actress in her life. Most actresses are good-looking and the new classmate is no exception. Tender and petite. Her facial features are delicate like a porcelain doll.

It's tragic to be good-looking but incapable at this school.

While Lu Qin was looking at Lin Xinghe, Lin Xinghe was looking at Lu Qin. Naturally, she didn't miss her whisper.

This place made her feel extremely uncomfortable. She wanted to leave but noticed a layer of gray all around. It was like a film and it covered the entire sky.

Lu Qin said: "There's no point in looking for a way to escape. You already died. If you want to be reborn, the only thing you can do is go to school. You can't leave this school until you graduate. Do you see that boundary? It's a gateway that connects to a different world. Before you get your certificate of completion, you can't get out. Look down at yourself and be thankful. After coming to this world, you now have a body and are no longer just a soul."

Lin Xinghe clenched her fist. The sensation was no different from when she was alive. At some point, the couture dress she was wearing had turned into a simple skirt that seemed to be part of a uniform. On her chest was the crest of the Villain School.

Lu Qin suddenly seemed to think of something and the smile on her face widened. She excitedly grabbed Lin Xinghe's hand and said, "Let's continue on to the school. I'll introduce you to our campus. It's where you'll stay for the next 1-2 years, or even the next few decades."

Lin Xinghe didn't say a word and followed Lu Qin to the school.

Gusts of damp wind blew ahead.

Beneath the two rows of street lights, there was a long bridge whose end was out of sight. On either side of it was a bottomless river.

Lu Qin brought Lin Xinghe onto a tour bus.

Over the ten minutes that they had walked along the bridge, Lin Xinghe learned that Lu Qin was the villainous fake daughter in a real daughter/fake daughter novel. She was scared that the real daughter would take everything away from her after she returned, so she secretly tripped up the real daughter and found people to kidnap her. Unexpectedly, the boyfriend of the real daughter, the male lead so to speak, found out about the kidnapping plot in time and made her the victim instead. In the end, she died at the hands of the kidnappers.

"... Villain?"

"Of course. Everyone who enters our school is a villain. Big villains and small villains. Anyone who gets in the way of the protagonist at some point is considered a villain." Lu Qin stepped off the bridge and pointed to some distant buildings and said, "Our school has four departments: the Modern Era Department, the Ancient Era Department, the Xianxia Department, and the Western Fantasy Department. Our Modern Era Department and the Ancient Era Department are on the east side. On the west side are the Xianxia Department and the Western Fantasy Department. The dormitories are further down, closer to the Xianxia Department."

Lin Xinghe was a little surprised.

How could an upright youth with good roots like her become a villain?