Chapter 7 - Zi LuoLan

She could see the System. She remembered Nurse X even after the System altered the nurse's reality.

What type of a monster did FengXin have for a sister?!

—

YueYing and FengXin's sister sat across from each other, one assessing the situation and the other smoking without a care. With the heavy scent of smoke, Zi FengXin awoke.

"LuoLan?" He rubbed his eyes, a hazy universe in their amber glaze.

The girl looked in his general direction, then turned back to YueYing.

A bead of sweat ran down YueYing's forehead. FengXin's sister scared him.

At first, her sudden appearance made him doubt his own eyes, then later when she touched the system, he began to suspect her as an apparition. Her clinginess felt foreign to YueYing, who'd spent not even a day in this new world after dying from an illness where no one dared to touch him. What a crazy day….

"LuoLan, stop ignoring me! Why are you here?" FengXin cried out, his consciousness restored.

She rolled her eyes.

"To smoke, of course." Waving her lit cigarette in FengXin's direction, she pointed her chin up. "The smoke detectors don't go off if you open the windows. Some weird ventilation Nurse X installed. I don't know."

"You too?! Who is Nurse X…—"

FengXin glanced at YueYing. He thought the little tyrant had gone mad—what Nurse X? HuaYuan High didn't have a nurse!—so he'd played along, or at least tried to, but his sister brought up the game character-like name again and now he didn't know what to believe.

LuoLan smacked FengXin's head.

"Did Mr. Librarian not take you on a school tour? Nurse X is our school nurse."

"We had a school nurse? But I clearly remember—"

"Shut up, you have the memory of a goldfish." LuoLan stuck the cigarette back into her mouth and took a deep breath.

Watching the scene before him, YueYing doubted the System's initial analysis on the 'Protagonist.'

Pure evil? FengXin didn't encapsulate any aspect of evil at all… besides talking too much, if that counted as a sin. His sister seemed meaner than him. And if the System wanted YueYing to bully FengXin, why would a 'Protagonist Affection' metre exist that gave benefits like a possible new skill whenever the percentage increased?

Furthermore, the window with the three statistic bars and a list of his skills seemed different from the System ruling over him. Like a separate being.

YueYing formed a final conjecture. A main system must exist, where YueYing's sentient System 'worked.' Thus, his System clashed against its centre of operations by giving him false information, and because of this, the main HQ had to step in and cut off his System's connection around the 'Protagonist'—which it had a severe fixation on.

YueYing ended up confusing himself with theories, and his attention drifted from FengXin and LuoLan.

"Li YueYing." LuoLan's ragged voice floated into YueYing's ears.

"Little Tyrant!" FengXin shouted from the opposite end.

Both voices filled YueYing's head and he stumbled backwards, almost tripping off the cot.

"We definitely had a school nurse!" LuoLan picked up Nurse X's broken glasses and shoved them at YueYing.

"We did not!" FengXin shook his arms up and down like a spoiled baby.

What chaotic siblings…. YueYing glanced back at the infirmary door, waiting for a chance to escape and clear his mind.

"I'm, uhh… Feng…Xin," YueYing familiarised himself by saying the sophomore's name, "didn't you have to go back to the library for something?"

FengXin froze as if struck by lightning.

"Pahahah!" LuoLan nearly spit her cigarette onto the floor, clutching her stomach in laughter. "Now? There's no one left in school, what library are you going to?"

"I completely forgot…." FengXin plopped onto the cot, remorseful. "Mr. Librarian is nice, but he hates it when people are late…"

YueYing sympathised. From what he'd heard and experienced, the Librarian had an apparent violent streak. FengXin would have a hard time.

"I'll bring my dear little brother, don't worry." LuoLan tossed her cigarette into the trash bin with perfect accuracy as she stood and grabbed FengXin by the collar. "Until next time, Li YueYing."

"Little Tyrant, come with us!" FengXin reached his hand towards YueYing, who drew back in hesitance.

"No. Let's go." LuoLan dragged the heartbroken FengXin out of the infirmary.

—

[ (O_O) ]

YueYing somehow felt relief seeing the System window.

[ He never told me he had a sister (◉ _ ◉) ]

"You knew the 'Protagonist,' " YueYing confirmed. "Why do you hate him so much, enough to want me to bully him?"

[ That wasn't just my decision, the— ]

[The— ]

[ ( – ⌓ – ) ]

"You can't say? Is it because you're being restricted…" He put his theory to the test.

[ How did you know Σ(⊙ロ⊙) ]

"System, I'm not an idiot."

[ Hm. ]

"By the way, Miss LuoLan could see you—er, the other system window."

[ Oh? (°ロ°) ]

YueYing thought as hard as he could about the statistics page.

[ 'Storyline Progression: -103%' ]

[ 'Protagonist Affection: 30%' ]

[ 'Binding Character: Librarian NPC {DETAILS HIDDEN}' ]

{Skills}

[ 'Taunt - Passive' ]

[ 'New Skill Unlocked! >>>CLICK HERE<<< ' ]

"This!" YueYing pointed at the very last line. "Is this a scam?"

The System didn't respond. YueYing could sense it thinking, though.

[ I don't think so? (ㆁ△ㆁ) ]

"I'm going to click on it." With a firm resolve, YueYing tapped on the window.

His hand passed through the screen, but a bright light activated regardless. YueYing shielded his eyes with his hands until the spark settled.

A glimmering champagne-gold window appeared before him, glittering spheres of light floating about the rectangular screen. 'CONGRATULATIONS' greeted him in bold white letters:

[ 'Your first active skill has been unlocked!' ]

[ 'System Active Skill 1 - Misfortune Upon Others' ]

[ 'You're having trouble. This will help.' ]

YueYing felt shivers run down his spine. Just from the name of the skill alone, he figured he'd have a harder future. Why both the main system and his System needed him to act mean, YueYing had no clue.

"System, why do I still need to pretend to be evil if the 'Protagonist' isn't—?"

[ What a useful skill (;´□｀) ]

The System turned a blind eye to YueYing's question.

[ Let's go home! ヾ(≧∇≦) ]

The infirmary door flung open, revealing the velveteen bedroom YueYing had first opened his eyes in after his rebirth. He took wavering steps towards the door.