Stalemate

[Ding! Your lackeys were beaten up, and you chose to report it to the teacher, slightly altering the original plot. Reward: 200 villain points.]

[Ding! Your current villain points have exceeded 500. The Ultimate Villain System store has been automatically unlocked.]

As soon as Song Zhenyu left, Wang Haoran received the system's notifications.

This was within his expectations.

His lackeys were beaten up, and he instructed them to report it to the teacher. This directly deviated from the usual villain's thought process, so it was no surprise that the plot had changed.

200 villain points.

He happily accepted them.

In his mind, besides his original attribute panel, a new system store interface appeared.

However, the store didn't display any items—only a lottery option.

"I have 600 villain points now. What can I exchange for? Show me everything," Wang Haoran directly asked the system.

[Host, 600 villain points are not enough to exchange for any items. The cheapest item in the store costs 1,000 villain points.

It is recommended that the host try the lottery. Each lottery draw costs 500 villain points. The host has a chance to win luxurious rewards, but it's also possible to get nothing.]

"I need to save up another 400 points to exchange for items, and even then, I might not get what I want. Might as well try my luck with the lottery," Wang Haoran decided to take a chance.

A roulette wheel appeared in the store interface. It spun and soon landed on a result.

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You've hit the jackpot and won the 'Peach Blossom Eyes,' worth 1,500 villain points. Would you like to use it immediately?]

From the name alone, it was easy to understand what this was.

A man with peach blossom eyes could easily attract women.

This was a great item!

Wang Haoran, of course, chose to use it immediately.

After using it, he took out his phone to take a selfie and secretly checked his eyes. However, he noticed no visible changes.

But when he looked at his attribute panel, he saw that his charm value had increased from 198 to 268.

The additional 70 points in charm value were likely due to the peach blossom eyes.

"Let's see how this feels in practice."

With this thought in mind, Wang Haoran used the unfinished math problem as an excuse to switch seats with Xu Muyan's deskmate and continued discussing the problem with her.

Wang Haoran clearly noticed that Xu Muyan was looking at him more frequently, and her gaze lingered on him for longer periods.

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

"No, it's just that your eyes are so captivating," Xu Muyan blurted out without thinking.

As soon as she said this, her face turned red, and she quickly looked away.

The shy demeanor of a young girl was simply too charming.

[Ding! The favorability of one of the female leads, Xu Muyan, toward the host has increased by 10. Current favorability: 20 (very friendly).]

[Ding! Chu Bai's protagonist halo has decreased by 10. Host's villain halo has increased by 10.]

"It seems these peach blossom eyes are quite useful. Not bad, not bad."

Looking at his attribute panel again, he noticed further changes:

[Host: Wang Haoran]

[Combat Power: 89]

[Charm: 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 decided to head to the Moral Education Department to watch the drama unfold.

As soon as he reached the door, he heard a heated argument.

Clearly, the issue hadn't been resolved, and the situation was at a stalemate.

Wang Haoran stood openly at the door, watching the scene.

The deputy director of the Moral Education Department noticed a student watching and was about to scold him, but when he saw it was Wang Haoran, he immediately swallowed his words.

This was the advantage of being a villain—he had connections at school. Except for the protagonist and his allies, everyone else would give him face.

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

The reason the fight issue was at a stalemate was as follows:

Fan Jian and the others admitted that they had provoked Chu Bai because they didn't like him, which led to the fight.

In the eyes of Song Zhenyu and the deputy director, both sides were at fault.

Fan Jian and the others were at fault for starting the fight.

Chu Bai was at fault for beating up Fan Jian and the other two so severely, slapping them dozens of times until their faces were swollen and bruised.

Both sides were wrong.

So why not punish everyone?

Because Fan Jian and the other two threatened to report the matter to the police.

This, of course, was Wang Haoran's idea.

Fan Jian and the others had started the fight, and Chu Bai had acted in self-defense. However, Chu Bai had gone too far, crossing the line into excessive self-defense.

The grounds for reporting to the police were solid.

But the school administration was absolutely unwilling to let this happen.

If the police got involved, the matter would escalate, and the school's reputation would undoubtedly suffer.

Therefore, the deputy director and Song Zhenyu had no choice but to mediate between Chu Bai and Fan Jian's group.

Under the mediation, Fan Jian and the others compromised, saying they would settle the matter if they could slap Chu Bai once in return.

But Chu Bai would never agree to that.

What protagonist isn't stubborn?

So he'd rather let Fan Jian and the others report the matter to the police.

The school, of course, wasn't happy about this.

And thus, the stalemate continued.

"Chu Bai, I've tried reasoning with you, but you're still being stubborn. If this gets reported to the police, things will escalate. You could end up with a criminal record and be expelled from school. Are you really going to refuse?"

The deputy director, a fierce-looking man named Yan Zan in his forties or fifties, threatened as the situation remained unresolved.

"Deputy Director Yan, if we do this, Chu Bai's future will be ruined. We can't do this," Song Zhenyu immediately objected.

Wang Haoran silently observed from the doorway.

Teacher Song had a fiery temper. Earlier, she had looked like she was ready to kill, but now she was full of concern, showing how much she cared for her students.

She was truly kind-hearted.

With her personality, Teacher Song seemed like she could easily be one of the female leads.

"Teacher Song, I've given him a chance, but he's being stubborn. It's not my fault," Yan Zan had made up his mind.

He had spent dozens of minutes trying to reason with Chu Bai, but the boy refused to listen.

Now, he had lost his patience and wasn't willing to heed Song Zhenyu's advice.

Song Zhenyu had only been at the school for two or three years. She didn't have much seniority or connections.

Yan Zan didn't need to care about her opinion.

Moreover, he was acting in the school's best interests.

Even the higher-ups would support his decision.

"Is it really this easy to ruin him?" Wang Haoran found it hard to believe.

If Chu Bai were really expelled, his opportunities to interact with Xu Muyan and Song Zhenyu would be almost nonexistent, making it nearly impossible for him to win over these two female leads.

This would cause his protagonist halo to significantly diminish, while Wang Haoran's villain halo would skyrocket.

Wouldn't that mean Chu Bai was effectively finished?

However, Wang Haoran soon noticed an elderly man with a graying beard walking straight toward the Moral Education Department.

Wang Haoran recognized him.

It was the school principal.

"Why is the principal suddenly showing up here?" Wang Haoran wondered.

The principal was rarely seen around the school. Most affairs were handled by the vice-principals, and many students didn't even know what he looked like.

For him to appear here now was quite unusual.

Could it be...?

Wang Haoran suddenly had a bad feeling.