CHAPTER 454: CHAPTER 454: GIVING UP SIMPLICITY AND KINDNESS

Lu Yujing truly believed the System this time. She called out to it again in her mind, "System, System, are you still there?"

No response. Lu Yujing’s heart instantly sank to the bottom again. It seemed she’d gone mad—mad together with Sang Ning.

Behind her, Jiang Xiaoti’s teasing laughter rang out: "Sister Jing, why are you standing there like you’re stuck? Don’t tell me you’re still not awake, just like Sang Ning."

Lu Yujing turned to glance back and absentmindedly replied, "Oh, okay," before stepping forward and walking ahead.

Jiang Xiaoti’s eyes narrowed slightly, looking at Lu Yujing with suspicion. What was up with Lu Yujing and Sang Ning today, both acting so strange?

After getting off the plane, a bone-chilling coldness assaulted her, and Lu Yujing hurriedly pulled her collar tighter.

She looked down—when had she changed into a down jacket? On the plane earlier, she’d been too tense to even notice that she’d already bundled herself up in thick clothes.

Sang Ning was walking ahead, chatting and laughing with Song Shiye. Wei Lan and Li Haidong were tagging along.

Although Li Haidong outwardly seemed to dislike Sang Ning, among the younger folks, he actually got along with her the best.

Lu Yujing wasn’t blind; she could clearly see that Li Haidong actually liked Sang Ning as a junior. He wasn’t nearly as dismissive toward her as he pretended to be.

Hmph. Lu Yujing sneered coldly in her heart, feeling a bit dissatisfied—why Sang Ning? Was it really because of that so-called protagonist halo?

"Bingo! Congratulations, Host. You guessed it right!" A mechanical voice suddenly blared in her mind.

Lu Yujing jumped in fright and hesitantly asked with her thoughts, "Are you real or fake?"

The cold mechanical voice replied, "If you believe in me, then I’m real. If you don’t, I’ll simply go find another Host."

"Wait..." Lu Yujing inexplicably panicked. "I’ve thought it through. I want to be the protagonist of this world. Can you tell me how to defeat Sang Ning and claim the protagonist halo?"

The System chuckled darkly. "Everything comes at a price. If you want to defeat Sang Ning and obtain the protagonist halo, then naturally you must pay the appropriate cost."

Lu Yujing felt her heart skip a beat. It felt like making a deal with the devil—yet who could resist a temptation so great? Being the protagonist would mean ruling over the world. Even Li Juezhou, who’d never even spared her a glance, would bow down to her.

Hesitating for even a second would be disrespecting such a life. Though apprehensive, Lu Yujing still decisively agreed. "I’m willing! No matter the cost, I’m willing to pay it!"

"To become the lead, you’ll need to sacrifice purity and kindness. Are you ready for that?" the System coaxed.

Without hesitation, Lu Yujing agreed. "Not a problem. Purity and kindness are useless to me. Besides, once I really become the ruler, I’ll set the rules myself. Who would dare claim I’m not kind or pure?"

The System was very pleased with her response, and its mechanical laughter trembled with delight. "Very good. Actually, the task is quite simple. As long as you kill Sang Ning, you’ll gain the unique protagonist halo."

Lu Yujing suddenly fell silent, which made the System annoyed. "What’s wrong? Can’t do it? Didn’t you just say purity and kindness are useless? Now you’re hesitating to eliminate your competitor who poses a threat to you?"

"No," Lu Yujing refuted. "I can forego morality, but I can’t break the law. Killing someone is against the law, isn’t it?"

System: "..."

Well, that was certainly a logical point it couldn’t refute. But somehow, a person who could discard purity and kindness without hesitation seemed oddly indicative of a twisted sense of purity and kindness.

"But... if I can’t do it myself because it’s illegal, I can just have someone else do it for me, right?" Lu Yujing quickly responded.

If the System had a physical form, its forehead would surely be dripping with an enormous sweat bead right now. No wonder it had picked her—she truly was ethically unrestrained.

"Well, you’d better act quickly. Dragging things out won’t help you, and if Sang Ning gets the protagonist halo first, it’ll be game over for you." The System urged her.

Lu Yujing nodded but responded via thought, "Don’t worry. I know what I need to do."

——

After ending her conversation with the System, Lu Yujing composed herself, took a deep breath, and ran forward to catch up with Sang Ning and her group. "Sangsang, wait a minute, let’s go together."

Sang Ning turned back in confusion, and when she saw the one calling her "Sangsang" was Lu Yujing, her pupils tightened in shock.

Over the recent time-warp, what had she done to Lu Yujing for their relationship to change so drastically?

Lu Yujing walked over and grabbed Sang Ning’s hand. "Sangsang, I have a few words I want to say to you privately. Can we step aside for a moment?"

Before Sang Ning could even say "Sure," Lu Yujing had already pulled her away.

Once out of sight from the others, Lu Yujing released Sang Ning, took a step back, lowered her head, and nervously twisted her fingers, leaving her true emotions hard to discern.

Sang Ning, bored of watching Lu Yujing awkwardly stall, spoke first: "Just say what you want to say. Don’t drag this out."

Honestly, Sang Ning didn’t expect Lu Yujing to say anything good. Considering the unsubtle annoyance in Lu Yujing’s eyes back on the plane earlier, their relationship clearly hadn’t improved. Lu Yujing’s sudden friendliness was undoubtedly laced with ulterior motives.

Sang Ning remained vigilant, but Lu Yujing’s next stammering words completely threw her off.

"San... Sang Ning, I just want to say... thank you!"

Thank her? Thank her for what? What had she done? Sang Ning was overwhelmed with confusion. "Explain yourself."

Lu Yujing stepped closer and wrapped her arm around Sang Ning’s, trying to brush it off with artificial warmth. "It’s nothing. It’s all in the past. Didn’t we agree not to bring it up anymore? Anyway, I was in the wrong before. You were willing to forgive me and even agreed to be friends. I’m really happy."

But no matter how Sang Ning pressed her after that, Lu Yujing refused to reveal what had happened.

Unusual behavior always hints at deeper issues. Sang Ning didn’t lower her guard one bit.

While fetching her luggage in the terminal, Sang Ning secretly approached Zhou Rui.

The time warp had indeed altered things, but the program team still had footage from their tourism on New Island.

Since Lu Yujing wouldn’t say, Sang Ning decided to request the videos herself.

Sang Ning knew exactly what she wanted—specifically, the raw footage from the cameras following both her and Lu Yujing. Zhou Rui didn’t know what Sang Ning was up to, but he agreed to give her the clips.

By the time they landed in Bing City, it was practically approaching midnight. The production team hadn’t scheduled any activities for them, allowing the guests to head straight to the hotel to rest after disembarking.

Unfortunately, at this Bing City stop, the guests could no longer enjoy single-room accommodations. Instead, they were divided into gender-specific suites, with separate bedrooms within each suite to guarantee a degree of privacy.

After entering the hotel, Sang Ning hastily freshened up in her bathroom, locked her bedroom door tightly, and began fast-forwarding through the footage taken on New Island.