Chapter 2: A Dead End Before Lunch

With no other choice, she could only read through the system-provided background story of her past life over a dozen times before Gu Qianqian managed to memorize a fair amount of the details and plot points.

She couldn’t blame herself for reading it so many times. In her past life, her grades were mediocre, and the owner of this body was even worse academically.

Granted, she had told herself she would find holes in the past-life story from the system to survive.

But Gu Qianqian had overestimated herself.

Who said transmigration came with a boost in intelligence?

That was total nonsense. She hadn’t gotten any smarter.

Instead, because she hadn’t fully merged with this body yet and was still adjusting, she felt dizzy and disoriented.

“Hoo… no, don’t panic… calm down, calm down…”

Gu Qianqian kept breathing in, out, in, out…

Then she realized she was indeed seeing stars.

They said protagonists can force themselves to stay calm. Gu Qianqian figured she probably didn’t have the protagonist’s luck.

Calmness really couldn’t be forced.

Thinking that she had just transmigrated, hadn’t even gotten used to the body, hadn’t experienced this…

…pfft, hadn’t experienced life in another world, and was going to die already? How could she not panic?

“Stupid system, stupid system! Think of something quickly! This afternoon, I’m going to die this afternoon!”

“I know you’re anxious, but stupid host, don’t rush.”

“I Chovy! It’s not you who’s dying, of course you’re not anxious! Give me some powerful items or some easy tasks with generous rewards. I need to beat up the female lead to feel safe!”

“Sorry, host. Need affection points.”

“(メ▼へ▼)/?’

“Host, don’t panic. It’s still early before afternoon. It’s only ten in the morning now. There are still four hours until the Wind City Academy gathering time!”

“Are you messing with me? Four hours, what can four hours do?!”

Gu Qianqian paced around frantically.

The stupid system was useless. As the old saying goes, better rely on yourself than on heaven or earth.

Four hours left. What could she do in that time?

Based on the plot she just read, the off-campus practical training at Wind City Academy was mandatory. You couldn’t skip it without a reason.

And this practical session lasted three days. Unless something unexpected happened, you couldn’t return midway.

Being attacked by monsters, wasn’t that an unexpected situation?

But the academy didn’t know that. They’d given the students half a day to pack before gathering in the afternoon.

What if she told the lead teacher that danger awaited them and asked them to cancel it?

No, no, no…

Gu Qianqian quickly rejected that idea. Setting aside whether they’d believe her, even if they did, they would only strengthen the guard and proceed with the training.

Because this was another world, unlike the peaceful Blue Star era of her past life. This world had already entered the apocalypse.

Human civilization was barely clinging to survival, building huge cities that couldn’t connect with each other, like cages that locked people in to protect them.

In this world, everyone had to start training from the moment they could remember things. Otherwise, they couldn’t survive in this cruel world.

Even if someone truly lacked combat talent and would become a desk worker later, they still had to train, at least to have some ability to protect themselves.

Practical training like the one organized by the school was actually a tradition in Wind City. Under the guidance of teachers and academy guards, they would take relatively safe routes.

The purpose was to let students understand the cruelty outside and see the real face of this world, so they could grow.

So danger was actually part of the training. It was just that, according to the plot, the crisis this time exceeded what the lead teachers and guards could handle.

And even if she poured her heart out and told them, Gu Qianqian couldn’t explain how she knew the future. She couldn’t get anyone to believe her.

Then…

What about running away outright?

After all, she wasn’t the real Gu Qianqian. There was no real baggage holding her back.

Forget the academy, forget that stupid Lin Feiyu. She didn’t care about any of them.

She was about to die. Why go to school, why do any practical training…

Run like hell!

But thinking it through, running had too many problems.

First, if she disappeared, the academy would notify her family and send people to find her.

How big could Wind City get?

Sooner or later she’d be found. She was terrible at hide-and-seek anyway.

Second, acting differently from what Lin Feiyu remembered of her past life would definitely draw attention.

If the female lead marked her, wasn’t that the same as a death sentence?

And she’d die even more horribly. The female lead might even interrogate her about why she ran.

Gu Qianqian didn’t fancy herself as a tough gal who could endure torture and keep quiet about being a transmigrator with a system.

A blackened, reborn female lead wouldn’t joke around with you. She’d just take you out.

Last but most importantly, as mentioned, this world wasn’t safe!

Even inside Wind City, there were often news about monsters sneaking in to eat and kill people.

If she ran off alone, did she even have the ability to survive in this cruel world?

Gu Qianqian: ╥﹏╥

No matter how she looked at it, it was a dead end!

“Host, are you giving up?”

“Bullshit!” Gu Qianqian mustered her spirits. “Do I look like the kind of person who gives up? Wouldn’t that disgrace all transmigrators? Just you wait, I’ll kick the female lead’s ass, punch the male lead, and throw my weight around.”

System: •᷄ࡇ•᷅

That said, she truly couldn’t think of any good tactics right now. Her brain wasn’t big enough.

She’d just have to take it one step at a time.

She pulled out her phone, and following her memories of the original owner, called the head teacher, Wang Feng.

“Hello? Teacher Wang? It’s me, Gu Qianqian.”

“Gu Qianqian? You again? What is it?”

On the other end, head teacher Wang Feng’s tone was rude, almost disdainful.

No helping it. The original body was an evil roadside villain who bullied the female lead.

No matter how cute and pretty she looked, with her bad attitude, lack of effort, and picking on the class’s scholarly white lotus, she could never win the favor of Wang Feng, another woman.

“Um, Teacher Wang, about this practical training, can I take leave? I… um… my period came…”

Sweet!

Right then, Gu Qianqian silently cheered for the brilliant excuse her mind came up with. Transmigrating as a girl was the best!

This excuse was flawless, right?

But to her surprise, Wang Feng on the other end sneered at that. “Hmph, Gu Qianqian, you usually skip classes and bully classmates, and now you want to take leave?”

“Practical training is a required course for every student. You can dodge it today, but not forever.”

“Though at least you have some self-awareness, admitting you’re too weak and asking for leave.”

“But this is a lesson everyone has to face. Don’t say your period came. Even if your uncle, your aunt, and your whole family came, you still can’t get leave!”

“Those monsters outside won’t spare you just because you’re sick or hurt. That’s all. Be there on time in the afternoon. I’ll take attendance. If you dare not show up, just wait for your parents to be called.”

Damn it, why do teachers in every universe pull the ‘call your parents’ move!

Gu Qianqian, hanging up with a dark face, flipped through her contacts again and called the teacher leading the trip this time.

After identifying herself and hinting that there might be danger, the response she got was this.

“Student, you don’t need to worry about that. The route, the security, the plan for practical training have all been tested by the academy over many years. Safe and reliable.”

“You’re Gu Qianqian, right? Hah. I know who you are.”

His tone was just like Wang Feng’s.

“It’s normal for practical training to have dangers, but everything is within controlled limits.”

“If you’re really afraid of dying and don’t want to go, well, over the years, even students with broken legs or broken arms rarely missed it. But if your injuries are worse than theirs, you can ask for leave this time.”

Wait, what was with these teachers? Did they eat gunpowder? Why were they so hostile to her?

After hanging up, Gu Qianqian stopped hoping to communicate with the academy. She just buried her head and started packing.

If she couldn’t afford to offend them, could she at least avoid them?

Run!

The Wind City Academy dormitories were normally six-person shared rooms, but when it came to Gu Qianqian, the class just happened to have one extra student, so for her year, she had a six-person room all to herself.

That was one of the few good pieces of news.

Because she didn’t have to deal with troublesome roommates, nor did she have to worry about slipping up and revealing she wasn’t the ‘Gu Qianqian’ everyone knew.

Following the original owner’s memory, she packed some valuables and a few changes of clothes, then snuck out of the dormitory building, avoiding people.

She skipped lunch. Survival came first.

Even if running didn’t guarantee survival, at least it beat only living through today!

But just as she stepped out of the side door, she ran straight into someone.

At the sight of the other person, Gu Qianqian’s eyes widened, and she nearly forgot to breathe.

A poem she learned in her past life flashed through her mind:

Icy hair curtained her forehead, pouring like clear autumn.

Jade bones frozen in frost, mirroring moonlit eyes.

Cicada-wing locks half-drooped like cranes beyond the clouds.

Dark brows lightly painted like gulls upon the water.

If you ask where the immortal maiden is, she stands right before your eyes!

Beautiful!

Breathtakingly beautiful!

So beautiful it felt like you could forgive her anything, even the most heinous crimes!

So beautiful it made Gu Qianqian want to cry.

Why did she want to cry?

Because wasn’t this the female lead she was most afraid of seeing right now, Lin Feiyu?

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