And you, my friend, you are the real hero.

"Ding dong~"

Just then, Su Cheng's phone buzzed with a notification—a message from Cornelia.

[Psyduck]: "I've already cut it off. There shouldn’t be any bloodshed now, right?"

Seeing this message, Su Cheng let out a sigh of relief before replying, "Yeah, it's fine now."

To him, Cornelia’s personality was already straight out of an anime—golden-haired, twin-tailed, and tsundere.

So whether he was being paranoid or overreacting, this was a matter of life and death. He had to nip the danger in the bud rather than let it fester into tragedy.

[Psyduck]: "Thank you. You’re a hero!"

[NotAnOrangeFan]: "No, my friend, you are the real hero!"

Seeing Cornelia’s gratitude, Su Cheng couldn’t help but worry about her. He quickly added, "Are you okay?"

[Psyduck]: "I’m fine. Besides, her new hairstyle was just a wig. Afterward, she just scolded me a bit. Once I apologized properly, we made up."

A wig?

Only then did Su Cheng realize—the first time he saw Cornelia’s mom, she had a standard lawyer’s short haircut, and her hair volume definitely couldn’t support anything else.

But today, his mind had been too preoccupied with Cornelia’s mother’s safety to notice such details. Now that he understood the truth, the guilt in his heart faded somewhat.

After all, cutting someone’s hair over an anime trope was downright immoral—like gamers who lost touch with reality, unable to distinguish between the virtual and real worlds. It was foolish.

But as someone with a system, he had already transcended the bounds of reality. If he knew such dangers existed and chose to ignore them, wouldn’t he regret it for the rest of his life?

He had a system. Wasn’t that already more surreal than anything else?

Putting away his phone, Su Cheng turned his gaze out the window, feeling the need to reboot the laws of anime to verify whether this was truly an anime world.

But…

If he really was just a character in a fictional anime, weren’t his thoughts and actions already scripted by the author?

The moment this thought crossed his mind, Su Cheng felt a headache coming on. Rubbing his temples, he suddenly noticed a group of girls chatting in the classroom.

He had no connection to them whatsoever.

Could they be background characters the author overlooked?

Could he use them as a breakthrough point?

Su Cheng’s mind raced, spiraling into an inescapable loop of overthinking without him even realizing it.

Could he break through with a setting?

Like an S-rank reward?

Something that could shatter the fourth wall?

Wait, but the author could just… not give it to him.

This was a paradox!

So, the moment he thinks, the author laughs?

In the end, the character’s intelligence is the author’s intelligence.

Hmm…

But what if a character surpassed the author’s intelligence?

Gu Ruoxue. Ji Qingyi. Liu Qingyue.

Senior Gu. The riddler, always speaking in puzzles.

Little interaction, minimal system descriptions.

Yet, her intelligence stat was a whopping 9.

So… could his past suicide attempt—jumping into the river and losing his memories—be connected to this?

The thought sent a chill down his spine.

After all, suicide was the best way to test the theory.

Suddenly, a hand clapped him on the shoulder.

"Su Cheng."

Snapped out of his thoughts, Su Cheng turned to see Wang Guancong and Gao Ye standing behind him, lightly tapping his back. "What’s up? You’ve been staring outside this whole time."

Su Cheng forced an awkward smile before deflecting, "What’s going on?"

"About what I asked you yesterday—how’d it go?"

Wang Guancong pulled a chair over, scooting closer to Su Cheng with hopeful yet nervous eyes. "You promised me, remember?"

"Sorry, I asked, but the club isn’t accepting new members right now." Su Cheng spread his hands in a helpless gesture.

Hearing this, Wang Guancong’s boyishly handsome face fell. He slumped into his chair like a deflated balloon.

Gao Ye, watching from the side, couldn’t resist teasing, "Oho~ Got rejected?"

"Who got rejected?!" Wang Guancong snapped, glaring at Gao Ye. "I just lost my shot at a grand dream, that’s all!"

At the same time, three girls walked into the classroom—Li Guanqi, Xuan Ying, and Zhao Yan.

Ding ling ling~

The morning bell rang, and the teacher strode in right on cue, launching into the day’s lesson.

………………

Noon.

Clear skies.

Azure heavens, white clouds, crisp air—not a single cloud in sight.

The campus was shaded by lush greenery, birds chirping cheerfully in the branches. The peaceful, comfortable atmosphere put Su Cheng at ease, especially with Li Guanqi walking beside him. The familiar scent of her presence enveloped him, amplifying his contentment.

Today, she was dressed as usual—school uniform, unchanging black tights, and her raven-black, straight hair cascading like a waterfall. Her exquisitely beautiful face, though expressionless, radiated a gentle tranquility that soothed him.

Su Cheng couldn’t resist stealing glances at her. The sight of this stunning girl finally eased the turmoil in his heart.

With her around, nothing else seemed to matter.

Then, he noticed Li Guanqi had caught him looking. She lifted her gaze slightly, meeting his eyes. Her soft pink lips parted as she spoke quietly, "What’s wrong with you today? You’ve been distracted in class."

"Uh."

Su Cheng hesitated before countering, "I encountered an anime trope in real life today, so I intervened. But afterward, I felt like what I did was immoral. Hurting someone because of an anime cliché… But if I’d done nothing and something bad happened, I’d regret it forever."

He sighed heavily. "Then I started questioning whether this is an anime world… and fell into this spiral of self-doubt."

"I see." Li Guanqi murmured, her brows knitting slightly as she pondered. After a long pause, she nodded faintly. "I don’t recommend you dwell on this further."

"Huh?" Su Cheng blinked at her, confused why she’d discourage him from pursuing the truth.

But Li Guanqi fell silent, her long lashes lowering to veil the complexity in her eyes. Instead, she changed the subject. "What was the anime phenomenon you mentioned?"

"Cornelia’s mom changed her hairstyle to a ‘married woman’ look!"

Su Cheng answered without hesitation.

"And what did you do?"

Li Guanqi pressed.

"...I… told Cornelia to cut it off."

Su Cheng mumbled, avoiding her gaze. He braced himself for judgment or reproach, staring at the ground instead.

The whole thing was so absurd—even he thought it was ridiculous.

Yet, to his surprise, Li Guanqi reached out and clasped his hand tightly, as if trying to convey warmth.

Her voice softened. "Making that choice must have been hard for you, wasn’t it?"

Su Cheng froze. He hadn’t expected her first concern to be his feelings rather than the situation itself. A surge of warmth flooded his chest, leaving him speechless for a moment.

God, he could cry—Li Guanqi was always such a sweetheart.

"You don’t need to explain. Every decision has its reasons."

Li Guanqi gently released her grip on his hand. "Your intentions were good, but the execution was wrong, you know."

Su Cheng looked at Li Guanqi with a pitiful and confused expression, waiting for her explanation.

"If we really were in an anime world, there are examples of people with this hairstyle who don’t face persecution. So it’s not absolute. I think this phenomenon is uncertain, which makes your approach a bit extreme." Li Guanqi spoke earnestly. "No matter how well-meaning you were, I’d like you to discuss things like this with me in the future."

Su Cheng froze for a moment before slowly understanding.

Thinking it over, Su Cheng was immediately overwhelmed with shame and hurried to explain, "Sorry, I didn’t think this through properly. At least it was just a wig—otherwise, I’d be irredeemable."

In any case, it was all Liu Qingyue’s fault for filling his head with unhealthy knowledge last night—stuff like web novels and anime—leaving him dizzy this morning and causing this whole mess.

Everything was Qingyue’s fault!

Li Guanqi, however, said nothing in response, merely nodding faintly.

"Oh, today’s lunch!"

Suddenly, Su Cheng glanced around and magically produced a fruit sponge cake, offering it to Li Guanqi.

"Huh?"

At the sight of the cake, she first looked surprised. Then, with the clear-eyed gaze of a devoted believer—like a child meeting Santa Claus—her sparkling eyes brimmed with delight.

"We still had one dessert left for the week, so when I passed by the bakery yesterday, I bought this for your lunch." Su Cheng smiled bashfully, pushing the cake toward her. "Go ahead, eat."

Li Guanqi took the cake and first held it to Su Cheng’s lips, waiting for him to take a small bite before closing her own eyes to savor it slowly.

Then, she repeated the gesture, placing it back at Su Cheng’s mouth. The two took turns, sharing the cake bite by bite.

And so, the cake was finished—just like their usual interactions. Though this kind of routine happened daily at school, maintaining their familiar rhythm, each time felt entirely different.

"Yesterday after school, I went to the library to find that staff member, only to see Xuan Ying chatting with her like they were old friends, completely hitting it off…"

Li Guanqi pulled out a tissue, gently wiping away a smear of cream from Su Cheng’s lips as she murmured, "This morning, they invited me to lunch again. But I turned them down."

"What were they talking about?"

Su Cheng grabbed a tissue, mimicking Li Guanqi by dabbing at the corner of her mouth while asking, "It wasn’t about me again, was it?"

He remembered running into Xuan Ying yesterday after leaving the library with Gu Ruoxue, fresh from handling matters at the equestrian club.

"She was giving Xuan Ying a lesson."

"A lesson?!"

…………………………

Rewind to yesterday afternoon.

Library.

Staff break room.

A female staff member in her twenties stood in uniform before a blackboard, while Xuan Ying sat obediently on the sofa, her expression rapt with attention.

"Since you don’t want to resort to crude methods, I’ll teach you the proper procedure."

Sister Qin—around 25 or 26, with striking features—spoke rapidly, her tone dead serious.

"Please begin!"

Xuan Ying assumed the posture of an eager student.

Sister Qin paused for a few seconds, as if weighing her words, then continued, "First, you need to clearly understand your position!"

"My position?"

"Yes, exactly. Right now, you’re stuck in an awkward spot—neither strong nor weak."

As she spoke, she wrote on the blackboard:

Unknown — Xuan Ying — Li Guanqi — Ji Qingyi.

Pointing at "Xuan Ying," she fixed her gaze on the girl. "This is your current situation."

Seeing the ranking, Xuan Ying flushed slightly, reluctantly admitting, "...Y-yeah, that’s right."

"Since ancient times, the weak survive by allying with the strong."

Here, she drew two lines connecting Xuan Ying’s name to the other two, then pressed on, "How do you choose? Simple. First, Ji Qingyi will absolutely harm you, so you must make sure she develops enough goodwill toward you to avoid that."

Xuan Ying’s eyes widened in shock.

"From a dialectical standpoint, having an opponent like Ji Qingyi might seem hopeless, but look at it another way—it’s an opportunity. If you play your cards right, you might even profit from their conflict!"

Hearing this, Xuan Ying lowered her head, her face burning red. She seemed torn but eventually looked up, gritting her teeth. "...But half the school tries to get close to her, and most people flee after one glance."

"Remember, the key is Su Cheng."

With that, Sister Qin erased the board and wrote two new characters—Su Cheng.

"Assuming you’ve managed to get on Ji Qingyi’s good side, the next problem is Su Cheng."

"Eh, Su Cheng?"

Xuan Ying tilted her head in confusion.

"Ugh, you’re so dense! Even if you had all the skills in the world, if Su Cheng doesn’t like you, it’s all pointless!"

Sister Qin smacked the blackboard in frustration.

Xuan Ying pouted, mumbling, "I’m not that dumb!"

Sister Qin sighed, shaking her head as she wiped the board clean again, replacing the words with "Initiative."

"First, you need Su Cheng to think about you constantly—whether in a good or bad way, as long as he’s aware of you. Based on my analysis of him…" She added another word: 'Borrowing.'

"Huh?! If I lend him money, he’d never take it!"

Xuan Ying rejected the idea outright.

"You idiot, why not borrow from him instead?!"

………………………………………………

Listening to Li Guanqi recount the "lesson," Su Cheng broke into a cold sweat, nearly choking.

What kind of library Machiavelli was this?!

Still, now that he knew, he could prepare countermeasures in advance.

"Let’s just head to the lecture hall."

"The lecture hall?"

Li Guanqi sounded puzzled.

Su Cheng nodded. "Yeah, let’s grab seats early!"

Li Guanqi: "Oh, okay."

After packing up, the two set off toward the lecture hall.

Yesterday’s clash between Gu Ruoxue and Ji Qingyi had pricked Su Cheng’s masculine pride, so today he resolved to secure their spots first.

Turning passivity into initiative—that way, he wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire again!