บท 3: CHAPTER 2 - Villain Counterattack System.
"System, show me my status window."
The moment he heard the notifications of the skills he had received, Haoran quickly called out for his status window, and as he did, an illusionary blue screen filled with several pieces of information popped up in front of his eyes.
[Fang Haoran: Host of the "Villain Counterattack System"
→ Luck Points: 0
→ Skill Points: 0
→ Strength: 70
→ Constitution: 90
→ Mental Power: 200
→ Charm: 90
→ Skills:
> Appraisal: Can identify anything and everything.
> Seize: Has a chance to steal one item from a target. (Cooldown: 7 days. After defeating the protagonist, there's a 100% chance to seize one of their cheat abilities.)
> Ability Suppression: Consumes Luck Points to nullify others' special abilities for a limited time.
→ Inventory: None]
"Hmm... pretty underwhelming, honestly," Haoran muttered as his eyes ran through the status window, but then he just shrugged, relaxing back in his seat. "But, oh well, I've already beaten the protagonist several times, and that was without the system's help, so no matter what, it is going to be easier than before."
He folded his leg, his finger tapping his chin as he thought of the protagonist he had to defeat.
After thinking about it for a while, he finally clenched his fists and asserted inwardly, 'This time, I'll aim to take down Ye Feng before the third heroine even appears. Let's speedrun this thing!'
Still, Fang Haoran couldn't help but roll his eyes at the plot of the original storyline, where he knew how Ye Feng defeated him.
Why is it that every urban novel's rich villain ends up being a real estate tycoon? Probably because it's an easy plot device.
The protagonist can always dig up some kind of scandal at the villain's construction site or evidence of violent evictions, and boom—down goes the villain.
In the novel's storyline, Fang Haoran was imprisoned for these reasons, and Liu Quingshuang took the opportunity to call off their engagement publicly.
Later in the story, Fang Haoran is able to escape the prison by using some of his connections.
Unfortunately, his jailbreak wasn't some perk granted by the author to help the villain. It was just another setup for his inevitable demise because after escaping, Fang Haoran, still fuming, was supposed to sneak into Liu Quingshuang's dorm to vent his anger.
And wouldn't you know it—Ye Feng, the protagonist, happened to show up, ready to "comfort" the "heartbroken" Liu Quingshuang right at that moment, only to find Haoran there, prepared to sneak in.
The result? Fang Haoran was no match for Ye Feng and was killed on the spot.
Since he was an escaped criminal who had broken into someone's home, Ye Feng wasn't charged with anything. In fact, he was praised as a hero for stopping a criminal.
To top it off, the scheming protagonist intentionally took a minor injury during the fight, ensuring that Liu Quingshuang would notice it and be moved to tears. Then, of course, as a female lead, she would immediately invite him into her room to tend to his wounds.
"Sigh..." Haoran sighed as he recalled all of that. Just how brain-dead an author has to be to make the story filled with so many plot holes and contribute it all to the protagonist's luck halo.
"Well, I've already cut ties with Liu Quingshuang, so that's one lead heroine out of the way. Next, I'll clean up the Fang Group's internal mess." But soon, he shrugged, opened the drawer under his table, and pulled out a ledger with a thoughtful look on his face.
He didn't know if the heavens, before going offline, had done something or not. Maybe it made some amendments or made the protagonist strong, so he, hoping not to miss anything, wanted to eliminate anything possible for the protagonist to sabotage.
He won't have another chance after all...
So, going through his memories, he quickly marked the key figures who could cause problems for the Fang Group in the future and wrote the names of some reliable personnel next to them, as those people would soon be taking over the places.
Tring
Then he rang the bell, making a woman—his secretory—quickly rush in.
"See to it that these people are out of my company, and tell the ones I named to take up those empty positions." He spoke without looking at the woman, pointing at the ledger in his hand, his orders straight and precise.
His stance was clear—he wanted them out, and the secretory, after seeing the serious look on her boss's face, hurriedly took the file, bowed her head, and left with a "Yes, boss."
The ones he was firing hadn't caused any immediate trouble yet, but their shady dealings were easy to expose with a little digging. So, instead of taking a chance, he removed them from the equation altogether.
After spending the whole afternoon and ensuring the smooth implementation of his orders, Fang Haoran finally drove over to the gates of S City's top high school in the evening.
It was on the way to the Liu family estate, so he figured he might as well stop by to check on the protagonist.
The school time was already over; it had been a while even. So only a few students were left outside, probably waiting for someone to come pick them up.
Leaning casually against his Rolls-Royce, Fang Haoran ignored the awed stares of passing students and waited quietly.
He wasn't here to look at every tom-dick-hardy passing through him; he was here for a single purpose, so he waited patiently, and before long, Liu Quingshuang appeared, walking alongside a sweet-looking, pure-hearted girl and an ordinary-looking boy with a bandaged left hand.
The three were chatting and laughing.
The protagonist and another one of the heroines had entered the scene.
"Teacher Liu, please don't worry about me. Although it does look like a major injury, and I do feel the pain, I'm not weak enough to cry over it," spoke the only guy among the group of three, and seeing the familiar face of a man with a buzz cut, tanned skin from sun exposure, and a strong, athletic build, Fang Haoran immediately recognized him.
This was Ye Feng, the protagonist.
In the original storyline, Ye Feng was a high school senior who, after two and a half years of slacking off, suddenly had a "wake-up call" and decided to turn his life around.
Of course, Ye Feng's so-called "awakening" involved cheating during exams using his "clairvoyant vision" and cozying up to the class monitor Xia Lianxin and his English teacher Liu Quingshuang under the guise of studying hard.
If he was so diligent, why didn't he ever ask the balding math teacher for help?
"Hmph! It wouldn't even have happened in the first place if not for that unreasonable thug!" Xia Lianxin Spoke up, frowning as she folded her arms in front of her chest.
"I know, but still..." Liu Quingshuang, listening to Lianxin's words, nodded her head with a sigh, turning to look at Ye Feng, then, with an apologetic expression, she spoke again, "Looking at your injured arm, I feel guilty every time."
She knew that it was her fault that it even happened to Ye Feng. If Fang Haoran wasn't her finance, this wouldn't have happened in the first place.
"What are you talking about, teacher Liu? I could take a bullet for you if needed, his injury—" Ye Feng, listening to her words, had a sly glint pass through his eyes as he puffed his chest, pumping his fist up, but then he paused and winced a bit as if in pain. "—Argh!"
"A-Are you alright?!" X2
That action caused both Lianxin and Quingshuang to quickly hold him from both sides, supporting him as he seemed in pain, making Ye Feng grin on the inside.
'Success!' He exclaimed inwardly, enjoying the worry and care of the two beautiful women around him.
Despite his average looks and the cocky smirk that practically stretched to his ears, Ye Feng was still able to enjoy this treatment, making the passerby male students seeth with envy.
But Haroan, still leaning on his car, didn't seem to care about it in the least; he just called out for the system in his mind.
'System, show me his abilities.'
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