Chapter 5: Officially At War With The Protagonist

Without another word, Ling Shuangxue stormed off.

Leaving Shen Tian standing there with a completely blank expression.

"...?"

He stood silently for several seconds.

If someone looked closely, they could practically see three floating question marks above his head.

"...Welp."

Shen Tian shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Women are confusing."

Muttering to himself, he casually began walking down the hallway.

Unfortunately...

By the time he reached the elevator area, he saw a familiar figure already standing there.

Ling Shuangxue.

The moment their eyes met...

"...."

"...."

An awkward silence instantly filled the air.

"Well," Shen Tian said while stepping beside her, "this is awkward."

Ling Shuangxue immediately turned her head away, refusing to make eye contact.

At this point, she wanted to bury herself alive from embarrassment.

’What was wrong with me?! Why would I suddenly say I’d marry him?!’

Her usually calm and icy mind had become complete chaos tonight.

This was a total destruction of her cold iceberg CEO image.

’Calm down.’

’Act normal.’

’You are Ling Shuangxue.’

’You are elegant.’

’You are composed.’

Unfortunately...

The harder she tried to calm down, the redder her ears became.

’Ahhh, this is so embarrassing...’

’I sound insane!’

’He probably thinks I’m desperate!’

’Why did I say that so casually?!’

’I barely even know him!’

The elevator doors opened with a soft ding.

Both of them quietly stepped inside.

"You’re going to the first floor too?" Shen Tian asked casually.

Ling Shuangxue let out a tiny squeak-like response.

"...Yeah."

Shen Tian pressed the button before taking a step back.

Then silence returned once more.

The elevator slowly descended.

Meanwhile, Shen Tian suddenly heard the system’s voice again.

[Host, I have discovered the reason behind the plot deviation.]

Before it could continue, Shen Tian interrupted internally.

[No need. I figured it out already.]

A brief pause followed.

Then Shen Tian narrowed his eyes slightly.

[Can you change yourself?]

[Change into a proper Villain System instead of this Roleplaying Villain System nonsense?]

[If the heroines can hear my inner thoughts, then pretending to be my role is pointless.]

[At this point, I might as well just become an actual villain and hijack the plot.]

The system became quiet for a moment.

[...Please give the system time to process this request.]

[I will attempt restructuring.]

Ling Shuangxue, who could hear every word of Shen Tian’s inner thoughts, immediately realized he was talking to the system.

So she wisely chose not to interrupt.

However...

Her eyes slowly drifted toward Shen Tian’s reflection in the elevator doors.

’Become an actual villain...?’

Ding.

The elevator doors slowly opened to the first-floor lobby.

Shen Tian immediately stepped forward, his expression calm, though a faint coldness flickered within his eyes.

Behind him, Ling Shuangxue quietly followed.

The embarrassment and blushing from earlier had completely disappeared.

By the time they reached the lobby, she had already returned to her usual cold and untouchable demeanor.

There was no way she would allow outsiders to see her in such a flustered state.

Meanwhile, sitting nearby on a couch...

The fat man suddenly froze mid-bite while stuffing chocolate into his mouth.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Shen Tian and Ling Shuangxue walking out together.

Slowly, he licked the chocolate off his fat fingers.

’Holy shit... Did Young Master Shen already conquer the iceberg goddess?!’

Respect instantly exploded within his heart.

’As expected of Young Master Shen!’

Without hesitation, he secretly pulled out his phone and snapped a picture.

’I need to show the boys this. This is the man we follow!’

Outside the hotel entrance, several bodyguards wearing black suits immediately noticed Shen Tian approaching.

Panicked, they hurriedly threw away their cigarettes and rushed back into formation with professional expressions plastered across their faces.

"Young Master Shen," one of them said respectfully, "we thought you’d be staying upstairs longer..."

Shen Tian instantly glared at them.

"Shut up."

His tone was icy.

"Just take me home."

Then after a short pause, he added:

"And don’t bring tonight up ever again."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"And if you see President Ling in the future, don’t bother her."

The bodyguards immediately nodded nervously.

Meanwhile, Shen Tian glanced at the cigarette smell lingering around them and finally understood why none of them had been guarding the hallway earlier.

These idiots had all been downstairs smoking.

[...Talk about shitty bodyguards.]

[I seriously need to replace these clowns.]

Ling Shuangxue almost let out a laugh after hearing Shen Tian’s inner thoughts.

A tiny "psst" sound escaped her lips before she quickly suppressed it.

Everyone instantly looked toward her.

Ling Shuangxue’s expression immediately froze over.

"What are all of you staring at?" she said coldly.

"I’m going home."

The surrounding bodyguards instantly lowered their heads.

As Ling Shuangxue reached the glass entrance doors, she suddenly stopped.

Turning slightly, she glanced back at Shen Tian.

"Mr. Shen."

Her tone became calmer.

"I expect you to actually follow up."

Shen Tian lazily waved one hand.

"Relax, I’ll contact you later. There are a few things I need to figure out first."

Then after a short pause, he added:

"I’ll explain over text."

Ling Shuangxue quietly stared at him for a moment before giving a small nod.

Without another word, she stepped outside, entered a waiting taxi, and left.

Shen Tian watched the vehicle disappear into the distance before finally walking toward the parking area.

There, he found his personal driver asleep behind the wheel of a black Rolls-Royce.

The man was even snoring slightly.

Shen Tian stared blankly for several seconds.

Then knocked hard against the window.

The driver immediately woke up in terror.

"DON’T ROB ME!"

He curled up defensively in his seat.

Shen Tian rolled his eyes so hard it almost hurt.

"Unlock."

He knocked on the window again.

"The fucking door."

The driver finally recognized him and nearly had a heart attack.

"Young—Young Master Shen?!"

Sweating nervously, he hurriedly unlocked the car.

"O-Of course, Young Master!"

Shen Tian entered the vehicle before finally relaxing slightly against the leather seat.

Though only slightly.

Because he already knew something important.

From this moment onward...

He was officially at war with the protagonist.

"Drive me home," Shen Tian ordered calmly.

The driver hesitated.

"...Which home, Young Master?"

Shen Tian paused briefly while sorting through the original owner’s memories. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

’Honestly, this bastard owned way too many properties.’

Finally, he answered:

"The mansion near the red-light district."

"Yes, Young Master."

The Rolls-Royce slowly pulled away into the night.

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(Author: Thank you so much for reading! Every Powerstone, comment, and review truly helps support the novel, and the more Powerstones we get, the more Chapters I’ll release!)