Chapter 2: Welcome to the Succubus System

After Jiang Muye left, Mi Ke trudged back upstairs with her dripping red umbrella.

She tossed the soggy breakfast bag into the trash can at the end of the hallway, then pushed open the unlocked dorm room

door.

It was Saturday, no classes. Her roommates were all still asleep.

She slipped off her white sneakers and climbed quietly into her upper bunk, pulling the curtain shut. Just then, her

phone buzzed with a payment confirmation.

[Payment received: 1,000 yuan...]

Mi Ke's lips curved the faintest fraction.

He actually transferred the money.

At the same time, a cold, electronic voice echoed in her mind.

[Received transfer from sucker (Jiang Muye): 1,000.00 yuan. Breakfast x1, estimated value 12.00 yuan. Total: 1,012.00

yuan. Current system balance: 3,712.00 yuan. Proceed with operation?]

Mi Ke silently mouthed: "Check charm value."

[Host: Mi Ke. Tier: Ugly Girl. Charm: 4 stars. Use balance to upgrade?]

"Four-star ugly girl..."

Mi Ke lowered her gaze, chewing on those four words silently.

The look in her eyes carried a coldness that seeped into the bone.

It was only after dying once that Mi Ke learned she'd been living inside a female-oriented reverse-harem novel.

Every remotely presentable male character within the storyline was a devoted suitor of the female lead, Song Jingyi.

And Mi Ke? She was the permanent utility sidekick-the best friend of the novel's heroine.

In the final moments before she bled to death, as her life flashed before her eyes, she'd watched the entire plot play

out. That was when she realized just how deeply the author doted on her "daughter," Song Jingyi.

Not only did seven male leads compete viciously for Song Jingyi's affection, but every male in the story-even a random

male dog on the street-couldn't help but wag its tail at her.
And to make sure Song Jingyi never suffered a single grievance, the author had specifically created Mi Ke-a disposable

character who was called a best friend but functioned as a servant.

She'd been made fat, dark-skinned, and ugly, specifically to serve as a perpetual foil to Song Jingyi's beauty.

She'd been written as kind, naive, and endlessly self-sacrificing-so she'd be the perfect tool to run Song Jingyi's

errands, do her favors, and take a blade for her.

Song Jingyi couldn't carry her luggage? Mi Ke would scramble to do it for her.

Song Jingyi got bullied? Mi Ke would clumsily but loyally fight her battles.

And the only boy Mi Ke had ever liked in her previous life-Jiang Muye-had only shown her a shred of friendliness because

he was trying to get close to Song Jingyi. His warmth wasn't warmth. It was strategy.

Mi Ke's ending had come after graduation.

Song Jingyi had rented an apartment alone and encountered a stalker-a deranged man who'd been following her. Song Jingyi

had called Mi Ke in tears, begging her to come over.

Mi Ke had rushed over to protect Song Jingyi and ended up taking dozens of stab wounds, collapsing in a pool of blood at

Song Jingyi's doorstep.

By then, one of the male leads had rushed to the scene and quickly subdued the stalker.

Looking down at Mi Ke-gushing blood, barely clinging to life-the man had tenderly pulled Song Jingyi into his arms.

"Don't be afraid. It's not your fault."

"Seeing that you're safe, Mi Ke's death... was worth it."

And Song Jingyi, eyes brimming with tears, had wept prettily. "Keke was such a good girl. I think... she must have gone

to heaven."

Then Song Jingyi fainted from the shock. The man swept her up in his arms and carried her away.

Not a single person remembered to call an ambulance for Mi Ke, who might still have been saved.

Mi Ke had been reborn one month ago.
That day, her cafeteria meal card had a balance of fifteen yuan. But Song Jingyi had said she had cramps, so Mi Ke had

spent 14.5 yuan on a bowl of red date and snow fungus soup for Song Jingyi, leaving herself fifty cents to buy a steamed

bun, which she'd gnawed on without complaint.

Halfway through the bun, she'd jolted awake with her past life's memories.

At the same moment, a strange electronic jingle had appeared in her mind-

[Still playing the ugly duckling next to a swan? Still the loyal lapdog who gives everything and gets nothing? Still

"the world kisses me with pain, so I sing back"?]

[Want to rewrite your life? Make everything your stepping stone! Crush the heroine, dazzle the heroes, and rise as a

beautiful, ruthless woman to the pinnacle of existence!]

In a daze, eyes reddened, she'd tapped the button that said [Agree to Register].

Truthfully, in that moment, Mi Ke hadn't thought much about it.

Crushing the heroine, dazzling the heroes, reaching the pinnacle of existence-none of those were the thoughts that

burned deepest.

After seeing the truth of this world, Mi Ke simply felt numb-and utterly, devastatingly wronged.

No matter who she hurt, who she sacrificed, who she used.

She was done being the fish on the chopping block. She wanted to be the hand holding the knife.

Let everyone fend for themselves. They were all NPCs in this massive world. Who was nobler than whom?

This time, she wouldn't let herself suffer even one more ounce of injustice.

[Welcome to the Succubus System!]

The cold electronic voice had sounded in her mind, evaluated her as a four-star ugly girl, and briefly explained the

rules.

She had to use every means at her disposal to extract money, gifts, and anything of actual value from the male

characters in this reverse-harem novel.

Then, through the converted system balance, she could upgrade her tier and charm value.
The higher her charm, the more she could infinitely optimize her appearance, aura, voice, talents, luck, and other

attributes.

Once she reached the highest tier-*Succubus*-she could seize the female lead's fortune and claim the beautiful life that

belonged to Song Jingyi.

After hearing the rules, a shy-looking boy had walked up to her in the cafeteria, scratching his head. "Hey, you're Song

Jingyi's friend, right? Um, could you give me her WeChat...?"

Mi Ke had looked at him coldly and held up her own WeChat payment QR code. "Two hundred."

After receiving the money, she'd regretted it.

The system had chimed in:

[Received transfer from sucker (NPC A): 200.00 yuan. Current system balance: 200.00 yuan. Proceed with operation?]

"Yes."

[Apologies. Each star within the Ugly Girl tier costs 1,000 gold coins to upgrade. There are seven stars per tier. You

are currently three stars away from the next tier, Ordinary Girl. Keep it up, Host!]

In other words, each star cost 1,000 yuan. Reaching the next tier required 3,000 yuan total.

Over the past month, Mi Ke had earned 2,700 yuan by selling Song Jingyi's WeChat contact info. She was just 300 yuan

short of upgrading.

And then the plot had arrived at this exact node: Jiang Muye coming to deliver breakfast to Song Jingyi.

How did a notorious ugly girl like Mi Ke have the confidence to propose a deal with Jiang Muye, using "becoming her

boyfriend" as a condition?

Because in her previous life, this deal had originally been proposed by Jiang Muye himself.

On this very day in her last life, Mi Ke had dutifully made up an excuse and sent Jiang Muye away for Song Jingyi.

But later in the story, Jiang Muye quickly realized he had no competitive edge among Song Jingyi's army of suitors.

So, knowing full well that Mi Ke had a crush on him, he'd struggled with himself for a long time before finally

pretending to confess his feelings to her.
After that, using the identity of Mi Ke's boyfriend, he'd accompanied Mi Ke to eat meals with Song Jingyi, hang out with

Song Jingyi, carry Song Jingyi's bags, and carry a drunk Song Jingyi back to school.

As for Mi Ke? He was stingy with even the smallest gesture. He'd never once bought her a four-yuan milk tea.

He was also visibly repulsed by any physical contact with her. In three months of "dating," he hadn't even held her

hand.

Mi Ke had once questioned it-why did Jiang Muye seem more like Song Jingyi's boyfriend than hers?

Jiang Muye had flown into a massive tantrum.

"Can you stop being so paranoid? I'm nice to Jingyi because she's your friend. You're jealous of your own friend? How

twisted is that?!"