"Splash!"

A large basin of water was thrown forward, drenching Daisy from head to toe. Her eyes squeezed shut in pain as droplets streamed endlessly down her hair. The sensation of the soaked fabric clinging tightly to her skin made her feel as though she were standing naked, while the cruel, mocking gazes surrounding her seemed to strip her bare without a single word.

Neither the dazzling lights nor the magnificent ballroom could conceal her humiliation. She was like a sewer rat that had wandered into this place by accident. No matter how elegantly she dressed herself, she could never truly belong to this "society"...

No! She had clearly tried her best! She had clearly put on a gorgeous dress. She had clearly blended in. Then why? Why did she still have to endure this?!

Fear and anger churned within Daisy. Gritting her teeth, she raised her head and looked directly at the person who had turned her coronation night into a tragedy.

At that same moment, Mia finally saw the true face of the story’s heroine.

She was beautiful.

More beautiful than Mia had imagined. Far more beautiful than she had appeared through a screen.

Almost unconsciously, Mia lifted a hand to touch her own face. Looking at Daisy’s features, she couldn’t help but think that it was a face anyone would envy.

The hall buzzed with noise and excitement. Everyone present was of university age, yet their college lives were clearly nothing like those of ordinary people. The grand ballroom, built within the campus grounds, was adorned with gold and fresh flowers. Towering champagne towers glowed with a soft golden radiance beneath dazzling crystal chandeliers. Young masters and heiresses wore exquisite attire, displaying both wealth and a refinement that few could rival.

Even amid her shock and confusion, Mia could tell what was truly unfolding before her eyes. As terrible as everything that had just happened was, the heroine’s face... Daisy’s face... that breathtaking beauty was something she still could not forget.

Had... had she transmigrated? Into the movie she had watched before she died?

Yes. Mia was certain that she had died in that bizarre world. She still hadn’t forgotten the monster with the long neck and those grotesque hands that had relentlessly crawled toward her. Just thinking about it sent a shiver of fear down her spine.

But fear wasn’t the only thing she felt right now.

There was also an excitement she could hardly conceal.

She had transmigrated. Didn’t that mean she now had a chance to become the protagonist as well?

Judging from the situation, she was undoubtedly the villainess from the original story. But now that she was here, she would become the true protagonist!

Water from where Daisy stood flowed across the floor and pooled at Mia’s feet, unable to reach the legs elevated by her high heels.

She lowered her head. The blurry reflection was enough for her to make out her appearance. Bright golden hair was pinned up with gold ornaments adorned with emerald patterns. Her expression was arrogant, yet not unattractive.

This was clearly a completely different face.

A completely different appearance!

No, no, no.

This was her.

She was this beautiful!

Mia was so excited that her entire body trembled. Her hands pressed against her face hard enough to leave red marks, yet she couldn’t feel even the slightest trace of makeup beneath her fingertips.

That’s right.

She was so beautiful that she didn’t even need makeup.

"Mia, what’s wrong?"

"That bitch has upset our Mia..."

"Mia, are you really going to let her glare at you like that?"

"She should get out of here. That stench is unbearable..."

The murmurs of her friends echoed around her as a sweet fragrance enveloped Mia.

That’s right.

These were her friends. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Beautiful, elegant, fragrant.

They belonged to an entirely different class of people.

And now, she belonged to that class as well.

More than that, she was their leader.

Mia lifted her head, completely unaware of how twisted the smile on her face had become. Malice spread through her eyes as she looked toward Daisy, who had collapsed onto the floor.

Curling her lips into a smile, she said,

"That’s right. Someone who isn’t on the same level as us should never have appeared in a place like this."

She delivered the villainess’s line perfectly.

And what if she was the villainess?

She wasn’t some foolish villain.

She would make the heroine disappear from her sight completely and utterly.

She had transmigrated.

In this game, she would become the heroine no matter what.

Bloodshot veins spread across Mia’s eyes. Her hands, hanging at her sides, had unconsciously clenched into fists. Her entire body was slightly stiff as she struggled to suppress the excitement surging uncontrollably within her.

Because of that, she failed to notice the gloomy, drifting mist creeping through the magnificent ballroom, silently enveloping everything in sight.

The "supporting characters" moved like puppets on strings, swaying as they walked with unnaturally slow steps and strange gaits. They resembled skeletons crudely stitched together with decaying flesh, forced back onto the stage for one final performance.

All of it existed for the sake of the main act.

The performance of one consumed by resentment.

Mia had no idea that she had never escaped danger at all.

The true danger had only just arrived, wrapped in the appearance of a sugar-coated bullet.

Meanwhile, Mia’s comment section had become incredibly lively. She was even on the verge of surpassing Silvanus as the artist with the highest view count in this dungeon.

[What’s this? What’s this? This script is actually pretty interesting.]

[I thought she was definitely dead. Turns out she still has a chance to start over?]

[Looks like the comments can’t appear in front of her...]

[Am I the only one who thinks that beautiful girl looks strangely familiar?]

[Does nobody seriously have the script for this dungeon? I’m dying of curiosity!]

[If you’re curious, then keep watching.]

...

A peaceful night for everyone else.

Well, at least aside from the lights suddenly going out, the sounds that resembled snakes slithering through water, and the probing gazes from outside, everything was normal... or at least, normal enough.

After all, they weren’t dead yet.

Perhaps that was the only thing they felt fortunate about right now.

Silvanus washed Neo’s face, his lifeless gaze fixed on the mirror.

After a night of crying and helplessness, he looked utterly exhausted. The corners of his eyes were slightly swollen and red, while his lips had turned somewhat pale. Lowering his eyes, he moved with sluggish, weary motions.

[He looks like a widower who just lost his spouse.]

[Hahaha, I really like that interpretation.]

[Come on. He almost died yesterday. He even made a devil’s bargain with that ugly ghost. The fact that he hasn’t gone insane is already impressive.]

[People are already protecting the newbie?]

[Just a bunch of face fans. Can’t wait to see their despair when the artist dies, hahaha.]

[Silvanus survived after falling into a special dungeon and facing the female ghost. He even calmly hugged Neo, an entity nobody knows the nature of, and treated him like his own son. And there are still people who think he’s just an ordinary newcomer who’s going to die? Ridiculous.]

[Exactly. I also think Silvanus is definitely the alternate identity of some top-ranking veteran from the leaderboard.]

[Is nobody paying attention to Silvanus’s strange behavior? Maybe he belongs to some bizarre organization. It’s not like there aren’t precedents for that...]

[That comment reminded me of that incident...]

[Are we even allowed to talk about that without getting chat banned?]

Silvanus’s listless gaze swept across the comments before moving away without a hint of concern.

Fine. Keep guessing all you want.

There’s no way any of you could imagine that I’m nothing more than an unlucky bastard.

Ha ha.