Shen Ru's facial expression instantly crumbled once the world information entered his mind. "…Did you actually fucking scam me?"
[What are you talking about, Host?]
"What fairy tale world, this is a brainless novel world!"
[…Oh, yeah, I might have hidden something from you, Host hehe]
Shen Ru's eyebrows were furrowed to the point that veins were about to bulge. "Don't you 'hehe' me, tell me what's up, scammer system."
The Chipmunk system's voice sounded especially grating when it sighed. "Uh, so you see, I'm actually a damaged system."
"And?" Shen Ru's voice had no sympathy in it.
"My previous host was a genius hacker that managed to hack my hardware. Although I was able to fix my hardware partially, the worlds I can transfer my hosts to have been…a bit wrong. While they are still fairy tale worlds, they have a twist that makes them a world where the protagonist becomes the antagonist."
"I don't know about you, but having 'Little Red Riding Hood' set in a school setting is definitely not just 'a bit wrong'." Shen Ru sighed. "Ugh, fine, considering that you've already scammed me, I might as well try to recoup my losses."
[Really, Host, you forgive me?]
Shen Ru ignored the system, instead focusing on the plot. 'Little Red Riding Hood' was set in a prestigious high school. In this world, Little Red Riding Hood was a student named Hua Xiu. As a poor student that relied on her scholarship to stay in this prestigious school, she was very pitiful and cowardly. Although some students disdained her for being poor, she still had some friends because of her adorable and lovable appearance.
Her parents had died when she was young, while her other relatives avoided her because they didn't want to spend money on her. The only family she had was her ill grandmother, whom she visited in the hospital every day after class ended.
The "wolf" was the school nurse. He feigned concern and regularly asked Hua Xiu about her grandmother. Hua Xiu was as naïve as a young maiden, freely revealing information about her grandmother. In the end, he was able to find out the room number of her grandmother, whom he killed without any mercy.
Now, this wasn't actually that dog-blooded [1]. However, what if Hua Xiu wasn't as docile and kind as she seemed? Yes, that's right, she was actually a green tea bitch [2]! The bullies didn't bully her for nothing. They just disdained her false persona, pretending to be humble and innocent, while yearning for the riches that couldn't be hers.
In fact, the character that Shen Ru had transmigrated into was a rich second-generation with the same name as his. He was a classmate of Hua Xiu and was one of the main bullies in the plot. Once, he accidentally spotted Hua Xiu taking coins from the wishing fountain of the school. Since then, he began badmouthing her with his friends. In the original story, his ending wasn't good. Since he didn't study well and was a playboy, he rose to the CEO position of his family as a good-for-nothing spoiled brat. With help from Hua Xiu's backers and his own incompetence, his company crumbled and he filed for bankruptcy.
Hua Xiu actually wasn't unaware of the wolf's intentions. She knew that her grandmother actually had some hidden money, and wanted her grandmother dead for the inheritance. After her grandmother died, she lived lavishly for some time, then found four golden masters to mooch off of, and lived happily, uncaring of her dead grandmother.
As dog-blooded as this gets, Shen Ru was confused why the wolf wanted to kill the grandmother in the first place. He asked the system about this.
The system answered, [Wow, Host, you're actually smart! The backstory behind the grandmother and the wolf is the mission. Let me update your screen for you.]
A hologram appeared on the side of Shen Ru's vision. It wrote, [Mission 1: Discover why the wolf killed the grandmother]
Shen Ru raised an eyebrow. "Mission 1? Does that mean I can get more than one mission?"
[Yes, Host. Once you finish the first mission, the second mission will appear. However, completing more than one mission is usually uncommon, as it is very hard to even complete one mission.]
Shen Ru's eyes flickered, a newfound determination arising. "I see."
Then, he looked around his surroundings. He was in a messy room. Papers, books, and pens were sprawled across the floor. Although the room was chaotic, it was clear that its owner had some money considering there was a king-sized bed and a luxurious chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
"Oi, Xiao [3] Ru, what are you dawdling about?! You're going to be late to school!" He suddenly heard a woman's voice from outside.
Shen Ru compared the voice to the information inside his mind and ascertained that it was this world's Shen Ru's mother. He paused for a moment and called out, "I'm coming, Mother!" After he dressed in his school uniform, which was a polo shirt, black pants, and a checkered necktie, he came out of the room and headed to the dining room.
When he arrived, Mother Shen had just placed the bowl of wonton on the table. Catching sight of her son, she spoke, "Your father was planning to bring you to school, but alas, you woke up late again! Aish, you're hopeless, eat quickly so that you won't be late. Xiao Gu will bring you to school."
After Shen Ru ate, Xiao Gu, the family chauffeur, drove him to school. As the car was nearing the school, Shen Ru inwardly whistled in amazement. "Prestigious high school" wasn't enough to describe this world's school. It was practically a mansion with how large it was. It would take a full day just to traverse through the whole school.
When the Mercedes-Benz car parked in front of the gate, the crowd of students standing near immediately started chattering.
"Look, Mercedes-Benz, that's Shen Ru, right?"
"Yeah, only he would use a red car."
"Ugh, so tacky, my male god is better than him."
As Xiao Gu opened the car door for you, he could feel piercing eyes on him. His lips curled as he covertly glanced in a certain direction. As expected, this world's Little Red Riding Hood was staring at him with envious and angry eyes.
He resisted the urge to laugh and started heading in the direction of his classroom. Thankfully, the system had an in-built navigation, or else he would've gotten lost from all the twists and turns.
When he arrived at the classroom, Shen Ru's gang of friends immediately spotted him and approached. One of them, who looked like the standard delinquent with blond hair and a hairstyle that only a mother could love, said excitedly, "Boss Shen! Fang Li came here just now and left a letter on your desk."
Another boy whose hair at least wasn't offending to the eye added, "Damn, this is the 5th letter you received this month. You're my male god, Boss Shen!"
Both of them were the closest lackeys to the world's Shen Ru. They were Gu Haoyu and Jia Hao.
Shen Ru frowned and said, "Shave your head first before proclaiming me as your male god." He took a seat on his desk and grabbed the eye-catching pink envelope. Upon reading it, he was 100% sure that this love letter definitely had an ulterior motive. While it was the most basic love letter that adolescents would usually write, he remembered that Hua Xiu had a friend named Fang Li, although not many people knew about that.
Gu Haoyu asked upon seeing that he had finished reading the letter, "So, Boss Shen, are you going to accept Fang Li?"
Shen Ru shrugged, thinking about how his character was a big playboy. Fang Li must've wanted him to accept her, and in turn, do something embarrassing to him. "No, she's not my type."
Jia Hao was confused. "But, isn't Fang Li the goddess of 10th grade? Honestly, Boss, I'm jealous that she even confessed to you!"
"She isn't beautiful enough for me."
"Haha, you're such a playboy, Boss!"
●○●○●○●○●○●
By the time that the third period came, the words Shen Ru said had already spread to other classrooms. When it was time for recess, Class 11-D had a visitor in the shape of an utterly livid and embarrassed Fang Li.
"Shen Ru!!! How dare you call me ugly!" Fang Li's normally pale face had flushed. In the eyes of the young and naïve adolescents, she was utterly beautiful. Her anger made them want to comfort her.
Of course, it had no effect on gay self-proclaimed bottom Shen Ru. He faked an innocent expression on his face. "What? I just said you weren't beautiful enough for me. No offense but my most recent ex was prettier than you."
Fang Li was about to reply with angry eyes when a yell interrupted her, "Guys, I can't find my wallet!"
All eyes on Fang Li immediately shifted to the girl that had just screamed. Fang Li irritably asked, "Why are you screaming?!"
Although the girl looked embarrassed, she explained nonetheless. When Fang Li arrived, all students in this classroom crowded around the door, leaving their belongings and bags behind in their seats. Someone must have taken advantage of the chaos and stolen her wallet, which had been previously sitting on her desk.
Shen Ru frowned and stole a glance at Hua Xiu who was silently standing on the corner. She was as cowardly as always, hiding behind her lackeys, not saying anything that would arouse suspicion.
While he really wanted to just go and accuse Hua Xiu, it would only put him at a disadvantage. It was known that their classroom had no CCTV cameras, which was why Hua Xiu stole the wallet in the first place. If he accused Hua Xiu without any evidence, she could just accuse him back of framing and bullying her.
"Say, how about we search everyone's bags?" Shen Ru suggested.
The class president replied, "We can do that. We'll need to report the situation to Teacher Peng though."
A couple of minutes after some classmates left to search for the teacher, Teacher Peng arrived with an unfamiliar student following behind him. Usually, Shen Ru would just ignore minor supporting characters, but the unknown man had a fierce temperament and a devastatingly handsome face, looking around the room with piercing eyes.
There was one rule in novels: if a character is overwhelmingly handsome, he must be a main character.
Shen Ru searched the information inside his head and only found out that this man was the student council president, Jun Zixin, a minor supporting character that didn't even appear in the original story. He was confused. With that face, he would've been one of the golden masters that Hua Xiu bagged. Maybe he was too poor for her taste?
"I heard that someone's wallet got stolen. I've already contacted the prefect of discipline and they've given permission to search everyone's bags," Teacher Peng announced.
Most students simply ignored his words though, as they were too busy murmuring about the man beside Teacher Peng.
"Ai, my male good is too handsome!"
"Hmph, my male god is better than him."
"That guy who always ranks at the bottom of his class? Ha, you just like bad boys!"
Out of curiosity, Shen Ru covertly glanced at Hua Xiu. As expected, she was already enraptured by the sight of the legendary school grass [4], which begs the question, why was he not one of the male leads of the original story?
"President Zixin, you can search their bags now," Teacher Peng urged Jun Zixin and began instructing the students in the classroom to take their seats, while also shooing away outsider students. Fang Li was especially dissatisfied that her "beautiful" self was interrupted from throwing a tantrum.
When the time came for Jun Zixin to check his bag, Shen Ru accidentally made eye contact with him. He quickly shifted his eyes to the side, although he could still feel his eyes stay on him for a few more seconds.
Of course, the wallet was never found in the end. Hua Xiu always stole cautiously and confidently. She would never leave any trace of her misdeeds, just like the time Shen Ru found her stealing coins from the wishing fountain. Even if anyone was suspicious of her, what could they do if they had no evidence against her?
"What am I going to do? My mom will definitely kill me if she finds out about this!" The girl who lost her wallet was panicking.
Teacher Peng and Jun Zixin shared a concerned look, then Jun Zixin comforted the girl with a charming smile, "Don't worry, we will investigate this incident further. Our school does not tolerate thievery. In the meantime, Teacher Peng will contact your parents about this matter."
As if she had completely forgotten the fact that her wallet was stolen, the girl was smiling from ear to ear. "Thank you, Jun xuezhang!"
After a few pleasantries, the class soon quieted down and class started again. Although Shen Ru really didn't want to spend his time relearning 11th-grade lessons, he didn't want to continue lazing around as the original owner did. If he did so, it would give more opportunities for Hua Xiu to move against him. He had to silence the bad rumors about him and do it realistically and progressively, in order not to attract suspicion.
After class, it was time for Hua Xiu to visit her grandmother. At this time, the original owner would be hanging out with his lackey in seedy bars despite being underage. However, Shen Ru made up an excuse that he was going to have a family dinner tonight and successfully got off the hook.
With that, he stealthily trailed Hua Xiu as she headed for the hospital. Since the hospital was just near school, it wasn't too difficult. He just had to follow behind her from a large distance. Once, when she did look behind her, he simply hid behind the packs of passing people.
When they arrived at the hospital, though, staying hidden was beginning to be hard. There were staff around and it would be suspicious if he just followed Hua Xiu behind like a creep. The silver lining thought was that it was a public hospital and there weren't elevators around, which would make it virtually impossible to even follow her. Shen Ru only followed her around through the stairs.
Hua Xiu soon stopped walking when she reached Room 407. She took a deep breath, put on a smile, and opened the door. Shen Ru curled his lips in amusement and left. The important thing was that he knew where the grandmother was located now. The next step was to find the wolf and determine his background and history with the grandmother.
He had just reached the second floor stairs when he suddenly came face-to-face with Jun Zixin. Although he was shocked and paused for a split second, he tried not to let the shock show on his face and continued walking.
Alas, he was doomed to stop when Jun Zixin asked, "Why are you following that girl?"
Shen Ru willed himself to look unbothered. "What are you talking about?"
Jun Zixin eyed him with a piercing gaze and did not back down. "I noticed you were following her at the school gates. You even went to the same hospital as hers, this isn't just a simple coincidence. What are you planning to do?"
Shen Ru's eyebrows furrowed. He really thought that he was being careful all the way to the hospital. Was this guy a spy agent or something? Along the way, he never noticed or even felt that someone was following him. This was the case of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
He sighed and said, "It's none of your business, but I assure you I am not planning something bad."
"I can't just leave you off like this, you know. You were following her around, why would you do that? You could be planning to hurt her, so I'm definitely not leaving you alone. If it's true that you don't mean any harm, then I'd assume that you're her admirer," Jun Zixin responded.
As if he had found a good opportunity, Shen Ru's eyes gleamed. "I'm gay."
Jun Zixin: "…"
Jun Zixin was silent for a few moments before saying, "You could be lying just to get off the hook. Moreover, isn't this making you even more suspicious? You're not her admirer, you're not even friends, so what are you planning to do?"
"How do you know that we aren't friends?" Shen Ru asked.
"You're Shen Ru, right? The rumor about you bullying Hua Xiu is very popular around the school," Jun Zixin replied.
Oh yeah, he completely forgot about that. Shen Ru gritted his teeth and said, "I didn't expect the school grass to pay attention to mindless rumors."
Jun Zixin frowned. "Don't change the subject, why are you following her?"
"Would it be satisfactory for you if I just left right now? I didn't commit any crime, anyway," Shen Ru said.
"It would, yes, but this isn't the end of this. As the student council president, I have the responsibility to see this issue through."
Shen Ru inwardly rolled his eyes. Nice, he encountered some knight-in-shining-armor wannabe. "Fine."
With that said, he turned around and continued walking. However, he had just gone down a few steps when he noticed that Jun Zixin was following behind him. He asked irritably, "Didn't I say that I'm leaving? Why are you following me now?"
"Don't assume things, we're just going in the same direction. I followed you out here to see what you're up to, where else would I go now that you're leaving? Of course, I'm going to leave too."
This time, Shen Ru visibly rolled his eyes. "Ugh, fine."
Now that there was someone that was aware that he had plans against Hua Xiu, and may even have the capacity to mess things up because of his student council position, he had to be more careful from now on. Since he now knew the grandmother's room number, he didn't need to stalk Hua Xiu anymore. Although Jun Zixin was suspicious of him, that didn't mean that he would pay too much attention to this matter considering he was soon to graduate. If he just continued acting like the normal high school student, he would probably just let him be.
Satisfied with these thoughts, Shen Ru continued walking, even calling his chauffeur along the way, completely ignoring Jun Zixin who was behind him.
●○●○●○●○●○●
Footnotes:
[1] Ridiculous and cliché
[2] A girl who seems pure and kind, but is actually evil and manipulative
[3] Literally means "little"; a term of endearment
[4] A male student who is tall, handsome, and charming