Pei Yujang's mind exploded with a roar.
In her previous life, she lived to the age of 25. Though she was young and commanded the battlefield with great prowess, she had never formally held hands with an Omega, let alone tasted the sweetness of a first kiss.
The Omega's lips were soft, like smooth jelly, skillfully slipping her tongue into Pei Yujang's mouth. Pei Yujang, with no experience in kissing, feared her strength might hurt the Omega. She instinctively raised her hand to pull away, but was instead pulled forward by a pair of soft hands.
Pei Yujang instinctively resisted by pressing down on her wrist, not using much force, but still hearing a faint cry of pain escape from the woman's throat.
When their lips hastily parted, Pei Yujang tasted a faint hint of blood on her own lips. She quickly covered her mouth, as if the kiss might leave some kind of mark, and wiped her lips repeatedly with her sleeve, making them even redder and more swollen—an action that would only make things harder to explain if someone saw.
Pei Yujang felt a bit overwhelmed.
Even when she found out a few minutes ago that she had transmigrated into the body of a scoundrel, she hadn't felt as mentally shattered as she did now.
"I smelled your pheromones," Yu Zhiwan, whose kissing technique wasn't good, only hurried and eager, was now breathless, her face flushed and looking especially alluring. She had carelessly thrown the umbrella onto the ground, letting the rain soak her completely, making her voice hoarse. "Can you not mark?"
Pei Yujang, rare for her, spaced out during the conversation and didn't catch what Yu Zhiwan was saying.
Wasn't she supposed to be the biggest villain in the whole story?
The biggest villain and the female lead started by kissing each other?
Or did the female lead forcefully kiss her?
"Forcefully kissed" might be an exaggeration. After all, she didn't push Yu Zhiwan away afterward, just remained in a state of world-view collapse.
"I'm sorry, it seems you're not interested in me, or maybe I offended you just now."
Noticing her silence, Yu Zhiwan's long lashes lowered, her expression dim as she bent down to give her a reluctant bow to apologize. It was only then that Pei Yujang belatedly remembered that in Alpha-Omega relationships, if the other party encountered a sudden heat or susceptibility period pheromone outbreak, it was acceptable to offer a temporary mark.
However, for an Alpha to mark someone or for an Omega to prepare for a mark, they both needed to be emotionally engaged. It wasn't something that could happen without any preparation, just going up and biting the gland.
Yu Zhiwan had been somewhat presumptuous just now, but given the urgency of the situation and knowing how difficult heat periods could be for an Omega, Pei Yujang naturally wouldn't blame her.
But the urgent matter was that Pei Yujang had to leave quickly. Liu Huanran, the legitimate male lead, had the protagonist's aura. She was unfamiliar with this place and could very well end up in prison at his behest, which would waste her new life.
Pei Yujang felt dizzy and hastily pushed Yu Zhiwan away, ready to leave:
"I'm really not a kidnapper; I was just passing by and heard the commotion. Besides, you kissed me just now, so I don't owe you anything!"
Before Yu Zhiwan could respond, Pei Yujang turned to leave, but her head grew heavier and heavier. She staggered a few steps and then collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness.
Watching as the person in front of her fell, the woman's gaze gradually grew cold, no longer showing the previous softness. Supporting herself on the wheelchair, she bent down and slowly extended her hand towards the back of Pei Yujang's neck. When she touched a flat, smooth patch of skin, a cold smile curled her lips.
Just as expected.
**
Pei Yujang, in her groggy state, had a very strange dream.
In the dream, she lorded over Liu Huanran, taking advantage of her superior position to criticize her otherwise decent plans until nothing was left of them, constantly suppressing Liu Huanran to gain a sense of accomplishment. Liu Huanran was forced to stay late in the office, revising her plans endlessly, and it was during this time that she met Yu Zhiwan.
Yu Zhiwan was Liu Huanran's girlfriend. At first, "she" thought Liu Huanran was quite good, but later, when Yu Zhiwan waited for Liu Huanran to finish work one night, she caught sight of that Omega.
The original host was a Beta posing as an Alpha, with a preference for women. For Betas who couldn't smell pheromones, Omega bodies were more delicate than those of Alphas, perhaps more attractive to Betas who wanted to play the dominant role, and vice versa.
In the dream, "she" pursued Yu Zhiwan aggressively, completely disregarding the fact that Yu Zhiwan already had a partner. "She" even tried to take advantage of her. Yu Zhiwan tolerated it a few times but finally couldn't stand her increasingly excessive demands and told Liu Huanran.
To her surprise, Liu Huanran didn't help her but instead said that she was at a critical point in her career, with an important manuscript to submit that was crucial for her promotion, and advised Yu Zhiwan not to offend the boss's daughter and just endure it.
Yu Zhiwan endured it repeatedly until she couldn't bear it anymore and nearly fell into depression. After a moment of clarity, she left Liu Huanran.
Liu Huanran subsequently resigned, joined another company, and quickly rose through the ranks.
Like many scum Alpha stories, the protagonist starts to rise, then turns around to pursue Yu Zhiwan. After going through the "pursuing wife hell," Yu Zhiwan reluctantly admits that she had long since given birth to their child, bringing the child out to reunite with the Alpha mom, and the two finally end up together.
And "she," as the obstacle in their beautiful love story, was tracked down by the risen Liu Huanran.
By then, Liu Huanran had founded her own company, while the Pei family had fallen into decline after the original host's mother, Pei Jinhui, the chairman of the group, died unexpectedly. Without a suitable successor, the company was in chaos, and ultimately, a product failure led to many people being disfigured, causing them to be banned.
Liu Huanran made her kneel before helping, then took over their company, and the now-darkened Yu Zhiwan dragged her to a remote mountain, dismembered her, and personally fed her to the wolves.
It was said that their country was also quite prosperous before the apocalypse, with advanced technology and a thriving entertainment industry.
Pei Yujang, during her leisure time, would read some books to relax her nerves, including some popular novels that fell into the "scum Alpha transformation" genre. These stories typically depicted scum Alphas who did all sorts of terrible things to Omegas, only for the protagonist to transmigrate into the scum Alpha's body, take the blame, gradually reform, and eventually win the Omega's heart.
Though these stories could evolve into a thousand interesting variations from a single trope, the core idea was more or less the same, and they were quite entertaining to read casually.
Pei Yujang could sense that the core of this story was probably the "scum Alpha reforms and wins the Omega" trope, but the female lead, Yu Zhiwan, had suffered too much, being bullied by two scumbags in a row.
Carrying the real, heart-wrenching feelings from the dream, Pei Yujang woke up drenched in sweat. Doubtful, she asked System 711 again:
"Is this era really a harmonious society?"
Why did she feel like each protagonist was worse than the last?
711 gave a definitive answer:
"It is now the 301st year of the Yuanshi calendar. Records show that we are in a peaceful era."
Pei Yujang: "Oh..."
Wait, the 301st year of the Yuanshi calendar!?
When she had just transmigrated, Pei Yujang was too busy dealing with the sudden situation to notice the layout of the city. When she saw "Yicheng XX" while taking Yu Zhiwan home, she thought it was just a namesake. But after being reminded by the system, she opened the electronic map on her phone and realized that the layout was almost identical to Yicheng, where she was from.
Pei Yujang had studied her country's history, especially as a soldier leading troops, making her particularly sensitive to maps.
The year she died was the 501st year of the Yuanshi calendar. Could it be that this was exactly two hundred years ago?
But the system clearly said this was a novel's world.
Forget it, she couldn't care about that now.
Two hundred years ago, the zombie virus hadn't yet broken out, and without the threat of zombies, people lived in peace and prosperity. But that was just what the book said. Mercury had a long history, and no one knew what it was really like two hundred years ago.
Excitement spurred her to want to live well in this timeline. Perhaps she could gain some insights and prevent the birth of the zombie beasts?
The fatigue in her mind vanished instantly, and Pei Yujang jumped up from the bed, only to be forced back down by the stabbing pain from the back of her head.
Reaching up, Pei Yujang felt the bandage wrapped around her head and finally remembered her current predicament.
Yes, she had fainted after transmigrating. Before transmigrating, the original host had drunk quite a bit of alcohol, leaving her feeling dizzy, and after fainting, she couldn't remember what happened. So who brought her to the hospital now?
"Miss, you're awake?"
Just as Pei Yujang was about to get out of bed, she heard the sound of the curtain being lifted. Amidst the rustling, a person who had been waiting outside peeked in.
This was her personal assistant, Zhou Shuyue, whom the original host's mother, Pei Jinhui, had assigned to her. Though called a personal assistant, she was actually there to help the original host clean up her messes.
The original host would often cause trouble, and Zhou Shuyue had a much harder job than the average assistant, but she was well-paid and highly professional, never complaining in front of her.
Seeing her awake, Zhou Shuyue immediately poured a cup of appropriately warm water and handed it to her, placing a pillow behind her back to help her sit up. Pei Yujang, not used to being taken care of, awkwardly drank the warm water to recover her strength.
Zhou Shuyue's expression had been tense for a moment, but she quickly relaxed, gently urging Pei Yujang to rest well while she went to get something to eat.
The original host was very young, only 22 years old. After just barely obtaining a college degree, she refused to study further. Zhou Shuyue, who was 30, was a few years older than her, and the original host depended on her a lot. Pei Yujang remained seated on the bed, not moving, and soon heard Zhou Shuyue making a call for some fruit to be delivered, then stepping out onto the balcony of the private hospital room to make another call.
Zhou Shuyue left in a hurry, not closing the door tightly, so Pei Yujang strained her ears and heard her say:
"President Pei, that Omega is hospitalized. Miss was also found at the suburban factory, collapsed on the ground, with blood on her back... Don't worry, it's just a superficial wound, and she's now under observation."
"And Miss actually drank plain water, which I think means this incident had a big impact on her. Perhaps Miss really likes that Omega and was even willing to do something like this."
Zhou Shuyue paused, her tone worried. After a moment, a woman's voice came through:
"Sigh, do you think I've been too strict with her? If she really wants to pursue that Omega, maybe we should just let her... By the way, how is the Omega? Is it serious? Don't let this become a big issue; I'll handle it personally if needed."
Their conversation continued in fragments that Pei Yujang couldn't make out, but soon Zhou Shuyue returned, and the fruit was delivered. The assistant gently peeled grapes for her to eat.
From the few bits of conversation she overheard, Pei Yujang now understood that the original host's unruly behavior was likely a result of being spoiled by her family.
The original host took her mother's surname, and the call Zhou Shuyue made was probably to her mother. Regardless of whether she was the one responsible for the incident, her mother's tone made it clear that she was very indulgent towards the original host.
It was unclear whether this was out of spoiling or overindulgence.
Pei Yujang realized that the situation was complex. The most important thing was that she didn't know what had happened while she was unconscious. As she sat on the bed, gradually regaining her senses, Pei Yujang summoned 711 and asked the system about her most pressing concern: the female lead's corruption level.
711's voice sounded like it came from a rusty, nearly broken robot: "99%."
Pei Yujang: "Ninety-nine... what?"
She had just taken a nap, and now the female lead had become that dangerous?