I Became the Most Popular Character by Acting as a Villain in the Manga

Chapter 101

"T-turn into reality?" Xiao 6 held the code, stunned, "How does it turn?"

Bai Xuechao replied, "It's simple. I just need to actively align with Lin Lang's divination result, but I'll need your cooperation." Googlᴇ search NoveIＦire.net

Xiao 6 asked with some curiosity, "How do I cooperate?"

Bai Xuechao said, "Tell me the plot outline for what's to come, whether what Lin Lang said just now can be achieved, whether there will be any angsty plot points next month, and when a villain like me will be written off."

Xiao 6: =A= The Host is showing his true colors!!

"I can't give spoilers!" Xiao 6 immediately refused, but it went quiet for a few seconds.

Perhaps it didn't dare to completely refuse Bai Xuechao, or perhaps it was too curious about what Bai Xuechao was planning to do. It stammered and vaguely revealed the timing, "Um... a few days after New Year's Day next year... you can be written off."

Bai Xuechao said, "Alright, telling me that is fine too."

As long as he could be written off in January, it was fine. After all, he could do whatever he wanted with the plot that wasn't in the outline. He could fill in the details himself.

He was now very interested in making the readers from the high-dimensional world suffer.

Just then, Xiao 6 suddenly started crying, "Ahhh, Host, I got a yellow card spoiler warning from the main system. I'm going to get a pay deduction, boohoohoo, boohoohoo..."

Familiar code-like tears welled up from the bottom of my vision. Xiao 6's cries were miserable.

Bai Xuechao propped his cheek on his hand and said to it, "Stop crying. I'll help you complete the outline, and you can earn back the deducted money."

Xiao 6 stopped crying and showed him a "QAQ" emoji.

At the same time, the maid lit the candles and placed the candlesticks on the dining table.

The male servant also set down everyone's dinner and drinks, bowed respectfully, and left with the dining cart.

As they left, they turned off the electric lights in the dining room.

The once brightly lit dining room instantly dimmed, leaving only the warm yellow glow of the lit candles on the candlesticks, illuminating the dining table and everyone's faces. Shadows were cast on the wall behind them, hazy and dim, like flickering ghostly figures.

Bai Xuechao lowered his eyes and looked at the neatly arranged shaomai on the plate in front of him, his brow twitched.

This shaomai... was a little different from what he had wanted to eat.

On the ceramic plate, a dozen or so shaomai looked like little flower buds with their mouths open, revealing the tightly packed soy-sauce-colored filling inside, with plump grains of rice.

Bai Xuechao really hoped it was just that the candlelight was too dim for him to see clearly.

Why did it look like the filling revealed in the folds of the shaomai was rice?

"It's been changed to a candlelight dinner?" Lin Changqing picked up a burrito but didn't take a bite immediately. Instead, he used the candlelight to peek at the filling inside, as if looking for something.

Yuan Lan nodded, "Yes, I suddenly felt this would have a better atmosphere, so I had them change it."

Mortar silently mouthed a retort: As expected, always on a whim.

His small lip movement was seen by Yuan Lan.

Yuan Lan, who could read lips, certainly knew what he was saying. He smiled and deliberately asked, "Mortar, what are you trying to say?"

"Ah, I was trying to say," Mortar looked seriously at Yuan Lan, who was seated at the head of the table, and said, "I really like the atmosphere of a candlelight dinner. I feel like my soul has quieted down."

Lin Changqing's hand holding the burrito trembled slightly. He silently freed one hand and gave a thumbs-up to Mortar, who was sitting directly opposite him.

—Brother, the words 'adaptable and flexible' are written in your life's dictionary.

Mortar saw Lin Changqing's gesture and nodded grimly.

Just then, Yuan Lan clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention. With a smile in his eyes, he said, "By the way, I have something to say. Everyone should know by now that this gathering is a welcome party held to welcome Little Xuechao into the Apocalypse Society. Let us all applaud and welcome Little Xuechao to our big family—"

Bai Xuechao: "..."

Trying to make things awkward with him, were they?

A sparse round of applause sounded.

Everyone's expressions were soulless, as solemn and numb as if they were attending a funeral, looking utterly ravaged.

Among them, Mu Xinyue, Qiao Wenjie, and Jing Han's applause was particularly perfunctory.

Yuan Lan, however, didn't mind the unenthusiastic applause at all. His smile grew even brighter as he continued on his own, "Very good, I can feel everyone's enthusiasm! By the way, this welcome party was A-Qing's idea!"

He gestured towards Lin Changqing as if presenting something.

Mortar and Lin Lang's death glares immediately shot towards Lin Changqing, who was sitting opposite them. Jing Han didn't dare to express his dissatisfaction directly, but he also quietly rolled his eyes.

Lin Changqing almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Was that his suggestion?

It was clearly Yuan Lan who wanted to hold it, taking the opportunity to prank and "torment" them.

But Lin Changqing couldn't say it directly, so he could only pinch his nose and accept it, saying with an awkward smile, "It's just that the Apocalypse Society hasn't had a newcomer in a long time, so I thought we could liven things up. Last time it was Miss Mu..."

He quickly shut his mouth, really knowing how to touch a sore spot.

The last time the Apocalypse Society had a newcomer was more than two years ago when Mu Xinyue joined. At that time, they didn't hold a special welcome party for Mu Xinyue; instead, she was introduced to everyone at the next group gathering. But now that Bai Xuechao had joined, a welcome party was held on the same day, even though they had just eaten together on the last day of the previous month.

He wondered if Miss Mu would mind?

Lin Changqing secretly glanced at Mu Xinyue, unaware that his worries were unnecessary.

because of—

"The last time was me. I joined the Apocalypse Society two years and seven months ago and became an executive." Mu Xinyue stared at him and asked, "What's wrong?"

The weekend of the week Mu Xinyue joined the Apocalypse Society was the day Yuan Lan had set for that month's gathering. The love-brained Mu Xinyue very considerately thought that since it was already the weekend of that week, there was no need for Yuan Lan to hold an extra party for her; waiting a few days would be fine.

"It's nothing, nothing." Lin Changqing waved his hand and randomly came up with an excuse, "I just suddenly forgot how long you've been a member."

On the other side, Bai Xuechao wasn't listening to what Lin Changqing was saying.

His attention was focused on the shaomai in front of him.

Bai Xuechao stared at the shaomai, his jewel-like red eyes reflecting the candlelight before him, leaving a dancing golden light in his eyes. His pale face was also tinged with a warm hue by the candlelight.

He tentatively picked up a shaomai with his chopsticks, took a bite with curiosity, and was stunned after chewing a few times.

...It really was a glutinous rice filling??

And there were shiitake mushrooms inside; he hated the taste of shiitake mushrooms.

Bai Xuechao directly spat the shaomai in his mouth back onto the ceramic plate.

"What's wrong?" Yuan Lan immediately looked at Bai Xuechao, asking with a mix of confusion and concern, "Are you feeling unwell? Nauseous?"

The moment he spoke, everyone else also turned to look at Bai Xuechao.

After all, not long ago, Lin Lang's divination had predicted that Bai Xuechao was in poor health and wouldn't live long. Could it be that his illness was already acting up so soon?

Mu Xinyue, sitting next to him, expressionlessly bit into a crisp mutated plant, making a crunching sound.

Bai Xuechao pointed at the thing in front of him and asked, "This is shaomai?"

"Yes," Yuan Lan's tone was matter-of-fact, "What's wrong?"

Bai Xuechao, for a rare moment, was on the verge of breaking down. He pressed his palm on the edge of the table as if he wanted to flip it. "The shaomai where you're from has glutinous rice filling?"

Yuan Lan's tone became even more matter-of-fact, "Yes, S City's shaomai is quite famous, isn't it?"

Based on what Bai Xuechao said, he also realized that Bai Xuechao wasn't feeling unwell, so he asked, "You don't like it? It doesn't taste good?"

Bai Xuechao: "..."

The North-South differences always manifested in the most unexpected places.

He felt that if he really wanted to join the Apocalypse Society, the first reason he wouldn't be able to integrate might not be that Yuan Lan was too annoying, but that he couldn't get used to the southern tastes... Who knew even shaomai would be different?

"First, the shaomai from my hometown is filled with meat," Bai Xuechao enunciated clearly.

"Second, I hate shiitake mushrooms."

"So the ones from your hometown are meat-filled. Should I have them make a new batch with meat filling for you?" Yuan Lan had just finished speaking when he contradicted himself, "Eh, that won't work. That would take too long to wait, and you'll gag if you eat too late."

Lin Changqing's eyes widened in shock: Wait, wait, why do you know so much about Bai Xuechao's physical condition?

Mu Xinyue fiercely jabbed her fork into her bowl.

The others all looked over.

"Just have a vegetable salad like me," Mu Xinyue glanced at Bai Xuechao. Although she didn't sound very happy, she still suggested to Yuan Lan, "Making a vegetable salad doesn't take much time. It can be sent over right away."

Yuan Lan said, "But the mutated plants are all stored in the cold storage, so they'll be rather cold, right? That's not good for the stomach."

Lin Changqing, who deeply understood this tense situation, took a breath.

Hearing this, Mu Xinyue turned her head back and started eating her vegetable salad, looking sullen. She chewed forcefully, as if treating the mutated plant as either Yuan Lan or Bai Xuechao.

Bai Xuechao was a little speechless.

He didn't know if Yuan Lan said that because he was genuinely concerned about his stomach, or if he was doing it on purpose. Was he afraid that Mu Xinyue's hatred for him wasn't stable enough?

It was probably on purpose, so he could watch him being targeted by Mu Xinyue for entertainment. What couldn't this perverted, fun-loving person do?

Mortar was busy burying his head in his pizza, not wanting to watch the bloody warzone over there, but Yuan Lan just had to call him.

"Mortar, ask the kitchen if there's anything ready-made~" Yuan Lan said, "There should be, they often make extra."

Mortar swallowed the pizza in his mouth, "...Alright."

While Mortar was using his special ability to contact the kitchen, Yuan Lan looked at Bai Xuechao and smilingly suggested, "Actually, you can eat mine. I have too much food, I definitely can't finish it all."

In front of him were all sorts of desserts, and his drink was the super-sweet nectar water that Bai Xuechao had drunk before.

Bai Xuechao thought of the cloying sweetness he had tasted before and decisively refused, "No."

Yuan Lan sighed, "Fine, a fellow who doesn't know how to appreciate sweets."

"No, I like eating sweet things," Bai Xuechao argued reasonably, "but I like them moderately sweet. Don't you know what 'too much is as bad as not enough' means?"

Lin Changqing couldn't help but chime in, "Ah... true, the boss's level of sweetness is a bit excessive. I had a bite once, and it almost sent me to the afterlife on the spot."

Even while sulking, Mu Xinyue had to speak up to defend Yuan Lan. She immediately retorted, "Everyone has different tastes. You can't judge Yuan Lan's taste by your own."

Bai Xuechao directly took a plate of cake from in front of Yuan Lan and placed it in front of Mu Xinyue, "Please."

Mu Xinyue looked at the cake covered in chocolate shavings, fell silent for a few seconds, and then said, "I'm on a diet. Eating too many sweets will make me fat."

Lin Changqing also played along mischievously, "Just one bite won't make you fat."

Qiao Wenjie, sitting at the far end, suddenly spoke up, "Boss, I'd like to try it, may I?"

He was trying to help Mu Xinyue out of her predicament.

But before Yuan Lan could answer, Mu Xinyue took a deep breath, used the fork in her hand to dig out the tip of the triangular cake slice, and stuffed it into her mouth all at once.

She swallowed with difficulty, coughed a few times, and looked around for water.

Where was the water?

While Mu Xinyue was digging into the cake with her fork, Bai Xuechao had quietly moved the water cup far away.

He had moved it to his left, which actually made it look like it was moved in front of Yuan Lan, as if Yuan Lan had deliberately pranked Mu Xinyue and moved the cup in front of himself to prevent her from drinking.

Xiao 6: Hehe, my Host is a little rascal.

Mu Xinyue found her water cup in front of Yuan Lan, looking incredulous, with a betrayed expression on her face.

Yuan Lan was amused by her expression and let out a heartless laugh.

Mu Xinyue was utterly confused.

Who was she doing all this for?

Bai Xuechao's conscience acted up, and he moved the water cup back in front of Mu Xinyue.

Mu Xinyue picked up the cup and drank it all in one go.

Mortar finally found a chance to speak, "The kitchen said there are burritos and barbecue. If you're willing to wait a few minutes, there are also hand-pulled noodles. They just cut a lot of noodles, and there's still soup. It's all hot, they just need to boil the noodles."

Bai Xuechao said, "The burrito then."

"Alright." Mortar informed the kitchen through his network special ability.

Soon, the male servant arrived pushing a dining cart. He removed the glutinous rice shaomai from in front of Bai Xuechao and replaced it with two burritos, also providing a pair of disposable gloves.

Bai Xuechao could finally start eating.

He put on the disposable gloves, picked up the still-warm burrito, and took a bite. It was indeed as Yuan Lan had once said; the chefs at the Apocalypse Society were very skilled.

The burrito in his hand was of appropriate thickness, and the filling inside was delicious.

The few of them ate quietly for a while.

Bai Xuechao noticed that, except for Yuan Lan, Yu Ruolan, and Mu Xinyue, everyone else was eating very cautiously, as if they were afraid of eating something strange.

Just then, Lin Changqing suddenly lamented in a low voice, "There's really nothing in the burrito, I'm so relieved..."

His voice was very low, but everyone around was a special ability user with enhanced bodies. Who couldn't hear him?

Bai Xuechao: "?"

Could it be that they could eat hidden weapons during an Apocalypse Society dinner party?

In a sense, Bai Xuechao had hit upon the truth.

Yuan Lan naturally heard it too, but he just smiled without a word and continued eating his cake.

Seeing this, Mortar also felt relieved enough to speak up, joining in the lament, "It's suddenly so normal, I'm a little unaccustomed to it."

Tao Ru also followed with an "Mhm."

Bai Xuechao suddenly became very curious about what they had eaten before.

Lin Lang's words just happened to clear up his confusion, "Last time, I found a simulation filling model in my xiaolongbao, I really broke down. This time, I specifically chose hand-pulled noodles. Even if there's a fake food model, I'll be able to spot it in advance."

Well, well, so that was why he was eating hand-pulled noodles.

Yuan Lan really loved to prank people, not even sparing his own.

Bai Xuechao silently lit a candle for them in his heart, because the reason Yuan Lan wasn't pranking them with food this time wasn't because he had let them off, but because he had switched to a different track.

With someone else chiming in, Lin Changqing's urge to complain flared up. He said, "Are any of you as miserable as me? One second I was laughing at Mortar for finding an iron plate in his sandwich, and the next second I found a mutated cactus spine in my own fried chicken leg. It stabbed me to death..."

As he spoke, his gaze suddenly froze.

Mortar, sitting opposite him, also had a look of terror on his face.

Everyone on both sides saw a figure slowly drifting over from behind the row of people on the opposite side. The candlelight was dim, and the figure's blurry face became clearer as it approached.

Lin Changqing pointed at the opposite side and stammered, "M-M-Mortar, b-behind you..."

At the same time, the pizza in Mortar's hand also fell. He said blankly, "Oh my God..."

When Mu Xinyue saw the person behind Lin Lang clearly, her eyes widened in panic. She coughed sharply, almost spitting out the vegetable salad in her mouth.

Lin Lang had the most intense reaction, shouting out directly, "Holy crap! Mu Xinyue, behind you!"

Bai Xuechao was shocked, his ruby-like eyes wide.

How come Lin Lang's speaking voice was a man's voice?!

Hearing Lin Lang's words, Mu Xinyue subconsciously turned her head—

A person who should have been absolutely impossible to appear, appeared before her eyes.

They were less than half a meter away from her, floating in mid-air and looking down at her, the corners of their mouth slightly raised.

The girl's face had the same light makeup she often wore when she was alive, even the beauty mark under her left eye was identical to the one in his memory. It was just that her face was a bit bluish, and her lips were a somewhat eerie purple, just like how the girl looked when she died!

A dry gasping sound came from Mu Xinyue's throat, and then, she let out a scream so sharp it seemed it could pierce the clouds.

"Ahhhhh—!"