Chapter 15: Countdown to Reset
The next morning, Lin Zhaoxi woke with a splitting headache.
Her limbs felt like lead, her chest was tight, and her vision blurred for a moment as she sat up in bed. The System's voice buzzed coldly in her mind:
Phase II Punishment initiated. Emotional suppression module activated. 23 hours remaining until full reset.
Reset?
She touched her chest.
Upon failure to return to original villainous role, host's emotions will be forcibly wiped.
Her stomach twisted. She knew the System was cruel, but this… this was erasure. Not of her life—but of everything she had slowly, painfully learned to feel.
Back on set, Shen Muyan noticed it immediately.
She was colder. Mechanical. Smiling too easily, too perfectly.
She didn't argue with the director about her character's motivations like she usually did. She didn't tease him between takes. She didn't even meet his eyes unless required.
During their scene together, she delivered her lines flawlessly—but there was nothing behind them.
No fire. No weight.
It unnerved him.
"Cut!" the director called. "Zhaoxi, that was technically perfect, but… try giving it more emotional tension, alright?"
Lin Zhaoxi smiled sweetly. "I'll try."
And she did. But something was missing.
Afterwards, Shen Muyan cornered her near the break room.
"Are you okay?"
She tilted her head. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You're… different. Cold."
"Maybe I finally realized my role." She shrugged, sipping from her water bottle. "I'm just here to make your love story shine brighter."
He frowned deeply.
"No," he said. "This isn't you."
Meanwhile, Lin Yaoyao watched them from across the room.
To the crew, she was the picture of innocence—soft-spoken, kind, even shy. But her eyes, sharp and perceptive, didn't miss a thing.
She approached Lin Zhaoxi later that afternoon, her voice as sweet as honey.
"Senior Lin," she said with a gentle smile, "It's been so long since we shared a project. I hope we can get along well."
Zhaoxi returned the smile, her voice monotone. "Of course. I don't bite."
Yaoyao laughed softly. "But sometimes, villains do. Especially beautiful ones."
Zhaoxi paused. "Are you saying I'm a villain?"
"Not at all." Yaoyao's eyes gleamed. "But isn't that the role they gave you?"
Zhaoxi's fingers tightened slightly around her script.
Later that night, Shen Muyan opened his private laptop.
There was something wrong.
Zhaoxi had always been unpredictable, but never this hollow. Never… robotic.…
He clicked open her first audition file. Then compared it with a recent recording. The difference was staggering.
And more than that—he started digging.
Background, history, digital records.
But all her files seemed too clean. Too curated. Like someone had written over them. Or someone wasn't supposed to exist.
The countdown continued.
Emotional Reset: T-minus 16 hours.
Host's emotional range at 42%. Memory sync slowing.
Lin Zhaoxi leaned against her bathroom mirror, barely able to recognize her own eyes.
"I don't want to forget him," she whispered.
Then make him hate you. That was the deal.
The next day, she walked up to Shen Muyan during break.
He looked tired, eyes lined with questions he hadn't asked yet.
She took a deep breath. If this was the only way…
"Let's end whatever this is," she said, loud enough for others to hear.
He blinked. "What?"
"I don't like being your emotional charity case. I'm not Lin Yaoyao. I don't need rescuing."
"That's not—"
"You're just guilty," she said with a cold smile. "Guilty because you were going to marry her, and I showed up instead. But I don't want your guilt. Or your attention.
He stepped back, hurt flashing through his expression.
"Fine," he said quietly. "If that's what you want."
But she couldn't answer.
Because the System was clapping inside her mind.
Good girl. Emotional disruption complete. Hate level rising. Reset suspended.
And all she could do… was smile.
Even as her heart shattered.