I appeared back in the world. I didn't say anything. Cheng Ye was still asleep, lazy as he was. I looked around the room to see his roommates, also all asleep. They must be lazybones as well, or perhaps the school exploding had given them quite a fright, to the point where they weren't able to get up in the morning. On that point, would they even have school anymore?

I went over to Cheng Ye's phone and picked it up. There was the notification of a message from the school principal, stating that there was an 'accidental gas leak' in the school, and due to safety concerns, school would be postponed for a few days. Luckily, only the school kitchen, cafeteria, and the first year classes near it had burned. Thanks to the swift response of the fireman, the school was decent enough to resume classes after a week or two.

I sighed in relief. Well, at least there was that. Let's look on the positive side. Maybe the villainess would attempt suicide again.

"I wonder how she even escaped from the explosion," I muttered aloud.

"Oh, I pulled her along when she wouldn't run," Cheng Ye answered. "I couldn't let her die, could I?"

Oh, holy father on high! I turned to the right to see my host, awake and sitting on his bed, absentmindedly chewing on a lollipop. The sound of it cracking gave me the shivers. So barbaric. Cheng Ye threw the mangled stick into the trash and scratched his giant belly. He took out Cheng Ye's phone from his pocket.

"Host," I said curtly regaining my composure, "Please remember your tasks. You have to bring Cheng Ye success and happiness."

"I know, I know." Cheng Ye said, browsing through his phone. He was playing Sweet Crush. I eyed him warily. I had never seen someone so unmotivated in my life, I thought to myself. Except for, of course, Jonathan. How did my host plan on bringing Cheng Ye success? It was not going to be as easy as it sounded. 'Success' didn't just mean getting good grades and being a bit popular in school. No, when I, the system, said 'success', I meant success in the real world.

I browsed through my host's past, before he died and received a System. An unemployed software programmer. He was dirt poor, as expected, with no accomplishments to his name. He put his meager life savings into developing some program, but he wasn't able to complete it. Distraught, he wasted the rest of his life away until he died. In short, he was a failure.

What kind of success could such a person achieve, even with a new body?

"Host." I repeated, "Please."

Cheng Ye continued playing Sweet Crush. There was a familiar noise as the three sweets aligned in a row and disappeared. A voice came out of his phone, "Tasty!" It exclaimed. "Candy Combo!"

Cheng Ye's other roommates were awake now. I noticed they didn't seem to be very friendly with Cheng Ye, maybe, I thought wryly, because of his reputation as the school bully. They avoided Cheng Ye and stayed silent in his presence. One of his roommates, -who I now had a very bad opinion of, by the way- lounged on his bed and fell back asleep again.

I sighed. Since my host clearly wasn't doing anything worth note, I decided to check on the other characters of the story. The female lead, the male lead, and of course, our severely derailed villainess. I got a headache just by thinking of her.

First was the female lead-sama. She stayed in her mansion, as her overprotective father didn't allow her to live at the school dormitory. It didn't take long to find her. She was with the male lead, I noticed. Good. I had no idea why he wasn't at his dorms, but unlike a certain someone, Feng Jinyu was hardworking and did his best to follow the plot-line. The two leads were at a cafe.

"Thank you." The female lead sama said, a shy smile on her face. Her voice was cold, but with the blush on her cheeks, it only served as a sweet contrast and made her look cuter. "And I apologize for Xiaohui's behavior. Don't be so hard on her. I promise she's not so bad, it's just that lately she's been a little... troubled."

Feng Jinyu, the male lead, hummed in disagreement, "This isn't the first time she's tried something like this," he said overbearingly. "No doubt the fire at the school was also her doing. If she dares to try and hurt my woman, I will not let it go."

Zhang Anqi colored becomingly. "Who says I'm your woman?" She snapped.

Very good, I clapped approvingly. Not that the two would hear me, but it was nice to see that their relationship was moving along at a decent pace. As, of course, the plot-line demanded.

Feng Jinyu just continued to look at the female lead with a burning passion in his eyes that made even me uncomfortable. Zhang Anqi stood up. "And remember not to forget, you have to eat at our table, with the other members of the school council." She mumbled. "The underclassmen get upset if you aren't there."

"See you later at school."

She turned to leave, face still smoldering. As soon as she did so, onlookers swarmed the handsome teenage boy, deducing from the conversation that he was still single. A few courageous women even asked him for his number. However, I was satisfied to see that the male lead's cold front was firm, and his heart still obviously belonged to the female lead. It would have been a bother if that hadn't been the case. Hey! Since the villainess wasn't dead, maybe we could turn the plot-line into a rom-com instead! It wouldn't be a bad idea. I would have to bring it up on my next report. Which I was already dreading, by the way.

Now that it was clear that the leads were getting along well, I looked for the villainess. Truth to be told, I had no idea where she would be. My plot-line files did not include any estimates, because, of course, she wasn't supposed to be alive. I checked her house first. It seemed most logical.

The villainess wasn't there.

I was an idiot. Of course she wasn't there. The house had burnt to the ground, after all. I looked at the burnt, collapsed contraption, wondering where the girl had slept last night. Did she sleep at a friend's dorm? But to my knowledge, the villainess did not have any friends. None she was close enough to share a room with, anyway, except for maybe the female lead. But even the female lead wouldn't help her attacker. And even if she did allow it, her family certainly wouldn't.

 Maybe she slept at a hotel, if she had enough money. And with that thought, I searched for cheap motels around the area.

Personally, though it was unfair to the girl and selfish on my part, I wished she was dead. Preferably from suicide, following the plot. The girl was disfigured, bullied, and without her parents. Add that to the fact that she was dirt poor. It wouldn't be a surprise if she was dead today. There was a reason people turned into ghosts, and this girl was clearly wronged. At least she got revenge for herself after turning into a ghost, I thought in consolation. And if only she hadn't involved other innocents, if only she hadn't gone too far, the story wouldn't have to be changed.

I finally found her at a McDonald's.

She seemed to be alright, all things considered. Messy and dirty, as if she had slept outside, but not hurt. I checked her character files again.

Hong Xiaohui was a quiet girl. She wore a mask to cover up the bad burns on her face, which she didn't lower, not even to eat her cheeseburger. She only lifted it up slightly to eat her food underneath her mask as she walked out of the fast food joint. It seemed she wasn't willing to stay there. I understood. The stares were very uncomfortable.

Hong Xiaohui continued into a dark alleyway, still eating. Though I could see that the girl was struggling not to eat the burger too fast, it still disappeared after a few bites. Hong Xiaohui's stomach growled.

Two people appeared in the alley in front of her. Hong Xiaohui stopped eating her burger and looked up. Her small body froze, and she almost dropped the food in her hand. Oh? I recognized those two from my character files. They were Cheng Ye's lackeys. But my host wasn't here. I remembered he was back at his dorms, playing Sweet Crush.

The boys stopped in front of Hong Xiaohui. They looked very delinquent-y, especially in the dark alley, with their hands in their pockets and band-aids on their faces. I noticed they were both wearing red tracksuits, the kind you wear to exercise. Oh, a couple look, I thought dryly.

One of the boys smiled nastily. "Hong Xiaohui, if you touch Boss's girl one more time, we'll kill you."

"Yeah!" The other boy chimed in. "Ugly hag, how dare you touch Big Boss Cheng's girlfriend!"

Hong Xiaohui glanced around, as if looking for an exit. I pitied the poor girl. It would be so much better if you were a ghost, I thought comfortingly. You would be able to kill such bastards just by touching them. Sadly, Hong Xiaohui only looked about in despair. I sighed. This was going to get ugly.

A few minutes later, Hong Xiaohui appeared from the alley nursing some new bruises. She was a strong girl, I noted. No wonder she became such a magnificent ghost. She didn't cry. She clenched her teeth and took everything that blocked her way.

It was a shame she was the villainess of the story.