Chapter 69 - 2.30

[Host! Host! The female lead-]

'I know. I can feel it even if you don't say anything. You can just tell.] Xu Jiaqi narrowed her eyes on the girl, observing her.

Then, as if it was fated, the girl's eyes also floated to her. She burst into a wide smile and approached Xu Jiaqi as if it was natural.

"Hello, it's very nice to meet you. You are another Saintess candidate, right? My name is Serenia Aubellin. Although we are supposed to be pitted against each other as fellow candidates, I don't think that we should be completely hostile to each other, right? A good kind of competition is best, and that thing can't be achieved unless we are respectful and mindful of each other. Don't you think so too?"

Like the female lead she was, as told in the plot, she spoke in an ever so righteous manner that tickled Xu Jiaqi's ears as if bugs were entering them.

"...Hello, my name is Ariel Maine, another Saintess candidate. As for your questions... I don't think that I require a good relationship with other candidates. There can only be one Saintess in the end, and I don't need to have a goody goody relationship with you guys. Especially since we will be betting on our skills.. I don't need your support or motivation, I think that I alone am enough. Thank you for the offer, but I have no intentions of befriending others." Xu Jiaqi said in a cold, emotionless tone, in contrast to Serenia's cheerful and bright expressions.

"Oh.. I see. I completely understand. It's.. it's alright. I was just thinking that it's not healthy for us to be too aggressive.."

"And who said that you could only compete in an aggressive manner? As a devout believer of Goddess Eula, I view the Saintess position as a refined, untouchable and dear role that should only be exclusively the Goddess' servant. A lady is the most perfect figure for this. Someone who holds great power, but also the grace and elegance to solidify. I need not focus on the world, I only have to devote myself to the Goddess and the Holy land's sanctity. Worldly affairs like relationships are not one of my goals."

Though, by saying this, she was about to cut her own feet off. She regularly teased Zenith, and it would only take Serenia one peek to find out how brazen she actually was. But for now, she planned to oppose this female lead.

'Would that make me a villain, System?'

[You are a villain even if you don't do this kind of thing. Aren't you aware of how much atrocities you like to cause?] The System responded. If it had eyes, it would've rolled them all the way back by now listening to the Host's countless blabbers.

'Ah well. Being a villain isn't too bad at all, is it?' Xu Jiaqi chuckled, not minding the System's words.

She watched as Serenia's expression changed right to left, from being shocked to feeling awkward and uncomfortable. In any ways, Serenia was definitely not impressed with her first meeting with Xu Jiaqi.

Xu Jiaqi wondered what kind of responses the other candidates gave to her. Surely, not every candidate was fully in approval of Serenia's approach, right? No matter how strong a female lead's charm was...

'Wait, no, perhaps this girl's charm is really that strong. Else, how would she be able to motivate everybody to destroy the world for her?'

[Host, please stop your rambles and focus.]

It was Xu Jiaqi's turn to roll her eyes.

Her sharp eyes portrayed a chilling glint as she stared down at the girl in front of her. Serenia made awkward gestures before she finally spoke up.

"O-okay. It was my fault for not knowing you better... I will take my leave now. Since we will compete, I know that we are going to meet each other more often in the future..I will be looking forward to our next meeting." Serenia hurriedly spoke before turning around and leaving since Xu Jiaqi did not give a response at all.

After that encounter happened, Xu Jiaqi continued on her original purpose, that was to reunite with Zenith. She went towards the gate and saw that the man was already there, waiting for her ever so loyally.

Upon meeting gazes with her, Zenith perked up and seemed a bit tense.

'Is he thinking about the words I said to him before I left?' Xu Jiaqi did say that she expected results from the man. This might have applied pressure to the man's psyche, leading to him acting this way.

"Good morning, Zenith." Xu Jiaqi crossed her arms as she told Zenith to step backwards in order for her to be able to unlock the gates. She was constantly rubbing her temples.

Her head was still hurting. Her desire to overwhelm this world was spiking up, but at the same time, it was spiking down. She knew that whatever she was feeling had a correlation with the dreams she had.

Her identity could not be as simple as she thought. She wasn't stupid, she was able to figure out that the dreams weren't just a coincidence after a series of similar scenes started to appear in her dreams. The story progressed slowly in her head, but everything always ended in the same way.

Death. 'She' was killed for unknown reasons.

The dreams were memories that were foreign to her, but Xu Jiaqi felt like she had seen them before. Experienced them in person. In each scene, the setting would be different. The cause of her pain would also change. Her identity, too, would constantly hop around from status to status.

She had a couple theory on why this happened. At first, she thought that it was a cumulation of her senses being overloaded, resulting in an array of 'shadow memories'. Memories that weren't hers, but seemed like it was.

But then, why did all of this start only after she went on her second transmigration journey?

Thus, she leaned towards her second theory.