Chapter 1: I, Ling Qiong, Send Money! (1)

“How could they possibly be engaged?”

“It’s all because the second Miss Su is shameless, throwing herself at him—President Shen doesn’t even like her.”

“I’ve heard she’s quite indecent too, always seeing other men outside.”

“How could the Shen family agree to let her marry in?”

A cluster of young women gathered to gossip.

In the vast banquet hall, people came and went, while the stage displayed a slideshow of photographs.

To be fair, just from the photos, the man appeared handsome and striking, the woman delicate and charming.

Today marked the union between the Shen and Su families, and the main characters were none other than Shen Qinchuan and Su Miaomiao from the pictures.

Suddenly—a loud slap echoed, bringing the noisy hall to abrupt silence.

All eyes turned in unison toward the source of the sound.

A young woman in a white gown stood at the corridor just outside the hall, holding her skirt, her head tilted, gazing innocently at the two people in front of her.

Opposite her was another girl, whose posture betrayed her as the one who had just slapped someone.

The person who had been struck was another girl beside the young woman, clutching her stinging cheek, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Jiang Ke, are you crazy?”

“I didn’t mean to hit you…” The girl who delivered the slap—Jiang Ke—mumbled in embarrassment.

Jiang Ke immediately pointed at the girl holding her skirt. “She dodged out of the way, that’s why I hit you by mistake.”

The young woman blinked, her voice soft and sweet. “If you were about to hit me, wouldn’t I be a fool not to dodge?”

She was unmistakably the protagonist displayed on the large screen.

Jiang Ke ignored the girl she’d struck, jabbing her finger at the young woman’s nose, her tone righteous and indignant. “Su Miaomiao, don’t think you can replace your sister—you’re nothing but a substitute!”

“She’s the second Miss Su?”

“And now her sister’s involved too?”

“Don’t you know? It’s said the heir of the Shen family was in love with her elder sister, Su Qiyi.”

“Didn’t something happen to Su Qiyi? Now, no one knows how the second Miss Su ended up with the heir of the Shen family.”

“There’s more to this than I thought.”

“No kidding…”

“Their circle is a real mess.”

The surrounding crowd pointed and whispered animatedly.

The young woman released her grip on her skirt, the white gauze fabric pooling at her feet. “Whether I’m a substitute or not is none of your business,” she said.

Jiang Ke’s emotions surged. “Your sister hasn’t been gone long, and you’re already shamelessly engaged to the man she loved—how could you do this to her? She’s barely cold in her grave, and yet you’re marrying the one she cared for!”

“What’s it to you? Do you like Shen Qinchuan?” The young woman’s eyes widened in apparent surprise.

Jiang Ke’s pupils contracted, and she snapped, “Don’t talk nonsense! Why would I possibly like Mr. Shen…”

The young woman retorted bluntly, “Then why are you so worked up? I’m getting engaged to Shen Qinchuan and you’re this upset—I’d almost think you liked him yourself.”

Jiang Ke’s face flushed a deep red, her secret laid bare, making her even more irritable. The inquisitive stares from the hall only heightened her discomfort. She gritted her teeth. “You…stop talking nonsense. I’m angry for your sister’s sake, you…”

“Jiang Ke!” someone called, hurrying over to pull her back before she could say more. “What are you doing here?”

“She…”

“Enough, let’s go,” the newcomer insisted, forcibly dragging Jiang Ke away.

Once she was gone, an odd hush lingered in the air.

“Second Miss, should we touch up your makeup?” someone nearby murmured.

“Alright,” she replied.

With that, the young woman followed an attendant to the dressing room. Lifting her gaze, she studied the reflection in the mirror—a beautiful face, yet unfamiliar.

She was not the true owner of this body.

Her name was Ling Qiong, and as her name implied, she was desperately poor.

How had she come to be here?

After enduring a fiscal crisis, Ling Qiong had taken up a side job, working as a cheerful game tester to earn a bit of bread money. No need to leave home, a way to pass the time, and enough to buy bread—a perfect gig.

Yet once she started, she realized the job wasn’t as wonderful as it sounded.

She had planned to finish one last assignment before quitting for good.

But before she could do so, her former employer sent her a holographic gaming pod—inviting her to test out their company’s latest game. The invitation came with generous compensation, a clear show of good faith.

As someone deep in the red, Ling Qiong accepted with dignity.

The game, Realm of Illusions, used various types of novels as its scenario templates.

The basic premise was this: Sometimes, a story’s author abandoned the plot or was struck by some wild whim, causing the heroine to die in bizarre ways or veer off the intended story arc, which in turn led to the other characters’ lives going awry.

Her mission was to inhabit these roles, restore their lives to the proper path, and achieve a happy ending.

HE: Happy Ending—a joyful, blissful conclusion.

In most novels, this meant the male and female leads ended up together.

The game followed the same logic.

So, as Ling Qiong summed it up: Find someone to fall in love with.

It was only after entering that she realized this was a ‘romance game.’

The holographic simulation was so vivid, it felt indistinguishable from reality.

Up to now, she found it quite intriguing.

After all, what challenge could there be in romancing a digital character? Even if it was a hologram, it was still just a virtual person.

She’d been in dozens, if not hundreds, of relationships before.

So Ling Qiong decided to challenge herself—push the boundaries of species.

But she hadn’t expected that her entry point would be at the heroine’s funeral…

Can you imagine—your starting scene being at the main character’s funeral?

Wasn’t this essentially stepping over the heroine’s memorial tablet to take her place?

Not long after attending the funeral, she was made to replace the prematurely departed older sister as the protagonist’s fiancée.

Which led to the scene today.

…

The background of this scenario was the classic “domineering CEO falls for me.”

However, the heroine’s family wasn’t exactly poor—just nowhere near the male lead’s status.

Since a grassroots heroine’s struggle couldn’t be written, the story relied on the stark opposition between the leads.

Thus, the male and female protagonists started off at odds—each disliked the other, and every meeting ended in conflict.

As the plot progressed, they gradually developed feelings, and with the supporting cast’s persistent meddling, finally recognized their true emotions, leading to a happy ending together.

That was the normal conclusion.

But now, the author had abandoned the story. The heroine had failed to fulfill her sacred mission, exiting the stage prematurely.

With both the author and the heroine having given up, the story continued on.

Her current role was Su Miaomiao—the heroine’s younger half-sister.

The original was an illegitimate child, though raised in the Su family from childhood.

After the heroine’s death, the original was arranged by the Su family to take her place and get engaged.

At this point, the male lead had just realized his feelings for the heroine.

So how could he possibly accept the stand-in fiancée?

Moreover, now that she was engaged to the male lead, all sorts of trouble followed—ranging from the harassment of his admirers, the accusations of the heroine’s devoted fans, to even being dragged into danger because of him.

Coupled with the cold shoulder and emotional abuse from the male lead, the original soon became mentally unstable and died in an accident.