Part 1The Villain Gets the Girl

A photo of me and Chloe Thorne went viral overnight.

In it, we’re wearing our blue and white school uniforms, standing side-by-side, throwing up peace signs.

Attached is a photo of the grade rankings: Chloe is #1, I am #2.

A netizen commented: [There’s zero romance in their eyes. Just pure determination to study the other one to death.]

I’ve been crushed by Chloe for ten years. I thought I was doomed to be the eternal runner-up.

Until one day, I woke up...

And realized I’m the villainous male side character in a high school romance novel.

And Chloe is the female lead.

Realizing this didn't make me sad at all.

I knew my chance had come!

I'm going to be number one!

* * *

I've been second to Chloe Thorne for a decade. Every exam, I'm exactly one rank behind her.

I am the eternal runner-up on the honor roll.

Then one day, while napping on my desk during a break, I gained sentience. I discovered I'm the villainous side character in a YA romance novel.

In the story, I wreak havoc to sabotage the romance between the female lead and the male lead, eventually getting myself expelled.

The female lead and the transfer student male lead, after "overcoming" the obstacle that is me, successfully get together.

However, their grades slip due to dating, and their families force them apart.

To save the male lead from his abusive father, the female lead intentionally misses the SATs, repeats a year with him, and they both get into their dream university, living happily ever after.

The heroine of this story is Chloe Thorne, the girl who always beats me.

After waking up, I sat up straight and glanced at Chloe, who was chatting with the person in front of her in the next row.

The world is going to hell.

How can this old rival be the heroine?

But it doesn't matter. In the novel, the male lead is supposed to transfer to our class in the next few days.

His arrival marks the beginning of my bright future.

As long as I refuse to play the villain, I won't be affected by their plot. I can defeat Chloe and finally become number one!

My excitement lasted almost the entire day. Just thinking about my upcoming comeback made it hard to control my facial expressions.

That evening, walking home with Chloe, I didn't bother suppressing my glee.

Chloe’s face remained neutral, but she was speed-walking like an Olympian.

Our moms are best friends, and we live directly across the street from each other.

Before entering her house, she looked at me like I was an idiot, then quickly slammed the door.

After dinner, I got a text from my buddy, Mike: "Bro, you're a legend!"

Attached was a link to a video I posted on social media a few days ago when the midterm results came out.

The video contained only two images.

One was a screenshot of me and Chloe, the other was the midterm ranking list.

No caption, but the netizens understood me perfectly.

"There’s zero romance in their eyes. Just pure determination to study the other one to death."

"The girl is even holding a pen in the photo."

"When is the guy gonna assassinate the girl to take first place?"

I liked the comment about assassination.

Soon.