The Villainous Life of the Young Lady

“So this is some kind of shady product, huh? What’s it for?”

The repairman looked at Xia Yuhe (He Zunyi’s consciousness) with obvious interest.

Most customers who came to his shop were bringing in things that weren’t exactly aboveboard.

Smuggled weapons.

High-end equipment.

Magical relics.

Private inventions.

The material of the helmets looked decent, but the internal components were clearly not standard VR equipment. The specifications were inconsistent, more like a barely functional prototype.

His guess was largely correct.

He Zunyi himself had been forcibly taken by the organization. While imprisoned in a biological laboratory, he was accidentally exposed to a gene-cutting agent that left his genetic structure incomplete, causing systemic organ degradation.

Since his body had already undergone genetic modification for drug testing, ordinary gene-repair treatments were useless to him.

That was why, in desperation, he had rushed to develop the consciousness-exchange helmets—to obtain a new body.

“It’s the latest VR device, with deep-immersion functionality. Still in the experimental stage,” Xia Yuhe explained casually.

Letting others know that it could swap consciousness was far too dangerous. Just imagining someone targeting high-level figures, not merely swapping minds but fully seizing bodies—society would collapse.

“Are you serious…?” The repairman still looked unconvinced.

The explanation technically checked out based on the components, but it was suspicious. If this had been stolen from a corporate lab, why bring it here to fix it? Corporate warfare usually meant destroying research data or bribing researchers for the tech—much simpler than repairing a prototype.

“If you don’t want to fix it, forget it. Saves me some money anyway.”

With that, Xia Yuhe picked up the bag of fragments and turned to leave, wearing an unmistakable I-don’t-care expression.

Kada’s heart skipped a beat when he saw her actually about to walk out.

Wait—why are you leaving already?!

“Wait, I didn’t say I wouldn’t fix it,” the repairman hurriedly said. “Eighty percent. I’ll give you twenty percent off.”

“Fifty percent.”

“Seventy-five?”

“Sixty.”

“Seventy. That’s my bottom line.”

“…Fine. Seventy.”

After a round of bargaining, the deal was struck.

The two left the repair shop, but their day wasn’t over.

They began investigating their target Xia Yuhe planning their next ambush.

Xia Yuhe had never liked school much, especially after her mother arranged for her to transfer to Tianshui No.1 High School.

It was ridiculous.

The school had just been bombed last week, and this week she was supposed to attend classes there?

“I say, Dr. He,” Kada spoke from behind, “you never really cared about the organization’s orders, did you?”

He felt uneasy.

The Dr. He he’d heard about wasn’t this cooperative. That was precisely why the organization had assigned him to monitor the body-switch mission—to prevent trouble.

“For someone who wouldn’t survive past next week, this plan was a decent lifeline,” Xia Yuhe replied.

“So it was about survival?”

“….”

Xia Yuhe didn’t know what image He Zunyi had in the organization’s eyes. After all, they’d interacted for less than five minutes.

“Is that strange?”

Kada looked surprised, but his expression relaxed instead.

“That’s a perfectly normal reason,” he said. “It’s just strange hearing it from you.”

“What exactly am I supposed to be like in your eyes?”

Xia Yuhe had assumed that someone as capable as He Zunyi would be highly respected in the organization.

But judging from Kada’s tone, he was seen more as a weirdo.

Kada studied her sincere expression, then finally lowered his guard.

“When you were first taken from Tianyu Biological Research Institute, you resisted to the death. We had to send several C-rank monsters just to capture you.”

“C-rank monsters?” Xia Yuhe asked, feigning confusion. “Are those strong?”

Internally, she was cursing nonstop.

How could someone with such a terrifying background end up this frail?

Did He Zunyi have some terminal illness?

Please don’t let me drop dead halfway through, she thought.

“They’re average,” Kada explained. “Think of them as one-hit monsters. Red can take them out with a single blow.”

That explanation didn’t really clarify things for Xia Yuhe.

She remembered Red—the magical girl who’d knocked her flying yesterday.

She hadn’t even had time to react.

On TV, Red looked incredibly powerful, sure—but what was the difference between one-hit monsters and a bomb monster taken down in one punch?

She decided not to think about it.

That world had nothing to do with ordinary people anyway.

…………

Monsterization.

A modern phenomenon in which humans transform into humanoid beings.

Its causes are unknown.

Its process unclear.

Symptoms vary widely.

Most newly monsterized humans choose not to remain in human society, as their appearance and physique change drastically.

Only after a period of adjustment can they freely switch between monster and human forms.

Ma Guohao was an exception.

Because his transformation was interrupted before completion by Xia Yupeng and Red, only his right arm was affected.

As long as he dealt with that abnormality, he could live like a normal person.

But to anyone familiar with monsters, the energy radiating from Ma Guohao was unmistakable.

To He Zunyi, it was especially obvious.

They were seated with only one person between them.

And beneath those bandages—there was the faint scent of rust, unnatural joints.

Was that really just a mechanical prosthetic?

At first, she thought it might be powered by energy.

But thinking it over, the Ma family hadn’t suffered any major explosions or accidents recently that would warrant replacing their young master’s arm.

And unlike Kada, who deliberately replaced limbs for combat power, Ma Guohao had no reason to do so.

Speaking of Kada—hadn’t his prosthetic been forcibly removed during his escape?

Did that enhancement really matter at all?

After piecing everything together, only one conclusion remained.

Ma Guohao had undergone monsterization.

“Ugh… what a headache.”

He Zunyi lay face-down on the desk.

Her thoughts drifted to the fact that as Xia Yuhe, she was scheduled to attend Ma Guohao’s birthday banquet next Tuesday.

Business tycoons and industry elites celebrating a monster’s birthday—

If the organization’s leader heard about it, would he think monsters had finally been accepted by the upper class?

“I heard you’re close with Ma Guohao.”

He Zunyi turned her head toward Fang Yutian, seated to her right.

He was reading, but stopped naturally and joined the conversation.

“Yeah. But it looks like you two aren’t very familiar. I thought heirs from major families would all know each other.”

He Zunyi blinked, sat upright, and replied,

“It’s a bit different here. The Ma family only became a financial conglomerate in the last two years. Before that, they were just a regular company, mainly producing opioid-based sleeping drugs.

Somehow, they suddenly acquired massive assets, bought multiple large factories, and even signed a research cooperation agreement with Xia Yupeng. Because of that, two years ago, we didn’t really have much contact with them.”

Fang Yutian looked enlightened.

“You know, that’s actually pretty big news.”

“I’m too busy studying to notice,” he said.

The real reason was that he’d spent five years fighting monsters nonstop, with no time to care.

And Ma Guohao wasn’t the type to talk much about family matters.

“Is that so? Then… good luck.”

Given Fang Yutian’s very average grades, that explanation only made him sound a little pitiful.