"All Lily did was give you a little push, stop pretending to be dead."

A cold male voice came from above. "Albina, my patience is wearing thin."

Albina: "?"

What the hell? Can’t even die in peace?

Then it hit her—she was alive again. Back in her first life. In that ridiculous novel called *The Real Darling Fake Heiress*.

In the book, the fake heiress Lily Miller was the heroine, and she, the real one, was the classic wicked supporting role.

Just a tool for contrast, the sad little scapegoat playing the villain's part. Basically, a human punching bag for the heroine to shine.

In the end, the righteous heroine shoved her off a cliff “for the greater good,” and she died.

Except she didn’t. She ended up reincarnated in the cultivation world.

After grinding for three thousand years, swinging her sword thirty thousand times a day, just when she was about to ascend... bam. A lightning bolt sent her straight back into this dumb book.

Right then, a voice that claimed to be "Entity System 66" popped up and told her that if she played along with the novel’s plot, she’d get another shot at the cultivation world.

Albina: "..."

She was speechless.

After all those years as a broke sword cultivator, sleeping in the open and sipping on freezing wind every day...She woke up earlier than the rooster and went to bed later than a dog—basically a full-on 007 grind machine. If she managed to survive three thousand years, it was purely thanks to the hardcore work ethic she picked up under the socialist framework.

Albina Miller: "..." I'm done. Just end it already. I can't keep up this hustle life anymore.

What’s the point of another round anyway? Worst case, she’d just tap out.

Entity system picked up her brainwaves, and after confirming she really meant it, sighed in despair: [Alright then, if the host doesn’t want to do the missions, I guess being broke for life it is.]

Albina: [Broke? Seriously?]

Entity system: [Yep. Host comes with a built-in swordsman poverty buff. No matter how hard you work, you won’t make a cent. But completing missions removes the buff. Don’t worry though—we’re a super understanding system. If our host enjoys being broke, we totally support personal choices.]

Albina: […]

Albina jolted up like a person having a dream about free rent. She sprang up from the ground like she’d just remembered rent was due.

[Money? Who said anything about that? You think I’m that shallow? I’m obviously in this for world peace! As the future of socialism, how could I possibly turn down such a noble and glorious mission? Now, about my paycheck—do you guys use Venmo, or should I send my Alipay?]

Entity system gave a subtle smile. Hook, line, and sinker.

Her sudden resurrection-level reaction almost gave everyone around her a heart attack. The man who had just spoken sneered, tone sharp enough to cut glass:

"Done pretending? Do you even realize how much trouble you’ve caused everyone? Ever heard of guilt, or are you fresh out?""If you hadn't gone after Lily first, she wouldn't have accidentally pushed you down. So really, who's to blame here? You brought this on yourself, didn’t you? Now hurry up and apologize to her!"

That classic manipulative garbage again.

Albina narrowed her eyes and glanced over.

[Ding! New system task: Make the original male lead James Thompson feel guilty. Completion condition: his eyes turn red.]

She stared at the guy for a bit, slowly dragging the name James Thompson out from the dusty corners of her brain. After a few seconds of squinting, she finally got it.

[Oh right… this dude’s supposed to be my fiancé.]

Suddenly, the whole room went dead silent. Everyone exchanged weird glances.

Wait a minute... were they hallucinating?

Albina hadn’t said a word out loud, but somehow they all just heard her voice.

James frowned too. Hadn’t he already told her not to spill the beans about their engagement? So reckless!

Before he could jump in to stop her, that same girly voice sounded again—straight in everyone’s heads.

[Alright, I’ve got an announcement to make: we're calling off the engagement.]

Albina’s “voice” was solemn, full of drama, like she was giving a press conference:

[He’s got a quick temper and a short fuse, literally. Brain's not exactly top shelf, got some unfortunate skin conditions, and let’s just say, not tall nor handsome enough to save the day. Even an enoki mushroom would look down on him. People wrap their feet—he wraps his head. Yoyo~ Before the pants come off, he acts all cool and aloof. After? Total clown material.][I mean, I’m patriotic, dedicated, stick to my word, and always eager to learn. I’ve got my master’s and PhD lined up. I help old ladies cross the street during the day and answer random people’s questions online at night—literally a walking good karma generator. I even light incense and pray every day.]

Albina raised her chin, full of confidence: [Bottom line? He’s not good enough for me!]

“...?” Everyone went speechless for a moment—they kind of thought Albina had a point.

Entity system 66 felt something was off. It was like it had glitched, and there was a 50/50 chance its internal convo with the host would get leaked... Whatever, no way its host was *that* unlucky, right?

James Thompson’s face turned dark. He snapped, “Shut up!”

Albina got interrupted mid-thought, immediately flipping the switch: [Excuse me? Did you just tell *me* to shut up? Dude, you’re seriously testing my patience right now.]

James: “...”

Now he had a headache forming.

Grinding his teeth, James warned furiously, “I don’t know what nonsense you’re spewing, but Lily isn’t in good health. If anything happens to her...”

[If something happens to her, I’m dragging every last one of you down with her.]

Spectators: Huh? That includes me??

Everyone stared at Albina. Her face was cold, lips lightly pressed together; from a distance, she looked almost ethereal, like she stepped right out of a fairy tale.

But that wildly off-beat inner voice just kept going.[He’s the cold, aloof movie god. She’s the gentle, gorgeous fake heiress. The world tried to keep them apart, so she ran, he chased—no escape for either! One stormy night, his eyes burning red, he said, “Just one kiss, and my life’s all yours…”]

Everyone: "…"

Is that cringing I hear... oh wait, it’s just my soul trying to escape my body.

James Thompson choked, face flushed with rage. "You, you…!"

[Ding! Task achieved: ‘Red-Eyed Rage’ unlocked!]

Albina Miller was still reading the cringefest that was *The Fake Heiress Is Everyone’s Favorite* when the system alert popped up. She blinked. [Wait, *that’s* all it takes?]

Seriously? She hadn’t even said a word yet.

Even Entity system 66 sounded confused. [Maybe the original male lead’s just super emotionally fragile?]

Well, whatever. Task done. Albina leaned back, thinking back to the plot.

The story was already halfway through at this point. The male and female leads had confessed, and naturally, she—this "obstacle"—was next on their hit list.

They’d soon cook up some juicy scandal, completely ruin her rep, and in the end, she’d get shoved onto some dumb dating show intended to “fix her image”… then conveniently die.

Tsk.

Upside: she had a second shot.

Downside: she missed a key plot point, and now she was not only dead broke, but the public enemy number one kind of broke.

Whatever. The world tried to break her—she'd just hit back harder.

Albina: [Hey 66, wanna know the one trick to make a guy never forget you?]

James stiffened, spine straight as a sword. Something told him… this wasn’t gonna end well.The next second, Albina suddenly hoisted him up like picking up trash. “Alright, let’s go. What’s wrong with you, seriously?”

Whoosh—bam!

“…” The scene was so crazy that no one dared make a move. So everyone just stood there, wide-eyed, watching the movie star James Thompson get tossed out like a sack.

Dead silence. You could hear a pin drop.

James’ eyes were wide with fury as he shakily tried to stand. Just as he got halfway up, he heard Albina’s inner monologue loud and clear.

[Let’s see you try to sleep now, huh? Bet you cry into your pillow every night thinking about me. Ha! Only I can teach you what real heartbreak feels like! Remember this pain, sweetheart—that’s what devastation looks like.]

Thud.

James hit the floor again.

Yep. He actually passed out this time.

Albina blinked innocently. “Huh? I barely shoved him. Don’t fake it.”

Everyone else: “...” Okay, yeah, she really nailed the full-circle effect here.