Chapter 223
The man in front of her had refined, delicate features and a pale complexion that gave him a dark, melancholic sort of beauty.
He wasn’t on the same level as Thomas or Leonard, but he was undeniably handsome.
Wendy pressed her lips together, hiding the upward curl threatening to appear.
If she had to get intimate with someone, she honestly didn’t mind if it was him.
Even before transmigrating into this world, Wendy had always been obsessed with good looks.
Besides, she still hadn’t managed to get close to any of the male leads. Using this guy to satisfy a little curiosity first didn’t seem like such a bad deal.
Only then did she notice the unnatural flush staining his cheeks. His face carried a faintly alluring softness, and judging from the heat radiating off him, he was clearly running a fever.
"You don’t have to be so wary," Wendy said softly, her voice almost coaxing. "I’m here to help you."
She lowered the flashlight, removing the harsh beam from his face. Without the blinding light, the man was finally able to see her clearly.
"Who are you?" he asked hoarsely, his voice low and rough.
"You don’t need to worry about that," Wendy replied gently. "Just remember that I’m not here to hurt you."
She slowly crouched down in front of him and carefully pressed down the hand holding the dagger.
The man stared at her blankly. The fever seemed to have muddled his thoughts, leaving him dazed and sluggish.
Wendy lightly brushed her fingers against his burning cheek.
"Relax," she whispered. "I won’t harm you."
He blinked slowly, and little by little, the hostility in his eyes faded.
A surge of satisfaction rose inside Wendy. His reaction pleased her far more than she expected.
Maybe she really was attractive after all. If Thomas and Leonard treated her coldly, then clearly they were the ones lacking taste.
After that, Wendy followed the system’s instructions exactly.
Touching.
Embracing.
Kissing.
Soon, the two of them were tangled together on the floor, unable to pull apart.
All the irritation and resentment Wendy had previously felt toward the system disappeared completely.
If not for this mission, she never would have realized how intoxicating this kind of pleasure could be.
And considering the target was such a handsome guy, she definitely wasn’t losing out.
A low, strained groan echoed through the darkness as both of them reached their peak together.
Wendy closed her eyes, indulging fully in the moment.
[Congratulations, Host. Mission complete. Rewards have been distributed. Please check them.]
The system’s voice finally pulled a sliver of reason back into her mind.
"A reward?" Wendy immediately asked. "What’s the reward this time?"
[Beauty Pill.]
The answer nearly made her sit upright.
"A Beauty Pill? You mean an actual Beauty Pill? The kind that makes people prettier?" she demanded excitedly.
[Of course.]
Wendy nearly lost control from excitement.
Ever since transmigrating, the thing she cared about most was her appearance.
At best, this face could only be called delicate. Compared to Suzy, she fell painfully short.
And now she had been given a chance to become beautiful. How could she not be thrilled? The desire to improve her looks overwhelmed everything else.
Taking advantage of the darkness hiding her movements, Wendy immediately summoned the Beauty Pill and swallowed it whole.
She closed her eyes and carefully sensed the changes in her body, but nothing obvious happened right away.
Still, she trusted the system completely. Anything produced by the system had to work.
After calming herself for a while, Wendy finally opened her eyes again.
The mission was done. It was time to leave.
She sat up and switched the flashlight back on. Light flooded the room once more as she pulled her clothes back on and glanced toward the man lying beside her.
His eyes were closed, as though he had fallen asleep.
Wendy gently nudged him. She had intended to say goodbye before leaving, but the moment her hand touched him, her expression froze.
His body was strangely stiff.
A terrible thought suddenly flashed through her mind.
She pushed him again... No response.
Slowly, Wendy reached out and placed her fingers beneath his nose.
No breath. The man wasn’t breathing at all. He was... dead.
A wave of shock crashed through Wendy.
Dead? Was he really dead?
She tried several more times to check, but the man remained utterly motionless.
No breathing.
No pulse.
No sign of life whatsoever.
"S-System...what happened to him?" Wendy stammered.
She wasn’t afraid of corpses, but a man who had just been tangled beneath her moments ago suddenly dying beside her was unsettling no matter how she looked at it.
[He died.]
"How did he die?" Wendy pressed.
The system fell silent. No explanation came.
A strange unease flickered through Wendy’s chest. Something about this felt deeply wrong.
But after a moment, she forced herself not to dwell on it.
Eventually, she stood and walked out of the room.
Dead was dead.
The guy had been handsome enough, and his body certainly hadn’t been bad either. It was a little unfortunate.
Still, there was nothing she could do about it now. She couldn’t be blamed for being coldhearted.
Leaving the room behind, Wendy summoned her speedboat from storage and climbed aboard.
The appearance and death of that man quickly became nothing more than a minor interruption in her mind.
Right now, she was thinking about where to go next.
Should she continue searching for Suzy?
Just as she was about to ask the system for Suzy’s exact location, a strange odor drifted through the air.
Wendy frowned and sniffed cautiously.
The smell became stronger.
A second later, realization struck.
The odor was coming from her.
She quickly looked down at her arms. Nothing unusual was visible, but the foul stench kept intensifying.
Slowly, Wendy pieced it together.
The Beauty Pill must be working.
This was probably the process of expelling impurities from her body.
Naturally, she couldn’t tolerate reeking like this.
The thought of approaching Thomas and Leonard while smelling this awful instantly killed any desire she had to continue searching for Suzy.
She had wanted to find Suzy partly to improve her relationship with the two men.
But if she approached them smelling like a sewer, they would probably avoid her on sight. Even she could barely stand the odor herself.
The moment she figured that out, Wendy decisively turned the boat around and headed back toward Starlight Towers.
But just as she started moving, another speedboat appeared ahead of her.
Like hers, it carried only a single rider. The person was dressed entirely in black, wrapped up so tightly that barely any skin showed.
Wendy stared at them for a moment before deciding to avoid them altogether. She was in a hurry to get home and had no interest in conflict.
Yet instead of steering away, the other speedboat came straight at her.
"Move aside!" Wendy shouted.
To her shock, the other boat accelerated even faster, clearly targeting her directly.
Alarm exploded in Wendy’s chest. She hurriedly tried to steer away, but it was too late.
The two boats slammed violently into each other. The impact sent the world spinning.
The force nearly threw Wendy overboard, and only her desperate grip on the handle kept her from flying into the water.
She collapsed hard onto the deck, dizzy and disoriented.
Before she could recover, the black-clad figure had already leapt onto her boat.
"You’re—"
A blade flashed before she could finish speaking.
Wendy barely managed to dodge. The knife sliced across her arm instead, leaving behind a burning wound that instantly brought tears to her eyes.
She scrambled backward in panic while the attacker lunged again, murder blazing in her eyes.
"Wendy, go to hell!"
Only then did Wendy finally recognize the woman’s face.
It was none other than Vanessa.
For a split second, Wendy’s mind went blank. At the same moment, Vanessa’s knife drove toward her chest.
Then something bizarre happened.
The dagger struck what felt like an invisible barrier and suddenly bounced away.
Vanessa froze, disbelief written all over her face.
Wendy reacted instantly. She reached into her storage space and pulled out a weapon to strike back.