“What kind of love simulation…”
The midday sun filtered through the frosted glass, casting a slanted glow on the soft down bed and crowning the girl’s silver hair with a golden aura.
At this moment, her expression appeared somewhat dazed.
“Do I have to capture beautiful girls too?”
She scanned the room’s European-style decor before finally focusing her attention on the familiar game UI in front of her.
[Love Simulation Support System]
Player: Luwei
Strength: 2
Endurance: 3
Intelligence: 7
Charisma: 8
Magic: 18
Faction: Caris Family
Liquidity: 23 Gold Coins, 35 Silver Coins, and 0 Copper Coins
Asset Level: 0 (Please complete initial accumulation as soon as possible)
Reputation: -80 (Notorious)
[Tip: Form contracts with targets to unlock more functions.]
Luwei finally accepted the fact that she had transmigrated.
She picked up the luxurious vanity mirror from the bedside table.
Setting aside the silver hair, blue eyes, and slightly youthful appearance, the delicate features of the girl in the mirror were almost identical to her previous life.
There was no mistake.
Luwei pinched her soft cheek.
It felt as delicate as fine jade, but the slight sting served as a reminder:
This was a male-oriented love simulation game she had helped develop.
Heartbeat Trajectory: Bonds
And Luwei had transmigrated as the game’s most hated villainess—herself!
***
In her previous life, Luwei was a game designer who had no money and was constantly criticized by players.
To give players a better target for their frustrations, her team had simply put her into the game.
The result was the girl in the mirror.
[The only daughter of Duke Caris, a domineering and wicked young lady who enjoys tormenting young girls.]
The player’s job was to defeat Luwei time and again to save various beautiful girls.
Luwei’s character persisted throughout almost the entire plot, lingering like a ghost and acting utterly detestable.
Of course, Luwei’s endings were quite satisfying for the players.
Thanks to the game’s high level of freedom, players had discovered over 1,000 different ways for her to die.
“So…”
“Am I going to die too?”
Luwei bit her nails in frustration.
The only silver lining was that, as a designer, she knew the game’s plot and progression like the back of her hand.
If she knew the direction of the story in advance, could she intervene and successfully avoid all the bad endings?
…It was hard to say.
Because Bonds had incredibly high freedom, the game allowed players to intervene and change the established flow to a certain extent.
To ensure the general plot remained consistent for the player’s experience, the game had a specialized AI for real-time plot correction.
This was actually a clever addition by the development team—it ensured a consistent experience while allowing every player to create a unique story with the girls.
But for the villainess Luwei, this mechanism was a nightmare.
Under the Plot Correction Mechanism, she had to maintain her villainous persona.
She had to torment young girls, have her plans exposed, be defeated by the player, and eventually meet a miserable end.
If she forcibly defied the plot and significantly changed the game’s flow, it might trigger the correction mechanism and lead to even more terrifying consequences.
“Isn’t that just the end for me?”
Luwei pursed her lips, feeling a sense of utter desolation.
She had made the game herself and knew all the different ways to die.
Who could be more desperate than her?
Just as she was feeling lost about her bleak future, a blonde girl dressed as a maid slowly poked her head out from beside her.
“Lady Luwei, you’re awake?”
“Would you like me to help you dress and wash up?”
A timid voice sounded in her ear, and Luwei nearly jumped in fright.
Where did this maid come from?
When did someone else enter the room!
“Who told you to enter my room?”
“Get out.”
Annoyed, Luwei frowned slightly.
Her tone was terrifyingly fierce—it even surprised her.
‘Have I already adapted to the role of a wicked woman?’
The blonde girl in front of her, however, seemed to have long grown used to it.
She merely shrank back, her face turning pale.
“I-I’m sorry. You said last night that I was to stay by your side at all times…”
Only as the girl finished speaking did Luwei finally notice her appearance.
Her eyes were shifty, and her hands nervously fiddled with her revealing maid outfit.
Much of the fabric had been maliciously replaced with sheer gauze; as the light passed through, the slender and graceful curves of her body were faintly visible, adding a touch of youthful temptation to the girl.
Her small face seemed to lack color, perhaps from seeing Luwei.
“…Floxi?”
Luwei recognized the blonde girl almost immediately.
Immediately afterward, a notification window flashed before Luwei’s eyes.
[Contract target detected: Floxi]
[Capture task unlocked]
“Wait…”
“A capture task… a panel…?”
Luwei murmured softly.
‘That’s right… I’m the player.’
She seemed to have found a way out of her predicament.
If Luwei were just a helpless villainess, she might truly be unable to escape the power of plot correction and would inevitably walk toward a bad ending.
But she had a harem protagonist’s game panel!
At that thought, Luwei turned her attention back to the blonde girl.
Floxi—the first capturable character in the game.
Actually, that wasn’t entirely accurate.
Thanks to the high freedom of Bonds, almost every female character—from the noble Elf Queen to a slave girl on the street—could be captured and cultivated.
However, only “main heroines” like Floxi could trigger capture tasks and grant system rewards.
The importance of the main heroines was undeniable.
Completing their capture tasks could provide massive resources, allowing a player to breeze through the early game and snowball their advantages!
She hadn’t expected to meet one as soon as she transmigrated.
But despite that, Luwei didn’t feel much joy when she saw Floxi.
Instead, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she grabbed Floxi’s shoulder.
“When did you come to the Caris house?”
[Duke’s daughter Luwei bullies her foster sister Floxi]…
This was one of the plot points for Luwei’s debut as a villainess.
Therefore, the critical time node of Floxi arriving at the Caris family undoubtedly symbolized the beginning of Luwei’s miserable life!
Floxi’s father had been an old friend of Duke Caris.
After her father’s death, the Duke had taken her in as his foster daughter and treated her as his own.
Floxi’s talent in magic far surpassed Luwei’s.
For this reason, the Duke had spent a vast amount of resources to help her study magic.
Consequently, as the Duke’s true daughter, Luwei found her very annoying.
As luck would have it, the Caris family had recently been declining due to external factors.
As a pampered daughter of a Duke, Luwei’s treatment had been downgraded time and again.
This directly led to her repeatedly taking her anger out on Floxi, as if the decline of the Caris family were her fault.
She didn’t just target Floxi openly and secretly; eventually, it escalated to torture and imprisonment.
If the player intervened in this plot line, they could kick Luwei away and find the suffering girl in a basement.
Bonds had high freedom, so the player could also choose to turn a blind eye.
If that plot line was abandoned, Floxi would awaken her Angel Bloodline on her 16th birthday, and her personality would undergo a drastic change.
Under the revenge of the “Angel” Floxi, Luwei’s eyes would be blinded by holy light, and she would be thrown out of the Kingdom of Avalon.
No matter the choice, Luwei’s end was miserable.
As for Luwei’s next appearance… the player would find that she had become a Forbidden Mage.
The truth was that Luwei had imprisoned a fallen Vampire Princess and obtained the power of Black Magic from her.
The Vampire Princess would eventually be rescued, and the wicked Luwei would be turned into a Blood Slave, waiting for her next appearance arranged by the writers.
The pattern was easy to see.
Luwei commits crimes and enjoys imprisoning beautiful girls.
If the player intervenes, Luwei is beaten by the player.
If the player ignores it, Luwei is retaliated against by the girls.
This was the underlying logic the Plot Correction Mechanism had to maintain.
No matter what, Luwei had to go through this process.
“How troublesome…”
Looking at the terrified Floxi in front of her, Luwei bit her nails in frustration.
“Lady Luwei, I-I’ve been at the Caris house for three months…”
Faced with Luwei’s questioning, Floxi’s legs went weak, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Like a frightened little animal, she slowly knelt before Luwei.
“Please, don’t throw me out.”
Her voice had a soft, sobbing quality.
That tearful look was likely something no man could refuse.
“I’m willing to be your maid, just like you said last night…”
“Last night?”
Memories of the “Villainess Luwei” gradually emerged in her mind.
It was the Duke’s birthday.
Luwei had sent Floxi to pour wine and pretended to accidentally let the wine spill on herself.
Then, she used it as an excuse to make trouble.
After that came some boring schemes.
She pretended to reconcile in front of the Duke and requested that Floxi become her maid… but in reality, she planned to lock her in a basement.
In the plot, Luwei claimed to the world that they had become friends, but privately, she imprisoned Floxi and tortured her for an entire month.
So, is there only 1 month left?
At that time, Floxi would awaken her Angel Bloodline, undergo a personality shift, and then take brutal revenge on her.
Luwei was deep in thought.
Under the Plot Correction Mechanism, even if Luwei immediately chose to make up with Floxi, she couldn’t guarantee she would come out unscathed.
The safer approach was to maintain the villainess persona, bully Floxi according to the plot, and naturally be “retaliated” against in the absence of a player’s intervention.
If she rashly broke this underlying logic, the correction mechanism might lead her fate toward an even more horrific conclusion.
Looking at the pitiful Floxi kneeling before her, Luwei took a deep breath.
At worst, 1 month later, it would be her turn to kneel on the ground and beg her to be gentle…
“Get up.”
“I allow you to be my maid,” Luwei said, tilting her head arrogantly.