The Cannon Fodder Stole the Male Lead’s Script GL - Chapter 18

Jiang Yun walked into the exam room, which was the cafeteria. Since she could not find her seat, she specifically asked a nearby student for help.

The boy glanced at her seat number and pointed her in the right direction. Only when she passed by did it suddenly hit him that he had just been approached by an incredibly pretty girl.

He turned to look and saw that the girl who asked for directions was quite tall. Her standard ink-blue school uniform, the same as everyone else’s, somehow looked like a piece of custom luxury fashion on her.

Her long curly hair was tied into a high ponytail, and she had a Chanel crocodile-skin schoolbag slung over her shoulder.

“Whoa! That’s Jiang Yun!”

He was so surprised that he quickly nudged the girl sitting behind him.

The girl at the next table turned around when she heard him. Just then, Jiang Yun had found her seat and turned to face them. The sight of her noble and icy face, the kind that could not be found elsewhere in the entire Yinchuan High, left the girl dumbfounded.

“This world is unreal. Is this really the Jiang Yun I remember? I never imagined there would be a day when she and I would be in the same exam room. No, even more unbelievable, a day when Miss Jiang would actually show up for an exam.”

The girl blinked in astonishment, then quickly pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of Jiang Yun. She uploaded it to the forum.

#Jiang Yun is taking the exam. Take a guess at how well she’ll score? Hehehe…#

After she found her seat, Jiang Yun meticulously wiped the desk. She continued cleaning until the tissue remained entirely white, with no trace of dirt. Once she confirmed it was spotless, she sat down.

All around her, students kept sneaking curious glances.

But Jiang Yun did not look at anyone. She stayed focused and quietly waited for the teacher to hand out the test papers.

The teacher assigned to proctor in the cafeteria had assumed things would go as they usually did. She expected students to be noisy, cheating, chatting, and generally difficult to manage. However, when she arrived at the exam room, she was surprised to find it was not as chaotic as she had expected.

Everyone sat properly in their seats. Their eyes, however, were all directed toward the back rows of the cafeteria. That was where Jiang Yun sat.

She was actually here.

The proctor was stunned.

“Teacher, please hand out the test papers. The exam has already started three minutes ago.” Jiang Yun glanced at the time, which had ticked to 09:03, and reminded the teacher, who was still staring at her in a daze.

The teacher jolted back to reality and quickly nodded. “Oh, right. Sorry. I’ll start handing them out now.”

But she could not help thinking that this was the very last exam room. Did it even matter when they started?

The students here were the bottom one hundred of the grade. Most of them never even managed to finish the exam, and only a few remained seated until the end. Who would really care about three minutes?

Did it make any difference to them?

She handed out the papers. Usually, these low-performing students could not care less. But today, perhaps because of Jiang Yun’s presence, even the usual troublemakers took the papers seriously. Some even thanked the teacher.

That shocked her.

Once the papers were distributed, the expected scene of cheating, chatting, and goofing off did not happen. Most students quietly attempted the exam. Even those who did not know how to answer at least wrote their names on the paper before laying their heads down to sleep.

Some simply stared in Jiang Yun’s direction after setting down their pens.

In any case, the exam room was unusually quiet. No noise, no mischief.

It was eerily similar to a normal exam setting.

At the very back sat a girl with perfect posture, holding a pen and seriously filling out the paper. That demeanor did not resemble a student ranked at the bottom. It was more like someone from the top of the grade.

She appeared calm and composed, her every movement revealing a quiet confidence.

The teacher, Xi Juan, could not help herself and began walking over at a measured pace. When she leaned in for a closer look, she discovered that Jiang Yun was truly working on the exam.

For the first question, which involved identifying sentence errors, she chose option A and got it right. For the second question, a poetry appreciation item, she picked option C and was correct again. That one was also correct.

She paused at Jiang Yun’s side and observed her with growing curiosity and admiration.

Jiang Yun was completely unaffected by her presence. She kept answering each question seriously.

Even the fill-in-the-blank questions were correct. The text recitation section was all accurate too.

The poetry explanation part was not entirely correct, and the meaning interpretation was a bit off. However, the question was genuinely difficult, so it could not fairly be considered her fault.

Xi Juan kept observing and murmuring to herself in her mind.

The more Jiang Yun wrote, the more surprised Xi Juan became.

On the entire Chinese exam, Jiang Yun answered almost all the basic questions correctly. The simpler ones, like text recitation, had no errors at all. Only the reading comprehension at the end was incomplete, but that section always relied heavily on technique. Students who rarely practiced would naturally struggle to score high.

Even without the essay, just estimating from the earlier sections, Jiang Yun would already be scoring over seventy.

Wasn’t she the same Jiang Yun from Class One, rumored to score only thirty or fifty?

Where had those rumors come from? Who was slandering this girl’s reputation?

While answering the questions, Jiang Yun listened to the electronic notification sounds echoing in her mind.

[Xi Juan’s favorability: 52%]

[Ming Hao’s favorability: 46%]

[Lu Yao’s favorability: 33%]

A string of names continued to appear, each accompanied by varying degrees of favorability. Some people were developing a liking for Jiang Yun for no clear reason. While some people observed her out of curiosity, others regarded her with a distinct sense of hostility.

As for the teacher beside her, her favorability kept rising.

Just taking the exam seriously could earn this much favorability.

So being a good student really did make people like you.

[Ding~ Congratulations. Your fate-changing progress has reached 10%. Reward delivered: one random skip of a vicious supporting character plotline. Please select when to use it. Valid for five days.]

Just as Jiang Yun wrote the final word of her essay, the system message popped up in her mind.

She set down her pen and stared at the words [Use], the corners of her lips lifting into a smile.

She was eager to find out what it meant to skip a vicious supporting character’s plotline.

The exam lasted two and a half days.

On the morning of the third day, after the final test concluded, the school provided students with half a day of self-study time. Boarding students studied at school, while day students could choose to study at home or remain on campus. This period was meant to help students reflect on their mistakes and make improvements. It also gave teachers the opportunity to focus on grading the exams.

On Thursday morning, as soon as students arrived at school, the results would be posted.

Each subject teacher would then provide detailed feedback based on the test, adjusting the lesson plans for the upcoming month accordingly.

Therefore, after finishing the exam on Wednesday morning, students usually returned to their classroom to tidy up their materials. Afterward, many would arrange to go out and relax for the afternoon. Of course, some studious students still chose to stay behind and study.

Jiang Yun had just finished organizing her books when she received a message from Zhan Rao, “Jiang Yun, want to hang out this afternoon now that exams are over?”

She freed one hand to reply, “I’m fine with anything.”

Zhan Rao, “How about a haunted house? A new one opened in the city center. A bunch of our classmates are planning to go. I heard it’s really fun. Want to come with us?”

Jiang Yun felt reluctant at the mention of going with Class 18. Her instinct was to decline but she thought of the Fate-Reversal System’s progress bar and swallowed her refusal.

The system task required her to be a student who united with classmates and respected her teachers. Building rapport with others would help her break free from the fate of being a villainous supporting character.

“Sure.”

She even added a cute dog-head emoji.

Zhan Rao grinned the moment she saw Jiang Yun agree, especially at the rare emoji Jiang Yun sent. Her heart practically burst with joy.

“What are you smiling at? Did Jiang Yun agree to come with us?” Tong Xue, her desk mate, leaned on her shoulder to peek at her phone. Zhan Rao quickly put the phone away and carefully tucked it into her bag.

She did not want anyone to see her chats with Jiang Yun.

Jiang Yun’s cute side was even more off-limits. Not even a desk mate was allowed to see that.

“She said yes. We agreed to meet at three in front of the haunted house. Does that work for you?” Zhan Rao turned to ask her friend.

Tong Xue was stunned. “Of course! As long as the Great Miss Jiang is coming, anything goes. Oh right~ Zhan Rao, are you two close or something? What kind of person is Jiang Yun really?”

Zhan Rao packed her things, paused for a moment, then looked up with eyes that sparkled. She smiled unconsciously as she said, “She may seem cold and unapproachable, but she’s actually warm and bright inside. Like snow atop a high mountain, untouched and pristine.”

Tong Xue was dumbfounded by the praise. “Hold up, you’ve only known her a few days, and you’re already singing her praises like that? I thought she had a bad temper and was hard to deal with.”

Zhan Rao gave a dismissive hum. “That’s just what people assume. Once you really get to know her, you’ll be won over by her charm. I won’t say more~”

“…Ugh, you really sound like her number one fangirl,” her friend replied with exasperation.

By three in the afternoon, when Zhan Rao and the group of classmates arrived at the haunted house, Jiang Yun had already gotten there first. While the others were still in their school uniforms, Jiang Yun had changed into a black leather jacket over a white T-shirt, paired with black denim shorts and tall black boots.

She looked effortlessly cool, her appearance bold and stunning in contrast to everyone else.

“Jiang Yun~” The moment Zhan Rao spotted her dear Jiang Yun, she bounced on her toes and waved frantically.

Jiang Yun waved back politely.

Shortly after the two groups met up, two more people approached from the other side of the street. It was Li Yue and Xin Keke.

Li Yue spotted Jiang Yun immediately, and naturally noticed her standout outfit.

She bit her lip and clenched the white dress she wore as her fingers curled tightly into the fabric.

She had gone home at noon after the test to change into a brand new white dress. It was cinched at the waist in a princess style, reminiscent of Lolita fashion. She had even washed her hair and tied it with a bow, trying to channel the look of a runaway Disney princess trending online.

She thought she would leave everyone stunned.

But Jiang Yun was here too, dressed completely differently. Her look was unique and instantly drew all attention.

“Yueyue, don’t stare at Jiang Yun. That leather jacket isn’t even cute. You look way better in this dress like a sweet princess, so pure and lovely~” Xin Keke noticed her friend’s unease and gently stroked her long hair in comfort.

Li Yue’s eyes lit up and she smiled shyly. “Really?”

Xin Keke nodded emphatically. Then she raised her voice. “Of course! Girls should look cute like you~ Dressed all in black? The shop owner might mistake us for some shady gang. What a disgrace to our school.”

Her words were clearly aimed at Jiang Yun.

Li Yue gave a soft laugh but quickly stopped herself. She whispered, “Keke, don’t say that. I actually think Jiang Yun’s outfit is… kind of cool…”

She only complimented the clothes, not the person.

“Yeah! I think she looks great in it too! So black makes someone a thug? Then by that logic, wearing all white means you’re in mourning?” Zhan Rao pushed past a few classmates and stood directly in front of Xin Keke and Li Yue, her eyes blazing with the fierce energy of an angry little lion.

Xin Keke frowned. “What’s your problem?”

Zhan Rao didn’t back down. “What’s your problem then?”

Xin Keke: “…”

“Okay, okay, let’s not fight. I think both outfits look great. They’re both my kind of style.” Tong Xue hurried forward to hold back Xin Keke and Zhan Rao.

Honestly, she was scared out of her mind. It was her first time seeing Zhan Rao go toe-to-toe with someone like this.

“Zhan Rao, I invited both Li Yue and Keke. Jiang Yun, you, and the others from our class were also invited by me. We’re all classmates. Let’s not argue. Once Yan Kuo and Min Hao get here, we can go in.”

“Yan Kuo is coming too?”

“No way, really?”

The moment the name “Yan Kuo” was mentioned, every girl in the group, with the exception of Jiang Yun and Zhan Rao, immediately lost their composure.

Unlike Zhan Rao, who felt nauseated at the mention of him, Jiang Yun stayed calm. After all, where the heroine went, the so-called “male lead” was bound to appear.

Li Yue immediately adjusted her hair and smoothed the hem of her dress.

As everyone looked expectantly across the street, Yan Kuo finally appeared.

The girls couldn’t hold back their excitement.

“It really is Yan Kuo!”

“Sister Tongis amazing! She actually got him to come! Totally worth spending the afternoon on this!”

“Ahhh~ Yan Kuo, my dream guy, so handsome…”

Jiang Yun raised her eyebrows as she watched the giddy expressions around her.

“What kind of spell did Yan Kuo cast on these girls? Did everyone forget about his groping scandal at the library?” Zhan Rao grumbled beside her.

Jiang Yun replied with a smile, “His male lead halo is back, that’s why.”

Zhan Rao blinked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

She was completely baffled.

But Jiang Yun knew exactly what was happening. Just ten minutes earlier, she had heard the familiar system chime.

[Ding~ Ranked Second in the Grade, mission complete. Luck +1; Completed the final math question and was the only student to get full marks, mission complete. Luck +0.5]

[Your current total luck: 0.]

The negative value had finally cleared.

And with that, the male lead halo returned.

So of course, everyone conveniently forgot the scandal and chalked it up to a harmless little incident.

This damn male lead aura… unexpectedly effective.