I Became the Most Popular Character by Acting as a Villain in the Manga

Chapter 32

When Bai Xuechao fabricated the "sister," he had already thought of two future acting directions.

Previously, readers had only guessed the first direction: that he was looking for his sister, and then unexpectedly discovered that Xia Xiaoxi was Su Zhao's sister while approaching the protagonist group for fun.

This led him to draw closer to the protagonist group, hoping to obtain information related to Su Zhao to find his sister, thereby laying a reasonable groundwork for his frequent appearances around the protagonist group later on.

The other direction was that he wasn't in a hurry to find his sister; he was simply a pure villain. His approach to the protagonist group was merely for amusement, and he had already known Xia Xiaoxi's identity.

Thus, he used the fact that his sister and Su Zhao went missing together to attract Xia Xiaoxi's attention, gain her trust, and slowly integrate himself with the protagonist group.

As his villain identity constantly shifted, these two directions would naturally follow suit.

As for whether comic readers would eventually realize that "the sister" was actually him, that depended on future plot developments.

If the readers knew the truth, they would probably be very surprised.

Bai Xuechao retracted his thoughts and continued reading the post.

As expected, this reply immediately caused controversy.

99L: Huh? What kind of joke is the upstairs poster making? How could my wife not have feelings for his sister?

100L: Where's the proof? What are you basing your guess on? You're not just blindly guessing for the sake of a so-called plot twist, are you?

101L: It must be the villain faction forcing an interpretation.

...

112L: To prove that I'm not forcing an interpretation, I'll explain my reasoning. Feel free to refute if you disagree, but don't curse at me.Firstly, if my wife really "gets agitated to the point of illness just thinking about his missing sister," then why would he proactively mention that the female lead's eyes resemble his sister's friend? Isn't bringing up his sister just tearing open an old wound? Is it simply because he thought their eyes looked so similar that he had to say it? So I feel my wife said it intentionally here, to get the female lead's attention.

113L: Hiss, a line of thought I never considered.

114L: Oh, right. If something happened to my family, I definitely wouldn't want to bring them up. Even a little bit would make me sad.

115L: No, no, no, no. If it were me, I would definitely seize every possible chance to find my sister!

116L: The upstairs poster is a bit prejudiced. You know that the daughter's brother is Su Zhao, so you'd think he should seize the opportunity, but my wife doesn't know. Your thought is equivalent to him seeing a stranger's eyes that resemble Su Zhao's and then thinking the other person is related to Su Zhao. That's too rash, it doesn't seem to fit his personality.

117L: LOL (not in a mocking way), my wife only appeared in a few panels, and you've already figured out his personality.

118L: I don't think so. Even if his sister's disappearance was very painful, seeing someone whose eyes resembled his sister's friend wouldn't necessarily make him completely avoid the topic, right?

119L: Actually, I also thought... but I didn't dare to say it earlier. Didn't we pretty much reach a consensus a few floors up that my wife most likely deliberately approached the protagonist group for fun, because his opening line, "This boring world finally has some fun," had that vibe? So, perhaps he intentionally mentioned his sister to attract Xia Xiaoxi's attention, or even the entire protagonist group's?

120L: The premise for him intentionally mentioning his sister and attracting the daughter's attention is that he already knew the daughter was Su Zhao's sister! But there's no evidence of that yet!

121L (112L): I'll continue.

Please look at [Comic Screenshot.jpg]. My wife's expression when he mentioned the female lead's eyes resembling his sister's was very calm; there was no hint of pain, sorrow, or longing. As everyone knows, people in the simulated world have "emotions," and their dialogue and expressions are not something Bai old scoundrel can control.

So, this is my wife's truest attitude! He! Was very calm!

122L: This doesn't hold up, does it? My family member has been gone for five years. At first, I'd cry just mentioning them, but now I can say it with a straight face.

123L: Yeah, analyzing based on speaking expressions is a bit too outlandish. This is a comic, not a TV series.

124L: I admit some comics are very detailed, and a character's gaze and expression can be interpreted. "Food Chain" is precisely one of those comics; for example, Ling Feng secretly looking at Bai Xuechao, his gaze is very obvious. But to interpret every single expression in Bai Xuechao's casual remarks this way, I suspect I'm not reading a comic, but a micro-expression psychology book.

125L: Upstairs, don't you think your own words are contradictory and funny? Since "Food Chain" is a comic where you can interpret character expressions, why can't this one sentence be interpreted?

126L: Please, let's not argue, let's have a friendly discussion!

127L (112L): Secondly, what solidified this guess for me was my wife's illness. Yes, this is it.

The female lead admitted she was Su Zhao's sister, and only then did my wife fall ill. But he didn't fall ill when he mentioned his sister earlier. Can illness be delayed? My wife himself said he was "a little agitated thinking about his missing sister," but is what he said necessarily the truth? My intuition tells me he's lying!

So, I have a bold guess!

He wasn't agitated because of his sister, but rather he fell ill from excitement after confirming that the female lead was Su Zhao's sister.

128L: That's so explosive, when you said excitement, my mind was full of the gasps of a perverted villain after getting excited… grass (a kind of plant), it seems to fit.

129L: My mind has gone blank.

130L: Emmmm, it seems this indeed fits his persona when he first appeared? But the premise of “confirming” is that he has already found out that the daughter is Su Zhao’s sister. And why would he be excited that the daughter is Su Zhao’s sister?

131L: Could it be that he killed Su Zhao? So, seeing the victim's sister made him ex♂cited. (Doge emoji)

132L: 131, you really dare to think that. Then I’ll add an even bolder thought: Is it possible that not only does my wife have an ordinary relationship with his sister, but they are also enemies? But his sister and Su Zhao hid, and he couldn’t find them. So he discovered Su Zhao’s sister, and he’s so excited because he wants to use Su Zhao’s sister as a threat! (Doge emoji)

133L: The most outrageous people on this entire floor are 131 and 132. Is this something a carbon-based life form could think of? (Disgusted emoji)

134L: My wife is just a white-haired kitten who finds the world boring. When the little kitten was looking for fun, he accidentally discovered someone who might be related to his sister's disappearance, so he was just a little excited. What bad intentions could he possibly have? (Knocking on wooden fish)

135L: To 130L, actually, it's not impossible that he investigated beforehand? But I'm on the side of my wife being righteous.

When he appeared, he looked at the trending search title. If he had sources of information, he would first investigate the protagonist group, wanting to approach them for fun, and then unexpectedly find that the female lead's brother was suspected to be Su Zhao. This would strengthen his resolve to approach the protagonist group. This sequence also makes sense?

136L: It's getting more and more confusing.

137L: I think both of these make sense. Darn it, my brain is going to grow another one.

138L: Urgent, urgent, urgent! What exactly is going on? I want to see the continuation quickly! Bai Guzi, you'll update tomorrow, right? (Humble emoji)

After this, readers shouted across the internet to urge for updates, and then continued discussing from these two perspectives.

Bai Xuechao nodded slightly; indeed, some readers had guessed correctly.

However, the readers' imaginations were truly vast; some even guessed that he and "the sister" were actually enemies, which was so imaginative that even he was a little humbled.

After reading this post, Bai Xuechao didn't look at any others and simply exited.

Bai Xuechao said he was taking a day off today, and it truly was a day off. After reading the post, he sprawled on the sofa, playing on his phone and scrolling through videos.

At three in the afternoon, he went to wake Duan Xingzhi.

Duan Xingzhi opened his eyes as Bai Xuechao's slight footsteps approached the bed. Although there was still some drowsiness in his eyes, he quickly got up without Bai Xuechao needing to call him, never lingering in bed.

He simply washed his face to shake off the sleepiness, contacted the organization to send them back to Y City, and after the car arrived, went downstairs with Bai Xuechao to leave the hotel.

As they walked out of their room, the room next door also happened to open.

The auntie who cleaned their room in the morning came out carrying cleaning tools. Seeing them, she stood by the wall, letting them pass first.

Bai Xuechao was initially walking with his arm draped over Duan Xingzhi's shoulder. This posture was generally common among good friends, but when Bai Xuechao noticed the auntie's gaze fall on his hand on Duan Xingzhi's shoulder, he subconsciously lowered his hand.

Duan Xingzhi immediately grabbed his hand as it slid down and tilted his head to ask him, "What's wrong?"

Perhaps he thought Bai Xuechao was uncomfortable.

Bai Xuechao heard the auntie take a deep breath.

...He didn't want to hear it either, but special ability users' hearing was truly too good. They were only a few meters away from the auntie in the quiet corridor, so it was hard not to hear.

"Nothing." Bai Xuechao calmly pulled his hand back. After thinking for a moment, he moved a step to the side to maintain distance. "I want to change my posture."

Seeing this, Duan Xingzhi said, "Oh."

Xiao 6 suddenly burst into laughter.

They took the elevator down to the hotel lobby. The hotel manager personally saw them off and escorted them into the car.

To reduce motion sickness, Bai Xuechao started sleeping as soon as he got into the car.

He slept until around eight in the evening. The car had already driven back to Y City and stopped below the Dark Organization's main building.

The Dark Organization publicly operated as Liu Group Co., Ltd., a family enterprise. It was currently in its third generation under the Old leader, Liu He. Its industries covered hotels, real estate, pharmaceuticals, security services, smart hardware, electronic products, culture and entertainment, and more.

The skyscraper where the organization was located was called Songhe Global Financial Center, built by Liu's Real Estate Development Company. It integrated offices, hotels, sightseeing, and shopping malls.

All employees of Liu's companies would come here to work. On the surface, it appeared very legitimate, but in reality, the Dark Organization was hidden there. The employees were ordinary people and did not know that the company they worked for was an organization's asset.

This building, over three hundred meters tall, had become a landmark in Y City. Not far away was a television tower, slightly shorter but equally tall.

As soon as Bai Xuechao got out of the car, he saw a group of people in black suits waiting to greet them, seemingly having been waiting for a long time.

These people in black suits were "bodyguards" from Liu's Security Services Co., Ltd. Their true identities were self-evident.

"Mr. Bai, Mr. Duan." One of them bowed and said, "Welcome back, gentlemen."