Peach-Orange! – Chapter 348 – Confessions in the Endless Cycle

The girl couldn’t reduce or increase her character’s narrative weight through normal means. Because of this, she thought of another method.

Ye Liang wasn’t the only male lead!

Aside from Ye Liang, two other male leads appeared early in the story:

Dongfang Yang and Si Chen.

At this point in time, these two had never met a side character named “Chi Xiaocheng.” They would only cross paths after the start of university.

Could she pull these two into her plans to counterbalance Ye Liang?

During their long companionship, the little glowing orb had also overheard the girl’s discussions with Xiao Hei. It had once mentioned:

The narrative weight distribution of the male leads was determined by the story arcs.

Volume 1: The Ye Liang Arc. Volume 2: The Miracle Doctor Arc. Volume 3: The Dongfang Yang Arc. Volume 4: The Si Chen Arc. Volume 5: The Dragon King Xiao… uh, the Rich Female Side Character Arc.

If Dongfang Yang and Si Chen could serve as early allies to restrain Ye Liang, would the world’s will find it harder to influence Su Tao through Ye Liang?

Uncertain, but worth trying.

As long as the girl wasn’t afraid of the pain of death, she could keep trying again and again.

The little glowing orb’s initial claim that the cycles were limited was just an excuse. It feared the girl would act too impulsively and collapse under the pain of repeated deaths.

In a new cycle, the girl began to act. She started learning about the other two male leads.

Dongfang Yang was a sunny, cheerful, wealthy, and narcissistic guy who seemed friendly with everyone. Very easy to approach.

Si Chen was a reserved and rational type, radiating a gloomy aura that made the girl hesitate to approach him immediately.

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She chose to befriend Dongfang Yang first.

Thanks to her adorable looks and tragic backstory, she quickly gained his trust. But her poor acting soon led to Ye Liang exposing her.

Again and again, she finally managed to win Dongfang Yang over… only to overlook another reality.

Neither Dongfang Yang nor Si Chen knew the true monstrous nature of Ye Liang.

Before any fallout, these three were the leaders of Jiuzhou City’s three major families. Their bonds, whether in terms of interests or friendship, were unusually strong.

Did becoming friends with one mean they’d turn against Ye Liang?

In truth, the only reason the girl could befriend Dongfang Yang was because of his personality.

The girl’s uniqueness lay only in her tragic past and her looks, and perhaps her identity as Su Tao’s “little sister.”

What if she made them fall for her?

Could she use acting and manipulation to pull it off?

She tried, only to find that as male leads, unless their personalities broke, they would inevitably only fall for Su Tao in the end.

Repeated failures drove the girl deeper into obsession. She gradually stopped caring whether Su Tao liked her or not. As long as she could keep Su Tao by her side, keep her alive, and free the girl she loved from the world’s will… that was enough.

If she couldn’t get help from others, then she would reduce Su Tao’s narrative weight.

If she destroyed Su Tao—

If she ruined the near-perfect girl shaped by the world’s will, would that free her from its control?

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The girl began opposing Su Tao, sabotaging every interaction between her and Ye Liang. She even went as far as locking Su Tao in a basement and slashing her face.

Without that peerless beauty, she couldn’t remain the flawless female lead.

Right?

Right?!

The girl was in agony. She’d rather stab the knife into her own heart than to this, but she had no other choice. She had to try everything.

Her heart ached, but the outcome remained unchanged.

Yet her obsession, her instability, her breakdown… all of it began affecting Su Tao’s emotions.

Across a hundred cycles, the girl’s narrative weight dropped for the first time… by 1%.

No one knew why it dropped.

But the little glowing orb quickly seized this sliver of authority over the world.

With this 1%, it could grant the girl abilities that should have been impossible under normal circumstances.

A turning point seemed to have arrived.

Trial after trial, failure after failure.

Watching the girl step into the cycle again and again, Xiao Hei’s expression shifted from blankness to heartache.

Through their long companionship, her thoughts matured as she watched the girl “strategize” through this cycle.

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But she was just a shadow with a sense of self. Her entire world was this girl. She couldn’t leave this space, nor could she help her. Bearing the pain, she devised plans that sent the girl to her death over and over.

The reward for their efforts was the little glowing orb’s gradual theft of the world’s authority with each cycle.

It grew stronger, like a buff gained after every death in a game, granting the girl unique abilities with each reset.

Things began to change.

Through relentless trial and error, the girl deepened her influence on Su Tao. After pulling Dongfang Yang and Si Chen to her side, she used their protagonist auras to pull Su Tao away from Ye Liang.

Even if the final outcome was still death before December 25th, her efforts weren’t in vain. Su Tao was slowly walking toward her!

By the 200th cycle, the girl felt she was close to success. Nearly every time, she could pull Su Tao to her side, make her look at her instead of Ye Liang.

She shifted her approach.

No longer trying to change Su Tao’s attitude toward her—

But… to make Su Tao fall in love with her.

This was her selfish desire.

A love that had remained unchanged, yet twisted into obsession across 200 cycles, 200 sets of four months.

Finally, on one December 25th, knowing death by “accident” was inevitable, the girl couldn’t hold back.

Before the end, she wanted to confess.

To hear the girl say, “Xiaocheng, I like you too.”

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To hear her say, like before, that they’d be together forever.

Before death came, she confessed.

The girl said she had liked Su Tao since long ago. She didn’t want to call her “Sister Su Tao” anymore. She wanted to call her “Tao-Tao.”

An intimate name, one that carried her feelings.

Su Tao didn’t understand why Chi Xiaocheng would confess like this, but she could see the sincerity in her eyes.

She wanted to refuse.

But she knew the girl’s obedient front hid something heavy, something terrifying.

So under the starry sky, Su Tao thought:

‘It’s absurd… but to keep Xiaocheng from spiraling, from losing herself, from hurting herself over and over… and today is her birthday, after all.’

Just like before, indulge her.

Even if it’s just pretending to like her, she should hold her close.

Otherwise… Xiaocheng would break.

And so, the girl nodded.

Regardless of her true feelings, regardless of the process, regardless of whether it was real or not—

From this moment on, the girl seemed to have completely broken free from the original novel’s storyline.