novelraw Chapter 307 --307
Chapter 307 --307
The System, of course, immediately appeared beside her and took a large bite from HER skewer without asking permission.
He was jumping excitedly and said around a mouthful of food, "Host! This is amazing! But there’s something I couldn’t understand—"
Hearing that, Heena looked at him with irritation and said, "If you’re about to ask a stupid question, let me stop you right there. This is SEAFOOD, you idiot. Grilled prawns and scallops. How can you not recognize basic ingredients?"
The System shook his head frantically and said, "No, no! I’m not talking about the FOOD! I’m talking about what that woman told you! The whole story about Maya’s sister and the suspicious deaths and everything—do you think it’s actually TRUE?"
Hearing that question, Heena took another bite of the delicious prawns on the skewer and said casually, "Yeah, she was definitely telling the truth. Every word of it."
The System looked confused. "But then—"
Heena interrupted before he could finish that thought and said, "System, have you already forgotten what kind of worlds we get assigned to? We ONLY get troublesome, problematic worlds with heavy plot armor and protagonist halos, right?"
The System nodded.
Heena continued while walking to the next food stall: "And in this particular world, the power of plot armor is extremely strong. So if I’m not mistaken, that Second sister of Maya’s—the one who died mysteriously—she must have been something like a natural protector of the family. A ’lucky child’ with innate positive spiritual energy who brought good fortune to everyone around her."
She picked up some candied fruit and examined it.
"And the reason she died FIRST, before Maya could even grow up, is almost certainly because the original storyline needed Maya to be the ONLY beloved daughter. The narrative required Maya to be special, unique, the center of attention."
Heena paid for the candied fruit and continued her analysis.
[Right, so Heena conveniently forgets about the eldest daughter because she’s ancient and has no shot against Maya, allowing her to just blend in quietly. ]
"But there were TWO daughters. The Second was only one year older, which meant she would always have certain advantages—she’d reach milestones first, she’d be the ’first granddaughter,’ she’d naturally command more attention and responsibility as the older child."
"That created a problem for the story’s need to make Maya the absolute center of the family universe. So the plotline just... removed the obstacle. Killed off the protective older sister to make room for the ’heroine’ to shine."
The System’s eyes widened with understanding. "Ohhh! So the sister’s death was basically mandated by the plot itself to establish Maya’s position!"
"Exactly," Heena confirmed. "And I also think most of what’s happened to me is connected to Maya’s female lead aura and the plot protection she has."
She touched the protective seal she’d placed on herself—invisible to normal eyes but glowing faintly with spiritual energy.
"Remember how I created the more stronger protective spiritual shield around myself using winning from my last world? That’s probably the main reason I’m still not getting seriously injured despite Maya’s repeated attempts. The shield is blocking the worst of the plot armor effects that would normally guarantee her success against antagonists."
The System nodded enthusiastically. "That makes sense! And also because the original Seera was technically a secondary female character in the story, not a complete nobody. So her body has some inherent resistance to being easily eliminated!"
"Right," Heena agreed. "And if I’m not mistaken, despite everything Maya has tried—all her schemes and attacks—i has NOT successfully beaten her with my own hands yet in front of any male leads or important witnesses. That’s significant."
Hearing that observation, the System paused and said, "Wait... didn’t you literally slap her this morning in her room? Doesn’t that count?"
Heena looked at him with exasperation and said, "I did NOT beat her in front of the MALE LEAD, you fool. That’s the crucial point. There were no witnesses to that confrontation except the servants I’d already bribed, and Chen Yifan—the male lead—was nowhere near the scene."
She thought for a moment.
"And even for that minor physical confrontation this morning, I’m pretty sure I’m going to suffer some kind of consequence. My hand will probably develop a sprain or injury tonight or tomorrow as ’karmic backlash’ for daring to strike the precious heroine."
Her expression became thoughtful.
"So I should probably stock up on medicinal balms and pain relief ointments while I’m out shopping. Just to be prepared for whatever bullshit the plot throws at me."
And so Heena proceeded to buy a bunch more food—because priorities—and also purchased several jars of medicinal balm, pain-relief ointment, and healing salves from the pharmacy stall.
The vendor looked at her curiously. "Planning for injuries, miss?"
Heena smiled blandly. "Just being prepared. You never know when accidents might happen."
---
’’[That Evening - The "Accident"]’’
And sure enough, that very evening, Heena’s prediction came horrifyingly true.
She was taking a bath in the small washing room attached to their quarters—just a basic wooden tub with heated water, nothing fancy.
Everything was going normally. She was washing herself, relaxing slightly after the long day of information gathering and shopping.
Then she reached for the soap.
Just... picked up the soap.
A completely normal, everyday action that she’d performed thousands of times across multiple lifetimes.
And her hand SPRAINED.
Just from picking up a small bar of soap.
Her wrist twisted at an impossible angle, pain shot up her arm, and she actually dropped the soap back into the water with a splash.
"What the FUCK?!" Heena exclaimed out loud, clutching her wrist. "Are you KIDDING me right now?! A sprain from picking up SOAP?!"
The System appeared immediately, looking concerned but also somewhat vindicated.
"I told you there would be consequences, Host! The plot armor is retaliating!"
Heena glared at her rapidly swelling wrist and said, "This is SUCH bullshit! Like, at LEAST give me a believable injury cause! Who the hell sprains their hand from picking up soap?! Couldn’t the universe have waited until I was doing something that actually made sense—like carrying heavy shopping bags, or tripping on stairs, or LITERALLY ANYTHING more plausible than THIS?!"
She carefully finished her bath one-handed, which was awkward and frustrating.
After drying off and getting dressed, she examined her wrist more carefully.
It was definitely sprained—already swelling, painful to move, showing early bruising.
’If not for the protective seal I’d placed on myself,’ Heena thought grimly, ’this probably would have been a full BREAK instead of just a sprain. The plot was trying to seriously injure me as punishment for hitting Maya.’
She pulled out one of the medicinal balms she’d wisely purchased earlier and began applying it carefully to her wrist, wincing at the pain.
Then she wrapped it in a clean cloth bandage to provide support and compression.
The System watched this process and said quietly, "Host, you need to be more careful. The plot is clearly monitoring your actions now and punishing violations."
"I KNOW," Heena said through gritted teeth while tying off the bandage. "But I’m not going to just let Maya attack me without defending myself. I’ll just have to factor in the stupid karmic backlash when planning my moves."