Xiao Yu stirred.
His mind felt foggy, like a chalkboard that had been half-erased. His body was heavier than usual, every movement dulled by pain. A steady, mechanical beeping filled his ears. The sharp, sterile scent of disinfectant stung his nose. He peeled open his eyes, wincing against the cold white light above.
A ceiling.
White, plain, unfamiliar.
He tried to move—
"Ah—shit—"
Pain shot up his side as he attempted to sit. He collapsed back onto the pillow, breath caught in his throat.
There was an IV needle in his arm. A heart monitor wired to his chest. Thin blankets tucked around him, clinical and scratchy. Machines blinked and beeped nearby. A hospital?
"Where... am I?" he whispered aloud, throat dry.
"You're awake. Great. Finally."
Xiao Yu froze. The voice wasn't from the room.
It was in his head.
"You're in a new world, congratulations."
"What the hell—" Xiao Yu said aloud, blinking furiously. "Did I hit my head? Wait—hold on. Kiddo? Why is a brat in my brain?"
"Watch your mouth, peasant."
Xiao Yu paused. "Did you just call me a peasant?"
"That's not important. What is important is that you're no longer in your original world. You're in a liminal space—well, sort of. It's complicated."
The voice sounded like a child pretending to be important. A little brat with a superiority complex. He hated that.
"What do you mean 'not my world'? What happened to the set? I was filming when—"
He blinked hard, trying to remember. There was light. Then something sharp, a pressure in his chest, and then—
Blackness.
"Look, I'll only say this once because I'm tired, and you're not exactly smart enough to retain things after hearing them twice," the voice said, sighing dramatically.
"Listen here you smug toddler—" Xiao Yu started, gritting his teeth.
"I made a mistake," the voice interrupted, surprisingly serious this time.
"I was supposed to hit someone else. I had one job—one clean, easy pull—and I misfired. Shot the wrong target. You."
Xiao Yu blinked. Then blinked again.
"…I what?"
"You were never meant to be part of this. Your friend—Zhao Chen—was the intended candidate. You just happened to be standing a little too close when the arrow flew."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
"…So what you're telling me is, I got isekai'd by accident?"
"That's the short version. Yes."
"Because a child with a goddamn bow couldn't aim properly?"
"Do you have any idea how fast you moved?" the voice snapped back. "You practically teleported into my line of fire!"
"Oh, now it's my fault? You're literally the worst Cupid I've ever heard of—"
"I AM NOT CUPID—"
The heart monitor spiked briefly.
Xiao Yu groaned, rubbing his face. "You've got to be kidding me. This is a dream. A weird, feverish, medically-induced hallucination."
"It's not. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner we can get to work."
"Work?"
"Yes. Work."
There was a pause. The voice suddenly sounded more serious. Tired, even.
"My name is Shiroi. I serve the one who created me—our master. Something terrible has happened to him. His soul has been shattered and scattered across different worlds. If we don't retrieve the shards, he'll never awaken. He'll die."
Xiao Yu frowned.
"…And what does this have to do with me?"
"You're here now. Like it or not, you've been made a vessel. You'll have to enter each world, play your part, and recover the shard hidden within it."
"Nope. Nope, I'm out. Return me. Beam me back up or down or wherever."
"Can't."
Xiao Yu squinted up at the ceiling. "Then why should I help you? You dragged me here against my will, nearly killed me, and now you want me to risk my life for some random soul?"
"He's not random. He's our master," Shiroi said, reverent, but also clearly restraining himself.
"And if you do help… he'll grant you one wish. Anything. Whatever you want."
There was a long pause.
Xiao Yu stared at the IV line in his arm, the soft whir of machines reminding him this wasn't a dream. His chest still ached. His memory of that blinding light still felt real.
One wish?
Any wish?
He thought of Zhao Chen.
"…One wish," he repeated slowly. "Anything?"
"Anything."
He closed his eyes.
"This still sounds like a cheap RPG plot. Do I get magic powers too?"
"I'll send the world plot and your mission in a moment," Shiroi said, ignoring the sarcasm. "Try not to scream when the memories hit you."
"The what—"
Suddenly, Xiao Yu arched.
A searing pain ripped through his mind as if his head was being cracked open and refilled. Names, faces, roles, rules—memories that weren't his flooded him. Teachers he'd never met. Classes he'd never taken. Rivalries. Rankings. A boy with cold eyes. A girl with a sharp tongue. A school obsessed with beauty.
Riverside High.
When Xiao Yu opened his eyes again, the world was different.
And his new life had already begun.
At Riverside High School, beauty is not a passive quality—it is a weapon, a currency, and a crown. The school thrives on a deeply embedded culture where appearance reigns supreme, and popularity is dictated by one's position on the monthly Beauty Rankings. Within this system, power is bestowed not through academic merit or athletic excellence, but through the manipulation of aesthetic charm and public perception.
Two figures stand at the pinnacle of this hierarchy.
Rong Xichen, known to all as the Cold Beauty, is the embodiment of mystery and restraint. Silent, elegant, and emotionally impenetrable, he maintains a magnetic presence without ever needing to speak. His refusal to engage in gossip or drama only cements his mythical status. In contrast, Xiao Yu, crowned the Pretty Flower, commands attention through flamboyance and theatricality. He is sharp-tongued, charming, and unpredictable—a firework to Rong Xichen's glacier. Together, they dominate the social stratosphere of Riverside.
Despite their shared fame, a bitter rivalry simmers between the two. Xiao Yu, ever seeking a reaction, resents Rong Xichen's stoic indifference. His pranks—ranging from childish to cruel—are attempts to shatter Rong Xichen's façade. But his efforts are met with silence. The more he fails, the deeper his resentment grows.
It is within this tense atmosphere that a third party enters the stage: Zhao Chen, a soft-spoken, academically gifted student ranked #6 in the beauty hierarchy. Unlike the others, Zhao Chen neither seeks attention nor uses his looks to gain influence. His humility and quiet dignity catch Rong Xichen's eye, and a subtle but undeniable connection begins to form between them. The school watches, whispers bloom, and Xiao Yu takes notice.
What begins as jealousy quickly festers into obsession. When Xiao Yu realizes that Zhao Chen has captured the attention he could never gain from Rong Xichen, he resolves to interfere. If he can't win Rong Xichen's heart, then perhaps he can wound it. Thus, Xiao Yu begins to aggressively pursue Zhao Chen, using flirtation and manipulation. Zhao Chen, however, gently rebuffs his advances, further humiliating Xiao Yu.
In his frustration, Xiao Yu turns to an unlikely ally: Yu Mian, a lower-ranked student infamous for her obsession with Rong Xichen. Known for her porcelain beauty and soft-spoken demeanor, Yu Mian harbors a deep envy for anyone close to Rong Xichen—especially Zhao Chen. Though their motivations differ, Xiao Yu and Yu Mian find common ground in their desire to ruin Zhao Chen's reputation. Together, they devise a cruel plan.
The pivotal event takes place at a party hosted by Xiao Yu. Under the guise of celebration, Zhao Chen is lured in and given a drink laced with a strong sedative. As he slips into unconsciousness, he is taken to a private room where Xiao Yu and Yu Mian stage a series of compromising photographs—fully exposing his body while unconscious. These images are later posted anonymously on the school's public forum, accompanied by cruel captions branding him a "slut," a "fallen flower," and a "desperate beauty."
The fallout is immediate and devastating.
Zhao Chen wakes to find himself the subject of scandal and ridicule. His private image, once untouchable, is violated and spread without consent. He becomes the target of harassment, bullying, and public shame. Unable to return to school and unwelcome at home—where his stepmother offers no comfort—Zhao Chen is left with no refuge. One week later, his body is discovered in a river near the school.
Rong Xichen, upon learning the truth, finally breaks his cold demeanor. In a rare display of rage, he physically assaults Xiao Yu in front of the entire class, beating him so severely that teachers must intervene. Xiao Yu is hospitalized with multiple injuries and is later suspended from school. All of this was in vain as Zhao Chen took his like 3weeks later.
In the aftermath, Yu Mian positions herself as an innocent bystander. With strategic tears and well-practiced lies, she convinces the school authorities that she was manipulated into participating. She distances herself from Xiao Yu and aligns with Rong Xichen, offering comfort during his grief. Her image is miraculously rehabilitated.
The consequences are clear:
Zhao Chen is dead, a victim of cruelty disguised as rivalry.Xiao Yu is arrested, stripped of his titles, and publicly disgraced.Yu Mian walks away untouched, even elevated.Rong Xichen, once emotionally untouchable, is left hollow and embittered.
Riverside High continues as it always has, the rankings reset and the system intact. But beneath the glamorous surface, the soil is rotting. What began as a superficial battle for beauty ends in irreversible tragedy, revealing the dark underbelly of a culture obsessed with perfection and power.
The School Flower Rivalry is not simply a tale of teenage competition. It is a cautionary narrative that examines how envy, status, and emotional repression can spiral into cruelty—and how beneath every polished petal, thorns may lie hidden, waiting to pierce.