Chapter 1
Drunk Driving
"The worthless, lowly wife met her end—poisoned and killed by the villain's own hands."
"Hmm… how should she die, I wonder? I can't decide. Maybe I should just kill her off in the first chapter. That would make the villain seem even more ruthless and terrifying."
"Good idea, yeah! Let's have her die right in the first chapter. She's just a disposable side character anyway, isn't she?"
Those were the murmurs of Chen Xiaoya, a twenty-one-year-old novelist who was furiously typing away on the keyboard inside her twelfth-floor condominium unit.
After finishing the first scene, she clicked Save and uploaded the chapter of her novel, "The Villain's Wife in a Transmigrated Novel," onto one of the country's most popular online fiction platforms.
"Whew… done with chapter three. Should I start chapter four now, or just continue tomorrow? I'm getting a bit lazy." She stretched both arms above her head, stiff from sitting in front of her computer for over two straight hours. Feeling the fatigue set in—and with the hour already late—she decided she might as well go to bed.
But she changed her mind when she saw a new notification pop up on her screen.
"Oh! Someone's already read it—and left a comment too!"
Her fatigue vanished instantly. "Let's see what they wrote," she said eagerly, clicking on the comment section.
'Poor thing… a pitiful side character who's nothing but trash to be thrown away.'
"Huh, I know, right? I feel bad for her too, but what can I do? She really is a side character. The real heroine hasn't even shown up yet." Chen Xiaoya muttered while reading the words aloud.
Just then, her phone rang loudly from across the room, interrupting her moment of immersion.
"Riiing—riiing—riiing!"
"Ugh, who's calling at this hour?" she grumbled, slightly annoyed, as she stood up to answer.
"Hello, this is Chen Xiaoya speaking. Who's calling?"
A familiar loud voice nearly blasted through the receiver.
"Hello—Xiaoya! It's me! You free tonight? Come out and hang with me!"
Chen Xiaoya flinched and pulled the phone away from her ear before replying, "Geez, Xiaofei! Why are you shouting like that? And where are you? Why's it so noisy?"
"What? Say that again, I can't hear you!" came the reply, shouted over blaring EDM beats echoing through what sounded like a massive club hall.
Chen Xiaoya clicked her tongue—she already knew exactly where her best friend was.
"Ah, you're out partying again without me, huh? How dare you!" she yelled into the phone.
A burst of laughter came from the other end.
"Haha! That's why I called you! Get over here right now! Same place—Ocean Club, under the SOHO Tower! Hurry up! Your crush, DJ Ah Wong, is spinning tonight!"
Ah Wong—the name made Xiaoya roll her eyes. He was the handsome DJ that Lu Xiaofei, her best friend, had been obsessed with lately. Every time he played somewhere, Xiaofei would find an excuse to go see him.
"Oh? You mean my crush? Fine, if you're giving him to me, I'll be right there. Don't regret it later!" Xiaoya teased before hanging up. She quickly shut down her computer, muttering an apology to her readers for abandoning her half-finished update once again.
…
That night, after changing her clothes, Chen Xiaoya caught a bus straight to the club—a popular underground venue located beneath a skyscraper in Taipei's bustling nightlife district.
The club was spacious, built like a massive three-story-high hall, with a mezzanine level for VIP guests to enjoy drinks while watching the show. Below, the stage area was divided between the DJ booth, live band section, and dancers' space. The rest of the floor was open for guests to dance, drink, and lose themselves in the pounding rhythm.
Under flashing neon lights and booming bass, Xiaoya and a dozen girlfriends claimed the space right in front of the DJ booth, dancing, drinking, and partying with wild abandon.
By around three in the morning, Lu Xiaofei—drunk to the point of vomiting—finally gave out. Seeing that, and being the least drunk of the group, Chen Xiaoya volunteered to drive her and a few of the girls home.
"Xiaofei, give me the… the keys. I'll drive," she slurred, struggling to support both herself and her staggering friend through the parking lot.
"K-keys… in the… bag… urghh!" Xiaofei mumbled before bending over and throwing up again.
"Ugh, gross! I told you not to drink so much, didn't I?" Xiaoya scolded, rummaging through her friend's oversized purse. Her own head was spinning, and it took nearly five minutes of fumbling before she finally pulled the car keys out.
"Got them… finally."
She sighed in relief once she managed to get herself and the three other girls into the car. Starting the engine, she pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the road in a wobbly, unsteady line.
By the time they reached the expressway, her inebriation had dulled her reflexes. The red brake lights of the car ahead flashed suddenly—but instead of hitting the brakes, her foggy mind made her hand shift gears while her foot pressed down on the accelerator.
The car shot forward.
CRASH!
The impact was brutal. The four bodies inside the car were thrown violently. Warm blood trickled down Chen Xiaoya's temple as her face slammed into the steering wheel.
Lu Xiaofei, who hadn't fastened her seatbelt, was hurled straight through the windshield, landing hard on the trunk of the car they had hit. The two girls in the back were tossed against the seats, their bodies crumpled.
Xiaoya barely had time to scream.
For some reason, though, there was no pain—only a strange, weightless feeling, as if her body had become lighter than air, drifting away from the wreckage.
"I…"
"What… what's happening to me?"