Chapter 5 — Glitch in the Supporting Character's Narrative

His gaze felt like a blade piercing through my chest, leaving me breathless. Suddenly, Huong Van Tinh lunged forward, gripping his hands, her voice crystalline and deliberate.

"Brother Tieu Trinh, look me in the eye. You know I am not that kind of person. In your heart, I have always been the most beautiful and virtuous soul, haven't I?"

I startled, reflexively shoving myself between them, but it was already too late. Tieu Trinh lowered his head, his spine rigid and trembling, as if a violent electric shock had coursed through his body.

"Brother?" I whispered, my voice laced with anxiety.

He looked up at me, his expression hardening into a mask of cold, distant indifference.

"Enough!" he barked. "Tieu Lam, can you stop making things so difficult for me?"

I froze. Above us, the translucent, floating comments surged across my vision: [Hahaha, the protagonist's halo has activated. It is automatically recalibrating the side character's emotions to ensure the plot does not collapse.] [Wait! I think I get it now—the fake sister is deliberately stirring up trouble, forcing the tragic side character to prioritize her well-being over his own suicidal ideations, thus binding his fate to hers.] [How incredibly moving... "The script forces me to despise my sister, yet my consciousness compels me to protect her again and again..."] [That was close. I really thought Tieu Trinh was about to wake up from his trance.] [Not a chance. His destiny in this novel is to die by suicide; no matter how many times we reset, the ending remains the same.]

Resets? Does it really end the same way every time? My hands curled into tight, silent fists. At the hospital room entrance, a man appeared—the embodiment of "poverty-chic," radiating an air of rugged indifference. Huong Van Tinh immediately dissolved into tears, flinging herself into his arms. "My love!"

That must be the male lead—his entire being glowing with a golden light so intense I could barely discern his features. But Tieu Trinh’s face was etched clearly into my mind. His lips were pressed into a thin, white line, his frame swaying as if he might collapse at any moment. The familiar shroud of sorrow and grief descended upon him once more, as if at any second, he might dissolve into a cold breeze and vanish from my world.

Catching my gaze, Tieu Trinh’s face darkened. He forced the words out: "Go home immediately. Do not make me tell you twice."

I let out a soft, mocking laugh, slipping back into my usual mask of irreverent rebellion. As I brushed past him, I bumped his shoulder intentionally. "See that, brother?" I whispered. "You had better keep yourself alive and well. Watch closely how I torment the person you hold so dear. If you dare to die, she will be the first one I kill."

10

Tieu Trinh’s pupils constricted. He clutched his head in agony, and I pushed him away. Outside the hospital, the bitter wind and sleet lashed at my eyes, stinging until everything blurred. Perhaps it was the thick, falling snow that gave me an excuse not to return home. I lived for several days like a vagrant, pestering the elderly to help me cross the street and looming over children to whisper, "Your mother doesn't want you anymore."

Tieu Lam wandered thousands of meters, leaving a trail of chaos and guilt in her wake. Every time, Tieu Trinh would crawl out from his bathtub to clean up the mess, his wrists scarred with scabbed-over wounds.

The floating comments were slowly turning silent: [The side character has survived two months longer than the original timeline.] [Oh my god, the fake sister is glitching the system...]

So what? Even if I have to spend my entire life trapped in this glitch, I will keep Tieu Trinh alive. He is the only family I have left in this world—even if he refuses to acknowledge me.

On New Year's Eve, I was standing in the middle of the street, drifting like a lost soul. Suddenly, the sound of shouting erupted from a nearby alleyway. A scrawny young girl was surrounded by a gang of teenagers; they had chained her to a wall, laughing and reveling in their cruelty. I meant to ignore it, but the sound of her stifled sobbing cut through the noise. I irritably ruffled my hair, grabbed a rock, and smashed it into the nearest head, diving into the fray with wild abandon.

Amidst the chaos of pain and flying fists, the floating comments reappeared: [Wait? The fake sister is actually this cool? Does the 'Fire Demon' have a sense of justice?] [Maybe she's remembering being bullied abroad?] [Hold on! Look closely at that girl! She looks eighty percent like Tieu Trinh! Could she be his long-lost biological sister?!]

I wiped the blood from my eyes and squinted. His real sister? I gripped the rock tighter and stepped closer.

[Oh god, the fake sister isn't planning to kill her, is she...] [It’s highly likely. The real sister has returned, and she can no longer hold onto her status as the Tieu family heiress...]

I lowered my eyes, raised the rock high, and brought it down with savage force.

11

A series of sharp cracks echoed through the alley. The iron chains shattered into pieces. The girl’s eyes were swollen and red, her throat rattling as she tried to speak. I reached for my phone to call Tieu Trinh, but my hand came away stained in something wet and warm.

Damn! That bastard didn't play fair—he had slipped a small knife into my stomach during the scuffle! As the adrenaline faded, the pain finally struck, sharp and jagged, cutting through me like a razor.