[Brooding, obsessive man x fallen heiress]
When Shi Ximian realizes she's the villainous rich girl in a school romance power fantasy about a noble prince falling for an innocent girl, the story is already nearing its end.
The Shi family goes bankrupt. She's become a public pariah and is about to meet her death.
But after dying, she returns to two days before her death. She dies again in a different way, then returns to the same point two days earlier. After repeating this cycle more than a dozen times, she goes insane.
She becomes anxious, depressed, and sleepless, constantly worrying about how she'll die next.
Including her earlier rebirths, she hasn't slept a wink for an entire month. Her head is splitting, and all she wants is a good night's sleep.
Then, in this latest rebirth, she notices a change in the events that have repeated countless times: a variable has appeared.
Her neighbor next door is back, and his scent makes her sleepy. Miraculously, she drifts off.
She never expected that she'd sleepwalk into her neighbor's home and sleep in his bed, surrounded by his scent, until two days later. She makes it safely past this round's deadline for her death.
She's alive, and thanks to her sleepwalking, her mental state has also improved. The investigation into the Shi family's bankruptcy is progressing smoothly as well.
It's time to take back what's rightfully hers.
-
Chi Zhou notices that his belongings have been moved and that things keep going missing, only to reappear the next day.
His sheets and clothes also keep acquiring a faint but pleasant scent for no apparent reason.
Then, watching his security camera, he sees a woman climb over the balcony from next door and into his home. She lies on his bed, clutching his worn clothes like a greedy little cat.
The arrogant, domineering woman he remembers has become pale and haggard. For the first time in ages, he feels a flicker of interest.
He decides to watch her a little longer.
-
The man next door has been recovering at home for a week since being hit by a car.
Shi Ximian's sleepwalking is getting worse. Now, every time she falls asleep, she unconsciously sneaks into Chi Zhou's home. For the past half month, she has kept herself locked inside, wound tight and afraid to fall into a deep sleep.
The unbearable headaches are seriously slowing her investigation into the evidence that someone framed the Shi family.
With no other choice, she makes up an excuse to call Chi Zhou downstairs, then pretends to trip him by accident, aggravating his leg injury.
She feigns remorse and uses the excuse of helping him home to enter the place she's been longing to get into.
At last, she gets another good night's sleep. When she wakes up, Chi Zhou is no longer home.
But the door that had always been locked is now ajar.
She knows it's wrong to pry into someone's privacy, but the clues she's uncovered recently all seem connected to Chi Zhou.
Overcome by curiosity, she pushes open the door anyway.
The room beyond is filled with security cameras covering every corner of the apartment. Every wall is plastered with photographs, dozens upon dozens of them, all of her, from childhood to the present. The sight makes her scalp crawl.
She knows she's in trouble and turns to run, but the door behind her closes first.
The handsome man smiles gently, but the sight sends a chill through her: "You came right to me yourself."
Theme: Be a good, upstanding young person. Don't do bad things~