"Squish."
"Slither."
"Ha... Haha..."
The exam bell chid softly through the empty won's restroom.
A sticky tentacle slowly retracted from Park Seo-moon's hand. The mont it disconnected from her body, Park Seo-moon collapsed weakly to the floor, her head drooping as she panted heavily.
An Le stood rigidly in place, the skin below her neck completely pale. She waited until the other two tentacles slowly retracted from the two lackeys behind Park Seo-moon and dissolved into fine dust.
As the tentacle moved away from Park Seo-moon's body, she seed to snap out of a deep dream, yet instinctively reached out to chase the retreating appendage.
Only when the tentacle completely turned into dust did her eyes widen. She looked up at An Le and said in a trembling voice,
"I-I'm sorry, An Le. It's all my fault... Please forgive ..."
At this mont, Park Seo-moon's face was flushed red and her expression was unfocused. She was clearly not in a normal state of mind.
Slumped on the ground, she continued to crawl closer to An Le, murmuring,
"As long as you forgive , I'll listen to whatever you say from now on, okay?"
"..."
"Just... Just let
experience that... that amazing feeling again, and I'll do anything you want..."
Hearing this, An Le looked down at her own hand, seeming to realize sothing.
Then, she lowered her eyes slightly and reached out to gently stroke Park Seo-moon's cheek.
The mont they touched, Park Seo-moon's eyelashes fluttered, as if she were still intoxicated by the previous waves of pleasure.
Looking at Park Seo-moon's unsightly state, An Le did not feel the slightest thrill of revenge.
But watching Park Seo-moon's desperate display, a sudden thought occurred to her. She asked,
"If I let you feel that again, would you be willing to give up everything you have?"
Hearing this, Park Seo-moon hesitated for a mont.
But as An Le's hand rubbed against her cheek, that bone-deep, gangrenous euphoria surged back into her mind.
"Okay, okay... Whatever you want, An Le."
When she heard this answer, An Le closed her eyes and murmured,
"I understand..."
"That's enough, right? You can give it to
again..."
But just as a joyful expression returned to Park Seo-moon's face, An Le covered her face with her hand and said indifferently,
"After this, you will forget all of this and return to normal."
"Ah—"
Park Seo-moon's eyes widened in disbelief, while An Le silently called out to Little Finger in her heart.
Little Finger flicked its tongue and revealed its form. It shot An Le a helpless glance and grumbled,
"Is it really necessary for
to alter her mory? Wouldn't it be better to just let her break completely? They bullied you so much before anyway."
"..."
An Le pursed her lips, but a second later she replied,
"That would be taking it too far... Little Finger, do it."
"Hmph."
Little Finger flicked its tongue again, its pink eyes snapping toward Park Seo-moon and her two lackeys.
The instant the effect took hold, their mories were twisted by Little Finger's power, wiping the slate completely blank.
"..."
"Thud."
In the next second, Park Seo-moon's eyes rolled back slightly, and she fell unconscious to the ground.
"Done. They'll wake up in a few minutes with no mory of this. Though, I bet they'll still feel an instinctive terror whenever they see you from now on. Hehehe."
"..."
An Le nodded, turning and leaving the restroom.
Since the exams had already started, the corridor was dead silent, making it feel as though An Le was the only person left in the world.
Seeing An Le's hollow eyes, Little Finger assud she was falling into her old habits—getting hopelessly conflicted whenever she used the modifier. It tried to comfort her,
"Oh, co on, that's just how humans are.
"Everything you do is to bring yourselves joy. You helped them skip the entire process and directly experience pleasure, so it's perfectly normal for them to get addicted.
"Besides, even without my superpower, aren't there plenty of people in this world abusing drugs?"
As it was speaking, An Le suddenly turned her head, staring straight at Little Finger with those hollow eyes.
A terrifying pressure instantly caused Little Finger's words to catch in its throat. With a guilty conscience, it shifted its gaze away and muttered softly,
"Alright, I'll shut up."
"..."
An Le slowly turned her head back forward, but then she said,
"Little Finger, I know how to make those hosts give up everything without driving them to despair."
"Ah, you an..."
An Le raised her hand, recalling Park Seo-moon's reaction just monts ago, and murmured,
"By using your ability to drown them in pleasure, we should be able to drain their ntal energy.
"That way, once it's done, you can alter their mories.
"They won't be hard, and I can stop them from continuing to hurt Xiao Huan."
Hearing this, Little Finger scoffed and grumbled,
"That really sounds like a plan only you could co up with."
"Is it feasible?"
"Honestly, it actually is. But I have to warn you, the other hosts will be partially immune to my superpower. The effect won't be nearly as strong as it was on Park Seo-moon."
"Then... we'll just have to do it a few more tis. They'll get addicted."
"Heh."
Little Finger gave a light snort, looking back at An Le as it asked,
"I've already told you all of their weaknesses that I know of. Who do you plan to deal with first?"
"Dealing with Spencer will be very troubleso, so... let's go find Senior Student Ye first."
Speaking like this in her mind, An Le arrived at the door of her examination room and knocked gently.
"Knock, knock."
Lunch break, Far Moon Academy, inside the forest park.
"Hold on, haven't you already retained your academic status? Why didn't you co to school today either?"
Yan Huan was clutching his school bag and holding a sandwich, speaking to soone through his Bluetooth earbuds.
On the other end of the line was Spencer's voice.
"Um... well, my mama just arrived in Linn! So, it's completely normal for
to keep her company!"
"Heh, I bet you just knew that today and tomorrow are the midterm exams, so you skipped on purpose."
"How did you know?!"
On the other end, Spencer sounded like she thought Yan Huan possessed so sort of advanced mind-reading ability to see right through her little sches over the phone.
How did Yan Huan know?!
This girl hadn't touched a book. She had spent two days at his house doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and playing gas. It would be a miracle if she could actually pass an exam.
Yan Huan should have guessed this ages ago, but it only hit him when he arrived at school this morning.
"Hmph, do you really want
to co back to school that badly?"
"What else?"
Lying on the sofa on the other end of the call, Spencer suddenly thought of sothing. Her face flushed slightly as she recalled what Yan Huan had asked her before.
So, parroting his earlier tone, she asked,
"Does that an you missed ?"
The question made Yan Huan pause.
He glanced down at the bag holding her undergarnts in his school bag. His primary reason for wanting her back was that she had forced him to bring her underwear to school, and now he had no way to hand them over.
But as for whether he missed her or not...
Yan Huan hesitated for a second. Just as he was about to say "I do," Spencer's voice rang out again,
"Mama!"
"Huh?"
Yan Huan tilted his head in confusion as the audio on the other end suddenly beca a chaotic shuffle.
"..."
A mont later, Spencer's voice amplified sharply as she spoke to Yan Huan,
"I'm going out with my mama now! So... I'll co to school next week!"
"You—"
"Bye-bye! I'll miss you!"
"Beep— Beep— Beep—"
Why did this feel so strongly like she was just tossing him a sweet nothing to brush him off before going out to play?
It felt like a boyfriend running over to briefly shower his delicate wife with affection while waiting for a ga to load, only to imdiately sprint back.
Yan Huan sighed helplessly. He looked down at the bag of clothes in his school bag, but just as he was about to close the zipper, a voice called out from beneath the tree,
"Yan Huan!"
The sudden shout startled Yan Huan so badly that he instinctively held the school bag tightly in his arms, swaying dangerously and nearly falling out of the tree.
Fortunately, he managed to grab hold of the trunk behind him, preventing a disastrous tumble.
'Seriously, man, who is it?'
Breathing a sigh of relief, Yan Huan looked down to see a black-haired girl standing under the tree, wearing a beautiful JK uniform.
She had her hands behind her back and her head tilted up, looking at him with a radiant smile. As a gentle breeze swept past her starry eyes, it ruffled the bangs on her forehead, making it impossible for Yan Huan not to fixate on her lovely features.
It was Bai Yi.
"It's , Yan Huan! I guessed you'd be here at noon."
"...That's a terrifyingly accurate guess."
Yan Huan silently pulled the zipper of his bag shut before turning and leaping down, landing gracefully in front of Bai Yi.
Bai Yi brushed a hand through her beautiful black hair and smiled.
"Hehe, just kidding. I actually asked Classmate Yatsuhashi where you usually hang out during lunch."
Yan Huan looked Bai Yi up and down. He almost instinctively summoned his mask, but after a mont of thought, he decided against it.
As a result, the smile on his face wasn't quite as radiant as before, but it held a few shades of genuine authenticity.
"You didn't show up for the exams this morning, but you have the free ti to co find
at noon?"
"Eh?! How... How did you know I skipped the exam?"
Yan Huan let out a helpless sigh and told her,
"I'm on the Student Council, rember? Absentees are reported straight to the Academic Affairs Office and the Student Council. The Academic Affairs Office logs it in your academic status, and we are responsible for contacting you and your parents."
Bai Yi scratched her cheek embarrassedly and said,
"Well... I've been really busy lately and haven't revised at all. Rather than going in and scoring a big fat zero, it's better just not to take it."
"You have extra credit points anyway, right?"
As ntioned before, one of the defining features of Far Moon Academy's liberal arts education was its rejection of a single assessnt criterion.
So, sotis, having terrible academic grades didn't matter. As long as you scraped past the passing mark and had other exceptional talents, you could still graduate.
Soone like Bai Yi, who had already signed a singing contract, could easily apply for special extra credits from the school at the end of the term.
Even though her GPA wouldn't be sky-high, graduating and proceeding with her university application wouldn't be an issue.
"So, why were you looking for ?"
"Oh, right! There's actually sothing I want to ask you for help with..."
"Help with what?"
"Mhm! Let's go to the Comrcial Street. I'll buy you milk tea, and we can chat while we drink. How about it?"
Saying this, Bai Yi shot Yan Huan a playful wink. Her youthful, radiant expression suddenly made Yan Huan wonder if the girl who used the modifier and the girl standing in front of him were two entirely different people.
Where did the slightly unhinged Bai Yi from before go? She certainly wasn't this beautiful, energetic girl, right?
"..."
Just as Yan Huan hesitated, Bai Yi pouted, reached out to grab his sleeve, and dragged him toward the Comrcial Street.
"Let's go, let's go! You can't suffer a loss on this deal. Free drinks are on ~"
"Alright, stop pulling . I'm going, I'm going."
Comrcial Street, inside a milk tea shop.
"So you're saying Golden Lion Group arranged a charity concert at a hospital for you this weekend?"
"Yeah, the the is helping cancer patients battle the illness demon. It's a public welfare performance for the patients."
After taking a seat, the two exchanged a bit of small talk before finally getting to the main topic.
Sipping his low-sugar jasmine milk green tea with coconut jelly, Yan Huan muttered,
"I didn't expect Golden Lion Entertainnt under the Golden Lion Group to take on gigs like this."
Hearing this, Bai Yi, who was drinking a chocolate bubble tea, waved her hand and replied bluntly,
"No, it's actually because participating in public welfare activities grants tax exemptions, and it helps build up my popularity."
"...Isn't that a bit too realistic?"
Bai Yi embarrassedly took a sip of her bubble tea, then raised her eyes to look at Yan Huan, blinking.
"That's from the perspective of the company and the studio. On a personal level, I really do want to bring beautiful music to the patients in the hospital."
"Hmm, so, does this kind of event need my help, or...?"
Bai Yi sheepishly twirled a strand of her black hair around her finger and explained,
"Mainly, I'll be singing the new song I wrote last ti. This will be the first ti I'm performing it in public. I just feel like... if you were there, I'd have a bit more confidence."
Resting his chin on his hand, Yan Huan couldn't help but chuckle.
"Does that an I have to be present every ti you sing a new song from now on? What happens after graduation? It can't be like this for the rest of your life, right?"
Hearing this, Bai Yi was slightly taken aback.
Soon after, her face flushed slightly, and her eyes darted away as she muttered to herself in a barely audible voice,
"Well, there wouldn't be anything wrong with it staying like this forever..."
"...What did you say?"
"Nothing! Anyway, I'll pay you for your trouble!"
Turning her head back, Bai Yi's eyes shimred with pitiful, watery pleading. She suddenly grabbed Yan Huan's hand and begged,
"Please, please, please! I'll be so incredibly grateful!"
Feeling her soft, delicate hands wrap around one of his, Yan Huan raised an eyebrow.
Just as he was about to speak, a terrifyingly cold shadow fell across the edge of the table, causing both Yan Huan and Bai Yi's body temperatures to plumt several degrees.
Bai Yi froze, and Yan Huan's expression shifted drastically.
He snapped his head to the side, and sure enough, Ye Shiyu was standing right next to their table. Her face was entirely void of emotion, and her piercing gaze was locked dead onto Bai Yi's hands, which were still clinging tightly to Yan Huan.
"..."
Yan Huan swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then hastily pulled his hand away.
Because of the incident with Spencer, he had gotten out of the habit of wearing his mask for nearly a week. He hadn't bothered to wear it just a mont ago either.
But right now, under the crushing pressure of Ye Shiyu's presence, he found that without his mask, he couldn't even force a smile.
'If I don't want to show an agonizing Agni-style painful smile, I'd better rely on the great power of the mask...'
"Sister Shiyu..."
In the next second, Yan Huan once again equipped the invisible mask. He squeezed out a flawless smile to welco Ye Shiyu.
Ye Shiyu cast a harmless glance at Yan Huan, nodded, and then asked in a flat tone,
"Xiao Huan, may I sit?"
"Ah, of course."
The mont Yan Huan agreed, Bai Yi faintly clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Tsk."
Ye Shiyu sat down quietly, turning her gaze toward Bai Yi like she was looking at a dead body.
The implication was crystal clear:
'Didn't we form an alliance? What do you think you're doing?'
'We agreed to deal with Spencer together. It hasn't even been a few days, and you're already trying to sneak a head start?'
'If this is how it's going to be, I can't even imagine what you, you thieving cat, will do next!'
'Just as I thought. The second my App recovers, I'm going to instantly—'
Feeling Ye Shiyu's murderous glare, Bai Yi buckled under the pressure, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
She wiped away the sweat and forced herself to speak,
"Yan Huan and I were just talking about Spencer. Classmate Spencer is coming back to school soon, right?"
Yan Huan raised an eyebrow. She had indeed asked about that, though it was just part of the small talk before they got to the main point.
'But bringing this up in front of Ye Shiyu... isn't that just going to make her explode again?'
"..."
Yet, to Yan Huan's surprise, after hearing this, the terrifying aura radiating from Ye Shiyu bizarrely diminished by several degrees.
'What is going on?'
Yan Huan glanced at Ye Shiyu, whose eyes revealed a trace of her feeling half-believing, half-doubting, and then glanced at Bai Yi, who had just let out a massive sigh of relief.
'Sothing isn't right. These two...'
Yan Huan couldn't shake the feeling that there was sothing suspicious going on between them, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.
Well, since things had co to this, he might as well order a milk tea first.
"Sister Shiyu, what would you like to drink? I'll order it for you."
Yan Huan took out his mobile phone, scanned the QR code on the table, and smoothly offered a smile to Ye Shiyu beside him.
"...I want—"
"Xiao Huan."
Just as Ye Shiyu stared at Yan Huan for a few seconds, her expression returning to normal, and she was about to give her order, another soft and sweet voice suddenly drifted over from beside them.
'There's another high-level player?!'
Yan Huan looked up in disbelief, only to see An Le looking right at him, pursing her lips and clutching the hem of her school uniform skirt.
'An Le?!'
'What are you doing here?'
'Don't you know this is a high-tier match right now? Why is a Little Bronze like you joining the fray?!'
Yan Huan swallowed hard. His mask began to crack—crack, crack, crack—but he still managed to painstakingly massage the space between his eyebrows and speak.
"An Le... Hiss, but this window seat is already full. How about..."
After thinking it over, Yan Huan decided he didn't want An Le stepping into this already chaotic battle situation, so he offered her a way out.
Normally, with An Le's considerate and soft personality, she would definitely blush, wave her hands frantically, and make an excuse like,
"It's fine, it's fine, Xiao Huan... I... I only bought so milk tea to take away anyway..."
But this ti, upon hearing his words, An Le simply glanced at Ye Shiyu. Then, instead of retreating, she stepped forward and grabbed a chair from an empty table nearby.
"Thump."
With a light thud, she placed the chair right next to Ye Shiyu.
The table was originally a two-seater. With one side against the wall, it was already a tight squeeze to fit an extra person on the outer side.
Now, by placing another chair next to the already cramped Ye Shiyu, An Le's actions took on a distinctly aggressive flavor.
However, An Le just blushed, looking sowhat shy as she said,
"It's okay. I'll... I'll just sit next to Senior Student Ye."
"..."
'Wait, An Le... Sister An Le... Great Lord An Le, you... you... you...'
'Are you not afraid?!'
'Sitting next to the God of Plague!!'
Both Yan Huan and Bai Yi gulped simultaneously, watching as Ye Shiyu stared blankly at the newly seated An Le, yet to formulate a response.
And facing Ye Shiyu's utterly contemptuous gaze, An Le offered a warm smile, though her hand never left the back of the chair she had placed next to Ye Shiyu.
She simply asked,
"Senior Student Ye, you don't mind, do you?"
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