"Nothing strange?"
Saturday night, at Yan Huan's rental apartnt.
Ever since An Le started visiting Yan Huan's rental apartnt frequently, the place had grown livelier by the day.
Many of her daily necessities had been added, neatly arranged by her deft hands to sit in perfect order alongside his own belongings.
It was as if they had always been a part of this ho, rather than recent additions.
Tonight, the Ballad had stayed open until nearly ten o'clock. By the ti Yan Huan returned ho and finished showering, it was almost eleven, yet the apartnt remained bustling with activity.
In the living room, Myau-chan and Little Finger were sitting on the coffee table watching internet TV. It seed to be a critically acclaid Dragon Country historical romance drama filled with angst. Regardless, the two of them were watching it with imnse relish.
Nearby, Yan Huan was shirtless, holding a plank position on a yoga mat in the living room.
Behind him, wearing a loose floral pajama dress, An Le was kneeling on his back, holding his mobile phone and reading aloud a ssage sent by Tong Yingying.
"Mm, that older sister nad Nara said she didn't notice anything strange. Oh, except for one thing..."
"Recently, it seems Vice President Sakuramiya locks her bedroom door when she sleeps at night. She said there were a few days when Miss Nara went to wake her up and found the door locked."
'She locks the door at night?'
'That makes sense. If Sakuramiya is going to hunt down the other Sakuramiyas, she can only do it at night.'
Yan Huan revealed a thoughtful expression and glanced back at An Le.
An Le tilted her head as she looked at him. Without the barrier of a bra strap, the shoulder strap of her floral dress slipped down smoothly, revealing a large expanse of pale, delicate skin.
Thinking Yan Huan was getting tired from his push-ups, she gently leaned down, pressing her body snugly against his back.
A warm and soft sensation spread across his entire back, accompanied by the cascade of An Le's black hair.
By the ti Yan Huan reacted, An Le had already pressed her cheek against his, her breath fragrant as an orchid. She reached around from behind to hug his collarbone and whispered,
"Do you want to rest for a while, Xiao Huan? You've already done thirty."
Yan Huan swallowed a mouthful of saliva, struggling to maintain his rationality. He turned his head away and said hoarsely,
"I will do a few more."
"Wow, Xiao Huan is so amazing!"
Seeing that Yan Huan still had energy left, An Le's adoring eyes curved into smiling crescents. She leaned in on her own accord and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"..."
Her kiss left Yan Huan's cheek burning hot. The muscles in his arms suddenly tensed and flexed as if injected with adrenaline, sinking and rising along with An Le on his back.
With every push-up, An Le would gently clap her hands and softly encourage him beside his ear,
"You can do it, Xiao Huan!"
"Keep going, keep going!"
After two or three more, Yan Huan couldn't hold back anymore. His face darkened, and he abruptly rolled over.
In an instant, he wrapped his arm around An Le's waist and pinned her onto the yoga mat. Her black hair spilled across the floor as she opened one eye, closed the other, and let out a soft cry,
"Ah!"
It was hard to tell if it was from pain or...
In short, after that soft cry, her delicate hands slightly curled their fingers and, completely devoid of resistance, were raised and placed on either side of her head.
Her dreamy eyes gazed up at Yan Huan just like that, resembling a small animal waiting to be bullied, so tender that a re touch could squeeze water from her.
"Wh-what are you doing, Xiao Huan?"
"..."
Yan Huan glanced at An Le beneath him, whose face was completely innocent. He couldn't tell if she was being intentionally mischievous, and he was completely helpless against her.
Recently, lights-out in this household had been getting earlier and earlier.
All thanks to An Le!
"Nothing, I just suddenly rembered that I have a reward I haven't claid this week."
Not wanting to turn in for the night so early, Yan Huan stiffly looked away and explained himself.
"I see... But, what is that reward?"
Beneath him, An Le blinked. Not annoyed in the slightest, she simply asked in a gentle voice.
"Mm, it's about my Modifier."
To be precise, it was the once-a-week free reward from the Demon's Shop that he hadn't claid yet.
The weekly drawing wouldn't happen until tomorrow, Sunday, was over.
"Oh right, Xiao Huan has a Modifier too. I keep forgetting about that."
Hearing Yan Huan ntion it, An Le finally showed a look of sudden realization.
In the distance, Little Finger, having overheard their conversation, looked over, seemingly very interested in his Modifier.
"It is fine, it never had much of a presence anyway."
Yan Huan's mouth twitched slightly as he willed his mind to call out the Demon's Shop.
A strange fluctuation surged around Yan Huan, but before he could enter the Demon's Shop, a burst of laughter that couldn't be held back ca from behind him.
"Pfft!"
Yan Huan and An Le both froze slightly. Turning around, they saw Little Finger turn its head away, pretending it hadn't seen anything and continuing to watch TV.
However, under their gaze, its snake body began to tremble more and more, completely unable to hold back.
The next second, as if finally giving up, it lay on the coffee table and started laughing loudly,
"Hahahaha!! I am dying of laughter! What kind of trash Modifier is this? Hahahaha!!"
"..."
Yan Huan's face darkened. 'You must be itching to be fed so red beans,' he thought.
"Oh man... If it weren't for the fact that I can only bind to females with Fate, I would definitely let you taste what a real Modifier is like. What kind of miserable life have you been living?"
"..."
'Not gonna lie, sotis pity from the enemy just makes you feel even more pathetic.'
At this mont, although Yan Huan's face was still dark, his fierce-looking eyes were no longer fixed on Little Finger. Instead, he glared at the fat black cat, which was now wearing an expression of a guilty conscience.
"ow?!"
Sensing Yan Huan's glare, Myau-chan fiercely raised his paw pads and started swatting furiously at Little Finger's forehead,
"You evil creature, ow!! Stop trying to tempt Yan Huan!! Take this, ow! Take this!!"
"Hiss!!"
Over there, one was hissing while the other flicked its tongue. Yan Huan and An Le had already grown accustod to this sight.
However, Yan Huan couldn't be bothered to bla Myau-chan anymore, nor would he take the words of that evil Modifier incarnation, Little Finger, to heart.
He simply turned his head helplessly to look at An Le beneath him, instructing,
"I might be gone for two or three minutes. My consciousness will enter a rather magical place, and I am not sure what will happen to
in reality..."
"Ah, okay."
Hearing this, An Le smiled slightly, revealing an expression that put Yan Huan at ease.
With that, Yan Huan was finally able to calm his mind, allowing the mist of the Demon's Shop to swallow his consciousness.
As Yan Huan completely entered the Demon's Shop, Little Finger instantly felt a familiar urge to shudder with fear.
It didn't even have ti to worry about Myau-chan brawling behind it. Terrified, it imdiately turned its head to look at Yan Huan.
But before it could turn around, the erald eyes of Myau-chan behind it suddenly filled with an elusive divinity.
Under the gaze of those erald eyes, the mist shrouding Yan Huan's consciousness gradually beca calm and harmless, taking all the trembling coldness that terrified Little Finger away with it.
"...Hm, was it just my imagination?"
Little Finger flicked its tongue and muttered in confusion as it stared at Yan Huan, who was standing frozen in place with vacant eyes.
"Good chance, ow! Eat my Phantom ow-ow Punch!!"
Just as it was about to turn back around, Myau-chan smashed a heavy punch right onto its snake head, hitting it so hard its forked tongue flopped out.
"Thwack!!"
Amidst the boundless pink mist, Yan Huan once again returned to that endless ocean.
He was already thoroughly familiar with all this, easily settling back into his routine as he examined the three spheres of light flying toward him.
First was the one on the far left, the once-a-week free reward item.
[Demon's Favor]
[Congratulations! Although it is unclear why, the demon now owes you a favor!]
[With this favor, the next Demon-type ability you use will be enhanced.]
[Currently active Demon abilities: Devil's Mind-Reading, Demon's Shop.]
[Consu one favor: Upon using Devil's Mind-Reading, the three sentences the demon tells you will be 100% truth.]
[Consu one favor: When redeeming an item at the Demon's Shop, the required price will be heavily discounted.]
'Devil's Mind-Reading?'
Staring at the sudden prompt, Yan Huan suddenly rembered that he did indeed possess such a superpower.
It was just that this thing was tied to the incident where Sakuramiya's scandal was revealed, and it had a lot of uncertainty, so he had quickly forgotten about it.
'Three sentences...'
'Are all of them true?'
Watching the sphere of light being fully absorbed into his body, Yan Huan couldn't help but freeze slightly.
It was as if his mories dragged him back to the night of Sakuramiya Ryo's birthday party, back to the beach where he sat side-by-side with Sakuramiya Hitomi.
"..."
After staying silent for a long ti, Yan Huan suddenly recalled a treasure he had acquired previously.
With a thought, a small, floating spoon sparkling with a crystal-clear light appeared before him.
[Love's Compass]
[Once a day, silently recite the thing you wish to find in your heart, and it will point the way for you.]
[Whenever you perform the following actions, its cooldown will be imdiately reset:]
[Kiss a mber of the opposite sex you have never kissed before for one minute; have relations with a mber of the opposite sex you have never had relations with before.]
[Furthermore, it possesses a special property: its effects will absolutely never be influenced by any Modifier.]
'Right!'
'I have this thing! If I just think of Sakuramiya's main body, wouldn't I be able to find her?!'
Yan Huan slapped his forehead, cursing himself internally.
The main issue was that he would just store these items in his sea of consciousness with a single thought, and the Modifier lacked a UI to display acquired items.
If he didn't use sothing right away, it was easy to completely forget about it once things piled up and chaos erupted.
Fortunately, he rembered it now. Otherwise, not using such a convenient item would simply be asking for trouble.
At this mont, Yan Huan felt like a gar who had been tortured to the point of smashing his keyboard while playing a high-difficulty Souls-like ga with a pure lee dodge build, only to suddenly discover the overpowered new world of magic users!
"..."
He turned his head to glance at the two items available this week. After confirming that paying their price would leave him either dead or half-crippled, he willed himself to exit the Demon's Shop.
The mist gradually dispersed. Taking its place was the sight of An Le right in front of him, fully concentrated as she gently extended her finger, carefully tracing the lines of Yan Huan's abdominal muscles.
Her eyes seed glued to Yan Huan's body, captivated and hyper-focused. At this mont, her finger was moving along the lower part of his V-line, right on the verge of intruding into the territory of Little Yan Huan.
'Good lord, asking her to guard my unconscious self is basically like asking a thief to guard a pile of gold...'
"An Le..."
Yan Huan spoke hoarsely, interrupting An Le's intense focus.
"Ah, Xiao Huan, y-you are awake?"
Her body trembled slightly. Raising her eyes to et Yan Huan's now clear gaze, her small face couldn't help but blush. She hurriedly pulled back her finger, pursed her lips, and asked quietly,
"H-how was it? Did you claim your reward?"
"I did."
Yan Huan didn't make a fuss about her actions. He sat up straight, willed his mind, and a compass appeared in the palm of his hand.
An Le sat on her heels in front of him, her legs tucked to the side. Watching him conjure an item out of thin air, she couldn't help but praise him,
"You are so amazing, Xiao Huan..."
An Le was exactly the type to praise you even if you were just eating a al.
While it gave him a great sense of accomplishnt, if this continued, he would eventually be coddled into a completely helpless state.
"Watch closely."
Yan Huan let out a light cough and quickly returned to the main topic, planning to test out this compass.
After all, it was almost the next day. If he used it now, it would refresh very soon.
As Yan Huan continuously repeated the words "Useless Myau-chan" in his mind, the compass began to vibrate wildly as if sensing his thoughts.
"Click-clack-click."
The spoon spun rapidly on the square bronze plate, completing a full circle before coming to an abrupt halt. It pointed with unerring accuracy at the fat cat stretching on the coffee table behind him.
Its yawning motion paused mid-way, and it blinked its large eyes as it looked at Yan Huan,
"ow?"
At the exact sa mont, three Sakuramiyas were walking through an incredibly bizarre space.
All around them were massive hot air balloons painted with adorable chibi characters. Petite Sakuramiya turned her head just in ti to see a balloon bearing Yurianna's sweet smile drift past her.
"Hehe~"
"..."
Nearby, there were balloons for Yabashi Ki and Ashley. The sharp-eyed Petite Sakuramiya even spotted one of Sakuramiya Ryo.
"Where is this place? There are so many balloons..."
Rash Sakuramiya rested her hands behind her head, curiously observing the world seemingly composed entirely of hot air balloons as she asked.
Right now, even the path beneath their feet was paved with hot air balloons, requiring them to jump to cross over them.
"I do not know either... I am not sure whose Jiejiè this is, but the few barriers extending outward from here are all located within Linn's territory."
Behind them, Mouse Sakuramiya said this as she curled up timidly.
"We arrived that fast?!"
Clearly, Rash Sakuramiya was sowhat surprised.
After leaving Insecure Sakuramiya's Jiejiè, they had rely passed through a few public barriers and then through "Snobby Sakuramiya's" Jiejiè before arriving here.
Who would have thought that Linn, where the President was, would be just up ahead!
"See? I told you having her lead the way would achieve more with less, didn't I?"
"Hehe... Don't you forget, she was the one who led us to Snobby Sakuramiya. To get her to open the door for us, I had to sell my sword to her!!"
"Uh, well..."
Petite Sakuramiya revealed a guilty expression and quickly flew to Insecure Sakuramiya's side. However, the latter timidly backed away a bit, forcing Petite Sakuramiya to helplessly fly back.
"Now we just need to find the Sakuramiya who owns this Jiejiè and have her let us through!"
"Yeah, yeah, but the problem is we've been searching for ages, and there's nothing here but these balloons..."
Rash Sakuramiya sighed. As she continued searching forward, she glanced at the perpetually silent Mouse Sakuramiya and couldn't help but ask curiously,
"By the way, do you really want to put a cara in the President's room that badly? Are you that perverted?"
"Perverted?"
Mouse Sakuramiya's ears twitched. She looked at her in confusion, then slowly shook her head,
"No..."
"Eh?"
Rash Sakuramiya paused in surprise, and Petite Sakuramiya chid in to explain,
"Lewd Hitomi has already been killed... Besides, the main reason Insecure Sakuramiya wanted to install a cara wasn't because of perversion, right?"
"Mm."
Mouse Sakuramiya nodded and quietly explained,
"Because... what I observe through the caras is just how the President looks outside.
"No matter how much I study him, I can only perform more perfectly in places like the school...
"When it cos to his personal life, I know absolutely nothing about the President...
"Every ti the President leaves the school setting and steps into my life, I feel completely helpless and at a loss...
"Just like when the President ca to celebrate my birthday. My mind went completely blank. I caused a lot of trouble and even sparked a conflict between my older brother and the President...
"Therefore, I must get my hands on surveillance footage of the President's daily life so I can study and learn from it..."
After listening to Insecure Sakuramiya's explanation, Rash Sakuramiya blinked and muttered,
"Aren't you being way too sensitive?"
"Because, soone as useless as
has to do this... only then can I..."
Mouse Sakuramiya's ears twitched. Just as she was about to speak, a bright and sunny voice suddenly rang out,
"You are not useless at all, Sakuramiya!"
The three of them paused slightly and turned their heads.
They saw the hot air balloon painted with Yurianna's smiling face drift back toward them, a voice echoing from it:
"Hehe, every ti I wasted my money buying a movie blind box, you were the only one who comforted . That is why I always buy two movie blind boxes now...
"Because I know that even though you are harsh with your words, you always end up watching the movie with
in the end!"
The other balloons drifted over as well. Next was the giant head of Yabashi Ki:
"There is nothing wrong with being a bit sensitive.
"In the whole school, Vice President Sakuramiya is the only Eldest Miss who would worry that giving us overly expensive gifts might burden us with having to prepare a return gift, right?
"When the Student Council was first ford, you spent a lot of ti picking out the right gifts for us, didn't you?"
Ashley's giant head spoke up as well:
"You helped
with the Disciplinary Committee's work too. I always get huge headaches over paperwork, and I do not even know the proper formats... Also, when we confiscated contraband from the Doujinshi Society, I handed everything over to you to handle, Vice President Sakuramiya."
Sakuramiya Ryo's balloon also tilted its head. With its back turned to the Sakuramiyas, it grunted softly and said,
"Well, as my older cousin, you at least know a bit about my preferences. You even know exactly which idols I like... The gifts you got for my birthday were all things I loved."
Petite Sakuramiya happily waved her hand at the balloons in the sky, then turned back to Mouse Sakuramiya with a smile.
"It looks like the Sakuramiya here really cherishes these mories about her friends!"
"..."
Mouse Sakuramiya stared blankly at the balloons in the sky. Only after a very long ti did she withdraw her gaze.
"How is it, do you feel a little better?"
"Mm."
Mouse Sakuramiya swallowed a mouthful of saliva, revealing a faint smile. Looking in the direction the balloons were floating, she softly reminded them,
"Look, the balloons are all floating that way. The Sakuramiya of this place should be right ahead..."
"Yeah!"
And so, the three of them hopped across the hot air balloons one by one, chatting as they went.
"By the way, Rash Sakuramiya, why is the picture of the President on your chest in black and white?"
"Ah? Because I have never seen the President before."
"Ah?!"
The other two Sakuramiyas looked at Rash Sakuramiya in shock. They watched as she held up the necklace in her hand and asked in return,
"Has Hitomi ever been brave when it cos to the President? Since she hasn't, then I haven't seen him."
"Uh, well..."
Petite Sakuramiya scratched the back of her head. Before she could speak, Insecure Sakuramiya beside her imdiately and sensitively realized that this might be her fault,
"I am sorry, it is all my fault, boohoo..."
Rash Sakuramiya scoffed, not caring much as she said,
"I didn't an to bla you. Well, strictly speaking, it is not like I haven't seen him at all..."
As she spoke, her eyes went out of focus, and she couldn't help but reminisce,
"That day, on Ryo's birthday, I saw the President once.
"So I think, on that day, Hitomi must have finally mustered her courage, wanting to take the initiative to confess her feelings to the President, right?"
Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but feel a wave of sympathy.
Especially Petite Sakuramiya. She pursed her lips and was just about to fly over to comfort her when she saw Rash Sakuramiya turn her head around, completely carefree,
"But I ssed it all up the very next day! When I saw our peeping was exposed, I panicked and recklessly rushed forward, planning to use the Modifier to alter the President. In the end, I completely ruined everything, ahahaha!"
"..."
'So it was YOU!!'
Petite Sakuramiya's face instantly darkened. The comforting words caught in her throat, causing her to break out into a fit of coughing.
"Look, the Sakuramiya of this place..."
As they spoke, they had already arrived at the center of the balloon world.
In the center, atop a massive hot air balloon, a Sakuramiya wearing a white dress was sleeping peacefully.
Petite Sakuramiya hurriedly flew up and called out,
"Hello, hello, wake up!"
"Mmh..."
That Sakuramiya let out a soft whimper. Her eyelashes fluttered, and then she opened her eyes to look at them.
"Wh-who are you?"
"Ah, we are..."
Petite Sakuramiya introduced herself and explained their purpose for coming.
Following that, she flew amiably in front of this Sakuramiya and asked,
"What about you? Which Sakuramiya are you?"
"?"
The Sakuramiya before her paused slightly. The next second, however, she revealed a kind and amiable smile, speaking softly,
"I am Perfect Sakuramiya."
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Petite Sakuramiya froze, standing completely dumbfounded on the spot.
But in the next instant, the Perfect Sakuramiya before her suddenly shot out a hand, firmly crushing her in her grip.
"I am here to kill you~"
"Snap!!"
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