In truth, An Le had seen a Fragnt before. After all, Bai Yi's Fragnt had previously caused her and Little Finger a great deal of suffering.
The only thing she did not understand was the chanism behind how a Fragnt dropped.
However, at this mont in the bookstore, upon learning that Yan Huan had secretly read all of her works back in Sakura Country, and that Teacher Miyake in Tokyo also wanted her to start drawing again, she inevitably felt a wave of regret.
Because during that ti, she had been abandoning herself to despair, constantly using the Modifier.
And later, when she saw Spencer chase after her and say those words, she could also feel Spencer's genuine sincerity.
It was hard to say whether her previous betrayal was because she also had feelings for Yan Huan, or because of the Modifier, or perhaps a combination of both.
But An Le was willing to believe that the Modifier definitely played a role in it.
Consequently, both of these factors made An Le regret using the Modifier and fostered a desire to bla it.
It was just that our gossip-loving Little Finger had to suffer for it.
"I'm dying... I'm going to die..."
An Le pursed her lips and gently raised her hand to catch Little Finger as it fell from her shoulder.
After confirming with a glance that it was no longer in pain, An Le raised her eyes to look at Spencer in front of her. She opened her mouth before finally saying,
"Spencer."
Hearing An Le willing to speak to her for the first ti in a long while, Spencer's eyes involuntarily lit up, and she hurriedly walked towards her,
"Did... did you agree to make up with ?"
But then, An Le smiled slightly and looked at her, asking,
"Does the promise you made
earlier still count?"
"Awu?"
Spencer blinked, her face instantly turning into a blank, bewildered expression, as if her brain had crashed.
Anyone familiar with her would know that she was currently allocating her brain resources to think and recall.
After several seconds, she finally rembered that An Le was likely referring to the matter of helping her pursue Yan Huan.
Instantly, her little face scrunched up bitterly, looking as though she had just eaten a whole Brussels sprout or a head of broccoli,
"This... this..."
On one hand was Yan Huan, whom she liked; on the other hand was An Le, whom she wanted to make up with. This left her feeling incredibly conflicted.
'Hmm...'
'If I agree to An Le's request, awu, after that...'
'Can I still be with Yan Huan and kiss him?'
'I probably can, awu?'
'Then...'
'Should I agree to An Le?'
'I really should ask An Le first, see if she allows
to kiss Yan Huan and spend ti with him or sothing...'
"I... I..."
"Pfft."
Seeing Spencer clenching her fists and looking so anxious she was about to cry, An Le was unable to help but laugh.
Spencer could not understand her laughter and had no choice but to look at her pitifully, watching as she softly said,
"I was just joking. I already... don't need Spencer's help anymore."
"..."
Spencer blinked. Looking at An Le, who was covering her lower abdon with a slightly flushed face, her expression grew even more distressed.
Because she completely failed to understand what An Le was saying, nor did she comprehend An Le's intentions.
Right now, she only wanted to know whether An Le was going to make up with her or not.
"So... so we can make up, awu? Or..."
"Yes, let's make up, Spencer."
An Le nodded, pursing her lips as she gently reached out and grasped Spencer's wrist.
"Yay!"
Receiving a positive answer, Spencer was so happy she practically began to dance with joy.
In the next second, she excitedly pulled An Le into a tight hug and began muttering,
"Wuu, you have no idea, awu. When you left just now, I thought I had failed again, awu."
"For today, I even read a lot of the things you drew and everything! Yan Huan, Miyake, and that Sakuramiya Hitomi all helped make a lot of preparations, awu!"
'Vice President Sakuramiya helped too?'
An Le gently patted Spencer's back, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face.
'Wait...'
'Where is Xiao Huan?!'
Suddenly thinking of sothing, her expression shifted slightly, and she hastily grabbed Spencer by the shoulders.
"Spencer, Xiao—"
But before she could finish speaking, she seed to sense sothing and turned her head to look to the side.
There, she saw Bai Yi and Ye Shiyu holding milk tea, having just co up the escalator. Both of them were currently staring at the two of them in utter shock,
"You... you two..."
"..."
Bai Yi was still caught in a mix of surprise and confusion, wondering why these two people who originally did not get along were now acting like besties who had just reconciled.
As she thought about it, she eventually stopped finding it suspicious altogether.
After all, even a girl like Ye Shiyu, who used to hurl insults at her, could now drink milk tea and go shopping with her.
But Ye Shiyu was much smarter than she was.
The mont she saw the two of them, she narrowed her eyes and subconsciously began searching the surroundings for Yan Huan's figure.
At the sa ti, the darkness that had been suppressed by her self-discipline began to stir once more, amplifying the sense of oppression radiating from her expressionless face.
"..."
After sweeping her gaze around and finding no trace of Xiao Huan, her eyes darkened slightly.
Seeing this, An Le instantly realized what was happening, and her brain began to work rapidly.
'This won't do. Xiao Huan isn't here right now, so I have to hold everything together.'
'We agreed to deal with the Modifiers together. I can't let Ye Shiyu and Bai Yi tear our whole family dynamic to pieces just shortly after Xiao Huan stepped away...'
Thinking this, she gathered her thoughts for a few seconds before proactively turning her head and asking Spencer,
"Spencer, for our reconciliation, aside from Vice President Sakuramiya, did Xiao Huan also ask them to help out secretly?"
Hearing this, the expressions of both Bai Yi and Ye Shiyu shifted slightly as they revealed thoughtful looks.
anwhile, on the other side, Yan Huan sprinted all the way to the entrance of the nursery room on the lower floor.
He reached out and grabbed the doorknob, anxiously considering his next course of action.
'Should I just barge straight in?'
'Will I stumble right into an incredibly bizarre scene inside?'
'If I expose the fact that I know about the Modifiers in front of Sakuramiya's personas, there's no telling what consequences might arise...'
But thinking of the sight of that Sakuramiya persona walking inside with a dagger just now, Yan Huan gritted his teeth and knocked on the door anyway,
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Sakuramiya, is that you?"
'I'll just lie and say I saw her go in, so I ca looking for her. As long as I firmly insist I didn't see the dagger or anything, it shouldn't arouse suspicion.'
Yan Huan thought to himself.
But after knocking several tis in a row, there was absolutely no response from inside.
This caused Yan Huan to frown, and he ultimately decided to open the door.
"Click."
He gently pulled down the doorknob, but the scene inside gave him a start.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
"Boop, boop, boop..."
He saw that the room laid out before him was completely empty. He had no idea where that persona had gone after coming inside.
"..."
Yan Huan blinked, a look of confusion on his face.
He had no choice but to hold the door open temporarily and fall into thought.
In the next second, he made a decision. With a thought, he summoned Love's Compass.
At the sa ti, he pondered in his mind over the target he needed to search for.
'Should I search for the Sakuramiya persona that hijacked the body?'
'No, that might lead to a head-on collision with danger.'
'Since the one I want to save is the Sakuramiya persona with mouse ears, I might as well search for her.'
"..."
Yan Huan recalled the appearance of Mouse Sakuramiya in his mind several tis. Soon, the compass in his hand began to spin.
"Whir, whir..."
After spinning a few tis, the compass pointed straight toward the room in front of him.
"?"
Yan Huan frowned, but he still hesitantly took a step forward and entered the room.
The mont he stepped into the room, the door behind him gently closed shut.
In an instant, the entire nursery room before his eyes beca pixelated.
It was as if it had transford into Terraria or Stardew Valley. The whole room was paved with heavily stylized pixel grids, becoming a dazzling array of colors.
Above, fluorescent pixelated text read,
"Baby, Mama will love you forever!"
"Fly freely, baby, Mama will follow you forever!"
"..."
Right in the center stood a highly blurred, pixel-style Statue of the Virgin Mary.
Only, the figure on the statue was clearly wrong. The veiled Virgin Mary had sohow transford into Sakuramiya Hitomi, bearing a look of maternal love. And the figure appearing in her arms...
Was it himself, sucking on a pacifier?!
eting the gaze of his pixelated self, the corners of Yan Huan's mouth stiffened slightly. For a mont, he did not know what to say.
But as he continued to look, it was as if those fluorescent lights suddenly noticed his gaze.
"!!"
Following that, all the text and the Virgin Mary statue transford into question marks and exclamation points, before instantly vanishing without a trace.
"..."
'Is this...'
'Does soone know I'm here?'
Yan Huan thought this. Just as he was about to speak up and ask, a door suddenly materialized on the wall to the side.
"Click."
The door opened slightly, revealing a dark and vast space within, so deep and secluded that its exact contents could not be seen.
Gazing into the endless darkness inside, Yan Huan subconsciously felt a sense of resistance.
Rooms completely pitched in blackness like this were places he wouldn't even dare to enter when playing video gas in his past life...
"Whir..."
But at this exact mont, as luck would have it, the compass in his hand spun slightly and pointed straight toward that dark room with the open door.
"..."
"Waaaa! Hurry... run quickly!!"
In the colorful, pixelated corridor, Petite Sakuramiya was so frightened that her face was pale. Yet, she still hovered in mid-air, struggling to drag Inferiority Sakuramiya forward by her mouse ears.
Behind her, Mouse Sakuramiya, covered in sweat, was on the verge of collapse. Leaning against the wall for support, she said with unfocused eyes,
"No... I can't... ha... ha... I can't run anymore..."
"You have to run even if you can't! She... she's coming!!"
Petite Sakuramiya cried out, panicked and helpless. But just as she spoke, the end of the long, multicolored corridor suddenly plunged into absolute darkness, as if the power had been cut.
"Hehehe..."
An ethereal, constantly echoing laughter of a young girl drifted over on the sinister wind blowing from the darkness, making Petite Sakuramiya tremble all over.
She raised her eyes to look and saw that the corridor was losing power section by section, plunging everything into darkness.
"Fzzzt!"
The blackout spread incredibly fast, and the darkness swiftly devoured their position.
In the pitch-black darkness, Petite Sakuramiya and Inferiority Sakuramiya turned around in terror, only to see a pair of smiling eyes suddenly open deep within the corridor.
But it seed as if only those eyes were floating in mid-air.
"Hehe, can't run anymore after just this, little mice?"
The eyes gazed at them as a voice spoke with such gentleness.
Then, the eyes gently closed, seemingly blinking.
"I never expected that there would be a Sakuramiya capable of maintaining so many Barriers at once. The entire nursery room in the mall is actually her Barrier..." When the eyes opened again, whether it was an illusion or not, they seed a bit closer to them in the darkness.
Closing the eyes...
"It seems it really is just as you said. Every Sakuramiya is very special, either in appearance or in Ability..."
Opening the eyes...
In the darkness, those beautiful eyes drew a few fractions closer once more.
That constantly echoing, gentle voice was also getting closer and closer.
"Wuu... Perfect... Perfect Sakuramiya is here... hurry... get up!"
Petite Sakuramiya was so terrified her soul nearly flew out of her body, and Inferiority Sakuramiya was so frightened by this sight that her heart felt like it was going to leap out of her chest.
Thus, throwing caution to the wind, she twitched her ears, stood back up, and dashed toward the other end of the corridor.
But behind them, those eyes continued to approach, and the voice still echoed in their ears.
Closing the eyes...
"What a pity. That so-called Mama Sakuramiya cannot save you."
Opening the eyes...
"Ha... ha... ha..."
In the darkness, Mouse Sakuramiya sprinted like a madwoman, but when she looked back, those eyes continued to draw nearer with every blink.
At the sa ti, beneath those smiling eyes, a blood-stained flash of silver abruptly appeared in the darkness.
That silver light traced the outline of a dagger. It was raised high in the darkness before staggering and swaying forward, hurtling violently toward them,
"Hehe... hehehehe... run!!"
"Wuu!!"
Petite Sakuramiya was so petrified that her body went entirely limp, causing her to fall squarely onto Mouse Sakuramiya's head.
Mouse Sakuramiya was also startled into a full-body shudder. Just as she was about to turn her head back, close her eyes, and focus solely on sprinting, she collided head-on into a solid wall.
"Thud!"
"Ouch..."
Both of them whimpered in pain, but the fear was far more terrifying than the ache. It drove them to nervously reach out and trace the wall in front of them.
They were deeply afraid this was a dead end.
"No... it's not a wall! It's a door!!"
Fortunately, Petite Sakuramiya was the first to touch the doorknob. Gritting her teeth, she yanked it hard.
The door swung open, and Mouse Sakuramiya, along with her, squeezed inside with great difficulty, slamming the door shut behind them.
"Bang!"
The very next second, a harsh, screeching scrape violently echoed from the door.
Clearly, it was the shriek of a blade scraping against the door panel.
That piercing noise made both Petite Sakuramiya and Mouse Sakuramiya cover their ears, while tragically realizing:
This door could not completely block off Perfect Sakuramiya from them.
"Bang!!"
"Crack!"
Imdiately afterward, countless impacts against the door and the frantic rattling of the doorknob forced them to hurriedly turn and survey the space behind the door in search of another ans of escape.
But quickly, they discovered to their horror that the space behind the door was actually an extrely cramped, completely sealed room, no larger than a single toilet cubicle.
Which ant they had no other way out.
"It's... it's over..."
"Bang!!"
Petite Sakuramiya froze in place, but she wasn't even given the luxury of her mind going blank.
Because in the very next second, she was interrupted by the doorknob that was beginning to rattle violently.
She turned her pale face back around, only to see that the closed door was already shaking non-stop.
Clearly, this door was on the verge of giving way.
"Her... her target is , Petite Sakuramiya... When the door opens in a mont, I will lunge straight at her to hold her back as much as possible. Then, you fly right over our heads and escape..."
Inferiority Sakuramiya slumped to the ground, her whole body weak. After pursing her lips and thinking for a mont, she finally turned her head and said this to Petite Sakuramiya.
"How can you say that?! Wuu... Rash Sakuramiya is already... If you die too, I... wu-wu..."
Hearing this, Petite Sakuramiya burst straight into tears.
She had continuously watched so many familiar Sakuramiyas get killed by Perfect Sakuramiya.
Cold Hitomi, Lazy Hitomi, Lewd Hitomi, and Rash Sakuramiya...
And now...
Were they dood to just run, keep running, until they died?
"Bang!!"
"Wuu..."
At this mont, another hoarse, agonizingly harsh screech echoed from the door.
But when Petite Sakuramiya and Mouse Sakuramiya looked back, they saw that the doorknob had already been twisted to an unnatural angle.
Evidently, the lock was completely broken.
The banging on the door, the rattling, the sound of the dagger hacking against the wood...
Everything suddenly fell quiet.
In its place ca a woman's smiling voice, as gentle as a lullaby,
"I'm coming in now."
"Waaaaaah!!"
But this single sentence terrified them so much that they hugged each other tightly, curling up continuously as they backed away on the floor. With their backs pressed against the corner, they watched the broken door, trembling unceasingly.
"Creak..."
As the surroundings went dead silent, the door was finally pushed open, emitting an incredibly ear-piercing squeak.
"Wuu!"
Petite Sakuramiya and Mouse Sakuramiya were so frightened they both cried out simultaneously. Yet, they still hugged each other tightly, curling up in the corner and squeezing their eyes shut.
"..."
But what t them head-on was not the terrifying figure of Perfect Sakuramiya with her butcher's blade raised high.
Instead, it was a gentle, warm light that softly cast across their forms.
"Sakuramiya?"
Accompanying that warm light was a confused, surprised, yet gentle male voice.
Upon hearing that voice, both Sakuramiyas froze slightly.
Imdiately, they raised their heads in disbelief. There, bathed in the pixelated warm light, stood a tall, handso young man by the door, remaining vigilant as he surveyed the interior of the room.
It was none other than Yan Huan.
Behind him was a spacious stretch of warm light. There was not the slightest sign of any dark corridor or a dagger-wielding Perfect Sakuramiya.
"Pre... President?"
"President!!"
Yan Huan originally only saw Mouse Sakuramiya curled up by herself, but after she spoke, he realized there were actually two Sakuramiyas!
And one of them was only the size of a palm, sporting a chibi-style design with a large head and a tiny body!
The mont he spoke, Mouse Sakuramiya's eyes instantly filled with pink bubbles, while the tiny Sakuramiya broke down completely, wailing loudly as she lunged toward him.
"President!! Wu-wu-wu-wu!! I finally found you... you... you have no idea how I've survived this whole ti, wuu... I really... I missed you so much, wuu..."
Yan Huan stared blankly at the side of his cheek, where the tiny Sakuramiya had completely buried her little body against him. He couldn't help but feel shocked.
But sensing her body trembling like a leaf, he tentatively extended an index finger and gently patted her weeping, tear-stained little head,
"Wu-wu-wu-wu... wu-wu-waaaaah!"
As a result, she cried even harder.
"..."
Yan Huan was unable to help but laugh. He put down the compass in his hand and looked toward the corner of the room, where Mouse Sakuramiya was still curled up, staring at him just as blankly.
She was secretly examining him, but the mont she saw Yan Huan looking back, her little face instantly flushed completely red.
"Wuu!"
Right after, her Mickey Mouse-like ears twitched slightly. Out of fear, she lowered her head and simultaneously pulled up the hood from her back, covering her head and half her face.
This left Yan Huan only able to see her tightly pursed pink lips and still-flushed little cheeks beneath the hood.
"..."
'What an adorable Sakuramiya...'
Yan Huan thought to himself.
At the sa ti, however, he had no choice but to turn back to look at Petite Sakuramiya, who was still clinging to his cheek and continuously rubbing against it.
Because even though she was small, she certainly had no shortage of hair, and her constant nuzzling was making him incredibly itchy.
He hesitated for a mont, then gently pinched the back collar of her clothes with two fingers, lifting her entire body up.
Holding her a bit farther away to look, she was dangling softly by her four limbs, pouting her little mouth and staring at him with a tear-stained face, pitifully muttering,
"Wuu, President..."
A single teardrop of hers was almost the size of her little face, so she looked exceptionally wronged.
"..."
'This one is so adorable too!'
Yan Huan resisted the urge to poke and tease this tiny Sakuramiya with his fingers, quickly getting back to the main point.
After all, when he first ca in, they had looked scared to death, and all along the way in, he hadn't seen that terrifying Sakuramiya persona.
If he had encountered her, Yan Huan wouldn't have even known what to do.
Therefore, he had to quickly figure out the ins and outs of the situation.
"..."
Turning his head to examine their condition, and confirming they had not exhibited any abnormalities or mutations from him discovering the strangeness of the Modifiers, Yan Huan finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked,
"So, what exactly just happened? And what's going on with you two?"
"Well... umm..."
Petite Sakuramiya pursed her lips and looked at Yan Huan.
Yet before she could even speak, a massive amount of pixelated text suddenly surfaced on the wall beside them,
"President, look."
"Hmm?"
Hearing Petite Sakuramiya's reminder, Yan Huan hurriedly turned his head to look.
He scanned the text on the wall, reading it out loud,
"President, please take them and leave the room. Keep walking straight. I will be waiting for you in the room at the end of the corridor."
"Mama... Sakuramiya?"
After reading, he turned back around and exchanged a glance with the petite Sakuramiya in his hand.
Rewinding the clock a little, inside the Barrier, within that dark corridor.
Clutching a dagger, Perfect Sakuramiya had just worn a sinister smile as she pushed open the door she had smashed to splinters. Just as she was about to raise her blade and begin her slaughter, she abruptly froze.
Because at this mont, inside that completely sealed, cramped space... it was similarly empty.
It was as if those two little mice had vanished into thin air.
"..."
Staring at the scene inside, Perfect Sakuramiya paused slightly before suddenly realizing sothing.
She slowly lowered the dagger in her hand. As she turned her head back around, the smile on her face beca increasingly dangerous,
"What an... excellent trick."
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