"Ding-ding-dong~"
"Aba... Aba..."
After a long lunch break, the school's elegant end of lunch break bell drifted into their minds like a gentle tide.
The lodious ringing reached the Student Council Office, causing Yurianna, who had been asleep for who knows how long, to sit up in a daze, casually wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth.
"Mmm... that was such a comfortable sleep..."
She yawned and rubbed her eyes, letting out a cute sound like a little kitten while muttering to herself.
"Whoa, I dread I turned into a hot air balloon, and I was chopped by a Sakuramiya with a fire axe who was chasing other Sakuramiyas... Why would I have such a weird dream?"
As she thought about it, her expression imdiately revealed a guilty conscience.
"Ah, is this my guilty conscience acting up because I was secretly criticizing Sakuramiya's oppai?!"
Along the way, she reached out and massaged her own "conscience"—which was significantly larger than Sakuramiya's, even when padded—and finally breathed a sigh of relief as if to comfort herself.
Only after doing this did she turn to look around the quiet Student Council Office.
To one side, Sakuramiya Hitomi—who had been chasing her with an axe in the dream—was resting quietly on the sofa.
However, her feminine fists near her face were slightly clenched, though for what reason was a mystery.
Opposite Yurianna was a breathtakingly beautiful girl with a slightly flushed face and disheveled clothes, her eyes closed tightly.
She had clearly fallen asleep, but her expression showed that it was a restless slumber. She was even mumbling things Yurianna could not understand.
"It tickles... so ticklish... but it feels so good..."
"Eh, eh, eh?! Bai Yi?"
Yurianna's eyes widened. She had no idea why Bai Yi was here, let alone why both she and Sakuramiya Hitomi had fallen asleep in such bizarre postures.
Could it be...
"..."
Yurianna swallowed a mouthful of saliva, subconsciously crossing her arms defensively over her chest, before turning to look at the president's throne to the side.
Behind the desk, she saw Yan Huan slumped in the executive chair. With his head lowered and his hands resting on his slightly parted thighs, his entire being seed to have turned into an ashen white husk.
"P-President?"
Hearing Yurianna call out, Yan Huan's body trembled slightly, finally transforming back into a human from the white ashes left after burning out.
He sluggishly raised a hand that seed devoid of all sensation, looked at the wide-eyed Yurianna in front of him, and said hoarsely.
"Yurianna..."
"Eh, eh, eh?! Don't talk with a zombie-like voice, President! And what on earth happened?!"
Hearing Yurianna's worried voice, a relieved smile appeared on Yan Huan's lips as his head slumped down once more...
Completely, utterly burnt out.
"President!!"
Behind her, Bai Yi was also woken up by Yurianna's shout, sitting up in a daze.
However, right before her eyes, Sakuramiya Hitomi stood up first. She elegantly straightened her clothes and looked at Bai Yi with a smiling gaze, startling her so much that she trembled all over. Where was the arrogant swagger from before?
'But this is rely showing weakness to the enemy!'
'I've already won anyway, I just won't stoop to her level right now!'
Bai Yi thought to herself.
"..."
Deeply worried, Yurianna jumped off the sofa. Without even putting her shoes on, she ran over to Yan Huan and grabbed his body, shaking him with a tearful expression.
"President! No, don't die! Even if you have to die, at least hand the presidency over to
first so I can enjoy being the President for a little while!!"
Hearing this, Yan Huan's face instantly darkened as he taphorically climbed right back out of his coffin.
"Screw you!"
Not long after, it was ti for the afternoon elective classes.
Yan Huan had just changed into his athletic wear to attend volleyball class when a blushing, deeply apologetic Bai Yi followed behind him and tugged at his clothes.
"I'm sorry... I was wrong..."
Yes, Yan Huan's completely burnt-out appearance from earlier was all thanks to Bai Yi.
This girl's body was incredibly sensitive; she yelped no matter where he pressed.
Everything was too stimulating for her. When Yan Huan said he would stop the massage, she insisted he continue.
But when he did massage her, she was harder to pin down than a New Year's pig!
Using the Godly Hands massage was already extrely draining on his stamina. After a dozen minutes, his hands felt like they were going to snap off.
On top of that, Yan Huan had to keep her from thrashing around and suppress her strange noises to avoid waking up Sakuramiya Hitomi and Yurianna.
Towards the end, Yan Huan genuinely wanted to tie her up and use a back scratcher on the sole of her foot, leaving her desperate with no one to turn to...
"..."
But seeing Bai Yi standing before him with a slightly flushed face, blinking her beautiful eyes that sparkled like starlight, Yan Huan couldn't help but sigh.
'I'll just consider this paying off my debt to her.'
After all, he had lied to her so much right from the start.
Whether it was about the music fan, or the confession...
"It's fine."
"Really?"
He had barely spoken the words when Bai Yi puffed out her cheeks, stood on her tiptoes to lean in close, and questioned closely with a suspicious tone.
"Is it really fine, or do you actually care a whole lot on the inside and are just saying it's fine?"
It seed Yan Huan's previous cold war had given her a bit of PTSD. She was terrified he would turn into a taciturn person again and sulk all by himself (which he actually hadn't done).
Yan Huan was amused by the sudden zoom-in of her pink pufferfish face. Since he didn't answer imdiately, she maintained the posture and started gently swaying her head from side to side.
"Hey, tell , tell , c'mon tell ..."
"Really, really, really... Anyway, as long as you don't make
give you another massage, it's fine."
Unable to resist the adorable nagging of the cute pufferfish, Yan Huan gently reached out and poked her bulging cheeks.
But the mont he poked her, her cheeks didn't sink in at all; instead, they puffed out even more.
"Smack~"
The next second, Bai Yi lightly slapped the back of his hand.
"I told you not to touch my face after I put on makeup!"
After grumbling, she glanced at the back of Yan Huan's hand where she had hit him. Looking worried, she gently blew on it, as if trying to soothe the pain.
"Phew, phew..."
Yan Huan stared at her slightly pouted lips, observing the lip gloss gleaming in the sunlight, faintly catching the fragrance of the gloss.
He parted his lips slightly, just about to speak, when several passing girls spotted Bai Yi. They quickly stopped and shouted from a distance.
"Bai Yi, hurry up, we're going to be late!!"
"Eh? Coming!"
Hearing them, Bai Yi turned her head to reply before looking back at Yan Huan—only to et his intense gaze that looked as though it wanted to devour her.
"Uu..."
Her shoulders trembled slightly, and with a slightly flushed face, she took a step back, belatedly feeling shy.
"I... I'm going to class..."
Tucking her black hair behind her ear, she cast a timid glance at Yan Huan and shuffled her feet as she spoke.
The romantic atmosphere finally faded a bit as she stepped away. Yan Huan smiled slightly.
"Alright, I need to head to class too. Let's chat on Plane later."
"Mhm..."
Bai Yi nodded, then hastily turned around and ran off.
She ran a few steps before looking back at him one last ti. Only then did she wave her hand and jog over to her classmates.
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Quick, quick, we're really going to be late..."
"Hey, what were you talking about with President Yan? Your face is so red..."
"Ah, hush..."
Watching her walk away, Yan Huan couldn't help but take a deep breath before turning his head.
That reminded him...
He wondered how the Sakuramiyas inside the barrier were doing.
'I'll contact them using the cara when I get back tonight.'
With this thought in mind, Yan Huan hurried towards the volleyball court for his elective class.
That night, in the South Ward, inside Yan Huan's rental apartnt.
"..."
Freshly showered, Yan Huan placed the cara on the table with a slight frown.
Beside him, Myau-chan materialized its form, looked at the silent cara, and owed a question.
"Still unable to contact them, ow?"
"Yeah..."
Yan Huan pinched his chin, staring at the cara that remained unresponsive no matter how much he called out. A faint sense of foreboding crept into his heart.
It ant the cara on the other side hadn't been turned on at all, almost as if it were broken.
"How about we take a taxi to the mall and check right now, ow?"
Yan Huan thought about it for a second before shaking his head.
"No. If sothing happened over there, it was definitely Perfect Sakuranomiya's doing. If I go, there's a high chance I'll run into her, and that would be hard to explain..."
Sighing, he fiddled with the cara again.
"Didn't Mama Sakuramiya say that barrier was practically impenetrable? How could it collapse in less than a day? Talk about raising a death flag."
"ow..."
Myau-chan tilted its head in thought before saying to Yan Huan.
"The key question is, did your plan to make Perfect Sakuranomiya fall asleep actually work, ow?
"If it worked, even if sothing happened over there, you can still enter the barrier through your dreams and find Dream Sakuramiya to assess the situation, ow."
Yan Huan glanced at Myau-chan, then looked up at the wall clock. Nodding, he got up and walked toward his bed.
"Alright..."
Turning to lie down on the bed, Yan Huan took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"I just hope it works... Let's pray I don't sleep straight through the night, only to wake up and find out Perfect Sakuranomiya has slaughtered everyone..."
"ow~"
Beside him, Myau-chan expertly leaped onto the nightstand to turn off the table lamp, then hurriedly dashed over and burrowed into Yan Huan's bedding.
Now that An Le was gone, it could finally reclaim its throne.
"..."
Holding the plump Myau-chan in his arms, Yan Huan felt his mind slowly relax, his consciousness gradually dragged into the dream realm.
"Hum..."
He didn't know how much ti passed. Between falling asleep and entering a dream, there is indeed a gap of unfathomable depth.
Only by crossing that gap can one arrive at that mysterious kingdom.
"Phew..."
When Yan Huan opened his eyes again, he saw a hanging canopy of sheer fabric and a ceiling as deep and profound as the starry sky.
This appeared to be a bedroom.
He sat up in a daze, peering around the exceptionally dim surroundings.
"..."
He subconsciously wanted to call out, "Is anyone there?" but what left his mouth the next second was—
"ow?"
??
Yan Huan's eyes widened. He hastily looked down at his own body.
Greeting his sight was a coat of snow-white fur and four legs that no human should possess.
Had he...
Turned into a cat?
After a brief mont of shock, Yan Huan quickly cald down.
There was one piece of good news right now: his earlier sche had most likely succeeded.
Let's not forget, the whole reason they sought out Dream Sakuramiya was so that Yan Huan could transform his shape, keeping Perfect Sakuranomiya completely unaware of his presence within the barrier.
Since he had turned into a cat, that should count as achieving their goal, right?
However...
Where exactly was he right now?
And where were the other Sakuramiyas?
Yan Huan, now cat-like, scanned the dark, silent bedroom. A faint sense of dread crept into his heart, but he still lifted his four limbs and began to move.
Perhaps because this was a dream, he didn't feel any stiffness or awkwardness in this new form.
He padded over to the edge of the bed and looked into a mirror resting on the bedroom vanity.
Reflected within was a small white kitten with golden eyes, instantly filling Yan Huan's field of vision.
It seed this was his current appearance.
"Yan Huan, you turned into a cat, ow?!"
Just as Yan Huan was inspecting his own face, a familiar voice sounded from the side, causing him to quickly turn his head.
He saw a plump black cat standing beside him, observing him with a pair of erald eyes, its tail swishing lazily behind it.
But in the mirror, there was absolutely no reflection of it.
"Hold on, aren't I in a dream? You actually managed to follow ?"
"Are you kidding? I am a deity, ow!!"
Myau-chan proudly raised its head, carefully scrutinizing Yan Huan's white body, and then shook its head.
"Ew, Yan Huan, you look so ugly right now, ow..." Hearing this, Yan Huan instantly went speechless. While scanning their surroundings, he casually threw back a retort.
"Trash."
"Huh?"
Myau-chan instantly fired up. It entered full 'spinosaurus mode,' puffing out its back as it strutted over with its head tilted, body angled, and tail raised high.
Looking at Yan Huan, whose fra was a size smaller than its own chubby body, Myau-chan felt extrely confident.
All the mories of Yan Huan casually raising a hand to suppress it and slandering it as a trash deity instantly surfaced in its mind...
Now that Yan Huan was also a kitten, wasn't this the perfect opportunity for revenge?
"Hey, hey, hey, Yan Huan, it seems you have no idea what the situation is, ow! Can you turn back into a human right now, ow? Acting so tough? I don't think you've ever tasted the wrath of these black claws, ow!"
Myau-chan aggressively raised its black claws and started throwing ow-ow Punches, looking completely fierce, as if intending to teach Yan Huan a brutal lesson.
However, upon hearing its words, Yan Huan had a sudden thought.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, his cat-like body began to change, rapidly expanding back into his human form.
"..."
Still stuck in Octogenarian Power Stage Three, Myau-chan watched helplessly as the small cat shadow in front of it grew larger and larger, until it completely eclipsed it...
Its ow-ow Punches instantly froze. Then, trembling, it returned to landing on all fours, tilted its head, and rubbed against his leg.
"I was just joking, ow. This was... um... reverse psychology, ow! If I hadn't done that, how would you have discovered you could turn back into a human, ow?"
"Heh."
Yan Huan's face darkened. He simply reached out, grabbed the plump scruff of its neck, and hoisted it into the air.
Suspended mid-air by its fat rolls, Myau-chan's four limbs dangled limply. Its entire feline face was practically screaming guilty conscience, but it could only sway weakly in the air.
"W-we are the best in the world, ow, right?"
"Right now I have the best relationship with An Le and Aruiya. Who are you again?"
"ow ow?!"
Myau-chan was breaking out in a cold sweat. Right at that mont, its ears twitched, and it instantly grew tense.
"Soone's coming, ow! Soone is coming, ow!"
"??"
Yan Huan looked towards the door, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Tap... tap... tap..."
"Pant... pant..."
The next second, a pale Sakuramiya wearing a baseball cap stumbled inside.
Was this Cool Sakuramiya?
She was completely alone, her face plastered with panic, and sweat visibly beading on her forehead.
The mont she entered, she frantically scanned the room, clearly searching for a place to hide.
"What do I do, what do I do, she's here..."
The wardrobe? Under the bed?
Hiding in the shadows, Yan Huan—who had turned back into a white cat—poked his head out. After confirming she was indeed the Cool Sakuramiya he had t earlier in Mama Sakuramiya's barrier, he quietly padded out.
"Cool Sakuramiya?"
Yan Huan called out softly, which gave Cool Sakuramiya quite a fright. She subconsciously blurted out,
"President?!"
She whipped her head around to look behind her.
Upon seeing it was a small kitten, she blanked for a second, but quickly realized what was going on.
"You entered through the dream realm? So Dream Sakuramiya actually succeeded..."
Her form of address also deliberately shifted from "President" back to "You."
"Yeah. What exactly is the situation right now? Why was I unable to contact you guys through the cara earlier?"
Cool Sakuramiya pursed her lips and spoke up,
"Well... Dream Sakuramiya has already been..."
"Self-Doubting Sakuramiya and I ca here to find Dream Sakuramiya. We wanted to ask her to help you enter the barrier through a dream, and she agreed.
"But not long after, Perfect Sakuranomiya attacked.
"For so reason, the mont she saw Dream Sakuramiya, she suddenly got incredibly, intensely angry...
"Originally, her target should have been Self-Doubting Sakuramiya, but she suddenly threw all caution to the wind and beca dead set on killing Dream Sakuramiya...
"However, exactly because she went after Dream Sakuramiya, Self-Doubting Sakuramiya and I had a chance to escape... It's just that the two of us got separated while running away..."
Just as Cool Sakuramiya was about to continue her explanation, the faint sound of footsteps suddenly echoed from outside the door.
"Tap... tap... tap..."
Hearing those footsteps, Cool Sakuramiya's face instantly turned ashen pale.
Trembling slightly all over, she stared at the doorway and clenched her fists.
The next second, she grit her teeth and turned back to Yan Huan.
"Hide first. I'll go out and lure Perfect Sakuranomiya away!"
"..."
As expected, Perfect Sakuranomiya had co knocking.
Yan Huan sighed internally. But seeing how she had bolted in here completely panicked and disoriented just monts ago, wouldn't going out an certain death?
Sure enough, Cool Sakuramiya's body was shivering in front of him.
Yet even so, she kept her face perfectly composed, straightened the cap on her head, and prepared to march out of the room.
"Don't go out. Co here, I have a way!"
Just as she was about to move, Yan Huan spoke softly, quickly darting under the desk.
"You..."
Cool Sakuramiya pursed her lips. After a mont's hesitation, she decided to trust Yan Huan, bending down to look under the desk.
As she moved closer, Yan Huan conveniently pushed a bottle of potion out toward her.
"This is..."
"When I ca in, Dream Sakuramiya left a ssage for
allowing
to turn into a kitten, and she also told
there was a bottle of potion here that could temporarily keep us from being discovered by anyone..."
A lie.
It was actually an Invisible Potion drawn from the Modifier's prize pool. It could be shared between two people, granting 15 minutes of absolute invisibility upon consumption.
Now that his knowledge of the modifiers had been exposed to so of Sakuramiya's personas, the situation was already incredibly risky. He absolutely could not afford to reveal that he also possessed a Modifier.
So he might as well attribute this potion to Dream Sakuramiya. After all, she had already heroically sacrificed herself.
"A potion? I see..."
Cool Sakuramiya didn't suspect a thing. She reached out and took the potion Yan Huan offered.
Following his explanation, she pursed her lips, picked Yan Huan up in her arms, and squeezed herself beneath the desk alongside him.
"..."
This was Yan Huan's first ti experiencing what it was like to be held by soone as a cat, and he had to admit—it was quite comfortable.
No wonder Myau-chan always wanted to sleep in his arms whenever An Le wasn't around...
Being a cat was truly a luxury.
"Glug, glug..."
Cool Sakuramiya uncorked the potion, drank half of it herself, and then lowered her head to feed the other half to Yan Huan.
"I just hope this potion works..."
Yan Huan was actually quite confident in the items provided by the Modifier.
Though the system was undeniably scummy, the effects of the things it doled out were never ambiguous; it simply never resorted to deception when it ca to functionality.
"Tap, tap..."
Outside the desk, the faint footsteps drew near.
"Mm..."
Yan Huan could feel the force of Cool Sakuramiya's embrace tightening.
In the darkness beyond the desk, a foot wearing small leather shoes suddenly slid into their field of vision.
Yan Huan recognized them; those were the exact sa shoes Sakuramiya had worn to school today.
"..."
Staring at the sudden appearance of those legs, Yan Huan's breathing hitched, even though he knew he was completely invisible.
"Step."
The small leather shoe tapped against the floorboards, producing a crisp sound.
As she walked further in, her bloody hand tightly gripping a dagger abruptly entered his view.
"Drip... drip..."
Drops of fresh blood continuously splattered against the floor, allowing Yan Huan to witness firsthand exactly what Perfect Sakuranomiya was capable of.
"..."
Beneath the desk, neither Yan Huan nor Cool Sakuramiya behind him dared to breathe. All they could do was watch helplessly as she strode past their hiding spot.
They watched her circle the bedroom, hearing the loud crash of the wardrobe doors being violently thrown open.
"...Did she escape?"
"Drip."
Perfect Sakuranomiya's muttered words mixed with the continuous dripping sounds. The next second, the wardrobe doors were slamd shut. She carried her bloody blade, walking past the desk by the bed once more, and headed towards the door.
"Tap, tap..."
The footsteps gradually faded away.
'She didn't even check this side. Looks like this potion was wasted...'
Yan Huan thought with a tinge of regret.
"Phew..."
Regardless, she was finally gone.
Hearing the receding footsteps, both Yan Huan and Cool Sakuramiya exhaled sighs of relief at the exact sa ti.
Yan Huan shook his body, noticing that Cool Sakuramiya's hands were clammy with sweat. Her back was likely drenched in cold sweat as well.
"..."
Cool Sakuramiya exhaled heavily and looked down, only to suddenly realize Yan Huan was staring straight at her.
Her body stiffened slightly. In the next second, she turned her face away, casually reaching up to adjust her baseball cap.
"Hmph."
'This Sakuramiya really doesn't seem to like
very much.'
Yan Huan thought to himself.
He didn't feel particularly offended, nor did he care too much about her reaction. He was simply trying to figure out their next move.
But just as he turned his head forward again, he suddenly saw Perfect Sakuranomiya's blood-spattered face leaning down upside-down from the top of the desk, looking underneath with a beaming smile.
She...
She hadn't left?!
Right at this very mont, she was laying on top of the exact desk they were hiding under!!
A waterfall of gradient cherry-blossom hair spilled downwards. The pink hue in the darkness almost seed to solidify, dripping heavily to the floor...
"Drip... drip..."
It wasn't until Yan Huan looked closely that he realized it wasn't the color of her hair at all—it was the fresh blood remaining from her slaughter of Dream Sakuramiya.
"!!"
Seeing this, Yan Huan's heart nearly stopped beating. He instantly went limp in Cool Sakuramiya's arms.
"..."
Feeling Yan Huan's furry body slump completely against her chest, Cool Sakuramiya flinched.
She turned her head in surprise, only to be t with the very sa grinning, upside-down face of Perfect Sakuranomiya.
"Mm..."
Yan Huan could feel it—she had been frightened half to death as well.
"...She really ran away. Tsk."
Thankfully, they had drank the Invisible Potion.
Having peered down to check this final hiding spot, Perfect Sakuranomiya still couldn't see anything. The smile on her face faded slightly as she spoke.
The next second, she stood up, and her small leather shoes reappeared in Yan Huan's line of sight once more.
Then, carrying her dagger, she turned around and truly left the area.
"Tap, tap..."
This ti, she must have actually left; even her footsteps sounded much more hurried.
"Self-Doubting Sakuramiya... where on earth are you..."
Self-Doubting Sakuramiya...
So Perfect Sakuranomiya's primary target really was her...
Beneath the desk, Yan Huan struggled out of Cool Sakuramiya's embrace. Stepping out into the open, he watched as Perfect Sakuranomiya pushed open a door.
Outside the door was an entirely different scene, looking as if it belonged to a completely separate world compared to this pitch-black bedroom.
"Click~"
She had temporarily left this section of the barrier.
Watching her leave, Yan Huan didn't relax in the slightest. Instead, he snapped his head back, looked at Cool Sakuramiya with a grave expression, and asked.
"Where exactly did you and Self-Doubting Sakuramiya get separated?"
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