"Wh-Why..."
As this simple question tumbled from the young girl's lips in a soft murmur, the emotional collapse on her face beca increasingly apparent.
"Ripple~"
Yan Huan kept a cold face and didn't utter a word in response. He rely frowned as he watched the exposed Perfect Sakuranomiya. The clothes on her body and the mouse ears on her head gradually shifted until she looked exactly like the real Sakuramiya.
But with just one glance, Yan Huan could clearly tell—she was Perfect Sakuranomiya.
"Where is Self-Doubting Sakuramiya?"
Feeling no joy in exposing her, Yan Huan imdiately fired back a question.
He was incredibly worried that this murderous Perfect Sakuranomiya had killed Mouse Sakuramiya while he was falling into the Barrier and dreaming.
But Perfect Sakuranomiya just stared at him, clutching her chest as she asked in confusion,
"Why? President, what is so good about that mouse? Wasn't it precisely because of her peeping that you hated Hitomi in the first place?
"She's flat, timid, and filthy! What could possibly be good about her? Why would you reject , yet accept her Flower Presentation Dance Invitation for the High Table Dinner?"
Yan Huan sized her up. He paused for a second, swallowing back the words he originally intended to say, and simply pressed on,
"I'm asking you, where is she?"
"..."
Perfect Sakuranomiya's eyes widened slightly. She stared at Yan Huan for a long ti before reluctantly opening her mouth.
"I don't know either... I didn't kill her."
Truth be told, Perfect Sakuranomiya was just as bewildered. Self-Doubting Sakuramiya clearly wasn't dead, yet she inexplicably found herself able to take the initiative with the President...
She had no idea what the underlying chanism was. All she knew was that the mont she realized her subconscious was no longer resisting her taking charge, she imdiately chose to go on the offensive.
As a result, the outco was still total garbage.
And that was what completely shattered her defenses.
Yan Huan was half-believing, half-doubting. He rely glanced at the sealed room around them, his vigilance undiminished.
His aning was obvious:
Isn't this 'a room you can't leave unless you do X' a trap you set up?
Since you could set this up in advance to lock the two of us in here, and she fell down with us, how could you not know where she is?
Yan Huan's vigilant gaze seed to physically wound Perfect Sakuranomiya. eting his eyes, she felt so heartbroken that she couldn't bear to look straight at him, so she explained,
"I really was the one who deployed this Barrier, but my original intention was to save you, President...
"Maybe it's because I unintentionally hurt you, President, or maybe it's because you accepted Self-Doubting Sakuramiya's Flower Presentation Dance Invitation. Or perhaps it's because you revealed to
that you knew about the Barrier...
"In short, the Barrier experienced an unprecedented tremor, damaging a massive portion of it..."
Perfect Sakuranomiya raised her finger and pointed out the window at the void surrounded by countless centipede shadows. Following her gaze, Yan Huan could even see nurous broken walls and ruins floating in midair.
Those appeared to be fragnts of certain Barriers.
"As for why the Barrier was designed like this, it's because I..."
At this point, Perfect Sakuranomiya pursed her lips. Her face took on a rare, faint blush, appearing sowhat shy.
Her shyness brought hesitation, but sowhere in the unseen void, the reliable figure of Teacher An Le surfaced in her mind, granting her imnse courage.
'You can do it, my second direct disciple~'
Why was she the second disciple?
Perfect Sakuranomiya didn't know either, but either way, she had supposedly mastered an unparalleled, invincible technique.
"I... I like you, President. So... I wanted to take our relationship a step further..."
"..."
With a slightly flushed face, she suddenly leaned in closer, making Yan Huan freeze for a mont.
"Sakuramiya, you..."
Yan Huan took a deep breath. Frowning, he was just about to speak when Perfect Sakuranomiya hastily explained, as if predicting his words,
"You don't need to worry about my body! I've beco very robust now. Besides, we're currently inside the Barrier... What happened last ti when we kissed in Akihabara absolutely won't happen again!"
"...Sakuramiya, I don't..."
Perfect Sakuranomiya's expression shifted slightly, and she imdiately stood up.
In front of Yan Huan, she gently waved her hand, and another perfect transformation occurred over her body.
"Do you not like how I look right now, President? It's okay. I can satisfy you no matter what kind of look you prefer..."
"Ripple~"
"Is it the clothes?"
As soon as her voice fell, the original Japanese schoolgirl uniform on her body gradually lted away in a burst of light, transforming into an incredibly stunning cat-ear maid outfit.
She tilted her head, shaping her hands into little cat paws, and asked Yan Huan,
"Like this?"
"..."
Yan Huan frowned, remaining silent.
Seeing this, Perfect Sakuranomiya pursed her lips. The clothes on her body burst into light again, changing into a scorching hot beach bikini.
Holding the sun hat that suddenly appeared on her head, she climbed onto the bed and gently wrapped her arms around Yan Huan's neck.
"How about this?"
Helpless, Yan Huan abruptly turned around and grabbed her wrists, speaking flatly,
"Sakuramiya..."
"Well, if you don't want
to look like myself, that's fine too! I can turn into other people! And there won't be any difference in appearance or personality!"
Perfect Sakuranomiya took a step back, the light around her body surging slightly.
But this ti, it wasn't just her clothes that changed—it was her entire being.
The next second, standing strikingly before Yan Huan was the expressionless Ye Shiyu.
"Could it be that you like Senior Student Ye, President? Makes sense. Senior Student Ye is indeed very beautiful, isn't she?"
Before him, Ye Shiyu tilted her head and asked in an utterly deadpan voice.
Her transformation was almost perfect; the only flaw was her aura.
The one standing before Yan Huan now was the forr Ye Shiyu.
That is, V1.0: The Unreford Ye Shiyu, not V2.0 Beta: The Turning-Over-a-New-Leaf Ye Shiyu.
The two were practically worlds apart!
"...Yeah, very pretty. Keep her away from ."
Seeing the V1.0 Ye Shiyu, Yan Huan felt as though he had just been struck by a migraine. He imdiately covered his face and turned his head away, completely unable to bear the sight.
"..."
Seeing this, Perfect Sakuranomiya pursed her lips, and her entire body instantly shifted again.
Feeling a faint, fragrant breeze, Yan Huan looked back over, only to see a beautiful girl with a completely different style standing before him.
"Then, does the President like , rawr?"
"!!"
Hearing that familiar voice, Yan Huan's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously snapped his head over.
He saw a blonde girl with sky-blue eyes blinking at him, looking exactly like Aria.
Not just the voice, but even her verbal tic...
"..."
However, after looking her up and down, Yan Huan suddenly asked with an expressionless face,
"What is eight tis eight? Answer
in three seconds!"
"Eh? Sixty-four, rawr!"
The Aria before him paused for a mont, but a sly gleam flashed in her sky-blue eyes as she instantly gave the answer.
As soon as those words ca out, both of them went completely quiet.
After a long silence, Yan Huan finally said helplessly,
"You got it right."
"..."
But after those words were spoken, Perfect Sakuranomiya fell into an even deeper silence.
Because both she and Yan Huan had realized the problem:
This Aria Spencer's aura was way too smart!
"...Ugh!"
Perfect Sakuranomiya's expression broke once again. Puffing her cheeks, she clenched her fists and transford again, this ti into Bai Yi.
This ti, her appearance and aura were entirely identical.
The breathtakingly beautiful girl wearing full makeup, combined with that bright confidence and a touch of husky-like stupidity...
Yes, it hit the spot.
"Then, how about this?"
But the mont she spoke, the voice that flowed out was not Bai Yi's lodious voice, which was usually like a skylark.
Although it still sounded nice, it was just a tiny bit off from the original.
A miss is as good as a mile.
"..."
This ti, Yan Huan didn't even need to speak. Perfect Sakuranomiya realized her mistake on her own.
"Ugh!"
"Ripple!"
Without saying a word, she triggered another transformation. This ti, the figure of An Le appeared.
The timid An Le was always used to keeping her head down to avoid people's gazes, so the An Le that Perfect Sakuranomiya transford into did the sa.
"Wu..."
Accompanied by a soft and sweet voice like a marshmallow, she naturally lowered her head.
And then, upon lowering her head, she directly saw her own toes.
"..."
There was another long silence. The next second, Perfect Sakuranomiya's body slightly wriggled, turning back into her original appearance.
But at this mont, her palms were trembling slightly, and her face was filled with a defense-broken disbelief.
"H-How... could this be..."
Seeing this, Yan Huan really didn't have the patience to entertain this farce any longer. He bluntly said,
"Just give it up... You can't replace anyone. Let alone the others, you can't even replace Hitomi herself."
"!!"
Hearing this, Perfect Sakuranomiya's pupils shrank slightly, and she looked at Yan Huan in disbelief.
Yan Huan simply glanced at her, pinching his chin as he softly continued,
"Earlier, I was wondering why you were so obsessed with rushing to kill Self-Doubting Sakuramiya...
"Whether it was relentlessly chasing her inside the Barrier, or resorting to luring her to the academy with fake news and deploying the Barrier in front of everyone...
"All of these actions felt like the desperate gambles of soone pushed to the brink by a deadline or so sort of performance quota."
Saying this, Yan Huan looked at the utterly astonished Perfect Sakuranomiya before him and hypothesized,
"If you don't et this quota, you'll face a terrible fate—perhaps even disappear completely. Right?"
"..."
Perfect Sakuranomiya stared at Yan Huan, her eyes wide, but she too remained silent.
"Can I also assu that your rush to do these things with
now is for the very sa purpose?"
"...If that were the case, to stay alive, what do you think I would do to an uncooperative President—"
But before she could finish, Yan Huan suddenly interrupted,
"Rape ?"
"President, I... I didn't..."
"You possess a superpower like the Barrier, sothing an ordinary person is entirely powerless against. If such a brutal thod could complete the quota, why didn't you use it earlier? Why would you even go so far as to disguise yourself as Self-Doubting Sakuramiya just now to deceive ?"
"..."
Yan Huan looked at the speechless Perfect Sakuranomiya in front of him. He slowly stood up and looked her in the eye, enunciating each word,
"Don't think I haven't figured it out. Your connection to Hitomi is far deeper than anyone could imagine!
"It is you who imprisoned Hitomi, which is why all the other Sakuramiyas—even the Brain Command Center—can't contact her. And it's also Hitomi who binds you, which is why you have all these life-threatening quotas looming over your head...
"But the mont I exposed you, you were already completely out of options, weren't you?
"Instead of locking
in here and wasting the rest of your ti, you might as well tell
where Hitomi is and end all of this!
"The pointless slaughter of the other Sakuramiyas, your pointless quota, Hitomi's pointless imprisonnt...
"Just let
talk to her."
Listening to all of Yan Huan's words, Perfect Sakuranomiya's jaw tightened little by little. The next second, she finally couldn't help but retort,
"End all of this?! Are you kidding ?!
"Did you think I was the chief culprit? Did you think that stopping
from killing Self-Doubting Sakuramiya, or letting Self-Doubting Sakuramiya beat , would end everything?
"The reason the Barrier is collapsing like this now is precisely because you accepted Self-Doubting Sakuramiya's Flower Presentation Dance Invitation! That made Hitomi shift her hopes onto her, granting her more authority!
"So, even if you stop , it just ans swapping in Self-Doubting Sakuramiya to replace Hitomi and continue living her life! What difference does it make?!"
Hearing this, Yan Huan's pupils contracted, and he inevitably furrowed his brows.
"...What?"
Perfect Sakuranomiya clenched her fists and was just about to continue explaining when a thunderous knocking sound echoed throughout the entire Barrier.
"Knock-knock-knock!"
That knocking sound didn't co from outside the tightly shut door; it sounded more like it was knocking from beyond the sky itself.
Following that, a cute female voice rang out, echoing endlessly in this void-like world,
"Sakuramiya? President? Where are you guys? Let
see if little Sakuramiya succeeded in her confession~"
It's that idiot, Yurianna!!
Yan Huan's face changed, initially thinking that Yurianna had entered the Barrier.
Looking at Perfect Sakuranomiya, he saw her frown as well. She pursed her lips and turned her head away, unwilling to even face Yan Huan as she delivered her final harsh words, "Since Hitomi won't let herself out, neither will I! The outco is the sa anyway—choosing a Sakuramiya to replace her. So why can't it be ?"
"..."
As she spoke, Perfect Sakuranomiya was already walking toward the door, adding,
"This is all Hitomi's fault. Now that the Barrier has collapsed into this state, the Barrier's doors can't lock tightly, allowing Yurianna to enter the Club Instruction Building.
"If I don't stop her, she'll see the scene inside here just by pushing open any random classroom door. So, President, I have to leave temporarily to deal with matters in reality.
"The flow of ti here is different from reality. By the ti I co back, I'm afraid many hours will have already passed for you, President. I am truly sorry."
This ans...
She's going to lock
up?
But even after realizing this, Yan Huan still helplessly sat back on the bed and waved his hand at her.
He was still pondering the words Perfect Sakuranomiya had just spoken.
For so reason, an instinctual feeling told him with certainty that Perfect Sakuranomiya was not lying.
And if that were true, then things were really troubleso.
Previously, they had always worked toward the goal of entering Perfect Sakuranomiya's Barrier and finding Hitomi.
This goal assud a premise:
As long as they found Hitomi and talked to her, all problems would be easily solved.
But looking at it now, that wasn't the case.
First of all, Hitomi's state of consciousness was a mystery.
She didn't seem to be awake, yet she could still do things like transferring the authority of the Barrier...
It was as if she had turned into so rigid world consciousness, leaving Yan Huan feeling extrely uncertain.
Under these circumstances, if she was determined to let a certain Sakuramiya replace her, then even if they defeated Perfect Sakuranomiya, entered her Barrier, and found Hitomi's main body, it would probably be aningless.
Because you simply wouldn't be able to bring her out.
So at this mont, even though Perfect Sakuranomiya was going to imprison him temporarily, Yan Huan couldn't even be bothered to struggle.
Because he genuinely needed ti to think of a counterasure.
"..."
In the distance, Perfect Sakuranomiya walked to the door. She gently grasped the doorknob and easily opened the originally locked door, revealing the corridor outside.
"Creak~"
But just before leaving, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She slightly turned her head back to say to Yan Huan,
"However, President... you were wrong about one thing earlier..."
"Hmm?"
Hearing this, Yan Huan snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at her.
"I wanted to take things further with you, President, not entirely because of so so-called quota.
"Even if I didn't do this kind of thing with you, I have other ways to deal with it...
"I did this simply because I like you, President... that's all."
Yan Huan watched her at the door, her eyes lowered as she spoke. Faintly, her features carried a trace of feeling wronged.
That trace of grievance surfaced on her face, turning into silver needles that pierced both of them simultaneously, bringing almost identical pain.
"..."
Yan Huan opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Perfect Sakuranomiya turned around, walked out the door, and completely vanished.
"Click~"
Then, the door shut.
In the entire room, only a large bed covered in white sheets remained, leaving a sowhat frustrated Yan Huan all by himself.
Rewinding ti slightly, to before Perfect Sakuranomiya had deployed the Barrier.
The red-haired Tong Yingying walked into the Club Instruction Building with a foul expression on her face, then raised her eyes to glance toward the second floor.
She had just learned of Yan Huan's whereabouts from the Student Council students, so she rushed over imdiately to start a fight.
She had heard clearly just now—about Yan Huan and that An Le...
At the thought that the plain-looking An Le had already secretly devoured her Yan Huan inside and out, Tong Yingying's temperature skyrocketed and refused to drop.
The Yan Huan whom she had held herself back from eating for so long. The Yan Huan she had been waiting for to graduate. The Yan Huan she had been secretly nourishing with money, terrified that he would live a hard life...
Tong Yingying didn't even dare to imagine what he looked like when he was doing that.
"Haa... haa..."
Tong Yingying panted heavily, gripping the iron door handle as she walked into the Club Instruction Building.
Behind her, the doorknob she used to close the door was slightly twisted from her grip.
But as she walked, she couldn't help but consider the situation once she went upstairs.
Once she went up there and interrogated him, what would he say?
'Sister Tong, um... I'm... I'm sorry. I... I couldn't hold back. She was just too big...'
Shaful as it was to admit, if Yan Huan explained it to her so guiltily, Tong Yingying would actually feel a sense of comfort in her heart.
Because at the very least, that would an he actually saw her as a romantic interest, a potential partner, and he just accidentally fooled around on the outside for a bit...
He's young, after all. If she compensated him later and fed him well, maybe he'd turn over a new leaf and not make the sa mistake again...
What she was truly afraid of was going up there to question him, only for him to show a calm, deeply considered expression:
'Uh, Sister Tong, I did do it with An Le, but... it's actually because I thought about it carefully after we ca back from Akihabara...
'I think we're just not compatible. I still want to be in a romantic relationship with girls like An Le and Sakuramiya.
'The thing is... you're really just too old, and your personality isn't my type. Plus, you have so many bad living habits. Staying by your side, taking care of your life and your emotions... I'm really just too tired.
'I know you treated
very well before, Sister Tong. I rember it all, and I won't forget. Let's just consider all of that a debt I owe you. I'll write you an IOU for the money, and after graduation, I'll pay you back with interest. Okay?
'As for us... let's just leave it at this. From now on, let's not see each other anymore.'
If it went like that, what should she do?
"..."
In the quiet corridor, her eyes widened, and she stood rooted to the spot with a slightly pale face.
Just thinking about these words that Yan Huan hadn't even spoken yet made her spine turn ice-cold.
Because it was truly too hurtful.
"No, no, no... I really will chop soone up if that happens..."
Terrified by her own thoughts, Tong Yingying wiped the sweat from her forehead and hurriedly ran into the won's restroom on the side to calm down.
As she frantically splashed cold water onto her face, her mind churned through all sorts of possibilities.
Could it be...
Because of that damned Modifier nonsense?
On the surface, she claid she wanted to team up with Yan Huan to deal with the Modifiers, but was it possible that An Le was secretly using hers on Yan Huan behind his back?
It was exactly because she used her Modifier that she managed to eat him!
And as if that wasn't enough, she was secretly colluding with the other Modifier Hosts, teaching them how to eat him too...
That ant An Le wasn't just so female bodhisattva, she was a traitor!
"Haa... haa..."
Tong Yingying washed her face again, then abruptly lifted her head, looking at her water-droplet-covered reflection in the mirror.
Unconsciously, she compared her own face to the faces of those young girls.
Although objectively speaking, Tong Yingying's face was heroic, crisp, and didn't look old at all, the mont she thought of all those possibilities, she couldn't help but feel that sothing was wrong here and sothing was off there...
She had faint dark circles under her eyes, and the coating on her tongue had a bit of color...
"Hoo..."
She exhaled a breath and sniffed it herself.
She had actually quit smoking and drinking for a while lately. Part of it was because Yan Huan had been constantly supervising her, and she felt a bit embarrassed for not changing her ways.
Plus, now that she was working as a teacher, smoking was forbidden at Far Moon Academy, making it the perfect opportunity to quit.
Even though she had worked so hard, her current lack of self-confidence made her faintly feel like she could still sll a hint of tobacco and alcohol in her breath...
"No way..."
The more she thought about it, the more uncertain she felt.
It got to the point where she, who had originally co here to settle a score, had inexplicably turned into the anxious one.
"Whatever! I'll just find him and get to the bottom of this first! I'm going to die eventually anyway, and if it cos down to it, I'll drag him down with !"
Thinking this, Tong Yingying patted her cheeks, finally making up her mind.
"Rumble!!"
However, the very mont she was about to step out, the entire teaching building began to undergo so sort of mutation.
Collapsing, shattering...
"Holy shit!"
Even soone as agile as Tong Yingying couldn't avoid tumbling into the void in the face of such apocalyptic great power, ultimately losing consciousness.
"..."
An unknown amount of ti passed before she groggily woke up, finding herself in a corridor floating in the void.
She frowned, silently surveying the space around her. She was just wondering where this place was when she suddenly heard the sound of a door opening.
"Click~"
She looked toward the sound and saw a sealed room floating distinctly beneath her fragnted corridor.
The door to the room had just opened, revealing half of Sakuramiya Hitomi's body,
"I did this simply because I like you, President... that's all."
As a result, Tong Yingying, hiding in the shadows, heard the last sentence she said to Yan Huan.
"Motherfucker..."
Hearing those words that sounded like a confession, Tong Yingying was so furious that her face nearly matched the color of her hair.
But she still didn't act rashly, because she realized a few things:
First, the current anomaly was related to this Sakuramiya Hitomi's Modifier.
Second, this Sakuramiya Hitomi seed to be leaving.
Third, Yan Huan appeared to be inside that sealed room.
Therefore, she patiently waited for Sakuramiya Hitomi to leave.
It wasn't until the door closed, and Sakuramiya Hitomi opened another door floating in midair, entered it, and completely disappeared from this space, that Tong Yingying slowly got up and took a leap.
Like a feather, she nimbly bounded across the various floating rubble and corridors in the air, quickly jumping onto the plane where the sealed room was located.
"..."
Tong Yingying glanced around, then lifted her feet and walked toward the room.
Gently reaching out to grab the doorknob, Tong Yingying gave it a twist.
"Click~"
To her surprise, the door opened.
"Hmm?"
Hearing the door open, Yan Huan—who had been lying on the bed pondering his next move—imdiately sat up.
Raising his eyes, he saw Tong Yingying standing at the door.
"Yan Huan?"
Likewise, Tong Yingying saw Yan Huan. Her expression instantly changed as she spoke, and she imdiately stepped into the room.
The mont she entered the room and her hand left the door, the door imdiately closed on its own, moving without wind,
"Click~"
"Sister Tong?"
Yan Huan sized Tong Yingying up, a half-believing, half-doubting expression appearing on his face as he stood up as well.
As soon as she saw Yan Huan, Tong Yingying—who had gathered all her courage to co up and settle the score—couldn't help but falter.
She was genuinely terrified that once her interrogation left her lips, Yan Huan would spout the exact disdainful words she had just imagined...
So at this mont, unprecedentedly, she was acting a bit bashful.
"..."
"Hmm?"
Seeing the bashfulness and hesitation on Tong Yingying's face, the suspicion in Yan Huan's expression deepened.
But he didn't jump to conclusions. Instead, he approached the Tong Yingying in front of him, observing her even more closely.
Being scanned up and down like this, Tong Yingying felt a bit unnatural,
"Yan... Yan Huan, you..."
anwhile, as Yan Huan drew near, his nose instinctively twitched just as he was in the midst of his doubts,
"Huh?"
The next second, his face turned completely cold. He looked at the Tong Yingying before him and coldly scoffed,
"Seriously, is playing these tricks fun for you? What are you still pretending for? I already told you, no matter what, I will never do that kind of thing with you. Give up already!"
"??"
Hearing this, Tong Yingying's breath slightly hitched.
She almost couldn't believe what she was hearing, but she imdiately realized sothing was wrong.
This brat...
Wait, could he have misunderstood sothing?
Is that why he's saying these weird things?
"Yan Huan, what the heck are you talking about?! I'm Tong Yingying! Your Sister Tong! Is your brain fried?!"
"Oh, not bad at all... You've only t Sister Tong a few tis, yet you can even imitate her accent. You really are a divine person... Tsk tsk tsk, let
tell you where your flaw is this ti!"
Yan Huan rolled his eyes, looking at Tong Yingying with utter disgust. Scanning her up and down, he pointed a finger at her body,
"First of all, I know Sister Tong better than anyone. There's absolutely no way a woman like her would ever quit smoking!! If she actually quits, I'll eat shit!!
"And you! You don't have a single trace of smoke on you, which proves beyond a doubt that you aren't Sister Tong at all!"
Yan Huan's little speech was well-founded and spoken with absolute righteous confidence. It was the fully concentrated essence of all his experience spending ti with Tong Yingying.
But in front of him, after hearing Yan Huan's speech, Tong Yingying's face instantly blackened.
The next second, her face was no longer just the sa red as her hair...
It was countless tis redder than her hair!!
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