Song An’an’s pure, silly sweetheart nature meant she believed it instantly.
Of course she did.
“Ding~” Favorability increased.
“Song An’an’s Favorability toward Liang Sheng: 132”
Her A-Sheng was just too good to her! Song An’an covered her flushed little face. And on top of that, she’d rushed home especially for her~
Cue the BGM: “This is love~~ loooove (wait, am I okay?)~”
The ultimate silly sweetheart wifey giveaway loli was hard at work today, lost in her wildly imaginative self-conquest.
“W-Well, since A-Sheng’s fine, th-then I’ll head home first.” Song An’an’s face burned. She was terrified her A-Sheng would notice—that would be way too embarrassing—so she wanted to make a quick escape.
As the lady of the house, Liang Sheng had to make a token effort to keep her. “An’an, why don’t we play a game before you go?”
“Sure!”
“…” Can we pretend I didn’t say that? She was exhausted today. Talk about shooting herself in the foot.
No helping it—words spoken were like spilled water. Liang Sheng ended up playing chess with the clingy little giveaway for over half an hour before finally sending her off.
“Whew, wiped out~” Liang Sheng flopped onto the bed and wriggled around like a big maggot, her mind a tangled mess. She decided to stop overthinking it all. She stripped off her clothes, cleared her head, and crashed for some sleep.
Blood everywhere again. Hana collapsed into the pool of it, and Bai Zhen toppled right after. Gu Yuqi crouched there, panting hard as she clutched the wound on her belly that was still oozing blood. She turned back to Su Ze with a smile and said something Liang Sheng couldn’t quite make out.
Liang Sheng still couldn’t hear their conversation, just the tinkling of the wind chime.
Su Ze approached Gu Yuqi with a fake smile. Liang Sheng knew this was a dream now and stopped struggling. She just watched quietly. She saw the gleaming dagger clutched in Su Ze’s left hand, hidden behind his back—the light glinting off its blade stung her eyes.
He reached Gu Yuqi, and she hugged him. One stab, two, three… all the way to seven. Gu Yuqi’s eyes flew wide as she crumpled to the cold ground.
Damn it! Even in a dream, Liang Sheng wanted to charge in and kill Su Ze. But her body wouldn’t obey—it stayed frozen.
Her vision blurred. Liang Sheng knew that meant she was about to wake up. Right at the last moment, a lock of long woman’s hair flashed before her eyes.
Tinkle!
“Hah!” Liang Sheng jolted awake. The wind chime she’d just hung on the window had fallen onto the bed, landing right in front of her face.
Another one of those dreams. Liang Sheng wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. Now she was sure: these connected dreams showed the girls’ ultimate fates.
“Kazuko, if you got your old powers back, you’d be pretty amazing, right?”
Kazuko replied, “That’s right.”
“Then…” Liang Sheng sighed wistfully, “do you have the ability to erase someone’s memories?”
“Hm?” Kazuko sounded puzzled. “Why ask that out of nowhere? What’s up?”
“If—and I mean if,” Liang Sheng ducked her head, fiddling with her nails, “if I beat Su Ze and his system Akino Wakako, could you… erase all those girls’ memories of me?”
Kazuko went silent in shock. “W-What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve figured it out. Hell, I’ve known for a while now. Most of those girls… their Favorability toward me isn’t just friendship or sisterly love anymore.” Liang Sheng gave a wry smile. “It’s romantic. The bedroom kind. Yeah.” She stayed calm about it.
“You mean you want to…?”
“Yeah.” Liang Sheng nodded, admitting it. She knew Kazuko got it. “I’ll just let it play out. I’ll even keep fanning the flames. No more holding back.”
“You sure about this?”
“Dead sure. No take-backs.”
Kazuko laughed. “Aren’t you scared? What if you win, I wipe their memories, and your Senior Sister Gu Yuqi forgets all about you? You’d be heartbroken.”
“I’m scared. But I have to do it anyway. Because I’d rather her forget me than die right in front of me.”
She went on. “Friends are easy. If I keep being shameless, we’ll be close again in no time.”
“Just friends?”
“…”
“So…” Kazuko’s tone shifted suddenly. “I’m dying to know—what exactly do you like about her?”
Liang Sheng tilted her head with a grin. “Guess~?”
“Ha!” Akino Kazuko burst out laughing, lightening the heavy mood back to its usual silliness. “I knew it. You’re a total looks chaser. You just want that hot, pretty big sis. You’re body-hungry for her.”
“Ahem!” Liang Sheng put on a serious face. “Guilty as charged. I want her body. I’m honest like that.”
“But…” She added, “that’s only about seventy percent of it.”
Kazuko was hooked now. She scooted right up, her pretty round eyes wide. “What’s the rest? Spill!”
“Hee hee~” Liang Sheng threw an arm around her system’s shoulders. “Senior Sister Yuqi… she’s kind. Brave. Who wouldn’t love something pure as a blank sheet of paper? I might not get her excessive kindness sometimes, but I admire it. Anyway, when you like someone, do you need a million reasons? It’s that… love-at-first-sight, head-over-heels feeling.”
Kazuko stared, stunned. After a beat, she half-joked, half-seriously replied, “Little kid, at your age, where do you get all this wisdom?”
“No~ no~ no~” Liang Sheng wagged her index finger in the air. “My soul’s over thirty already, okay? Total old auntie here.”
“Hahaha!” Kazuko stood on the bed, hands on hips, her loli face beaming. “I’ve lived centuries, then. Guess that makes me an old monster?”
“Hahaha! Not me saying it—you admitted it yourself. You’ve got a shred of conscience and self-awareness! Old monster~”
“You little punk! Taste my Nine Yin White Bone Claws!”
“Ahh! You old monster, no fair—ambush!”
The two girls tumbled into a playful tussle, kicking the sheets onto the floor. If anyone else saw, they’d get the wrong idea for sure.
But how long could this warmth last?
On the official first day of school, Liang Sheng pulled herself together and headed out.
Just yesterday, Bai Zhen had taken the web drama gig and was thrilled with the script. Liang Sheng had also chatted with her dad, Liang Wengao, about funding.
