“Ah? Senior Sister Yuqi?” Liang Sheng’s interest was instantly piqued, her eyes lighting up as she followed the timeless principle that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. “Senior Sister is so smart, so she must have…”
Akino Kazuko winced, sucking air through her teeth. “Well, there are two reasons.”
“The first one is that Gu Yuqi is a bit too kind-hearted. She doesn’t go all-out ruthless when she does things—her empathy runs deep. I don’t remember the details all that clearly, but when I was finally dismantled, the reason I decided never to pick Gu Yuqi again was… she could be indecisive at times, even pitying her enemies.”
“Hmm…” Liang Sheng rubbed her chin. “Having empathy is a good thing, but Su Ze was such a scumbag. He didn’t deserve Senior Sister Yuqi’s pity, and it ended up costing her.”
“Yes.” Akino Kazuko nodded. “And the second reason…”
She glanced at Liang Sheng cautiously all of a sudden. “Uh, I don’t know if you’ll get mad or upset if I tell you.”
“Just say it. What is it?”
“Gu Yuqi… that time, it seems she had a crush on a girl.” Akino Kazuko swallowed nervously.
Liang Sheng tensed up too. She stammered, pointing at herself. “W-was it… me?”
Akino Kazuko scratched her head. “I don’t really remember… All I’ve got are these fuzzy fragments of memory.”
“Oh…” Liang Sheng deflated a little, though she quickly comforted herself. “But hey, what if the one she liked was Liang Sheng~”
Still, a faint bitterness lingered in Liang Sheng’s heart.
Even if Gu Yuqi had fallen for Liang Sheng that time, it wouldn’t have been her. She was a fusion of Liang Sheng’s memories, personality, and body—but at her core, she leaned more toward the original Liang Sheng.
“Aw, let me keep going.” Akino Kazuko spotted her host’s disappointment and hurriedly changed the subject.
“So, then my fourth host was you~ Or more precisely, Liang Sheng.” Akino Kazuko grew cautious again with those last words, afraid of hitting a sore spot.
Liang Sheng had already moved past it, her curiosity now fixed on what came next. “And then? How did she fail?”
“She…” Akino Kazuko sighed helplessly. “She was a hardcore straight girl! She had zero interest in romancing other girls and only wanted to be friends. She was pretty good at the friend thing, though… but…”
“But?”
The Favorability System sighed. “The one exception was her cousin Liang Jin. She absolutely loathed her and refused to pursue her. Because… she accidentally found out that her blood-related little sister actually…”
Akino Kazuko trailed off, but Liang Sheng got the picture.
“Sigh~ What can you do? Falling for her big sister wasn’t something she could control.” Liang Sheng shook her head. “Yuri love is taboo enough as it is, and tossing in some incest? That’s taboo squared.”
“The kid was brave for loving anyway, but I can’t endorse it.” Liang Sheng sighed too.
Akino Kazuko cleared her throat lightly. “Actually, Liang Sheng put up a pretty good fight that time—better than Gu Yuqi, even.”
“Which one was the worst?” Liang Sheng asked curiously.
“That was Mo Qingrou’s turn… She was like a robot. Impossible to get real feelings out of anyone.”
Liang Sheng chuckled. “If she couldn’t open her own heart, how could she expect anyone else to?”
“What about you?”
A flicker of melancholy crossed the green-haired girl’s face. “I… I don’t want to be a Sea King. People don’t have to love just one person in life, but in the end, you have to commit to one. That’s the ultimate respect for love.”
Akino Kazuko understood. Over these days spent with the girls, they’d become an irreplaceable part of Liang Sheng’s life.
“So, do you want to…?” live together with them all? Akino Kazuko almost asked.
“Kazuko,” Liang Sheng cut her system off, her gaze resolute. “I’m not Su Ze, and I won’t become him! I can’t split my heart into pieces. That wouldn’t be fair to the girls—or to myself!”
Whoa~ That was badass! Akino Kazuko suddenly admired her usually goofy host from the bottom of her heart.
“Enough of that. Keep going,” Liang Sheng said, steering away from the topic. “I want to know why you stopped picking other girls and kept coming after me three times.”
“The other girls…” Akino Kazuko pouted. “You can probably figure it out yourself.”
“Hmm?”
Akino Kazuko ticked them off on her fingers. “First up, your Young Miss Lu Ziqing.”
Liang Sheng jumped in. “Tsundere, sharp-tongued, with a massive young miss temper. Hard to get along with, and she loves ticking people off?”
“Exactly~” Akino Kazuko laughed. “How’s anyone supposed to win hearts like that? She’d just hand the win straight to Su Ze.”
“Second, Dong Yue.”
Liang Sheng didn’t quite get why not the teacher. “I think Teacher Dong Yue is super knowledgeable, rational, and smart. She’d make a great host.”
“Ha… Whether you’re clueless or playing dumb, Dong Yue is just as straight as the previous Liang Sheng! And she’s more strait-laced and reserved—her emotional IQ isn’t even as high as yours.”
Liang Sheng pondered. She didn’t know Teacher Dong Yue all that well.
“Then there’s Zhen Zhu.”
Liang Sheng raised a hand to stop her. “Okay, no need to explain that little rascal. Poisonously sharp tongue plus zero filter—she’s a walking disaster. Picking her as host would be a total waste.”
“Haha~” Akino Kazuko laughed. “She’s just a kid! I wouldn’t…”
“Ugh! I hate that ‘she’s just a kid’ excuse,” Liang Sheng fumed. “Yeah, she’s a kid—so she needs a good slap of tough love.”
They’d veered off-topic again.
“Keep going. This is actually pretty fun.” Liang Sheng had gotten tired of lounging; she wriggled upright and hugged her knees.
The Favorability System pressed on. “Next is Liang Jin. Carefree, heartless, and scheming? Not really.”
“And she’s got only one person on her mind: her beloved big sis~” Liang Sheng finished for her.
“Bingo~”
“Then Song An’an. Total airhead sweetheart. Ugh!” Akino Kazuko facepalmed. “Another one who’d hand victory to the enemy. No way I’d risk it.”
“What about Bai Zhen?” Liang Sheng suddenly remembered. She had solid combat skills, high IQ, good looks, and she was already into girls.
Akino Kazuko must’ve gotten tired of sprawling too. She sat up like Liang Sheng, hugging her little legs. “Ah, now that’s worth diving into. Bai Zhen was actually the strongest host besides you.”
