This hot spring trip had left a profound impact on Liang Sheng. She was still processing it all and couldn’t quite snap out of it just yet. Sure enough, on the bus ride back, she rested her head against the window, staring blankly outside with her mouth pulled down in a pout.
“I’ve brought them joy and love,” Liang Sheng said inwardly, directing her words to Akino Kazuko. “But it wasn’t sincere. Every approach I made to them was calculated, driven by ulterior motives. It was never pure.”
“Am I even worthy of their love like this?” Liang Sheng clenched her teeth, her small hands balled into fists pressed against her chest.
“What kind of nonsense are you thinking?” Akino Kazuko desperately wanted to give her host a good slap. “Self-recrimination won’t help anything. Besides, I already promised you—I’ll wipe their memories in the end.”
“Then,” Liang Sheng asked abruptly, “what about you after I wake up? Where will you go?”
Akino Kazuko froze. Right—she had never considered that question. If Liang Sheng succeeded, where would she go?
“If Da Hai is Su Ze, then Su Ze must have been alive for centuries. This endless cycle of seducing girls, making them fall for him, then moving on… If I win, will I turn into him like that?”
Liang Sheng posed another devastating question. “And if I win, what happens to these girls? When Su Ze won, they all died. So what about me? What happens after I win?”
“I…” Akino Kazuko’s head throbbed. “I don’t know.”
“What if… after I win, I have to make them kill each other, just like Su Ze?” Liang Sheng gritted her teeth, forcing out the words.
“No way!” Akino Kazuko shouted. “That absolutely won’t happen!”
“You’ve lost your memories, and you haven’t even won yet. How would you know?”
The question stung. The response stung even more. And this hypothetical cut deepest.
Akino Kazuko fell silent.
After a long pause, she finally spoke. “So what do you want to do?”
“Sigh…” Liang Sheng shook her little head. “Of course, I still have to go all out to win. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. There’ll be a way around it somehow—a living person won’t be stopped by a little piss.”
Akino Kazuko nodded.
“Then, if you win, who will you choose to be with?”
Ah, another killer question.
Strangely, though, Liang Sheng hesitated.
“We’ll talk about it when the time comes.”
“Hm?” Akino Kazuko was puzzled. Hadn’t her host always insisted she liked Gu Yuqi? Why was it suddenly “we’ll see” now?
Of course, she had her doubts, but Akino Kazuko didn’t dare voice them to Liang Sheng.
“They all love me, don’t they?” Liang Sheng’s nose tingled. “Truth is, I really like them too… Even if we can’t be lovers, I want to stay with them forever, as the best of friends. Sisterly bonds like that are beautiful too. But their feelings for me have already twisted into something more—they could never just be friends now.”
Seeing her host on the verge of a full emo meltdown was too much for Akino Kazuko. Taking advantage of the fact that no one else on the bus could see her, she materialized and smacked Liang Sheng on the back, barking fiercely, “Hey! It’s not even midnight yet—not like this is some tearful farewell. Why are you getting all sentimental? You said it yourself: we’ll talk later. This is a critical moment—you’re the ‘protagonist’ I chose. Buck up!”
Liang Sheng managed a weak smile. “I finally mustered up some proper sadness, and you go and interrupt it. Really, it was so hard to get into that mood… Sigh, letting others down feels awful~”
“Actually,” Akino Kazuko said hesitantly, “last night around midnight, I went to see Akino Hoshiko.”
“Huh?!” Liang Sheng sat bolt upright, her eyes lighting up instantly. “What? What did she say? Any key info?”
“There is… but, but…” Akino Kazuko scratched her head, flustered. “Well, uh…”
“Just tell her,” came a familiar female voice. Akino Hoshiko shrugged. “She already knows half of it anyway. No point hiding the rest.”
Akino Kazuko took a deep breath. “First off, brace yourself. What I’m about to say might blow your mind.”
“Oh come on,” Liang Sheng, ever the impatient one, couldn’t stand the suspense. She rubbed her hands together irritably. “Spit it out already! Keep dragging it out and the opportunity will have passed!”
“Fine.”
Akino Kazuko began her explanation. “There are six of us in total…”
“First, the Devotion Value System: Akino Haruko.”
“Second, the Adoration Value System: Akino Hoshiko.”
“Their names do sound alike, huh? Haha… Hey, don’t look at me like that! No more interruptions, cough cough. Anyway…”
“Third, the Heartthrob Value System: Akino Wakako.”
“Fourth, the Obsession Value System: Akino Mitsuko.”
Liang Sheng couldn’t help but interject. “Oh! That’s a great name—sounds like it holds a ton.”
“Don’t interrupt! Continuing…”
“Fifth, the Worship Value System: Akino Reiko.”
Liang Sheng nearly clapped with laughter. “Whoa, that one’s got real vampiric vibes.”
“Cough cough!” Akino Kazuko put on a serious face. “Pay attention! Here’s the big reveal!”
“And finally, the beautiful and powerful me! The Favorability System: Akino Kazuko!”
“Yeah, yeah. Get on with the next part.” Liang Sheng rolled her eyes, her interest waning.
Akino Kazuko shot her host a glare before continuing. “Truth is, at the beginning, we were all… one single system.”
“Pfft!” Liang Sheng’s eyes went wide in shock. “You all? What the heck!”
Akino Kazuko flailed her hands in the air. “It’s, uh, hard to explain properly.”
“Because we don’t know either,” Akino Hoshiko added quietly from the side.
“Right… For some reason, we split into six. We don’t have much memory from before the split—maybe we did once, but it’s all gone now. Probably something else meddling?”
Akino Kazuko furrowed her brows into knots. “As for my memories, who erased them… Cough cough. Honestly, it’s kinda embarrassing. It was me.”
“Ha! Why?!” Liang Sheng barely resisted kicking her own system. Figures—not family if they don’t enter the same door.
“I don’t know!” Akino Kazuko laughed wryly. “No clue what past-me was thinking!”
Liang Sheng tsked and glanced at Akino Hoshiko, who was watching the show. “So she’s one of us, basically?”
Akino Hoshiko snorted and turned away. “Think again. I’ve got my own mission. See you next time.”
With that, Akino Hoshiko vanished.
“We’re here!” the driver’s shout rang out.
Liang Sheng slowly stood and headed outside.
Su Ze—the confrontation was coming soon! She clenched her fists, her gaze resolute, chin held high as she prepared to step off the bus.
“Oof!” Good resolve lasted all of three seconds before she tripped over the seat.
Amid the girls’ startled cries, Liang Sheng flashed that familiar, dopey grin.
