“Huh? Didn’t you say you’d keep picking me from now on?” Liang Sheng voiced her confusion.
Akino Kazuko shook her head. “Nope. I can’t put all my eggs in one basket with you. Besides, you failed, so next time I had to pick someone more capable.”
“Oh~ Then go on.”
Akino Kazuko hugged her knees, resting her chin on them. “Well… She’s not as pretty as you, but she really lacks charm. Too bad she’s a strong top, just like Gu Yuqi and Mo Qingrou. Of course, she’s not as patient or gentle as you, either.”
“Mu?” Liang Sheng thought back to Bai Zhen and tilted her head. “I think Bai Zhen’s pretty gentle.”
Akino Kazuko snorted. “That’s only because she likes you. For people she doesn’t like—or when it’s just a mission—in my memory, she’s a real two-faced person.”
“Hmm?”
“She flashes a gentlemanly smile at a girl one second, then turns away and drops it the next, like she was never happy at all. Tsk tsk tsk~~ What a scary woman.” Akino Kazuko shook her head with a sigh.
Wow~ So Bai Zhen’s gentleness and patience toward her were all because she liked Liang Sheng. Touching. So touching.
“For little girls like Song An’an and Zhen Zhu, that type really hits the spot. Of course, the key is Bai Zhen’s androgynous looks.”
Liang Sheng nodded in agreement. “True. If Bai Zhen skipped the high heels, lipstick, and makeup, and bound her chest, she’d look like a total handsome guy.”
Akino Kazuko teased her host. “You like her looks too. See? You’re a weak bottom.”
Instead of getting mad, Liang Sheng laughed. “Wait till I pin a girl under me and fuck her senseless. Then you’ll see who’s the top.”
Ah…
“Hahaha!!” She was met with merciless laughter.
“You… whatever! Just keep going. Bai Zhen was so strong—how did she lose?” Liang Sheng grabbed her little notebook, ready to jot down notes and learn from the experience.
“First reason: like I said, she’s too much of a top. She won’t let anyone else take that role; she only wants to top others. Yeah… she likes cute, petite little girls, not tall, handsome types like Gu Yuqi who are similar to her.”
Liang Sheng diligently took notes.
“Second reason: her personal flaws. Since she saw it as just a mission, she took shortcuts without thinking twice, leading to slip-ups. Like what happened with Ni Sihan today—the girl was badmouthing other girls, Bai Zhen agreed with her, and the others overheard. Ah, most of that was Su Ze stirring things up.”
Liang Sheng nodded thoughtfully. “Hmm… I see!”
“Now you get it~” The Favorability System sighed, patting Liang Sheng’s shoulder. “Don’t follow in her footsteps, Sheng~”
Liang Sheng swatted the System’s hand away. “Pfft, as if. I’m all about empathy. Sure, you give your heart, and in the end, you suffer for it. Sigh~”
The Green-haired Girl kept sighing. “I treated every girl with sincerity, and suddenly I’m the Sea King with all that guilt. Tsk tsk~” She waved it off. “Anyway, enough of that. Talking more will just make me emo again. Keep analyzing for me.”
Akino Kazuko thought for a moment before continuing. “Then there’s Ye Yuzhe, that little trap… He seems a bit love-brained and way too loyal to Su Ze. Worst of all, he’s into guys, so… cough, you know, that’s tricky.”
“Hahaha, got it! That’s why I had to let He Wennuo reel him in~” Liang Sheng flopped back onto the bed shamelessly, spreading her body into a big “X”.
“As for An Hua, that girl’s personality is just too quirky. I didn’t even realize she was a masochist, cough cough! You’re the first one to flip that weird switch of hers.” Akino Kazuko couldn’t hold back her laughter.
Thinking of Senior Sister An Hua’s massive gap between her icy exterior and her true self, Liang Sheng scratched her cheek. “I didn’t expect someone so aloof on the outside to be so… pent-up inside. Hahaha!”
“Hahaha~” Akino Kazuko laughed along. “Exactly. That’s why I didn’t pick her as a host—she’s too cold. Sometimes, she doesn’t even seem kind.”
“Senior Sister An Hua’s heart is actually pretty soft~” Liang Sheng looked down, fiddling with her fingers. Her long lashes shadowed her eyes. “She’s just been controlled by her family so much she doesn’t know how to interact with people. I could tell from how gently she petted that puppy’s head. Her heart’s soft~”
Akino Kazuko admired this about Liang Sheng—how she always spotted the good in girls and chose to embrace their flaws.
“Next up: Cha Susu and Ou Lu.” Akino Kazuko sighed. “Neither one’s great. Their emotional and intellectual smarts are decent, but not as high as the others’, and their fighting skills are low too.”
“Pfft, that’s harsh.”
“Then why are you grinning so wide?”
“Hahaha~” Liang Sheng wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. “No distractions, no side topics. Keep going. After Bai Zhen, why’d you pick me?”
“…I, cough cough!” Akino Kazuko’s smile froze. “That’s… hard to explain.”
“How so?”
No way. Is it because I’m too awesome and she doesn’t want to admit it?
“I was originally going to bind to Liang Jin, that girl. But you two look kinda similar. That day, you both went to the hot springs with your hair wrapped in towels. I blinked and…”
Pounced on the wrong person. Damn!
“…”
So it was just a lucky mistake.
“You!” Liang Sheng felt deeply insulted.
“Don’t be mad~ It was an accident that time, but this time I chose you on purpose~” The Favorability System hurried to console her.
“Anyway, you failed too. But,” Akino Kazuko grew serious again, “you matched Bai Zhen’s results from before, which surprised me. So I picked you again.”
Liang Sheng listened intently and couldn’t help sitting up, leaning closer to her System.
“But the result was…” Akino Kazuko looked regretful. “Failure again, but still on par with Bai Zhen’s run.”
“And after that… I don’t know why, but my memories got wiped. Really, no idea.”
“Mm!” Liang Sheng switched to Sherlock Holmes mode, stroking her nonexistent mustache. “Next, let me analyze! Hmph~ My System’s so unreliable!”
