Gu Yuqi clenched her somewhat numb hand from the cold. No matter what, she couldn’t suppress the anger burning in her chest. She kept telling herself that Liang Sheng was a girl too, and there was nothing wrong with going out to have fun with another girl. But every time she thought about Liang Sheng ignoring her calls for the sake of some other girl, a wave of discomfort washed over her.
“Liang Sheng, why didn’t you pick up the phone?” In the end, Gu Yuqi couldn’t hold back her irritation any longer and blurted out the question.
“Ah… huh?” Liang Sheng fumbled through her pockets in a panic, checking everywhere from top to bottom, but she still couldn’t find her phone.
Liang Sheng smacked her forehead. “Oh no! I lost my phone!”
Hearing that, Gu Yuqi’s sullen mood finally eased a little. So it hadn’t been deliberate after all.
Next, she shifted her gaze to Bai Zhen standing off to the side. Bai Zhen exuded an air of elegance. She wasn’t quite as beautiful as Gu Yuqi, but she had a more androgynous, handsome charm.
Could it be that Junior Sister Liang Sheng likes this type? The thought suddenly bubbled up in Gu Yuqi’s mind. No, no, no! She shook her head vigorously. That idea had startled her. What girl didn’t like the opposite sex? She was just overthinking things again.
Liang Sheng noticed Gu Yuqi’s stare and hastily made introductions. “Bai—Sister Bai Zhen, this is my senior sister. She’s also my super close friend. See how pretty she is?”
Then Liang Sheng grabbed Gu Yuqi’s hand. “Senior Sister Yuqi, this is Sister Bai Zhen. She’s a star! The kind who’s going to blow up big time!”
“Ding~” Favorability increased.
“Gu Yuqi’s favorability toward Liang Sheng: 91”
Gu Yuqi barely registered what Liang Sheng was saying. All her attention was focused on the hand holding hers. That small gesture nearly erased her earlier gloom. If not for the black mask covering her face, everyone would have seen the smile tugging at her lips—a smile tinged with both happiness and a hint of bitterness.
“Ah,” Bai Zhen said with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the undercurrents. “Since your friend’s here, I won’t keep bothering you. You’ve made it home safe. Bye for now, Little Sister Liang Sheng.”
“Goodbye, Sister Bai Zhen!” Liang Sheng stood on her tiptoes and waved goodbye to Bai Zhen, watching until she walked away.
Then Liang Sheng turned back to Gu Yuqi, only to find her staring intently at their clasped hands.
“Ah, sorry!” Liang Sheng yanked her hand away as if electrocuted. She had no idea why she’d apologized or even why the word had slipped out. Ever since that last incident, things between her and Gu Yuqi had felt stiff and awkward.
Why say sorry? Gu Yuqi wondered, thoroughly perplexed. And why pull away now? Little by little, her anger began to simmer again.
“Senior Sister Yuqi? Senior Sister Yuqi?” Liang Sheng waved her hand in front of the dazed Gu Yuqi’s face. Only when the other girl snapped out of it did she relax a bit. Senior Sister Gu Yuqi was acting so strangely.
“Senior Sister, what did you come to see me about?” Liang Sheng asked, tilting her head. Could it be that she missed me? Liang Sheng thought blissfully, shaking her head with a silly grin.
Gu Yuqi fell silent for a long moment. “Nothing. Just wanted to check on you. I’m heading back.” With that, she turned on her heel and hurried off.
Liang Sheng froze in place, utterly baffled. She watched Gu Yuqi’s retreating figure, her heart aching like it had been sliced by a knife. What was that about? She showed up out of nowhere and then just leaves like this, without even sticking around a little longer… Feeling deeply wronged, Liang Sheng wanted to cry. Tears welled up in her eyes, ready to spill over with just a few blinks.
Her good mood shattered, Liang Sheng trudged heavily into the house.
“Liang Sheng.” Seeing that Liang Sheng was upset, Kazuko quickly tried to change the subject. “Hey, why don’t you use that reward on me already? One question~ That way, I can answer freely without any restrictions. Come on, hurry up~”
At those words, Liang Sheng perked up. She temporarily pushed aside her sadness and rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought.
“Okay then.” Liang Sheng’s eyes darted around. “Tell me—who was your previous host?”
From the conversation she’d overheard between the Heartthrob Value System and that guy who seemed to be Su Ze, Liang Sheng had gathered that the Heartthrob Value System and the Favorability System went way back. They’d known each other for ages and had clashed multiple times, but judging from the tone, Kazuko had always come out on the losing end.
“Ah…” Kazuko drew out the syllable.
What came next left Liang Sheng stunned.
“It’s still Liang Sheng~”
“What?!” Liang Sheng’s eyes went wide. Unable to see Kazuko, she could only gape at the empty air in front of her.
“That’s right. You heard me correctly—it’s still Liang Sheng.” Kazuko repeated it with unwavering certainty.
Liang Sheng collapsed onto the bed, reeling in disbelief. Did that mean… she was in the second loop?
“What do you mean by that? The original Liang Sheng, or me?!” Liang Sheng was on the verge of breaking down, her mind a whirlwind of confusion.
Kazuko shot back, “Aren’t they the same person?”
“No! I’m Liang Sheng—not the original!” Liang Sheng shouted at the empty air.
Kazuko repeated herself as if oblivious. “They’re the same person.”
Liang Sheng jumped off the bed, her limbs unsteady. She stumbled to her desk, pulled out a sheet of white paper, and grabbed a black ballpoint pen. Stroke by stroke, she carefully wrote the character “Liang.”
“Did you see that? It’s this ‘Liang’—not the one with the water radical!”
“Ah…” Kazuko drew out her tone again. “Does it really matter? After all, you’re the one here now, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean by that?” Liang Sheng grew even more bewildered by Kazuko’s words.
She opened her mouth to press further.
“Nope, that’s it~” Kazuko cut her off. “The reward was for only one question, and you’ve used your chance.”
“…You!” Liang Sheng gnashed her teeth in frustration, furious at herself for asking such a narrow question. In that moment, she wanted to give herself a spinning backhand slap.
She flopped back onto the bed, her anger gradually fading, though she kept grumbling. “You’re cheating! If you wanted to tell me something, you could’ve just hinted at what to ask. Then everything would be clear!”
Kazuko fell silent. All Liang Sheng heard was a bitter chuckle.
No answers gained—that was how Liang Sheng summed it up. If anything, she felt even more confused and unsettled the more she thought about it. She roughly ruffled her own hair.
Now, there were four possibilities. Liang Sheng calmed down and analyzed them carefully.
First: The previous host had been the original Liang Sheng. This time was supposed to be her too, but Liang Sheng’s accidental crossing had disrupted it.
Second: The previous host was the original Liang Sheng, and the one before that had been too. It could have been several loops already, only for her crossing to break the cycle.
Third: The previous host had been Liang Sheng herself. After failing the mission, her memories were wiped, and she looped back for another try.
Fourth—and the most terrifying one she’d considered: She’d already been through countless loops. Maybe the third, or the tenth.
Liang Sheng sighed. Things were getting more and more complicated.
