Is She Upset with You?

Forget it, that makes me sound like some seasoned veteran among the flowers.

Besides, this was totally an accident!

Accident? Brushing off the system, you immediately began to issue a cold sneer that only you could hear.

You were the one who took her away, you were the one who handed her the clothes, her body got wet because of you, and now you're sending her home only after getting her all soaked—just look at this entire sequence of events, how smooth and effortless!

No, how is getting soaked in any way anything other than her getting caught in the rain?

Don't forget that all the sweat on her body was brought on by you.

Damn it, I actually have no way to retort... my ass!

Please, can you stop using such malicious and biased phrasing? I honestly haven't even done anything yet!

I honestly haven't done anything yet, the facts were indeed as you said.

However, the underlying meaning of this sentence is—what you plan to do in the future.

That is enough.

To put it bluntly, everything I'm doing is just to survive.

Regardless of how you keep bickering like an asshole, my goal has for now been achieved.

From the moment Raiden Mei grabbed his waist earlier, he saw that within Raiden Mei's character introduction template, some descriptions had already changed.

Name: Raiden Mei
Identity: Daughter of former ME Company president Raiden Ryoma, Herrscher of Thunder Candidate, your classmate, awakening degree significantly decreased, will not awaken for the time being.
Current Favorability: 90 (Make your move! Hurry up and make your move, hehehe)
Remarks: You know what I want to say.

Well, anyway, my purpose has been achieved.

She won't awaken for the time being. It's just... isn't this favorability skyrocketing a bit too fast?

You really aren't messing around behind the scenes, are you?

Messing around—when you uttered these words, a flash of disdain instantly welled up in your heart.

Shifting the blame onto the system, you sneered while thinking to yourself—heh, how could this trashy system's meddling ever compare to me taking the initiative to romance someone?

That is enough.

God knows how things ended up like this.

Before contacting Raiden Mei, Lin Yu did know that his actions might lead to certain consequences.

The bridge effect is a type of psychological effect.

This effect mainly refers to how when a person crosses a suspension bridge with trepidation, their heartbeat will involuntarily accelerate.

If they happen to meet someone else at this moment, they will mistakenly attribute the accelerated heartbeat caused by this situation as a physiological reaction sparked by the other person making their heart flutter, thereby giving birth to romantic feelings for them.

Simply put, a Raiden Mei who had encountered an extremely terrible situation would actually find it very easy to develop favorable feelings for the person who extended a helping hand to her at that moment.

Lin Yu actually didn't like this feeling.

It's not that he didn't like beautiful girls, it's mainly that... using the bridge effect always gave him the terrible feeling of "taking advantage of someone in a vulnerable state."

Using such harsh methods to get Raiden Mei to pull herself together and temper her inner strength was also driven, to some extent, by the idea of avoiding the bridge effect.

But judging by the current situation, the goal of tempering Raiden Mei was achieved.

However, the idea of avoiding the bridge effect... avoid my ass, it wasn't avoided at all.

No, I almost beat you up, and you can still develop this kind of favorability toward me... I give up.

At that very moment, Lin Yu, who was about to drop Raiden Mei off at the entrance of her apartment building, suddenly heard the roaring sound of an engine.

Yet very soon, realizing that this roaring sound was coming from the neighboring street, Lin Yu immediately cast the matter behind him.

This street was frighteningly quiet, and precisely because of that, the sound of that engine caught his attention.

Right now, however, he had other things to do.

At a time like this... well, even at any other time, he wouldn't have the leisure to care about such trivial matters.

After securely parking the motorcycle, Lin Yu felt the hands with which Raiden Mei was hugging his waist gently loosen accordingly.

Although the girl's hands had released him, from her slow movements, you could sense an endless reluctance.

You are very certain that right now, as long as you follow her into the apartment where she currently lives, you would be able to... hehehe.

Forget it, I still have other things to do right now.

Looking at Raiden Mei, who had walked up in front of him, Lin Yu didn't proactively say anything.

Gazing at Lin Yu, Raiden Mei slowly spoke up to the young man before her at this moment.

"Lin Yu-kun, you..."

May I ask, can you stay and keep me company tonight?

If it were the Mei from before today, she certainly wouldn't have wanted to say such words.

Under Raiden Ryoma's upbringing, Raiden Mei had always been a reserved young miss.

Let alone letting a peer of the opposite sex stay overnight at her place, Mei, who had always been in a girls' school like Chiba Academy, usually didn't even have many opportunities to speak with males her own age.

In the past, her shy self was certain she would never have wanted to utter such shameless words.

Yet now, she had to admit—she had become more frank than before.

Facing her inner heart head-on, Mei truly wished right now that Lin Yu could stay and accompany her.

However...

In the end, she still didn't say those words out loud.

Because even though Raiden Mei hoped Lin Yu would stay and keep her company, she hoped even more that Lin Yu wouldn't be disappointed in her.

Lin Yu had just used that tough approach to tell Raiden Mei that she must be strong.

And yet, how long had it been—and she already wanted to do something this utterly weak?

If she said those words, Lin Yu-kun would definitely be disappointed in me.

"Please be careful on your way."

Resisting her inner desires, Mei smiled and said to Lin Yu at this moment.

"Good night, see you tomorrow."

Now is not the time; if there's a chance in the future...

When that time comes, I'll be bolder and say the words in my heart.

PS: PY Segment

Synopsis: After recuperating in the hospital for three weeks due to a traffic accident, Hikitani Hachiman thought he had missed the opportunity to integrate into the class.

Instead, the principal handed him a special recommendation letter.

It advised him to head to Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, which only opened in May.

Clutching the goal of not being isolated and being asked by his younger sister to find friends, Hachiman marched forward unflinchingly.

And so, he finally gained friends.

Karuizawa Kei: So, you've become my host. So it's normal to interact a bit more, right.

Sakayanagi Arisu: You seem troubled by being an ordinary person; I have a reliable plan here where the next generation is absolute genius.

Horikita Suzune: I tried making a bento yesterday, if you don't mind.

Kushida Kikyo (Black): Having learned so many of your secrets, my secrets have also been caught by you; it seems we have no choice but to be bound together.

??

Komachi:...Onii-chan, this doesn't seem like friends!

Chapter Thirty-Two: Is She Sulking With You?

At the same time. Near the apartment.

Kiana, who had just heard the sound of an engine, felt that the vicinity felt a bit strange right now.

Aside from those punks who had just dropped off the motorcycle on it, she found that the streets around here were eerie in their quietness.

While it wasn't too outrageous for everyone to have gone home late at night, not seeing a single figure after riding at high speed for half a day...

When did the night of Changkong City become so desolate?

Hmm, wait, could it be that the post this young miss sent out finally had some effect after all?

The moment she thought that her efforts might have actually borne fruit, Kiana found that—this feeling was pretty great.

Mm-mm, then for the next step, I'll just continue acting according to the plan.

Sigh, I forgot to stick a note at Mei's doorstep just now... Oh well, anyway, as long as she gets home, she'll be able to contact me once she recharges, so these issues aren't a big deal.

She had originally worried about whether to stop and explain if she ran into any late-night patrol officers on the road, but now it seemed she, this young miss, had overthought things.

Charge to the television station, and whatever comes after...

Kiana, who had been pushing forward on a wave of sheer momentum, suddenly thought of a problem at that moment.

According to her original plan, she intended to charge into the television station and then broadcast the news that something might have gone wrong in Changkong City through the communication facilities over there.

Yet Kiana, having calmed down now, discovered an awkward fact...

Charging into the television station building and sneaking in secretly didn't seem to be a problem at all.

After all, it was the dead of night, and aside from a few security guards patrolling, she wouldn't run into anyone.

As for the skill of picking locks, she had already mastered it without a teacher over the past four years.

However, Miss Kiana Kaslana, who was forced to be skilled in all sorts of survival techniques, suddenly realized that she didn't know how to use any of the machinery at the television station at all.

There's really no help for it.

Once she infiltrates over there, she'll just have to use a search engine to look it up.

Now was a time when every second counted—that is enough.

The moment she thought about how the atmosphere in Changkong City was growing increasingly eerie, Kiana almost couldn't hold back from hurling a few more curses on the spot.

Were those people in Schicksal really just freeloaders?

That is enough, did a matter like this really...

--not even worth their time to spend on it?

"Good night, see you tomorrow."

Listening to Raiden Mei's words, Lin Yu chose not to reply, only giving Mei a deep look before choosing to leave.

Regardless of how he viewed Raiden Mei's actions right now, he felt that—these matters truly didn't matter.

After all, he was someone with a system.

Moreover, aside from casually spouting nonsense, edgy remarks, and easily misunderstood foolish words on a daily basis, this system was quite reliable most of the time.

Just before encountering Raiden Mei, Lin Yu had just claimed two rewards from the system.

And judging by the system's prompts—both of these rewards belonged to the kind the system only dispatches when facing a survival crisis.

Simply put, the appearance of these two rewards actually meant the system was warning Lin Yu—you're about to kick the bucket, hurry up and save yourself.

I have to admit, upon discovering that the host might be facing danger and directly handing out enhancements, Lin Yu genuinely felt that the system was reliable at a time like this.

As for what the two survival crises were, based on Lin Yu's speculation, to put it bluntly, they still lay with those two girls.

One survival crisis had an extremely high probability of being related to Raiden Mei's awakening; once she awakened as the Herrscher of Thunder, the entire Changkong City would blow up.

Given the skills and items he currently had on hand, facing the Herrscher of Thunder... no matter how he looked at it, it felt like a certain death sentence.