Tell me, how should people like you change?

Not long after the plane landed and she returned home, Xina could faintly sense a familiar yet unsettling feeling.

And that prickling sensation on her back, the one that made her hair stand on end, had only ever been caused by one person—Fu Hua.

Xina thought... if Schicksal truly suspected she was a Herrscher, yet only sent Fu Hua alone, then... it could only mean one thing—Fu Hua's strength was no joke; she definitely had the power to hold back, or even kill, a Herrscher on her own.

Thinking back to the intense sense of danger she felt from Fu Hua—one that even S-Rank Valkyrie Theresa hadn't given her—

Xina, confirming her suspicions, had no choice but to play the good little girl for a few days.

The next morning, Xina changed into fresh clothes and stepped out of her house in high spirits. She looked up at the rising sun just cresting the horizon, and a faint blush tinged her pale face.

Great! That creepy feeling on her back was gone. Fu Hua had left. She didn't have to pretend anymore!

Far away from Fu Hua and feeling light as a feather, Xina hummed a little tune as she walked along the bustling street.

Maybe it was psychological! Everything today looked so pleasing to her eyes.

"Hey, give me an Iced Cola!" Xina walked into a convenience store, pointed at the cola in the fridge, and slapped three coins down on the counter.

"The fridge broke a few days ago, haven't replaced it yet. Only room-temperature cola left!" The store owner scratched his bald head awkwardly, looking at Xina with some embarrassment.

"Hmm... no Iced Cola, huh..." A flicker of disappointment passed through Xina's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a glint of sharpness. "Fine, room temperature it is. Give me one."

"Sure, here you go!" The store owner handed the room-temperature cola to Xina from the shelf. Just as he turned around, his body froze in place.

Had he... just seen things? The bottle he'd handed over had formed a thin layer of white frost in that girl's hand.

After a moment, he turned back and rubbed his eyes, staring at Xina's retreating figure.

"I must be overthinking things lately. I forgot I could just chill the cola myself." Xina tapped the bottle lightly with her fingertip, watching the white frost creep up and down the surface, an involuntary faint smile spreading across her face.

Passing by a park, Xina, who had already walked away, turned back. She stood still, staring blankly at an old swing hanging from a tree branch.

Looking at the empty swing, Xina's thoughts drifted back many years. Back then, she used to love swings, because... because she loved the feeling of the wind whistling past her ears.

After a while, Xina snapped out of it. She looked around, saw no one nearby, and carefully walked over to the swing, sitting down slowly...

Sunlight, a gentle breeze, the scent of flowers, a swing, cola...

Honestly, sometimes this world wasn't so bad, was it?

Just as she was thinking that, a whooshing sound of something cutting through the air came from behind her ear. Xina tilted her body to dodge the object flying toward her, then turned her head to look at where the stone had come from.

Seeing who it was, Xina couldn't help but frown. That instinctive disgust made her hard-won good mood suddenly cloud over.

"Ooh ooh ooh, long time no see, our little Freak Girl!"

The one in the lead lifted his chin, flashing a disgusting grin.

"Yeah, yeah, it's been a while without seeing Freak Girl—kinda missed it, actually. But hey, have you guys noticed? Our Freak Girl's been looking better lately! How about we give her a little makeover?"

The speaker picked up a stone from the ground with ill intent, smirking as he walked toward Xina. The others around him wore equally repulsive expressions, blocking Xina's escape route in a semicircle.

No, they were blocking their own path to survival.

"Tch. I didn't even think about going after you, and you come looking for me..."

Xina stood up from the swing, setting the half-full cola aside, and tested the waters: "What are you trying to do? If the cameras catch you, you'll get arrested."

"Ha!? What are you talking about? There aren't any cameras here! Even if we cripple you, no one will know..."

Hearing this, the remaining scumbags formed a circle, savoring the sight of their 'prey,' completely missing the golden glint flickering in Xina's eyes.

Oh! So there were no cameras here! If there were no cameras, then she didn't have to worry about Schicksal or Anti-Entropy noticing if she made a move.

At the words "no cameras," Xina's lingering tension eased, and even the fear she had faked on her face vanished.

"How wonderful!" Xina chuckled, looking up with a sly grin, her cold gaze fixed on these idiots who had come to die on their own.

"What are you smiling at, freak? Did we scare you stupid or something?" The thug holding a stick stared suspiciously at the smiling Xina, thinking she had lost her mind from fear.

"No, no, no. I'm happy because I get to make you pay!"

With that, Xina raised her right hand and pointed her index finger at the nearest scumbag. A flash of blue light at her fingertip, and a pale blue ice sculpture appeared on the park grass.

"M-monster..."

Seeing their longtime buddy turned into an ice sculpture out of thin air, these bullies who only preyed on the weak trembled so hard their legs gave out, too scared even to run.

"Hey hey hey, weren't you just yapping away? Why so quiet now?" Xina smirked at the scumbags who couldn't run even if they wanted to, the chill in her eyes growing stronger.

"I-I-I know I was wrong! P-please, let me go!"

"No, you don't know you were wrong. You just know you're about to die, and you want to survive." Xina wagged a slender finger in front of his face, teasingly. "I can tell from your eyes that I'm right."

"So then, go repent in hell! And remember, watch yourself in your next life!"

As she spoke, the man watched in terror as an unknown black mist wrapped around his body, instantly corroding half of it into black powder.

With a gust of wind, he vanished from the world as if he had never existed.

The remaining scumbags, seeing this horrifying scene, fell to their knees, weeping and begging for Xina's forgiveness.

"Look at you—arrogant and overbearing when bullying the weak, but when you meet someone stronger, you turn into this pathetic mess!" Xina looked at the crying, pleading bunch with undisguised disgust.

"Honestly, if you were rotten to the core from start to finish, you might have earned a second glance from me. But the way you are now? It's just too ugly. Ugly enough to make me sick."

"I swear, I'll turn over a new leaf and be a better person!" One clever one among the kneeling group raised his hand and swore a solemn oath, but all he got in return was Xina's look, like she was watching a clown.

Xina pressed her index finger to the man's brow and said softly, "Turn over a new leaf? I don't believe that for a second. Tell me, how should people like you change?"

"My answer is: there's no way! Only death!"

As she finished speaking, an icy blue beam pierced through the man's skull, turning the 'wide-eyed' corpse into a kneeling ice sculpture.

A few minutes later, Xina strolled out of the park, clutching her unfinished Iced Cola and crunching over the shattered ice fragments scattered across the ground.

She figured this trip home hadn't been a waste. After waiting so many years, she'd finally gotten her revenge for all the grievances she'd suffered—and with several times the interest, no less.

She wandered aimlessly through the streets until evening, when she stopped in front of an electronics store. The TV in the display window was broadcasting news about Singapore.

But oddly enough, whenever the people on screen mentioned the cause of the disaster, they seemed to be under some kind of influence—either deliberately changing the subject or dodging the question with vague answers. Not a single one gave a straight response.

This gave Xina a new appreciation for Schicksal's influence.

Just as she was thinking this, she heard hurried breathing and heavy footsteps behind her.

Tch. Coming for me again? What a pain! What's with all this nonsense every single day?

Xina turned around and did nothing as a red-eyed old woman grabbed her by the collar, shrieking hysterically, "It's her! It has to be her! My child's disappearance must be connected to her!"

Disappearance?

At first, Xina was a bit confused, until the old woman's weathered face strongly reminded her of the scumbag who had been turned to ash by the Black Mist that morning. Then it clicked.

"Miss, you're suspected of involvement in a missing persons case. Please come with us and cooperate with the investigation." The two FBI agents looked at Xina's frail appearance and clearly didn't believe this skinny girl could be the culprit. Even their tone was unusually gentle.

"Uh... do I need to wear cuffs?" Xina raised her hands expressionlessly, raising an eyebrow as if to provoke them.

She knew full well that those scumbags had been reduced to dust that she'd scattered to the wind. Even if they investigated, they wouldn't find anything. At most, she'd be out in twenty-four hours, whole and unharmed.

Given the time, she might even be able to snag a few donuts from the FBI as a midnight snack while she was inside.

"If you cooperate with the investigation, there's no need for cuffs." The older FBI agent pulled the red-eyed old woman aside and gestured for Xina to follow.

"Oh!" Xina pouted and climbed into the FBI's police car without hesitation.

When they arrived, Xina—a first-timer in a police station—looked around curiously. Her calm, almost inspection-like demeanor made the clueless FBI agents twitch their eyes, all silently grumbling: Which commissioner's daughter is here for another 'inspection'?