Author's Note / "The Bystander Sees Clearly"

But····

Chlorine Sodium simply let her hands hang at her sides, not even taking a ready stance.

Was this just the basic tactic of seeing a symbol and immediately planning to kill the other party's relatives to incite hatred?

Chlorine Sodium had seen plenty of that, so she naturally showed no reaction. Instead, she asked,

"What color is it?"

"?"

What the hell?

"I mean, the one you saw. What color was she?"

Chlorine Sodium wasn't good at communicating, so she thought for a moment, then tapped the top of her head with a finger and pursed her lips toward Yelena beside her.

"···?"

The Sarkaz girl was stunned.

Of course, it wasn't because of the way the other party spoke, but because of what she had said.

Anyone like her, a worker dispatched by the world's will, knew the same thing: they could see the prompt above the Child of the World's head.

That was what the so-called protagonist's halo was.

They played all kinds of villains across various worlds. Some liked forming gangs and harming entire regions, while others were simply power types who specialized in persecuting protagonists.

But their one common point was that they used the markers to identify people.

However, this was something only the villains knew. How did her elder sister know about it?

Could it be·····

"You··· one too?"

Chlorine Sodium didn't say anything, merely nodding.

That was the contract—or at least, it was the contract for outsiders like them.

Their respective managers had never prohibited them from killing one another. After all, they were fundamentally a group of lawless villains.

But they also had no real conflict of interest. It was difficult to fight without a reason, unless it was a deliberate sparring match.

"Oh my, looks like it was a misunderstanding."

Covering her lips lightly, Pianna put on a frightened expression. She looked innocent and charming, but Chlorine Sodium had almost fought this completely shamelessly refined superior human, so she naturally knew what Pianna···

No, more precisely, she knew what people of the same type as Pianna were like.

After all, she was one of Pianna's kind as well.

But it had to be said that, compared with a believer in methodology like herself, this Sarkaz lady seemed much more skilled at acting.

That affected aristocratic air was practically ingrained in her bones.

Clearly, the other party was also a believer in the power school. The mechanical structure covering her body resembled an enraged beast. Yet in the blink of an eye, she acted as though nothing had happened and put her gentle, refined disguise back on.

Little Yelena hadn't even sensed the change.

Looks like she was troublesome too.

·························

No, this woman was simply a troublesome thing.

"So the colors have to match?"

She popped a french fry into her mouth. Despite dressing like a noble, she had no reservations about eating such commoner food.

Little Yelena had already fallen asleep. The empty clinic now held only Chlorine Sodium and this troublesome guest who had invited herself in.

"Yes, the colors have to match. You said hers was gray?"

"Mm-hmm."

"What color were the ones you saw before?"

"Purple."

"Then it's fine. You found the wrong person too."

Crossing her arms, Chlorine Sodium wasn't the type who liked talking to people. After telling the other party that she had found the wrong person, she leaned back in her chair and waited for the woman in front of her to return wherever she had come from.

It should have been discouraging. Just like Chlorine Sodium had felt a little frustrated after confirming that Chen wasn't the person she was looking for.

But the Sarkaz girl revealed a somewhat alluring smile.

At least to outsiders, the girl named Pianna possessed all the qualities of the woman in every man's dreams.

Beautiful, dignified, seductive yet noble, and brimming with mystery.

But for some reason, that smile made Chlorine Sodium feel a little···.

Her gaze was completely undisguised.

Did this woman really not know to hide it a little?!

In the eyes of this Sarkaz noble, the doctor was silver-haired, golden-eyed, cold, and proud. She was a little flat, but that wasn't a problem.

She was a breathtaking beauty—a true ice beauty.

The hunting genes had gone into overdrive.

Even the disdain in those golden eyes was so···.

Humans generally enjoyed forcing virtuous women into prostitution, then persuading prostitutes to return to virtue.

The colder they were, the more satisfying it was when they showed such an expression.

Pianna didn't like hiding her desires.

She valued her desires highly and completely accepted the fact that she was a beast of desire.

Compared with the abstinent beauty before her, they were simply incompatible.

But that made her heart race even more.

"Mm~ No."

"?"

"I mean····

----I didn't find the wrong person at all."

···············

PS: Ugh, what a pain. There really are so many things going on at home. Living alone outside is much more comfortable. I can't even take a nap at noon.

When you're away for a long time, you miss home. But after coming back for over a year, you get sick of staying at home after a month. In just a few days, you go from being affectionate to mutually despising each other and collapsing in exhaustion.

As expected, people can't stay at their parents' house for too long. Conflicts are bound to happen sooner or later.

By the way, there have suddenly been a lot more people joining the group recently. Looks like the promotion worked pretty well.

It feels like this book is about to reach my goal this time. I'm wondering whether I should commission an artist I know to draw something, perhaps a family portrait of Yelena and Chlorine Sodium.

I think it's worth considering. If it isn't too expensive, anyway. If it's too expensive, forget it. Or maybe I could get a cover or something??

I think that could work.

By the way, what did everyone think of this crossover? After Exusiai's story is finished, I might consider rewriting that W book of mine. After all, it still has plenty of problems. For example, its results don't match its quality. If it's well written but no one reads it, then there must be problems somewhere. Heart.

Section 58: On-Shelf Testimonial

I had just finished outlining the new part, so only now did I start writing this testimonial.

It goes on sale tomorrow.

I'm a little nervous. In a certain sense, this is my first time going on sale.

People are always like this. One moment, they think they're amazing and everything is a sure thing; a while later, they feel like it might all be over.

But overall, things are still pretty good. After all, my collection count increased by more than five hundred during the first recommendation period. Generally, breaking five hundred means the book has no problem passing. That is also what motivates me to keep writing.

I've heard that Ciwai Mao offers explosive updates and bounties after a book goes on sale. But in a certain sense, this is my first time going on sale, so I don't even know how the bounties work. I'll have to ask some other authors or Orange how to handle them more safely, so I don't end up embarrassing myself.

There will definitely be extra updates. As for the bounty, I'm still considering it. I should be able to come up with a plan in a few days.

After all, I haven't even figured out how to view the growth chart in the author's backend yet. Covers face.

Of course, that was only the first part. Now for the second part: this book.

Actually, this book was published once before. But because of the title and because I had seriously misjudged Genshin's popularity, I had no choice but to take it back after posting another three or four chapters, revise it, and publish it again. I removed all the original Genshin content and changed it into what it is now.

This book originally came from the joke of an unemployed Herrscher re-employment. Unfortunately, Genshin's popularity didn't quite reach Ciwai Mao, so I had to give up on that.

But most of my worries about this book disappeared after the first recommendation. After all, it was clear that the actual results had exceeded my expectations. The collection count had jumped from just over a thousand to two thousand on the first day, which was truly astonishing.

I've always felt that I was the unlucky sort. Before signing a contract, my books always performed decently, but once I signed, some force majeure would inevitably appear. Either the contract came too late and I couldn't get a single recommendation, or I would discover that my bank card didn't match my phone number. Then, when I went to change it, the bank would be on holiday, and getting a new card would take three days. It was practically a nightmare.

Fortunately, good things come after hardships. This time, nothing major went wrong, so it was acceptable for my second book.

Looks like everything is finally getting better.jpg

Anyway, now that it's going on sale, I hope all my dear readers will support me! Sob sob.

It would be even better if you could keep following and subscribing. Hee hee.

Most importantly, remember to turn on automatic subscription. Heart.

Section 59: Chapter 57—The Bystander Sees Clearly

Chen Hui Jie was not the target she had been looking for.

But the protagonist's existence had already been confirmed.

Yelena·· not someone she needed to handle.

Someone would even come specifically to deal with Yelena's situation.

After all, the protagonist symbol above her head was not fake. It simply had the wrong color.

Then what had been the meaning of the so-called "investment" she had made before?!

She had thought this was someone she could cultivate, only to discover that the thing was a non-retrievable, one-time-use item!

What a hassle.

So why had she involved herself in this in the first place?

When all was said and done, Chlorine Sodium was merely an ordinary villain. She diligently completed her work in exchange for payment, and when the time came, she would naturally exchange it for a chance to escape all of this.

Then she would truly find a peaceful life of her own.

Besides, being a villain wasn't so bad sometimes. At least it let her relieve stress legally.

The manic feeling was a negative emotion she couldn't suppress. It was like how Honkai itself carried the impulse to devour everything.

Just as humans couldn't stop their fingernails from growing, she couldn't completely sever such desires either. She could only keep relieving the pressure to ease them, or they would drive her completely insane.

After all, none of the villains were truly normal people.

The normal ones had probably already died at the hands of the protagonist.

The life she pursued was fundamentally at odds with someone like Yelena. A child would attract countless eyes and prevent her from continuing to pursue a peaceful life with peace of mind.

And yet·· had actually worried about her.

It was truly difficult to understand.

No, that was only because of the investment. She had merely made an effort because she didn't want her investment to go to waste.

But·· about now?

She was beginning to hate her manager.