The Sorrow of a Simp

Kanzaki Rin corrected him, "It's not entrapment, it's cooperation!"

"Cooperation?"

"Exactly."

Kanzaki Rin leaned forward slightly, her tone full of encouragement, "Our goals are aligned. You must defeat all the vampires to survive, and I want to eradicate them as well. Instead of waiting passively, why not cooperate and strike first? We can pick them off one by one while they aren't strong enough yet."

Fang Cheng curled his lip, "How is this any different from entrapment? You just want to keep using me as bait."

"You can put it that way if you insist."

Kanzaki Rin smiled slightly, seemingly confident in her ability to persuade Fang Cheng, "But you can't deny that working with me is the optimal choice. I can provide you with plenty of help: tracking, locating, supplying equipment, tactical planning, combat support, and post-incident cleanup. I can even help you handle the surveillance from the authorities. Can you do all that on your own?"

Fang Cheng felt as if he were seeing Kanzaki Rin laughing maniacally while striking a "God" pose.

He quickly raised a hand to interrupt her, "The rest is fine, but keep the combat support to yourself!"

Kanzaki Rin defended herself, "My combat support test scores were a perfect hundred."

Fang Cheng snorted with laughter, "Was the maximum score a thousand? Did you manage to get your teammates and instructors killed?"

Kanzaki Rin's face darkened instantly, "I'll just say we lacked synergy, but that is something that can be cultivated."

Fang Cheng responded with a silent, mocking look.

It was undeniable that working with her offered significant advantages; it could even be considered his only option at the moment.

However, Fang Cheng didn't trust this woman's integrity. If it truly became necessary, she might sell him out in a heartbeat.

Seeing Fang Cheng's hesitation, Kanzaki Rin urged, "I know you don't fully trust me. We can start with a limited, one-time cooperation to see how it goes."

Seeing that Fang Cheng remained silent, she continued, "I'll give you time to think about it. No need to rush, but don't drag it out too long. The remaining vampires are drinking blood and growing stronger every moment, killing each other off. Once they decide on the strongest among them, it won't be something you or I can handle. I can always hide in the Disaster Countermeasure Department, but you'll have to face them alone."

Fang Cheng retorted, "I could hide in the Disaster Countermeasure Department too, couldn't I? Isn't that what you were trying to do when you tried to drag me back last time? Do they provide meals?"

Kanzaki Rin went silent, though her expression clearly conveyed, 'Can you have a little more ambition?'

To be honest, Kanzaki Rin's proposal was tempting. Whether for his own safety or to collect more Life Fragments, he would have to face the other vampires sooner or later.

So why not strike hard while he had the chance?

If he waited for them to reach full build and get their six-item sets before ganking, it wouldn't be hunting—it would be a group suicide mission.

As Fang Cheng pondered, Kanzaki Rin's phone suddenly rang.

She pulled it out and saw it was Aoki Yusuke calling.

Kanzaki Rin pressed answer.

"Is something the matter?"

"Kanzaki, where are you?"

"I'm on a classified mission. Do you need something?"

"Nothing much. The Department updated a batch of new data. I can subscribe you to it if you need."

"Thanks. Anything else?"

"No, that's all. Carry on."

After hanging up, Aoki Yusuke, standing by the roadside, looked up at the distant apartment building and let out a long sigh, his gaze deep and unreadable.

Once Kanzaki Rin hung up, Fang Cheng asked with a gossipy tone, "Is that your boyfriend?"

Kanzaki Rin shook her head, "No."

"Then is he your dad?"

Kanzaki Rin stopped speaking and simply stared at him in silence.

"Only a boyfriend or your dad would care so much about where you are and what you're doing."

Fang Cheng leaned back on the sofa, "Let me guess. The person who called is a guy, and it's obvious he likes you, but you don't like him back. You're trying hard to keep your distance, right?"

Kanzaki Rin remained calm, but she was secretly surprised, "How did you guess?"

Fang Cheng crossed his arms and flashed a 'you-know-what-I-mean' smile, "You only said three sentences to him, and every one of them was asking if he had business with you. That proves you don't want any interaction beyond official matters. If the other person can't tell—or pretends not to tell—that you're clearly distancing yourself, then he's definitely a 'simp'."

At this point, Fang Cheng couldn't help but sigh, "Simps have it rough. They end up with nothing, and even the single guys look down on them. Your personal simp probably has no idea that his goddess is at a single man's house in the middle of the night, having physical contact with him while he's naked, all while lying to the simp that she's on a classified mission. Just thinking about it makes him look so pathetic. May the color green always watch over him."

Kanzaki Rin almost rolled her eyes at Fang Cheng. She mocked, "You wrote me love letters, so does that make you my simp?"

Fang Cheng wasn't offended; instead, he laughed, "To simp once is to be a dog; to simp a hundred times is to be a wolf. To simp nine million times is to be the wolf among wolves. Sorry, but having written at least two hundred love letters since middle school, I'm not a simp—I'm a war wolf. A mere simp is beneath even the single guys."

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

A stray dog on the street outside the apartment barked in perfect synchronization, as if echoing Fang Cheng's words.

Kanzaki Rin didn't know whether to call him impressive or just admire him; he had truly reached a new level of simping.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Aoki Yusuke, who was just about to leave, was suddenly barked at by a stray dog that had appeared from nowhere.

Aoki Yusuke felt as if he could hear the mockery of a single man in the stray dog's frantic barking.

Usually calm and composed, he lost his cool for a moment and cursed, "Get lost! Get away from me!"

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

More stray dogs crawled out from the darkness, fixing their glowing green eyes upon him.

The green radiance made Aoki Yusuke's expression shift, a deep sense of unease washing over him. "Hmph, I won't lower myself to the level of you curs."

He turned and hurried away.

"Enough, I didn't come here to listen to your sycophantic theories."

Kanzaki Rin struggled to steer the derailed conversation back on track. "Are you going to agree to work with me or not?"

"Didn't you tell me to think about it?"

"I've changed my mind."

"Heh, women!"

Fang Cheng rubbed his chin, asking skeptically, "I can't coexist peacefully with other vampires, so I have to kill them. But what about you? Why are you trying so hard? Do you have a grudge against vampires?"

Kanzaki Rin refused to answer. "That is my private business."

"Sincerity, I need sincerity!"

Fang Cheng pointed a finger at her, then at himself. "Cooperation requires sincerity. You being so uncooperative puts me in a difficult position."

Kanzaki Rin gritted her teeth before answering, "I need to earn merit quickly to ensure I can secure a higher position within the Countermeasure Department. Are you satisfied with that answer?"

As she spoke of this topic, her entire demeanor turned cold and distant, as if she were extremely reluctant to bring it up.