Part-timers don't take the blame for their bosses

The draft from the balcony made the aluminum clothes rack rattle.

Xia Ning squatted down beside the rusty security bars, hugging her knees, her ankles tucked into the hem of her oversized old T-shirt.

"Brother Su Bai, actually, when I saw that file in the bike shed, I was completely stunned."

Xia Ning rested her chin on her knees, her voice muffled.

"The words 'Special Grade Eradication Protocol' stamped by the Monster Hunting Bureau kept swirling in my mind."

"I'm actually not that afraid of Monster bites; the pain only lasts for a moment."

"What I fear most is that I will implicate the all-powerful Lady Ziwei."

Just as Su Bai was about to lean against the rusty folding gate on the balcony, the protruding old wire under his feet suddenly caught on the edge of his slippers.

He swayed halfway around and almost fell headfirst onto the concrete floor.

"Damn it, this lousy landlord won't even spend money to fix the tunnel door. He has to deduct two hundred from next month's rent for maintenance."

Su Bai steadied himself, kicked away the wire with annoyance, and used the cursing to cover up his earlier unnatural panic.

Being suddenly confessed to admiring Vest by this little girl can certainly make one's feet slip.

Xia Ning looked up at Su Bai's displeased and mercenary expression, and the wind dried some of the tears in her eyes.

She stared at Su Bai's gray hoodie, its collar warped from washing, and hesitated for a long time.

"Brother Su Bai, let me ask you a hypothetical question."

"Spit it out already, it's almost dawn. Even with peak and off-peak electricity rates, we can't afford to keep going like this."

Xia Ning's fingers tapped lightly on the rough iron bars of the security grille.

"If one day you suddenly realize that the family you've been working tirelessly, delivering food every day, and scrimping and saving to support..."

"She is actually a dangerous individual, even a super-class monster, who could attract the attention of special forces and official armed forces at any time."

Xia Ning spoke very softly, afraid that if she spoke too loudly, she would wake Su Xiaoxiao in the bedroom.

"Would you hate the person who brought such a terrible disaster into your family?"

Su Bai took out a crumpled Mint hard candy from his coat pocket, tore off the plastic wrapper, and popped it into his mouth.

A crisp snapping sound.

The hard candy was crushed to pieces by his two back molars, and a cool, spicy sweetness spread across his tongue.

"Can't you stop having this paranoia in your head?"

Su Bai chewed on the candy crumbs, glancing sideways at Xia Ning.

"Why do you follow their line of thinking and position yourself as a victim or a criminal?"

"Just based on those few scraps of paper stamped with a red seal?"

Xia Ning opened her mouth. "But the Monster Hunting Bureau is official; they have legitimate authority..."

"Order my ass."

Su Bai coldly interrupted her.

"Do you really think those bureaucrats at the Monster Hunting Bureau, sitting in air-conditioned offices all day stamping official seals, are more noble than the deadly Blood Curse Species outside convenience stores?"

"Monsters want to eat your flesh, bureaucrats want to take your life to maintain their monopoly on power."

"Both sides are here to kill you. Does a death sentence with an official seal make it any more noble than Monster's claws?"

Xia Ning lowered her head, her gaze falling on the rain reflection on the concrete floor of the balcony.

Her disheveled silhouette was reflected in the puddle, her long hair plastered messily to her forehead.

Actually... I have a lot of self-loathing.

Xia Ning gave a self-deprecating smile, her voice filled with desolation.

"Back then at the light rail station, I willingly accepted Lady Ziwei's guidance to become Mint; I never even thought about saving all of humanity."

"Back then, I thought, how cool it would be to transform, to fly in the sky and be watched by everyone, to vainly enjoy being worshipped."

"At school, I was a nobody who didn't even dare to speak loudly, but after transforming, I felt like the main character."

Xia Ning took a breath of damp, cool air, her throat tightening.

"Now that I hear the authorities are going to really crack down on this, and that I'm going to be wiped out as a top-level disaster, I immediately want to be a coward."

"They enjoy the vanity that comes with power, yet they fear the consequences of being surrounded and annihilated."

"Someone like me, to put it nicely, is weak; to put it bluntly, I'm someone who wants to have it both ways."

Su Bai didn't reply, but walked to the railing and put his arms on the rusty iron pipe.

Xia Ning also stood up, slowly walked to his side, and followed his example by leaning over the edge of the balcony.

The two looked down at the quiet Happiness Lane in the dead of night.

The wet bluestone pavement reflected the dim yellow glow of the streetlights, and the puddles gurgled along the drainage ditch.

In the distance, on the main road, a sanitation sprinkler truck with its yellow lights flashing slowly drove through the rainy night.

The car's rooftop speaker blared extremely jarring and out-of-tune mechanical electronic music, echoing through the empty streets.

"Sometimes I think, what if Lady Ziwei someone stronger and more talented instead of me..."

Xia Ning's voice was mostly drowned out by the heavy roar of the water truck's engine.

"Perhaps the Star Team wouldn't have such an obvious weakness as me."

The mechanical music faded away as the sprinkler truck turned the corner, and the alleyway returned to silence.

Su Bai turned around, leaning against the balcony railing, and looked directly at Xia Ning.

"Since you think you're so bad, let me ask you a very real question."

"If Ziwei knew perfectly well that you were a complete weakling, and knew that the authorities would eventually come knocking on your door to settle scores..."

"But so far, has she taken back your Mint Wand?"

Xia Ning paused, then shook her head. "No."

Did she abandon you because you were in the way when those two bastards at the convenience store started taking pictures of you?

"No... she killed all the Monster in one move and even dragged us out of the ruins."

"That settles it then."

Su Bai exhaled, his tone calm and even.

"Since she didn't take back her wand or kick you out of the group like trash, what kind of sob story are you putting on?"

"Are you planning to turn yourself in to the Monster Hunting Bureau at daybreak tomorrow, playing the ostrich, or are you going to throw that tattered file into the shredder and use it as toilet paper?"

Xia Ning gripped the hem of the oversized T-shirt tightly with both hands, causing the fabric to wrinkle into messy creases.

Confusion and fear intertwined in his eyes, and his breathing became rapid.

"I'm really not afraid of death, Brother Su Bai."

Xia Ning gritted her teeth and finally shouted out the fear hidden deep in her heart.

"I'm afraid that my fragile icicle might hold Lady Ziwei back in some future great battle!"

"If my mistake leads to Lady Ziwei being surrounded..."

"It caused the entire Star Team to fall apart, and everyone died without a burial place... I am utterly responsible and deserve to die a thousand deaths!"

Su Bai looked at the excited girl in front of him and couldn't help but scoff.

He picked up the empty paper coffee cup beside him and tapped it lightly on the rusty iron railing, making a soft tapping sound.

"Xia Ning, you still don't understand the underlying logic of working."