We Were Born Because of You

Fortunately, the girls' "revenge" still had its limits. As Chen Xiao was about to shut down the computer, he noticed the changed Recycle Bin icon and discovered that yesterday's bedroom surveillance footage had not been completely deleted.

Although he had still been stripped naked, Alice had restrained herself in the video. She had not groped the sleeping Chen Xiao and had behaved herself while dressing him.

"Thank goodness..."

Chen Xiao could not help letting out a sigh of relief.

But just as he turned to leave the surveillance room, he nearly collided with a girl the moment he stepped outside.

"Ah-!"

The girl before him gave Chen Xiao a fright.

"Eek-!"

She let out an adorable squeal too.

He had frightened Chen Xiao.

"Ha... honestly, don't suddenly shout so loudly, A-Xiao!"

She patted her chest and breathed a little easier.

"X-Xiao?"

Hearing such a familiar nickname, the sort only someone close to him would use, tumble out of this girl's mouth left Chen Xiao at a loss.

Should I call her out for being too familiar?

"You're... Nanami Aoyama?"

Chen Xiao recognized her.

After all, he had seen her in the footage just yesterday.

She had been the one holding back the furious Black Cat.

"That's me. You can just call me 'Nanami,' A-Xiao. My full name sounds too distant..."

Nanami Aoyama's gaze wandered, avoiding Chen Xiao's eyes, and her voice sounded shy.

"Huh?"

Chen Xiao remembered that in Japanese society, barring special circumstances, only people with very close relationships called each other by their given names.

So why was Nanami Aoyama acting like this at their first meeting...

And what was with that reaction?

Even love at first sight shouldn't start with an affection score this high!

Although he was full of questions, Chen Xiao just wanted a breather after so many shocks in such a short time, so he did not immediately ask about their situation.

After the surveillance camera incident, the materialized figurine girls stopped hiding from Chen Xiao. They even began materializing openly in front of him.

However, this also taught Chen Xiao that their materialization time depended on their strength. The stronger a character was in her original setting, the more it cost her.

For now, only ordinary people like them could materialize.

As for the superhumans among his figurines...

Sorry, they could not even materialize for a single second. For now, they could only sit in the display cabinet and rage helplessly.

But Alice and the others did not volunteer an explanation for why they could materialize as figurines. Instead, they waited for Chen Xiao to prepare himself mentally and ask them.

And so, two months passed, and Chen Xiao grew accustomed to the girls' presence.

It was also on this day that he decided on a future without further study at [Shenzhou Nova Academy]...

"It's time to eat, young master."

A voice as gentle as a spring breeze sounded beside his ear.

Still groggy, Chen Xiao instinctively raised his head and plunged face-first into two fragrant, heaving swells.

"Oh my~ Aren't you impatient, young master?"

The slightly bashful teasing, along with the soft, fragrant sensation against his face, jolted Chen Xiao wide awake. He hurriedly leaned back and lay down again.

After putting a little distance between them, Chen Xiao sat up in bed, taking the opportunity to conceal the unusual state of his lower half.

"Alice, you're taking this teasing too far... a-aren't you afraid I'll suddenly lose control?"

"Oh? If that is what you wish, young master, please be gentle with this body..."

As she spoke, Alice assumed a vulnerably alluring pose and slowly pulled down the strap on her right shoulder.

"Enough, enough! Don't pull it down any farther!"

Deep down, Chen Xiao had tremendous respect for Young Master Death.

Although his curse prevented him from touching Alice, being able to endure teasing like this took truly formidable willpower!

"As you wish."

Alice smiled faintly and stopped pulling down the strap.

But she did not pull it back up either, leaving her clothes in a precarious state where they might slip off at any moment!

"..."

Chen Xiao helplessly pressed a hand to his forehead.

So strong! Far too strong!

Her mastery was every bit the equal of Master Origami's!

Origami Tobiichi inside the display cabinet: ... (Sea Tiger's darkened face)

Knock, knock, knock...

Just then, someone knocked three times on the bedroom door.

They looked toward the sound and found Mahiru Shiina standing in the doorway, wearing her practiced angelic smile.

"Miss Alice, didn't I ask you to call A-Xiao to dinner? You've taken so long that the food is going cold."

As though she had only just remembered, Alice pulled up her slipping strap and bowed slightly.

"My sincerest apologies, Miss Shiina. I neglected my duty."

Then Alice turned and winked at Chen Xiao.

"Young master, let's continue next time~"

With that, she turned back into a figurine and returned to the display cabinet.

Mahiru Shiina: ...

Her angelic smile showed faint signs of cracking.

That shameless maid in black!

After silently cursing her, Mahiru Shiina stepped forward and pulled away the somewhat dazed Chen Xiao (that had hit home), then slammed the bedroom door shut.

"Mahiru..."

Looking at Mahiru Shiina ahead of him as she held his hand, Chen Xiao hesitated to speak.

"What is it?"

Mahiru Shiina did not turn around. Like a jealous little wife, even her voice had changed.

"No, nothing."

Chen Xiao had always wanted to ask why they liked him so much.

It was not that he had low self-esteem.

Whether for him or the figurines, they had only truly gotten to know each other recently.

Before that, he had known their manga and anime versions. Although they had come to life from figurines he made, aside from having lived a second life, Chen Xiao had no outstanding qualities worth their attention.

For example, Mahiru Shiina had said in the original story that she valued someone's inner qualities over their appearance, yet her inner qualities had not been what he thought about when making her figurine.

He was clearly someone who chose partners based on looks, exactly the sort of person Mahiru Shiina should have disliked.

"Try these, A-Xiao. I made sweet-and-sour ribs."

After sitting down, Mahiru Shiina eagerly placed a piece of sweet-and-sour rib in Chen Xiao's bowl.

"..."

Chen Xiao hesitated for a moment, then picked up the rib with his chopsticks and took a bite.

"How is it? Is it to your taste?"

Mahiru Shiina asked excitedly, seemingly eager for Chen Xiao's opinion.

"It's delicious..."

He was not flattering her. It really was delicious.

"Thank goodness~"

Mahiru Shiina clasped her hands together. Like a student who had squeezed through a crowd and found her name on the exam rankings, she was excited but also breathed a little sigh of relief.

"Why?"

Watching Mahiru Shiina rejoice simply because the food suited his tastes, Chen Xiao could no longer suppress his questions.

"Huh?"

"Why do you all like me so much?"

Although saying that might earn him accusations of being a turnoff, anyone with eyes could see that the girls were serious.

But affection that came out of nowhere like this only made Chen Xiao uneasy.

It was like that meme he had seen before transmigrating...

That's not how dating sims work!

You're supposed to talk to me more!

Then raise my affection score, occasionally give me presents, have a special interaction with me on that special holiday, and finally confess during some mysterious event of mine!

I agree to date you, and then you get to see my special CG! How can you just walk up and confess to me?!

That's not how dating sims work!

I refuse!!!

"A-Xiao."

Realizing Chen Xiao was not joking, Mahiru Shiina's expression grew serious. She then moved her chair beside him and sat down.

"Whether it was me or any of the others, when we first opened our eyes, you were the only person we saw."

As she spoke, Mahiru Shiina slowly raised her hands.

Looking at the bewildered Chen Xiao before her, she could not help recalling how, when she had first been made, her consciousness had been wrapped in a bone-chilling cold.

She had not known who she was or where she was.

There had been nothing around her but endless darkness and icy air.

Until Chen Xiao's large, warm hands had lifted her body, cradling her like a priceless treasure. He had pierced the darkness before her eyes, dispelled the cold around her, and carefully shaped her into what she was now.

Giving her a form, a name, a personality, a soul...

"Whether it's these bodies or our personalities and souls, you created all of them."

As Mahiru Shiina spoke, her hands gradually came to rest against Chen Xiao's cheeks. So lost in her emotions was she that she did not notice her body steadily leaning forward.

Chen Xiao, overwhelmed with shock, likewise failed to notice how dangerously close they had become.

By the time he realized it, it was too late.

"You gave us life. You gave us consciousness. You made it possible for us to exist in this world!"

At that point, looking at Chen Xiao's face just inches from hers, Mahiru Shiina's already heightened feelings instantly overwhelmed her reason. She could no longer suppress her adoration.

"A-Xiao—"

Mahiru Shiina's eyes slowly narrowed.

"We were born because of you!"

The moment those words left her lips, Mahiru Shiina closed her eyes and leaned in.

"You-!"

Shocked by Mahiru Shiina's heartfelt confession, Chen Xiao had just been about to speak when the girl right before him sealed off his words!

...Was this a kiss?!

No! This wasn't just a simple kiss!

Who stuck their tongue in during a kiss?!

So this, this was...

A French kiss!

At the same time, the figurine display cabinet in the bedroom suddenly began shaking violently, like a helpless wife.

"To think Miss Shiina was only reserved on the surface, and couldn't resist sneaking ahead the moment she had a chance... what a miscalculation."

Alice, who had been feeling rather pleased with herself, could no longer giggle now.

Fortunately, plenty of others were even more furious than she was.

Pop-

A few minutes later, with a soft sound, Mahiru Shiina pulled away, her lips pressed together and her face bright red. Without even wiping away the thread of saliva at the corner of her mouth, she hurried out of the living room.

"M-my time is up! I'll head back first! Take your time eating..."

She left Chen Xiao sitting alone at the dining table with a hand over his mouth.

At that moment, he felt as though something had filled his heart. Even his favorite sweet-and-sour ribs before him could not compare to the sweetness filling it.

But just as he smiled and placed a rib in his rice bowl, the living room television began playing an advertisement for [Shenzhou Nova Academy], bringing his mind back to reality.

That was a future leading into an Urban Supernatural story.

At the semi-militarized Nova Academy, the dormitory could not possibly leave Chen Xiao an entire wall for his figurine display cabinet, much less room for his figurine-making equipment.

Nor could he guarantee that he would return here every weekend to see the figurine girls, let alone make new figurines.

Given enough time, he might end up overlooking Alice and the others' existence, or even forgetting them entirely.

After all, the powerful characters among his figurines still could not materialize, and he did not know how to extend their materialization time (their mana bars). He had not awakened any superpowers himself, either, so he had no way to protect them.

But if he gave up entering the academy, other people would see it as no different from cutting himself off from his "future."

He could not have it both ways.

At that moment, a choice lay before Chen Xiao.

The dining table before him, laden with the girls' affection (the food), and the academy's promotional advertisement playing on television.

After a long while-

Chen Xiao took out his phone in a daze.

Beep...

His fingers landed on the phone's keys, each press making a crisp, grating sound.

Each button press seemed to stretch endlessly in Chen Xiao's eyes. He had thought a flood of thoughts would come, perhaps even his life flashing before his eyes.

But none of that happened.

Only the look in his eyes gradually changed as he entered the number.

Finally, he pressed the call button.

Ring-

Now that I've made my decision, I won't give myself a chance to regret it.

"Dad, it's me... No, no, nothing's wrong. I'm doing great here. There's just something I need to discuss with you..."

Chen Xiao spoke with determination in his eyes.

"I'm not going to Shenzhou Nova Academy."