Chapter Summaries

Yan Huan returned to Tong Yingying’s tavern to make up missed shifts and found her drinking heavily while dealing with pressure from her mother to go on a blind date. When a mysterious white snake offered Tong Yingying power, she stomped it out, leaving its fate uncertain.

• Yan Huan left school early, caught the South District bus, and headed to Tong Yingying’s tavern to make up for his missed weekend shifts.
• Yan Huan and Tong Yingying traded jokes before he changed for work, and Tian Li and Guan Rong arrived to help at the tavern.
• As the tavern grew busy, Tong Yingying drank alone and sent angry messages to her mother about being pressured into a blind date.
• Tong Yingying became sick in the restroom, where a snake-shaped tattoo emerged from her body as a small white snake.
• The white snake offered Tong Yingying power to manipulate sensations, but she dismissed it as a drunken hallucination and stomped on it until it vanished.

Yan Huan helped the drunken Tong Yingying upstairs and advised her to change her habits instead of pretending to date him to satisfy her parents. After he left, Tong Yingying considered quitting smoking and drinking, while a mysterious injured white snake appeared at An Le’s window and she brought it inside.

• Yan Huan found Tong Yingying drunk in the restroom, helped her upstairs, and stopped her from making a drunken advance on him.
• Tong Yingying offered Yan Huan money to pretend to be close to her during calls with her parents, but he explained that changing her lifestyle might ease their worries.
• Yan Huan accepted extra pay from Tong Yingying and left, while she wondered whether she should quit smoking and drinking.
• An Le browsed adult games in her room and noticed an injured white snake on the windowsill.
• An Le put on bite-resistant gloves and carried the white snake into her room.

Yan Huan and Hitomi Sakuramiya watched Totsuki Academy's first-year results go up, then met with Principal Hermes about summer placements and a mandatory study group. Yan Huan took charge of the program after spotting Bai Yi and Aria Spencer on the list, while Hitomi grew suspicious of Spencer; in class, Spencer found a bookmark connecting Yan Huan and An Le.

• You Anlina posted the first-year rankings, with Yan Huan first, Hitomi Sakuramiya second, and Aria Spencer last with 66 points.
• Principal Hermes gave Yan Huan and Hitomi Sakuramiya details about company placements and asked the Student Council to relaunch academic assistance through a Study Group.
• Yan Huan agreed to oversee the program after seeing Bai Yi recommended and Aria Spencer marked for mandatory participation.
• Hitomi Sakuramiya suspected that Spencer had done something to Yan Huan and privately resolved to keep him to herself.
• In class, Spencer borrowed An Le's textbook and found a bookmark that read, "Yan Huan and An Le must stay together forever."

An Le accepted the help of the talking snake Little Finger, which promised her power over pleasure and pain, but she remained timid and focused on reconnecting with her childhood friend Yan Huan. After Spencer returned An Le’s treasured bookmark, she told her that Yan Huan was already with Hitomi Sakuramiya, leaving An Le pale and shaken.

• An Le heard classmates discussing how they used Student Council treasurer Yatsuhashi to deliver gifts to Yan Huan, then Little Finger appeared and offered her an ability to manipulate pleasure and pain.
• Little Finger warned An Le to keep the ability secret and urged her to stand up to bullies and pursue what she wanted, while An Le reluctantly accepted its help.
• An Le recalled meeting Yan Huan at a neighborhood orphanage, their promise to stay together forever, and how she found him again at Totsuki but never dared approach him.
• An Le returned late to class and discovered Spencer holding the old bookmark she had made with Yan Huan; Spencer handed it back and said Yan Huan was already with Hitomi Sakuramiya.
• Spencer hinted that Yan Huan and Hitomi Sakuramiya had been intimate, and An Le turned pale as she imagined them together.

At Totsuki Academy, Yan Huan planned a Study Group while Hitomi Sakuramiya tried to join, but he kept her out because Spencer's Modifier might affect her. Later, he agreed to inspect Ye Shiyu's slow laptop and triggered her purple phone's Individual Hypnosis effect as he was about to open a browser.

• You Anlina blamed the Student Council members for her poor exam result, and Yatsuhashi Ki invited her to join the revived Study Group.
• Hitomi Sakuramiya offered to help with the Study Group, but Yan Huan declined because he worried Spencer's Modifier could harm her.
• Yan Huan and Hitomi Sakuramiya parted at the Teaching Building, and he returned to his classroom planning to nap and play mahjong.
• Ye Shiyu brought Yan Huan cookies and asked him to fix her sluggish laptop, which he suspected had a virus after finding a system process using all the CPU.
• As Yan Huan moved to open the browser, Ye Shiyu's phone activated Individual Hypnosis for fifteen minutes.

Ye Shiyu hypnotized Yan Huan to hide her browsing history, then indulged her wish to hear him call her “big sister” before ordering him to act clingy. Yan Huan turned the command into an unexpectedly intimate hand-grab, and Ye Shiyu stopped him when voices outside revealed students were looking for Bai Yi.

• Ye Shiyu hypnotized Yan Huan and rushed to delete her browser history before classmates returned.
• After clearing the history, Ye Shiyu made Yan Huan call her “big sister” and then smile while saying it.
• Ye Shiyu ordered Yan Huan to act like a little brother who loved her more than anything and to be cute and clingy.
• Yan Huan grabbed Ye Shiyu’s hand and pulled her toward him, leaving her flustered and unable to immediately stop him.
• Hearing people outside talk about Bai Yi, Ye Shiyu told Yan Huan to stop, and he released her.

Ye Shiyu hypnotized Yan Huan and erased his memory of her commands, while he planned how to curb her growing temptation to use her Modifier. Bai Yi used her Indifference Modifier to skip class, then clashed with her mother over school and work before disappearing from her bedroom.

• Ye Shiyu released Yan Huan from Hypnosis, and he acted as though nothing unusual had happened while planning his next steps.
• Bai Yi used her Nameless Pocket Watch’s Indifference effect to leave campus, skipped class, and saw Yan Huan praised on a Student Council noticeboard.
• Bai Yi returned home and argued with Zuo Jiangqin about skipping class, her poor exam results, and her lack of enthusiasm for work.
• Zuo Jiangqin compared Bai Yi to Yan Huan, and Bai Yi told her mother to make him her son before slamming her bedroom door.
• Zuo Jiangqin later found Bai Yi’s bedroom empty, with its window open.

Yan Huan discovered that Bai Yi had vandalized his desk and chased her outside, where she confronted him before vanishing when the police arrived looking for her. Meanwhile, An Le tried to deliver Yan Huan a letter but was turned away, then faced Piao Shuwen and several girls in the corridor.

• Yatsuhashi Ki showed Yan Huan tickets to a game expo, and Yan Huan agreed to go with him after learning Bai Yi was listed as a VIP guest.
• A classmate told Yan Huan that his desk had been covered in paint and insults, and he connected the vandalism to Bai Yi.
• Yan Huan spotted Bai Yi hiding outside and confronted her, but a police car arrived with Bai Yi's mother asking officers to find her missing daughter.
• Bai Yi disappeared while Yan Huan looked toward the school gates, and Yatsuhashi Ki hurried outside to join him.
• An Le tried to give Yatsuhashi Ki a letter addressed to Xiao Huan, but he returned it and rushed after Yan Huan.
• Piao Shuwen and several girls confronted An Le in the corridor after Yatsuhashi Ki left.

An Le was bullied in the restroom after Piao Shuwen found and tore up her letter to Yan Huan, but Spencer intervened and beat the girls who were tormenting her. As An Le began to follow Spencer back to class, Spencer received a Student Council order to join the Study Group and grew angry with Yan Huan.

• Piao Shuwen and two girls pinned An Le down, read her letter to Yan Huan aloud, mocked her, and tore it apart.
• An Le realized she had avoided approaching Yan Huan because she feared he had forgotten her, and she began to cry as Little Finger urged her to fight back.
• Spencer left a restroom stall, confronted Piao Shuwen, and knocked her down before attacking the two girls holding An Le.
• An Le thanked Spencer and followed her toward class, then asked whether Spencer liked Yan Huan; Spencer said she did not.
• Spencer received a Student Council email ordering her to report for the Study Group by Friday, and she blamed Yan Huan and said she was starting to dislike him.

Police searched Totsuki Academy for Bai Yi, who was hiding nearby and used her pocket watch to increase its duration and gain a trait that corrected technological evidence. After watching Yan Huan clean up the damage she had caused, Bai Yi reconsidered her plan and decided to learn more about him, while Yan Huan remained wary of further attacks.

• Captain Edo searched Totsuki Academy for Bai Yi and learned from Zuo Jiangqin that Bai Yi might be staying with an older female friend in Jinghe District.
• Yan Huan heard that police had asked for him and worried that investigating Bai Yi's Modifier could expose the supernatural abilities.
• Bai Yi hid at the school and leveled up her pocket watch, gaining twenty minutes of daily Indifference and Transparent Human Correction.
• Bai Yi followed Yan Huan to Class A and watched him scrub away the paint she had caused while he called Tong Yingying to say he would be late for work.
• Bai Yi abandoned her immediate plan to harm Yan Huan and decided to observe him, while Yan Huan left school expecting another attack.

Yan Huan discovered that Bai Yi’s grudge might be connected to his past rejection of Yasaka Entertainment, then found her crying after a furious argument with her mother and brought her into the Tavern. Tong Yingying intervened to handle Bai Yi while sending Yan Huan back to work.

• Yan Huan researched Bai Yi online, recognized Yasaka Entertainment as a possible connection between them, and recalled fleeing after its boss made him uncomfortable.
• Bai Yi followed Yan Huan to the Tavern, where a call with her mother, Zuo Jiangqin, escalated into an argument over her career, studies, and songs.
• Bai Yi smashed her phone and broke down crying; Yan Huan found her by the Tavern’s back door and invited her inside to rest.
• Bai Yi asked Yan Huan why he had turned down chances to become a star, and he said that stardom was not what he wanted.
• Tong Yingying arrived, told Yan Huan to return to work, and said she would take care of Bai Yi.

Bai Yi ran away from home after clashing with her mother, and Tong Yingying and Yan Huan helped her decide to return. Yan Huan’s praise of her songs and a secret caramel pudding calmed Bai Yi and stopped her pocket watch’s power from awakening, while she agreed to let him speak with her mother.

• After Yan Huan left, Tong Yingying questioned Bai Yi, discovered she was a distressed runaway, and urged her to explain what had happened at home.
• Bai Yi told Tong Yingying that she longed for her mother’s approval but felt pressured to abandon what she wanted; Yan Huan returned before Tong Yingying could share her idea.
• Yan Huan recognized Bai Yi as a schoolmate and fan of her music, and Bai Yi excitedly promised to upload a new song after learning he had listened to her work.
• When Tong Yingying suggested calling Bai Yi’s family, Bai Yi’s pocket watch began to stir, but Yan Huan gave her time and later persuaded her to call her mother with his help.
• Bai Yi’s mother, Zuo Jiangqin, coldly told her to wait and prepare for a weekend event, leaving Bai Yi distressed after the call ended.
• As Bai Yi’s despair began to awaken her power, Yan Huan brought her caramel pudding, praised her songs, and said he would attend the weekend event; Bai Yi ate, cried, and her pocket watch fell silent.

Yan Huan managed to calm Bai Yi by recognizing that she wanted her singing to be acknowledged, but he knew his approval could not replace her mother's. At Totsuki Academy, An Le secretly watched Yan Huan confront Spencer over the Study Group, then followed Little Finger's advice and accidentally flooded Yan Huan with pleasure.

• Yan Huan explained to Meow-chan that Bai Yi cared about recognition for her singing, though her mother's disapproval remained the deeper problem.
• Yan Huan took Tong Yingying's cigarette and joked with her before agreeing to make her pudding.
• An Le changed her hairstyle and, urged on by Little Finger, went to watch Yan Huan meet Spencer about the Study Group.
• Spencer agreed to join Yan Huan's Study Group after he provoked her, but he required her to bring several workbooks and delete the photos.
• Little Finger persuaded An Le to use her pleasure-manipulating ability to cheer Yan Huan up, and An Le accidentally sent him far too much white mist.

An Le’s Modifier struck Yan Huan with overwhelming pleasure, leaving him hiding on the Student Council floor as Hitomi Sakuramiya searched for him. After he recovered enough to meet her, Yan Huan reassured her about Spencer, while Little Finger urged An Le to try using her power on him again.

• An Le’s Modifier hit Yan Huan with a powerful sensation that partially bypassed his resistance, and Meow-chan explained that the fourth Modifier Host was at their school.
• Yan Huan hid near the Student Council Office as Hitomi Sakuramiya and You Anlina returned, while Hitomi used her Barrier to review footage of Yan Huan meeting Spencer.
• Hitomi searched the corridors and restrooms for Yan Huan as An Le and Little Finger hid nearby, with An Le distressed that she had caused his condition.
• Yan Huan calmed himself with a meditation trick, then ran into Hitomi and claimed he had been handling Study Group matters and had argued with Spencer.
• Hitomi joined Yan Huan on the way back to the office, and Little Finger told An Le that she still had a good chance with him if she used her Modifier again.

Ye Shiyu ate lunch with Yumiko and Aijia, who helped her consider what kind of boy she liked, while she thought of Yan Huan. In handicrafts class, Yan Huan paired up with Ye Shiyu, and her attempts to communicate with him revealed both her growing effort and her continuing possessiveness.

• Ye Shiyu shared lunch with Yumiko and Aijia, who asked about her romantic preferences and concluded that she liked a sunny, younger boy.
• Yumiko watched her boyfriend Owen training and remembered that the Club War was approaching.
• Yan Huan wondered who had used a Modifier against him before joining Ye Shiyu in handicrafts class.
• Ye Shiyu first used a phone notepad to explain her materials, but Yan Huan told her he preferred her usual way of communicating, and she quietly answered him aloud.
• Ye Shiyu lent Yan Huan her scissors, then silently deterred a classmate who wanted to borrow them before agreeing to work on the cloth bag together.

Yan Huan discovered a new Modifier fragment and planned to use it to strengthen Learning Conqueror, while wondering whether Tong Yingying might be connected to it. After witnessing a violent fire and gang clash on his way home, he gathered university math materials and activated his ability to study.

• Yan Huan finished a cloth pouch with Ye Shiyu, learned that she might look into joining a club, and received the yellow Pet Scarf she had made for Meow-chan.
• Meow-chan showed Yan Huan a large, intangible Modifier fragment shaped like a snake scale, which it had found at the Tavern, and a smaller fragment from Ye Shiyu's Modifier.
• Yan Huan suspected that a new Modifier might be connected to Tong Yingying, but she did not respond to his messages or call.
• Yan Huan learned that a fire and violent clash at the Sterling Building might be connected to the Feather Gang as the school bus detoured around the scene.
• Yan Huan obtained math textbooks and lecture slides from the Changsun Studio ghostwriting contact and activated Learning Conqueror to study.

Yan Huan studied through the night with Learning Conqueror before finally resting, while Bai Yi worked up the courage to send him a Plane friend request after Jiang Xiong encouraged her to be braver. At Tongyao Tavern, Tong Yingying offered two injured men a way out of Linmen, but said only one of them could leave.

• Yan Huan studied for nearly eight hours with Learning Conqueror, then stopped to rest after Meow-chan warned him he was exhausted.
• Yan Huan accepted a Plane friend request from Xin Yi without realizing Bai Yi had sent it, and went to bed without hearing from Tong Yingying.
• Bai Yi struggled to finish her song and hesitated to contact Yan Huan until Jiang Xiong urged her to be braver; she then sent him a friend request and anxiously waited for his approval.
• Jiang Xiong told Bai Yi about his connection to Ye Lan and advised her to rest more and make time for school and things she liked.
• At Tongyao Tavern, Tong Yingying listened as two injured men asked her for help, then said she could get one of them out of Linmen and made them choose who would go.

Yan Huan napped in the Student Council Office while Hitomi Sakuramiya secretly recorded him with her Barrier. Ye Shiyu arrived to return his uniform jacket, saw him asleep through the door, and met Hitomi’s firm refusal to let her in.

• Hitomi Sakuramiya complimented Yan Huan on his attention to her outfits, and he admitted to Meow-chan that he was attracted to her but felt too burdened to pursue anything.
• Yan Huan accepted Hitomi Sakuramiya’s offer to nap in the office, and she covered him with her blanket.
• Hitomi Sakuramiya watched Yan Huan sleep and secretly used her Barrier to record him, while Meow-chan kept watch.
• Ye Shiyu went to the Student Council Office to return Yan Huan’s jacket after Fu Mengyao told her where he was.
• Ye Shiyu tried to enter after spotting Yan Huan asleep, but Hitomi Sakuramiya blocked the door and offered to pass along a message when he woke.

Ye Shiyu visited Yan Huan at the Student Council Office to return his uniform and bring him new clothes, but her guilt and desire nearly drove her to use the Hypnosis App on Hitomi Sakuramiya. Yan Huan woke and stopped the confrontation, then agreed to join Ye Shiyu and Ye Lan for dinner; after he left, Sakuramiya blushed over his thanks and weekend plans.

• Hitomi Sakuramiya refused to let Ye Shiyu into the office without Yan Huan's permission, and Ye Shiyu grew angry while trying not to wake her brother.
• Hitomi Sakuramiya questioned why Yan Huan still worked part-time despite Ye Shiyu's family's wealth, stirring Ye Shiyu's guilt and nearly prompting her to use the Hypnosis App.
• Meow-chan warned Yan Huan that Ye Shiyu was about to use her Modifier, so Yan Huan woke and called to his sister, stopping her.
• Yan Huan let Ye Shiyu into the office, where she returned his uniform, gave him new clothes, and asked whether his job was tiring; he said it was manageable and explained that he had stayed up late.
• Ye Shiyu invited Yan Huan to dinner with Ye Lan, and he accepted before leaving the office with her.
• Yan Huan thanked Hitomi Sakuramiya for the blanket and coffee and said he would see her that weekend, leaving her blushing after he departed.

Yan Huan rode with Ye Shiyu toward dinner and coordinated plans for the game expo, while Hitomi Sakuramiya investigated people she believed might threaten him. At dinner with Ye Lan, Yan Huan remembered a childhood friend from the orphanage, and Ye Shiyu reacted sharply to the memory.

• Yan Huan considered Tong Yingying’s message and chatted briefly with Bai Yi, while Meow-chan questioned his cool replies to her.
• Ye Shiyu planned to invite Yan Huan home for dinner, but Ye Lan redirected the car to the South District and arranged to dine with them.
• Yan Huan invited the student council group to the game expo and offered Hitomi Sakuramiya an extra ticket; Sakuramiya suspected Bai Yi had given it to him.
• Hitomi Sakuramiya reviewed surveillance footage, connected Bai Yi to Yan Huan and the paint incident, and placed Bai Yi and Aria Spencer on a priority watchlist.
• Ye Lan welcomed Yan Huan to dinner, and Yan Huan recalled a close childhood friend from the orphanage who had moved away; Ye Shiyu reacted to the memory.