Chisa

"So your eyes wandered to a girl's chest?"

Seeing Dania's gaze grow increasingly hostile, Lu Guan hurriedly explained, "I was just curious why you had such a... distinctive ornament hanging there."

He showed her the Tac Tacet Mark on his right palm.

"Normally, Resonators prefer to leave their Tac Tacet Marks exposed... but I couldn't see where yours was, Dania."

"Mm-hmm~ What's so strange about that?" Dania spread her hands nonchalantly. "Maybe my Tac Tacet Mark is somewhere I can't show people, somewhere very private for a girl?"

Dania's words left Lu Guan speechless. If he hadn't known her Tac Tacet Mark was on her chest, he might have thought that, after Suisui's "down-filled blessing," there was another "blessing of a heaven-sent mark"...

Wait... after he transmigrated, could there really be a character in a new version with such a "blessed mark"? Surely Kuro wouldn't design something that suggestive, right?

That had to be it, right!

Seeing no response from Lu Guan for a long while, Dania waved a hand in front of his eyes. "What's wrong? Did what I just said make you shy?"

"I'm fine."

"Good~" Dania leaned closer with a devilish little smile, gently poked Lu Guan's chest with a finger, then traced a circle. "See~ My Tac Tacet Mark is actually right here."

"But for a girl, having a Tac Tacet Mark there looks pretty ugly, so I covered it with something."

She blinked and put on an innocent expression. "Come to think of it... why did you suddenly get so curious about a girl's body for no reason? Do you like me?"

"Shouldn't I like you?" Lu Guan said candidly. "Isn't it only natural to admire a cute girl like you, Dania?"

"You! Pervert... I'm going to find somewhere to sleep!"

"Bye-bye-!"

Dania fled, her face red.

Sigh, a little fry with high attack and paper defense. She had no shortage of taunts on her lips, but the moment someone made a move on her, she turned into a flustered little girl.

Lu Guan suddenly remembered the quest he had just accepted.

If he followed her quietly and waited until she fell asleep in the library... he might be able to take the opportunity to complete the quest.

But Lu Guan quickly dismissed the thought.

Because... that was how a creep thought!

Even if he completed the quest that way, he would still be doing it against Dania's wishes.

The thought of completing it through such a shortcut only disgusted Lu Guan.

He would properly win Dania over with his words and actions, and make her willingly open her heart to him.

"Since it's come to this, I'll get some sleep first."

Lu Guan was awakened by the sound of a call on his terminal.

"Hello? Who is this?"

Lacerta's voice came from the other end.

"Lu Guan, it's me, Lacerta."

"Oh, hello, Teacher Lacerta. What can I do for you?"

"It's getting late, so I'll get straight to the point." There was a hint of weariness in Lacerta's voice. "It's about your Resonance Ability... I've found a very capable teacher for you. I believe she can help you master your ability as soon as possible..."

Lu Guan shot upright in bed.

"Where is she now?"

Outside the library.

"Ah~ That was a really good nap." Dania yawned as she walked out of the library. Suddenly, a figure flashed past her so quickly that she could barely make out the color of the person's clothes.

But Dania recognized the person from his frequency.

"Lu Guan? What's he doing out so late?" Dania was curious, but the hunger in her stomach soon made her put the matter out of her mind.

"Eh, never mind, never mind. It's none of my business~"

"I'll grab a late-night snack at the cafeteria, then head back to the dorm for a good long sleep!"

"Third floor of the teaching building... classroom 306..."

Lu Guan counted the room numbers one by one, following the address Lacerta had given him. At last, he stopped outside a classroom marked 306.

"...This should be the place, right?"

When he pushed the sliding door open, a chill came from inside.

A tall woman stood by the window with her back to Lu Guan. She had long silver-white hair tied in a high ponytail and was dressed as an Ashihara miko, looking like a snow woman from Ashihara folklore.

The chill was coming from her.

"Um... are you the teacher that Teacher Losera said could help me control my Resonance Ability?"

"...Yes." The tall woman's voice was cool and clear, but her tone wasn't the sort to keep people at a distance. Instead, it held an indescribable gentleness.

She turned around and looked Lu Guan over with her crimson eyes, then continued, "You're the child Lacerta mentioned... the one who can't control his Resonance Ability, right?"

"...My name is Chisa, the Blazing Sakura Miko of Ashihara."

"Hello, Teacher Chisa." Lu Guan placed a hand over his chest in greeting. "My name is Lu Guan. I'm from Huanglong Court, and I just enrolled at Stardust Academy this year."

"Huanglong..." Chisa's gaze flickered, as though she were recalling something.

"Is something wrong?" Lu Guan asked cautiously.

"No." Chisa shook her head. "I just remembered a few things from the past."

She removed a bell fastened to her person and slowly walked toward Lu Guan. Ringing the bell, she placed her hand over the Tac Tacet Mark on his right palm.

"Don't be nervous... relax. I'm using my Resonance Ability on you." Chisa closed her eyes and began using the power of the Hymned Object "Bell" to try to glimpse Lu Guan's possible futures.

Somehow, through her Resonance Ability, she saw what Lu Guan might become in the future...

On a bleak, desolate land, a person walked alone...

In a burning palace, a person treaded over countless corpses...

Beneath a dark abyss, a person was sealed away by Them forever...

A radiant hall...

"Ah..."

Chisa clutched her head in pain. Before she could see the final scene through, an unbearable pain stabbed into her brain.

Left with no choice, she stopped looking.

"Teacher Chisa? Are you all right?" Lu Guan steadied Chisa's swaying body and led her to the seat nearest her.

"I... I'm all right..." Having recovered her senses, Chisa looked at Lu Guan with a somewhat complicated expression.

Leaving aside why she couldn't see the last scene in full, the most important thing was that many of Lu Guan's futures were extremely tragic.

She had originally planned to use the "Bell" to expand the range of targets for her Resonance Ability, "Future-Seeking Self," so she could glimpse Lu Guan's future and find a way to control his ability from his future self.

But in reality, many of Lu Guan's futures involved him being unable to control his ability: he either became a demon that destroyed the world, fell into madness and slaughtered indiscriminately, or was sealed away by a golden-eyed outsider...

Chisa let out a quiet breath. It condensed into ice crystals in midair, and a layer of frost gradually spread over the floor...

"Let's try again."

This time, Chisa succeeded in glimpsing the scene in that hall... a bevy of beauties... girls dressed in all sorts of wedding gowns...

Chisa even saw herself.

And at the center of the girls was a... memorial tablet bearing Lu Guan's name!!!

The atmosphere, both festive and mournful, gave Chisa goosebumps. Before she could look any further, the stabbing pain in her brain struck again.

"Ah..." Chisa pressed a hand to her forehead again. "Is it still a bit too much?"

"Teacher Chisa? What's wrong?" Lu Guan asked with concern. "If it doesn't work... we can try something else."

"It's all right..." Chisa shook her head. After the stabbing pain faded, it left a message in her mind.

"Perfect ending... must not fail... lies in one's heart..." Chisa looked at Lu Guan. "That's the hint I just received from your future. Do you have any idea what it means?"

Lu Guan thought for a while, then shook his head.

"I do... but not entirely."

Perfect ending... in a gal game, wouldn't that be the harem ending where you win over every character?

Must not fail... does that mean I can't fail the Affection Breakthrough Quest? Or does it refer to something else?

Lies in one's heart... That one puzzled Lu Guan, and for the moment he couldn't find the slightest clue as to what it meant.

But the system was his biggest secret at the moment. He absolutely couldn't tell anyone about it lightly, especially someone he could win over.

So Lu Guan asked instead, "Teacher Chisa, what exactly... did you see in my future?"