Chapter Summaries

Chisaki confronted Zhou Yu at lunch, trying to analyze how he had outmaneuvered Auntie Li, then turned her scrutiny on Dania’s appetite. Zhou Yu stopped the analysis by introducing Chisaki to sweet-and-sour pork ribs, and she joined the others to eat.

• Chisaki sat with Zhou Yu, Sigelica, Linnai, and Dania, and explained how she had observed and analyzed Zhou Yu’s confrontation with Auntie Li.
• Zhou Yu said he had gained an advantage by seeing Auntie Li as an employee to be managed rather than as an authority figure.
• Chisaki questioned Dania about her ability to eat so much, and Dania clutched her tray protectively while Zhou Yu told Chisaki not to analyze his dining companions.
• Zhou Yu placed his rib in Chisaki’s nutritional paste, and Chisaki tasted it and decided that the food had a high positive feedback value.
• Chisaki bought her own serving of ribs, while Dania worried she had been mean to her and Sigelica complained that the academy’s rising stars had been won over by food and perks.

Zhou Yu brought Dania and the others to relax on the sports field, where Aimis arrived with strawberry daifuku and bonded with Dania over their pasts. He arranged a recurring sweet-sharing meet-up, and Dania left with Aimis for a motorcycle ride as Zhou Yu unlocked the “Sweet Defense Line” achievement.

• Zhou Yu led Dania, Linnai, Chisaki, and Sigelica to the sports field to relax after their meal.
• Aimis arrived on her motorcycle, introduced herself to Zhou Yu, and offered Dania limited-edition strawberry daifuku.
• Aimis told Dania that she had once been an electronic ghost, and Dania shared that she had not known sweetness or fullness when she was treated as a container.
• Dania and Aimis shared the sweets, and Zhou Yu scheduled a recurring Tuesday sweet exchange for them.
• Aimis took Dania for a motorcycle ride after Zhou Yu warned her to obey the campus speed limit.
• Zhou Yu unlocked the “Sweet Defense Line” achievement as Dania’s laughter carried back from the ride.

Zhou Yu made instant noodles for the students during a dormitory power outage and quietly repaired a sparking relay, while Principal Lupa investigated an apparent resonance threat. The chapter ended with everyone abandoning Sigelica’s self-criticism to share the late-night meal.

• Aimis showed Sigelica, Dania, and Linnai an academy forum post celebrating Zhou Yu’s confrontation with the cafeteria staff.
• Zhou Yu used a salary advance to prepare instant noodles, ham sausages, and eggs for everyone in the dorm room.
• Lupa received warnings about Beacon, an S-rank Fractsidus bounty, and resonance fluctuations, then activated the Lullaby Defense Protocol.
• When the dormitory power failed, Zhou Yu stopped the relay’s sparking with a piece of roasted sweet potato skin.
• Lupa discovered the resonance warning had cleared and learned that Building A’s hallway surveillance had a brief data gap.
• Zhou Yu served the noodles, and Sigelica set aside her self-criticism as the students eagerly shared the meal.

Dania and Sigelica went to breakfast, where Zhou Yu used the academy’s rules to secure Dania a huge serving of ribs. After Dania fell asleep in Professor Moning’s class, Zhou Yu awakened her with the promise of xiaolongbao, leaving her committed to writing a report she did not understand.

• Sigelica woke to find Dania studying the cafeteria menu and hurried with her to breakfast.
• Zhou Yu cited academy regulations to get Dania and Sigelica generous servings of sweet-and-sour ribs.
• Sigelica dragged Dania out of the cafeteria when the preparatory-class bell rang, while Dania clung to her unfinished rib.
• Dania fell asleep during Professor Moning’s lecture and could not answer a question about resonance theory.
• Zhou Yu used his laser distance-measuring pen to write “Xiao Long Bao” on Dania’s desk, prompting her to agree to write Professor Moning a report.

Linnai, Chisaki, Sigelica, Zhou Yu, Dania, and Aimis went to the Deep Dive Game Room, where Zhou Yu began teaching Dania to play Lahai-Roi Blocks. The group gathered around the arcade machine as Dania started her tutorial.

• After class, Linnai recruited Dania and dragged a reluctant Sigelica to the Deep Dive Game Room, while Chisaki analyzed Sigelica's protests.
• Zhou Yu joined them under the pretense of investigating a fire safety hazard and claimed the tokens on the principal's tab.
• Linnai showed Dania the arcade machines, and Chisaki offered to derive their algorithms before Linnai stopped her.
• Zhou Yu handed out game tokens, and Aimis arrived to join the group and offer to teach Dania the motorcycle game.
• Zhou Yu called Dania over to Lahai-Roi Blocks and told her the game would be her beginner's tutorial.

Linnai led Dania through arcade games, where she struggled with food-catching and dancing before Zhou Yu showed her Tetris. Dania’s instinctive play set a perfect high score, and Zhou Yu called it muscle memory for erasing tragedy.

• Linnai put Dania on Catch the Food, where Dania missed a drumstick after reacting to it as if she could eat it.
• Aimis and Linnai impressed the group on the dance machine, while Dania missed every step in her turn.
• Dania walked to the Tetris machine, and Zhou Yu explained how completed rows disappeared.
• Dania played faster and faster, clearing rows until she achieved a score of 999999.
• Zhou Yu told the stunned Dania that her performance was muscle memory for erasing tragedy.

Dania, Zhou Yu, and their companions entered an S-rank escape room, but Zhou Yu quickly bypassed its challenges with practical tricks. The owner triggered a dangerous elimination protocol as the group entered the third room.

• Dania broke the arcade machine's maximum score, and the owner challenged the group to try his escape room.
• Dania agreed to enter for the promise of food, and the group began the Abandoned Defense Line game.
• Zhou Yu exposed construction flaws and opened the first room's lock by reading fingerprints on its keypad.
• Zhou Yu used a mirror to disable the laser corridor, leaving Aimis unable to show off her acrobatics.
• The owner pressed the emergency Restart button, and the third room went dark as the system announced a physical elimination protocol.

Zhou Yu destroyed the escape room’s statue of Aleph One, helping Dania face a memory of the sacrificial altar. As they left, Dania said she wanted to kick the next one herself.

• Zhou Yu led the group through the crushing-wall trap and into the room containing a replica of Aleph One.
• Seeing Dania freeze before the statue, Zhou Yu placed a demolition notice on it and kicked its base, causing it to collapse and clearing the escape room.
• Dania laughed as she watched the statue’s pieces fall, while Sigelica paid the bill for the damaged prop.
• Outside, Zhou Yu gave Dania a cola and told her that gods were nothing special.
• Dania told Zhou Yu she wanted to kick the next one herself, and he agreed to leave it for her.

Linnai announced a secret Flying Snow Velvet concert, and Dania thought the masked singer looked familiar. After the tickets sold out, Zhou Yu revealed a way for the group to attend by entering Grand Auditorium No. 1 through the staff entrance.

• Linnai excitedly told Dania and Sigelica about Flying Snow Velvet's secret concert.
• Sigelica noticed Aimis had disappeared and received a message claiming she had returned to the factory for repairs.
• Dania said Flying Snow Velvet looked familiar, while Zhou Yu recorded the concert as an evening activity in Dania's assessment form.
• Linnai discovered the tickets had sold out, and Sigelica reacted to their seven-figure black-market price.
• Zhou Yu showed his faculty card and said the group could enter through the staff entrance during a Logistics Department inspection.

Zhou Yu brought Linnai, Sigelica, Chisaki, and Dania into the academy concert by posing as a maintenance worker and taking the Supreme Council's seats. As Flying Snow Velvet's performance lifted Dania's spirits, Zhou Yu noticed an open fire exit and a skull icon flashing on his watch.

• Zhou Yu used his faculty card and a maintenance-worker cover story to lead the group backstage and into the auditorium.
• Zhou Yu sat in the Supreme Council's reserved seats, claiming its members could not attend, while Sigelica worried about the consequences.
• Linnai gave Dania and Sigelica fan headbands and glow sticks before Flying Snow Velvet began her performance.
• Dania watched the concert and waved her glow stick, and Flying Snow Velvet winked toward the front row.
• Zhou Yu recorded the concert's effect on Dania's happiness, then noticed a partly open fire exit and a skull icon flashing on his watch.

Zhou Yu and his companions watched Flying Snow Velvet’s concert, where Dania discovered the joy of an ordinary moment while eating chips and listening to music. The concert left Zhou Yu startled by Flying Snow Velvet’s signature motorcycle drift, which resembled a move he had seen from someone repairing a motorcycle in the dorm.

• Zhou Yu noticed a pixelated skull flash on his watch and kept watch on the fire exit.
• Flying Snow Velvet sang “Paper Plane,” prompting Dania to ask Zhou Yu what a plane tree was.
• During “Little Miracle,” Dania described having enough to eat as a wonderful little miracle, and Zhou Yu gave her chips.
• Dania ate the chips through tears and smiled as she listened to the song.
• Flying Snow Velvet performed a motorcycle drift, and Zhou Yu recognized that the move looked familiar.

At Flying Snow Velvet’s concert, Dania and the others were moved by “Farewell to the Star on a Long Voyage,” and Zhou Yu marked the music therapy task complete. Chisaki remained 99.8 percent certain Flying Snow Velvet was Aimis, and Zhou Yu led the group backstage to let Aimis speak for herself.

• Chisaki told Zhou Yu she had matched Flying Snow Velvet’s movements to Aimis’s physical assessment data with 99.8 percent accuracy.
• Flying Snow Velvet sang “Farewell to the Star on a Long Voyage,” and Dania, Linnai, and Sigelica cried as Zhou Yu reassured Dania that she was not alone.
• After the song ended, Dania cheered for Flying Snow Velvet, and Zhou Yu marked the concert task complete.
• Zhou Yu told the group they were going backstage under the pretext of a logistics inspection, while Chisaki reaffirmed her 99.8 percent certainty.
• Dania asked why Aimis had not told them if she was Flying Snow Velvet, and Zhou Yu said some things only counted when the person said them herself.
• Zhou Yu led the group to an ajar dressing room door, where they heard guitar strings being plucked.

Dania, Linnai, Sigelica, and Chisaki discovered that Aimis was Lady Snow Velvet and confronted her about hiding her singing identity. Zhou Yu then made Aimis pay for the reveal by assigning her breakfast for the group, due before seven the next morning.

• Dania burst into the dressing room and found Aimis in her starry gown, drinking Coke, while Chisaki recorded the scene.
• Linnai recognized Aimis as Lady Snow Velvet, and Chisaki confirmed it with matching voiceprint data.
• Dania praised Aimis’s singing, while Linnai and Sigelica argued with her about hiding her identity and the costly tickets.
• Aimis admitted she kept singing secret because she was embarrassed to perform in a dress as a mechanical engineering student.
• Zhou Yu handed Aimis a breakfast supply list and ordered her to deliver everyone’s requested food to the dormitory before seven the next morning.

Zhou Yu shared breakfast with Dania and the others before leaving to investigate a planned Fractsidus attack at the Flamebearers' Academy. His affectionate farewell left Dania blushing, while Sigelica noticed his smile seemed to signal that he was preparing to sabotage something.

• Aimis delivered crab roe buns early, and Zhou Yu carefully cooled one for Dania while the others teased them about their closeness.
• Chisaki recorded Zhou Yu and Dania's breakfast as data on feeding behavior.
• Zhou Yu received a silent warning that Fractsidus followers planned to detonate five high-frequency resonance bombs near the auditorium and cafeteria at ten.
• Zhou Yu said he was going to check the auditorium's logistics storeroom, then promised Dania they would eat pork ribs together at noon.
• After Zhou Yu left, Dania blushed over his gentle gesture, and Sigelica remarked that his smile looked like a programmer about to take apart his boss's computer.

Zhou Yu stopped an assassination plot at Flamebearers' Academy by sweeping the bombs and forcing the assassins to clean, then sold the scraps to buy Dania ribs and soda. At lunch, Dania decided the soda was worth more than the bombs, while Sigelica reacted in disbelief to Zhou Yu's casual account of the incident.

• Zhou Yu found three assassins and five resonance bombs in a storage room, then used his cleaning mechanism to make them scrub and dismantle the equipment.
• Zhou Yu collected the bomb components and sold them at the scrap station for thirty star coins.
• Zhou Yu spent the money on sweet-and-sour ribs and orange soda for Dania at Cafeteria No. 3.
• Dania reasoned that her bottle of soda was worth five bombs, and Zhou Yu agreed to let her enjoy it.
• Sigelica learned Zhou Yu had swept up the bombs and objected when Dania suggested he sell more to buy another bottle of soda.

Moning redirected three armed intruders into cleaning work and asked her class to consider meaningful futures, prompting Dania to say she hoped to share breakfast with loved ones again. After Zhou Yu’s tender teasing, Moning proposed hypnosis to investigate him, and Lupa approved the plan.

• Moning saw Zhou Yu’s report about three armed outsiders being given cleaning and ideological reeducation, then arranged for them to become cleaning interns instead.
• Moning asked her trainees about their life plans, and Dania said she wanted to have breakfast with the people important to her again tomorrow.
• Linnai teased Dania about her answer, and Dania ran from the classroom in embarrassment.
• Zhou Yu walked with Dania and teased her by brushing crab roe from the corner of her mouth before inviting her to the cafeteria.
• Moning recommended clinical hypnosis to investigate Zhou Yu’s unexplained behavior, and Lupa approved the intervention.

During a late-night dormitory sleepover, Dania realized she had romantic feelings for Zhou Yu after her friends described how he cared for her. Linnai turned the discovery into a new mission for the Slacking Squad: help Yaya win over Zhou Yu.

• Aimis, Linnai, and Sigelica discussed the kinds of boyfriends they wanted before asking Dania about romance.
• Sigelica told Dania that Zhou Yu treated her as someone to love and cherish, not as a subordinate or specimen.
• Dania recalled Zhou Yu's kindness and admitted she might like him.
• Linnai announced that the Slacking Squad would help Yaya win over Zhou Yu.

Dania’s jealousy surfaced when other girls asked Zhou Yu for help, and she insisted he was her exclusive caretaker under an S-rank schedule. Linnai secretly photographed their affectionate lunch and reported that her probing had succeeded, prompting a lively debate in the group chat about what to do next.

• Zhou Yu picked the green peppers from Dania’s bowl and bought her double-skin milk pudding as dessert.
• Several preparatory-class girls asked Zhou Yu to fix their dorm’s water dispenser and exchange contact information.
• Dania interrupted them, saying Zhou Yu had to watch her eat because she was his exclusive caretaker on an unreschedulable S-rank priority.
• Zhou Yu accepted Dania’s claim and straightened her pudding bowl, while she happily ate dessert.
• Linnai secretly photographed Dania and Zhou Yu at lunch and shared the picture in the encrypted group chat.
• Aimis, Sigelica, and Chisaki responded to Linnai’s report with complaints and suggestions about the next phase.

Linnai rallied the Slacking Squad for a discounted trip to Starlight Amusement Park and encouraged Dania to confess her feelings to Zhou Yu on the Star Wish Ferris Wheel. Zhou Yu agreed to go and began planning their route, while the others secretly prepared the next phase of their matchmaking scheme.

• Linnai announced the amusement park trip, and Aimis complained that the squad's sponsor was bankrupt.
• Linnai told Dania the Ferris Wheel legend, and Dania watched Zhou Yu reviewing reimbursement forms.
• Dania asked Zhou Yu to go to the amusement park, and he agreed while asking her to list the snacks so he could plan an efficient route.
• The group finalized the trip, with Aimis agreeing to pay for ice cream and grilled sausages in exchange for Zhou Yu queueing at a difficult attraction.
• That night, Dania smiled at the light blue dress Zhou Yu had bought her, while Sigelica realized Dania had fallen for him.
• Linnai launched phase two of Operation Catch the Salted Fish, targeting the Star Wish Ferris Wheel, as the others joined in and Sigelica worried about her wallet.

Zhou Yu and Dania went to Starlight Amusement Park together after their friends engineered some time alone for them. Dania held his hand, and Linnai secretly reported their progress as she prepared to launch the Ferris Wheel Plan.

• Linnai, Aimis, and Chisaki set off for the roller coaster and dragged Sigelica along, leaving Zhou Yu and Dania together.
• Zhou Yu pulled Dania out of the path of a child on roller skates, and Dania clasped his hand; he interlaced their fingers and kept holding her.
• Zhou Yu offered to buy Dania cotton candy, and they walked through the crowded park hand in hand.
• Linnai secretly photographed their joined hands and told the group chat that the targets had held hands on their own.
• Linnai announced that the Ferris Wheel Plan was launching ahead of schedule.