Chapter Four: It Must Be a Hallucination

March 15th, morning, Thorn District.

"Lately, I've been feeling a sense of crisis."

Qin Qianbai, who opened with this line, was sitting in a booth at a family restaurant.

Today was a day off. Even Team Leader Caldesia wasn't so tyrannical as to hog her members' rest time. The blonde woman had originally planned out her Saturday: first, take Reiichi out for some fun and buy a small gift, then find an opportunity to encourage him to meet his sister. Surely, with her help, those two with their complicated and delicate relationship could reconcile. After that, they could find a nice place to celebrate or just invite more people over for a party...

It was perfect, wasn't it! As long as she could figure out a way to trick Alice into coming out, everything would fall into place!

Thinking this, Caldesia received a distress text from a friend before she could set her plan in motion.

And so, the perfect operation had to be postponed. She was now sitting across from Qin Qianbai, staring profoundly at the extra-large strawberry parfait on the table (which stood taller than her head), a large slice of biochemical carrot cake (which looked exactly like matcha cake), and a lava cheese stick (topped with a flickering purple flame).

After serving the desserts, the purple-haired waitress, wearing large sunglasses and a face mask, walked away with stiff movements. Caldesia deduced from the awkward demeanor that she was likely a new college student working part-time, and she couldn't help but sigh at how hard it was to be a student these days.

She refocused her attention on the table and realized that all the food was piled on the side closer to her. Seeing this, Caldesia knew she was definitely going to have to do some heavy lifting today.

"A sense of crisis." The woman in the top hat tried to cut a piece of the flaming cheese stick. "Why?"

Qin Qianbai looked out at the street through the window and replied indifferently, "I feel a sense of crisis regarding Qiluo and the bad woman."

So it really was a romantic issue.

Wait, did "the bad woman" refer to Alice?

"Is that why you didn't ask Qiluo-chan to come today?"

"Qiluo is dangerous," the young lady said seriously. "My intuition has issued a warning. When she gets serious, she is very formidable."

"Mm... mm!"

The woman in the top hat nodded feignedly, though she nearly burst out laughing.

This is too much! Even a girl as harmless as Qiluo-chan is being treated as a rival—this kid's brain is fully locked in "love mode!"

A girl in the throes of love is a paranoid creature who sees everyone as a romantic rival. Having been through this phase herself, she had the right to speak; for a while, she had even considered the possibility that Reiichi’s orientation was unconventional.

But the fact one realizes only after clearing one's head is: harem-style romantic comedies are extremely rare in real life. Most of the time, you are the only one pining after him or her!

Caldesia was currently considering how to say this tactfully. She pondered for about 20 seconds, realized she wasn't very good at being tactful, and said straightforwardly, "Qian, you're overthinking it. Aside from you, no one would like a weirdo like Gongsun Ce!"

Perhaps it was because her voice was too loud, but the purple-haired waitress in the aisle stiffened, nearly dropping her tray.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" "No, no! It's okay..."

The purple-haired waitress hurried away.

Wearing a mask in a restaurant could be excused for hygiene reasons, but why wear such oversized sunglasses? Was it a new trend? The woman in the top hat thought to herself while waiting for her friend’s reply.

"Ce is indeed a very strange person... but I still worry, in many ways."

Caldesia took a fierce bite of the parfait.

Here it goes again, this vague way of speaking. I'm a flame user, not a psychic; I can't understand your words... She really couldn't fathom what this girl was actually thinking. Who could figure out what someone who was always expressionless was worried about?

"Qian, we're good friends, so don't be too cautious. I'll ask a few simple questions, and you answer honestly, okay?"

"Okay."

"Other people like him, and he likes someone else—are you more worried about the former or the latter?"

"Both."

The first question hit a dead end. This person is so troublesome.

Caldesia changed her approach and asked, "If you could establish a romantic relationship, you'd be very happy, right?"

"Mm."

"Then why don't you make the first move?"

The young lady said expressionlessly, "...I'm a bit shy."

This kid is incredibly troublesome.

She didn't even blush while saying that; looking at her like this was infuriating.

Caldesia narrowed her eyes and said, "Dear, what exactly do you want me to do to help? Should I go kidnap Gongsun Ce for you?"

"No." Qin Qianbai snuck a spoonful of cake. "Actually, I... I planned a date using military strategy."

"That's surprisingly proactive by your standards, Qian."

"The estimated duration is around 24 hours."

That sounds like a real kidnapping, not a date.

"That's too long! Wasn't it you who said you were too shy half a minute ago?!"

"I couldn't think of any good ideas, so I came to Caldesia for help."

Feeling a sense of crisis—urgently planning a date—only to realize she had no ideas when it was time to start. That sounded exactly like something Qin Qianbai would do.

Caldesia pondered for a moment, made an encouraging gesture, and offered the advice she thought was most effective with 100% sincerity.

"Just sleep with him."

Qin Qianbai slapped her hand away with a "smack."

"I'm angry."

"Qian~~ You're 19, you're an adult! This is a perfectly healthy and natural thing for you!"

"I'm really angry."

Caldesia sighed and said, "OK, OK. So you want a healthy and gentle idea, right?"

"And a little bit more aggressive," Qin Qianbai added, "but try not to hurt anyone."

"My dear, you are really making things difficult for me," the woman in the top hat said, feigning a sweet, pouting voice. "You know him much better than I do; why are you making it so hard for me?"

"Caldesia has more knowledge in this area than I do. And..."

The young lady looked out the window and said softly, "Sometimes, I feel like I don't really understand what Ce is thinking."

The blonde woman rested her chin on one hand, stirring the melting cream with a spoon.

Such a sensitive young heart...

I wonder what the boy she's so fixated on is thinking about right now?

·

"I believe that yandere is a very moe attribute in the world of adult manga," Gongsun Ce said solemnly. "That is why I've been hoarding yandere doujinshi since last month."

Shigure Reiichi stared blankly at the large screen in Mo Yuankai's house, trying to enter the legendary state of "no-mind." He believed that in another half a minute, he would have a good chance of succeeding—yet the devil beside him kept chattering away, disturbing his cultivation with nihilistic demonic babble.

"Yandere—that clingy, violent, self-centered, and rude attribute—is easily perceived negatively in mainstream works. But when the stage shifts from mainstream to adult-oriented, these flaws blend smoothly into the plot, becoming unexpected moe points. Unfortunately, doujinshi featuring yandere heroines are still far from mainstream in the current industry. Perhaps many people haven't realized the charm of this attribute... What do you think, Shigure-kun?"

The devil kept pouring filthy thoughts into the ascetic's brain, pushing Shigure Reiichi further and further away from the state of no-mind. He looked at the information broker for help, hoping that Senior Mo, who had a very "Buddha-like" belly, could save him from his suffering.

"Don't give him a hard time, Ce."

Finally, there was another person of common sense here... Shigure had barely felt relieved before he heard Mo Yuankai’s next sentence.

"Shigure Reiichi isn't interested, and your enthusiastic sales pitch will only have the opposite effect. You like yandere, I like pure love, and Shigure Reiichi probably likes gyarus. When it comes to kinks, everyone should seek common ground while respecting differences. We must understand and respect each other!"

Gongsun Ce nodded vigorously. "Big Brother is right, I was narrow-minded. I didn't realize you liked gyarus, Shigure-kun."

Shigure Reiichi seriously considered the possibility of using the Way of Impermanence to perform an earth-tunneling technique.

"I don't like gyarus, and I don't usually watch... that type of literary work."

The two geeks had a sudden realization.

"Oh, right, you're a local from Zerodome. Do you prefer live-action films?"

The literary youth couldn't take it anymore. He deeply suspected that these two sworn brothers were planning to kill him, but after reviewing his actions over the past week, he confirmed he hadn't made any mortal enemies of them.

"Gongsun, Mo Yuankai, what I want to say is..." Shigure Reiichi said, feeling incredibly hollow, "Why are we discussing this on a morning off?"

"Good question, I was just following up on what Ce said." Geek #1 turned to Geek #2. "Why did you suddenly bring up the doujinshi thing?"

Gongsun Ce was filled with grief.

"Because I discovered today that I might have to say goodbye to the doujinshi I've been hoarding."

Big Brother opened his mouth wide: "No way, is Qin Qianbai really that unreasonable? She's even interfering with your private collection?"

Can your collections be any more decent? Even collecting soda bottle caps would be more worth boasting about than this.

Shigure Reiichi silently covered his ears. He felt his mental activity was already much higher than usual; if he kept listening, he wasn't sure if he wouldn't be assimilated into an unreliable, problematic person by these two guys' aura.

"It's not the young lady... look."

The gray-haired youth placed his phone on the table. On his screen was a cartoon-style pink-haired twin-tail app icon, which easily made one think of a certain idol.

Mo Yuankai had a sudden realization: "The Qiluo app is successfully developed?"

"I just installed it; it will officially launch for testing next week."

"What is that?" Shigure Reiichi said in shock.

"It's an application developed by Dr. Cecil using Miss Qiluo's nature. It has various practical functions, including but not limited to quickly acquiring surrounding intelligence, analyzing enemy status, automatically planning routes, and an anti-information-interference firewall," Mo Yuankai explained dutifully. "The last function is especially important; it ensures that you won't be easily manipulated by that mastermind in the shadows again."

Shigure Reiichi understood the practicality of these functions. Even a skilled user of the Way of Impermanence would struggle to cover all bases, let alone a super-powered individual with a singular ability. This program could achieve, with just a mobile phone, what would usually require multiple devices and professional support, providing great help in complex situations.

If what Mo Yuankai said was true, this would be a very useful auxiliary program, but...

Shigure Reiichi pondered for a moment and said, "It sounds like... you've stuffed Qiluo into the phone."

The gray-haired youth said with a straight face, "It doesn't just sound like it; it is. This thing is essentially a terminal that extends Qiluo's sense of touch, and all the auxiliary functions rely on her multitasking to control them."

Shigure Reiichi roughly understood his friend's melancholy. He suppressed a laugh and said, "Which means?"

"Which means all the material on my phone will be exposed to Qiluo's eyes, including the doujinshi I've hoarded."

Gongsun Ce's face was dark as pitch: "Do me a favor, brothers, and give me an idea. I don't want to give up the cozy time I spend curled up in bed at night reading manga, but I want even less to suffer social death in front of a female friend."

Shigure Reiichi sincerely suggested, "Just delete all that stuff."

The gray-haired youth clearly didn't want to take his good brother's advice: "Big Brother?"

"You could choose to move them to an external hard drive first, then buy a new, offline device as an emergency backup," Mo Yuankai said with a grave expression. "However, I can't guarantee you won't get caught... Technically, once you start this program, your privacy depends entirely on Miss Qiluo's self-restraint. If she really wants to peep at you, there's nothing I can do."

Gongsun Ce looked back at the man in the suit, his eyes small and helpless.

"Shigure-kun, do you think my Eyes of the Netherworld can see the Qiluo ghost popping out of my phone?"

He didn't know, and he didn't want to know.

Shigure Reiichi shook his head: "I suggest you ask Mr. Yan Qi..."

"I will never give him any opportunity to mock me, never."

"Then the only advice I can give is to switch to physical books. You should be able to buy them in the city."

Gongsun Ce collapsed onto the sofa with a scream, raising his hands in immense pain.

"How about you keep my doujinshi for me for now?"

Shigure imagined the scene of his friend borrowing his phone in the future to read illicit manga, and he felt a chill down his spine.

"You'd better give them to Mo Yuankai!"

·

Gongsun Ce ultimately backed up the materials from his phone at Big Brother’s house, planning to find a chance to save them back later. The rest of that day passed just like the last few: resting in the dormitory in the afternoon, going to find Yan Qi to learn the basics of the Way of Impermanence at night, and returning home after 1:00 AM to fall straight into bed.

Gongsun Ce slept until 8:00 AM the next morning before being woken up by his alarm.

He reached out groggily, fumbling around. He didn't find his glasses, but his fingertips unexpectedly touched skin.

Just-woken-up Gongsun Ce spoke unconsciously: "Where are my glasses?"

"Here."

The glasses were handed to him by someone. Gongsun Ce said thank you and put them on.

Only then did he clearly see the situation around him: he was lying in his own bed, and a very familiar girl was standing by the bedside. She was looking down at him, her soft hair resting on his thin quilt, her hand still holding the pose of having just handed him his glasses.

"Good morning, young lady."

"Good morning, Ce."

"Confirming: this is my home, my bedroom, my bed. Are these perceptions correct?"

"Mm."

Gongsun Ce nodded slowly, took off his glasses, and put them back on the nightstand.

He lay back down bit by bit, wrapped himself in the quilt, and shouted weakly:

"Help... someone's trespassing..."