Catherine Windsor.
She had witnessed the entire process of that young man suppressing the thugs.
His crisp, clean martial arts and overbearing physical fitness… even she, a battle-hardened task force captain, felt a hint of a threat.
Was he… a player?
Or a member of the DRG?
And these kids, who looked like flowers grown in a greenhouse, actually knew that monster?
“Pardon my intrusion…”
“Uh… heh…”
Saori Saiyonji, the best student in the group, opened her mouth, but her “dumb English” failed her.
Her mind went blank instantly.
Facing five faces filled with confusion and helplessness, Catherine switched to Japanese with a thick accent.
“Just now… I noticed you seemed to know that… well, quite spirited young gentleman?”
She tilted her chin toward the direction Yuki Asahi had left.
“May I ask, is he your… friend?”
“We are classmates,” Kaori Onishi answered subconsciously, her tone carrying a hint of lingering disappointment.
“Classmates?”
Catherine’s emerald eyes lit up instantly, as if she had discovered a treasure.
She looked up and down at this group of young people with different outfits and temperaments.
Except for the blonde girl with twin tails who seemed a bit distracted, everyone else seemed to be looking at her with caution or curiosity.
Interesting…
“Let’s go. The earlier we eat supper, the better. Otherwise, it’s unhealthy.”
Yuma Endou looked at the map on his phone and pointed in another direction.
“It should be that way.”
Catherine’s eyes darted around as she smiled.
“I happen to be hungry too. Why don’t we go to the restaurant together?”
“Consider it… satisfying my curiosity about a local star player? To be honest, that scene just now was quite shocking.”
***
Often, some silly group friends would ask Jiang Jian Yue why she didn’t use the invincible Saori Saiyonji to deal with the Saints.
With just a little money, Saori Saiyonji could dox anyone across the globe.
Previously, finding people only required money; the only difference was the amount.
The one thing Jiang Jian Yue didn’t lack was money.
In fact, Jiang Jian Yue had sought out Saori Saiyonji long ago, but the results she provided… the prices were unacceptable.
For example, for that Changshi God, the price wasn’t money or an object from Saori Saiyonji, but rather a tenfold increase in Japan’s water resources.
Jiang Jian Yue hadn’t figured out this ability yet.
It felt like the hand of a writer was influencing the equivalent exchange.
This ability was like a writer’s magic tool.
When the plot required it, it could work.
When the plot didn’t require it, the price given was unbearable.
Roguish yet efficient.
In the chat, they were currently discussing and voting on a name for Jiang Jian Yue’s ability, even though Jiang Jian Yue had never agreed to it.
[Why hasn’t Emi Jiang been streaming lately?]
Someone suddenly mentioned.
[Speaking of which, what’s the deal with that Cuiyue?]
[Did the avatar come to life?]
“I don’t know either, but it doesn’t look like there’s any conspiracy or organization behind Cuiyue,” Jiang Jian Yue replied.
She had the Dark Crow Unit keep an eye on Cuiyue for a while, but they found nothing.
“Now, as soon as I open the stream, I think of this real-life Cuiyue. It’s a bit hard to handle, so I don’t really want to broadcast.”
[So did the avatar really come to life or not?]
[Isn’t it simple to prove this?]
Autumn Moon Aitouli, the artist for the Cuiyue avatar, posted: [You just need to see if she has ‘Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty’ tattooed on her back, right?]
[Genius!]
“But even if we know she’s the avatar come to life, it doesn’t really help!”
[Trying it won’t hurt.]
[If I were writing an ability, the Cuiyue from the anime world must be anchored in the real world. What would happen if we modified Cuiyue’s character design right now?]
“The fact that even you can think of that means it’s not like that.”
[J Chu is getting roasted.]
“Stay mad.”
Jiang Jian Yue felt that her group friends had a point.
Even if there was a tiny possibility, she needed to try.
Of course, it was to prevent Cuiyue from doing bad things while wearing her face.
It definitely wasn’t because she was afraid that a guy like Yuki Asahi would fall for the “Pro Version” of her.
[So, I still think ‘Mental Obstruction’ is better than ‘Visual Obscuration,’]
Someone pulled the topic back.
[One vote for ‘Reanimation Jutsu’ meow. One vote for ‘Reanimation Jutsu’, thank you meow.]
“I said I’m not using your names!”
Jiang Jian Yue continued the boring and unproductive conversation in the group.
This was her last bit of entertainment in her spare time.
Especially now…
Jiang Jian Yue slid off her chair, ran out of the main bedroom barefoot, and went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of Coke.
As she passed the door of the second bedroom, she sighed at the dark crack under the door.
Yuki Asahi wasn’t home.
He had moved into the Athletes’ Village in Minato Ward with his change of clothes and would stay there until the GSAC ended, along with his team.
It wasn’t that she felt lonely or anything.
She was just a bit… okay, fine, she was lonely.
As an adult, there was nothing wrong with admitting to being lonely.
Returning to the main bedroom, Jiang Jian Yue was about to watch some Family Guy when Morita Aoya called.
“Young Mistress, we have captured them. Based on the sketches you provided…”
Jiang Jian Yue had ultimately used that despicable method—drawing the members of the Saint Organization who appeared in the OP.
Of course, Jiang Jian Yue didn’t draw them herself.
She found some artists, gave them descriptions, and had them draw.
Thank goodness for the colorful hair and eye colors of the 2D world.
“The targets captured belong to the same team, registered in Thailand.”
Fine, she had overestimated the Saints.
She thought they would be scattered across other teams to participate in the competition.
“There’s one photo left, the one of the woman with brownish-red hair. We haven’t found a match, and there’s no record of her in the participant database.”
She was the center stage, after all; she certainly wouldn’t be exposed that easily.
Jiang Jian Yue opened the anime images she had sent to her backup group.
It was the OP photo of the Saint Organization.
There were eight people in the photo.
Without a second thought, Jiang Jian Yue edited red crosses over the faces of the five surrounding people.
Now, only the muscular woman in the center and her two protectors remained: the fat Changshi God she had seen before, and a strange-looking Semi-Devourer.
Easy-peasy.
Jiang Jian Yue pulled up several screenshots of various organizations.
Looking at the several windows on her screen, a cold light flashed in her red eyes.
‘Hmph… with these screenshots, I’m not afraid of you playing dirty with me… wait?’
Hold on!
How did her current situation match up with the OP?
Jiang Jian Yue pressed her hand to her forehead and thought for a while.
‘No, no, no. No matter how you look at it, there’s a fundamental difference between an antagonist boss tearing down everyone’s photos and a lonely girl shriveled up at home, drinking Coke while looking at screenshots on a computer screen!’
Probably?
“Is this the legendary self-fulfilling prophecy?” Meiguan’s voice drifted over.
“Now you’re just missing a shot of a DRG member kneeling to you.”
“That’s a bit forced. I’ve already thought of how the kneeling shot could ‘self-fulfill’. If a superpower user appeared who could make people’s shoelaces come undone, they would all kneel on one knee at the same time to tie them.”
“That ability is way too malicious.”
“Young Mistress?” Morita Aoya’s call was still active.
Jiang Jian Yue snapped back from her conversation with Meiguan and cleared her throat.
“Continue.”
“We tried to get information out of these people, but… the results weren’t very obvious.”
Morita Aoya hesitated.
“The CIA tactics didn’t work very well either.”
Their mouths were quite stubborn.
“Don’t stop.”
In any case, they weren’t investigating a legal case.
Using “techniques” for interrogation wouldn’t lead to a miscarriage of justice.
“Finally, there is one more thing to report to you.” Morita Aoya shifted the topic.
“Regarding the combat suit, it has already arrived in Japan. Would the Young Mistress like to… tonight…”
“No way!”
It was break time now.
Don’t bring work into her personal life!
Otherwise, wouldn’t her ten years of reading inspirational magazines have been in vain?
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Jian Yue noticed a notification from the LINE group.
Supernatural Club Senior Member Group (Seven People)—Koji Hattori had joined during the trip and never left.
Kaori Onishi: [Why are you ignoring us! Yuki!]
Kaori Onishi: [Angry Bunny.jpg]
Yamanoi Yayoi: [Yeah…]
Makino Yuzuha: [Yuki is being way too cold, isn’t he?]
What was going on?
A united front against a tyrant?
Jiang Jian Yue sent a private message to Saori Saiyonji, who was silent but had “read” the messages, to ask about the situation.
Saori Saiyonji: [I actually think Yuki really didn’t see us.]
What?
Jiang Jian Yue clicked back into the LINE group with a heart full of confusion.
Kaori Onishi: [Senior Jiang is lurking too! Aren’t you going to come out and say something?]
Kaori Onishi: [This guy! He’s completely ignoring us!]
Seriously, this “read” feature on foreign social media platforms was so annoying.
You couldn’t even lurk in peace.
Jiang Jian Yue: [If one does not know the truth, one shall not pass judgment.]
Yuki Asahi seemed to still be busy; he hadn’t seen the “read” status yet.
But that didn’t stop the three girls from “judging” Yuki in the group as a united front, tossing out labels like traitor, spy, and warlord.
Jiang Jian Yue knew they were just playing around, and she could only watch helplessly as the pile of accusations over Yuki’s head grew taller and taller.
Ah… it was so lively inside the screen, just like always.
Jiang Jian Yue curled her shoulders, her bare feet pressing against the edge of the chair cushion.
Her arches were tight against the fabric, and a look she hadn’t even noticed herself appeared on her face.
The things Kaori and the other girls talked about were quite boring and lacked substance.
Although, the conversations in her own small group chat weren’t exactly substantial either.
Jiang Jian Yue had actually always been lonely.
She wasn’t someone who liked to lurk.
She liked to talk—but in the past, her attempts at conversation were always ignored or met with a cold atmosphere.
She had seen a movie once that had a line that resonated deeply with her: “There are too many lonely people in the world afraid to take the first step.”
The reason it resonated so deeply was that after she shared the quote with her group friends, she was ignored.
Eventually, she concluded that she shouldn’t follow movie quotes.
Once the two hours of a movie ended, it was over.
Reality wasn’t like that.
She was like a giant baby wailing to relieve the loneliness in her heart.
This brain, corrupted by the internet, craved attention.
Therefore, when those familiar people talked among themselves about things that had nothing to do with her, Jiang Jian Yue would feel very lonely.
As if… she was being excluded.
Even when faced with “boring” and “insubstantial” chatter between young girls.
She wanted to join them.
Would that make her seem more like a normal person?
Jiang Jian Yue: [Oh my, how could this Yuki be so mean?]
Kaori Onishi: […]
Yamanoi Yayoi: […]
Makino Yuzuha: [……]
“The person on the other end of the phone isn’t Senior, is it?”
Jiang Jian Yue put down her phone and slumped into her chair, her eyes lifeless.
She still hadn’t become human.