“Who are…?”
Jiang Jian Yue looked at Kazuki Hanatsubame, her heart filled with shock.
In just two days, Kazuki had lost a significant amount of weight and looked listless, like someone who had spent seven nights straight in a net café.
“Missy, I don’t think I can handle… gulp… the opening ceremony’s performance… so… gulp…”
Kazuki thought that the Missy had come to cancel her work personally—but Jiang Jian Yue wasn’t that free.
She didn’t waste any words and immediately activated her Ability.
Kazuki’s pupils suddenly dilated as she fell into an unconscious state.
‘Oho, hypnosis training?’
Following her intent, Kazuki performed actions like shaking hands and waving while on the sofa.
It felt strange, like controlling another body capable of only simple movements…
As for why it was “simple,” Jiang Jian Yue discovered that her usual “Monkey-version Skill” seemed to only control a few people at most, and they couldn’t perform complex movements.
‘Should I upgrade this skill?’
‘Is this thing really worth upgrading?’
Jiang Jian Yue was a bit of a clean freak; this Ability, which shared traits with drugs, clearly crossed her line—or rather, any normal Tokyo University student would instinctively find it repulsive.
“Hehe,” Meiguan’s voice drifted over faintly.
Jiang Jian Yue always felt that every time Meiguan laughed, she was plotting something.
Of course, Meiguan caught that thought.
She spoke up somewhat indignantly, “I’m trying to help you solve this. Why are you so ungrateful?”
“How do I solve it?”
“Project your consciousness deeper into her body. As for how to do it… do you know about Hypnosis? Not the kind from adult games, but real-world Hypnosis using psychological suggestion…”
“You are Kazuki Hanatsubame.”
***
Half an hour later, Jiang Jian Yue blinked, snapping out of her vacant state.
She realized her body was sticky.
She wiped herself; it was all sweat.
Standing up from the executive chair, the floor where her shoes stepped became a puddle.
“How is it? Feels magical, right… the feeling of becoming someone else.”
“I just want to take a shower right now.”
Jiang Jian Yue felt exhausted, looking like she had been pulled out of the water.
On the sofa, Kazuki Hanatsubame had fallen into a deep sleep—the most peaceful sleep she’d had since her withdrawal began.
Pressing a button, Jiang Jian Yue had Akimoto Miki, who was waiting outside, move her into the lounge.
Jiang Jian Yue walked into the bathroom, stripped off her clothes, and tossed them on the floor.
“So…”
Water wetted her body.
Jiang Jian Yue leaned against the wall, looking physically drained.
“Tomorrow…”
“Yes, you can completely immerse yourself in Kazuki Hanatsubame’s body and hop around on stage~”
“…”
‘Me, the Idol Center? For real?’
***
Athletes’ Village.
In a bedroom within one of the suites, Cuiyue was also showering.
She had a piece of leather tied between her teeth, already covered in bite marks, with saliva unconsciously dripping from the corner of her mouth.
She sat cross-legged on the tiled floor, letting cold water splash over her.
Cuiyue didn’t even feel cold; she felt hot.
She used this method to resist her withdrawal symptoms.
She used more painful things to offset her physical reactions.
Although Cuiyue’s symptoms were mild, they still inevitably affected her normal training.
This morning, during the sparring session with Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu Unit 2, she had messed up.
Even though it was just ordinary practice and neither side used full strength—especially Yuki Asahi, who Cuiyue could tell was distracted—she was still ashamed of her slip-up.
Squelch—
Picking up a short dagger lying beside her, Cuiyue suddenly stabbed it into her lung.
Then, through her Rapid Recovery Ability, she quickly brought herself back from the brink of death.
Blood mixed with ice water and rolled down the drain.
The withdrawal gradually weakened, or perhaps the excessive stimulation of pain had caused her nerves to malfunction.
The best toy was undoubtedly the human body.
If it didn’t cause serious consequences, Cuiyue felt she could play with it forever.
Or rather… she had awakened some strange kink.
Rapid Recovery was truly too useful.
‘What exactly is the relationship between my abilities and that Jiang Jian Yue?’
Cuiyue had previously tried to probe Yuki Asahi for information about Jiang Jian Yue.
But the boy seemed tight-lipped about anything regarding her, revealing nothing.
She did know quite a bit about Yuki Asahi’s affairs—and the more she knew, the more Cuiyue felt…
‘How did Yuki Asahi ever catch Jiang Jian Yue’s eye?’
Did this person, who shared her name in her past life and her face in this life, have such poor taste?
She admitted Yuki Asahi was a good Captain, but she didn’t think he was outstanding enough to enter the sight of Japan’s helmswoman of a mega-corporation.
The gap was too large.
Drying her body with a bath towel, she put on her bra with some annoyance.
Even after living in this world for half a year, she still wasn’t used to such massive Frontal Armor.
‘I’m so jealous of Jiang Jian Yue’s flat chest. It must be so easy.’
Dressing in casual clothes, Cuiyue walked out of the bathroom.
Passing a small table, she picked up a few bags of Pineapple Bun—this was her lunch.
She wolfed down the Pineapple Buns like they were tiny snacks.
Feeling thirsty, she walked out of the bedroom, intending to get a drink from the kitchen.
Yes, this suite actually had a kitchen.
It had to be said that the DRG had astonishing boldness when it came to “throwing money around.”
The suite assigned to Special Response HQ Unit 1 had a living room over three times larger than Uncle Sato’s cramped apartment.
The huge floor-to-ceiling windows allowed the slightly piercing midday sunlight to pour in without reservation, making the marble floor gleam with a cold luster.
The atmosphere in the living room was a bit heavy.
Kenichi Matsumoto was sitting on the sofa, holding an analysis report with his brow furrowed.
Beside him, Reina Hayami was messing with a fruit plate on the coffee table, occasionally picking one up and tossing it into her mouth, looking more like she was playing than eating.
And that gloomy guy…
Tsubasa Kubo was huddled in the corner of a single sofa, wearing noise-canceling headphones, unsure if he was listening to music or simply didn’t want to talk to anyone.
Such a quiet team.
Cuiyue also wanted to experience the “bond, friendship, and victory” tropes of team members in a battle manga.
But Special Response HQ Unit 1, a team with semi-official status, was destined not to have those things.
Hearing footsteps, Kenichi Matsumoto looked up, gave her a brief glance, and then lowered his head again.
Cuiyue walked straight to the oversized double-door refrigerator in the Open Kitchen.
Opening the refrigerator door, a wave of cold air hit her, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin, which had just undergone the ice-water treatment.
She chose a bottle of chilled sparkling water from the wide variety of drinks, unscrewed the cap, and took a large gulp.
The cold liquid slid down her esophagus into her Stomach Sac, slightly suppressing the burning sensation that was still faintly throbbing in her body.
The electronic lock at the suite’s entrance made a light beep.
The heavy security door was pushed open, and Yuki Asahi walked in.
He hadn’t changed out of his training uniform yet and looked a bit wind-worn.
The stagnant air in the living room seemed to flow again because of his arrival.
“Captain.”
Reina Hayami’s eyes lit up, and she immediately stood up.
Even Tsubasa Kubo, who had been huddled in the corner, took off one side of his headphones and looked over.
Kenichi Matsumoto also put down the documents in his hand.
“You’re back? Is everything… okay over there?”
He was referring to how Yuki Asahi had suddenly interrupted training several hours ago, looking panicked after answering a phone call, and rushed out.
At that time, his expression made it look as if the sky were falling, leading all the team members to think some emergency had occurred.
Just like before…
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Yuki Asahi replied briefly while changing his shoes.
Cuiyue raised an eyebrow, guessing in her heart that Yuki had gone to see his little girlfriend.
A smirk curled on her lips.
“Captain, you were gone for several hours.”
She slowly walked over holding her sparkling water, her tone testing him.
“You ran off in such a hurry this morning. What? Did you… go to see someone important?”
Yuki stopped and turned to face Cuiyue.
The distance between the two was less than two meters.
This face, identical to Jiang Jian Yue’s, was currently looking at him with a half-smile.
Add to that the exaggerated curves that even her loose casual clothes couldn’t hide…
Yuki’s gaze shifted away almost the instant it touched her, as if he had been burned.
He lowered his eyes slightly, staring at the wall behind Cuiyue, his brow furrowing.
“I just went to handle some school matters.”
Yuki’s voice was flat.
“It has nothing to do with the tournament. There’s no need to report it, right?”
“Oh—so it was school.”
Cuiyue intentionally elongated her words.
“I thought you went to see your little girlfriend.”
Yuki interrupted her sharply.
“It has nothing to do with you, does it?”
After speaking, he didn’t give Cuiyue another chance to talk.
He nodded toward Kenichi Matsumoto.
“I’m going to take a shower. There’s no training scheduled for this afternoon, so take some free time.”
Then, without looking back, he strode toward his room and closed the door with a loud thud.
A strange silence fell over the living room.
“Um… Cuiyue.”
Reina Hayami looked at Cuiyue awkwardly.
She could see that Cuiyue seemed to want to interact with Yuki, but for some reason, the atmosphere had become very stiff.
Since the news about Jiang Jian Yue had become widespread, the members of Special Response HQ Unit 1 had belatedly realized there was some history between Cuiyue and Yuki.
She looked exactly like Jiang Jian Yue.
Cuiyue looked at the closed door and gave a soft tsk.
‘How boring.’
‘I know you love your Missy, what a good boy who stays loyal.’
Cuiyue thought that if her sexual orientation ever truly changed, she would definitely not fall for such a dull man.
The way he avoided her, as if looking at her one more time would be a betrayal of that Missy.
Cuiyue tilted her head back and drained the rest of the sparkling water in the bottle.
But… this feeling of being treated like a “scourge” or a “cheap substitute”…
It was really infuriating.
She accurately threw the empty bottle into a distant trash can, which made a muffled clank.
In her heart, her evaluation of Yuki Asahi dropped another notch.
Loyalty was a virtue.
But Cuiyue viewed Yuki as a colleague, and for his attitude to be so poor after such minor teasing…
It was terrible.