The spectators who had been frozen resumed their movements four hours later.
Under the order maintained by the on-site Self-Defense Force, they left the venue in an orderly manner.
DRG was responsible for the financial losses from ticket refunds.
As for the cascading losses online, they were even greater.
However, Morita Aoya, as the spokesperson for DRG Japan, promised that the finals would be rescheduled, and the individual matches would proceed as originally planned after the Team Free-for-All.
Furthermore, the details of the Pluto attack incident were directly released online and to the media, calling on people to pay more attention to the cult problem.
The matter was resolved in a relatively perfect manner, after all, only one person was harmed throughout the entire incident—Pluto.
The Curtain Cluster finally seized an opportunity, only to find there was nothing they could really use as an excuse.
However, they soon noticed that DRG had become somewhat more subdued.
A certain forgotten someone, who had slipped back to the locker room naked to get his mobile phone and call for help only when it was empty at night, arrived at Mejiro very late.
Mejiro DRG Headquarters Building, “Moon.”
This behemoth standing in the Tokyo night usually exuded a cold, stern, and even somewhat oppressive aura.
Yet today, when Yuki Asahi stepped into the first-floor lobby, he sensed an extremely discordant sense of peace and harmony.
“Um… excuse me?” Yuki Asahi stopped a passing security staff member. “Has something happened?”
This burly man, who usually dared to glare even at the police, now wore a serene, almost enlightened, benevolent smile on his face.
“Ah, Mr. Yuki. Nothing has happened. It’s just that everyone is basking in the ‘Moon’s’ radiance, feeling an unprecedented peace of mind. May you also have a wonderful day.”
After saying this, he even clasped his hands together, bowed to Yuki Asahi, and then drifted away.
“……?”
This wasn’t right. This was absolutely not right.
He quickly walked to the private elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.
As the elevator doors opened, he first encountered Hattori Koji, who was just about to go downstairs.
He was leaning against the corridor wall, holding a check in his hand, looking dazed.
“Mr. Hattori?” Yuki Asahi tentatively called out.
Hattori Koji snapped back to reality. The moment he saw Yuki Asahi, his face actually showed a flicker of expression as if seeing a savior. “Yuki! You’re finally here!”
“What happened up there? Was there an enemy attack?” Yuki Asahi asked warily.
“No… it’s scarier than an enemy attack.”
Hattori Koji swallowed hard and tremblingly raised the check in his hand. “The Missy… she… she just called me into her office.”
“And then?”
“She smiled… that kind of saintly smile, looked at me and said, ‘Hattori, you must have been very lonely and in pain all these years away from home, right? This is a consolation bonus for you. Go on vacation. Go find inner peace.'”
“Ugh… a bit… a bit of an uncanny valley effect…”
Yuki Asahi’s mouth twitched. “Really?”
After bidding farewell to the life-questioning Hattori, Yuki Asahi continued inward. At the entrance to the secretariat, he ran into Akimoto Miki.
The head maid was currently squatting in a corner, hugging her arms and trembling. Her originally meticulously styled hair was now tousled from her own hands.
“Miss Akimoto?”
“Ah! Yuki-kun!”
Akimoto Miki jumped up and grabbed Yuki Asahi’s sleeve. “Quick! Go in and check on the Missy! She’s gone mad! She’s definitely been possessed by something strange!”
“Did she scold you?”
“No!”
Akimoto Miki’s face was pale. “She praised me… in a really nauseating way! She kept praising me! She called me a ‘diligent little bee.'”
“Just now, when I brought in coffee and accidentally spilled a little, she… she grabbed my hand, gently wiped off the coffee stain, and asked me if I was burned…”
Akimoto Miki shuddered, her eyes filled with terror. “It’s too disgusting… no, too terrifying!”
Watching Akimoto Miki flee in panic, Yuki Asahi took a deep breath.
Although he had learned over the phone that Jiang Jian Yue had become strange after touching that ownerless emotional artifact, he hadn’t expected it to be this kind of strange.
Yuki Asahi guessed it was a side effect similar to when Jiang Jian Yue touched an ability user’s corpse…
Before pushing open that heavy black walnut door, Yuki Asahi steeled himself.
No matter what Jiang Jian Yue had become, he wouldn’t find it scary—actually, wouldn’t it be nice if she stayed like that?
The office door slowly opened.
Behind the desk, a figure sat quietly.
Jiang Jian Yue.
She was wearing the black gothic dress from their previous date, but now, the outfit carried a solemnity reminiscent of a nun’s habit.
Her ash-gray hair shimmered with a silvery-white halo under the city lights. Those blood-red eyes were now overflowing with suffocating compassion.
Hearing the door open, she slowly looked up and revealed a smile that could melt polar glaciers.
“You’re here, Darling~”
Her voice was as soft as… as if she had just woken from sleep, carrying a faint trace of languor.
Yuki Asahi closed the door, feeling all the hairs on his body stand on end.
Alright, now he finally understood why those two had reacted that way.
“Yue… are you okay?” Yuki Asahi cautiously walked over.
“I’m well. Unprecedentedly well.”
Jiang Jian Yue stood up from her chair, walked around the desk, and approached Yuki Asahi with light steps. Her hands naturally cupped his cheeks.
Her palms were warm, carrying a reassuring power.
“Seeing you, my world feels complete.”
Jiang Jian Yue gazed deeply into his eyes, her tone so sincere it was impossible to doubt. “Just now I was thinking, this world is full of suffering, but as long as I think of you still walking upon this earth, I feel… all of it can be forgiven.”
“……”
Yuki Asahi’s brain froze for two seconds.
“Um, Yue, aren’t you being a bit… too exaggerated?”
Yuki Asahi’s cheeks felt a bit warm. Being hit with such a direct attack from his cute girlfriend was something no man could withstand.
“Exaggerated?”
Jiang Jian Yue tilted her head slightly, her eyes filled with affection. “How could that be? Darling, your eyes guide me like the sun. Your very existence is my greatest salvation.”
“If I don’t express this love, my soul will tremble from overflowing happiness.”
“Stop, stop, stop!”
Looking at Jiang Jian Yue, who was now radiating holy light and making goo-goo eyes, Yuki Asahi felt flustered.
But… he had to admit, it was also a bit secretly thrilling.
Jiang Jian Yue had actually become this clingy now.
“Darling…”
Jiang Jian Yue suddenly leaned closer, her body lightly pressing against his chest. She looked up, and his flustered face was reflected in those red pupils.
“Your heartbeat is so fast…”
As she spoke, she closed her eyes, stood slightly on her tiptoes, and her luscious lips almost brushed against his chin.
Yuki Asahi swallowed hard. Reason told him he had to solve this problem.
Otherwise, when Jiang Jian Yue regained her senses, she would absolutely die of shame and humiliation.
“Yue, you need treatment.” Yuki Asahi pressed on her slender shoulders, trying to create some distance.
“Treatment?” Jiang Jian Yue opened her eyes dazedly. “Love is the best medicine.”
“No, you need to expel the excess ‘positive emotions’ from your body.”
Yuki Asahi said seriously, “The side effect is interfering with your normal personality. Although the current you… well, is quite cute, this isn’t the real you.”
Hearing the word “cute,” Jiang Jian Yue seemed somewhat pleased. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks—this, at least, had a bit of her original flavor.
“If you want to take, everything of mine is yours,” she whispered softly, as if offering a sacrifice.
Yuki Asahi took a deep breath and mobilized the ability within his body.
“Whatever you give, whether it’s pain or joy, I will accept it gladly.”
Jiang Jian Yue was still outputting high-intensity sweet talk, a complete “Cringe Love Bot.”
Meiguan also chimed in from afar, “Yuki, hurry up and save my daughter. She’s gone completely crazy.” Though Yuki Asahi couldn’t hear it.
“Let’s begin.”
With a turn of his will, golden light began to flicker in Yuki Asahi’s eyes.
As the positive emotions flowed out, Jiang Jian Yue’s body trembled slightly, and she let out a soft moan.
“Mmm…”
A ripple appeared in those eyes that were originally filled with divine radiance.
The dam of reason was being rebuilt. The suppressed sense of shame began to recover.
However, the process wasn’t instantaneous.
In this mixed state of “half-saint, half-tsundere,” the situation became even more uncontrollable.
“Darling… it’s so hot…”
Jiang Jian Yue’s voice took on a hint of her usual hoarseness, but the tone remained sticky. “More… I need more…”
Because the emotion of “love” was rooted deep within her soul; it wasn’t entirely an external side effect.
As the outer shell of “universal love” was stripped away, what remained was the naked, targeted “private love” for Yuki Asahi alone.
Yuki Asahi felt that what he was absorbing wasn’t just positive emotions, but also Jiang Jian Yue’s scorching feelings.
The dependence, possessiveness, and long-suppressed desires she usually hid beneath her cold words flowed directly into Yuki Asahi’s brain through the energy connection.
In that instant, Yuki Asahi’s breathing also became ragged.
He looked down at the person in his arms.
The look in Jiang Jian Yue’s eyes was no longer that empty compassion. Instead, it held a misty, dazed quality.
Her cheeks were flushed, and her pearly white teeth gently bit her lower lip, as if enduring a great struggle between intense pleasure and shame.
“Yue…”
“Idiot…”
Jiang Jian Yue suddenly spoke. Though she was still cursing, her tone was as soft as a coquettish whine, and her hands tightly grasped Yuki Asahi’s collar.
“Don’t… don’t stop…”
He suddenly cupped the back of her head and kissed her.
“Mmph!”
Jiang Jian Yue’s eyes widened, her body instantly stiffening. But the next second, she completely melted into the kiss.
This time, the energy transfer became even more violent and direct.
That holy emotional energy flowed between their lips and teeth, greedily devoured by Yuki Asahi.
And as the energy was drawn out, Jiang Jian Yue’s suppressed true nature began to rebound violently.
But this rebound, mixed with the intimate contact of the moment, turned into an even fiercer response. The “love” emotion was UP UP.
It had become a perpetual motion cup.
She was no longer passively accepting but was clumsily yet passionately fighting back.
Her arms wrapped around Yuki Asahi’s neck, her fingers threading through his hair, pulling him closer.
The air in the office seemed to ignite.