Miss Riddler just wants to level up in peace.

"Don't overthink it, get some sleep."

After pulling the covers over herself, Ziyao lay on the bed and stretched.

The sheets underneath are new; for some reason, Mei insisted on keeping the old sheets.

The blanket was not very wide, which indirectly shortened the distance between the two people.

Kiana turned her back to sleep, facing the wall.

The bed was filled with Ziyao's scent, a faint fragrance of orchids.

It's neither too strong nor too weak, maintaining a comfortable balance.

Skin to skin, breaths almost touching.

However, the otherwise enchanting atmosphere was interrupted by an uninvited guest—

The other party was dressed in fine robes and held a feather fan.

Looking against the moonlight, Theresa, who exudes a much more mature aura, sits on the windowsill, quietly gazing up at the night sky.

"The celestial signs are favorable tonight, so please rest assured and don't worry about me."

..

(P.S.: I was hospitalized for a few days, and now I have to organize a baby's first month celebration after I get back. Sorry, sob sob)

Super kill me! (Outrageous remarks x)

Volume 1: Chapter 99 A Distorted Heart (Part Two)

Nothing was said that night, and all was well.

When Kiana woke up, she was in much better spirits than usual. Could it be that her gloomy mood these past few days was due to lack of sleep?

What Ziyao didn't know was that Kiana felt at ease as long as she was by her side.

The girl struggled with her thoughts for a while last night, but eventually succumbed to sleepiness and fell into a deep sleep.

Unfortunately, this enthusiasm ended before class.

The bell rang, and as if receiving a command, Kiana listlessly slumped onto the table.

Mei finished her morning exercise and walked into the lecture hall at a leisurely pace.

The students quickly made way, and the bolder ones greeted him with a "Good morning," only to receive a slight nod in return.

The instructor was late, and the assessment results were projected onto the presentation board.

The students discussed their grades.

Fu Hua ranked first, Bronya second, and Mei third.

Ziyao ranked fourth, a significant gap between her and the rankings below her, which can be described as an excellent achievement.

As for the bottom-ranked team, you can see it simply by looking at the last column.

“Tata..…”

Slender, white fingers tapped lightly on the solid tabletop, producing a deep, resonant sound in rhythm.

I don't feel very motivated today.

Gazing at the azure sky, the white hairs beside my ears were unwittingly blown into my collar by the wind, making me itchy.

The pages of the textbook rustled as the wind turned them one by one.

"W-What's wrong? I wasn't asleep..."

Kiana felt a push on her arm and assumed it was Bronya reminding her to pay attention in class.

With her current grades, failing another course would be a real problem for her.

Looking up, I saw Ziyao's soft, delicate palm.

"Want to go out and relax?"

The girl said this, and Kiana gave a blank "hmm" before being led away from the classroom.

Is there anything strange about it?

"It's really strange that someone as diligent as you would skip class."

Walking along the campus path, Kiana unconsciously tightened her grip on Ziyao's hand.

She was originally the only one who skipped class, and with Ziyao, there were two of them.

"I'm so bored, I want to get some fresh air."

Ziyao made up an excuse at random.

As they approached the school gate, they saw Theresa.

"etc....!"

Kiana instinctively hid in the corner, pulling Ziyao along with her.

She didn't want Theresa to stand on tiptoe and tug at her ear while lecturing her.

She only breathed a sigh of relief after Theresa left and she confirmed that nothing was wrong.

Ten minutes later, the two arrived at the town on the other side of the river.

Take the tram north along the tracks, and you'll eventually arrive at a bustling city.

It was late autumn, a time when everything should have been as desolate as falling leaves.

I heard that a famous theme park opened in the nearby mountains, and the number of tourists has surged, with quite a few people even in the morning.

The simple phrase "go out and have fun" carries a great deal of weight.

It means escaping from studies and life, allowing time to be spent pleasing oneself.

Just as Ziyao had expected, Kiana's complexion improved considerably, and she kept looking around.

Where should we go now?

"From a generally rational perspective, what's the deal with pachinko?"

After confirming that no one was following her, Ziyao pointed to a shop with flashing neon lights next door and made a suggestion.

Before even stepping inside, just half a street away, you could hear the crackling sounds.

A man stood at the front desk, utterly despondent, and spent his last money on a hundred steel balls. He dragged himself back to his seat like a walking corpse.

The chance to defy fate quickly vanished amidst the machine's hum. The man, as if all his strength had been drained, lay slumped over the machine, lost in thought.

"Hey, Ziyao, won't shops like that get shut down?"

Kiana had heard that gambling was prohibited in the Far East, and although she had played pachinko many times, she had never paid attention to these issues.

This game is very simple: exchange for steel balls, put them into the machine, get a lot of steel balls, and exchange them for cash.

The simple crackling sound of collisions is most likely to arouse people's inner desires.

Some people lose everything, while others become rich overnight.

"When there are policies from above, there are countermeasures from below; you see."

Ziyao pointed to the opposite side of the street, where there was a gift redemption shop where you could exchange gifts for cash.

Exchanging small steel balls for money is, of course, illegal.

But if you exchange the money for gifts, then there's no problem.

It can only be described as genius logic.

However, it seems there is a department specifically managing these stores to maintain overall balance and fairness.

Well, it's better than doing nothing and just killing it off with one blow.

Sitting at the table, Ziyao poured the small steel balls into the funnel-shaped inlet, and the LED light immediately displayed the number of coins she had inserted.

I tried playing a few rounds, winning occasionally, but the winnings kept decreasing.

By the fifth round, the last ten steel balls were gone.

Ziyao didn't care. This kind of thing is essentially a game where the house wins everything, so she just treated it as a little fun.

Turning to look at Kiana, the machine kept making noise, and steel balls rolled down one after another.

It went from the original 150 to 8,000.

If converted to cash, it would amount to approximately 200,000 yuan.

A crowd quickly gathered around, mostly sighing and envying that they didn't have that kind of luck.

Ziyao: ?

So, I saved up enough money to go to the arcade.

But Kiana suggested going to the valley to take a look, as it seemed to be quite lively.

Ziyao went to the vending machine by the roadside and bought two bottles of drinks.

A text message came through my phone; it was from Raven.

Just as she turned it on, someone bumped into her shoulder, and the phone fell to the ground.

"I'm so sorry, I really apologize..."

"It's okay, go and do your work."

The woman with the shoulder bag bowed and said that it was okay. Ziyao picked up her phone and said it was alright.

"Oh, why is it taking so long?"

Kiana, having found her way here, said with a hint of dissatisfaction.

It was midday, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. Without a cold drink, you'd die!

Raven glanced at the message and noticed that it mentioned Möbius.

Without thinking too much, Ziyao put away her phone and tossed the drink to Kiana.

"Hey, where did the person go?"