Whose youth romance story begins with a witch's trial?!

She clearly wanted to retaliate against Hiro for deceiving her, but the topic was getting out of control, and it felt like she was about to say goodbye to her two butts. What exactly is going on...?

Otherwise, I should just find a chance to take advantage of my father completely!

Noah thought to himself that he no longer needed to find an excuse for filial piety and was ready to launch a full-scale attack on Chang Rong. "Dad, don't turn around, keep using the mugwort. I'm Mom, let me have some fun."

While the family of three was enjoying a happy time together, the values ​​on the so-called love system were quietly changing.

Noah Kinosaki: [70/100] → [99/100]

[A hypocritical artist] — → [A novice artist in Xiaoyi]

Volume 1: Regarding the bounty, there are still chapters owed so far, and thanks to Fran Hongxia for the silver treasure chest.

Thank you so much, Fran Hongxia, for the Silver Treasure Chest! I'm extremely grateful.

I'd also like to thank everyone who sent me so many blades these past few days; the guy with the strong hot water sent me 400 blades.

Current status of unfinished updates

宝箱方面截止今天是【73-1+6（芙兰的宝箱）-4.5】=73.5

The current monthly pass value is 41266 - 33682 ÷ 500 = 15.

It totals [88.5], which is nearly 18 words.

^q^ I will try my best...

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I feel the monthly pass threshold is set a bit too high; 500 is indeed a lot.

After some thought, I've decided to extend the monthly pass bounty [until the end of this month]. It won't add much anyway; the main point is to give everyone a sense of participation (this is just a pretext; the real reason is to stay on the monthly pass leaderboard).

The number of monthly passes will be tallied again at the end of the month, and then 41266 will be subtracted.

Then I'll continue repaying the debts from all the big shots who gave me treasure chests.

I'm also very grateful for everyone's razor blades, panties, soap, salted fish, and sudden thrusts of donations. If I haven't died from exhaustion after paying back this wave, I will add all of these back!

Keep it up! Keep it up! I need to find a way to make up for all the missed updates before I finish the book!

Oh, and by the way, Happy New Year everyone!

Volume 1: Chapter 177. I have to be the first one!

"So you just helped Noah with his painting, and then accidentally fell asleep for a while because of 'divine intervention,' but nothing noteworthy happened during that time—if that's really the case, then you idiot rabbit, you should have told me sooner!"

"Hero, you haven't given me a chance either... And, at first I couldn't be sure if anything bad happened while I was asleep... But Noah is such a well-behaved and sensible child, it shouldn't have happened, right!"

"You're actually asking me a question back!" "Gah!?"

In the art studio on the second floor, Nikaido Hiro, who has found the exact location of the missing Noah using his 'past life memories,' is currently torturing Chang Rong, who claims to want to be a Sigma man but was almost single-handedly killed by the colorful balloon cotton-padded jacket.

Although Heero almost couldn't suppress the murderous intent surging within him due to Noah's false testimony, his gentle and virtuous Yamato Nadeshiko soul, with its excellent family traditions, allowed him to calm down, reassess the situation, and thus successfully prevent a violent incident—through his strong self-control.

Noah was mostly just talking nonsense. Although Balloon Teacher was quite accomplished in the field of human lie detectors, Noah's own lying skills could only be described as tragic.

After Heero recovered from his initial shock of "My daughter beat my husband up!", the mysterious woman with the false testimony reappeared, bombshelling with three questions: "How did it happen? Who initiated it? How does it feel?" These questions completely overwhelmed the innocent-minded Noah, leaving him utterly bewildered. Noah's pathetic performance further convinced Heero that it was indeed just a childish joke, nothing more.

"But...did you really have Noah draw the picture himself?"

Hiro glanced furtively at Noah, who was sitting at a table not far away, doodling with a paintbrush, and frowned as he asked Chang Rong.

"Hmph, Noah is no longer the Noah you thought he was, Hero! The current Noah... is terrifyingly strong!"

Before Chang Rong could respond, Noah Shirosaki took the initiative to come closer. She handed the drawing paper in her hand to Hiro Nikaido, and then showed a shy yet proud little expression.

"Hmm... Although it's a mess, it's definitely different from the pure color graffiti of 'balloons,' and it was drawn normally with a paintbrush, not 'disguised' with powder or tape or anything like that."

Hiro looked at the drawing paper in his hand and nodded slightly. Putting aside the fact that it was a pile of shit, it could indeed be called a proper 'painting'.

"Is that Noah with all those colorful spots on his body? The white-haired guy next to him must be Chang Rong—what's that monster on the right that looks like Godzilla breathing fire?"

It is said that one can glimpse a person's inner world through their paintings, and Hero, seizing this rare opportunity, also attempted to analyze Noah's inner world.

Is this monster a manifestation of her fear of her own magic? But no matter how terrifying the monster, as long as she's with Chang Rong, she can overcome it—

"Ah, that's Hero, hehe... How about it, it looks a lot like him, right? No matter how terrifying the monster is, as long as he's with Rongrong, he can solve it!" Noah rubbed his soft hat sheepishly and cheerfully explained Hero's situation.

"I see, hmm, I understand now. Today I will grant you the wonderful childhood memories you promised. Now take off your pants and grit your teeth." Hiro nodded slightly, conjuring seven wolves in his hand. His words were extremely calm, so calm that they sent chills down one's spine.

"Wait, wait a minute, Hero—the child was just drawing for fun...and this is also Noah's heartfelt gesture! Hey, it's a sheep, right?!"

"How does this thing resemble me at all, you little balloon brat—!!"

Chang Rong frantically tried to stop Nikaido Hiro, who had gone berserk and transformed into a fire-breathing demon, but ultimately collapsed and sacrificed himself due to exhaustion while fighting the giant fire-breathing Godzilla.

"Rongrong has fallen...! Great opportunity—!"

However, Chang Rong's sacrifice did not receive any praise. On the contrary, the people he tried their best to protect thought of "while it's hot" as soon as they saw him fall. This is the greatest tragedy of a superhero and a facet of the end times.

After Chang Rong finally suppressed the uproar caused by Noah's painting through self-sacrifice and martyrdom, Hero also calmed down and began to think about what it really meant that 'Noah was able to paint'.

In the previous playthrough, Chang Rong had almost completely dismantled Noah's pretense about her own painting, but it still couldn't change the taboo issue that she couldn't create using conventional, universally defined 'painting techniques'.

However, in this playthrough, Chang Rong only spent a little time having a heart-to-heart talk with Noah, and Noah successfully overcame the fear caused by magic. What does this mean?

Chang Rong's witch factor constitution can not only relieve stress on a physical level (by absorbing witch factors), but it can even defuse mental landmines once and for all? This is truly unbelievable...

Aside from her wondrous magic of controlling liquids, Noah is now basically no different from an ordinary girl—of course, an ordinary girl wouldn't necessarily be constantly thinking about boiling others alive.

"By the way, Chang Rong, could you use your 'system' to check the progress of Noah's witch transformation?"

Hiro thought of Chang Rong's built-in 'Witch Factor Witch Transformation Progress' query system and wanted to know Noah's current situation.

"Ah... about that [system], actually, I don't know when it started, but the data displayed by that system has changed. It's no longer the progress of witch transformation, but has become something like affection level, except the data looks a bit inflated... Huh?"

Chang Rong looked up, his eyes becoming somewhat vacant, as if he were lost in thought. It was only when he tried to check the 'Affection System' that he noticed the changes in Noah's stats and the addition of a new form of address.

"what happened?"

"Uh... Noah's favorability rating has changed, and he's even given a new title... Filial Piety? What filial piety?" Chang Rong frowned. What's with the filial piety?

"Data changes? Favorability rating? Noah's title?"

A series of new questions made Hiro frown, so Chang Rong had to pull Hiro outside the studio. The two went to the corridor in front of the door, where Chang Rong took the opportunity to explain in a low voice the changes to her system and the data changes that had occurred on Noah.

At first, Hiro was skeptical, but when she heard that her score was 99, her cheeks instantly turned red, and she had to admit the system's accuracy.

After all, Hiro knew very well that she had no urge or possibility to become a witch, and such a high number as 99 could only be her 'heart-fluttering value' for Chang Rong.

However, when he heard that Sawatari Coco and Kinosaki Noah had also suddenly entered the 99/100 range, the shy smile that was faintly visible on Heero's face disappeared instantly, replaced by an expression of surprise and annoyance.

—I can barely understand Ze Du Ke Ke... No, she left halfway through, and the rest of the time she was just a spectator in the audience, which is completely different from me, who personally experienced it from the beginning to the end!

Theoretically speaking, Ze Du Ke Ke only 'watched a movie,' and that's how she completely won you over?! Just how fragile are you, you little minnow Hakimi? Chang Rong didn't even have to lift a finger and you've already won yourself over? Seriously, why are you giving yourself away so easily?!

The changes to Noah's stats gave Hero an even bigger headache. Didn't this mean that Noah had also entered the race? Seriously... while I was away, you two, the cat and the balloon, have become quite arrogant.

To fall for something so easily and get it for free... Don't even think about it, it's 'wrong'!

"Hey, Noah! I really need to give you a lesson on what constitutes a legal and compliant heterosexual relationship...!"

"Huh!? Hiro, calm down—"

Nikaido Shiro burst into the art studio, ready to educate everyone on the correct concepts and rhythm of love. Her actions were so swift that even Chang Rong didn't have time to stop her.

Suddenly, Heron's slightly impatient voice came from the studio. He first advised Noah that at his age, there were still many things he had not experienced, and his vision was naturally too narrow. Therefore, he was easily deceived by things that seemed to have a gorgeous exterior but were actually empty inside.

Then she earnestly advised Noah that girls should have their own dignity, not to believe everything they hear, to think things through themselves, to have their own ideas, and not to be easily led astray by a random rabbit on the roadside.

Finally, in a deliberately fierce tone, he said that some people are one way on the outside and another way on the inside. You can know a person's face but not their heart. They may look innocent, but they are actually monsters at heart. Noah, if you can't control yourself, you should give up the opportunity and let me have it.

As for Noah Kinosaki, Balloon Teacher responded to Hiro's series of persuasions with only one word: *sss*

"Hero is a big idiot...!!"

Boom!

The studio door slammed shut along with Noah's adorable tantrum, leaving only Chang Rong standing in the corridor in front of the door, and Nikaido Hiro, who had been kicked out and had a fresh spray paint mark on his face.

“Well… kids sometimes go through a rebellious phase, so occasional resistance is understandable, right?” Chang Rong turned his head away, trying his best not to look at Xi Luo’s face. After all, he knew very well that if he accidentally laughed out loud, he would probably be pinned to the ground and made to cry by someone who was angry and embarrassed.

"Whose rebellious phase involves nothing but thoughts of stabbing their dad? You idiot rabbit...!"

"Uh, Mordred, Arthas?"

"—" Hiro was speechless for a moment after being refuted, and even the anger that had been sprayed in his face by the balloon dissipated a lot, as if the wrinkles in his brain had been smoothed out.

Well, there's no way to undo Noah's 99/100 progress now... And in the end, is it really because this 'rewind' itself is a bit special?

Hiro didn't expect his fabricated testimony, which he had casually made up in the reception room, to have any effect, but he was still somewhat surprised by Noah's rapid progress in conquering the enemy.

In reality, the original plan was never to have turned out this way. All I had to do was stabilize the situation for the others, then find a chance to enjoy a good meal. After that, no matter what messy things happened, I could still rely on my first kill experience reward to sit back and watch the fierce competition unfold.

But... but why has it dragged on until now, until Noah, this adopted daughter, has even sat down at the table trying to challenge her father, while we still haven't made any real progress...?

No, calm down, Hiro. Calm down. You have your own rhythm. It's not a big deal... It's just a colorful balloon that's easy to pop that accidentally drifted onto the track. It can't change anything. You're still the childhood sweetheart who's far ahead.

Thinking of this, Hero forced herself to calm down. She revealed a confident and elegant smile, tossed her long black hair with one hand, and her tone returned to its original calm and rational state.

"By the way, Chang Rong, have you seen Ze Du Ke Ke? She ran away as soon as she saw me, like she'd been stepped on. She really is a troublesome 'little sister'."

Hiro smiled and changed the subject, trying to use Zedu Coco's fake 'adopted sister' identity to remind Chang Rong from the side that she was still the world's number one childhood friend.

"Coco-chan? I'm not too sure... But speaking of which, Coco-chan self-destructed in the infirmary before."

"...Huh? Self-destruction?" Nikaido Shiro's smile faltered for a moment.

"Coco said she's not actually my adopted sister, and we never had... that kind of experience. I've always been a little confused about why I can't remember anything related to that, so this finally explains it. Speaking of which, Hiro, you also—"

"..."

Seeing Chang Rong's somewhat subtle look of doubt as she asked that 'taboo' question, Hiro felt his mind go blank for a moment, followed by an unprecedented urge to watch cat TV.

—Hakimi, what are you doing with your potion...!? You wouldn't let me speedrun with a single-target defense at the start, and you locked my save file that I painstakingly built up to max affection, and now you're suddenly self-destructing on the spot for no reason?! Are you chasing me down? Are you going to live forever?!

Originally, the lies between Hiro and Zedo Coco were like an unbreakable alliance between the two, which would crumble at the slightest touch. Now that the small fry Zedo Coco has surrendered and self-destructed, it naturally makes Chang Rong also begin to doubt his own shaky fabricated lies.

At this point, there's no point in continuing to be stubborn. This lie was originally built on Chang Rong's unconditional trust, and now that trust has been shattered, there's no point in trying to patch up a leaky basket with cement.

"That's right, I'm not actually your childhood friend, we've never gone to or from school together, and we've never done *that*—no, going back in time we did, but… tsk, anyway, so what? I'm not your childhood friend or your fiancée, does knowing that make you happy?"