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

Chang Rong, whose mind was originally filled with thoughts of Bao Sheng Ma Ge, suddenly felt a surge of excitement and wanted to tease Natsume An An a little more when she saw her pretending to be profound and imitating the adorable appearance of a literary giant.

"Of course, no problem! For example... well, this kind of eerie library where a cherry tree grows inside a room would be the perfect subject for—"

"Is it a locked-room murder case?" "A teenage romance story!"

Chang Rong and An An gave their answers at the same time, and then looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Youthful romance... umm, that's fine too. After all, if you ignore those trees that inexplicably eat people and the origin of this cherry tree, the environment of this library is indeed beautiful enough. Moreover, the library itself is also very suitable as a stage for a story. You might even see a randomly spawning bunny girl senior or a randomly spawning mysterious table-supporting knight."

Chang Rong crossed his arms and nodded, his mind already conjuring up a whole host of related fragmented images based on his extensive experience as a frozen eel expert.

"Senior? Support table...? Ugh... What are you talking about, you idiot monster... Besides, I don't want to write any more of that kind of messed-up stories about locked-room murders!"

However, unlike Chang Rong, who had already started using his "ghost brain" to fill his mind with stories of youthful romance and extraordinary moments, An An looked confused after hearing Chang Rong's suggestion. She pondered for a long time, and in the end, she could only wave her hands to forcefully dispel the topic.

"Hmm... As expected of the great writer An An, her choice of subject matter is indeed very sophisticated and incisive! Indeed, whether from the perspective of market appeal or the suitability to the actual scene, love stories are more suitable for this place. Rather, it's because I'm bound by my own experiences that I have such a subjective opinion."

Chang Rong, who had already mentally completed the entire process and route of 'Sakura Magic Library', nodded and looked at Natsume An'an with admiration.

A great writer is a great writer; seemingly simple subject matter can instantly capture all of one's attention!

"Well, needless to say...! I've already told you, don't underestimate us!"

Although she had no idea what Chang Rong was imagining, An An could only bite the bullet, put her hands on her hips, and nod in agreement with Chang Rong's words, indicating that everything was going according to plan.

"When will the great author finish writing the main text? I'll definitely be the first to buy it!"

"This, this... my writing schedule is already very full, so..."

—As expected, the way the procrastinator rambles on and on, making excuses for delaying updates, is the cutest!

Looking at the Lolita-style girl in front of him with her fluffy, silver-white hair, frantically trying to find excuses for her eunuch behavior and changing the subject, Chang Rong sighed inwardly.

"Well, anyway, Mag suddenly said she had something to discuss in the library, so I came here. But... you idiot monster, have you seen where Mag is?"

Knowing that she would be exposed if she continued to pretend (in fact, she had already been exposed), the young writer quickly changed the subject, while looking around the library, but she could not find the purple man.

“Marg...? Hmm, that’s a bit strange.”

After hearing that An'an had come to the library because of Mag, Chang Rong thought of the text message she had received on her phone earlier and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"Anyway, it seems like Margot isn't in the library. Let's go out first—"

Click!

Just as Chang Rong was leading An An back to the library entrance to leave, the door to the library room suddenly clicked as it was locked.

"what?"

Chang Rong and An An were stunned for a moment. They didn't realize what the sound meant at first. When Chang Rong came to his senses, no matter how he turned the doorknob, the door in front of him remained unmoved.

"Waaaaah... A locked room... a locked room murder...!"

After realizing she was locked in the library, An'an's face turned ashen, recalling what Chang Rong had said before: "The most suitable subject matter for a story to happen in a library."

"There's no need to think that far ahead, An'an..." Chang Rong sighed and quickly rubbed the fluffy girl in her nightgown to stop her from overthinking.

The current situation is inexplicable, but it's not entirely without clues. In fact, Chang Rong already knows who is behind this 'locked room'—

Beep beep!

Sure enough, the phone rang again at just the right time, but unlike before, this time it was a direct call.

"【Oh dear, it seems Brother Chang Rong and the lovely writer have arrived. Shall we play a game now? By the way, since I can only physically seal off a room, I can't block cell phone signals or use telepathy magic, so whether or not you 'cheat' depends entirely on Brother Chang Rong's conscience. If you manage to call for help through other means, although I won't and can't stop you, well... hehe】"

The 'warden's' voice came through the receiver, and the contents of the call gave Chang Rong a headache.

It was obvious that the so-called 'warden' was a fake created by Mag using voice-changing magic. In their previous interactions, Chang Rong had realized that beneath Mag's seemingly composed and shrewd exterior, there was a heart that was both naive and playful.

It's obvious that this situation was orchestrated by her.

"Warden, the warden...? What's gotten into that damn pigeon all of a sudden...? Could it be that he's planning another witch trial?!"

An'an, nestled in Chang Rong's arms, clung tightly to him while breathing on the phone receiver in a deliberately fierce tone.

"Calm down, my dear writer. The person on the other end of the phone is Margaret, and the warden isn't a pigeon, he's an owl." Chang Rong rubbed An's head and smiled to reassure her not to be too scared.

"Well, it's all pretty much the same anyway... By the way, what's that butterfly girl up to all of a sudden? Release me right now, or you won't be able to compensate me for this loss if I miss the deadline! Be careful, or I might hypnotize you into walking around the cafeteria with a bone in your mouth...!"

Upon hearing Chang Rong explain that the person on the other end of the phone was Baosheng Mag, Natsume An'an immediately became brave again. She tiptoed to take Chang Rong's phone and made a serious threat into the other end of the line.

An'an already harbored hostility or tension towards Baosheng Mag due to some past experiences, and now that she was being toyed with like this, she instantly became furious.

"Oh dear~ I didn't expect to be found out so quickly. But is this really okay? I just wanted to play a game with everyone because I was so lonely and bored... If you choose to refuse and go to call for more people, I really can't stop you except by crying... No, wait, maybe that's a little bit of a problem?"

After the warden's disguise was exposed, Margaret's true voice came through the phone.

"As for Brother Changrong, of course, you must have some serious things to talk about with me. If you don't cooperate with me in this game, I might act a little capricious, so you probably can't refuse, right? Oh dear, don't think I'm despicable."

"Gulp... Kill me!"

Unable to resist, Chang Rong, whose vital points were precisely grasped by Mag, could only take this opportunity to try and say the defeated female knight's lines that she had wanted to say for a long time.

"As for the lovely Miss An'an... cough cough— [That was a starry night I will never forget. On that night, stars fell from the Milky Way, and everything was dimmed by the awakening of that monstrous killer rabbit. The lives of all living beings in the universe hung by a thread, and the only one who could stop that thing from wreaking havoc was me, who unintentionally became a beautiful girl of darkness—]"

"Waaaaah!!?? I promise you, I promise you, okay?!"

Marge coughed twice on the other end of the phone, then switched to An'an's voice and began to read something. However, she had only just begun when the real An'an, who had instantly bristled and assumed a spinal posture, interrupted her with exaggerated gestures.

"What was that just now—"

"I command you to immediately forget what you just heard!!"

Chang Rong wanted to ask An An what the strange, ambiguous passage that Mag suddenly recited was, but An An quickly used hypnosis on Chang Rong instead.

"Aba aba... Huh? Has the culprit been caught yet?" Chang Rong immediately struck a pose like a sleeping bear suddenly waking up.

—Well, although it doesn't seem like I was really hypnotized, I'll just go along with this for now.

Since An An successfully controlled her hypnotic spells, there have been virtually no more unintentional AOE attacks on those around her. The hypnosis will only take effect if the person involved has a clear and dark will in their mind.

In other words, although An'an was extremely embarrassed about reading the scrap manuscript that Mag had somehow gotten her hands on, she wasn't so embarrassed that she had to format and reinstall Chang Rong's system.

No means yes!

"Hehe, since you're a writer, remember to dispose of your discarded manuscripts properly next time~?"

"Hmm... I understand. Although I don't know what you, Butterfly Girl, are up to, I'll play along!"

Natsume An'an gritted her teeth and reluctantly agreed to Marg's request. As the saying goes, what goes around comes around, and no one escapes the wrath of heaven. An'an, who used to always pester Milia to play this and that with the older man, now had no choice but to become the plaything of the mysterious voice-shifting woman.

"Oh dear, don't make me sound like some kind of scheming villain, I'll really get hurt... Besides, doing some subtle things in a confined space is already second nature to you two, isn't it?"

Marg's voice sounded seductive and provocative. The two people locked in the library felt very uncomfortable, but they had no room to refute her.

"Haa... So, what kind of 'game' are we going to play, Margot?"

Chang Rong sighed. Why did she always get involved in these strange and bizarre incidents?

"Waaaaah... Could it be some kind of game where you have to cut off a part of your body with a saw to get a key... Waaah..."

An'an, who never reads classic literature but is obsessed with horror movies, suddenly had a lot of images about 'games' in her mind. Unfortunately, none of them were sunny little games, which made Miss Pigeon Fairy's face turn pale again, and she quickly raised her sleeve to cover the corner of her mouth.

"Oh dear, I already said I'm not that kind of scheming, sadistic villain... But as the game progresses, certain body parts might indeed appear—hehe, I'd better not spoil it for now~"

"Saying halfway through makes people even more uneasy!" Chang Rong complained loudly.

What should be done about the body parts?

"In short, please take a look around. Is there a box on a table?"

"Hmm... I do see it—what is this, two glasses of water?"

An'an went to the table and opened the cardboard box. Inside were two bottles of liquid that didn't look very colorless.

"The game is very simple—choose one of the two glasses of water and have one person drink it, then wait 10 minutes—after which you can leave the library!"

"Hmm? Sounds pretty simple... Hmph, as expected, a butterfly woman who only knows how to deceive can't design any decent games. If it were me, one of these two glasses of water would definitely be laced with sulfuric acid—"

"Oh, by the way, one of the drinks contained a high concentration of Oddi~"

"Pfft cough cough cough—!!!"

With Mag's prompting, Chang Rong nearly choked to death.

That O-drug is still chasing me! Damn it, is this Witch Island some kind of brothel where people party indiscriminately?!

-

Thanks to Chenguang for the sudden, unexpected help!

I need to go to the hospital tomorrow to have my stomach checked, and depending on the situation, I might have to take a day off. I'm very sorry.

263. An'an: This water has power!

"Anyway, this has completely gone beyond the realm of pranks, Margot, stop messing around!"

Looking at the two identical glasses of water in front of her, Chang Rong immediately started complaining loudly to Bao Shengma, who was always eager to stir up trouble, on the other end of her phone.

"Oh dear~ This isn't a prank. It's a game I designed after careful consideration. As for what this game is meant to test, let Brother Chang Rong guess for himself."

On the other end of the phone, Marg's tone was as confident and composed as ever, even giving the impression that she was the biggest mastermind behind the witch's island.

"This is really... this is so disgusting, vulgar, base, and repulsive! It's unacceptable! We will never play such a disgusting game with you!"

Natsume Anan, standing to the side, also blushed and loudly retorted.

"I know you're in a hurry, great writer, but there's no need to take it out on me...!"

With nowhere to vent her anger, An'an could only raise her long, flowing sleeves and slap Chang Rong repeatedly in protest.

"Don't say that, my dear writer—[When her gaze met that monster's, she suddenly felt an energy different from transformation magic surging from within her body. What was this strange temperature? Even though she was in a life-or-death struggle with that monster, and even though she had her dearest friend to protect on her back, the monster's pupils seemed like some kind of hypnotic pendant, making her breathing increasingly rapid]—"

"Waaaaah, I understand! No, no, it's just a game, I'll play with you!!"

On the other end of the phone, Mag began reading the novel aloud again, while the pigeon spirit An'an, as if she had been given a tight headband, instantly blushed and raised her hands in surrender, hurriedly saying that she would obediently participate in the game and beg him to stop his magic and reading.

"I'm actually a little curious about what happens next—Awooooo!! Okay, okay, I'm not interested anymore...!"

Chang Rong tried to get Mag to read more about the magical girl An An-chan on the other end of the phone: This lonely and powerful magical warrior, who shoulders the responsibility of saving the earth, developed a forbidden desire when facing monsters with different stances. For the first time in her life, she found an existence with 'ability' equal to hers. This equality may be the catalyst that made her heart beat faster.

But the mission she carries and the stance she has always upheld prevent her from following her inner voice. Under such a twisted and oppressive situation, what choice will the magical girl Anan-chan ultimately make? Unfortunately, with the author's own temper flaring up beside her, Chang Rong will probably never get the answer to this question.

"Hehe... Humans are truly interesting creatures. They create things with their own hands, yet these very things become shackles that bind them... Well, well, now that the game's content and conditions have been explained, please make your choices. How will you pass this game? I'm very curious and full of interest!"

Marg jokingly said to the two of them, then hung up the communication. Instantly, the huge library fell silent, leaving only Chang Rong and An An, the two 'players,' staring at each other.

"Uh...that—"