Tokyo Soft Rice King.

They've even opened up a bit and are willing to make changes, which is a great start.

However, he did not smile, as a friendly smile might trigger Hongxiang's social anxiety phobia.

She probably chose to become a mortician because the expressions of the dead don't change, making them much more honest than the living.

So Kuroba Akira asked with a stern face.

"Speaking of which, Miss Hongxiang, why are you able to have normal conversations with me?"

"Hmm...that's because the other me...she trusts you a lot..."

"So, as long as it's someone else Miss Hongxiang trusts, you can have a normal conversation with them, right?"

"Hmm... I guess so... At least I believe in that other me, and I know that she is the only one who would never harm me."

Hongxiang, who suffers from social anxiety, said somewhat dejectedly.

"That's why I thought of giving her my body... Instead of switching bodies every time, why not just become one person? That way, all the problems would be solved..."

"I see, it is indeed more convenient to be a single person."

"Right... I should have just disappeared after all..."

Seeing that Kuroba Akira had once again driven the socially awkward Kurenai to her wits' end, the mature Kurenai anxiously shouted, "Akira! What are you doing! Akira! Shouldn't you be affirming her now? This is just making her retreat again!"

However, Kuroba Akira couldn't hear the voice and continued to speak carelessly.

"If a safe method could bring you together, I would think that would be good, but the problem is that no one can guarantee that a dangerous method like suicide would bring you together, can they?"

For Akira Kuroba, Kouka Tashiro's dual personality was a troublesome matter, and he certainly hoped to solve it once and for all. But since that was not possible, he had to come up with a second-best solution.

"Besides, I don't think it's necessary to go back to being a normal person. What exactly is 'normal'? Does being able to have a normal conversation with someone mean you're normal? That doesn't really make sense, does it?"

"Why……?"

Kuroba Akira said these words with his arms crossed, leaving the socially awkward Kurenai stunned.

The key point is that this wasn't sarcasm; he genuinely thought that way.

The mature and elegant Hongxiang was also astonished. Kuroba Akira's words were hardly words of guidance; they were practically pushing her other self into an even deeper abyss of fire! Was this some kind of destructive therapy?

Kuroba Akira continued to express his personal opinions.

"You may meet many people in your life, but you can only make friends with a few. And even if you try to connect with people, you may not get anything in return, and you might even get hurt. So why bother?"

"Because this world isn't one where you can be kind to people just because you have good intentions. The idea that good deeds are rewarded and evil deeds are punished is nonsense. The farmer and the snake is the real common occurrence in the world... Actually, you're afraid of humans because you can't understand their hearts."

"Even when I offered to be Ziyin's manager to Miss Hongxiang, it was for my own ulterior motives, not out of genuine concern for your well-being."

Socially anxious Hongxiang listened to these words in a daze, her expression blank, and asked in despair.

"Then what... can I still believe in..."

"It's simple! It's money!"

If it weren't for Tashiro Kurenai's fear of smiles, Kuroba Akira would definitely be wearing a very wicked smile right now.

"Miss Hongxiang, stop trusting people! Come and trust money with me!"

Chapter 146 I Made a Deal with Myself

"money……?"

"That's right! Most of the ignorant creatures, humans, blindly worship the rich!"

As the saying goes, money talks the truth, and money doesn't tell the truth.

Often, the reason why a person is surrounded by a group of people is not because what they say makes any sense, but because in a society where everyone knows the truth, those who have a lot of material wealth will inevitably be sought after and believed by some people, no matter what they say.

"Of course, for Miss Hongxiang, the most important thing is that once you have money, judging people's hearts becomes a very simple thing, because most people will greet you with a smile, and these people are basically after your money!"

The mature and elegant Hongxiang, who was observing from the sidelines, was both amused and exasperated. Since they couldn't discern people's hearts, were they going to deliberately reduce people's hearts to only having one form: 'greed'?

That's completely putting the cause in the opposite order of cause and effect.

"I see……"

However, the socially awkward Hongxiang readily accepted this 'fallacy'.

Because often, people don't want to delve into the reasons; they just want a feasible solution.

Just like those who blindly follow the trend to buy stocks, they don't listen to anyone explaining "why this stock is going up," they just say "I'll buy whichever one you buy," which is a kind of escapism and laziness that skips the thinking process.

The socially awkward Hongxiang asked, "What should I do?" and Kuroba Akira replied, "Become rich."

This is a very clear answer, so clear it couldn't be clearer.

Following this line of thought, Tashiro Kurenai naturally began to want to become a rich person.

This led them into the mental trap that Kuroba Akira had set for them.

Just like last time when he tricked Shirai Shiori into becoming his gunman, Kuroba Akira once again revealed his true intentions.

He bowed his head sincerely and extended an invitation to her once again.

"So, in order to become rich, please become Ziyin's manager! With her leading us, we're sure to make a lot of money!"

Kuroba Akira's initial goal was not to comfort her.

I'm not a psychologist, how could I possibly cure someone's social anxiety just by talking to them?

He just wanted to get the socially awkward Hongxiang to give up her suicidal thoughts and then resign to become Murasaki no Miya's manager, even if it meant using fallacies and heresies to persuade her.

"Shion is a very beautiful girl with a lovely voice, and she works very hard... I believe she will definitely become a famous voice actress."

However, after saying these words, Tashiro Kurenai lowered her head, her eyes wandering, not daring to meet Kuroba Akira's gaze, her shoulders slightly hunched inward, as if trying to minimize her presence.

"But... to be a manager, you have to maintain contact with a lot of people... I'm not confident I can do that... If my mistake hinders Shion's career development, I will never be able to forgive myself..."

Kuroba Akira immediately reached out her hand to stop her from falling into the spiral of inferiority again.

"No, I think Miss Hongxiang is overthinking it. You don't need to do things you can't do. If you don't want to interact with people, you don't have to."

"Then how can I be a manager like this?!"

"Just like now, everyone should do their own job. The task of interacting with people and judging whether they are trustworthy will be handed over to another mature Miss Hongxiang."

"But if that happens...!"

Tashiro Kurenai's expression became anxious and flustered. She wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Kuroba Akira.

“I know what you’re thinking. You feel guilty and apologetic towards another version of yourself because you’ve pushed your work onto her.”

"Uh-huh……"

"In my opinion, you're still treating her like an outsider. What's there to feel guilty about dumping the trouble on another version of yourself?"

"I……!"

"Of course, this is not just your problem. Accepting aid without compensation can make people feel uneasy and guilty, especially for someone like Miss Hongxiang who doesn't trust humans."

So Kuroba Akira spoke to the fragrance inside her body.

"You should be able to hear this, right? Another mature Miss Hongxiang, I know you're doing this for your own good, but I want to say you're not a system. You can't just give away benefits without giving anything back. Even a system has to complete tasks to receive rewards. How can you just give things away for free like this?"

　"system……?"

She Xiang didn't understand, but Yu Xiang had listened to audiobooks in her previous life, so she naturally understood what he meant.

Seeing another version of herself go to extremes this time left her feeling lingering fear.

Because Yuxiang couldn't actively take back control of her body, and no matter what she said at the time, her other self wouldn't listen because of her closed-off mind, so she could only watch helplessly, feeling anxious and frustrated.

If Kuroba Akira hadn't arrived in time, it might have led to irreversible consequences.

So at this moment, she also began to reflect on whether there was a problem with her way of 'being with herself'.

For Tashiro Kurenai, the idea of ​​two personalities helping each other doesn't seem to work.

"Since you have your own independent will, then don't spoil her unconditionally. That's why she feels she has no way to repay you and can only give you her body."

Kuroba Akira continued.

"So I suggest that you should continue to receive payment. For example, if you help out with two days of work, you can ask to have one day of the weekend given to you. It's a legitimate transaction."

This idea is actually the same pattern as what Kuroba Akira is doing now.

He interacted with all the girls around him in the same way.

This is a trading model that won't put any psychological burden on you.

Each gets what they need, neither owes the other anything, no ties, carefree and unburdened.

Shexiang's eyes lit up when she heard this.

"I think this is okay...! This is great! I won't mistreat my other self!"

"Well, you can discuss and decide on the specifics yourselves."

"But, um, I have another question... If I push all my work onto another version of myself, and then reward that other version of myself with weekends... then if I switch to being a manager, will I have no time for myself at all?"

"It can't be that bad, can it? There are things that only a young Miss Hongxiang can do, right?"

"What I can do... well, my current job is tiring and tough, but at least I can use my skills... After all, my other self hasn't done makeup for anyone in a long time because of blindness, so it's my job... But I really can't think of anything else I could do as a manager..."

So that's why she didn't want to quit her job no matter how hard or tiring it was.

It's not because I'm afraid of not having income, but because I'm afraid that losing my current job will leave me with nothing left.

She was afraid that she would no longer be needed by anyone after she switched to being a manager, which is why she kept avoiding Kuroba Akira, and even eventually had extreme thoughts.

In other words, all we need to do next is help her find her own value, and we'll get her to agree!

Chapter 147 I'm Going to Steal Your Little Man

This was a crucial point, and Kuroba Akira thought it over carefully before finally figuring out how to handle it.

Let's design a 'life game' for her!

"In short, let's start with small things. If you can speak normally to me, Miss Hongxiang, then you should be able to communicate normally with Ziyin, right?"

"Hmm, I think I should be fine facing Ziyin."

"Very good, then 'chatting with Ziyin' will be your 'newbie quest'!"

"Newbie quests... so is there a follow-up?"

"Of course, you can gradually upgrade later, such as helping her run errands, or doing her makeup if she needs it... In short, first find what you can do now, and then gradually expand the scope."