Uneasy daily life

[Angelina: Why are we childhood friends now? Why did I transfer schools from China to Japan when I wanted to find you? Why is everything still going the same? No, something's even more off! Ugh! You're such a jerk, you're even more despicable now!]

[Yukino Yukinoshita: Hehe~ You've gotten away with this twice in a row, you've really gotten off easy.]

[Sakurajima Mai: I'm back, how about you?]

[Toyohama Kazuka: Ouch! You bastard, you bastard, do you know what? Do you remember? Time has reversed!]

[Sakuta Azusagawa: I think I've remembered something terrible.]

The door lock suddenly made a crisp sound.

As if he had expected it, Bai Ying turned his head to look, only to see the door being pushed open somewhat anxiously, and Yukino Yukinoshita hurriedly stepped in, looking up to meet Bai Ying's gaze.

"You're the first one, so enjoy a 30% discount today!"

A gentle smile and words, as if welcoming a guest.

Yukino's anxious and fluctuating emotions vanished instantly, and she calmed down as if she had just confirmed something.

A reassuring tranquility filled the air, only to be broken by a soft sound after a long while.

"Welcome back."

"I am back."

End-of-volume summary and leave request

Volume 4 is finally finished. It's been the most difficult volume to write so far, filled with all sorts of distractions, frustrations, and mental exhaustion.

After all, it's the beginning of a multi-person romance. I started by trying hard to figure out how to write the romance scenes, but then I started adding color to fill in the gaps and update the story. Although the outline had already been set up so that this volume would mainly focus on the changes in the relationships between several people and other changes, to complete Bai Ying's previous life, to completely resolve the Killer Queen, and to start a brand new future, it really has all sorts of problems to write.

The first issue is the harem, which is a rather tricky one that can never be avoided—why can others accept a harem? If the male protagonist can have a harem, why can't the female protagonist have a reverse harem? In my experience and understanding, there are a few solutions. One is to gloss over it by giving a result that the female protagonist accepts anyway, whether you believe it or not; another is to use arguments that are more convincing to the readers, such as the male protagonist being rich and powerful and thus able to dominate the relationship, leaving the female protagonist to be dependent and therefore forced to compromise herself; and yet another is to apply common sense from the era and explain the harem by ignoring modern concepts.

The third one is unusable because the era and environment have already been set. The first one is too lazy to use, and the second one would cause severe damage to the character.

Of course, there are also options that involve directly switching to stock trading, choosing one of the actresses to be the female lead, and leaving the others as background characters.

Then I'll be hung on the pillar of shame and roasted to death, adding another dark chapter to Hedgehog Cat's collection.jpg

I know some readers have complaints about Pochi-chan becoming a background character, but I genuinely struggled to maintain the character and plot pacing. Pochi-chan is a seemingly fun and interesting character, but there's not much to explore in reality. She's a brave Pro with her own opinions and direction. I envisioned a pet-playing-like storyline between her and Shiro-yomi, but it lacked a unique sense of romance, so I decided to give up on that idea after much thought.

Ultimately, my chosen approach was to believe in love, depict love, and try to persuade readers with love.

The expression is very abstract; if I had to be specific...

I hope to depict a relationship that transcends common sense, constraints, societal pressures, and calculations of gain and loss, so that the problems of the harem are not even a problem.

This is difficult, because for readers, money and power are more understandable, tangible, persuasive, and down-to-earth, while emotional resonance and understanding are more vague and tend to be skeptical.

Therefore, I wrote about Bai Ying's past, about a person who was supposed to be a certain way, and thus had no sense of self.

A person should get married, have children, be filial, love their family, work hard, and live their life in accordance with societal standards.

When love becomes something that should be, it loses its authenticity and freedom, becoming an inherent liability.

Through these life stories, the female protagonists gain a deeper understanding of Bai Ying and what he is really like.

Finally, time reversed, and everything started over.

If we hope to meet again, fate will guide a miracle, creating a deeper connection between our souls, and naturally resolving the question of 'why should I have a harem?'

To be honest, I'm not particularly satisfied with the result. The portrayal of Bai Ying was somewhat incomplete. Although the portrayal of the female lead's inner journey is secondary, it wasn't done well enough, especially in the way she was moved by different stages of her life. Ultimately, it lacked something I don't know how to improve, and it felt stiff and not enough.

As mentioned at the end, there was still a bit of reluctance and helplessness in posting it. I have to update every day, I can't not update, so I can only try my best to keep going.

This volume was written haltingly, veering off course, sometimes focusing on color, sometimes on emotion, and sometimes on literature. Overall, it summarizes the emotional scenes in stages and further enriches the character of Bai Ying. Although I always feel there are still some shortcomings, I really can't squeeze anything more out of my mind, which is a pity.

What's even sadder is that I racked my brains to finish the last chapter yesterday, but I was so tired from moving and wrapping things up that I went to bed early and forgot to check my attendance record. I forgot that I stayed up too late one night and updated two chapters the next day. Although I met the word count requirement, I didn't actually update that day. I forgot that I also needed to redeem a leave slip...

The perfect attendance bonus is gone.

The six-month bonus, which was almost due in the last month, is gone.

Ugh! I wish I could turn back time and get a leave slip! This is the most expensive mistake I've ever made in my life!

Calm down and think about it. This experience of failure has taught me that life is full of surprises. No more striving for the semi-annual bonus! Goodbye to perfect attendance, daily updates, and leave requests! Freedom! Freedom to create! No more being bound by rules and regulations…

That's right! That's the perfect state for a creator!

That's paradise for creators!

……

It's nothing! Not at all! I'm not heartbroken!

……

Ughhhhhhh! Damn it, loser eats the dust!

……

What follows is a new life and story, those miraculous daily routines, tinged with all sorts of turmoil.

Go back to your original state, write some fun and carefree stories, and unfold sweet and sour love songs, rather than love songs with philosophical reflections on life.

While the absence of conflict might seem to obscure the key to creation, the White Shadow is precisely that key element. Having learned to love and be loved, it's time to evolve into White Shadow Pro. Others should also adapt accordingly; freedom is calling…

In short, a new life has begun!

I'm taking a day off to soothe my grief and work on the outline.

Volume

Touch it for another day.

I was fine when I woke up this morning. The aches and pains from moving had eased, and I felt great after taking a shower... But then I started feeling unwell. My head was throbbing intermittently, I felt a bit dizzy, my clothes were thick and tight, my torso felt hot and stuffy, and my limbs felt cold...

I suspect the cold weather combined with the sweat I got on the day I moved caused me to suffer a double blow, and now I'm facing a bout of illness.

The first chapter of the new volume is a leave request, which is really annoying, but I can't think of anything, so I'll try to figure it out for another day.

Sure enough, bad things always come in droves.

Chapter One: Twisting and Twisting...

It actually succeeded?

Is this the power of believing in miracles?

Huh? Why does it feel like my timeline is a little different?

Because they are used to using gravity to stabilize their memories, they retain some subconscious memories of being near the white shadow?

Hakuei used his Stand to give himself a Stand, so are Stand users attracted to each other? But the Stand's senses have only just awakened, and it can vaguely sense Hakuei's location. Yukinoshita and the others haven't done anything unusual, only it unconsciously caused an earthquake, leading its parents to take it on a trip to China...

Because I have superpowers?

Angelina: (ˉ﹃ˉ).

Angelina, dressed in her pajamas, sat on the bed in a daze, like a silly duck, overloading her data processing, and then she realized something was wrong.

Huh? Why does starting over feel even weirder?!

The childhood sweetheart, who spent six years of elementary school bickering with Shirayuki, finally realized how much she missed him after he left, to the point that she unconsciously triggered an earthquake. After graduating from junior high school, her parents took her to Japan, where she reunited with Shirayuki at Soubu High School…

Then I watched him go down the path of a scumbag. He always played with me when we were little... well, he only played with me when we were little, but now he has one person after another to play with.

The childhood sweetheart is filled with complex conflicts—a budding romance, a nascent possessiveness, the thought that "I was here first," and "What if the person I like turns out to be a jerk? Jerk! Tui!"

Angelina felt confused because she had done something unusual, which caused her memories to load in a somewhat choppy and conflicting way, making them less smooth. While others had probably just taken a nap and were now back to where they were yesterday, with a beginning and an end to their stories, she had taken a nap and was now back to where she was the day before, leaving her with a bit of a mental blank.

It's just like that.

“Mmmmm!”

Angelina raised her hand and patted her cheeks, comparing her two versions of the experience, and couldn't help but grin.

First version: Would a super-powered person who suddenly appears like a scumbag boss who keeps giving each other friend cards?

Second version: Would a childhood friend with superpowers like a scumbag who keeps giving each other friend cards?

Wow! What kind of person has one way to die, and what kind of loser has two ways to die?!

Fate! This is fate's malice! It must be fate's malice!

Everyone else came first, but I was the last one. Even if time were reversed, I would still be the last one.

Wasn't all that time reversal for nothing?!

Angelina rolled around in bed wrapped in the blankets, silently screaming inside—Aaaaaaah! Why do I have superpowers?! If I didn't, would everything have gone the same way, and I wouldn't have to experience these two kinds of madness?!

How awful!

Wait a minute!

Angelina suddenly sat up abruptly, frowning and muttering as she tried to recall, "What kind of relationship do Bai Ying and I have now?"

Although they have already gone through fooling around, performing, joining a superpowered organization, fighting against an evil demon king, witnessing the past and present lives of the White Shadow, saving Le and the others' world in reverse time, and receiving a substitute from the White Shadow...

Uh, best friends who constantly tease each other? A quirky boss and an adorable subordinate? A superpowered individual secretly saving the world?

That guy never confessed at all!

Wait a little longer... it's not like there haven't been any confessions...

Angelina's round face scrunched up like she'd just eaten a sour orange... She'd confessed before time rewound, and she'd confessed again after time rewound, so all that added up—they now had two "friend zone" cards for each other.

Goo!

And another thing! If my superior suddenly makes a romantic confession, should I say yes, or no? And what should I do after saying yes? Mai-senpai and Waka's families are quite complicated, so they probably don't care much? It seems like the White Shadow cleared the Yukinoshita area...

Ugh! So annoying, I don't want to think about it anymore!

Angelina collapsed and lay there silently until her mother called her for dinner.

At the dinner table, Angelina was putting hamburger patties into her mouth while her gaze wandered off into the distance. Anxinyuan's father and mother exchanged glances, and after a brief exchange of looks, Anxinyuan's father finally coughed and asked, "An'an, lately... has something strange happened?"

Angelina replied casually, "Yeah, it's strange every day."

“I mean…” Anxin’s father hesitated, “did we move from Italy to Japan, or from Italy to China, and then to Japan?”

"Of course... huh?"

……

"Kazuha, do you think I look sad?"

In the hotel, Mai Sakurajima asked her younger sister.

Feng Binhe scratched her head. Even as her number one fan, she couldn't say anything definitive: "Sister, your smile makes your whole face seem to be glowing..."

"Looks like he's in a really good mood."

Mai Sakurajima rubbed her cheeks: "I guess I should think about what happened in the past life of the hater. It feels like after seeing such a long life, my acting skills have some room for improvement."

"Oh... I don't feel that way at all?"

Feng Bin and Hua muttered to themselves, puzzled.

Mai Sakurajima asked curiously, "So how do you feel?"

“It’s definitely better to be talkative and good at making people angry than to be quiet and not irritating.” Feng Bin and Hua said casually, “I get angry just looking at Xiao Yun’s family. He should have a big fight with his family and smash a bowl for them to hear.”

Mai Sakurajima chuckled, "Just as I expected, this is something the Flower Society would think of."

"What do you mean 'something I would think about'?" Feng Bin and Hua snorted twice, rolled around on the sofa, picked up their phones and started typing. Soon, they showed an angry expression, full of energy. "Damn it—what do you mean 'expert at breaking bowls and cutting your feet'? That was just an accident! I broke bowls louder than Mom!"

Kazuha shouldn't expect to play roles other than those that suit her; she should continue to hone her singing and dancing skills.

Sakurajima Mai, lost in thought, continued to diligently experiment with different expressions and tones. No wonder the hater-kun had such a strong acting talent; his life as Xiao Yun was probably spent silently observing the intentional or unintentional performances of others—his father's habitual concealment and promotion of utilitarianism, his mother's go-with-the-flow love, his wife's matter-of-fact manner after becoming a wife, and his daughter's rapidly shifting stance of self-interest after becoming someone else's wife…

Life is truly like a play. On the stage of society, there are seats for fathers, mothers, wives, daughters, and so on. Everyone just needs to take their place and act out their roles naturally. If you were to remove the labels you wear, you would be met with boos from the audience.

If I were to act in "The Corner" again, I could perform the first half better... My improvement is only in portraying tragic characters, which is somewhat problematic, isn't it?

Next time, I hope the hater can write a more cheerful script so we can perform together again.

……

"A leaf sprouts and a flower falls, two worlds apart, two people separated."