Chapter 48
After discussing things with Yinggong Tong—who wasn’t very familiar with otaku culture—Yan Huan decided to start simple and take her to the Entertainment Zone for a bit of fun.
After all, it was just past nine, and Bai Yi's event wouldn’t begin until after noon.
Spending some time exploring the venue with Yinggong didn't seem like a bad idea.
Opportunities like this were rare. Although the student council members often stayed together, proper team-building activities were few and far between.
Coming to this comic convention was one such instance. The last time had been last semester, when they visited Yinggong’s house to see her kitten.
"Hello, you two! Before entering the Entertainment Zone, each of you can draw once for a chance to win dolls, free facility tickets, and other rewards~"
Just as they reached the entrance, a staff member holding a raffle box stopped them.
"There's such a nice deal?" Yan Huan asked, glancing at the entertainment facilities inside.
Some attractions were free, but most required additional tickets.
"Hmm, trying our luck doesn’t sound bad."
Yinggong Tong nodded and stepped forward eagerly, reaching into the raffle box.
As she fumbled around, she turned to Yan Huan and asked,
"President, if you don’t mind, I’ll draw one for you too, okay?"
"OK."
"Then—"
Yinggong Tong pulled out two slips of paper, opened them up, and saw that each listed three different prizes.
"Looks like we won something."
Yan Huan leaned in and muttered,
"We both got a free haunted house entry. One slip also has a free fortune-telling and 10 claw machine coins, and the other has 15 shooting bullets and 5 claw machine coins."
"Pretty lucky, President."
Yinggong Tong covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
'Calculated~'
In truth, the two slips had already been stuck to the inner wall of the raffle box by Nara. You simply needed to reach upward to retrieve them.
To reduce suspicion, Yinggong Tong had deliberately chosen different prize combinations to make the draw look more authentic.
Since the two of them were going together anyway, there was nothing to worry about.
"That’s true. Then shall we check out this so-called fortune-telling first?"
"No problem."
Yinggong Tong smiled gracefully, but her inner thoughts were far from serene.
'Surely the President will realize soon, right?'
She had already arranged everything—from the fortune-telling to the shooting and claw machine games—with carefully crafted psychological cues.
A fortune-telling result that emphasized 'true love is nearby,' followed by Nara interpreting it with lines like, "If you try a little harder, you two could end up together."
The claw machine was rigged to easily award the couple’s prize: a pair of matching kitty dolls whose tails formed a heart when placed together.
All of these subtle hints were designed to plant the seed of love in the President’s heart.
And then, it would all culminate in the haunted house!
A dark, cramped school-like setting, with ghostly NPCs lurking like shadows, and a thick, oppressive atmosphere.
In that moment of tension, just a bit of subtle physical contact would be enough. When he paused and turned around—
"President, I-I’m a bit scared. Can I hold onto you for a while?"
Yinggong Tong followed behind Yan Huan, but inside, she was already wearing a twisted 'mission accomplished' smile.
'Soon the President will be mine. And after that, inviting me to his rented apartment will be the natural next step, right?'
That way, she could place the second Room Barrier in his home, completing the final puzzle piece of his life.
'What a beautiful future~'
Just as Yinggong Tong was fantasizing about what to name their first child, Yan Huan suddenly stopped and pulled out his phone.
"Looks like Yaqiao and the others are done. They want us to meet them in the doujin area now."
"."
Hearing this, Yinggong Tong kept her smile intact.
But the smile was as stiff as rusted metal.
'Haha, Yaqiao-kun, you really know how to pick your moments~'
'Don’t tell me all that time tending your virtual potted plants ruined your sense of timing?'
'Just wait—I swear I’ll hack your game account, melt down all the weapons and materials you gifted to your waifus!!'
(*) Note: "Waifus" refers to fictional female characters that fans (usually male) are emotionally attached to, especially in anime/gaming culture.
"I see."
The clouds shifted above, blocking the sunlight from shining through the convention center’s glass ceiling, casting shadows shaped like clouds across the venue.
In that shadow, Yinggong Tong turned to Yan Huan with a thoughtful expression and said,
"Then let’s go meet up with Yaqiao and the others now."
Watching from the shadows, Nara let out a silent sigh.
'As expected, it turned out this way.'
'When you wear a mask and never take it off, no matter your real expression, all others will see is the mask.'
'But maybe Miss didn’t misunderstand this truth—she just couldn’t allow the world to see the face beneath.'
'It couldn’t be helped.'
'Unless the outside world could accept that ugliness—or even normalize it.'
'But that’s impossible.'
'All that effort... for nothing.'
Nara blinked and reached for her walkie-talkie, intending to call off the staff waiting in the shadows.
But in the venue, Yan Huan stood holding his phone, looking at the smiling Yinggong Tong, who stood beneath the shadow.
After a moment of thought, he suddenly said,
"No matter what, we came all this way—it’d be a shame not to try anything, especially after winning a prize."
"."
Yinggong Tong’s polite smile faltered slightly, while Nara, still in the shadows with her hand on the walkie-talkie, looked over in surprise.
One gaze from the light, one from the dark—both focused silently on Yan Huan.
'Yan Huan, it’s precisely because you’re like this that Miss is so obsessively fixated on you.'
'When she finally devours you whole, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself~'
'Not that he has any idea about that, anyway.'
Nara sighed and lowered the walkie-talkie.
Yinggong Tong blinked and reached up to tuck a strand of black hair behind her ear.
It was a small habit of hers when her emotions stirred—even behind a fake smile, such gestures were hard to suppress.
In front of Yan Huan, this gesture surfaced especially often.
"Do you think they’ll have to wait long?"
"It’s fine. We waited for them earlier—now it’s their turn to wait for us."
Yan Huan glanced around at the entertainment facilities. The haunted house was the most expensive—99 per person—and they just happened to win free tickets.
"Let’s just pick one or two things to try. It won’t take long. Yinggong, have you ever been in a haunted house before?"
"Nope, but I’d like to give it a try."
"Alright, then let’s go check it out."
Yan Huan sent a message to Yaqiao Mu, letting him know they’d be a bit delayed.
He quickly got a reply with an otaku-style beauty emoji and a message:
"No worries, President. We’re just browsing nearby too."
Watching from the shadows, Nara smiled faintly. She picked up the walkie-talkie again and said,
"Haunted house staff, get ready. Double-check the traps and whatnot. Action starts soon."
"Roger."
The clouds slowly moved again, and sunlight poured back through the glass, illuminating the haunted house entrance.
It looked like there would be a short wait.
Yinggong Tong followed behind Yan Huan. The sunlight bathed his figure, making his silhouette shine.
But to her, the sun felt too harsh, so she opened her parasol again, blocking the light completely.
"Please wait here for a moment. Due to space limitations, we can only accommodate two groups of eight guests at a time. Once we’re full, a staff member will take you inside."
At the haunted house's first-floor entrance, a smiling young female staffer handed blindfolds to Yan Huan and Yinggong Tong as she explained:
"Also, for better immersion, please wear the blindfolds. We'll begin the background introduction shortly."
In his previous life, Yan Huan had played escape rooms and similar games, so he was quite familiar with the process.
Turning around, he saw that Yinggong Tong had already put on her blindfold.
She adjusted its position slightly and asked curiously,
"President, if we can’t see anything like this, how are we supposed to get inside later?"
"There should be staff to guide us in, I think."
"I see."
As she spoke, the lights in the waiting room suddenly dimmed.
Then, eerie and chilling music began to play, accompanied by a calm, feminine voice.
"I am Saito Rina from Class 1-A of Kyotou High School. The story I'm about to tell is about Kyotou High... and my good friend Manako."
The atmosphere was perfect. Even Yinggong Tong, who knew it was all staged, couldn't help but feel uneasy at the lifeless, emotionless narration—it sounded like it was being told by a corpse.
Watching Yinggong Tong’s blindfolded face, her pink lips tightening subconsciously, Yan Huan smiled slightly and put on his own blindfold.
The surrounding temperature seemed to drop by more than a degree. After the final line of narration ended, Saito Rina’s voice returned.
But this time, it sounded like it was coming from directly behind Yinggong Tong.
"You two, please hold hands and enter Kyotou High together."
Yinggong Tong swallowed hard, too frightened to move.
But in front of her, a large, warm hand reached out and wrapped around her cold, delicate one.
"Let’s go, Yinggong."
"Okay, President."
'The President’s hand is really big.'
'And warm. It feels... really nice to touch.'
She instinctively rubbed her palm against his, but quickly froze, afraid he’d notice the small gesture.
"Slow down, Yinggong. I think the door ahead just opened. There’s a breeze—we should be able to walk forward bit by bit."
"Mm, President."
But Yan Huan clearly hadn’t noticed Yinggong Tong’s subtle movement. He simply led her forward, officially beginning their haunted house adventure.
Meanwhile, behind the night-vision surveillance screen, Nara was monitoring the situation closely.
She held a walkie-talkie in hand, ready to coordinate with the staff stationed throughout the attraction at any moment.
But before she could issue any orders, a panicked female voice crackled through the walkie-talkie.
"Nara-sis! S-something’s wrong! Two girls at the entrance are trying to barge in! They said they’re not waiting in line and are going straight in!"
"What?"
Nara blinked in surprise, quickly sat up, and frowned.
"We just cleared the place out inside—we can’t let anyone in yet. Stop them if you must!"
"We already tried! But we couldn’t! That golden-haired girl is strong like a bull! Not only did we fail to stop her, she even yanked A-Qiu to the ground!"
Nara blinked in disbelief and cursed.
"Are you all useless?! So many of you, and you can’t hold back one little girl?!"
"No, Nara-sis, the main thing is—"
But Nara didn’t have the patience to listen. She switched the camera to the entrance and tuned into the surveillance audio.
On-screen, she saw two staff members crouched on the ground, clutching their wrists in pain where they had tried to restrain the girl.
"*Ouch...*"
In front of the surveillance camera, a golden-haired girl was leading another girl carrying several black bags, both rushing straight toward the haunted house.
Along the way, the golden-haired girl casually scanned a nearby QR code at the ticket booth and bought two haunted house tickets.
"Two tickets. Hurry."
"Ugh... Spencer-classmate, um... why don't you go in? I’ll just wait outside."
"Scared?"
"...Mm."
The golden-haired girl, called Spencer, grinned mischievously at the timid girl beside her.
"But I refuse."
"Ugh..."
At first, Nara suspected these intruders were shady characters targeting Yinggong Tong—especially since they had taken down her bodyguards. That couldn’t be good.
But after watching the surveillance footage more closely, she realized—
Nope. They just wanted to play in the haunted house.
"..."
'What do we do now?'
Nara turned to another surveillance feed showing Yinggong Tong and Yan Huan.
Since Yinggong Tong was blindfolded and a little scared, Yan Huan was gently guiding her forward, step by step.
So, when Spencer opened the waiting room door behind them, the two hadn’t gone far and hadn’t yet entered the haunted house proper.
"*Tch*, so this is the ghost—huh?"
Spencer, hands on hips, was ready to shout something bold like "Charge!"—but the moment she entered, she saw the two of them holding hands.
Even with blindfolds on, the subtle intimacy between the handsome boy and the beautiful girl didn’t escape her notice.
After a brief daze, her expression lit up with delight—times ten thousand.
"Eh~"
A meaningful grin spread across Spencer’s face.
Meanwhile, An Le—less physically capable than Spencer—had followed her all the way from the underground doujin event to the Entertainment Zone. Wearing a mask and head lowered, she was already out of breath.
"Haha... um, Spen—"
She arrived a few seconds later and caught sight of the scene just after Spencer.
The delay was brief, but when she looked up, her eyes immediately locked on the blindfolded boy.
In that instant, her gaze froze—she clearly recognized who he was.
!!
'Xia—'
'Xiaohuan!?'
A flood of emotions exploded inside An Le—excitement, joy, anxiety, fear, even worry.
Even Little Pinky, who had been listless on her shoulder, suddenly perked up like someone watching the national football team win 2–1.
"No way! We actually ran into him?! An Le, hurry! This is your chance!!"
"Huh?"
An Le’s heart pounded wildly. She never expected the long-awaited moment Little Pinky kept hyping up would suddenly leap into reality.
That surge of emotion urged her to speak—to tell Xiaohuan who she was.
"That—"
But from the corner of her eye, she noticed Yan Huan and Yinggong Tong’s tightly clasped hands.
'Eh?'
'Their hands...'
'Xiaohuan's hand is already taken... by that Yinggong Tong...'
An Le froze, her mind crashing like a system overload.
At the same time, Yan Huan and Yinggong Tong heard the commotion behind them—especially since the voices sounded very familiar.
Their brows furrowed in perfect unison, like synchronized mecha pilots, and they simultaneously removed their blindfolds.
Before their eyes appeared a terrifying monster—as if it had crawled from a rift beneath the Pacific Ocean.
[Codename: Classmate Niu!]
"It’s you?!"
They spoke in perfect sync.
Yan Huan knew she was a dangerously powerful Modifier user, and Yinggong Tong also remained wary of this girl who once shattered her barrier with a single kick.
The two stood united, like an iron wall, bracing themselves against the uninvited guest—Spencer.
That reaction made Spencer both annoyed and delighted. Crossing her arms and raising her head, she said,
"What a coincidence. Didn’t expect to see you here, President~"
She emphasized the word “President” with a teasing tone, sending a chill down Yinggong Tong’s spine.
Just as Yan Huan was about to respond, a staff member walked in, forcing a smile as they explained,
"Um, to enter the haunted house, you need to wear a blindfold. After listening to the background story, you go in holding hands."
Hearing this, Little Pinky immediately smacked An Le’s cheek with its tail and scolded,
"Don’t just stand there like a statue! They’re only holding hands because it’s part of the haunted house rules! That Yinggong Tong hasn’t won yet—you still have a chance!"
"R-really?"
An Le finally snapped out of her daze. She blinked and looked ahead, finally realizing the tension at the haunted house entrance.
Even the staff member, after delivering one sentence, had quickly backed out again.
'Eh?'
'Why do Xiaohuan and Spencer always look like they’re about to fight?'
'Oh, right—'
'It’s because of what happened with the study group!'
'They nearly came to blows back then. I had good intentions, but I messed things up by overwhelming Xiaohuan with too much... pleasure.'
'I’m sorry, Xiaohuan. It was all my fault.'
(*) Note for line 180: "Classmate Niu" is a humorous codename, possibly referencing the girl's brute strength or aggressive demeanor.
"Um... you guys—"
An Le spoke up at that moment, her voice soft and sticky like a small animal, as if trying to stop the confrontation.
It wasn't until An Le spoke that Yan Huan noticed another girl standing behind Spencer.
He cast a scrutinizing gaze—after all, he was curious what kind of person would hang out with someone like Spencer.
But just as An Le was about to say something, she fell silent under Yan Huan's gaze.
*Mmph*
Her face turned red as she immediately lowered her head and shrank back behind Spencer.
Because of that, Yan Huan only caught a vague glimpse—she was wearing a mask and hugging several black bags to her chest. Everything else remained a mystery.
"Useless! What are you doing, hiding like a coward? Step forward! This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!"
Little Pinky was about to hit red temp again. Normally, An Le would’ve ignored that kind of talk like a passing breeze, right?
But this time, maybe because it was her first time standing so openly in front of Xiaohuan, a sudden courage rose up inside her.
So she stepped silently to Spencer's side, not behind her.
"Spencer, right? I don’t think students from Yuanyue Academy are usually so lacking in manners, are they?"
"Interrupting someone’s game right before it starts, barging in and ruining the mood—that doesn’t sound like something a civilized person would do."
Yinggong Tong's expression turned cold as she stared at Spencer.
As she spoke, she suddenly seemed to remember something and covered her lips in mockery.
"Ah, I forgot, you’re a transfer student, right? You probably never took Yuanyue Academy’s etiquette exam. Maybe you even skipped the IQ test?"
Spencer furrowed her brows and let out a cold laugh.
She didn’t care what others said about her—but she clearly hated being called stupid.
"I—" Just as she was about to say something, An Le beside her quickly apologized, face flushed.
"S-sorry! We didn’t mean it—sorry, sorry."
As she spoke, she tugged on Spencer’s sleeve, trying to keep her from arguing with Xiaohuan and the others.
"Hah?!"
But this time, Spencer wasn't having it. She stared at An Le in disbelief.
'You... aren’t you into that Yan Huan guy too?'
'And yet in front of Yinggong Tong, you don’t even dare speak up?'
'How are we supposed to play like this?'
'And you even dare betray me? Taking their side?'
After all this time, this was the first time Spencer had felt betrayal—even if just a little. An Le hadn’t meant it that way, but still...
Spencer looked visibly upset, as if she were on the verge of exploding.
Her golden hair seemed to shine even brighter, and an invisible ripple spread out, silently enveloping everyone in the waiting room.
No one noticed anything out of the ordinary, but everyone suddenly felt a chill in the air.
"Hah? Vice President, what do you mean by ‘interrupting’? You haven’t even gone in yet. Each group enters with several people anyway. What’s wrong with me joining?"
Yan Huan, who knew everything about the modifier, was the first to sense something was off.
Even though he didn’t know Spencer’s ability had been activated, just seeing the modifier’s Host in a bad mood was enough—he could guess with his toes that she wouldn’t let this go easily.
Most importantly, the innocent Yinggong Tong was still here. He couldn’t let her get caught up in this.
"Yinggong, don’t bother with her. Let’s go."
Yan Huan tugged on Yinggong Tong’s hand, trying to pull her behind him.
It was a subconscious gesture to protect her—but unexpectedly, Yinggong Tong was pulling back just as hard.
She was trying to shield Yan Huan, pulling him behind her instead, away from Spencer.
Both of them knew how dangerous Spencer could be, and both assumed the other was innocent and needed protection.
So, in that moment, they moved in perfect sync again!
And because of this sudden shift, neither of them noticed they were still holding hands.
Spencer narrowed her eyes at the suddenly vocal Yan Huan and grinned mischievously.
"President—don’t forget what you said to me before, okay?"
Said.
That’s right—he had promised her something. If this kept going, it might affect Yinggong.
'Might as well let her join us...'
Yan Huan blinked, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind.
When Yinggong Tong heard this, she was startled at first, then thought—
'Something he said before?'
'Could it be the study group thing?'
'Or maybe the President is hiding something from me... something involving Spencer?'
'No, that’s not right.'
'I have to trust the President. Spencer probably wouldn’t—'
At that thought, Yinggong Tong also blinked, a strange suspicion surfacing in her mind.
Then, both their hearts suddenly burst out with the same inner roar—
'Why would I think something like that—this bastard!!'
Feeling the surge of "cow energy," Yinggong Tong’s expression sharpened. Her gaze slashed toward Spencer like a blade.
"No matter what you said to the President, wrong is still wrong! And there were clearly people lining up behind us—if anyone’s getting added, it’s not you! Please leave immediately!"
But Spencer wasn’t fazed at all—she didn’t even look at Yinggong Tong. Her eyes remained locked on Yan Huan with a mischievous glint.
That direct, almost greedy stare—it made Yinggong Tong feel utterly disgusted.
Meanwhile, An Le’s gaze was fixed on Yan Huan and Yinggong Tong’s tightly held hands, unable to look away.
'Is that enough?'
'Xiaohuan, Vice President Yinggong—'
'You’re fighting right now, you know? You haven’t even gone into the haunted house yet—why are you still holding hands?'
(*) Note: "Xiaohuan" is a nickname for Yan Huan.
'Eh?'
'Why are they gripping even tighter while arguing with Spencer?!'
'Did they—did they interlock fingers?!'
'This is...'
'What it feels like to be a loving couple, huh?'
An Le’s eyes suddenly lost their sparkle.
Happy memories from childhood came flooding back to her.
She remembered going to the southern district park to catch cicadas—how she fell and cried, and Xiaohuan made funny faces to cheer her up.
She remembered sharing a bed, and the next morning, when Mama came to wake them up—how she clung to Xiaohuan, refusing to let him go.
But now those memories felt like a fragile sheet of paper, crumpled and tossed into a trash bin by Yinggong Tong’s invisible hand.
An Le could almost see Yinggong Tong smirking coldly at her, tightly hugging Xiaohuan in her arms.
From now on, Xiaohuan’s gaze would never return to her.
He would look only at his new lover—with all his heart.
A brilliant Vice President who had descended from the heavens and only known him for half a year.
Yes, at this moment, An Le also felt the pain of being "cowed" by Yinggong Tong.
(*) Note: "Cowed" here plays on Yinggong Tong's name and the idea of being emotionally dominated.
Her chest twisted in pain, and she almost wanted to cry.
But just then, Yan Huan’s voice rang out again.
"That’s enough, Spencer—you idiot, did you forget what I told you?"
Hearing this, Spencer blinked in slight confusion.
Then she suddenly remembered—she had promised Yan Huan: Yinggong Tong must never know about any of this.
But just now, in the heat of the moment, she let it slip.
Even though it was vague, the red line had already been crossed.
Spencer hugged her arms, guilt creeping in, but Yan Huan’s pressure came crashing down on her.
"This is our break time. We don’t have time to argue with you—we’ve got other things to do."
Although Yan Huan was clearly speaking to Spencer, his cold, decisive tone pierced An Le as well, leaving her feeling wronged.
Because ever since that day, she had seen Spencer as her only friend.
'I...'
'I never wanted it to turn out like this.'
'Cutting in line, arguing with Xiaohuan and Yinggong Tong—'
'I just wanted to reconnect with Xiaohuan. But this only pushed him further away.'
Thinking this, An Le gently tugged Spencer’s arm.
"Spencer... please don’t argue anymore. We really did cut in line—it was our fault."
"Let’s go. If you still want to play, I’ll wait in line with you again. At the very least, we shouldn’t..."
Her head lowered, she uncharacteristically said those words, leaving Spencer speechless.
"You... you little..."
Spencer clenched her teeth, the anger in her heart growing increasingly uncontrollable.
"Obviously, I helped you because I saw you had absolutely nothing. Whether it was buying tickets or bringing you here—it was all out of pity! If I hadn't felt sorry for you, I wouldn't have done any of it!"
"And besides, you liked Yan Huan too, didn’t you?"
"Yet you keep opposing me, defending other people—people who don’t even want to talk to you! You're just getting emotional over your own imagination."
"I don’t care that I’m not liked in class. No one’s ever liked me since I was a kid."
"But you... you clearly want friends. You clearly hate being bullied—"
"That’s exactly why I decided to get involved—because I saw that part of you!"
Looking at An Le, who stood in front of her to block her, Spencer felt the sting of betrayal. Her expression darkened, but she couldn't find the words to speak.
"..."
At that moment, at the entrance of the haunted house—
Due to Spencer’s hostile behavior, Yinggong Tong was overcome with the fear that the President might be taken away.
Meanwhile, An Le felt a growing dread that she might lose everything she had with her childhood friend—all because of that simple hand-holding between Yinggong Tong and Yan Huan.
Spencer, on the other hand, felt hurt that An Le had chosen to stand with Yinggong Tong and Yan Huan instead. It felt like betrayal.
For a brief moment, no one could say who had truly won.
Had she won against her? Or had she been defeated?
Maybe they had all lost—or maybe none of them had ever truly won.
It was a philosophical question, especially under such tense circumstances.
It was hard to say—truly hard to say.
But no matter how tense things got, once emotions reached a boiling point, something had to give.
The first to act was Yan Huan.
"Spencer, stay away from us today."
With that, Yan Huan turned and entered the haunted house with Yinggong Tong, never glancing back at Spencer or the friend he left behind.
Watching Yan Huan grow even closer to Yinggong Tong, Spencer felt suffocated with frustration—and began to resent the so-called modifier.
'If only that modifier was actually useful... that would be great.'
Spencer turned to An Le, her brow furrowed, ready to vent her frustration—until she noticed the hand clutching her sleeve was trembling.
"..."
She opened her mouth, looked at An Le, and finally noticed the tears brimming in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Spencer. I... I really tried my best to go along with you. Whether it was cutting in line or picking fights—
"I knew it was wrong, but I still wanted to stand by you. I didn’t want to betray the kindness you showed me. But..."
She lifted her hand to wipe her tears, but the rest of her words never came out.
Spencer stared at the crying An Le in front of her. She could feel the anger she'd been about to unleash getting stuck in her chest.
Only now did her foolish self realize—maybe An Le didn’t side with Yan Huan because she liked him.
Maybe it was because she never had the strength to stand beside Spencer.
Because she had nothing. Because she followed the rules. Because she couldn’t bring herself to hurt others. Because she was used to sacrificing herself for others—
In every way, she was the opposite of how Spencer dealt with things.
That was why An Le had always been bullied.
And that was exactly why Spencer couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
*Tsk.*
Spencer scratched the back of her head in frustration, glanced toward the haunted house, then looked back at the tearful An Le.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something comforting, but nothing came out.
Even if she said something, it probably wouldn’t be anything kind.
In the end, she gritted her teeth, crossed her arms, and snapped,
"Alright, stop crying already! I get it—it was my fault!"
"..."
An Le clutched her bag, looking aggrieved as she stared at Spencer.
She saw Spencer turn her head away, clearly resisting the urge to speak.
At last, as if forcing it out, Spencer muttered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito,
"S-sorry..."
"Eh?"
An Le blinked, looking at Spencer as she turned back to face her.
"Alright! That’s that!"
Her face flushed red as she blurted out the words, then crossed her arms and walked ahead.
She headed toward the haunted house, showing only her back to An Le.
"Anyway... since we already cut in line, let’s just go in. I won’t do it again next time."
"And... you like Yan Huan, right? Everything just now—it was all me. It had nothing to do with you. Do whatever you want. If you need help, just ask!"
An Le blinked, then walked up beside Spencer and softly said,
"Then let’s go in together, Spencer. Sorry I didn’t speak up for you earlier."
Spencer didn’t seem to care and simply replied,
"Whatever. I’m used to it."
"...I’m sorry, Spencer. Then... once we’re inside, could you help distract Vice President Yinggong for me? I want to talk to Xiaohuan."
"..."
Spencer didn’t answer, just walked in first. As if offhandedly, she said to An Le,
"Hmph, just so you know—I’m only going in to enjoy the haunted house. Helping you is just a bonus."
"Mm, thank you, Spencer."
Then, as if gathering her courage, An Le followed Spencer into the haunted house.
Both sides had temporarily put down their weapons, but Little Pinky and Nara, who had witnessed everything, were left in shock.
'Wait, what were we even here for again?'
'Weren’t we supposed to be targeting Yan Huan?'
'Why did they suddenly start talking about friendship and feelings and then just go into the haunted house?'
'I don’t get it.'
Still, both Little Pinky and Nara believed this was just a small detour—there was still room to maneuver.
From Nara’s perspective, at least the young lady had made it into the haunted house—and thanks to this incident, she and Yan Huan were now even more united.
All that remained was to instruct the pre-arranged haunted house staff and mechanisms to keep Spencer and the others away from Yan Huan and the young lady.
From Little Pinky’s point of view, not only had he encountered Yan Huan, but he also had Spencer—a strong but simple-minded ally. That should make getting alone time with Yan Huan a piece of cake.
'Just charge in with the modifier activated, then share our past memories—wouldn’t that make all my dreams come true?'
Though Little Pinky and Nara had never met, both wore the same smug expression of a schemer whose plan was falling into place.
'No matter how you look at it, this is the perfect chance for a one-on-one! The advantage is clearly mine!'
'Now I just need to properly stage everything inside the haunted house—and victory will be mine!'
"I hate this. I really hate this."
After entering through the haunted house’s main door, they found themselves in a winding corridor of an old school building. Yan Huan and Yinggong Tong, hearts full of mutual concern, tried their best to get away from Spencer.
As a result, still holding hands, the two wandered aimlessly. Before long, they realized they had no idea which old classroom they'd ended up in.
It was pitch black, filled with ghostly sounds from unknown sources. A chilling aura swept over them, sending shivers down their spines.
Instinctively, Yinggong Tong tightened her grip on Yan Huan’s hand, seeking comfort.
"Yinggong, that hand..."
Then she suddenly realized something.
"!"
Her carefully composed expression nearly cracked. She quickly let go of Yan Huan’s hand and apologized.
"President, I’m sorry... it’s because of what happened with Spencer just now."
"It’s fine."
Yan Huan gave a faint smile, but behind his Perfect Expression Control, his mood was far from pleasant.
He truly hadn’t expected Spencer to show up here.
Originally, he’d come hoping to make progress with Bai Yi’s modifier—but instead, he ran into the troublesome Spencer, giving him a massive headache.
It was like preparing a whole feast, only to have two uninvited guests crash the party—how was anyone supposed to enjoy it?
And if Bai Yi and Spencer met too early, who knew if it might prematurely trigger the Linmen Holy Grail War?
'This is unbearable.'
Seeing no unusual expression on Yan Huan’s face, Yinggong Tong let out a small sigh of relief. She glanced around the hauntingly atmospheric school building and changed the topic.
"This haunted house seems really big, and there aren’t any guides. I heard we have to find both the exit and the key to get out—if we do, we win."
Yan Huan refocused, temporarily pushing aside thoughts of Bai Yi and Spencer.
"It probably won’t be too hard. They’ll likely have some kind of ‘weak guidance’ markers. Look over there, Yinggong."
Following the direction Yan Huan pointed, Yinggong Tong saw a line of blood-red text scrawled across the blackboard in the classroom they were in.
"She's hiding in the equipment room!! Kill her! Don't let her get out!"
Yinggong Tong withdrew her gaze and smiled at Yan Huan.
"Looks like we need to find the equipment room first."
"Mm, let's head out and look for the path. Try not to run into that maniac."
She was referring to Spencer.
"Okay, President."
Yinggong Tong smiled and nodded, then walked out with Yan Huan.
As she scanned the classroom doorplates, trying to ease the oppressive atmosphere of the haunted house, Yinggong Tong proactively started a conversation.
"By the way, President, there's something I wanted to ask you."
"Mmhm?"
"Just now, it seemed like both you and Spencer were saying something to each other in private, right?"
Yan Huan was slightly stunned. He turned to look at Yinggong Tong trailing behind him, her eyes filled with genuine worry.
That worry wasn’t fake.
When she had confronted Spencer earlier, that strange feeling had crept up on her again—
That feeling of unconditionally trusting Spencer and the President, of letting her guard down and losing her resistance.
With it happening again and again, Yinggong Tong became increasingly convinced that Spencer did have some kind of special ability—just like her.
Moreover, a faint thought that had suddenly popped into her mind led her to believe that even the powerless President was being affected in the same way.
'If this keeps going unchecked, the President will…'
For some reason, an image suddenly surfaced in Yinggong Tong’s mind—Spencer holding the President in his arms, his expression hesitant and his eyes evasive.
She looked down at her from above, head held high, laughing wildly and flashing that signature canine tooth of hers.
"Eehahahahahahahaha! The President is mine now!"
Then, when she looked at the President, his expression darkened, and a single tear slid down his cheek.
"I'm sorry, Yinggong… I... can't go back anymore."
"!!"
Yinggong Tong suddenly shuddered from the chill, her hatred toward Spencer intensifying to the extreme.
'No… I have to eliminate Spencer—without the President ever finding out!'
"Ah, sorry, Yinggong. I kept something from you earlier. Remember how she secretly took photos of us? I had to put in a bit of effort to get her to delete them."
"A bit of effort?"
"That's right."
Yan Huan smiled slightly, turned his head to look at Yinggong Tong, and said:
"As payment for returning the photos, I promised her one condition."
Upon hearing that, Yinggong Tong’s eyes slowly narrowed.
[End of this chapter]