By the time Nana Toki woke again, a whole day had slipped by like a pale sheet of light.
Her head felt clogged, gears rusted and grinding in the dark.
Her limbs were drained, and waves of muscle ache rolled through her like a rough tide.
It was as if her body had come apart, bones scattered like loose beads.
Her right thigh burned the worst, like someone had ripped the fabric clean open; the pain didn’t even feel like it belonged to her.
Was she really too spent to move?
Annoyance pricked first, then helplessness followed like rain.
“Tsk...”
Suddenly, yesterday afternoon surged back, a flood breaking a levee and crashing through her skull.
Her head throbbed like a cracked bell about to split.
It hurts...
Yesterday afternoon...
Memories with Yuzuki flipped past like lanterns on a night ride.
That trashy System dragged her out to find Yuzuki, then the café, then two idiots crossed their path.
And then...
Then?
What happened then?
The fragments were too messy, like torn pages tossed in a storm.
No matter how she pieced them, nothing told her what really happened that afternoon.
She only remembered a narrow alley, and she might’ve done something big in that shadowed seam.
Head hurts...
So does my throat...
Everything feels wrong...
This garbage body grated on her nerves like sand in a wound.
“Host, are you awake? Any discomfort? Hungry? Thirsty? Want to do anything?”
Too loud...
Sunlight speared her eyelids like needles, and she couldn’t even roll over.
“Host, when are you getting up...”
Shut up.
She didn’t even have the strength to move her lips; she could only snap at that useless System inside her head.
“Host, you’re awake!”
Maybe she was hearing things, but the System sounded a shade anxious, like wind snagged on a wire.
“What? Disappointed I didn’t die?”
Her voice came out sandpaper-rough. She lay on the couch and managed a thin, tired smile.
System: “...”
To be honest, this System didn’t think that before, but right now this System would love if the host just died.
Heartless little System.
She tried to move, but fatigue dragged her down like wet cloth.
She lifted an arm, then let it fall, defeated.
This damned withdrawal—if I don’t root it out, one day it’ll hurt enough to kill me.
She could feel it, how each wave of withdrawal hit harder than the last, like tides pulled by a harsher moon.
Forget getting beaten to death by someone else; this pain alone could finish her.
This body is truly trash.
She grumbled, dry as a blade on bone.
Just like that trashy System.
Trash System: “...”
Where is this?
After resting, she finally gathered the patience to look around, eyes skimming the room like a slow sweep of water.
This was Yuzuki’s place. Familiar items sat where they should, quiet proof of the home’s owner.
Except—
Yuzuki wasn’t here.
Where’s that sugar-sweet airhead?
She asked from the couch, her voice thin as paper.
Yuzuki already went to school.
The System answered like a drone in a quiet room. Yesterday your withdrawal hit; Yuzuki carried you home and dressed your wounds, all the way past midnight.
Is that so?
She arched a brow; didn’t expect the target to have that much girl power tucked under a soft smile.
Aren’t you the least bit moved?
The System’s curiosity rustled like a cat’s tail.
Moved?
Moved my ass. If she saves me again, am I supposed to throw myself at her?
System: “...”
Host, do you not have a heart?
A heart?
Are you telling me bedtime fairy tales?
A breath of laughter slid out; it tasted cold.
Save that kind of dumb talk. I’m no saint, and I don’t do halo work.
She chose to save me on her own. It’s not like I begged her.
Also—
Being rescued feels rotten, like drowning while someone watches.
“Hey, trash System, got a way to get me back on my feet?”
She clearly didn’t want to keep talking; lying here like a dried fish felt worse than a cage.
“One free heal.”
The System looked at the couch-bound salted fish of a host and asked, “Want to use it?”
“...”
Use it.
After a bunch of fussy procedures in Yuzuki’s living room, the ache threading her body unraveled like fog in sun.
“Oh. Not bad.”
She rotated her shoulder, and for once, praised the System like tossing a bone.
“Do that a few more times.”
You wish. If I give you more, you’ll challenge the male and female leads and trade blows 1v2, won’t you?
Tsk, caught already?
You clicked your tongue just now! You did! This System saw it!
“Yeah, yeah—got it, stingy.”
She pouted, then rubbed her sore temples. The dizziness still clung like mist on a river.
But compared to before, she felt a lot better, like stepping out of rain into dry air.
By the way, what time is it?
She glanced at the wall clock; the hands crept like ants toward evening.
Almost five?
It was that late?
A bad feeling crawled up her spine like cold water.
By now, Yuzuki should be out of school.
It was Friday, and the café didn’t need her tonight.
No way she still wasn’t back.
Stayed late?
Or got grabbed?
She didn’t rule out a kidnapping; to test that hunch, she moved like a shadow slipping through streets.
She checked Yuzuki’s school—Diguang High—and then the Black Street Café, her steps quick as a drumbeat.
No sign of Yuzuki anywhere, only empty corners staring back.
So someone set this up?
Her brows knit, a clean line like ink on silk.
Chances were high. Felt like a kidnapping.
Miscalculation... she’d held back enough yesterday, but she hadn’t expected anyone to be watching that little alley.
“Tsk...”
Probably the second male lead’s people.
She remembered it clearly—yesterday, when the withdrawal hit, it wasn’t just her and Yuzuki there.
At first she’d thought they were vagrants, and she let it slide like dust on a sleeve.
Looks like that wasn’t it.
Why do you think it’s the second male lead’s group?
The System sounded puzzled, like a bent compass. Yuzuki has nothing to do with Mo Yao and his crowd. Same school, no overlap.
I don’t know if you’re truly dumb or faking it.
She pressed a hand to her forehead, exasperation flicking like a fan. We already wrecked one of the second male lead’s scenes.
Even if he doesn’t stew over it, there’s still bad blood in the water.
And—
And?
I’m the kind of person he’ll hate for sure.
Eh?
Why does the host say that?
Because there’s a mole at his side.
A mole?
Yeah. A mole.
One he’d never think to suspect.
