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On the silent balcony, a petite foot kissed smooth porcelain, wind whistling past her ear like a blade. At twenty-something floors up, that wind was no surprise. Why had Ling run all the way up here?
You could say an assassin’s bones dragged her to places that had nothing to do with her goal. If there’d been a haystack below, Ling would’ve done a Leap of Faith without blinking.
But since she was here, she wasn’t leaving empty-handed. A little exploring, a little borrowing—justice in motion. Righteous infiltration.
With that saintly mindset, Ling’s small hand slid over the balcony’s glass door handle. She turned it, feather-light.
Click.
The door opened without a fight. That easy entry drew a tiny grumble from Ling.
No lock? Not afraid of thieves sneaking in?
In her cute little worldview, a high-rise balcony was obviously a thief’s best route, the night like a ladder.
Grumble aired, she stopped caring and took in the home. Compared to the Underworld outside, this place felt… warm.
Gone was the Underworld’s heat and gloom. Modern furniture stood like bright islands against the medieval city beyond. Princess-pink walls blushed softly. Plushies overflowed on every couch, a fluffy tide. Very, very girly.
The owner had to be an adorable girl. Best if she were a loli. Best if she called Ling “onii-chan.”
Squeak—
Ling’s daydream popped. Nerves snapped taut. Her little feet pushed, her body floated, and she leapt to the ceiling like a startled sparrow. Fingers bit into plaster, pinning her small body overhead like a paper talisman.
She hung there and stared at the floor. Nothing moved. Maybe she was being jumpy.
Squeak!
Huh?!
She tensed again. Not a hallucination. She’d stake it on her teddy. There was something here.
Her eyes scoured the room, fast as a hawk over reeds. Even fur ripples on a plushie, stirred by the breeze, couldn’t hide from her gaze.
Squeak—
She followed the sound, vision threading through stillness.
Squeak— A white little head popped out from a mountain of stuffed toys, like snow blooming among clouds.
Ling locked onto it. Her eyes etched the creature’s shape and sent it to her brain. Memory flipped and found the name in a flash—
Silver-Fox Hamster.
How to say this… heartbreakingly cute.
Her hand let go of the ceiling. The tiny loli body drifted down like a feather. The Silver-Fox Hamster watched her descend, eyes shining with worship, as if she were an angel gliding through dawn.
Ling cupped its round little body, lifting it high like a moon on her palm. The hamster melted into her hand, blissed out, its face saying—so this is heaven?
Heh-heh-heh—pretty cute.
Ling rubbed her cheek along its soft back, while her fingers tickled its belly. The hamster squirmed, a fluffy wave in her hands.
After a few minutes, the silk of that fur satisfied her. She set the hamster down. It landed and rose on two feet, forepaws crossed, big dewy eyes locked on Ling, wounded like a rain-soaked kitten.
Ling was helpless. That was her go-to shameless trick. Now it was turned on her.
She had to admit it: if something is cute—no matter who they are—strike that pose and nobody can say no. Even someone as cute as Ling gets moed on the spot.
So that’s the plan? Trap me with cuteness so I won’t leave? Curses. An impossible snare.
If you can’t resist, then enjoy—
You think I’d say that?!
Hmph. As some old man once said, only magic beats magic. So only cute beats cute. In a contest of cute, I’m number one under heaven. How could I lose?
She crouched. Then she lay flat, eyes level with the Silver-Fox Hamster. Hands and feet adjusted. She struck the pose—_(:з」∠)_
Pfft.
A thin line of red slid from the hamster’s mouth, a petal of color. Ling’s magic attack was too strong. She’d dealt real damage in an instant.
Would Ling spare a bold challenger to her cuteness crown? Of course not.
She closed her eyes. She opened them.
A gold flash crossed the hamster’s gaze like lightning over a night sea. It felt like seeing the most beautiful stars. No—her eyes held an entire starfield.
Ah— The hamster’s brain spun its tiny gears, desperate to record this pure cute. But it had overestimated itself. 1024 terabytes of cute poured in. The poor 1024 kilobyte brain exploded like a teacup under a waterfall. Dizziness swept its little body. Every mouse-sense went numb.
So this is my mousely life? Seeing the world’s most beautiful picture before I die… not bad.
As that last thought drifted, its body turned light, eyelids heavy as snow.
Da-chan!
The familiar shout snapped the hamster awake like thunder over a lake. Every image of Ling’s cuteness got tossed into the recycle bin. Survival returned like breath.
It tore away from Ling, sprinted up to its owner’s shoulder, and stared her down, guard up, whiskers trembling.
Ling froze the moment she heard that call. Even as the hamster ran, she didn’t move to stop it.
After a beat of thought, she pushed herself up from the floor, embarrassment warming her ears. She kept her back to the room’s owner and spoke to the air.
Ahem. So, I didn’t mean to break in. I saw that Silver-Fox—Da-chan—and, uh, got carried away.
No answer. The awkward air hung like a curtain. Thankfully, it didn’t last.
Ling…
The voice behind her was familiar. Her eyes flew wide with surprise.
What?! My flawless disguise—seen through?
She spun around.
Pink hair lifted in the breeze like dawn-tinted silk.
