Kujou Kana sprinted out of the research lab and immediately contacted the Kujou clan to handle most of the pending matters.

After finishing these tasks, she should have returned to Kujou Yukihime’s villa for training.

Yet today, her mind felt unusually restless. Before she knew it, she found herself standing in the school archives.

She had clearance to access this place.

Kujou Kana and Kujou Nana were peculiar—a single body housing two distinct personalities.

They possessed an uncanny intuition that made discerning good from evil effortless.

Truth be told, most Japanese people held surprisingly liberal views on certain... *matters*.

Many even believed that seeing bare skin was harmless as long as nothing *actually* happened.

Society’s relentless pace had piled immense pressure onto men, leaving them desperate for release.

This openness often twisted their thoughts into something filthy.

Kana had seen far too much of it.

She felt sickened. Revolted by such people.

Yun Mingxin was the first person she’d closely interacted with here—and the first whose thoughts radiated genuine kindness.

Firsts were always special.

Inside the archives, Kana randomly grabbed a file. For once, a flicker of panic surfaced in her eyes.

To claim she’d fallen for him instantly would be absurd.

After all, she’d only met him once.

But that strange, undeniable feeling lingered.

Kana refused to believe she was some lovesick fool.

*"I don’t mean anything by this. It’s just... this guy is too unusual. I can’t let him become a threat to Lady Yukihime. Yes. That’s all."*

She muttered to herself while flipping open the file.

The first photo showed Yun Mingxin in his military training uniform.

It was a rare case—their cohort had forgotten to take standard enrollment photos, so they’d snapped pictures on the field in uniform.

The dull green camouflage usually reeked of sweat, but on Yun Mingxin, it looked utterly different.

He was the epitome of a refined Jiangnan scholar, almost fastidious about cleanliness.

Even this disposable uniform was spotless, making him appear strikingly fresh and natural.

Kana’s cheeks flushed slightly. She’d skimmed his photo before, but never studied it this closely.

*"Hmph. He’s... kinda handsome."*

She reviewed his details again. As she flipped pages, several photos slipped out.

Yun Mingxin kept a low profile at school, but his talent had earned him spots in many competitions.

The school archived award photos as future credentials.

Kana picked them up, a smile playing on her lips.

For some reason, his achievements made her happy too.

Then her smile froze.

The last photo was from a Math Olympiad team event—a group shot.

Yun Mingxin held a silver medal.

But standing beside him was another person.

A breathtakingly beautiful girl with an expressionless face.

A gold medal hung around her neck. A Shuimu University emblem adorned her pale arm.

Yun Mingxin had his arm around her, beaming with pure joy.

Back then, he’d just started dating Su Xiaoyue.

Kana’s gaze darkened. Shadows gathered in her eyes.

She felt awful. Terrible.

Her slender arm tensed slightly.

*Snap!*

The pen in her hand shattered.

A strange sense of possession flared—like something hers had been stolen.

It shouldn’t exist.

She was a tool raised by a yakuza clan. Her duty was clear.

Yet after over a decade of obedience, confusion lingered in her heart.

What did she truly want?

*"Sigh..."*

Kana closed her eyes. When she opened them again—

All that intensity vanished without a trace.

*"Mmh? Where am I?"*

Kujou Nana blinked, disoriented after finally getting some air.

Spotting the messy files and the crushed pen fragments in her hand, she let out a kitten’s whimper.

*"Eh??"*

*"Oh no! What happened?! Poor Nana!"*

The archives filled with Nana’s wails.

...

After school, Yun Mingxin picked up his phone. Several new messages had appeared.

From Bai Ziyi?

*«Big bro, the new event just dropped! This stage is brutal—how should I set up my team to even have a chance?»*

Bai Ziyi had spammed screenshots of her operator stats and the stage blocking her progress.

Yun Mingxin set aside his tasks, focusing intently. The event had just launched—he hadn’t analyzed it deeply yet.

His own overpowered account made his gameplay videos useless for beginners or mid-tier players.

Bai Ziyi’s average account was perfect for testing strategies today.

Torchpass: *«Walk me through where you failed.»*

He meant to ask where she’d slipped up. He set his phone down to grab water—

Then his notifications exploded.

One glance made him wince. As a writer, he was painfully aware of his slow typing speed.

Her gist: she struggled with operator placement timing and skill activation windows.

*Arknights* was essentially a tower-defense strategy game like *Plants vs. Zombies*.

Once you grasped the mechanics, it wasn’t hard.

What he truly loved were the richly written characters—their emotions sparked his writer’s soul.

Patiently, Yun Mingxin explained each step, guiding her through placements.

She caught on quickly, never impatient, even starting to adapt strategies on her own.

It warmed his heart. Every teacher cherished an eager student.

*«Big bro... can I ask something else?»*

*«Stop calling me ‘big bro.’ Compared to the top global players, I’m still amateur. Just call me Torchpass. What is it?»*

*«O-okay... Torchpass. Have you heard about the big comic con in Quanjiang next month? They’re selling limited artbooks!»*

Yun Mingxin frowned slightly. He knew that con.

He’d planned to take Su Xiaoyue before... well, plans changed.

Also, Mengxi had bought a mountain of figures and tossed him spare tickets.

But he hadn’t heard about limited artbooks.

He wasn’t obsessed with every limited item—but a collector’s instinct was hard to ignore.

*«I know the con. What about it?»*

*«Um... I happen to have an extra ticket. Would you... want to go with me?»*

*«You’re my first real friend from Arknights, after all.»*

Yun Mingxin hesitated.

His schedule felt impossibly tight already.