Herika’s eyes widened, and her mouth stayed open for ages. It seemed she hadn’t quite heard what Jiecheng Yuan had just said. The curve of her lips completely shattered the proud, keep-your-distance attitude she’d had moments ago. It took her a while to come back to herself, and then she hid her barely contained excitement behind a serious expression.

“Tch. Since you’re asking me so nicely, I guess I can help you. Just don’t get in my way!”

That was what she said, but no amount of pretending to sound calm could hide how delighted she was.

Then the group got down to organizing the storeroom. Putting the mess back where it belonged wasn’t difficult at all. They didn’t even need to divide up the work; it was just a matter of time and effort.

“Xiao Yuan, she’s the one who knocked everything over. Why are you dragging me into helping her clean it up?” Quanshan Baqi edged closer while stacking the tables.

Jiecheng Yuan was in a pretty good mood. After all, if Baqi caused another mess, Yuan’s image-clearing plan would have to be revised on the spot again.

So even when Baqi impatiently pressed her for an explanation, Yuan didn’t feel the least bit annoyed. She was just glad Baqi had understood her look and come to help without asking another question.

“I’ll tell you why later. For now, let’s just get this cleaned up…”

Jiecheng Yuan stopped halfway through her sentence. Having Baqi help might make Herika suspicious. She rephrased what she wanted to say, then leaned close to Baqi’s ear:

“Find an excuse to leave for now, and close the door behind you. I have something important to do. I’ll explain later.”

Baqi straightened without saying a word, turned, and walked straight out of the storeroom, even slamming the door behind her. The whole thing took less than five seconds.

Wasn’t she supposed to find an excuse? Why’d she leave without saying a word?

Was she mad? She probably wasn’t, right?

Herika was moving a table back against the wall. As she passed, she glanced over. “Did you two have a fight?”

“No.” Jiecheng Yuan froze for a moment. She hadn’t expected Herika to speak to her.

“It’s because of me, isn’t it?” Herika’s eyes flickered. She went on to grab another table and set it beside the first, as if she hadn’t heard Yuan’s answer at all and was simply talking through her own thoughts.

“I’m not stupid. You’re helping me. I… I never asked you to!” Herika’s calm voice suddenly turned heated. The table in her hands slammed onto the floor with a heavy thud.

After that, the only sounds in the room were the clatter of tables and chairs. The clutter was arranged a little differently than before, but the room was gradually becoming neat and orderly.

Honestly, Jiecheng Yuan really wanted to take the high-ground approach and say things like, “It must be exhausting to keep bottling everything up,” or, “I know you’re not really like this. You should face your true feelings.” She held herself back, worried it might only make things worse.

“Um, help me, I think, with this…” Herika spoke up again, but just like before, she stumbled through a few jumbled words before falling silent.

Jiecheng Yuan knew she couldn’t rush building a good relationship. If she stayed and finished the work with Herika, Herika would probably think a little better of her. After that, Yuan could see if they ran into one of the game’s affection events and build up some more goodwill.

When she couldn’t sleep last night, she’d been thinking about how to get along with the other two main characters. That way, if her identity was exposed, her relationships with them and her own actions might buy her a little breathing room.

Now she had a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be alone with Herika—a chance that hadn’t even appeared in the game. Yuan wasn’t sure she’d ever get another one. If Herika stayed like this until they finished cleaning, and nothing happened besides the work, wouldn’t that be such a waste?

“Actually, I think you could try making a change,” Jiecheng Yuan ventured.

Herika stopped moving the tables and chairs. Then, as if talking quietly to herself, she said, “I’ve got a pretty bad temper, don’t I?”

Why wasn’t this girl listening? Herika’s answer had nothing to do with what Yuan had said, leaving her at a loss for words. She tried to keep her voice light and play along. “No, I think it’s fine.”

“Don’t joke around. I know it myself. All I ever do is fight with people. Tch.” Herika clicked her tongue in irritation. Her voice was still as harsh and combative as ever, but this time, she was directing it at herself.

Herika kept tidying up as she launched into a long self-criticism. Even after the work was done, she showed no sign of stopping.

The game really did have a line that said, “Afterward, Herika complained for three hours.” But it had just glossed over the whole thing. Jiecheng Yuan was actually there, listening to Herika go on and on about how much she hated herself!

Fictional characters really were best left on the page. Honestly, this kind of personality was a real pain when brought into reality: lashing out at others without thinking, ruining the relationships around you, then turning around and hating yourself. A vicious cycle.

Why had the game’s creators given her this tsundere-but-gloomy personality in the first place? Why not just make her a regular tsundere?

If she had to be prickly, why not make her one of those bratty girls who were popular lately? They were way less likely to make people dislike them.

Yuan had liked Herika quite a bit at first, but after crossing into this world and actually getting to know her, she found herself thinking that even… Baqi was better.

That was what Jiecheng Yuan was thinking to herself, but she couldn’t let even the slightest hint of doubt show on her face. She was genuinely worried she might do something wrong and send Herika retreating back into her comfort zone after she’d finally let her guard down.

As Herika wore her down, Yuan could listen patiently and respond at first. But as time went on, her brain started to feel like a puddle of slime, as if it would pour right out of her mouth the moment she opened it.

“I don’t want to fight with them, either. I’ve done so much for them, but when I try to talk to them, I just can’t control myself.”

“Then why not become a bratty girl?” Jiecheng Yuan blurted out, too mentally drained to think straight.

The completely out-of-nowhere remark cut Herika off mid-rant, along with all the emotion behind it. After a long pause, she finally managed to stammer, “What does ‘bratty girl’ mean? It sounds like an insult… What are you trying to say?!”

Only then did Jiecheng Yuan realize she’d said something outrageous. It was too late to take it back, so she tried to brush it off. “No, it’s nothing.”

“Tell me!” Herika pressed her relentlessly. She didn’t start cursing like before, but the “gloomy” side of her tsundere act had already given way to the “arrogant” side.

Jiecheng Yuan reluctantly gave her a softened, half-hearted explanation. To her surprise, Herika got interested and started asking questions with real enthusiasm.

In the end, Jiecheng Yuan answered Herika’s questions one by one, squeezing out each answer like toothpaste from a tube.

Of course, she only explained why bratty girls might be popular. She didn’t say a word about what happened to them in the end.

“Mm, mm. So this style is really popular, right? That change you mentioned, Jiecheng… mm, mm.”

Herika pondered it for a moment, then slapped her fist into her palm with a bright grin. “I’ve decided! I’m going to become a bratty girl!”