After handing the unlocked phone to Li Wu with both hands, Raiden Mei walked over to the closet and started picking out clothes.
During this time, Li Wu re-examined her phone. Other than her father, there wasn't a single person in her contacts list. Even the people she followed on social media could be counted on one hand, and most of them were just pet bloggers posting about cats and dogs.
The photos posted on her profile were full of positive energy. Her outfits were incredibly bright and sunny—pure white dresses, wide-brimmed beige hats. She looked like a goddess walking out of a flower garden, bathed in fragrance and light as she posed at various famous scenic spots and historical sites.
If one hadn't interacted with her personally, it would be absolutely impossible to imagine that Raiden Mei's true personality was so... twisted.
Li Wu suddenly thought of Kiana, whose personality had changed even more drastically. She had warned him earlier.
Although she didn't state it explicitly, the general gist was to make him think twice about continuing to help Raiden Mei. Could it be that Kiana had already seen through Raiden Mei's true nature?
If that were the case, it would explain why the two of them hadn't become close friends.
"Um, M-Master... Mei is changed..."
Raiden Mei's voice snapped Li Wu out of his thoughts with a jolt, nearly causing him to drop the phone.
Wait, what did she just call me?
Li Wu forced himself to stay calm, replying in a nonchalant tone, "Mm, as long as you're changed. But about that form of address..."
"Is it no good...? Then what abou—"
"Stop!"
"Just use my name. Address me normally at school. I don't want to show my true self in front of others. You should understand what I mean."
Li Wu was practically slamming the brakes on the highway with his face.
He hadn't even said anything, yet Mei was like a self-taught genius, capable of mastering everything on her own.
If this kept up, she might end up dragging him down into depravity with her.
Li Wu had read many isekai novels in the past where the protagonist always rejected the heroines throwing themselves at him. Even when everything fell perfectly into place and the mood was just right, the male lead would sit there like a block of wood, utterly unmoved.
Back then, he had secretly sworn that if he were the protagonist, he would be a total bulldozer, plowing through everything in his path.
But now—
His lower head was saying I can do it.
But his upper head was frantically beating the lower head into submission.
Li Wu had no choice but to temporarily retract his past vow.
Because... Raiden Mei had genuinely given him PTSD. That nightmare experience of crying out to the heavens with no response, of pleading to the earth with no answer, all while being forcibly kept awake by drugs... It simply wasn't a level of agony a normal human being could endure.
If it were anyone else, it might have been fine. But Raiden Mei... this woman who disregarded everything and everyone when she went crazy... He was truly terrified of her.
"M-Master... Mei is changed."
"Oh, if you're changed, then get ready to head to schoo—"
Li Wu turned around, but before he could finish his sentence, his eyes were branded with the sight of a pair of long, snow-white legs. His eyes traitorously went on strike, locking onto the sight and refusing to look away no matter how hard he tried.
Super short shorts and a pure white T-shirt.
Raiden Mei had accurately picked out his shortest pair of shorts and thinnest shirt.
The warm, humid steam she brought out from the bathroom hadn't completely dissipated. The hazy mist vaguely shrouded Raiden Mei. Her clothes, slightly dampened by the moisture, clung tightly to the contours of her body.
Setting aside her terrible personality, those bodily curves were rendered exceptionally clear by the combination of water droplets and clinging fabric, presented perfectly before Li Wu's eyes.
From the side, a sweeping ridge; from the front, a towering peak. Far or near, high or low, no two views are the same.
I cannot tell the true shape of Mount Lu, simply because I am standing right in the midst of it.
[T/N: This is an excerpt from a famous poem by Su Shi, "Written on the Wall of West Forest Temple", often used metaphorically to describe being too close to a situation to see the big picture, or in this context, admiring curves from different angles.]
The sight made Li Wu's blood boil.
"The weather has been a bit cold lately. You can put on some more layers," Li Wu fabricated an excuse on the spot.
"But, isn't it summer right now?"
"Summer... Right, it is summer right now. But..."
Li Wu's brain spun rapidly, trying to find a reasonable explanation.
"You can still catch a cold after being splashed with cold water. Are you expecting me to wait on you hand and foot if you get sick?"
Li Wu's gaze instantly darkened, his tone turning hostile.
However, these completely amoral words pierced right into the depths of Raiden Mei's heart. She trembled slightly, then went back to the closet to pick out more clothes.
In the end, she draped one of his men's jackets over herself.
Li Wu couldn't really ask for anything more. Raiden Mei wasn't stupid. If he kept demanding she add more layers, she would likely notice the flaw in his act.
It was just...
Li Wu snuck a glance at her out of the corner of his eye.
With Raiden Mei dressed like this, plus walking side-by-side with him, anyone with eyes would know she had just walked out of his bedroom.
So the question was: what did it mean when a boy and a girl walked together, and the girl was wearing clothes that only a boy would wear? What did it mean that they came out of the same house, having changed clothes?
Li Wu could already foresee the looks the other students would give him. The female students, especially, would absolutely not look at him favorably.
Scum. Absolute scum...
Chiba Academy had a rule that students had to wear uniforms. But honestly, the main reason most wore them was that the uniforms were well-designed. Even if a student didn't wear one, the teachers wouldn't ask questions. After all, most of the students were aristocrats; whether they wore the uniform or not depended entirely on their mood.
Even if they were caught, the most they'd get was a polite reminder.
Raiden Mei's situation was rather unique. No one knew who had bullied her into having to wear these clothes. Teachers with a conscience didn't want to rub salt in her wounds, and teachers without a conscience didn't want to meddle in other people's business. Thus, no teacher would use school rules against her.
Taking the small path behind the mountain back to the school, they ran into quite a few teachers while heading upstairs in the academic building.
Confirming Li Wu's guess, all the teachers tacitly ignored Raiden Mei's attire. However, a few students standing not far away openly started jeering: "Yo, isn't that the heiress of ME Corp? What, is your family so broke now that you have to run to another man's house begging for clothes? Haha!"
"Tsk, tsk. Guess we can tear down one of the photos from the school's Top Ten Goddesses board, huh? Who knows whose plaything our former goddess has turned into now... Heehee..."
"Boys' clothes and pants... Man, Young Lady, if you're short on clothes, just say so! I have a whole pile of them at home. Why borrow clothes from some random guy you don't even know? How humiliating. Or... is this just what you're into?"
All sorts of foul, vulgar insults poured out endlessly.
Innumerable.
Absolutely innumerable...
Just standing next to Raiden Mei was giving Li Wu a headache. It was truly terrifying...
As long as he looked up, practically everyone in his line of sight was either making sarcastic, passive-aggressive remarks or just outright cursing at her. Even though he wasn't the target, he could still feel a suffocating mental pressure.
The most important thing was that resisting was impossible...
Fighting back would only invite even worse bullying. Not just verbal, but physical—being beaten and having her clothes torn in the girls' bathroom was a prime example.
No one would help, because bullying Raiden Mei had become a universal consensus.
In the game's plot introducing the Herrscher of Thunder, it heavily depicted the scenes of her being bullied back then. In his fan-comic, Li Wu had drawn even more of it, making it even more severe.
But experiencing it in reality, this oppressive feeling and despairing atmosphere were far more profound and helpless than what the game or comic portrayed.
In such an environment, a person would either break down and give up on themselves.
Or, it would breed twisted personalities and special fetishes.
Clearly, Raiden Mei fell into the latter category.
Li Wu shifted his attention back to Raiden Mei. He saw her walking with her head bowed, both hands tightly hugging his arm. She was trembling uncontrollably, looking like someone who had walked into a freezing blizzard without enough clothes on.
She looked as though she was shivering from terror and fear.
[Raiden Mei is incredibly excited. She believes that following you was the most correct choice, and she hopes you will come to genuinely loathe her.]
[Raiden Mei considers you a partner in crime, wallowing in the mire together.]