Early in the morning, the entire world was clear and bright. Sunlight filtered through a faint, fresh mist, gently spilling across all the things of the mortal world.
A new day had begun.
With the rising of the sun came the promise of a new day.
Li Zihan opened his eyes.
What greeted him was a completely unfamiliar ceiling.
Beside him, an exquisitely soft sensation.
The faint sound of a girl's breathing echoed by his ear.
At this point, I'm probably a scumbag through and through, aren't I?
The young man's thoughts drifted aimlessly as he turned his head slightly, taking in the girl's delicate, sleeping profile.
After he had helped Ana clean her room, she had asked him, "Director, are you staying over tonight?"
Li Zihan had not refused.
And then, certain things had happened.
To enter into a relationship with one girl, and then, on that very same night, to have this kind of thing happen with another girl who admired him…
It was a bit excessively scummy.
For a rare moment, a sliver of guilt rose in Li Zihan's heart.
I'm sorry, Seele.
However, what was done was done, and ultimately, it had to be accepted.
With the Emiya family's time-manipulation magecraft, I can essentially stand in for any of the bosses from the first five parts of JoJo, so naturally, I can also be taken out by Bites the Dust, the young man thought.
I just hope I don't crash and burn from here on out.
The young man, who actually had little confidence that he could achieve a harem "good end" completely unscathed, sighed in his heart.
Dark Seele would absolutely spread the word that he had agreed to date Seele. Once that news got out, there was no way Kiana and Mei would act like the blind and deaf from Assassin's Creed.
It wouldn't take more than a few days for the two of them to rush back.
He was already teetering on the edge of a catastrophic pile-up, and now he had gone and established a negative-distance relationship with Ana…
Perhaps even Bites the Dust couldn't save him now.
The young man, who had no intention of halting the Artificial Herrscher Project just because of the danger, felt that the probability of him getting kitchen-knifed in the future was rather high.
After all, Bites the Dust only rewound time; it was a save-scumming method, not a perfect conquest guide.
Feeling the need for a power-up, Li Zihan thought of a certain Big G who possessed Clairvoyance (Future).
It should be simple enough: provide that guy with enough magical energy to reconstruct his Spirit Core, then use a Command Spell to shatter his will and keep the remaining power.
After all, skills like Clairvoyance were engraved upon the physical body.
Li Zihan had once wanted to acquire Mr. Gilgamesh's Spirit Core, but because he was spending all his time fooling around with Alice and Aoko, he never had the time to bullshit with Big G.
Later, to strengthen himself, he took the Spirit Core of Karna, which had the potential for further ascension.
Thinking about it now, since he already had Karna's Spirit Core, there was probably no need to go after Big G's entire core.
He had once tried to create the Three-God Garment, only to discover that the divinity from Gilgamesh, Ramesses II, and Karna could not form a sustainable cycle. It couldn't be elevated to a power comparable to the King of the Fourth Lostbelt in the Type-Moon world—Arjuna, the Unifier of Indian Divinity.
So, he decided it was better not to waste time bullshitting with Big G.
After ghosting Big G for nearly a month, the young man, whose methods could be quite capricious, decided to directly do away with both Big G and the Black Dog, taking the powers inscribed on their flesh.
However, before all that, he should probably try making some breakfast first.
Dealing with Big G can wait. It's not more important than spending time with the girl who gave her all to me, thought the young man.
Not being particularly skilled in the culinary arts, he gently slid his arm out from under the girl's.
His movements were gentle, but they still drew the attention of the girl beside him.
As a Valkyrie, her physical senses were far sharper than those of the fairytale witch and the user of the Fifth Magic. The girl opened her pink eyes.
She stretched languidly as she always did, exposing a large expanse of her full, luminous, and graceful skin to the air.
Then, she quickly noticed the young man getting out of bed.
The girl's face flushed crimson.
She remembered: she was not living alone right now.
As if scrambling to escape, she swiftly hugged the quilt to her body, covering the magnificent spring scenery across her chest.
"Director, are you leaving to handle something?" the girl asked in a small voice, still preferring to use his title even after what had happened, all while clutching the quilt to hide most of her body.
"Nope."
The young man, who had obviously had no intention of putting "dealing with Big G and the Black Dog" ahead of sticking close to the girl, stretched out his hand and scratched his cheek.
"I was just thinking, what should we do today?"
"What should we do?"
Miss Ana tilted her head in confusion, and then—her face instantly flushed a deep shade of red.
"A perverted Director is still a perverted Director. H."
"You don't know how to be considerate of a girl at all."
She muttered under her breath, expressing her dissatisfaction.
"..."
The young man, who had merely been contemplating whether to try cooking something from a recipe, heard her words, and his expression grew complicated.
Just two days ago, Ana had admired him immensely, seeing him as a guiding light for humanity, its savior…
Now, in her eyes, had he already become a scumbag, a lecher?
Li Zihan, who was indeed a horndog but hadn't expected his reputation to plummet so drastically, found his expression growing even more complex.
However, since he was being called an "H," it wouldn't be right not to do something, would it?
The young man, who had originally just planned to make a meal, chat, and then accompany Ana on a date, sat back down on the bed.
Then, under the girl's slightly panicked gaze, he slid back under the covers once more.
And then there was…
(Feel free to use your imagination here. The old perverts can probably dream up something richer than I could write.)
By the time it was all over, it was nearly noon.
"The Director is a super H pervert."
The girl, having showered, washed away all the traces from her body, and changed into fresh clothes, sat in the dining room, her cheeks puffed out and her tone decidedly unkind.
"It's normal for a man to be a pervert, isn't it?"
The young man, who had engaged in many "plays," let his gaze drift away.
"Besides, you seemed pretty into it during those 'plays', weren't you?"
"Those were all your delusions, Perverted Director."
Upon hearing such words, the girl, who was usually so soft and cute, found her tone turning sharp.
"They were all my delusions."
Seeing the girl, who now seemed genuinely unhappy, Li Zihan didn't hesitate for a moment. He raised his hands and made a French military salute of surrender.
"I'm wrong. I'm guilty. It's my fault. I'll reflect on my actions."
Getting along with girls was a lot like petting a cat. Stroking with the fur and against it were two completely different things.
This was a piece of wisdom Rita had taught him when she had nothing better to do.
Seeing the young man, whose status was absurdly high, make such a quick-to-surrender gesture, the unhappiness in the girl's heart instantly dissipated.
Her beautiful eyes curved into crescent moons.
"There's no need for any self-reflection."
"Now, just accompany me on a proper date."