"Excuse me, is it my eyes, or is that the ladies' room on the left?"
Princess rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"If you want to go into the one on the right, I don't mind," Morin sighed. "But I have to go into the left one and drag out the guy who just ran in."
Coincidences are called coincidences because they shouldn't happen-but do anyway.
Just as the two approached the restrooms, they saw a familiar figure dart straight into the women's room.
"Good luck." Princess calmly took out her phone, already preparing to take a commemorative photo. When Morin became famous, she could sell it to Finger and take a cut. The headline was already forming in her head:
Shocking! The Hidden Fetish of the Famous Morin!
Morin waved his hand, ignored her entirely, and strode into the ladies' room. Princess snapped the photo and followed him in.
"Now we really are going to the same restroom," Morin said with a grin.
"It's different," Princess said righteously. "I can't let you go in alone. What if people misunderstand and ruin your reputation?"
If Morin hadn't seen her take the photo earlier, he might have believed her.
Inside, Luminous was squatting on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
He saw two pairs of sneakers-one pink, one white.
He looked up.
Denim jeans.
Then higher.
A handsome guy and a beautiful girl he both recognized.
"I get the emotion," Morin said, "but why did you run into the ladies' room to cry? Or does sadness make you braver?"
The crying stopped instantly.
The sheer awkwardness killed the tears on the spot. Luminous scrambled to his feet and rushed out.
Without needing Princess to remind him, Morin followed at a leisurely pace. On the way out, he ran into Maya. He simply nodded and smiled calmly.
Maya froze, stunned, and even checked the sign on the door afterward to make sure she hadn't walked into the wrong restroom.
In the end, things settled as expected.
Under Morin's persuasion, the anxious Professor Guderian agreed to delay matters by two days to give Luminous time to think. In reality, one day was enough. Morin and Luminous had already agreed-he would confess tomorrow.
That way, there was no need to wait for the Literature Club gathering the day after.
Morin wouldn't need to play the "villain," no dramatic exits, no stylish departures with Luminous in tow. Either way, Princess wouldn't be kicking any doors down. There was no need for that kind of tragedy.
Besides, Luminous's temperament wasn't really suited for romance.
For someone who hadn't truly grown up even after "dying" four times, Morin felt changing him would be difficult.
That was the plan.
But plans change.
Especially when Maya had already searched Morin's place the night before.
The presence of the "Babysitters" meant the Boss was involved too. For now, Morin stayed in wait-and-see mode, waiting for them to make the first move.
Without using his real power-relying purely on intelligence-this felt like a genuinely difficult game.
Of course, if the other side refused to play by the rules, Morin wouldn't mind being unreasonable either.
He hoped it wouldn't come to that.
Those who play power games aren't always afraid of frontal confrontation. Sometimes, crushing opponents outright is just boring. Making things interesting is more fun.
Late at night.
Just as Morin was about to go to bed according to a perfectly "normal" schedule, he received a message from Princess.
"The Professor, Leaf, and Maya all bailed!"
"What?" Morin typed back. "[Confused][Confused]"
"There's a new student in Russia with an excellent bloodline. Professor Guderian had to fly there immediately. Leaf and Maya were pulled into some 'Kui Gate Project,' so they left early. [Sigh]"
"Kui Gate?" Morin replied. "The western entrance of the Three Gorges. What's the college planning to do there?"
"Aha, classified!" Princess said quickly. "You don't have clearance yet!"
She'd realized something important.
She was talking to a human supercomputer. Even the smallest clue could let him deduce everything.
"Fine. I have a rough idea anyway," Morin replied. "We'll talk when we meet. So-you're the only one handling admissions now?"
"Yep! I can process your enrollment directly!" Princess had never been so grateful for his ability to change topics. "Want to enroll now?"
"Let's wait for Luminous. He's almost there."
Morin glanced at the pile of messages Luminous had sent him:
The Literature Club gathering is tomorrow, I'm going to confess!
Chen said she wants to buy tickets and rent the theater alone with me, does she like me?
I'm going to buy a bouquet of roses!
"...You've probably already seen his chat logs."
"Don't slander me," Princess defended weakly. "Am I the type to monitor other people's chats?"
"Yeah," Morin replied casually. "Openly and shamelessly."
"It should be in the evening," he added. "Unless something goes wrong."
"Can't he just confess tomorrow morning while running errands with her?" Princess suggested.
"People snap," Morin said calmly. "Especially the ones who look the most timid. Those are the scariest when they break."
"Luminous is that type."
"A three-year crush, all poured into one last gamble. Confessing to Chen is life or death for him."
"How could he settle for something mundane?"
"He'll stand in front of everyone. Legs shaking. Holding a single wilted red rose. And say everything."
"...When you put it like that," Princess said after imagining it, "I think his odds are zero."
"He never had a chance," Morin replied flatly. "Chen doesn't like him. She won't accept just because he worked up the courage."
"Even ignoring any 'tea' behavior, she only invited him to the club out of pity. She didn't realize who she was-or what kind of feelings someone like her would give a pathetic kid who gets ignored everywhere."
"So he's just pestering her?"
"He has some self-awareness," Morin said. "That's why he never confessed. He knew how pathetic he was, so he buried it."
"If you hadn't shown up, he probably would've kept it buried forever."
"What about you?" Princess asked suddenly.
"Me?"
"If he's really that pathetic, why get close to him?"
"I told you already," Morin replied frankly. "There's something very deep buried under that loser shell."
"When it erupts, it'll be interesting."
"That makes you sound like a movie villain," Princess said. "Using an ordinary but high-potential protagonist to achieve your goals."
"No," Morin replied. "There's a difference."
There was a pause.
Then a new message appeared.
Princess, sitting cross-legged on her bed, froze when she read it.
"Part of it is because I hate seeing things like that," Morin wrote. "The other part is... in some ways, we're very similar."
"Which ways?" Princess instinctively typed.
Her finger hovered over the Enter key.
She stopped.
The image surfaced again in her mind-the starry path, the crown of power, and Morin walking leisurely forward.
She deleted the message.
"Keep pretending to be a victim. See if I believe you," she typed instead. "With your looks and IQ, what similarities do you have with Luminous? Being male?"
"Thanks for the compliment," Morin replied. "And yes, being male is definitely a shared trait."
"Going to watch how things play out tomorrow?"
"You bet."
"Oh my god, oh my god!"
Crow's voice startled Maya, who was in the middle of applying a face mask.
"What now?!" Maya snapped.
"Rabbit No. 2 and that Princess are progressing at light speed! They're practically about to go on a date!"
Crow's voice was so vivid that Maya could almost see her expression.
"How is that even possible?" Maya cursed. "Is that Student Council President useless? He got cucked that easily?"
"So did you find anything today, Leggy?" Crow asked, potato chips crunching loudly. "If we don't get a breakthrough soon, the mission's going to fail. At least Luminous definitely won't end up with Chen!"
"You saw everything when I entered his house," Maya said irritably. "It's clean and organized to an absurd degree. Like a gay guy's place."
"And didn't you dig into his past habits?"
"Nothing," Crow said, frustrated. "He's clean. Blank. Mundane. All records and footage say he was perfectly normal."
"Everything changed in his junior year. He suddenly exploded with the reputation of a genius."
"But there's no trigger. No event. No person."
"He couldn't have awakened for no reason."
Maya frowned. "Could he have awakened long ago and just acted ordinary?"
"I'd rather believe he really was mundane," Crow said softly. "Though that feels impossible."
"His files are too clean. It's like an invisible hand wiped everything smooth."
"Some kind of... world-manipulating power."
"I forgot to mention," she added quietly. "The Boss looked uncertain when he first saw him."
"I don't think he's normal either," Maya said firmly.
"You found a lead?" Crow perked up.
"Does a woman's sixth sense count?"
As she spoke, Maya remembered last night.
Those calm eyes.
That invisible pressure.
Like standing before something terrifying.
"Piss off. I have a seventh sense," Crow snapped.
"I don't care anymore," Maya said, ripping off her mask and changing clothes.
"What are you doing now?!"
"If we can't find anything, we force it," Maya said coolly. "We test him."
Her tight leather outfit outlined her slender figure perfectly.
Seductive, by any standard.
"You're... seducing him for intel?" Crow's eyes watered. "I believe in you, Leggy! The organization will remember your sacrifice!"
"Piss off," Maya barked. "Who said I'm sacrificing myself?"
"Can't I just interrogate him under torture?"
"That's risky," Crow hesitated. "What if we're exposed?"
"It's fine," Maya said. "I'll pretend to be a thief first."
"Then I 'discover' he's good-looking and decide to kidnap him as a side job."
"When he resists with everything he has, he'll expose whatever he's hiding."
"...That's not a bad idea," Crow admitted. "But be honest-are you feeling excited? Robbing the cradle?"
"Piss off! I'm still young!"
Maya's killing intent practically traveled through the earpiece.
"Well, hypothetically," Crow said carefully, "what if he falls in love at first sight instead? What if he's willing to be taken instead of resisting?"
"Oh." Maya paused. "Then I resist desperately and threaten to call the police?"
"You know that's called a Badger Game, right?" Crow sighed. "Let's think of something more feasible-"
"That's a good idea."
A man's voice suddenly joined the channel.
"Boss?!" ×2
Maya and Crow shouted simultaneously.
"Go," the Boss said calmly, dressed in a refined suit. He patted Maya on the shoulder. "Try it."
"But be careful."
"Don't lose both the wife and the soldiers."
"At the very least, try to get along with him."
"And whatever you do-don't let the meat bun hit the dog and never come back."