[Miss Pink Fairy: Welcome, newcomer, to Kiana's Harem Group!]
[I Am Not Blonde: Welcome, newcomer, to Kiana's Harem Group!]
[King of Trash Cans: Welcome, newcomer, to Kiana's Harem Group!]
———
"..."
Inside a pink room, Elysia puffed up her cheeks as she looked at the row of identical messages appearing one after another after her own.
[Miss Pink Fairy: Can you guys not copy the way I talk!]
[I Am Not Blonde: Can you guys not copy the way I talk!]
[King of Trash Cans: Can you guys not copy the way I… ah! Sorry, Miss Fairy. I saw the plus sign and couldn't help it, couldn't help it.]
——
On the Astral Express, seeing Stelle suddenly slap her own left hand, March 7th was completely confused.
She leaned toward Dan Heng and whispered, "You think this girl accidentally fell and hit her head, and got stupid from it?"
"..."
Dan Heng didn't speak, but Himeko beside them set down the coffee at her lips and said seriously, "March 7th, talking behind someone's back isn't a good habit, okay?"
Meeting Himeko's eyes, March 7th scratched her head. "I won't dare next time!"
Standing by the window, admiring the scenery outside the train, Mr. Yang couldn't help turning to look at Stelle after hearing their conversation.
From his angle, he happened to see Stelle smiling foolishly at her phone.
If it were just that, it would be fine, Mr. Yang would have simply thought she was chatting with someone.
But her phone screen… was black.
Yes, Stelle hadn't even turned on the screen. She was smiling at a black screen.
Thinking he saw wrong, Mr. Yang took off his glasses and wiped them. But after putting them back on, the scene remained exactly the same.
Seeing Stelle acting so strangely, he couldn't help but wonder if what March 7th said about her head getting damaged was actually true.
'Who smiles at a black screen!'
'Should I ask Pom-Pom to turn the train around and go back to Herta Space Station for a checkup…?' Mr. Yang couldn't help thinking.
Because Stelle had her back to March 7th and the others, only Mr. Yang, who stood at the side, noticed the issue.
While Mr. Yang was wondering whether he should bring Stelle back to Herta Space Station for an examination, Stelle was completely unaware, still lost in the group chat.
Where the battle of the century was happening.
Mainly, "I Am Not Blonde" kept repeating whatever "Miss Pink Fairy" said.
At first, she pretended to be like Stelle, claiming she "couldn't help it when seeing the plus sign," but after being exposed, "The second one doesn't have a plus sign."
She stopped pretending altogether. Whenever "Miss Pink Fairy" said something, she repeated it word for word.
And Stelle herself had gone into lurking mode, silently watching the chaos.
———
[Moments Later]
[Miss Pink Fairy: Truce!]
Elysia typed the word "truce" with great effort, her fingers cramping.
[I Am Not Blonde: Truce!]
Blonde reacted instantly.
Seeing the other side copy and paste her words again, Elysia was speechless.
[Miss Pink Fairy: I'm serious!]
[I Am Not Blonde: I'm serious!]
Having had enough fun, Stelle mediated: [Enough! Did you guys forget our goal!]
[We're welcoming the newcomer!]
[Aren't you afraid you'll scare the newcomer away like this?]
[Oh, wait, once joined, you can't leave anymore.]
[Ehehe~]
Lurking and eating melon seeds, Levi took the initiative to greet them once he was mentioned.
[Yang Sit-up: Hello everyone, my name is Welt Yang. You can just call me Mr. Yang.]
Seeing this message, Stelle's smile stiffened. She turned her head toward Mr. Yang by the window.
Right at that moment, Mr. Yang was also staring at her. Their eyes met, then both quickly pretended nothing happened.
But after noticing Mr. Yang was looking at her, Stelle's heart tightened.
'Don't tell me it's really Mr. Yang?'
Thinking this, Stelle immediately checked her profile picture and sighed in relief when she saw it was a trash can.
Good thing she didn't listen to the others and change her profile picture to a big photo of her own face, that would have exposed her instantly.
She absolutely didn't want people she knew to see how she acted online.
'Please don't remove the mask!'
———
In the group chat, no one knew how nervous Stelle was right now.
After Levi finished his "self-introduction," the others began stating their names as well.
Seeing a bunch of familiar names, Levi nodded slightly.
'All acquaintances!'
Miss Pink Fairy = Elysia.
I Am Not Blonde = the blonde girl Lumine.
Only one remained, King of Trash Cans hadn't said her name yet.
She was also the only one in the group who didn't use her own photo as an avatar, instead using a trash can.
'She couldn't really be a trash can, right?'
Among the people he knew, who would name themselves after a trash can…?
Levi had a faint guess.
———
'What do I do! What do I do! It's my turn!'
Seeing everyone waiting for her introduction, Stelle's hands trembled slightly as she held her phone.
'Should I pretend I suddenly have something urgent and go offline?!'
'But that would only delay it…'
At that moment, Himeko noticed March 7th staring at the cup of coffee on the table and asked, "March 7th, do you want some coffee?"
"No no no! I'm just curious what the coffee's ingredients actually are."
Hearing the conversation, Stelle glanced at March 7th, her eyes shifting quickly.
She turned her head and rapidly tapped on her black-screen phone.
[PhotoGirl: Hello everyone]
After thinking for a moment, she added: [My hobby is photography!]
Seeing Stelle change her name and profile picture at lightning speed, Elysia was confused. [Weren't you called 'Stelle'? When did you change it?]
'Don't expose me, Elysia!'
Seeing Elysia's message, Stelle screamed internally.
At the same time, she discreetly glanced at Mr. Yang's seat, just in time to see Mr. Yang, who had been looking down at his phone, lift his head and look at her.
'Oh no! It really IS Mr. Yang!'
Maybe it had been a coincidence before, but Mr. Yang looking up right when Elysia mentioned Stelle's real name?
Stelle was now almost certain the person in the chat was him.
And so, she began acting.
[PhotoGirl: Hahaha… sorry everyone, I always used my friend's name before. I'm really sorry for deceiving you!]
Elysia's interest was piqued. She already suspected Stelle's weird behavior was related to the new member.
'Could they know each other?'
She kept guessing, but her fingers didn't slow down.
[Miss Pink Fairy: Stop pretending, Stelle. Tell the truth. @Yang Sit-up do you two know each other!]
Knowing Stelle's real identity, Levi smiled.
[Yang Sit-up: This Miss Stelle… Miss March 7th, I don't know you and have never met you.]
[Yang Sit-up: @[PhotoGirl] You must be mistaking me for someone else.]
'Like hell I don't know whether I'm mistaken!!'
Seeing the meme Levi sent, with Mr. Yang pictured on it, how could it be anyone else.
[PhotoGirl: And you still say you're NOT Mr. Yang!]
[PhotoGirl withdrew a message!]
[PhotoGirl: Mm, next time we're free, let's meet offline and grab a meal~ I, March 7th, will pay in credits.]
Elysia's eyes sparkled. Their first offline gathering.
And Elysia knew what "credits" were, the currency of Stelle's world.
"Right! We still haven't introduced this group to the newcomer!"
[Miss Pink Fairy: @White-Haired Dumpling, your harem group has a new member. Come out and introduce the chat group!]
Usually, as soon as she was @-ed, White-Haired Dumpling would appear immediately, but this time, no matter how long they waited, there was no response.
Elysia frowned slightly. "Being @-ed guarantees she saw it. Why isn't Kiana saying anything?"