Because of Cloud Retainer's sudden declaration, Ganyu's face grew even redder—so red, in fact, that she seemed to sink even deeper into her increasingly strange fantasies.
Meanwhile, Lin Ze's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
He could swear on his conscience that he had never tried to court Ganyu.
They'd barely even spoken.
He'd only been in Teyvat for a few days!
Sure, he talked about opening a harem—but in reality?
He'd spent several straight days holed up at home.
And on the rare occasions he did go out, he hadn't even run into Ganyu.
The few times they'd met, it was all business.
As for love at first sight?
Yeah, no.
Lin Ze firmly believed that "love at first sight" was just a polite way of saying lust at first glance.
And Ganyu's current state…
"…Her pressure might just be too much."
After thinking it over, this was the only conclusion Lin Ze could reach.
"She's probably been lonely for far too long. Then she suddenly met someone who might be similar to her, and the emotions just overflowed."
That explanation made sense.
And no matter how he looked at it, Lin Ze decided one thing:
He was no longer going to destroy the diary system outright.
Loneliness that had been suppressed for too long, once it erupted, was terrifying.
People really could lose all rationality.
"And also—Cloud Retainer, stop randomly pairing people up!"
Lin Ze turned his gaze on her.
"There's no way you can't see that Ganyu's condition is abnormal right now!"
Cloud Retainer had lived for thousands of years.
There was no way she didn't notice something was off.
"Her state is unusual," Cloud Retainer nodded calmly.
"But Ganyu being willing to find a partner is still a good thing."
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"What? Don't tell me you look down on her?"
"…Of course I don't."
Lin Ze shot her a look, feeling more than a little baffled.
"Let's be honest—everyone here is a once-in-ten-thousand beauty."
"Don't let Madam Ping's current appearance fool you either. That's just a disguise. She was stunning back in the day."
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't find any of you attractive."
"But so what?"
"Am I the kind of guy who takes advantage of someone in an unstable state?"
"Do I look like a shameless predator?"
Cloud Retainer fell silent for a moment.
She hadn't misunderstood Ganyu's state—but she also knew that even if she stopped things now, Ganyu's emotional knot wouldn't simply untangle itself.
Sometimes, the best choice was to let emotions run their course.
And… perhaps to continue probing Lin Ze a little more.
"Let Ganyu calm down first," Lin Ze continued.
"Guide her properly."
"Look at how badly this knot has been tormenting her."
"As for the system—I won't destroy it."
"But the inner-voice function has to go."
With that, Lin Ze waved his hand.
His figure vanished from the courtyard as he returned to his room.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he began directly modifying the system.
This damned system had no intelligence of its own.
It simply followed preset rules.
Write a proper diary? Rewards.
Exploit loopholes? Worse rewards.
Don't write at all?
After a few days, it forcibly activated the so-called inner-voice function to keep itself running.
Rewards meant nothing to Lin Ze.
But exposing his inner thoughts?
Absolutely unacceptable.
As Lin Ze began altering the system, every diary holder could see it happening.
The flickering diary panels stabilized—but strange garbled text began to appear instead.
Seizing the moment, Cloud Retainer and the others quickly escorted Ganyu away, heading for the Jade Chamber.
—
"This really never ends…"
Inside the Jade Chamber, Cloud Retainer rubbed her temples while looking at Ganyu.
Her second disciple, Shenhe, already had enough issues due to her special constitution.
Now Ganyu, after centuries of loneliness, had suffered a sudden emotional collapse and formed an even deeper heart-knot.
Her head hurt.
Badly.
"I actually think this might be a good thing," Madam Ping said gently.
"The sooner Ganyu's heart-knot is addressed, the better."
"I'll have Yanfei prepare as well. She can go up the mountain with Ganyu."
Madam Ping hadn't realized Ganyu's inner struggles were this severe.
But early discovery meant early resolution.
Yanfei was also half-adeptus.
Her parents were alive, but constantly traveling, rarely home.
For now, Yanfei was still cheerful—but it wouldn't hurt to take precautions.
One stone, two birds.
"Then we'll follow the two adepti's suggestion," Ningguang said.
"Ganyu should return to the mountains to cultivate for a time."
Keqing said nothing—but she looked unusually dejected.
She had thought she and Ganyu were close friends.
They both worked late nights.
They sometimes ate together after overtime.
Yet in the end…
She still hadn't truly understood Ganyu.
The realization stung.
—
Meanwhile.
[All done. The diary system will no longer update automatically, and the inner-voice function has been disabled.]
[Since so many people want me to keep this system, I'll leave it intact.]
[Using it as a venting space, and leveraging its comprehension function to connect people with shared topics… isn't a bad idea.]
[Ganyu's emotional outburst earlier was honestly terrifying.]
[If this were an animation, she'd probably have black miasma pouring out behind her.]
[Good thing she didn't actually emit black energy.]
[In Teyvat, black stuff leaking out of your body is usually a bad sign.]
[Heck, even my cola once got mistaken for poison.]
[When Ningguang first saw it, she thought I was trying to drink myself to death.]
After finishing the system modifications, Lin Ze casually vented in the diary—also serving as an explanation for everyone else.
From now on, he decided to take the diary system a bit more seriously.
[That said—what kind of normal person writes a diary anyway?]
[I never really wrote one properly in the first place. After changing the rules, I'll just keep using it like before.]
[For the record, I only modified part of the system. This thing is complicated.]
[If I changed too much, it might turn into some other weird system entirely.]
[So the rule still stands: the diary must not be revealed to outsiders. Please take note.]
To read advanced Chapters, head over to p@treon:
patreon.com/GojoSatoru7