"Honestly, Chen Li, can't you restrain yourself a little? You have me aching all over every single day. If I weren't immortal, I'd have been stuck in bed, unable to get up."
"???"
"???"
"???"
When the scandalous words tumbled out of the mouth of Kaguya Houraisan, who had just managed to drag her exhausted self to the dining table, the three female freeloaders in Chen Li's house—Kitsune Saiguu, Sirin, and Little Herta—each had their own distinct reaction.
"So you two are in that kind of relationship?" Kitsune Saiguu nodded thoughtfully.
Although Kitsune Saiguu had a very gossipy heart, eating was beneficial for reducing her daily mana consumption… and the food was truly delicious. So, after a brief moment of interest, she went back to eating the meal that had appeared on [Mom's Tablecloth].
"Eh? Did you and Big Herta get a divorce, Chen Li? Are you trying to find me a stepmom now?" Little Herta tilted her head.
"What? Did you and Kaguya Houraisan do that shameless thing yesterday, Chen Li?! I'm so jealous… I mean, how despicable!"
"What? Chen Li, you married Big Herta? How come I didn't know?" Sirin's eyes widened.
Sirin had no idea what had happened after she spent her day practicing her Herrscher of the Void abilities, finished the homework Big Herta assigned her at night, and then drank the milk Chen Li gave her before bed and passed out!
How dare you, Chen Li? I was here first…
Okay, even if Kaguya was here first, it should still have been me next…
"Hmm? Why isn't anyone eating? Why are you all staring at me and Chen Li? Is there something on my face?" Kaguya asked, bewildered. She summoned the virtual screen of her Friends Circle terminal, activated the camera function, and began searching her own world-stunning beauty for any flaws.
"Do you want to try and recall what you just said? And you, Little Herta, stop fanning the flames!" Chen Li gave Kaguya and Little Herta each a karate chop on the head.
"What did I say? Was I wrong? Didn't that [Heavenly Drop] crash through the room I was in, nearly killing me, and then appear in your room? How about we switch rooms? I don't want to keep getting smashed," Kaguya sighed.
It was precisely because Chen Li was getting smashed every day that Kaguya, who lived on the floor above him, had been waking up with an aching back every morning, as if her body had been completely drained.
"I'll consider it," Chen Li nodded perfunctorily.
"Kitsune Saiguu doesn't care, and I heard a bit of the commotion, so I know the truth. But it seems someone has taken Kaguya's deliberately misleading words seriously," Little Herta said, her gaze shifting towards Sirin.
Kaguya had said it on purpose, and Little Herta could also see that Kaguya had said it on purpose.
So who was it that couldn't see it? And who was it that was genuinely getting worked up?
Such a difficult guess.
"You two…" Sirin's fists clenched, and a pair of scissors instantly appeared in her hand as it took her a few brain cells to realize she'd been played.
"I'm going to sever all the threads of fate connecting you two!"
"Can you even cut something like that? Sirin, don't come over here!"
"Chen Li, hurry up and control Sirin! She's going berserk!"
Kaguya and Little Herta, who had just wanted to have a little fun out of boredom, immediately chose to flee when they saw Sirin split [Myriad Phenomena Severance] into two blades and charge at them with weapons in hand.
"Who told you two to provoke the Pufferfish? It's common knowledge that a Pufferfish will puff up when it's agitated," Chen Li said, feeling no sympathy for Kaguya and Little Herta. He was more focused on his own Entry.
[Entry: Heavenly Drop] Extraction in progress[Progress]: 6/5
This progress proved that it had been six days since Chen Li started being troubled by a world-ending crisis every morning when he woke up, and each time brought a new surprise.
This time, the new surprise was… a shriveled monkey's paw with the Entries [God], [Wish], [Twist], and [Hand].
What was rather strange, however, was that this monkey's paw only had three fingers.
When Chen Li woke up in the morning and saw a claw scrambling across his bedroom floor, he was instantly wide awake.
Looking at the Entries, Chen Li could roughly guess what type of item this was.
But Chen Li accepted all comers. No matter what landed in his hands, regardless of its effect or side effects, as long as the Entries had value, it would ultimately be unable to escape the fate of being dismantled by him.
Side effects were still effects, after all.
"Alright, Sirin, you must be tired from hitting them. Want to take a rest?" Chen Li called out to Sirin, who was still huffing like an agitated Pufferfish.
"Hmph! Fine, I won't stoop to their level. But I still have something to say. I was only angry just now because I was tricked, not for any other reason. Don't get the wrong idea," Sirin said stubbornly as she put away [Myriad Phenomena Severance] and sat back down next to Chen Li.
But after saying this, she seemed to remember something. She observed Chen Li's expression and added, "Of course, I don't dislike you either. If you perform well enough, I might give you a chance to pursue… to follow me."
"Yes, yes, my dear Queen. In any case, it's time to eat. You need a full stomach to have the strength to beat them up," Chen Li said.
[I'm not a professional walkthrough system, but I think…]
"Th-that's true." Sirin only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that Chen Li's expression hadn't changed—at least he didn't look disgusted.
Sirin had heard that being a tsundere ruins your life, but she didn't know if it was true.
"Her Majesty the Queen being so cautious is also adorable. I love it."
"R-really?!" Hearing the words that suddenly came out of Chen Li's mouth, Sirin crushed the chopsticks in her hand.
"Why would I lie to you? But it would be even better if Your Majesty could better tap into the potential of your Herrscher of the Void powers. Although living a safe and peaceful life is also good, your Queen form is also really cool!"
"It's not that cool, just average," Sirin said, waving her hand bashfully.
"Sirin, you know that forging Curios also comes at a cost for me. I really hope that one day in the future, a great Herrscher of the Void will descend on a five-colored cloud, punching the Imaginary Tree and kicking the Sea of Quanta, and say to me: 'You just drive, leave it to this Queen to figure out a way!'"
"Tch, the mere Imaginary Tree and Sea of Quanta… You just wait! I'll use [Myriad Phenomena Severance] to sever the connection between me and the Imaginary Tree right now, and then tie it into a dead knot! First, I'll charge the Imaginary Tree, then I'll conquer the Sea of Quanta!"
The Imaginary Tree is nothing. If Otto could go there, so can I!
"Ambition is a good thing, but you still have to take it one step at a time."
"I naturally understand that principle!"
[...Honestly, isn't this Sirin a little too easy to fool?]
The little sprite suspected that even without a not-so-professional walkthrough system like itself, Chen Li could trick Sirin into bed eighteen times with just three sentences.
"In any case, having motivation is a good thing. Big Herta asked me to provide Sirin with some motivation, so I should cooperate."
"Sirin, you're still too easy to fool," Kaguya whispered when Chen Li went to the kitchen to get juice.
"Exactly, exactly," Little Herta nodded repeatedly.
"Don't you all really think I'm some gullible idiot who's easy to fool?" Sirin said, looking at them as if they were morons.
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"The reason I'm so easily placated by Chen Li is because I like being placated by him. I love being placated by him, and I know he's doing it for my own good. I made a deal with Big Herta. As long as I can seriously meet her benchmarks, she'll find a way to convince Chen Li to give me 'reward education.' You can argue about who's really playing who, but in the end, I'm the one getting a taste of Chen Li's sweet talk first," Sirin said smugly.
Of course, Sirin couldn't deny that she herself was genuinely happy when Chen Li was placating her, so happy that she lost herself in the moment.
But it couldn't be helped. This was the bond between a Queen and her Retainer!
"This idea definitely didn't come from Sirin. It must be a brilliant trick thought up by Big Herta. Big Herta is placating both Chen Li and Little Sirin," Little Herta said with conviction.
Just as Sirin was about to bask in the admiring gazes of the others, she found them whispering about a topic that seemed like nonsense to her.
"True. Could the Big Herta who came up with such a plan really be a genius?"
"Hey! What kind of image do you all have of me?!" Sirin fumed, embarrassed and angry.
---o---
"Why are you all looking at me so strangely?" Chen Li noticed this the moment he returned from the kitchen.
"It's nothing. Eat, eat," Kaguya said dismissively.
"By the way, if you all have nothing to do today, how about taking a trip to the Akame ga Kill! world to help Najenda use the Compulsory Transaction Gold Coin to persuade the higher-ups of the Revolutionary Army? Of course, not all of you need to go; one person is enough. If no one's free, I can also ask the group chat members," Chen Li said, seeming to remember something and turning to ask the others at the table.
"I have to play games with Gabriel," Kaguya said, raising her hand.
"I have a date with Ruan Mei," Little Herta said, raising her hand.
"Hmm?"
"Okay, it's an appointment. But it's close enough."
Neither Little Herta nor Kaguya minded helping Chen Li, but the problem was that Chen Li's tone was far too relaxed. He clearly didn't consider this a difficult task.
Against those weaklings in the Revolutionary Army, Kitsune Saiguu's spiritron form alone would be enough to make them scream that they've seen a ghost!
A second person wouldn't even be needed.
"Then, Kitsune Saiguu, you should be free, right?" Chen Li looked at the white-haired fox who had been focused on eating.
"Me? I'm free, but only for the morning. You might not believe this, but yesterday I was wandering around the Xianzhou alone until midnight and happened to meet a woman named Yukong."
"She saw that I was a Foxian, alone and helpless on the Xianzhou, and arranged for me to go to her workplace for an internship this afternoon. Although I'm not interested in working, since I still have to watch ads, I just couldn't refuse her enthusiasm. So I plan to bring her a gift, visit her, and tell her that I've already found my dear brother from another mother on the Xianzhou, so she doesn't have to worry. By the way, Master, lend me some Strale so I can buy her a gift," Kitsune Saiguu said.
"???"
Chen Li had no idea how Kitsune Saiguu and Yukong had even met, but with her appearance, Kitsune Saiguu could indeed blend into the Xianzhou without any sense of discord.
"One morning… that's enough. Since you're the only one free, it seems you alone are destined to earn these 200 Star Stones," Chen Li nodded.
"How many? 200 Star Stones?" Kaguya was stunned for a moment.
"That's right. Najenda mortgaged 10 Teigu and some antiques with high-quality Entries to me in exchange for 500 Star Stones. She's putting up 200 of those Star Stones as the reward for this operation," Chen Li said.
"Where did she get 10 Teigu?"
"Won't she have them once you all help her take down the Revolutionary Army headquarters?"
"So she's trying to catch a white wolf with empty hands?"
"This was my idea, because I realized the group members are too poor. If they don't have Star Stones, how can they do gacha pulls? And if you all don't pull good things, how can I buy those good things from you?" Chen Li said.
"But it still feels like you're losing out a bit."
"I'm not. The essence of Star Stones is a reward I get for disrupting spacetime. The very act of you all taking down the Revolutionary Army headquarters will earn me no less than 500 Star Stones. And with the Star Stones in your hands, you'll use them to influence the world and the original plot, which will bring me even more Star Stones. In other words, leaving the Star Stones in my hands is the real waste," Chen Li explained.
And this was also an experiment for Chen Li.
If he had people from one parallel world form a team to interfere with the plot of another parallel world, would it bring him more Star Stones?
"I see… Then count me in. Games can be played anytime, but a Star Stone commission, once missed, is truly missed," Kaguya said.
She couldn't help it. Kaguya truly couldn't refuse the deliciousness of Star Stones.
"Compared to Star Stones, I'd still rather research something with Ruan Mei…" Little Herta said, rubbing her chin.
"Ruan Mei said in the group chat that she's going too."
"But then again, to repay you for your kindness in recognizing my talent, Chen Li… it's merely the Revolutionary Army headquarters! Though thousands may stand against me, I shall go forward!" Little Herta's eyes instantly became as determined as if she were about to join the Party.
"I want to go too!" Sirin said, raising her hand.
"You have to go to class at the Herta Space Station," Chen Li said.
"Fine…"
"Next, I will post the commission in the Curio group chat. Since this is the first Star Stone commission, there won't be a limit on the number of participants. How much of the 200 Star Stones you can earn will depend on your own performance. However, everyone will get a base reward, as a participation prize," Chen Li said.
"Great! No problem! I'll definitely be the MVP this time!" Kaguya was extremely confident.
After all, once she activated her domain of Eternity and Ephemerality, who could even move?
It guaranteed sufficient stealth.
"That confident?"
"Of course. I suggest you set up a rating system so everyone knows who put in more effort and made a greater contribution!" Kaguya nodded.
"The Star Stone commission has been posted. Yakumo Yukari says that as long as the coordinates are accurate, she can capture everyone within 30 seconds," Chen Li said after a glance at the Curio group chat.
"…I suddenly feel that a rating system isn't very appropriate. It would just devalue a person's contributions. For example, I could apply an immortality buff to everyone. You can't just say I made no contribution and Yakumo Yukari gets MVP, right?" Kaguya instantly changed her tune.
"You change your mind really fast," Chen Li commented dryly.
"It's for earning Star Stones, nothing shameful about it," Kaguya said with a wave of her hand, not looking the least bit embarrassed.
---o---