"Mm ah~"
With a soft, cute murmur, Rover slowly opened her eyes. The first ray of light she saw slipped past like soft silk, warm like an embrace.
"You're awake? Congratulations, the surgery was a success, you're already a girl…"
"Wait, looks like you were already a girl to begin with."
No need to guess. Someone this shameless, in all of Solaris right now, there was only Stelle.
As soon as she clearly saw that the person in front of her was that little gray-haired girl, Rover shot up from the bed. What happened before, getting attacked twice by that gray-haired menace, was still vivid in her mind.
The scariest part was that Rover had no idea when this gray-haired girl, who looked full of mature charm, would strike her again.
The second time was even right in front of Zane…
'Wait… doesn't that mean Zane saw everything?!'
At that thought, Rover's face instantly flushed even more, like a perfectly ripe peach, making people want to take a bite and slowly savor the juice that would flow out.
"Where's Zane?"
Even so, Rover clearly remembered that she had been carried into the hot spring by him…
'Could it be that this guy went and got involved with other girls again!?'
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Rover jumped off the bed, grabbed Stelle's hand, and was about to head outside.
Seeing that Stelle was still wrapped in a bath towel, Rover knew she hadn't slept for long. The place she was in now should still be the inn attached to the hot spring.
As long as she moved fast, she could still catch it while it was hot… uh, she meant she could still get a bite… no, that's not right either, she should be able to catch him red-handed.
"He's playing Solaris Roulette with the others."
"…Huh?" Hearing that, Rover stopped in her tracks and turned back with a frown.
Hot spring, dark night, one man with multiple women, no matter how you think about it, something exciting should be happening.
'And you're telling me that blockhead is actually dragging girls to play Solaris Roulette?!'
Facing Rover's surprise, Stelle was silent for a moment, then nodded. After that, she revealed an arm she had been hiding behind her back the whole time. It was covered all over with little turtles, drawn densely one after another.
"What is that?"
"We made a deal with Zane. Whoever wins gets to draw a little turtle anywhere on the other person's body."
"And he drew all over your arm!?"
Rover's golden eyes widened. No matter how you looked at it, that was a bit inhuman.
Of course, what surprised her the most was that this unlucky person could actually win so many times?
'Or was it that you all deliberately lost to him?'
Thinking that, Rover looked Stelle up and down suspiciously, but Stelle's expression stayed normal, without revealing any flaws.
Full of confusion, Rover returned to the hot spring.
"Rover?" Zane, floating on the water with a lonely look, immediately saw the graceful figure walking over from not far away.
"Why did you wake up so quickly? Is your body alright?"
Hearing Zane's concerned words, Rover felt a warmth in her heart, but to maintain her proud and domineering persona, she forced her pretty face to stay serious and said in a low voice, "I heard from Stelle."
"If you play Solaris Roulette with you, whoever wins can draw a little turtle anywhere on the other person's body?"
"Oh?" Zane stood up wrapped in a bath towel, lifting his head high, his face practically screaming invincible. "You want to get a little turtle drawn on you too?"
"I get the idea… but can you wash off the word 'invincible' from your face first?"
Reminded by Rover, Zane quickly brought over a basin of water and washed his face, removing the word "invincible" written on it.
———
"I'll explain the rules first." Zane waved the water gun in his hand, a slightly mischievous smile on his clean face.
"I'll load live rounds and blanks into the gun in a random order. You can choose to shoot me or shoot yourself. If you shoot yourself and it's a blank, you can skip my turn once."
"In the first round, each person has three lives, and there are three bullets. In the second round, each person has four lives, and there are four bullets."
"After that, lives won't increase anymore, but the number of bullets will gradually increase each round, up to eight…"
"Use your brains and your luck to win the game in the end."
Looking at the water gun Zane handed over, Rover nodded. The rules were simple, but once you actually played, it involved logic, rules, and… a bit of luck.
But Rover believed her luck was better than Zane's. That was her confidence.
"Alright, next we'll play rock-paper-scissors to decide who shoots first."
Jinhsi and Yangyang nearby covered their mouths and smiled, while Jue shot Zane, who was grinning wickedly, a fierce glare, then angrily rubbed the little turtle he had drawn on her face.
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
Zane: Scissors
Rover: Paper
"Okay, I win."
Zane smiled, picked up the gun loaded with three bullets, played with it for a moment, then pointed it at Rover.
Bang!
With the sound of the shot, a stream of clear water sprayed onto Rover.
The gun was handed over to Rover.
The first shot was a live round… next, the probability of live rounds and blanks should be fifty-fifty, or maybe both are blanks.
Then… there's only one answer, Rover raised the gun and pointed it at her own head.
The next second, along with a startled cry, Rover was hit by a water shot again. Clear droplets slowly flowed down along the graceful curves of her body.
This shot was still a live round.
Rover let out a slightly regretful sigh.
Just like that, she lost two lives in the first round. But she was willing to accept the outcome. She spread her arms, signaling Zane to hurry up so they could move on to the next round.
Drawing a little turtle anywhere on the body… for such a simple question, Zane's answer was naturally simple as well.
"With such a fair back, not drawing a stigma… not drawing a little turtle would be letting down the people and the frontier."
As he spoke, Zane walked behind Rover with a brush in hand.
Rover's fragrant shoulders were half-exposed. The soft tip of the brush gently traced across her back, making her delicate body tremble slightly.
A strange sensation spread from the brush tip, rippling outward like circles in water, instantly capsizing the small boat of her defenses.
"Hey, aren't you done yet!"
"Almost, almost done."
Zane didn't notice anything unusual in her voice. He carefully finished drawing a cute little turtle, then casually tossed the brush aside.
"Second round. Four lives each, four bullets in total. I won the last round, so I shoot first this time."
As the ticklish sensation on her back disappeared, Rover finally let out a long breath.
She could feel it, when the brush moved across her back, every cell in her body had been trembling lightly, almost excited.
Before Rover could fully recover, Zane raised the water gun at her again.
"There's no way this one is still a live..."
But the next second, water sprayed onto her again.
Rover wiped her face in disbelief, her golden eyes wide open.
'...Why is this guy so ridiculous?'
Thinking that, Rover took the water gun from Zane and hesitantly pointed it at him.
As expected, this shot was also a live round.
Next, the water gun returned to Zane again. Under Rover's suspicious gaze, it was another live round.
Rover blinked, a bit dazed. Since the game started until now, five live rounds had already appeared. From a probability standpoint, it wasn't impossible, but…
Only then did Rover realize something. Her brows shot up, and she pointed at Zane's nose and demanded, "Are there even any blanks in there?"
"No." Zane met her gaze confidently, without the slightest hint of embarrassment.
"Didn't you say it was random?"
"Yeah. All live rounds is still random. No blanks is also random. It's like when you pull cards, it looks random, but actually it's all pity."
Alright, his explanation left her completely speechless.
"So doesn't that make this game just rock-paper-scissors?"
"Does it?"
Rover turned her head and saw the mischievous smiles on everyone else's faces. How could she not realize they had all been watching the show?
They were probably victims of Zane's roulette too.
But Zane hadn't realized that this kind of behavior could easily provoke public outrage.
"Girls, Zane is cheating at the game. What should we do?"
The only one who loved stirring up trouble was Stelle… oh right, and the Doctor whose rationality had gone out the window.
The two of them jumped out one after another, raising their water guns high, "Pay your taxes!"
"Cough…" Rover quickly cleared her throat. With so many people here, how much "tax" could one person even collect?
Something like collecting taxes should be done quietly on one's own.
"No, we're going to cover him in turtles!"
Stelle, Doctor, Chixia, Jue: "Cover him in turtles!"
"Gun in hand, follow me, beat Zane, draw turtles!"
Today, Zane was still just as happy (in danger) as ever.