Hearing those words that struck directly at the heart of the matter, the wielder of Jizo Mitama felt his heart skip a beat.
Are people nowadays always this direct with their questions?
"To be precise, it amplifies emotions towards me," the boy with vibrant eyes said after a moment of thought.
"Amplify?"
Miss Ana put down her utensils. Hearing this word, her expression was one of confusion.
"Simply put, it's like a percentage bonus to favorability," Li Zihan explained.
"Theoretically, as long as the person affected by Jizo Mitama has extremely low favorability towards me, or none at all, they won't be affected."
Actually, that wasn't entirely correct either.
Jizo Mitama was capable of amplifying a certain emotion within the eroded person.
It could be love or hatred, admiration or contempt.
If he could wield Jizo Mitama more proficiently, the scope of this emotional alteration wouldn't be limited to just the relationship between himself and the eroded subject.
He could even forcibly alter the subject's emotions towards other people.
This was undoubtedly a power that was terrifying to the extreme.
However, Li Zihan's current mastery over Jizo Mitama was clearly not at that level.
Having only possessed Jizo Mitama for a little over a month, Li Zihan had not yet fully grasped this Divine Key.
All he could do was amplify the subject's emotions towards himself. And amplifying emotions meant either amplifying positive ones or amplifying negative ones.
The former was equivalent to a favorability buff machine; the latter was like applying a MAX-level taunt on himself at all times.
Given the choice between the two, Li Zihan naturally chose to amplify the subject's positive emotions towards him.
He wasn't a masochist, looking to wholesale-manufacture powerful enemies for himself.
"E-eh—!!"
The girl, who had always felt the so-called side effect was too improper and might have just been a joke to help the test subjects relax, now stared with wide eyes.
This thing… it was actually real!
"It can't be helped. One of Jizo Mitama's abilities is to amplify emotions."
"It's either amplifying positive emotions or amplifying negative ones."
Li Zihan looked at the girl who had just learned that an increase in favorability was a real side effect of the experiment and said seriously.
"If I amplified the negative emotions, I would die."
A so-called Herrscher was a Divine Apostle.
Even if the vast majority of them were hopelessly uneducated, the power they could display was on a whole other level.
If one of them was motivated enough to start studying hard and making progress every day, they would transform into a monster capable of cleansing the surface of the planet in minutes.
If he used Jizo Mitama to amplify an Artificial Herrscher's malice towards him, Li Zihan was sure his future would consist of being ganged up on by a group of Herrschers.
At that point, not even the Armor of the Rising Sun from Karna could guarantee Li Zihan's life.
"Miss Ana, you should be able to understand the real reason for the experiment's side effect now, right?" the boy said. Although he liked to fool around, he had no interest in courting death.
The girl, who looked a bit ditsy but wasn't stupid, thought for a moment about the scenario where Li Zihan amplified negative emotions.
Then, she instantly understood Li Zihan's reasoning.
To be loathed by multiple beings who wielded the power of Herrschers, to be seen as a mortal enemy, a hated foe…
At that point, one wouldn't have to consider if they would die, but only how they would die.
"I-Is that how it is?"
Miss Ana imagined the scene and couldn't help but be startled herself.
"Mhm. If I were hated by a group of Herrschers, I'd have a massive headache too."
Li Zihan, who clearly had no hobby of creating powerful enemies for himself, roughly explained the rumor.
"I understand."
The girl, who was keenly aware of her own admiration and longing for Li Zihan, suddenly wore an extremely conflicted expression.
If my admiration and longing for Mr. Director were to be amplified…
The girl named Ana felt her head spin, the blush on her face growing more and more vivid, and it seemed as if steam was about to rise from her head.
To erase the Herrscher personality within her, Jizo Mitama had to be used.
And when Jizo Mitama erased the Herrscher personality, it would inevitably affect the human personality… it would either amplify her favorability towards the Director, or it would amplify her malice towards him…
The latter could lead to the Director's death, which was a loss humanity could not afford and something she absolutely did not want to see happen.
So… is there only one outcome?
Miss Ana looked at the handsome profile of the boy beside her, feeling as if a herd of small deer were stampeding in her heart.
Is this a love destined by fate?
"Ana, what's wrong with you?"
Feeling that the frequency of the girl's blushing beside him was frankly astonishing, Li Zihan's heart skipped a beat.
What is this situation?
What the hell is this reaction, as if she's been hit by Jizo Mitama's Second Rated Power?
Honestly, he was starting to panic.
He was still counting on experimenting with different power levels of Jizo Mitama and Fenghuang Down on Ana and Chen Tianwu to find a power combination that could turn his lovers into Herrschers without turning them into yanderes.
But what the hell was this "I'm already a lost cause" performance from Ana?
If he used her for the experiment, would she not just impale him with ice spears after her Herrscherization and lock him up by her side?
For a rare moment, Li Zihan felt a cold sweat break out on his skin.
Using Ana as a test subject for Jizo Mitama was practically suicide.
"Um… Director, do you have a girlfriend?"
Completely unaware that Li Zihan, who looked as steady as an old dog, was actually panicking like crazy on the inside, Ana looked at the handsome boy and summoned her courage.
The girl stared with her pink eyes at the boy whom she had known for a pitifully short time, but with whom she might be bound together from now on. The blush on her cheeks was like the rosy glow of dawn.
Her face tilted towards Li Zihan, and her exhaled breath carried a faint, pleasant, fresh scent.
Her pink eyes seemed to contain entire galaxies.
What… is this development?
Li Zihan seemed to understand the bewildered feeling Karna must have had when he saw him together with Alice.
He could be certain that the current Ana liked him.
But why this situation was unfolding was a complete mystery.
He couldn't figure it out. He really couldn't.
Even using his A-rank Innate Skill, Discernment of the Poor, he couldn't see through it.
"In this world, no, I don't."
Under the girl's gaze, the boy, who indeed had no girlfriend in this world, thought for a moment before nodding.
The Director doesn't have a girlfriend.
Those words made Ana's heart beat even faster.
Without much hesitation, her petal-like, vibrant lips parted slightly.
Then, words carrying the girl's earnest feelings drifted into the boy's ears.
"In that case, can you go out with me?"
Author's Note:
PS: Everyone, guess whether he'll agree or refuse.