The moon climbed above the treetops, and the Valkyrie dorms were submerged in a watery tranquility.
Bronya, hidden under her covers, was engrossed in her game, her face illuminated by the cold light of the screen. After finally achieving 100% completion, Bronya wriggled her little head out. It would be very bad if Sister Mei caught her at this time. The exams were this Friday, and they were tied to her Valkyrie rank evaluation. Although Bronya was confident, Mei was truly like a big sister, worrying about everyone.
Speaking of sisters, Bronya couldn't help but think of her time at the orphanage. Back then, Bronya had been a "big sister," too. A beautiful, sea-blue figure flashed through her mind, and Bronya put down her game console, her heart heavy. To save her best friend trapped in the Sea of Quanta, Bronya had decided to debut as an idol... no, to lie low by Mei's side.
But after spending these days together, Bronya no longer had ulterior motives towards Mei; she truly saw her as an important companion. Moreover, after the Honkai Eruption in Nagazora, it was difficult for Bronya to trust Cocolia again. The mission she had received was to "retrieve Raiden Mei," but she never knew Cocolia would be so insane.
Therefore, in the middle of carrying out the mission, Bronya had a change of heart. She would no longer be an emotionless robot. She decided to defy the "retrieval" mission and instead "protect" Raiden Mei, after which she decided to leave Anti-Entropy and join Schicksal's St. Freya High School.
But that sea-blue figure was a wound that would never fade from Bronya's heart.
"Seele..." Bronya whispered in a voice only she could hear.
She turned her head, wanting to look at the moonlight outside the window. The moon, no matter where one was, could resonate with feelings of longing. But there was no moon in the Sea of Quanta, was there? Bronya didn't know, but her gaze was quickly drawn to Kiana.
Kiana was lying on her bed in a spread-eagle "大" shape, drool escaping the corner of her mouth. Her sleeping posture was truly ungraceful.
"To think she's sleeping so soundly. Is this girl really planning to take the exam seriously? Huh, Kiana's face seems a bit off. Does she have a fever?"
Bronya got up, went to Kiana's bedside, and placed her palm on her forehead.
"Her temperature is 1.2 degrees higher than normal. It seems she really is... hmm, no, that's not right. Her vitals are normal. It's just a normal fever."
A fever wasn't only caused by a cold. Things like emotional fluctuations or intense exercise could also cause the body to heat up; these were all normal phenomena. After scanning her with Project Bunny's disguised vital signs monitor, Bronya withdrew her hand.
"This girl is so 'noisy' even when she sleeps."
---o---
However, at this moment, Kiana was not noisy at all. In fact, she was very quiet.
Her knees were pressed together, her fair skin kneeling on the floor. Her hands were cupped and placed on her thighs in a posture similar to seiza. Then, her hands moved forward, fingers pointing inward, and her body leaned forward until her forehead touched the ground.
The young woman remained motionless in this position. Her hair fell like satin from her jade-like back, revealing the beautiful line of her spine.
Damn it, he even changed my hairstyle to a high ponytail before the dogeza!
Beside Kiana was a neatly folded pile of clothes. Top, pants, underwear, socks, all sorted and placed separately.
Ye Feng held the test paper, looking down at Kiana in her dogeza pose, and tut-tutted. "This makes no sense. Why did you get so many wrong? You didn't do it on purpose, did you?"
Kiana's forehead was pressed firmly to the ground. She wanted to retort, but she didn't know where to begin. That wasn't the point.
The point was, after taking off her final sock, a "Dogeza Apology" was automatically triggered. Kiana now had a profound understanding of what Ye Feng meant when he said, "This body is mine."
No matter what terrible method this guy came up with to manipulate this body, Kiana couldn't resist. Just like now, she couldn't even move, forced to maintain the dogeza position.
Although she had gotten many questions wrong, Kiana was still not convinced. She had taken off her armor voluntarily, but the dogeza was forced. The Tuna had never liked being forced.
"Didn't you just say I'd only have to take off my clothes? What the hell is this dogeza?"
Only?
Ye Feng revealed a playful smile.
"This is how you create pressure. If I told you all the punishments and let you mentally prepare, what would be the point? When the punishment is unknown, its power is immeasurable. The unknown punishment is the most deterrent."
"Punishment what? Why do you talk like that rock-hard Class Rep?"
"Kiana knows Fu Hua is hard, too?"
"Huh?"
"Never mind. What I mean is, when you take off your final piece of armor, a random punishment will be triggered. As for what interesting punishment it might be, even I don't know."
"??"
You don't know?
But Kiana knew they would all be absolutely terrible things. She couldn't deny that she was feeling a bit nervous now. Originally, the Tuna had mentally prepared herself for the possibility of having her "armor broken," thinking it wasn't a big deal. But now, a randomly triggered punishment had been added.
The pressure was indeed immense. What if he went berserk and called Mei over again? Kiana started to panic.
"What, is the 'Knight' of the Kaslana family thinking of going back on her word? Are you giving up? But, once we've started, we'll keep going. Until you get a perfect score, I won't stop, even if you cry and beg for mercy, Kiana."
"Who said I'm giving up!"
Kiana was prostrated on the ground like a little white puppy, her forehead still pressed against the cold floor. It was a very humble posture, yet her words were powerful and her spirit was high, like... Han Xin enduring humiliation by crawling between someone's legs.
"That was just a mistake. This young lady will show you a perfect score!"
"Ooh~~ Not bad. That's the spirit. Keep it up. I have high hopes for you."
Author's Note: I might not be cut out for road trips. To be precise, traveling alone isn't very interesting.
Seeing everyone else in groups, I feel awkward going into slightly nicer restaurants by myself. The restaurant is bustling with people, and I'm sitting at a table alone... It's not exactly embarrassing, but it feels a bit empty. And I can only order two or three dishes at most, any more would be a waste.
In contrast, when I went to Suzhou to see my little brother the day before yesterday, eating out with two people was so much better than being alone. The key is, the cost was about the same.
Thinking about it carefully, even excluding food, the cost for me alone versus two people is identical. Gas and highway tolls are fixed, and hotels are all king-sized beds... It would be perfect if I had a cute girlfriend.
In a few days, I'm going to Wudang Mountain to practice martial arts and cultivate. I'll probably stay at Wudang for at least a month, so the updates should become more stable.
---o---