Hearing Mei's soft murmur, Nagami's brow twitched ever so slightly.
Then, as if waking from a dream, he slowly sat up, rubbing his drowsy eyes.
"Eh, Mei… what are you doing here?"
He feigned grogginess, acting as though his mind was still clearing. His dazed gaze locked onto Mei's wide, purple eyes.
"Nagami—wha…?!"
Her words froze in her throat.
When the blanket slipped away, revealing the boy's bare form, Mei's porcelain cheeks flushed bright crimson, as if they had spontaneously combusted.
Steam all but poured from her head—she had transformed into a boiling kettle of embarrassment.
"N-N-Na…!"
The pure-hearted girl's brain overloaded from the shock, short-circuiting into a dizzy haze.
She couldn't even form a coherent sentence—her lips just repeated the same sound again and again.
"Ahhh! I-I didn't mean it! I just came to call you for breakfast!"
Stumbling backward in panic, Mei's eyes had already spiraled into swirls.
She turned and bolted, slamming the door shut with a loud bang as she escaped down the hall.
As the sound of her hasty retreat faded, Nagami's sleepy expression vanished, replaced by a look of profound relief.
"Phew… that was close. Good thing I reacted quickly."
He snapped his fingers.
A faint breeze swept the room, scattering away the lingering scent molecules into imaginary space.
"Still… Kurumi really is terrifyingly strong. If I weren't the power Herrscher of Sentience, she might have actually taken me down last night."
Standing and dressing with practiced ease, Nagami couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
"One Kurumi alone could run an entire harem." That was a joke from his previous life's internet forums, but now, Nagami had personally confirmed its truth.
And the kicker? No matter what time period version of Kurumi you desired, she had them all.
Even the… younger ones—cough.
Of course, given Nagami's ironclad sense of dignity, would he really make such a request of Kurumi?
That… was a difficult question indeed.
What made things even wilder was her willingness.
With her personality, she'd happily play along with any role, any "special play" Nagami wanted, dressing up in costumes that spanned the full breadth of human culture.
What more could a man ask for?
The only problem—her lust was too strong.
Frighteningly so.
Nagami had to rely on the his's ability to conjure endless ammunition just to keep up.
Without that… Kurumi would've drained him dry.
After all, her clones weren't just constructs of energy—they were her actual selves, drawn from different points in time.
They were all the real Kurumi.
In the past, her clones' activity was still bound by "time."
But now, with Nagami around, Kurumi no longer cared about such limitations.
————————————————————————
Inside C.C.'s room.
Two flawless beauties—slender waists, long legs, perfect curveswere entwined together.
Smooth green locks tangled with glossy black strands, spilling across their pale backs, revealing graceful necks and delicate shoulder blades.
"Fwaaah~"
Using her lips to brush aside Kurumi's hair, C.C. stretched lazily, her supple body arching with languid elegance.
Barefoot, she padded over to the window and pulled the curtains wide.
Sunlight flooded in, streaming across her radiant golden eyes.
She narrowed them against the brightness.
The light caressed Kurumi as well, highlighting the delicate sheen of her fair, flawless skin.
Every line of her body was picture-perfect.
So perfect it made one think: God, that's tongue bite worthy.
…Kidding, of course. C.C. wasn't about to actually do it.
Even in Nagami's male form, he'd managed to keep his cool.
Compared to that, C.C. merely chuckled, brushing it off with ease.
Kurumi, on the other hand, lay sprawled across the sheets, her porcelain face still tinted pink.
Her legs were spread, hands pressing into her inner thighs, sitting in a posture halfway between shame and defeat.
Last night, her Kurumi Legion had held absolute advantage—yet because a single mistake, she had not been able to avoid that inevitable, utterly inhuman conclusion.
Yes… the reason Kurumi had thrown herself so fully into Nagami's game last night was simple: she wanted all of his attention, to monopolize his focus onto herself alone.
But she hadn't expected that.
Nagami, exploiting the haze clouding her awareness, had directly linked her senses with him, and not only that even after she pass out he also started linked her senses with those of her clones.
He had merged her consciousness with theirs at a very particular level.
The result?
All Kurumi clone and herself had nearly fainted.
One by one, the other Kurumis withdrew back into the shadow realm, overwhelmed by the overload of shared sensation.
Not that it mattered anymore.
The important thing was… whether human or spirit, Kurumi felt that the current "her" could no longer be neatly categorized into either race.
Even now, just recalling that sensation made her dizzy, her mind trembling as if on the verge of collapse.
Her rationality was breaking down, and she had never felt her emotions explode so violently before.
And yet… she was beginning to understand, at least a little, what Nagami had meant.
That strange, dangerous feeling—it really was like a fatal poison.
At times, Kurumi even caught herself thinking, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
Terrifying. Terrifying!
But still…
But still…
But still…
She just couldn't accept it!!
Kurumi gave up thinking altogether and collapsed onto the bed.
She pulled the blanket over her head, rolling back and forth like a child.
Her whole being was wrapped in a gloomy, heavy aura.
It seemed not everyone had Nagami's kind of unshakable integrity.
C.C. chuckled softly, shaking her head.
Her silky green hair swayed as she looked at Kurumi with a smirk of disdain tugging at her lips.
'Really, that's all it takes to throw you off? If you can't handle something this trivial, how are you supposed to call yourself a proper hedonist?'
If Kurumi were swapped with the Doctor from Arknights, that person would probably be shouting "One more time!" by now.
Even Lumine—well… if she knew for sure the other was a counterpart of herself, she'd probably react in a similar way.
Lumine already had a rotten streak when it came to others.
Faced with another version of "Nagami," she might end up with standards on par with Nagami's.
Of course, that only applied if the other person was indeed a true counterpart.
After all, judging by the amnesia Doctor and Nagami's personalities, Nagami's counterpart clearly had no qualms about "not holding back" when it came to themselves.
Stretching out her smooth, porcelain-like legs, C.C. pulled a pair of silky white stockings up her bare feet.
The fabric clung cool and damp against her skin, and at her thigh a starlight-colored garter materialized, pressing into her flawless flesh.
Her other thigh, pale and exposed to the air, made the asymmetry of the stockings and garter all the more striking—her whole XP system was practically designed by Mihoyo's top-tier artists.
And it wasn't just an exaggeration.
Back when Hu Tao, Kamisato, or even Mobius had first been released, C.C. hadn't thought much of them.
But the more she looked, the more something began to feel… off.
'Kind of cute.'
'Actually pretty cute.'
'Damn it, she's adorable! Fine, she's my waifu now!'
Before she knew it, her own preferences had been rewritten. She'd fallen hopelessly deep.
"Alright, Kurumi, what are you still sulking about? Time to get up and eat."
C.C. gently shook the spirit girl's delicate body, then slapped her own forehead as if suddenly remembering.
"Ah—almost forgot. Your clothes got ruined, didn't they? I'll make it up to you with new ones, how's that?"
As soon as the words left her lips, countless brilliant motes of light surged into being in the air, forming into a variety of elaborate outfits fit for a young lady.
Kurumi shot her a sidelong glance, her long curled lashes practically dripping allure.
"If my darling husband wants to see me in something, he can just say so. Still, I'll admit… these designs are impressive. You really are an incorrigible pervert."
"Thank you for the compliment~"
C.C.'s shamelessly proud expression left Kurumi helpless.
She let her eyes wander over the outfits, then finally extended a slender finger toward one.
"This one will do."
It was an all-black gothic dress, with layers of classical frills and red trim at the hem—dark, elegant, and gorgeous.
To match were crystal-studded black heels and long lace-patterned stockings.
You could always count on a true degenerate's sense of fashion.
"Alright then, let me help you put it on~"
———————————————————————
Daily Uploads!
Unlock bonus chapters by reaching specific milestones with [Power Stone] votes!
Go to p-atreon.com/InsomniaTL to access more than 50 advanced chapters.