"Damn it!" Mo Wang groaned as he trudged out of the classroom, feeling utterly defeated.
He never imagined he would have to work during his last summer vacation as a student. It was a violation of his fundamental principles as a professional slacker.
"Why do they have to send me to find the Nine Realms? I may be Chinese, but is that place even real?"
He rubbed his temples. This was probably the consequence of his own meddling with the storyline. The Joyce clones who had given Kiana the location in the original manga had been dealt with long ago. Without that key piece of information, finding a hidden pocket dimension was nearly impossible unless Fu Hua decided to go all out, which she rarely did.
"Ugh... Otto, you couldn't have found someone else to do this? Why do you always have to milk St. Freya dry?"
He let out a long sigh, the fight draining out of him. "I guess I'll just go back and play some games. I wonder if Kiana's awake."
He was just about to turn the corner to his dorm when a voice stopped him.
"Mo... Mo Wang."
He turned to see 'Kiana' standing there, fidgeting nervously.
"Let's go on a date today," she said, her voice barely a whisper.
"Huh?"
Mo Wang froze in his tracks, his brain struggling to compute this new information. He stared at her, genuinely bewildered.
"Are you sick?" he asked, instinctively reaching out to touch her forehead. "You usually hate going out. You'd rather fuse with the sofa than see the sun. Why do you suddenly want to go on a date?"
Her temperature seemed slightly higher than usual, and her cheeks were flushed a delicate pink. Her blue eyes—or what he thought were blue eyes—shimmered with an unfamiliar shyness.
"'S-So, is that a problem?" she stammered, avoiding his gaze. "We're a couple now... a public one, even... but we've never been on a real date... All we do is stay in that room..."
She looked up, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, her lower lip trembling slightly. "I want to experience what it's like to be in love, like a normal girl!"
Thump!
Mo Wang's heart skipped a beat. This shy, blushing, emotionally vulnerable girl was really Kiana? The same Kiana who put her feet on the table while playing games and spilled instant noodles all over the bed? She was practically radiating pink, sparkly shoujo manga bubbles.
"W-Wait a minute!" Mo Wang said, taking a physical step back. "Did you read too many of Wendy's romance novels or something? This is freaking me out."
This couldn't be his Kiana. The acting was too good. Or maybe too bad?
"'Mo Wang, you're being mean!" 'Kiana' said, her lips forming a perfect pout. "You promised you'd do anything for me... are you going to break your promise now that everyone knows about us?"
A critical hit! He felt a surge of heat rush to his head. These kinds of emotional manipulation techniques were definitely not allowed. They were too powerful.
Mo Wang's mind reeled. He couldn't imagine his loud, boisterous Kiana pulling off something like this. He didn't even consider the possibility that this wasn't Kiana at all. After all, her eyes were still blue (thanks to Herrscher Kiana's carefully applied colored contacts), and as scary as it was to think about Kiana acting this way, it was even scarier to imagine Sirin doing it.
While Mo Wang was struggling to process 'Kiana's' sudden charm offensive, Sirin was having her own internal crisis.
Why?! I've followed all the strategies Kiana uses in those dating sim games she plays! Why won't this human agree?! Is his heart made of stone?!
Should I give up? No, I can't! For the sake of my plan—for the sake of my sanity—I have to succeed today!
She took a deep breath, steeling her resolve, and put on her most alluring, doe-eyed expression.
"If... if you take me out on a date today to Homu Land, I'll... I'll wear those special outfits you've been collecting..."
Mo Wang was struck dumb. His mind short-circuited. The words "Homu Land," "date," and "special outfits" collided in his brain, creating an explosion of pure, unadulterated joy that wiped out all rational thought.
At that exact same moment, deep within her own mental space, the real Kiana's consciousness went berserk.
"What do you think you're saying with my body, you shameless hussy?!"
The real Kiana, who was supposed to be unconscious, suddenly manifested and delivered a punch to Sirin's face.
"W-What?! You're supposed to be asleep! How are you awake?!" Sirin cried, stumbling back from the assault.
"I woke up when you started acting all disgusting!" Kiana said, and unleashed a flurry of blows.
She had become aware of her other personality ever since Sirin had taken control during the tournament and gotten utterly destroyed by Mo Wang.
Just as Sirin took over when Kiana lost consciousness, Kiana could now regain some measure of control when Sirin was distracted or flustered.
That was how Kiana had woken up in her mental space.
Of course, Kiana was still far weaker than her Herrscher self, so she was quickly overwhelmed.
But she now knew that she had a Herrscher personality. Kiana liked to bottle up her emotions, and the thought of turning into a Herrscher and hurting others weighed heavily on her mind.
That was why her battles with Mo Wang had been so intense lately.
"Hehe! Now that you're awake, there's no point in hiding anything! Just give up! Once Mo Wang falls in love with another woman, you'll be useless!" Sirin cackled.
"How dare you try to cuck me?!" Kiana cried, outraged. "I'm going to fix your evil, scheming Herrscher personality!"
The great Kiana vs. Herrscher Kiana battle had begun months ahead of schedule.
While the two personalities fought for control, their argument began to spill out into the real world, with 'Kiana's' expression shifting rapidly between shy, angry, and confused.
"To think you'd go this far just for a date..." Mo Wang murmured, completely misinterpreting the internal struggle.
He had been listening to her mutterings and thought she was arguing with herself over the decision.
A single tear welled up in his eye at the thought of his girlfriend being so desperate for a normal date that she would wage a war against her own tsundere nature.
"Alright, you've convinced me!" Mo Wang declared, his voice thick with emotion. "If a date is what you want, I'll take you to the moon if I have to! Homu Land it is!"
Sirin felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of dread. "W-What's going on? Why is he crying? Was my acting that good?"
"Hehe, those outfits, huh?" Mo Wang said, wiping the tear from his eye and grinning like a predator. "To think you'd actually agree to wear them."
Lying on the floor of her mental space, the real Kiana began to grin. If the mere thought of wearing those outfits made Mo Wang this emotional, then he must have collected some truly perverted things! Sirin is going to suffer!
"Just so you know, you promised, so you're the one who has to wear them," she said to Sirin with a gleeful giggle.
"But this is still your body too!" Sirin protested. "Why are you so happy?!"
"Because it's not me who has to go through the embarrassment."
"Damn you, Kiana! I'll make you watch!"
"Nope! I'm going to sleep through the whole thing."
In that moment, the two personalities lunged at each other again. Sirin was at a loss. Kiana knew her plan and was all too happy to let her suffer the consequences.
What am I supposed to do now?
With tears of frustration welling in her own eyes, Sirin stared at the emotionally charged Mo Wang and steeled her resolve.
I've already come this far! I have to see this through to the end!