5 | Exclusive from Jinjiang Literature City

Make do for one night.

"I'm sorry, we can't check you in."

After being rejected for the seventh time, Lai Chuan Huang Quan stood under the bright yellow streetlights, lost in thought.

The early winter wind tugged at her long dress, the air was chilly, and Lai Chuan Huang Quan's breath condensed into water droplets around her mouth. She was only wearing a long dress, without a coat.

The cold air seeped into the skin through the pores, turning into a painful sensation that stimulated Yomi Laichuan's nerves.

The staff of the Time and Space Administration have normal breathing and heartbeats, but their physical condition is more resilient than that of ordinary humans; at least she doesn't have to worry about hypothermia.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan had considered love hotels, places where no registration was required, just payment.

But Lai Chuan Huang Quan was visiting this world for the first time; she didn't know her way around and didn't have a map. Her phone was lost along with her ID, and the only love hotel she could find was completely full, with no vacancies.

With a sigh, Yomi Laichuan began to wander aimlessly through the streets.

With her perception of cold reduced and without suffering from hypothermia or catching a cold, Lai Chuan Huang Quan didn't bother to buy any extra clothes, only tightening her loose collar.

She exhaled a breath of hot air, and after a slight hesitation, turned around and entered the park as she passed Mihua Park.

The dimly lit park was illuminated by only a few lights. Yomi Laichuan sat on a bench, looking up at the pale moonlight. Tiny white snowflakes, no bigger than a finger's width, slowly fell from above, melting in the wind and moistening the air.

It's snowing, just a light snowfall.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan hunched over, propped his chin on his hand, and listlessly opened the virtual panel, beginning to browse the information of other mission targets.

Kenji Hagiwara's personal information has been marked with a red checkmark by the central system, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he has been removed from the death list.

The cause of death for Matsuda Jinpei is still marked with the word "old" in large letters, and has not been updated.

The name listed right after his information is "Morobu Kagemitsu".

Clicking on the other person's profile, a photo of a young man with cat-like eyes popped up.

—Name: Morofushi Kagemitsu/Midori Kō/Scotland (Not yet available)

Gender: Male

Age: 22

—Occupation: Police officer of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Bureau, currently undercover in the Black Organization/Bar singer

—Cause of death: Suicide by shooting himself after his identity was exposed.

The rescue target was her fabricated boyfriend, who happened to live on the twentieth floor of the building where the bomb was planted—quite a coincidence. The job placement also proved that Yomi's guess was correct; Morofushi Kagemitsu was indeed an undercover police officer.

Yomi Raised one eyebrow and gave a subtle smile. If Midorikawa Hikaru was a pseudonym for Morofushi Kagemitsu, then what was Scotland? If I remember correctly, it was a kind of spicy whiskey.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan raised her hand and tapped her earlobe, trying to contact her dog boss, but only heard a hollow rustling sound. It seemed the administrator was busy with other worlds and didn't have time to pay attention to her.

"Why."

Rubbing her temples and letting out a long sigh, Lai Chuan Huang Quan suddenly didn't want to watch anymore—before she was forcibly shoved into this world, the other mission participants had already failed three times. It was estimated that the Time and Space Administration was almost ready to abandon this world altogether, which was why they had forced her, who had been downgraded, into this world for a final attempt.

The moon was high in the sky, and it was getting late. Lai Chuan Huang Quan rubbed his slightly cool arms a couple of times, then moved and lay down on the bench.

I'll have to spend the night here for now.

Anyway, with the central system monitoring, she wasn't afraid of encountering danger—if an employee's psychological and physiological condition experienced peak fluctuations during the execution of a task, the central system would elevate the employee's situation to the highest priority.

The central system will forcibly send the scenes that employees are experiencing to managers and use this information to determine whether to forcibly remove employees from that world.

Employees can request to leave the premises when they encounter danger, but the central system will later determine that the mission has failed.

Furthermore, the central system activates basic protection after employees fall asleep, and if danger approaches, it will wake them from their sleep through nerve stimulation, similar to a sudden leg twitch when you're almost asleep.

This is just an ordinary 21st century; there's no internal energy or magic.

As long as the opponent is unarmed, Yomi Laichuan believes that dealing with ordinary people will be no problem at all.

Saying goodnight to himself, Lai Chuan Huang Quan closed his eyes.

Night fell over Tokyo, and the only sound in the park was the occasional rustling of leaves in the wind.

The melting snow condensed into dewdrops that gathered on the treetops, and the air was thick with moisture. Kenji Hagiwara, carrying a bag of beer, hurried along, crossing the park's small bridge, but suddenly stopped under a streetlamp.

About ten steps away in the shade of a tree, Lai Chuan Huang Quan, dressed only in a long skirt, lay on her side on a bench, her long legs dangling loosely in mid-air beyond the end of the bench. She rested her head on her hand, quiet as a porcelain doll.

Kenji Hagiwara frowned and stared at Yomi Laichuan for a long time before walking over quietly.

The park lights were mostly insufficient, casting a soft, pale yellow glow that illuminated only one side of Yomi's silhouette. Water molecules in the air condensed into tiny droplets, clinging to Yomi's dark hair.

When asleep, Yomi Laichuan is much more docile than when she is awake.

When this guy is awake, he's a fierce little Pomeranian. He's not big, and he's not very strong, but he looks pretty fierce with his teeth bared.

Kenji Hagiwara squatted in front of the bench, his chin resting on his hand, but his thoughts kept sinking.

He had more and more questions about Raikawa Yomi.

He stood up and took two steps back, creating a distance that wouldn't make Yomi Laichuan uneasy, before calling out the woman's name.

"Huang Quan, wake up, feed Lai Chuan Huang Quan."

After a few sounds, the woman on the bench opened her eyes, her eyelashes trembling.

Her azure eyes cleared from their cloudiness, and the face of the man she had seen several times in a single day came into view. Lai Chuan Huang Quan was startled and sat up, her head hitting the metal armrest hard with a loud bang.

The sound of the clang echoed continuously in the empty park.

Kenji Hagiwara was also startled by the sudden turn of events and leaned back slightly.

"hiss--"

Lai Chuan Huang Quan covered his head with both hands, rubbing the swollen bump, and glared fiercely at Hagiwara Kenji.

It's all his fault, otherwise she wouldn't have been so frightened and hit her head.

Damn it, someone was clearly approaching, why didn't her sleep protection mechanism wake her up?

What are you doing!

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Kenji Hagiwara casually placed his ice-cold beer on the roadside and took two steps forward: "Can I see where you bumped into something?"

His lips, which usually curved into a smile, were now pursed into a straight line, and his purple eyes, which held a gentle, autumn-water-like quality, were now filled with only seriousness and apology.

“I was just worried that you might be in danger sleeping here, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Yomi Laichuan glared at Hagiwara again, then withdrew her hand from her head: "See?"

Kenji Hagiwara gently lifted Yomi's black hair with his fingers, not daring to use any force; his movements were extremely light when examining Yomi.

"It seems to be swollen, but thankfully there's no bleeding."

Yomi Yorikawa simply let it go in one ear and out the other, completely ignoring what Hagiwara was saying.

Too close.

As Kenji Hagiwara bent over, a faint woody men's fragrance, carrying the damp chill of the sea breeze, wafted into Yomi Laichuan's nostrils.

Before Yomi could feel uncomfortable, Kenji Hagiwara took a few steps back. As he increased the distance between himself and Yomi, he smiled and casually pulled a small object from his pocket and tossed it to Yomi.

"Here, catch this."

"Huh?"

Hastily taking what Kenji Hagiwara threw at her, Yomi Laichuan opened her palm to reveal a brand new key.

"This is?"

"Here's the key to my house. Why don't you stay at my place for the night?"

"ha!?"

"Don't worry, I live in the police dormitory. The small apartment my dad bought for me in Tokyo is currently unoccupied."

Kenji Hagiwara picked up the iced beer again, one hand in his pocket, his smile polite and sincere, making one feel at ease: "You can use the bathroom, bed, and air conditioner as you like, just remember to return the key to me tomorrow."

Lai Chuan Huang Quan looked down at the key in his palm, tilted his head and showed a puzzled expression: "Aren't you afraid I'll tear down your house? You actually let strangers move into your house."

But Kenji Hagiwara didn't seem to care at all, and just shrugged with a smile: "Then I'll have to arrest you."

Lai Chuan Huang Quan looked up at Hagiwara, glanced down at the key, and his gaze darted back and forth between the two: "Aren't you going to ask me why I'm sleeping here?"

"You've probably run into some trouble, but all I know is that you need help; I don't necessarily need to know the details."

Kenji Hagiwara had already learned from the First Investigation Division before leaving get off work that Yomi Rikawa had lost her ID, and it was Inspector Megure who told her where to get a replacement.

The fact that they didn't choose to settle for a love hotel suggests they are likely unfamiliar with Tokyo's streets and environment, and perhaps even with the social conditions of Japan as a whole.

The bomb has been successfully defused, and the Metropolitan Police Department has conducted repeated inspections of the building. The building and streets returned to normal five or six hours ago. Although Yomi Lai claimed that Kagemitsu in room 2013 was her boyfriend, she did not spend the night there, and Kagemitsu did not come looking for her. It seems that the so-called "boyfriend" was just an excuse.

But how did she know that room 2013 belonged to Morofushi Kagemitsu, and what was her relationship with Morofushi Kagemitsu?

With too many questions, Kenji Hagiwara was filled with curiosity about Yomi Yorikawa.

But now is not the right time to ask questions.

"Shall we go?"

Kenji Hagiwara laughed and said, "Come stay at my place for one night, and that will be your way of repaying the life-saving favor."

Lai Chuan Huang Quan stared at the man in front of him, remained silent for a long time, and finally slowly uttered a single word: "Okay."

"Let's go then. I'll take you there first, and then I'll go back to my dorm."

[Author's Note]

The pupil color in this article is based on the anime's setting, so Kenji and Kei have purple eyes.

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