·55｜Exclusive to Jinjiang·55
Part of the truth.
The bedroom was surrounded by two huge, one-sided floor-to-ceiling windows. Lai Chuan Huang Quan stood on tiptoe by the window, with the distant car headlights flowing endlessly below, leaving a long trail of light and shadow.
Dark clouds gathered outside the window, the bright moonlight hidden behind the clouds, a raindrop hit the glass and splashed into a water droplet, then a second, then a third.
The raindrops grew denser and more urgent, like the faint weeping of the underworld in the Lai River.
She leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the clouds and rain outside, but her vision gradually blurred. In front of her was the cool, damp glass, while behind her was a frighteningly hot temperature. The relentless downpour, both inside and outside, soaked those who couldn't escape in time.
The torrential rain and strong winds continued until three or four in the morning before finally stopping.
The early spring breeze still carried a chill, and the air conditioner temperature was deliberately lowered by two degrees. Lai Chuan Huang Quan curled up in bed, too sleepy to keep her eyes open. She wasn't afraid of the cold, but she still subconsciously moved closer to the only source of warmth, only to be pulled even tighter around the waist.
The morning sunlight shone on the carpet, and the birdsong had barely begun when intermittent sobbing started again inside the room.
Today's breakfast is bread.
Sweet and fragrant bread should be paired with freshly baked hot milk. Let the soft bread, which exudes a delicious wheat aroma, be soaked in a rich milky fragrance, making it absolutely delicious.
After finishing his meal, Kenji Hagiwara fastened his tie in front of the mirror and said, "I'm going to work."
With her sexy but mottled shoulder exposed, Lai Chuan Huang Quan lay on the bed, hugging a soft pillow. She turned her head to the side without opening her eyes and squeezed out a muffled "hmm" from her throat.
Kenji Hagiwara circled back to the bedside and kissed Yomi Laichuan on the cheek: "I extended the lease for another day. You should rest well. I'll come and keep you company after get off work."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan was extremely sleepy. She furrowed her brows and said softly, "Okay."
Kenji Hagiwara: "I ordered a lot of food for you. After you've had a good rest, call the front desk and they'll bring it up to you."
As it turns out, some word touched a nerve with Lai Chuan Huang Quan. She curled up under the covers and, half-asleep, began to sob, "You bastard, I'll never talk to you again."
Kenji Hagiwara chuckled lightly: "Why are you ignoring me?"
"I already told you I couldn't eat anymore, but you kept forcing me to eat it all. I'm so full and uncomfortable. I hate you, I hate you so much!"
Lai Chuan Huang Quan became increasingly aggrieved as he spoke, hugging his pillow and whimpering incessantly. However, Hagiwara Kenji not only showed no remorse but laughed even more heartily. He smiled and gave a few more instructions before picking up his coat and taking a taxi to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Today, the SWAT team was conducting drills, and the team's locker room, filled with metal lockers, was packed with police officers. When Kenji Hagiwara took off his white shirt, the previously noisy locker room was immediately muted.
Everyone turned to look at their captain—or more accurately, at his back.
After a brief silence, everyone wore a sour expression and quickly looked away before Kenji Hagiwara could turn around and meet their gaze.
An ace is an ace after all. Whether it's an exercise or daily training, Hagi and Matsu always take the lead, widening the gap between themselves and others with their absolute strength.
For this reason, even though they were the fastest-promoted newcomers in the mobile unit, no one in the entire classroom raised any objections.
However, even the ace of the mobile team needs to replenish energy after strenuous exercise.
Kenji Hagiwara rummaged through the drawer and pulled out his favorite chocolate, taking a tentative small bite.
It was indeed very tough.
Kenji Hagiwara recalled his first experience with an Americano iced coffee in junior high school. The bitterness spread from the tip of his tongue to his stomach, making him feel like he was drinking Chinese medicine that day.
"Isn't it awful?" Matsuda Jinpei had already wiped the sweat from his hair with a towel. He tore open an energy bar he had bought from a vending machine. "Nothing that coward makes is palatable."
Kenji Hagiwara took another bite: "It's alright, except it's really bitter, but not particularly hard to swallow."
Matsuda Jinpei swallowed the entire energy bar whole, chuckled, and said nothing. But his expression seemed to say, "Look, this is the power of love."
Kenji Hagiwara wasn't annoyed. He smiled and raised an eyebrow, bluntly exposing Jinpei Matsuda's pretense: "You've already eaten the chocolate Soft Bread gave you, haven't you?"
Matsuda Jinpei replied without hesitation, "I didn't eat."
Kenji Hagiwara: "I recorded it." Be careful, I might send it to Softbread's email address.
"..." Matsuda Jinpei choked, staring at Hagiwara Kenji for a long time before gritting his teeth and saying, "That's right, I ate it, so what?" And he ate it all clean.
It was incredibly bitter, but he still forced himself to swallow it all down with water.
Kenji Hagiwara just smiled and shrugged, saying nothing, yet it seemed like he had said everything.
The coastline, blurred by the waves, changed little by little with the alternation of day and night. The spring breeze quietly changed direction, and the flowers blooming in his heart subtly changed their flavor. Kenji Hagiwara noticed the strange changes in the pine trees as they dissipated in the air, but he didn't want to point it out or remind them.
The sudden ringing of her cell phone broke Hagiwara Kenji's thoughts. It was Yomi Raikawa calling. She finally sat up from her bed, having had a good night's sleep.
Once the call connected, the woman, finally recovering from her exhaustion, angrily listed all of Kenji Hagiwara's actions on the other end of the line.
Kenji Hagiwara didn't argue back. No matter what Yomi Laichuan said to him, he smiled and apologized. Cleverly bypassing Yomi Laichuan's promise that there would be no next time, Kenji Hagiwara used delicious food as bait to lure the soft bread into his trap.
After hanging up the phone, my thoughts were drawn into memories.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan is loud and boisterous like an easily angered little Pomeranian, but in reality, she is incredibly soft inside and out, and can only be bullied every time.
Every time he was bullied, he would make a scene. Sometimes, when he was bullied too badly, he would cry. When he cried a lot, he would punch and kick him.
The lingering fire within his chest began to flare, burning Hagiwara Kenji's throat until it was dry. He tilted his head back and gulped down the bottled water on the table, already looking forward to leaving work. He'd take Yomi Raikawa out for sashimi later; he'd have to coax her a bit so she could eat more delicious bread and dishes.
Meanwhile, Lai Chuan Huang Quan, who was already sitting on the sofa enjoying his meal, received another message from the administrator.
This is the fifteenth day since the administrator was blocked. He tried to contact Lai Chuan Huang Quan in the meantime, but she always chose to remain silent—this was her silent protest.
After reviewing the death date of the most recent recipient of aid, the administrator also followed Yorikawa into the afterlife.
However, yesterday afternoon, around lunchtime, data regarding Lai Chuan Huang Quan's physical and emotional state became garbled, similar to interference with radio signals.
This phenomenon has occurred before.
The administrator knew what this meant.
Fortunately, the garbled text only appeared briefly before returning to normal.
The administrator glanced at the date in Lai Chuan Huang Quan's world; it was Valentine's Day. He sighed, deciding to give Lai Chuan Huang Quan ample time for a date, and then turned to attend to other employees' matters. It wasn't until this afternoon that the administrator proactively contacted Lai Chuan Huang Quan.
— "1107, your data has an anomaly."
When the call was received, Lai Chuan Huang Quan was feeding herself diced apple. She chewed the sweet and sour apple pieces, her gaze lowered, and she did not answer.
The long, oppressive silence was terrifying. The man, who would remain unmoved even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, finally let out a trace of emotion in his words, and his tone of voice was no longer calm and even.
— "1107, unless absolutely necessary, do not approach 'Red-Haired Underworld', and do not involve her in your mission."
"I warned you."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan used a toothpick to pick up another piece of fruit, chewed it, and swallowed it before saying unhurriedly, "Administrator, you do indeed know far more information than what the central system provides."
"The central system will provide the information it obtains fairly and impartially. It will not do something like only informing the administrator while deliberately concealing the information from the staff responsible for the mission in that world. Therefore, your information does not come from the central system."
Yomi Lai left the fruit platter she had already eaten, stood up, and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. Sunlight streamed into her eyes, reflecting the Tokyo street scene outside.
She held her palm against the transparent glass, gently touching Tokyo through the window, trying to feel the warmth of the city.
After a long silence, Yomi Laichuan continued, "Where did you get your information? From the three employees who failed in this world, or from your experience living here?"
The administrator did not answer, nor did Lai Chuan Huang Quan need his reply.
Under a clear blue sky, Tokyo is like a rapidly spinning machine, and the pedestrians coming and going are just tiny cogs in the machine.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan believed that the world was malfunctioning and that she had been sent to fix it.
But it seems...
She is the one who is faulty.
The blinding sunlight shone on the skin where the teeth marks had not yet faded, forming beams of light as it passed through the gaps between the fingers.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan lowered his gaze and continued, "Administrator, you once said something to me. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but now, upon closer reflection, I realize that your words have a deeper meaning."
"At the time, I thought there were other mission takers in this world, but you denied my guess."
—Number 1107, in the world you are currently in, the Administration will not send a second employee besides you.
This was the reply the administrator gave at the time.
“So,” Raikawa Yomi looked out the window at the distant Tokyo Tower, her brows furrowed and she said seriously, “this world has always only had me, and I was the one who carried out those three failed missions, right?”
"I thought I was demoted because I failed the apocalypse mission, but after thinking it over carefully, although I survived by the skin of my teeth, that world was actually successful. I was demoted because I failed three times in a row in that world. But since that memory was erased, I mistakenly thought that the reason for my demotion was the apocalypse that I almost messed up earlier."
That makes sense.
Why did her personality undergo such a dramatic and unexpected change from the apocalypse to the present?
This was her fourth attempt to save the world, and the memories of the three missions in between had been erased. From A to E, the letters in between were wiped off with correction fluid, leaving large blank spaces that looked abrupt and unnatural.
Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda inexplicably appeared on Yomi Yomi's sleep protection mechanism whitelist because she had added them to the whitelist during a previous mission.
The jumbled information was categorized and organized, and Lai Chuan Huang Quan's brain was working at lightning speed: "I did feel unwell, but I didn't expect it to be because of the red-haired Huang Quan."
She looked up at the azure sky and voiced her guess: "I always thought I was born into the Bureau, but now it seems... I and the red-haired Huang Quan are actually the same person, except that all my memories before becoming an employee have been erased."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan looked bewildered, like a lost little animal: "But... my personality is so different from that of the red-haired Huang Quan, how could we be the same person?"
At this moment, the administrator, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.
"You begged me."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan was stunned; she didn't understand: "What?"
—"After the third mission failed, you cried and begged me to erase all your memories of them."
The administrator's deep, hoarse voice seemed to weigh a ton as he slowly said, "So stop digging into my past. I just want to protect you."
[Author's Note]
Soft bread dipped in milk is delicious!
The administrator's statement appeared, and the sleep protection mechanism appeared.
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