The voice coming from the crow's beak left the two utterly stunned, especially when the deep, familiar tone reached Hoshino Mirai's ears. She froze in place as if struck by lightning.
There was no mistaking that voice.
It was definitely the same one.
But why was it coming from a crow now?
Countless thoughts flashed through Hoshino Mirai's mind, while on the other side, Hoshino Yikui had already snapped out of his shock. His voice trembling, he asked, "Y-you are...?"
"Oh... I forgot to mention. Last time, I was a penguin. This time, I've taken the form of a bird."
The crow spread its wings and tilted its head to examine its own body, seemingly displeased with its current appearance.
"Ahem... H-hello."
After a long pause, Hoshino Yikui finally swallowed his fear and greeted the crow in a hushed tone. After all, crows were often seen as omens of misfortune.
Meanwhile, Hoshino Mirai narrowed her eyes and stared intently at the crow. After a while, she mustered her courage and stubbornly blurted out, "You're actually Su Cheng, aren't you?"
As soon as she said this, the crow tilted its head at her, looking puzzled.
At the same time, Su Cheng, who had been hiding invisibly behind the crow and providing the voice, quietly slipped to the door. Using a voice modulator to mimic an outside tone, he knocked and called out, "Senpai, are you two in there?"
After that, he quickly sneaked back behind the crow to resume his role as the voice actor.
Hearing Su Cheng's voice from the rooftop door, Hoshino Mirai froze, then turned suspiciously toward the entrance. Seeing this, Su Cheng swiftly leaped from the rooftop into a pre-opened window below, then dashed up the stairs five steps at a time to reach the rooftop door.
"Su Cheng?"
Hoshino Mirai opened the door and was shocked to see Su Cheng standing there. She immediately turned back to look at the crow perched on the chair, exclaiming, "Was I mistaken?!"
The crow nodded.
At the same time, Su Cheng at the door put on an apologetic expression and said, "Sorry, senpai, something came up and delayed me."
But as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly turned his head toward the stairs below, as if hearing something, and hastily explained, "Senpai, someone's coming up to the rooftop. Close the door quickly—I'll go stop them."
"Senpai, the rooftop is closed."
Su Cheng began talking to the air, then pulled out his voice changer to mimic another person's voice: "But I just saw someone go up there."
"Really, it's closed."
Su Cheng's tone grew strained.
"No, I'm going up to check."
A different, unfamiliar male voice replied assertively.
Then, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed up the stairs. Hoshino Mirai quickly shut and locked the door.
Hearing the door close, Su Cheng rushed back to the window he had jumped from earlier and climbed back onto the rooftop.
"That kid just now... I borrowed his body once."
At that moment, the crow suddenly spoke again, offering an explanation.
"......"
Both Hoshino Mirai and Hoshino Yikui fell silent before turning to stare at it.
"Actually, I came to say goodbye this time."
The crow continued, but its next words made Hoshino Mirai's body tremble violently. She lost her composure and demanded, "Where are you going?!"
"Ah..."
The crow sighed, shaking its little head as it looked at her distressed expression. "I can't tell you where. But before I go, please accept my sincerest wish—may you always be happy and blessed."
"You... you're leaving just like that?!"
Hoshino Mirai's beautiful eyes widened in disbelief, her heart filling with panic.
"Yes. Goodbye."
The crow raised a wing in farewell, then took off without hesitation, vanishing into the sky in the blink of an eye.
"Wait!"
Hoshino Mirai tried to chase after it, even reaching the rooftop ledge. If not for Hoshino Yikui holding her back, she might have slid down the wall.
Even so, tears streamed down her face as she gazed at the blue sky, murmuring, "Why did you have to leave... I didn’t even get to thank you..."
Hoshino Yikui gently patted her shoulder and comforted her, "Little sis, don’t be sad. Maybe..."
Hoshino Mirai wiped her tears with her sleeve and sniffled. "Why did it leave like this... I still had so much to say."
But suddenly—
As soon as she spoke, a solemn and majestic proclamation echoed across the rooftop, its voice resonating clearly in their ears: "It seems you are in trouble. Would you like to trade something with me?"
The two were startled and looked around, but they couldn’t find the source of the voice.
They realized—the stainless steel demon had appeared again.
"Yes, we want to trade something."
Hoshino Mirai reacted first, answering without hesitation. She urgently pulled an old phone from her bag and raised it into the air. "Here, take this."
"Unfortunately, I’m not accepting electronics this time."
The voice replied indifferently.
Hearing this, their expressions darkened, especially Hoshino Mirai, who pressed further, "Then what do you want? Money? Jewelry? Luxury goods?"
Right now, she just wanted the crow to come back—to talk to her, to listen to everything she still had to say!
"Hmm... The black stockings you're wearing seem nice. I’ll take those this time."
As the voice spoke, the siblings both looked down at the so-called "stockings," and their expressions turned awkward.
Because they were sheer stockings.
"...You want this?"
Hoshino Mirai bent slightly, pinching the fabric of her black stockings between her fingers, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"Yes. I don’t want 'student-used, like-new' items. I want the same brand, completely new and unopened. Bring them by noon tomorrow."
With that, the voice gradually faded, and the rooftop returned to silence.
"Uh... That demon has some unique tastes."
Hoshino Yikui scratched his head, unsure how to respond. He awkwardly glanced at Hoshino Mirai and asked sheepishly, "Hey, sis... Could you get me a pair too?"
"But bro, we only have one left at home..."
Hoshino Mirai frowned, knowing exactly why her brother wanted them—but they were hard to find.
"Eh~ Then let’s go buy more tonight!"
"They’re hard to get."
"Then just tell me the brand—I’ll go buy them myself!"
………………………………
Su Cheng, who had nearly lost his mind from all the acting, finally let out a sigh of relief. Once the siblings left and closed the door behind them, he climbed down from the window and headed toward the archery club.
Though two issues had been resolved, there was still one more—he had to appease the club president, or this situation would never end.
So, he made his way straight to the archery club.
This time, he wasn’t going to flatter or bribe his way out. He was simply going to apologize for his clever little stunt yesterday.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
villain is the number one simp for the book's leading female protagonist, Shen Wan'er. As expected, he later becomes a tool for the main character to show off and slap faces, ultimately meeting a tragic end with his family ruined and his life in shambles. Fortunately, he awakens the [Universal Pure Love System], which allows him to earn points by performing acts of pure love. To change his fate, Gu Yan makes a decisive choice to seek warmth and companionship with the book's biggest villain—Cold Qingqiu. ........... My name is Leng Qingqiu. To find the murderer who killed my parents years ago, I deliberately blinded myself so that everyone would lower their guard around me. Just as I was secretly accumulating power and capital according to my initial plan, a man walked into my world. "Lengleng, Qingqing, Qiuqiu, which nickname do you prefer?" I don't like any of them. You'd better leave quickly! "Why aren't you saying anything? How about I call you my baby wife?" Leng Qingqiu thinks to herself, this man is truly annoying! (Stubborn pure love warrior + single female lead + true pure love + 1v1)
