Chapter 83: A Man

Bu Hao!

This is bad!

The situation seems terribly off!

A single word from Nagato Yuki has undoubtedly pushed events into an uncontrollable abyss.

“Nagato Yuki is black inside when cut open”—this fact is now being recorded by the Information Integration Thought Entity.

Although Asu might think Nagato Yuki is merely too honest or simply an alien who can’t read the atmosphere, Jia Ji knows she is at least ninety to one hundred percent doing this on purpose—knowing full well it would hook Sōsuke into a rage, yet saying it anyway, either she’s scheming or she has Nagato-style mischief!

It certainly isn’t like Asakura Ryouko, trying to provoke Sōsuke into a romantic info-burst for observation purposes.

“Death! Death death death death death! Death is mandatory!”

If Asu hadn’t been desperately pulling her from behind, Sōsuke would have charged straight up and beaten Jia Ji senseless.

Size, combat power, muscle strength—these meant nothing to her; Sōsuke, this beautiful girl, always overwhelmed others with sheer presence!

How heavy is a high school girl’s punch and kick? This question—off the scale, it weighs nothing; on the scale, fifty tons won’t stop it.

If he truly took a Sōsuke Punch, Jia Ji’s HP would drop to paper level the instant it landed; six ordinary consecutive punches per second would knock him flat on the spot—he had zero confidence he could walk away unscathed.

She shoved Asu aside, sneered, and raised one finger: “I don’t approve of you two.”

“You don’t need to approve anyway…” Only Asu was still making snarky remarks at this moment.

“But my bottom line is: if you break up for any reason, I will kill you myself.”

If you ranked all current SOS Brigade members by her level of fondness, Nagato Yuki was unquestionably first after Asu, while Misato with her lewd chest was last.

She would never let anyone deceive Nagato Yuki—not even her own second recruit, whom she personally recruited.

Hey hey hey, this is a real problem now.

Upon hearing Sōsuke’s resounding declaration, Yuki’s expression remained unchanged, her usual poker face, quietly observing as if nothing had happened.

But looking at Jia Ji, he now felt stomach pain, head pain, limb pain, dantian pain—even his nonexistent purple palace, karmic sea, golden core, and nascent soul began to ache; his eyelids twitched twice, his face trembled uncontrollably, and even his jet-black short hair stood on end in fright.

If this woman isn’t joking, then aside from fleeing this place immediately, he’d probably endure a solo-exclusive “Final Destination” escape game every other day.

“Um… actually, just cohabiting doesn’t mean anything, right…?”

Right! Now it’s time for Jia Ji the Great’s eloquence!

"Hmph! Obviously, a man who can't even muster the courage to admit it face-to-face is useless." Shaking her finger, Sōsuke sneered, her cruel thoughts fully visible on her face—she was the perfect embodiment of thought-action unity.

What did you say?! Jia Ji was furious!

Don’t slander our pure 2D guys!

Without the resolve to die, how can one achieve greatness in the Northern Dipper Divine Fist? This is the moment of life and death!

Facing the oppressive, nearly frozen atmosphere—the world’s unique, overwhelming malice that only an outsider could feel—Jia Ji was fighting with all his might to overcome it!

My body, move!

Move, Tie Ao!!

Finally, under Sōsuke’s final ultimatum.

Jia Ji’s hesitation, tension, and timidity—those things that made him look utterly pathetic—vanished entirely; his gaze carried weight, as if he had made his decision, and he finally spoke slowly:

“You’re right.”

“I really do think Yuki is adorable, incredibly adorable—more than you, Misato, Asakura Ryouko, or anyone else in this school!”

Though she considered herself the greatest, Sōsuke did not interrupt Jia Ji now.

“To say I don’t like her is impossible; wanting to date her is only natural. I’m no different—I stayed at her place at first partly because I wanted to admire a beautiful girl up close every day; that should be a very happy thing.”

The literary girl, the indispensable silent type, an unprecedented knowledge vault, the all-knowing demon Yuki—there are endless cute points to see; anyone who doesn’t like her isn’t human anymore!

Reality offers no visible affection meters; choose wrong, and there’s no reset. Someone like him, whose body always moves before his mind and who is painfully slow with emotions, can’t possibly master the feelings of a young girl through mundane daily events in such a short time.

But… if I don’t speak up now, if I retreat, won’t I spend the rest of my life unable to forgive myself?

At this moment, Sōsuke’s eyes sparkled brightly, as if she had gained new respect for Jia Ji’s decisiveness and honesty.

“We haven’t officially started dating yet, but I do have this thought… if I could date her, what kind of pillow would I need to dream of that?”

“Ha, so that’s how it is?”

Sōsuke’s mood instantly cleared up; she gave him a “you’ve got to push harder” look, leapt into the air, and slammed her palm hard on Jia Ji’s shoulder, scrutinizing his appearance, pinching his well-developed muscles a few times, nodding in satisfaction, then shifted tone.

“Then I advise you to seize the opportunity immediately. As your leader, this is the only advice I’ll give you: work hard! It’s harder to conquer Yuki than to capture Osaka Castle from the Toyotomi regime! Do you understand?”

“So what? I can defeat Tokugawa Ieyasu too!”

With one burst of courage, Jia Ji made a shocking declaration right before Nagato Yuki’s eyes.

He could feel it—this wasn’t because Sōsuke thought they were dating and altered reality to make him act this way.

His feelings at this moment were utterly genuine.

“Do you really think they’re compatible?” Asu couldn’t help asking from behind.

“You should know better. Sure, this guy doesn’t look like a good person at all, but his personality isn’t bad, right? I believe Yuki will make the right decision herself.”

Satisfied, Sōsuke laughed heartily, leading Asu, whose expression was complex, striding through Xuanguan and heading back.

“Remember your words today—I’ll be watching you both!”

“This is a man’s promise—who do you think I am?!”

Compared to Sōsuke, who loved stirring up trouble, Yuki, who remained where she was, was clearly more rational and composed. Though her gaze at Jia Ji still carried a faint hint of puzzlement—as if she didn’t understand the meaning behind his actions—her face showed no surprise, maintaining her usual calm.

But Jia Ji, who had lived with her for over a month, had noticed that when his eyes met her golden irises, the girl who normally blinked once every ten seconds had blinked several times in rapid succession.

Unusual—she seemed slightly flustered.

“Clap clap clap clap clap”

The apartment manager, who had watched the entire scene, clapped his hands—making one wonder if he was even deaf.

Please forgive the awkward, clumsy writing.

Love is so complicated—unfortunately, I’ve never been in love.

“Sōsuke Punch”—from the Bathroom Princess’s “Sōsuke Haruhi’s You Tiao.”

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(End of Chapter)