A Foolish Grin and a Thunderous Scolding

Mao Mingdao’s smile was far too transparent in its intent.

‘Praise me quickly!’

‘Applaud me now!!’

‘Worship me!!!’

It felt as though these thoughts were so concrete they were on the verge of manifesting into reality.

Perhaps, at this very moment, Mingdao was already lost in some grand delusion.

Honestly, that smile of his… rather than resembling the innocent grin of a child, it struck me as the utterly bewildered smirk of a fool.

Cough, cough—! I certainly didn’t mean to offend Senior. This was merely an objective observation! An objective observation, truly!!!

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****

Yet, somehow, that explanation felt even more hurtful.

I settled back onto the sofa, offering a dry, soundless chuckle, and subtly tugged at Samidare Ruka’s and Leidi’s sleeves, prompting them to sit beside me.

“Mingdao,” I began, taking a sip of black tea and suppressing a smile, “May I ask how many of these monsters you’ve captured in total?”

I felt compelled to ask, eager to understand the true extent of the danger we had previously faced.

“Exactly ten thousand, big and small,” Mingdao replied, his foolish grin still plastered on his face.

“Pfft—cough, cough—cough, cough—cough, cough, cough—!”

Clapping a hand over my mouth, I hastily set my teacup down on the table. Leidi and Samidare Ruka, seated on either side of me, instinctively began patting my back.

I had choked!

But!

That wasn’t the point!

How could there be so many?! Ten thousand, truly?!

Having prior combat experience, I morbidly imagined myself confronting ten thousand of those creatures alone.

Countless tentacles lunging and stabbing at me…

Innumerable tentacles hoisting me aloft, swinging and striking…

A multitude of pulsating masses of flesh, their surfaces rippling with colossal veins, writhing closer and closer.

My heavens… it would undoubtedly be a scroll painting of hell itself. The hand covering my mouth tightened involuntarily.

“Are you alright?” Mingdao asked, a touch of concern in his voice as he offered a box of tissues.

My face must look absolutely dreadful right now.

“Tha—thanks,” I managed, still coughing. My head felt light; could I be lightheaded from lack of oxygen?

“Protagonist, relax,” Leidi instructed, gently guiding me back against the sofa and lightly stroking my chest to help me calm my breathing.

Thank you, truly… I might just develop a phobia from this.

“Have you really put such a massive number of monsters into the ‘Corridor’?” Samidare Ruka inquired.

“Including the one I showed you last night, after our discussion, all ten thousand monsters have been transferred to Ms. Liliya via the Corridor,” he explained. “I have a feeling we’ll get some new information from this. By my estimate, she should have received them by now.”

My ragged breathing had mostly stabilized, and I leaned back against the sofa, lost in thought.

‘The Corridor,’ I mused. Samidare Ruka had once mentioned it was a special space created by a Gate holder, originating from a Gate itself, offering incredibly convenient functions depending on how it was used.

Being exceptionally sturdy in some respects, it could serve as my training ground. Judging by Mingdao’s recent words, it also appeared to function as a means of long-distance travel and a colossal storage facility. Between Leidi and me, only Leidi possessed the ability to create a Corridor… it felt as though she had stumbled upon quite the advantageous ability.

“Beep, beep—beep, beep—” A sound, akin to an alarm notification, emanated from Mingdao’s direction.

“Hmm? It’s Ms. Liliya,” Mingdao said, pulling out his phone. He glanced at the screen before answering the call. “Looks like she’s received all the monsters.”

Was his phone notification really an alarm sound? It struck me as rather tasteless.

“Hello, Ms. Liliya? Do you have new information?” Mingdao addressed the person on the other end. I couldn’t help but wonder why, if they were acquaintances, he didn’t start with a greeting.

“Tsk—why are you speaking Japanese?! Hold on, I’m looking for my ‘CHOKER’… where did I put it?”

The phone’s volume was quite high, allowing me to hear the voice on the other end fairly clearly; it sounded as if she was rummaging through a cluttered desk.

So this was the voice of Ms. Liliya, the holder of Gate Number One? I recalled Samidare Ruka mentioning she was a scientist who avoided international appearances, yet her voice had a surprisingly warm, ‘big sister’ nurse-like quality. And she was speaking Russian, was she Russian?

“Alright, I do have news for you,” Ms. Liliya stated directly, offering Mingdao a choice with a hint of exasperation. “Which do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news?”

“Uh? Let’s go with the good news first,” Mingdao replied, likely sensing the underlying prickle in her tone. What could have happened?

“You probably won’t be attacked by enemies for quite some time; you’re very safe.”

Wow… why the “probably”? Still, it was undeniably good news.

“Is that so? That’s wonderful,” Mingdao said, smiling as he glanced at Samidare Ruka, evidently pleased that his beloved was now in a safe environment. Ah, another public display of affection—haha…

“Don’t celebrate too soon; there’s still bad news,” Ms. Liliya on the other end interjected, pouring a bucket of cold water on Mingdao’s joy. She sounded genuinely angry.

“Uh—so, what’s the bad news?” Mingdao asked hesitantly, clearly flustered by the sudden shift in the conversation’s atmosphere.

“Turn your phone’s volume to maximum, then hold it tight against your ear.”

“Oh.”

Mingdao complied with Ms. Liliya’s instructions, pressing the volume button on the side of his phone and truly holding it snugly against his ear.

He followed her directions perfectly, one hundred percent.

However… what could be Ms. Liliya’s reason for asking Mingdao to do this? If she intended for only him to hear, then the contradictory act of turning up the volume made no sense.

“Wait!” Samidare Ruka suddenly cried out, rising to her feet in alarm and startling me. “Mingdao!!!”

She reached out, attempting to grab Mingdao’s phone.

But… she was a step too late.

The three of us were also a step too late… no, just two of us.

“Are you an IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!” The furious roar erupted from Ms. Liliya.

“Wah! My EARS!!!!!” Mingdao shrieked, his eyes practically rolling back into his head.

“Ugh—” I groaned, my face contorted in a daze.

“Aiyayaya!!!” Samidare Ruka exclaimed, wincing in sympathetic pain and enduring the assault.

“…” Leidi remained utterly calm, smiling faintly as she covered her ears.

Was that even a phone?! It sounded more like a colossal loudspeaker!

A thunderous roar burst from the phone, startling and shocking Mingdao so severely that he immediately tossed his device away. His face had gone utterly pale with fright.

Samidare Ruka and I fared no better, our heads throbbing with a persistent ringing. The thought of Mingdao’s suffering, subjected to Ms. Liliya’s malicious bombardment at such close range, surely surpassed our own, and sympathy welled up within me—no, rather than “welling up,” it was more akin to “gushing forth like a spring.”

Poor Mingdao!!!

“Hahahaha—”

Leidi chuckled, observing us frantically rubbing our ears. She silently picked up Mingdao’s phone from the floor, placed it on the table, and discreetly lowered its volume.

“Hello, Ms. Liliya. This is Leidi, from Gate Number Four,” Leidi said, her voice radiating the confidence of someone communicating with a peer.

“Oh, so there were others nearby? Funny, I didn’t hear your screams. Did you plug your ears beforehand? Quite clever of you!” Ms. Liliya’s voice held a noticeable laugh, which seemed to be a compliment.

“I am humbled,” Leidi responded with a smile, though the other party couldn’t see it. “I merely detected your mischief in time.”

Seriously… if you’d noticed it earlier, why didn’t you say something?!

“Mingdao, that idiot… his combat prowess is the only thing worth praising,” Ms. Liliya sighed, her voice tinged with disdain. “Ever since he started dating Samidare Ruka, his IQ has plummeted even further. Ugh—”

Wow… that look of disdain and helplessness practically wafted out of the phone.

Seriously, what exactly happened? Could someone please explain?

“At least tell me what I did wrong, Ms. Liliya!” Mingdao exclaimed, rubbing his ears with a frustrated expression, essentially “complaining” into the phone.

“Yes? What did Number Two do wrong?”

Hmm? When Samidare Ruka reached out earlier, I distinctly remember her calling out “Mingdao,” though her pronunciation was rather peculiar.

“The IQs of couples in love tend to drop together, you know…”

Now, even Samidare Ruka was being scorned.

“You already know about the large number of monsters in Japan, don’t you?”

This question was directed at everyone present.

“Mingdao has already informed us, and they’ve all been captured, Ms. Liliya,” I interjected, having recovered somewhat. Was this an attempt to divert aggro?

“That’s precisely where you went wrong! Why on earth did that idiot capture all of them?!” Another roar erupted from the phone, making me truly grateful Leidi had lowered the volume beforehand.

“Eh?! We weren’t supposed to catch them?! Why not?!” Mingdao exclaimed, picking up his phone with a shocked expression, staring blankly at its front.

“Didn’t you even consider it?! Such a massive number of monsters, and they haven’t attacked them even once in two months! Doesn’t that clearly indicate the enemy is plotting something?! By capturing all those monsters, you’ve only alerted them! Now, the next attack might not be something so simple, but something far more troublesome! I understand your concern for Samidare Ruka’s safety, but is she really that weak? The overall strength of these monsters is clearly abysmal! Idiot!!! And—” Ms. Liliya, having unleashed a torrent of words, took a deep breath.

“Why did you send so many monsters to my lab?! There’s barely any room to stand! Send them all to the bottom of the Sahara!”

“…” Mingdao was utterly bewildered.

“…” I had a sudden realization.

“…” Samidare Ruka wore a complicated expression.

“Pffft—” Leidi finally couldn’t suppress her laughter any longer.

So that was it… And the Sahara… was she referring to the famous Sahara Desert?

“Such thoughtless, idiotic behavior, truly… Ugh—” Ms. Liliya let out a long sigh, retracting whatever else she had intended to say.

“Then… what should I do?” Mingdao asked, looking utterly lost, speaking into the phone.

I thought to myself, Ms. Liliya couldn’t possibly see his expression, could she?

“Just to be safe, you’ll stay in Japan for the time being. But please, don’t do anything stupid again, alright? Okay?” Her tone left absolutely no room for refusal.

“Understood…” Mingdao sounded as though he was on the verge of tears.

Only moments ago, he had been grinning foolishly in excitement… this was likely a classic case of joy turning to sorrow.