As Ji Qianye’s pupils transformed into pink hearts, a radiant pink light emanated from her body, spreading outwards, and then…
“Oh? It seems nothing happened?”
Ji Qianye had expected her Angel to manifest with cinematic flair, but after a brief flash of pink light, there seemed to be nothing left.
“And I don’t even know what my Angel does; I just instinctively used it… *Hiss!*”
Suddenly, Ji Qianye felt a cool, refreshing, yet slightly warm sensation on her neck, much like being unexpectedly licked by a pet dog.
“Mmm… *Sigh, sigh!*”
“Eep!”
The sensation returned, and what’s more, Ji Qianye felt two small, delicate, warm, and rounded “buns” pressing against her back.
“Aha… Mmm! Even though you’re a Spirit, now that I look closely, you really are a very beautiful girl!”
“It’s fine if you say that to others, but I won’t be pleased… Eep, stop! Don’t put your hand in there!”
Evidently, the culprit, Origami Tobiichi, had no intention of ceasing her actions.
“My body… my body is getting so hot, please don’t… don’t do this!”
“It’s hard to imagine a Spirit making such an expression!”
“Yes, Captain!”
“We’ve fought Spirits so many times, seen the aloof Princess, and the timid Hermit, but a Spirit showing *this* kind of expression… this is a first!”
A crowd of AST members gathered around, a mix of lolis and mature beauties, each with their own unique charm. The only commonality was the threads of affection in their eyes (referring to the pink heart-shaped glow).
“That… don’t… don’t come any closer, all of you!”
Ji Qianye tried to resist them, but alas, their eyes held nothing but hearts.
“Noooooo!”
****
“Mm… Hmph, finally got rid of them all!”
Ji Qianye was flushed crimson, her eyes shimmering with a watery sheen, yet she wore an utterly exhausted expression.
Around Ji Qianye, the AST members lay sprawled in “jade-like repose,” their standard Realizer units discarded nearby. They lay unconscious around Ji Qianye, faces etched with contentment.
Ji Qianye herself, meanwhile, rested against the “jade bodies” of Origami Tobiichi and Ryouko Kusakabe.
“Damn it, why is my Angel’s effect such trash?!”
“My dear daughter, I must point out two issues!”
Celia Agrate’s voice resonated once more within Ji Qianye’s mind.
“Firstly, I am *your* mother, not anyone else’s!”
“Secondly, the Angel I bestowed upon you, the Crotch Tattoo (Thousand Shadow Charm Seal), is incredibly potent; you simply don’t know how to use it.”
“Am I your firstborn, then?” Ji Qianye habitually quipped, focusing on the less important detail.
“By the way, I feel like I’ve seen the term ‘Crotch Tattoo’ somewhere before… perhaps on a certain blue app?”
Ji Qianye tried to recall the term, but unfortunately, on that particular blue app, she typically only browsed explicit images directly and paid no mind to tags.
“Ugh, I can’t remember! Never mind, I won’t think about it. Crotch Tattoo (Thousand Shadow Charm Seal) it is, then!”
“Speaking of which, what exactly are the abilities of this Crotch Tattoo (Thousand Shadow Charm Seal)? Is it just an uncontrollable charm effect?”
“Oh my, oh my, you can check that yourself, can’t you? Or do you want me to tell you personally? Such content, and you expect *me* to say it out loud? My dear daughter, you truly are a naughty little imp!”
“What kind of ability could make even someone like you shy away from speaking it? Well, you’re not exactly human, anyway!”
Having finished her retort, Ji Qianye settled her mind and focused on sensing her newfound power.
She hadn’t known until she felt it, and once she did, she was utterly shocked.
Charm was merely one facet of the Crotch Tattoo (Thousand Shadow Charm Seal)’s abilities. The remaining powers included, but were not limited to, reality alteration, enforced arousal, psychological suggestion, cognitive manipulation, dream infiltration, and a host of other abilities reminiscent of a replicated hypnosis app.
In short, Ji Qianye’s current abilities were akin to those of a protagonist in a hypnosis-themed adult manga. The key difference was that Ji Qianye lacked ‘that certain something,’ and her former self, a pure-hearted male, had no idea how to interact with women without it.
Thus, she could only passively accept.
As for the unconscious AST members, their state had nothing to do with the Thousand Shadow Charm Seal’s abilities; it was simply an inherent power of her new body.
They were merely exhausted and would recover after some rest.
However, Ji Qianye’s current predicament was not something a simple rest could fix.
“What in the hell *is* this ability?!”
Ji Qianye weakly uttered the words, as if she, and not the others, had been utterly drained.
“My dear daughter, what’s wrong with this? Haven’t you always wanted an ability like this?”
“Wanting the abilities of a hypnosis app doesn’t mean I want to engage in yuri with hypnotized girls, especially as a girl myself!”
“Ah? Ji Qianye!” Celia’s voice turned extremely surprised; it was the first time she had ever spoken Ji Qianye’s name, as if she had just learned a shocking secret.
“Are you saying you want to marry a boy, as a girl?”
“Who said anything about marrying a boy!” Ji Qianye exclaimed, jumping up in agitation.
“Besides, in the world of *Date A Live*, who could I even marry? Itsuka Shido?”
No sooner had Ji Qianye spoken than she suddenly felt an intense gaze fixed upon her back.
Turning around, she saw a humanoid figure behind her, its gender, age, and appearance utterly indiscernible.
In short, it was a humanoid blur of pixels!
Had Ji Qianye been oblivious to the plot of *Date A Live*, she might have been terrified.
[‘Good heavens, does this person have an R18 rating to be entirely pixelated?!’]
However, she had transmigrated with her memories intact, and she knew exactly who this ‘sentient pixelation’ before her was.
In the early plot, this individual was known as Phantom, their true identity only revealed much later.
The first and most powerful Spirit, the nominal mother of all Spirits, the true form of Reine Murasame, the lover of Shinji Takamiya, and Itsuka Shido’s mother — Mio Takamiya.
A woman who orchestrated many abstract schemes in her attempt to resurrect her beloved.
[‘(In reality, it was the author’s fault for not writing it clearly enough.)’]
Of course, due to the spoiler prohibition and the unsuitability of the moment, Ji Qianye naturally couldn’t reveal her identity directly. Instead, she had to feign ignorance.
“Who are you? Have you come to kill me?” Ji Qianye adopted a wary posture.
“Who I am is irrelevant, and I bear you no ill will. I merely have a question for you!” Mio Takamiya’s voice was distorted, as if mechanically processed, making it impossible to discern her gender.
“What question?”
Ji Qianye found it difficult to trust Mio Takamiya’s words; after all, she was the super-romance-brained woman who had achieved the feat of annihilating all Spirits.
Heaven only knew what was truly on her mind.
However, on another note, Mio Takamiya’s true form was an incredibly beautiful woman, and coupled with her unique status as the protagonist’s mother, Ji Qianye had certainly ‘used’ Mio Takamiya quite a bit in her past nights.
It was a pity, though, that upon their actual meeting, Ji Qianye was a Spirit herself, not a Spirit’s subordinate.
“Let me make one thing clear beforehand: I don’t know you, and I have no obligation to answer your questions!”
“It’s not a complicated question. I merely wish to know how you became a Spirit? I certainly didn’t bestow a Sephira Crystal upon you!”
“Uh… about that!”
The question wasn’t entirely unexpected for Ji Qianye, but she neither wanted nor could answer it.
“…I see. It appears you’re unwilling to answer,” Mio Takamiya mused for a moment. “Perhaps your situation is similar to mine!”
“Hard to say!”
Ji Qianye truly didn’t know how to respond, considering she was a Spirit crafted by a god, while Mio Takamiya was created by those three individuals.
She wasn’t sure if it counted as the same situation.
“It seems you’re familiar with ‘that child’,” Mio Takamiya spoke again.
“Who are you talking about? I have no idea!” Ji Qianye hastily denied, but a tempest of turmoil raged within her heart.
[‘Did she hear what I said? Damn it, this way my identity as a transmigrator will be easily exposed!’]
“Heh heh, it seems I can rest assured. Though that child isn’t ready yet, I believe he will certainly give you a brand new life!”
“No way!” Ji Qianye attempted to retort, but Mio Takamiya vanished before her eyes, just as suddenly as she had appeared.
The moment Mio Takamiya disappeared, Ji Qianye felt a peculiar repulsive force from the world itself.
“Is this what they call the ‘critical point’…?”
Afterward, Ji Qianye ceased to ponder.