These Dangerous Girls Placed Me Into Jeopardy-Chapter 17Vol 1. : I’m About to Die from Exhaustion

Honestly, judging by our class, I'd say more than half aren’t even human.

Feels like I just learned something I wasn’t supposed to know... Better pretend I didn’t hear anything from now on.

"Oh right, Lily, there’s one more thing I don’t understand. The titles and names I see have different colors. Do you know why that is?"

The color thing had been bothering me for a long time. Since my ability probably came from the magic circle, maybe Lily would know something about it.

"Colors? You mean the titles you see come in different colors?"

"Yeah. Most are white, but yours, for example, used to be green — now it’s blue."

"Hmm, that sounds a lot like how demons and angels distinguish emotions using colors."

"Demons and angels, huh..."

At this point, asking "do those even exist?" would just be stupid.

I mean, there’s even an [Intern Angel] in my class.

But if Lily knew something about the colors, that was great news.

"Yeah, we use this method to differentiate emotions. There are three basic colors for normal states: White means strangers with no connection. Green means friends. Blue means trusted, close family."

So green really does mean friends. Which means Lillian Ji’s title turning green meant she genuinely wanted to be friends with me?

...But being friends with a serial killer... Isn't that basically becoming an accomplice?

Yeah, conclusion’s the same: best to stay far away from Lillian Ji.

Then there’s Rainie Bai. I don’t even know her, but her title was blue? Feelings of family-level affection for a complete stranger?

That’s just bizarre.

Anyway, I decided to ask about the other colors too.

"What about other colors? Like gray, black, pink... red..."

"Those are temporary emotion indicators. Gray usually means jealousy, contempt, or other negative feelings. When those deepen, they turn black — hatred and disgust. In simple terms, it’s when their affection for you drops below zero."

"I see..."

So that "envy, jealousy, hatred" wave I felt in the cafeteria really was the real deal... I’ll have to be careful not to piss anyone off when their titles turn gray or black.

"As for pink and red... Wait, Cheng-kun, you actually saw a pink title?"

"Uh... yeah. Why? What’s wrong with pink and red?"

I had a rough idea already. Still, I prayed my guess was wrong.

But Lily said exactly what I feared:

"It's not a big deal. Pink means romantic feelings. Honestly, I thought someone like you, who doesn’t even have friends, would never encounter that..."

"...I don’t have a girlfriend, that’s for sure."

"Then it's probably one-sided. Maybe that charm circle worked better than I thought."

The ones with pink titles... were my two sisters.

Both of them held feelings for me that went beyond ordinary sibling love... Turns out those 'brocon' titles were real after all.

Crap. I’m actually kinda happy about it...! I’m gonna laugh — no, I mustn’t laugh!!

Dammit, what’s wrong with me?! Sure, it’s nice to know they don't hate me, but this is just trouble!

I don’t want to end up going down the path to German orthopedics!

"And as for red..."

"It means killing intent."

"Right. Killing intent. Uh... did my title turn red earlier? I, um..."

"It’s fine. Anyone would feel murderous in that situation."

If the roles were reversed and I suddenly had a master I had to obey without question, I’d be pissed too.

"But..."

"As an apology, let me stay at your house tonight."

"Eh?! Wh-Wh-What?! Listen, if you’re planning to do anything to me, my contract will explode, you know! But... if you command me to... then it wouldn’t count as 'abusing' me... Wait, are you trying to exploit that loophole?! I-I’m not going to ride you or anything!"

Here we go again — this succubus and her crazy fantasies... Seriously, I hadn’t even thought of that loophole — but thanks for informing me, Lily.

"I'm kidding. It's already past 9:30 PM. I should head home."

"Eh? Wait, you’re going home dressed like that?"

"Ah..."

Right. My clothes were torn. Guess succubi are stronger than humans.

"Can't you fix it with magic or something?"

"Magic isn’t that convenient! Even if it were, I couldn't do it. I can count the spells I know on one hand. Just take off your uniform jacket and shirt — you can wear my track jacket home."

"Is it even fixable? Maybe I should just buy a new set."

"Don’t worry, I’m pretty good at sewing. I’ll also draw an illusion magic circle on the inside, so «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» no one will notice the damage."

"Alright, I’m counting on you."

Since Lily was offering to fix it, I gladly handed my clothes over.

She stared at me blankly, her mouth half-open, eyes unfocused — like she was completely spaced out.

"What’s wrong?"

"Ah, no, nothing..."

Lily shook her head and smiled awkwardly.

I shrugged and put on the track jacket she gave me, zipping it up. It was unisex and, since Lily was taller than me, it didn’t look weird on me at all. Actually, the jacket smelled really nice. Even if she could hide her face and voice, she couldn’t hide her natural scent.

That said, this brown jacket was pretty damn ugly... Was this really her usual style? What a waste of a pretty face.

Wait, no — to everyone else, she still looked like the ugly illusion version. So dressing like this probably matched the "character."

"Alright, I’m heading out. Lily, just pretend the master-servant contract doesn’t exist. Starting tomorrow, we’re back to being teacher and student. That’s all."

"Mmm...?"

Before she could answer, I slung my bag over my shoulder, waved, and left the library.

Hopefully those words made things a little easier for her. And honestly, I never wanted to be anyone’s "master" anyway.

...Still, I couldn’t help feeling like I just threw away a huge opportunity.

Whatever. Taking advantage of someone in a vulnerable moment isn't cool.

Because of what happened last night, I was feeling a bit paranoid, so I didn’t wander around and just headed straight home.

After taking off my shoes, I nervously walked into the living room. If I ran into my sisters now, I might actually turn to stone on the spot...

But instead, what I saw was a woman sprawled out lazily on the couch like a total slob.

She heard the door and looked up — then waved casually at me.

"Oh, Cheng, welcome home."

Savior!

It was Mom! Mom was home for once!

She hadn't been home at night since last week, but today she was here!

Oh my god, Mother of mine! You’re a shining beacon of hope in the darkness!

"Whoa, Mom, you’re actually home!"

"Yeah, a coworker covered for me, so I finally got a day off... Ugh, I’m so dead-tired, my shoulders are killing me~"

Then Mom gave me a look — half-lidded eyes, subtle as hell — asking for a shoulder massage.

Normally, I’d demand some kind of reward first. But today, seeing her was honestly the best reward ever, so I decided to do it for free.

I walked behind the couch and started massaging her shoulders — glancing at the top of her head.

[Mortician]

[An Yue]

Just as Lily said: family members' names showed up in blue.

But Mom’s title... [Mortician] sounded crazy badass.

Definitely a professional-type title. Probably the same for Dad too. No wonder both of them were such workaholics.

Mom wasn’t my biological mother — she was my stepmother.

But there was no distance between us. We got along just like real mother and son.

Because my real mother died shortly after giving birth to me and Serena. It was Mom who raised us and filled that role.

I was unlucky — born without a mother. But also lucky — I never lacked a mother’s love.

"Ahh~ I feel alive again~ Cheng, your massages are even better than those expensive massage chairs!"

"Where’s Dad? Working late again?"

"Yeah. I stopped by his hospital this afternoon — still swamped, same as ever. I waited outside the operating room for three or four hours just to see him. The guy’s got serious dark circles!"

I grabbed a chilled juice from the fridge and poured it into a cup.

"Why’d you even go there?"

"To bring him food! You know how he is — he'd forget to eat if nobody reminded him. And... to check if any pretty nurses were trying to flirt with him!"

"Uh, Dad cheating? Not a chance..."

Dad was even more serious and boring than me. Serena and I inherited a lot of that stiff personality.

I couldn’t even imagine him cheating.

Mom and Dad met at my real mother's funeral, stayed in touch all those years, and only got married when I was eight — after eight years of waiting.

"Hmph, your dad’s at the peak of his middle-aged charm. I have to watch him, or some scheming vixen might try to steal him away!"

"..."

Okay, so it’s not that Mom thinks Dad would cheat — she’s just paranoid about other women.

...Not totally impossible, honestly. Dad was the type who might give in under enough pressure.

"Oh right, Cheng, help me out this Sunday. Lately, there's been one funeral after another — I’m completely overwhelmed."

"Uh? So many funerals?"

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That’s unusual. Were people lining up to reincarnate all at once?

"Yeah, no idea why, but there’s been a ton lately."

Was there some kind of major accident? No, if there was, it’d be consolidated into a mass funeral.

Something about this didn’t sit right.

Anyway, I wasn’t new to helping at funerals. I sometimes pitched in since middle school.

"Got it. Sunday, right?"

"Yep. I’ll call you that day. Good night, my sweet baby boy — love you~"

"Ugh, don’t call me that... I’m not a kid anymore..."

Baby boy... I’m getting goosebumps.

"Hmph. You’ll always be my baby no matter how old you get!"

"Yeah yeah... Good night. Sleep early, okay?"

Waving awkwardly, I slumped up the stairs. Luckily, I didn’t run into Serena or Cora. Thank God.

Back in my room, I shut the door — then collapsed straight onto my bed without even undressing.

My head was spinning. My eyelids were heavy. My consciousness was slipping away.

Today... was seriously exhausting.

It felt like more happened today than in the past three months combined.

Finally, the endless day came to a close.

Screw it. Forget all the crazy crap that happened.

High school life is simple:

If you're tired, sleep. If you're exhausted, sleep.

Everything else —who cares.