Tokyo Soft Rice King.

Haruka Tomita stared in disbelief. What was this? Versailles?

"What are you talking about? Ziyin, how could such a thing happen? If even you are no match for her, how are other women supposed to live?"

"But I'm not as old as you guys, I'm only older than Shiori and Mirai."

"It's not about bigger being better. I think Kuroba-kun has told you that before."

"He did say that... but he's never made a move on me since..."

Seeing that Ziyin was in low spirits, Qingxia realized that she was still troubled by Heiyu Ming's lack of initiative, so she explained.

"Ah, are you still bothered by what I said? Then I must emphasize it again: the reason why Kuroba-kun is no longer taking the initiative is partly because he has run out of supplies, and partly because of path dependence."

"Path dependency?"

"Yes, there is also inertia in being proactive and passive. Proactive people will always be proactive, while passive people will always be passive, because people usually choose the methods they are familiar with."

"But if I don't take the initiative, other more proactive women will steal the wise ruler away."

"That was indeed the case before, but please believe me, I will end this 'relationship infighting'."

“I know you want to bring everyone back to the same starting line, and I think you can probably actually do it, but that would put me at a disadvantage, because it’s obvious that your bodies are more attractive to a wise ruler.”

"With your looks, Ziyin, I think you don't need to worry about this at all. You are an excessively beautiful and bewitching woman. No normal man can resist your charm, so you should be more at ease."

"I'm not as capable as you say. Before meeting a wise ruler, I couldn't even manage my interpersonal relationships..."

"That's normal. After all, Ziyin, you're so good-looking, so many girls must be jealous of you and see you as a thorn in their side."

"But at least you've never been jealous of my appearance, which means whether I'm good-looking or not is completely irrelevant."

"That's just everyone pretending not to be jealous. Because everyone likes Kuroba-kun, they're trying to exclude appearance from the competition. Otherwise, there'd be no need to compete at all; Shion-kun, you could just declare yourself the final winner."

"Hmm..."

In that case, Ziyin realized that she could indeed communicate normally with these women who were her 'love rivals'.

They have never attacked themselves for the reason that they are "pretty".

They are all competitors vying for the position of a wise ruler, yet they treat themselves as ordinary people?

Just like Qingxia said, it's probably because they don't want to admit that they are special.

In this harem circle composed of 'women who like Akira Kuroba,' Shion actually received the most equal treatment she had ever received since birth, which is truly unbelievable.

"Similarly, the same goes for body shape. There's no end to comparing things like that, so what's more important is finding your 'unique characteristic'."

"Can I do what others can't...?"

"Yes, but I can't offer any advice on this. You'll have to try to find it yourself, Ziyin."

"..."

Ziyin seemed to be deep in thought, and then suddenly realized something. She understood the source of the unease she had sensed about Qingxia before.

"Is this your reason for choosing to become a 'companion' of a wise ruler?"

"Yes, I think this is a more suitable 'niche' for me."

Seeing Qingxia admit it, Ziyin was even more puzzled.

As a companion, not a lover, a spouse, or a partner...

They might even be pets, slaves, or toys; their relationship with Kuroba Akira might be closer than that with his companions.

"But...don't you like wise rulers?"

"How could I not like him... I've liked Kuroba-kun for a long time..."

Earlier than anyone else...

"However, my preferences are not quite the same as yours."

A bitter smile appeared on Qingxia's lips.

"What I've come to like now is... Kuroba-kun, who works so hard for you all."

Chapter 393 A Woman with Heavy Emotions

"A wise ruler who strives for us...?"

Ziyin wasn't that she didn't understand the sentence, but she just didn't understand what kind of emotional journey she had gone through to develop such distorted feelings.

Even Ziyin found this idea 'twisted'.

Because if it were her, the thought of Kuroba Akira making efforts for others would only make her feel sour and uncomfortable.

It's normal to feel jealous, right? Nobody wants the man they like to be fickle and unfaithful.

This is also why dating a handsome guy can make you feel uneasy, because you don't know if he's only this nice to you.

But in fact, Shion has already passed the stage of feeling uneasy, after all, she has accepted the reality that Kuroba Akira does not belong to her alone.

It's just that when Kuroba Akira is being taken by other women, she feels extremely irritable and then wants to make up for it by taking it out on Kuroba Akira... That's why Kuroba Akira is getting thinner and thinner.

But Haruka Tomita says that she fell in love with a man who worked hard for another woman... This is even stranger than Makoto, who likes team volleyball.

Does this mean he has a red hat fetish?

Qingxia naturally noticed Ziyin's confusion and said with a smile.

"Haha, judging from your expression, Ziyin, you definitely can't understand what I'm saying."

"I'm sorry, but I really can't understand this time."

"Yes, actually I haven't sorted out my feelings yet, I'm just acting according to my feelings."

After all, it hasn't been long since Qingxia regained her body, and her will is not as firm as she appears.

During the brief time she transformed into a cat, she witnessed everything that Akira Kuroba had experienced up to this point from GOD's perspective.

Of course, she only received the memories of when Kuro-o was possessing the cat, and those memories started from when Kuro-ba Akira was summoned to this world.

If Qingxia were to have all the memories from the birth of the Great God Huangquanjin up to the present day, spanning thousands of years, she would most likely go insane.

However, in just a few hours, she had seen most of her memories from the past six months, which still severely compressed her senses.

So all the pent-up emotions just exploded at once.

That's why she was able to forcefully return to her body... Yes, it wasn't just the pain of her first time that caused the cat's soul to escape back into her body, but also Haruka's outburst of emotions towards Kuroba Akira, which is why she was able to come up with those solutions to Kuroba Akira in one go later.

"If I hadn't witnessed what Kuroba-kun went through as an outsider, I would definitely have thought he was just a womanizing scumbag..."

"As for the wise ruler, he probably didn't intend to develop a romantic relationship with us at first. He just underestimated his own charm, so it's not wrong to say that he was a womanizer. It's just that he was more likely to 'get pollen'."

"Yes, I agree with that. Kuroba-kun's luck with women is a bit too strong, but the current situation can no longer be explained by simply being popular with women."

Even if someone is very handsome and popular, it's unlikely that they can have all the women at the same time, unless they are extremely rich.

But if you only use money, you can mostly only get a woman's body, but not her heart.

"I think everyone may have different reasons for choosing Kuroba-kun, but the essence is the same, which is that everyone can feel Kuroba-kun's 'sincere concern for you'."

"Um……"

Ziyin hugged her knees in the bathtub. She was the first woman to feel Kuroba Akira's kindness, under the guise of a transaction.

Although it was called a transaction, Kuroba Akira didn't actually take anything away. Instead, he gave Shion many precious things: belonging, love, life goals, and so on...

On the contrary, Akira Kuroba felt unworthy of the girls' first love and first snow, so he became even more accommodating.

Then, because of Akira Kuroba's devotion, the girls love him even more, their feelings become heavier, and they want to express their love to him even more, turning into a vicious cycle.

Therefore, Kuroba Akira's current predicament is not just the result of the women's unilateral output of gravity, but a consequence caused by both sides.

"No one knows if Kuroba-kun will be the only man in their life who truly cares about them."

"Yes...that's why I don't want to let go no matter what."

Up to this point, Haruka's conclusion and Ziyin's thoughts were the same as everyone else's.

However, Qingxia's next thought was quite different.

"It's so pitiful, Kuroba-kun, to be loved by you all."

"...What? What do you mean by that?"

"It means exactly what it says. Expressing love directly is great, but overly heavy love can also bind the person you love... So in my opinion, Kuroba-kun was 'forced' into this position by you guys."

"Are you trying to say that we forced the wise ruler to accept it?"

Qingxia shook her head in denial in response to Ziyin's question.

She also knew that it would be too cunning to simply place Kuroba Akira in the position of a 'victim,' making it seem as if being loved was a mistake.

"No, it's just that sooner or later, when he feels he can no longer reciprocate your feelings, his ego will break down, and that's why I want to limit you."

"Why do you dare say that Mingjun would break down because he loves us?"

"Because Kuroba-kun never had this much trouble before he met you, right?"

"..."

Ziyin was furious, but she didn't know how to refute it.

Because she didn't know what Kuroba Akira was like before she met her.

This is a unique perspective that only Haruka, who has witnessed all of Akira Kuroba's experiences from a god-like perspective, could discover.

And she continued to recount these "if" scenarios that never happened.

"Wouldn't it be possible that without meeting our wise ruler, I would have had a simpler and happier campus life?"

"Because Kuroba gets along well with the boys, he was probably more relaxed when he was chatting with Nishimura and the others."

"And Kuroba seems to be quite good at soccer, but he hasn't joined the soccer club... He probably wants to join a sports club too."

"He's the type who says club activities are a waste of time, but he's more enthusiastic than anyone else. When we were in the arts club, he was the most active one..."

"You must understand, right, because Kuroba-kun, who's so passionate about creating art, is really cool, isn't he?"

As Ziyin listened to these words, she soaked in a bathtub filled with hot water, but felt shivering with cold.

A question she didn't want to think about still surfaced in her mind like a stubborn stain.

To a wise ruler... are we... I... superfluous?

Would it be better without it?