Chapter 67: The Room You Absolutely Can’t Enter Until Miti Is Satisfied

“Hey, why’d you just waltz down here without so much as a hello?”  

“Hah, really? And who was it that nearly jumped out of their skin at the sound of my voice?”  

Ye Wanqing crossed her arms, a playful smirk dancing on her lips as she eyed the disheveled Su Mu, whose pink hair was a chaotic cascade of defiance.  

Su Mu puffed out her cheeks in a huff, but words failed her.  

Damn it, Ye Wanqing had announced herself, but the commotion was absurdly loud.

And how did she zip from the staircase to right beside her in a heartbeat?

Was this girl secretly teleporting?  

It had been ages since Su Mu last let her guard down like this, and now, caught in the act, it felt like she was slacking off every single day.  

Ugh, infuriating!  

Fine, if that’s how it was going to be, she’d teach this smug intruder a lesson—on the gaming battlefield.  

“Alright, you want to play? I’m in!”  

As expected, once Su Mu got the hang of the rules, the rookie Ye Wanqing was utterly trounced, her defeat as swift and merciless as a spring breeze scattering petals.  

“Hey, you’ve definitely been sneaking in practice behind my back!”

Su Mu grumbled, glaring at the triumphant Ye Wanqing, “I spent hours grinding yesterday…”  

Su Mu shot her a disdainful side-eye, barely concealing her smugness.  

An action game?

Please.

Did Ye Wanqing have any idea what eighteen years of single-life reflexes and hand speed could do?  

“Excuses, excuses,” Su Mu teased, leaning back with a grin.

“Can’t even handle a newbie like me who’s just getting the hang of the controller. What a noob.”  

The words slipped out before she could stop them, and a flicker of regret crossed her mind.  

Oops.

That was… a bit much.  

Maybe she should smooth things over?  

“Uh, I didn’t mean to mock you or anything,” Su Mu stammered, backpedaling.

“Just, you know, stating facts?”  

She clamped a hand over her mouth, desperately trying to stifle the snarky remarks bubbling up inside.  

Why was she making this worse?

She sounded like some smug, bratty villainess now.  

But it was too late.

Ye Wanqing’s eyes were narrowing, glinting with a dangerous edge as she squared her shoulders, radiating an almost predatory aura.  

With a slow, deliberate motion, she brushed back her tousled bangs and slid on a pair of black-framed glasses.

In an instant, her entire demeanor shifted, exuding a calm, commanding presence, like a storm gathering on the horizon.  

“Hmph,” Ye Wanqing said, her voice low and teasing.

“I came here with good news for you, Su Mu, but it seems you’re not exactly thrilled to see me.”  

As she spoke, a small key materialized in her hand, glinting faintly in the light—a key that looked suspiciously like it belonged to the front door of a certain rental apartment.  

After nearly two weeks, the dingy little place Su Mu used to call home had finally been repaired.

But the landlady, stubborn as ever, flat-out refused to rent it to her again.  

And who could blame her?

After that disaster, it was only natural.  

Which left Su Mu stuck living under Tang Nai’s roof, sleeping in a cramped spot about ten meters below her.

Every toss and turn felt like it was being monitored, leaving Su Mu restless and uneasy.  

And don’t get her started on the basement’s lack of natural light.

It was suffocating.  

“I saw how pitiful you looked, stuck in that basement,” Ye Wanqing continued, her tone softening just a touch.

“So I convinced Tang Nai to help find you a new place.”  

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Su Mu blurted, eyes sparkling as she reached for the key.  

But Ye Wanqing, leveraging her height advantage, effortlessly dangled the key just out of reach, a mischievous glint in her eye.  

“Oh, but Su Mu,” she said, her voice dripping with mock disappointment.

“After that little display of yours, I’m starting to feel a bit… unappreciated.”  

“It was a misunderstanding, okay? I’m sorry, I messed up!”  

Su Mu’s apologies were half-hearted at best, her mind entirely fixated on that key and the promise of a new home.

Right now, she was nothing more than a desperate little mouse, blinded by the allure of a cozy nest.  

What else could possibly matter?  

“Oh, really?” Ye Wanqing raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced.

“When I showed up, you looked guilty, scared even. Makes me wonder if my visit is just… inconvenient for you.”  

She held the key higher, letting it catch the light and sparkle tantalizingly.  

“No way, that’s not it at all!” Su Mu protested.

“I always make time to hang out with you, don’t I?”  

“Prove it, then,” Ye Wanqing challenged, a sly smile curling her lips.  

Before Su Mu could react, Ye Wanqing, with a flourish, slipped the key into her collar, letting it slide down into the shadowed valley of her blouse.

The cold metal warmed against her skin, practically daring Su Mu to make a move.  

No way.

Absolutely not going there.  

“No grabbing,” Ye Wanqing purred, leaning in slightly.

“You’ll just have to satisfy me first~”  

Satisfy?

What did that even mean?

Su Mu’s mind blanked, her throat dry as she croaked, “Satisfy… how?”  

“Oh, you know, just satisfy me,” Ye Wanqing said airily, brushing her fingers along her jaw, her lips glistening as she spoke.

With those glasses on, she was inexplicably magnetic, her every word laced with a teasing allure.  

Su Mu’s brain was buzzing, her gaze flickering to the key’s hiding spot—that tantalizing, untouchable place that promised freedom, a new home.  

‘ “The space you can’t enter until you satisfy Magical Girl Miti.” ‘  

Her mind spiraled with ridiculous thoughts—social media pages, locked diaries, anything but this.  

No, no, no.  

Su Mu shook her head vigorously, trying to clear the fog.  

There had to be another way to “satisfy” her.

She wasn’t that kind of desperate.  

Her eyes landed on the couch, where two still-warm controllers sat.

Inspiration struck like lightning.  

With a sly grin, Su Mu stepped forward, swiftly plucked the glasses off Ye Wanqing’s face, and pressed a controller into her hands as the other girl’s expression shifted from smug to startled.  

“Let’s play, then,” Su Mu said, her voice brimming with confidence.

“This time, I’ll let you have your fill.”  

Ye Wanqing, caught off guard, fumbled for her glasses to regain her composure, but her fingers met only air.

Before she could protest, her body betrayed her, eagerly grabbing the controller and plopping onto the couch.  

“Don’t think you can just distract me with this—” she started.  

“One round. Let’s go.”  

Two hours later:  

“Heh, little mouse, you were just getting lucky before,” Ye Wanqing crowed, her competitive fire fully ignited.

“Now that I’m warmed up, you’re toast!”  

“Oh yeah? Bring it on,” Su Mu shot back, smirking.  

As Ye Wanqing dove headfirst into the game, utterly absorbed, Su Mu couldn’t help but chuckle.  

This girl was way easier to handle than she’d expected.  

“So… about that key?” Su Mu ventured.  

“I’m satisfied,” Ye Wanqing said with a grin, but her tone carried a hint of scheming.

“But I’ve got conditions.”  

Su Mu’s stomach twisted.

Here it came.  

“First, if you’ve got time to mess around with that stuff, get back to updating your work. I’m bored of the old stuff.”  

Su Mu groaned inwardly.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to pick up her old projects, but where was she supposed to start?

And honestly, she was too nervous to even try.  

“Uh…”  

“No excuses,” Ye Wanqing cut in.

“And second, this new place? It’s a shared lease. I’m broke, so…”  

With a dramatic flourish, she reached into her blouse, retrieved the now-warm key, and slapped it into Su Mu’s palm, closing her fingers tightly around it.  

“Take it,” she said, her eyes glinting.

“And cover the rent for me. In exchange, you can have the master bedroom.”