Chapter 7: Scheming

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Fourth update! This is one of the two extra owed chapters. Please recommend, please reward, please give your full support!!

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With six or seven minutes left, Qi Xi thought for a moment and said, “There’s something else I need to tell you about the other transmigrators.”

“Mm!” Watermelon nodded, her attentive look rather endearing.

Qi Xi spoke with a focused expression, “I, or rather the original owner of this body, Shirazawa Chikada, suddenly had a shift in personality. To outsiders, that must seem very strange. But if it’s seen through the eyes of another transmigrator, they might notice something.”

“That’s true…” Watermelon nodded again.

“What I mean is, since we transmigrated into these bodies, the chance that other transmigrators are among our classmates drops significantly. In other words, they’re likely elsewhere, maybe even at that Dark Cloud Hotel already. However, my sudden change in character would probably still draw the attention of any other transmigrator. But this transformation only makes me a suspected transmigrator, not a confirmed one.”

“So even if someone notices my change in manner, they can’t be sure I’m a transmigrator. That leaves a gap. If another transmigrator suspects me, they’ll definitely investigate to see if I really am one.”

“Watermelon, remember this. In a world whose very essence is murderous in nature, ordinary people can hardly gain extraordinary powers. But we transmigrators are exceptions. So if we display abilities that are blatantly abnormal, the other transmigrators watching us will know for sure that we’re like them.”

“I mentioned before, there’s a gap—a window of time while they’re investigating us. If we seize this chance and turn the investigation on them, we can find the other transmigrators. And once we know who they are, with our own cheat abilities, it’ll be easy to turn the tables.”

At this point, Qi Xi took a sip of tea.

Watermelon listened intently, committing every word from her predecessor to memory.

Qi Xi, still sipping tea, didn’t waste time waiting idly. With four or five minutes left, he decided to finish what he had to say—namely, about his own cheat ability.

After he finished explaining his golden finger, there was nothing more to add.

The diary in his phone showed no new developments, so there was no point wasting time discussing it.

Although the future can, in theory, be changed, right now they knew nothing; relying solely on the phone’s information, it was impossible to deduce anything meaningful.

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For now, though, it was certain the hotel was haunted. It seemed this dimension was connected to the supernatural, and so the world’s origin here was one rooted in the paranormal branch of murderous energy.

At this point, there were about three minutes left before that fat guy showed up.

Qi Xi, after some thought, handed the phone back to Watermelon and said, “Look carefully at the information inside. There are dangers in the future that can be changed. If you read it now, you should be able to avoid them.”

“Oh? Got it,” Watermelon nodded.

Qi Xi was about to share his series of conclusions with her: “Let me tell you the key points about the future diary…”

“I know,” Watermelon said, tapping the touch screen with a delicate finger.

“What do you know?” Qi Xi asked.

“I know about the future diary,” Watermelon replied matter-of-factly.

Qi Xi thought about it. Maybe Watermelon had gotten her golden finger days ago. Though she couldn’t test it in the realm of the gods, after arriving in this world, she could figure things out through deduction.

Watermelon went on, “Haven’t you read the Future Diary?”

“I have,” Qi Xi replied, not understanding her double meaning.

“If you have, then why are you acting like it’s your first time seeing it?” Watermelon continued.

“Huh?!” Qi Xi was stunned. So this thing came from a work he’d already read, and she’d just taken it for herself!

“You haven’t read it?” Watermelon looked up.

“No…” Qi Xi admitted sheepishly.

“That’s a masterpiece! Super touching! The yandere character is so cute!” Watermelon, as if recalling a character from that work, cradled her face in both hands, lost in bliss. “I don’t even know what to say to you. Not having read such a classic is so embarrassing!”

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Qi Xi nearly lost his temper on the spot, almost flipping the table and tossing his teacup. At that moment, someone appeared nearby.

It was that nameless, deadbeat, fat otaku from Japan.

“Uh, um, have we, have we met somewhere before?” The fat otaku seemed quite nervous, his voice trembling.

Perhaps it was a natural aversion inherited from the body’s original owner, but Watermelon frowned and said, “You’ve got the wrong person,” waving her hand dismissively.

Summoning a sudden burst of courage from who knows where, the fat otaku grabbed Watermelon’s hand and, leering, said, “Hey, you’re so cute. Beautiful lady, want to be friends?”

“Let go!” Watermelon pulled her hand back in disgust, raising her voice.

Perhaps the original owner’s latent feelings triggered something in Qi Xi, and an intense rage flared up within him, as if something precious of his had been defiled. Furious, he glared at the fat otaku and snapped coldly, “Get lost.”

Startled by Qi Xi’s glare, the fat otaku shrank back, scratched his head, and stammered, “I’m the son of the president of the Five Clouds Club. Don’t treat me like just any nerd—I’m rich!”

“If you don’t ask for trouble, trouble won’t come to you. Why don’t idiots like you get that? President? You think calling yourself a president makes you special? What a joke! The guy who sold buns downstairs from my old place was also a boss. According to Japanese, that’s ‘president’ too! In the twenty-first century, being a boss is one of the most worthless titles! Get it? If you’re a rich kid, act like one! Stop trembling when you talk to girls! No matter how hard you pretend, you don’t look the part at all! What a joke! I’m sitting right next to her and you come over to hit on her. Don’t you have any sense? Instead of apologizing, you try to show off? You’re looking for an early grave!” Qi Xi finally couldn’t hold back and unleashed a rapid-fire tirade, leaving the fat otaku utterly dumbfounded.

Completely humiliated by Qi Xi’s rant, the guy could only flee, covering his face in shame.

Returning to his seat, Qi Xi noticed that the commotion had attracted the attention of many in the café; people were whispering and gossiping about the scene.

Qi Xi, however, paid them no mind. He slipped a hand into his pocket, only to find, without knowing when, a thick wallet stuffed with ten-thousand-yen bills. Altogether, it looked to be about a million yen.