How To Screw Yourself Over

Chapter 1.8: No Reaction

Three months later and Ash is still traveling with Liu Han's merry little band. There isn't any particular reason why she stuck around, but if she had to name one, she'd say it's because the group is...comfortable.

Yin Hui doesn't care for anything outside her own personal little bubble, Zhi Ruo doesn't interact with Ash more than necessary, and Liu Han seems to realize there are lines he can't cross, so he usually leaves her to her own devices and carefully ignores her frequent disappearances.

Ash always returns anyway, so she sees no problem with her actions.

Anyway, after they left the forest, Liu Han picked up another lady on their way to X Country so the quantity and intensity of the catfights occurring over him have increased. It's fairly entertaining. Ash feels like she's watching a soap opera in real time.

Ash doesn't plan on sticking around for too long though. She's already separated from the group several times to chase after an interesting scientific breakthrough. Returning to the group has already become fairly annoying. Even if her efforts would be wasted in the end, she is still curious about this world. When she first arrived here, she was looking forward to running around and discovering all she could, but 078 just had to rain on her parade.

In the midst of one of her rants about the utility of spatial storage, 078 somberly informed her that even if she were to discover the principle behind the concept, she would not be able to utilize that knowledge outside of this world. According to the distortion, this world is a bit different from all of the others. The apologetic tone 078 said this with did not bode well for her future. Even after she grilled the distortion for more information, the most she could extract from it was that "this world has been tampered with."

Ash was fairly unsettled but decided to simply store that information away for later.

Throwing those thoughts to the back of her head, Ash decides to lift her spirits by watching the three girls attempt to discreetly attack each other. What's even better is that, after she turns her head, Ash spots a Liu Han who looks just about done with life.

Hah! He knows that he'll have to be the one to break it up later. Seeing someone else suffering more than she is, makes her feel much better. She probably shouldn't derive so much pleasure from the distress of an adolescent, but it doesn't matter. Ash is half as old as she used to be anyway.

Strolling to the depressed Liu Han, she throws a friendly arm over his shoulder. "Come on now, don't look so disappointed. There's only three of them now, but considering your encounter rates, you'll have a harem of three-thousand beauties before your death."

Sending Ash a withering glare, Liu Han scathingly bites out a "Shut up."

Putting her hands up in surrender, Ash backs away and whistles, "Shesh, someone's cranky."

"I woke up with Yin Hui on one arm, Li Min on the other, and Zhi Ruo curled up on top of me. They all pretended to be asleep for another three hours and refused to let go of me the entire time. I think I've earned the right to be surly." Liu Han explains, clearly a bit peeved.

"Shouldn't you be happy? The girlie and the other lady have both looks and talent. And, if my hunch is correct, that lady should also be some runaway noble. You'll probably have the chance to play hero for the damsel in distress soon enough. Then she might really fall for you." Thinking for a moment, Ash corrects herself. "Or she might ditch you once you've served your purpose, but I'd say the former is more likely than the latter."

It wasn't difficult to put these pieces together. Li Min's clearly clinging to Liu Han because her pursuers consist of more than just the pathetic cultivators that chased her into Liu Han's arms. To put it simply, she's probably trying to endear herself to the backer she just found. Ash thinks it's all rather funny, but she also thinks that all the sulking Yin Hui does when she looks at Li Min's bust is a little pitiful. If Ash wanted confirmation, she could look at the information 078 gave her to determine the lady's situation, but she can't be bothered to sift through that much bullshit.