QT: Against My Will-Chapter 569 - 8.86 - Cyberbullying - Monster Heist
With utmost care, Bing Shi dampened a soft cloth with lukewarm water, making sure it wasn’t too wet. Starting from her shoulder, she delicately dabbed at her tattoos, cleansing them of any impurities.
The water glided over the deep blues and blacks of the ink, the colors momentarily coming alive under the moisture.
|"Are you still sad? I’ll be back as soon as I find a stronger body."| Ru Quan said when he asked Dai An to show him the situation on Bing Shi’s side.
He noticed that Dai An had been subtly ensuring he took the time to heal, urging him to entrust the task of doing the research to her.
Dai An tied a rope around Ru Quan’s astral body and began to drag him back into their space, ’~Do something. He doesn’t listen to me at all.’
|"Just take a rest, please."| Bing Shi urged.
Dai An used her body as the restraint this time, |"Please, please, please."| She wrapped her arms and legs to ensure Ru Quan couldn’t move an inch, |"At least let me make sure that you haven’t been injured in any way."|
"..." Ru Quan reluctantly returned to their bedroom, his appearance resembled the one from the time she was a courtesan. His short red hair was a wild, untamed mass that seemed to contrast his spirit, and his red eyes gave him an air of rugged charm.
Dai An got off his body in satisfaction. After she checked every inch of his body, and made sure he wasn’t injured, she cleared her throat with a straight face, |"Hubby Gloombug is heavily injured. He needs at least one year of recovery."|
"..." Ru Quan almost choked on his saliva, "You little—"
Dai An quickly turned him around, |"Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he will recover to his former glory in half the time."| She then stepped onto his back, starting a massage to fasten his ’healing’.
|"Really?! I’ll leave him in your care then."| Bing Shi made a happy nod as she sent Dai An all the information Kuro gathered on this world’s magic together with all the spells, including the most classified details about its history, ’There is still more.’
Dai An pulled out a projector from her space. As she sifted through the information, she playfully stepped on Ru Quan’s back.
"..." Ru Quan pressed his face into a pillow, his muffled voice emerging, "Is this really necessary?" But he didn’t make any move to push her off, a resigned sigh escaping him, ’Leon died.’
’...’ Nathaniel alias Lu Kai staggered back like he’d been slapped with a fish, ’What do you mean Leon died? Who’s gonna be a watchdog for wifey now?’
Xuan Mu joined the conversation with a knowing chuckle, ’It looks like that duty is going to fall on your shoulders now.’
Both he and Ziek had been taking turns trying to homeschool Stinky Bun, so adopting a new identity wasn’t really an option.
Lu Kai had no clue how he was supposed to stay in Nathaniel’s character while watching over Shina Night at the same time, ’Hey, old man. Why not find yourself a new vessel like you always do?’
Ru Quan responded with a scene of Dai An stepping on his back, ’You’ll need to get creative. I’d also love to have some father-son bonding time with Stinky Bun too.’
Ziek’s uproarious laughter reverberated in the background, ’You’ve landed in one hell of a clusterfuck, nerd,’ he chimed in, cementing the hilarity of the situation.
· · ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·
Once Bing Shi felt her tattoos were sufficiently cleaned, she reached for a small jar on her dresser. Dipping her fingers into the jar, she carefully applied the ointment, treating her tattoos like the cherished pieces of art that they were.
After a while, the tattoos seemed to drink in the moisture, making them look even more vibrant against her skin.
Bing Shi patted the white snake in her arms as she went through the item shop, ’I should have let him get the taste of the prettiest version of me instead of this one full of scars,’ she rubbed her scarred cheek against Kuro’s cheek in adoration.
["Kuro, do you ever want something? I mean, you’ve done so much for me, and I don’t know how I could ever repay you."]
Kuro, being emotionless and devoid of desires, simply remained still, not responding to Bing Shi’s question, as it lacked the capacity to yearn for anything in return for its assistance.
Bing Shi found some supplements in the item shop and popped them inside her mouth. Ru Quan said that even though she couldn’t feel any pain, her body could.
It had been put through a lot of stress, and if she didn’t start treating it with more care, it would collapse. (He was speaking from his own experience.)
["I’ll work fast to earn the remaining points through the missions. While I do that, you can think about what you want."]
[Host, I don’t think there is anything I lack.]
["Of course, my Kuro is an epitome of perfection!"]
With a subtle sense of acknowledgment, Kuro remained coiled around Bing Shi.
· · ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·
A series of firm knocks echoed through Shina’s dorm room, interrupting the ambient atmosphere.
Shina pushed herself off the chair, her footsteps soft as she approached the door. Opening it, she flashed a playful smile at the intruder, "Someone had finally learned the rules of knocking. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Victor’s gaze met hers, his expression darkening with mild annoyance when he saw her smile, "You look quite happy for someone whose husband had just died."
The weight of his words hung heavily in the air between them.
Bing Shi sighed, her gaze turning distant for a brief moment. "I am mourning. In my own way. We all cope differently." She then closed the door.
Victor grabbed the edge of the door. He looked taken aback when he noticed the faint traces of puffiness around her eyes and the subtle redness of her nose, "I just wanted to see how you were holding up."
He admitted, "I’ve noticed you haven’t been getting injured as often since you became official with Leon. So I thought maybe you’ve fallen for him."
Victor couldn’t help but notice how she treated her partners with a unique tenderness, unlike her interactions with others. It seemed as though she genuinely cared about these men, (a trait he thought she might have inherited from him).
"Is that so?" she mused, putting on her mask, "I’ve always loved him though. I actually loved them all...Earl, Ezikiel, Leon, everyone but you."
Victor’s brows twitched, "Why am I not surprised that you are suddenly speaking about love?" he retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "But if you loved all of them, why keep me at arm’s length?"
Shina rubbed the back of her neck, "Let’s say I start to develop feelings for you and we start dating, then what?" she wondered, "You will give me the pleasure of waking up every day wondering if today’s the day you’ll break my heart and leave me in the dust?"
Victor leaned against the doorframe, his voice low and teasing, "Maybe you’re the one who can change my ways."
"You really know how to make a girl feel special," Shina let out a small, almost cynical laugh. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number.
When the call was answered, she whispered affectionately, "Hey, Darling—"
"..." The call was abruptly cut off, and she was greeted with a surprise video call instead.
On the other end, a distant man responded to her with an equally distant demeanor, "What do you want?"
She turned the screen in Victor’s direction to avoid facing the said man, her expression coy as she continued, "I’m torn, since Leon is no longer here, I’m not sure who to toy with next, Victor or you."
Her words dripped with coquettish mischief, but there was an unsettling undercurrent, "Just the thought of watching you squirm in pain excites me so much."
"Don’t delude yourself with fantasies," Nathaniel retorted icily before ending the call. There was no willingness to play along in his tone, leaving Shina in eerie silence.
Shina shuddered playfully, "Is this the sensation that engulfed you when I rejected you, Victor? I find myself unable to let go of Nathaniel. You see, the more he rejects me, the more I want him."
"Really?" Like hell would he believe her. Victor’s phone vibrated urgently in his pocket. He glanced at the caller ID, and his expression tightened.
It was a call from his mother.
Victor stepped away, answering the call while leaving Shina to her ’solitude’ and ’grief’. In the meanwhile, he made Nora wire Shina’s phone again, and what he uncovered was a sea of toxic messages directed at Nathaniel.
(Shina): What’s the matter, murderer? Afraid to finish what you started?
(Shina): You’re a complete fool if you think your looks and influence will wash the blood off your hands, murderer.
(Shina): Murderer, why no response? Worried you’ll fail again?
(Shina): You think you’re special by acting all cool?
(Shina): Your personality is so flat, it makes a pancake look like a mountain.
It didn’t end with Nathaniel. Victor’s alias, the anonymous his sister had been sending Shina, was also under the attack of her spam.
(Shina): Handsome? More like forgettable.
(Shina): Self-obsessed much? I’ve seen better-looking people in my sleep.
(Shina): You are practically an example of ’How Not to Look’. 🤮
In her malicious efforts to demean them, Shina’s team began editing their pictures after they were bored with spamming the messages. It was odd to connect them with the same people Victor had been traveling with.
Everything was done in an attempt to discredit and humiliate both him and Nathaniel. They even made it look like they had been castrated and gangbanged by her teammates.
The edited images were a disturbing display of cyberbullying that had driven even Nora away (from trying to entice Shina with handsome pictures of her brother).
With a deep sigh, Victor tapped the messaging app and scrolled down to Ezikiel’s name. It was like opening a time capsule filled with hand grenades—each message packed a punch.
(Ezikiel): You can bully her all you want, but you’ll never break her will, you fucking joke.
Victor made the right choice of not engaging with Shina over the phone personally. Not only would he be skipped, but he’d be mocked for even showing up.
Victor’s number held the rare honor of being the sole resident in both Silvia’s and Shina’s ’Blocked’ lists.
But what he was looking for was not the messages directed at him and Nathaniel, but something else.
