On the way, Bai Luan tried to awaken his Herta Resistance to save himself, but Ruan Mei truly deserved the title genius—the pastry's effects were simply too good.
No matter what he tried, he couldn't rouse his dormant Herta Resistance.
Herta held his hand and marched ahead briskly, giving him no chance to stall.
Before long, she hauled him straight into her room.
Come to think of it, this was his first time ever entering Herta's private quarters.
Until now, their meetings had always been in the workplace.
That boded ill—new backdrop at a time like this meant the ordeal ahead would be unprecedented.
And he was still weakened to boot!
With all that stacked against him,
there was no way he'd hold out.
He'd be broken till he turned into a total idiot!
"Ms. Herta, are you really going through with this? You might turn your clever assistant into a fool."
Bai Luan tried reasoning her out of it, but clearly failed.
Herta merely arched a brow and smiled. "Oh? Then I'd love to see just how dumb you could get."
"…I'd rather you didn't."
"Relax. If you do turn stupid, This Genius will take care of you."
The door swung open; Herta tugged him inside.
She let go of his hand and gave him a light shove into the room.
Once he was in, she stepped in herself, turned, and locked the door.
Inside, Bai Luan spotted the Herta Puppet and shot her a questioning look.
Why did the video get exposed?
The Herta Puppet returned his gaze, looking utterly innocent—truthfully, she hadn't wanted to share either.
That heart-finger video had been earned with her own effort; Herta hadn't helped one bit.
But who knew Herta would secretly install a monitoring program inside her? It caught her red-handed while she was watching videos.
She'd had no choice but to share her treasure, though she'd bargained for a few perks.
Now she and Herta were allies; in fact, the whole scheme had been her idea.
Let Herta use this excuse to make a move, while the Herta Puppet recorded weakened Bai Luan for keepsakes—and for fun.
Just as the System had once hinted, Herta and the Herta Puppet had formed the Twin-Herta bond.
Instinctively, Bai Luan edged toward the Herta Puppet, still unaware they'd joined forces.
From his view, both puppets were fellow victims of Herta's punishment—natural allies.
He couldn't help wanting to huddle for warmth.
The Herta Puppet walked up to him—then coldly stepped past, heading straight for Herta.
Bai Luan: ?
He spun around in disbelief, staring at the two standing side by side.
Wait… you two are on the same team!?
Reading their positions, he finally realized they'd allied.
Then the pair began discussing, right in front of him, some shockingly bold plans.
Just listening made Bai Luan feel he'd be broken any second.
Too terrifying!
Absolutely horrifying!
He had to do something to escape the impending fate.
Calm down, think… did he still have that cyber-mask? Right!
…As if!
He could wear it, but couldn't Herta just pull it off? It had no lock!
Maybe sneak open an Anywhere Door and random-teleport away—yes, that's it!
An Anywhere Door appeared behind him; he reached for the handle.
Before his fingers touched it, a spinning hammer flew in and smashed the door away.
Bai Luan watched the door fly off, then turned to the Herta Puppet.
She relaxed from her throwing pose and gave him a playful wink.
"Better behave, or we'll have to tie you up."
No problem—he still had the time-stop pocket watch… huh?
Why couldn't he pull it out?
"Give up. I've temporarily locked your permissions; you can't retrieve anything. That watch was my gift, remember?"
Seeing his baffled face, Herta smiled and kindly suggested,
"Why not try forcing your way out with that mech of yours? Let's see if This Genius can stop you."
What kind of ridiculous plot is this!?
Bai Luan nearly lost it.
Since when does the protagonist of a doujin turn out to be him!?
Nothing had gone normally from the start!
At this point,
was there any choice but the final trump card?
Ark!
Help me cancel the pastry's effect, will you?
Ark answered.
But it wasn't salvation—just an explanation.
What?
What do you mean you already asked Stelle about this, and Stelle told you it's just part of the play and you should ignore it when it happens?
T-That's not right!
Ark?
Say something, Ark!
Ark didn't answer Bai Luan again, apparently convinced Stelle's logic made perfect sense.
Stelle!!!
I never told you to teach Ark stuff like this!!!
What on earth do you two usually talk about…?
Bai Luan… was out of ideas.
『Incompetent Bai Luan』
Damn it!
Right, there's still the System!
Hurry up and cancel this pastry effect for me!
『Hahaha
Not doing it』
Damn you!
Now he really had no moves left.
Bai Luan seemed to have lost every trick and ounce of strength.
He swallowed, then looked toward Herta and the Herta Puppet.
『See? I told you the Two-Herta combo bond would work
Time's almost up』
Watching Herta and the Herta Puppet walk toward him.
A-Almost your head!
…
After Herta and the Herta Puppet teamed up to Super-Break him for a while.
Bai Luan's figure suddenly appeared inside the Little Black Room, gasping for air.
That was close… almost lost consciousness.
But soon
He stifled his gasps and cautiously glanced toward Herta.
There was another Herta inside the Little Black Room; if she noticed his current state, she'd absolutely do exactly what the real-world Herta and her puppet had just done.
He'd come here to hide and catch his breath, not to attempt a higher difficulty.
Just a short rest and he'd be fine…
Soon Bai Luan calmed a little.
Next, he only needed to be careful not to let Herta spot anything unusual… entering the Little Black Room meant either keeping her company or practicing/learning something.
So right now he had to grab something and pretend to be studying hard… except Bai Luan cast a hopeless look around and nearly tore his hair out.
Inside Herta's own room,
what could he possibly study!!!
For the first time Bai Luan felt the Little Black Room's auto-mimic surroundings feature was utterly useless.
Herta inside had already sensed something off and was scanning the room.
He had to look busy—fast… Bai Luan's genius brain fired up again; he began tidying Herta's room.
If she asked, he'd say he was learning housekeeping.
While he was thinking, Herta strolled over, light-stepped and clearly amused, watching him do chores.
She didn't speak, just watched.
Feeling that gaze behind him, Bai Luan was under huge pressure, but he kept a straight face and pretended nothing was wrong.
Herta enjoyed the show for a while as Bai Luan folded her clothes, made the bed, and cleaned the room.
"Looks like the me out there did something very interesting to you."
Bai Luan's hands froze mid-task; he stared at her in disbelief.
"How could you…?"
"Why so surprised? This Genius dragged you into her room—what else would I be doing?"
The instant Herta saw the room she knew why Bai Luan had fled into the Little Black Room.
She'd watched him for so long only to savor his "perfect house-husband" side while feigning ignorance, curious how long he could keep up the act.
Now she'd seen enough and stopped pretending, calling him out.
"I'm curious too—what exactly did she do to you that made you hide in here?"
Herta stepped toward Bai Luan; for every step she took, he took one back.
She wasn't in a rush, advancing slowly—after all, the room was only so big; he had nowhere to run.
Soon Bai Luan was cornered, and in despair he was found out: he was in a weakened state.
"Please, let me rest… I'm begging you…"
That was downright irresistible.
A limited-time revival of an extinct form.
Which meant the real-world her had also faced a Bai Luan in this exact state—right in her own room.
Hmm… she probably couldn't hold back… Herta glanced at the bed.
"Perfect, there's a bed right here."
"???"
"I'm not letting you off today."
Might as well strike first~
But before that…
Herta snapped her fingers, temporarily blocking the System's surveillance.
『Hmph, so possessive
Analyze me every day and you use it for this?』
Though the System could break her shield, after thinking it over it let it go.
Putting this into the thesis would get the advisor to kill you.