With Blade no longer stirring up trouble, the following days were noticeably more peaceful.
Argenti and Yunli had practically turned into parents, picking kids up from school and dropping them off every day, while Alhaitham had only one task left in his daily routine—
Receiving food deliveries.
Listening to the system notifications, Alhaitham couldn't help but feel a severe lack of participation.
But honestly, that wasn't so bad. Since he had nothing better to do anyway, he was perfectly happy with this arrangement.
Days passed like this.
[Silver Wolf]: Wait… Alhaitham isn't seriously going to win like this, right?
[Jingyun]: That's why you pick your targets carefully before causing trouble.
[Herta]: Why is that side winning again?!
Unconvinced. Completely unconvinced.
They'd lost last time, and now they were losing again. It felt terrible.
[Ruan Mei]: Not necessarily. Yunli has an advantage—she went through a lot with her employer.
[Raiden Ei]: Impossible. She got kidnapped. Her final score definitely won't be high.
[Kujou Sara]: The Shogun is correct.
[Lisa]: I think Alhaitham is basically guaranteed to win.
[Dehya]: Same. Alhaitham's got this.
[Welt]: Let's wait and see.
The final day arrived.
With his bodyguard duties complete, Alhaitham stood up and nodded politely to his employer.
"My task is finished. I'll take my leave now. As for the evaluation afterward… I hope you'll look kindly upon it."
After all, his final score depended entirely on her.
"No problem."
The woman gave him a thumbs-up, clearly confident.
After a brief wait, a pillar of light descended, and Alhaitham vanished within it.
[Time's up. Please return to the space and wait for employer evaluations.]
A form appeared in the woman's hand. She grabbed it without even looking and immediately wrote her comment.
"Alhaitham is good. Positive review. Five-star review."
The other two employers received identical forms. After some hesitation, they also wrote down their own evaluations.
Back in the shared space, Valerius was already waiting.
Blade—who had been eliminated earlier—was there as well, arms crossed, leaning against the wall, looking slightly awkward.
"Alright," Valerius said. "This game is over. Blade, Ningguang, and Diluc are the bottom three and will receive punishment."
"As for the remaining three—who actually wins depends on the employers' scores."
He pulled out three evaluation sheets. The first one he looked at was Alhaitham's.
Smiling at him, Valerius read aloud:
"Alhaitham is good. Positive review. Five-star review."
The moment he finished, the other two contestants' expressions fell.
It's over…
A five-star review—how were they supposed to compete with that?
[Dehya]: See? Didn't I say he won?
[Kaveh]: Even he can win…
[Nahida]: Five stars should be the highest rating, right?
Nahida wasn't familiar with the scoring system, but based on common platforms she'd seen, five stars usually meant perfection.
So Alhaitham should be locked in, right?
[Beidou]: I'm jealous. Couldn't Ningguang have tried harder?
[Keqing]: You can't blame her. Who would've expected Blade to go after employers directly?
[Herta]: You're celebrating too early.
[Jade]: Everyone… did you forget this is a ten-point system?
[Keqing]: !!!!!
[Yelan]: !!!!!
[Furina]: Wait—so Alhaitham's five-star review… isn't even a passing score?
[Silver Wolf]: LMAOOOO.
[Seele]: Ordering takeout every day really built some muscle memory, huh.
[Cyno]: Alhaitham… finished.
After reading the evaluation, Valerius casually asked Alhaitham,
"How many points do you think your employer gave you?"
"…Don't tell me it's five points."
Alhaitham reacted quickly. Combined with Valerius's suspicious grin, a bad feeling settled in.
"Hehe… correct."
Valerius laughed. This employer really was something—huge praise, then only five points.
"Sigh…"
Alhaitham hadn't expected to lose because of a five-star review. Where was the logic in that?
Five points didn't guarantee defeat, but his chances were slim—unless the other two seriously offended their employers.
Nearby, Ningguang leaned against the wall, visibly dejected.
If her employer hadn't been killed, she would've easily gotten a full score.
Thinking about it only made her glare at Blade again.
"Ahem… next is Yunli's evaluation."
Clearing his throat, Valerius read:
"Miss Yunli is very kind and helped me a lot. When I was bullied, she stood up for me. In dangerous moments, she protected me. Thank you."
"That kid…"
Hearing the evaluation, Yunli felt pretty good about it.
"How many points do you think you got?" Valerius asked.
"…Six?"
Even though Yunli trusted her employer, she'd still been kidnapped once. That had to cost her points.
"It's eight."
Yunli froze—then lit up with excitement.
Eight points!
That meant if she won, she'd unlock an eight-point reward.
This was huge.
Now it all came down to Argenti.
After Yunli's score, it was his turn—and he was visibly nervous.
"Ahem." Valerius cleared his throat again, switching to a full-on chuunibyou tone.
"As my retainer, you endured the trials of the Dark Mage… very well. This mage is satisfied…"
Yunli's heart skipped.
Satisfied? Don't tell me he's getting ten points…
"However—refusing to become my Dark Knight is unacceptable. Minus one point."
"What?!"
Argenti was stunned. That counted?!
"Also… you attacked the forces of light—ahem—you beat up my dad. Minus one point."
Yunli relaxed instantly. Same score as her now—and there might be more deductions.
"Most importantly… what kind of spell did you cast on my mom? Why is she demanding I give you extra points? What is your relationship exactly?"
"Minus two points."
After finishing, Valerius couldn't help but laugh and gave Argenti a thumbs-up.
"You were hired as a bodyguard and almost evolved into my stepfather. Impressive."
[Lisa]: Hahahaha! I knew it'd end like this.
[Jean]: Uh… this really isn't Argenti's fault…
[Sparkle]: 666.
[Jing Yuan]: Pure misfortune.
[Sampo]: Argenti should've gone all the way—become the stepdad and get ten points.
[Seele]: I think he'd get zero.
[Luka]: Same. Definitely zero.
With the final tally complete, Yunli was still in great spirits. She turned to Argenti and asked curiously,
"So… what did you do to her mom?"
"Sigh…"
Argenti wore a pained expression. He genuinely had no idea how to explain it.
He'd only praised her a little—how did that turn into this?
And in the end, it even cost him his points.
Where was the justice in that?!
To Read 160+ advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon.com/DarkVerse146