Chapter 6 - I Would Die For You

Panda snickered evilly. [I am the system of this world after all. Why am I just letting you step over me? No, you have to fear me. I should be your worst nightmare.]

(Pfft, I'd like to see your chubby panda fingers try.) Zhe Chouhen could not stop being a condescending prick for a second and continued to annoy Panda despite his different tone of voice.

Panda stayed quiet first, then laughed. [You really are full of arrogance, aren't you? Why is that so..... so...]

He didn't continue, seeming to shrug it off. [Anyway, I'd like to lower your ego for a bit. Listen well. If you reached the ending with a 0 or negative Satisfaction Meter..... You will die. Permanently.]

Zhe Chouhen blinked a few times. (Panda-laoshi..... What kind of joke is that?)

[I'm not joking.] He said in a monotonous voice.

(You're going to murder me!?)

[I just want your respect, that's all. It's easy to gain more Satisfaction, you already know how to do it. It would be unfair if it's something completely undoable.]

(H-Hey! That's..... The fuck, I've always thought you were sick in the head, turns out it's true!?)

[There's one more thing.]

Zhe Chouhen felt like vomiting all his blood. His system is a psychopath!

[If you fall in love with MC for real, you will die a horrible death in this world and get transported to the next. If you run out of stories to go to, you will also die permanently. Those are my additional rules.]

(What was that one for!? It doesn't even make any sense! Since when did I show signs that I might fall in love with Daniele!?)

[Daniele belongs to the real Leandro, I just wanted to remind you about that. And I'm both the creator and system of this world, I could read your mind, do you really think I wouldn't be able to read your heart as well?]

The hair on Zhe Chouhen's arms raised up. Daoist Panda was not like he initially thought. This could be a dangerous individual keeping him captive through transmigration.

Who knows what kind of other messed up shit he has in mind if he keeps aggravating him?

(Hey, Panda-laoshi..... I'm sorry, okay? Don't you think this is too much? I'm sorry I kept sassing you, I thought we're just having harmless fun—)

[My word is final. I'm not taking it back just because you're acting cute. Do you think I'm as easy as the MCs I write? Continue my story properly, and I will be merciful to you. Keep fucking up and I'll bring you hell worse than this. Is that clear?]

Zhe Chouhen gulped. (Y-Yes, sir.)

[Alrighty then! Bye-Bye~ Remember not to fall in love with the person you're hugging!] Daoist Panda left Zhe Chouhen's head with a cheerful tone.

(He's really crazy! What did I got myself into!?)

------------

After they waited for his scars to heal fully, Danielle and the dazed 'Leandro' stood up from where they were sitting and faced the trail ahead.

"Are you alright now, brother?" Daniele let him go. His curly blond hair was dripping and dishevelled. It gave a sort of adorably pitiful charm.

But Zhe Chouhen was too out of his depth to notice it. He was staring into space. "Uh-huh."

"I wish I could have taken at least half the pain you suffered, brother. I know we are both already dead, but it still counts as a sacrifice for me. You've always been sacrificing yourself since we got here."

"Uh-huh."

"You used to be so cold and distant when we first met. I remember the day well. Father introduced you and mother to me. You did not even want to talk to me and raced to your bedroom upstairs." Daniele recalled fondly. "Do you remember that, brother?"

"Uh-huh."

Daniele waved a hand over his face. "Brother, are you really alright? You do not seem to be registering what I was saying to you."

"Uh-huh—Oh! No, no, no, I'm fine! The pain just made me.... lose my head a bit." Zhe Chouhen snapped out of it and gave Daniele a small Leandro-esque smile.

(I'm losing my head over the fact that a system just threatened to kill me, AHHHHHHH!!!!!)

"What were you saying again?" He talked to Daniele calmly, not showing signs of his inner panic.

"I was reminiscing about the past. You did not favor me before, and now you keep risking yourself for me." Daniele clutched his chest. "I did not have any other siblings because my mother died from giving birth to me, and so I was thrilled to hear that my new mother has a son as well. You are older than me by one year, and so I looked up to you. But you kept you're distance, and always wore an upsetting expression when you see me."

"That's because I did not realize yet how good of a person you were." Zhe Chouhen recalled these two's backstory from the top of his head. His mind is a mess, it took a while to follow everything Daniele was saying.

He remembered Leandro's initial impression on Daniele. "I came from a family of a lower status than yours, and my mother and I had assumptions about the noblesse. They are always told to give to the poor, but how many of them really do it out of the goodness of their heart?"

"So I assumed that you and your father were like that, I hate you because I thought you only look good on the outside. And maybe also because out of envy. I wanted to seem better than you because—"

[Beep! Beep! OOC Warning. ((+_+))]

Zhe Chouhen gritted his teeth. "Because.... For the most part of my life, I was better than you. I was a good student, I learned the doctrines quickly and can follow the conversations of the adults. You were just a locked up young master who have never seen the hardships of the real world. Personally, I also think that such ignorance is a sin."

The real reason why Leandro envied him was because everything about Daniele was good, and he was so pure that the darkness could not touch him.

The person who thought Leandro about the dark arts, the 'priest' he kept using as a scapegoat, was actually his mother. They had been using schemes and treacherous means to rise up from the ranks and become favorable to the duke's eyes.

The young Leandro hated that Daniele was not impure like he thought, he does not easily succumbs to temptation. But it also fascinated him, and led to falling in love.

Revealing that would skip so many pages of lying and misunderstanding, that's why he got an OOC warning from Daoist Panda.

Zhe Chouhen instead followed Leandro's dialogue in the novel, where he gaslights Daniele into believing he belong in hell.

"Ignorance.... Is a sin?" Daniele had never heard someone say that before.

"Yes. In fact, I believe it's even higher than treachery to others. It is treachery to self." 'Leandro' rubbed his chin thoughtfully like a real philosopher.

"You are fooled into thinking you can be unspotted by the wicked world, and you did it for so long that you began to inhibit the demeanor of saints. You are not keen enough to your surroundings that's why you cause someone else's suffering without being aware of it. A person like that is the most blasphemous of all."

"R-Really? Am I like that?" Daniele's lower lip shook.

"At times." 'Leandro' shrugged. "Ignorance must be the sin of Lucifer himself, because he believed he was fighting God for a good cause. He believed he will be a better leader than God, and he even had followers who believed in him. Therefore, people with the sin of ignorance must be punishable at the same level as him."

He raised his index finger and pretended to come into a realization. "Oh wait! Is that reason why..... Minos has sentenced you to the ninth circle?"

Daniele felt his throat become dry and his breathing hitch. "I was ignorant.... So that is why I must suffer in hell?"

"That is only in theory, my dear. I do not know for sure, I am not God."

'Leandro' patted his head with a devious grin. "But do not worry! No matter what your sins are, I will never judge you. I will still hold you most dear in my heart!"

"T-Thank you, brother. This has given me much to reflect about.... My sins." Daniele looked down, suddenly unsure of himself.

"I hope you will not judge mine as well."

"Wh-What?" Daniele looked up at 'Leandro' who was smiling meaningfully to him.

"My sins are usually the cost of love and suffering, you see. I loved and suffered too much, that is why I am here." 'Leandro' tucked a stray golden hair strand behind his ear. "Because of one person. Don't you think that person should be more sinful than me? They were ignorant to my love. And so, they do not have the right to judge me."

"I-I guess so.... Well, only God can judge people after all. And I have received my judgement from Him, so I must accept it." Daniele nodded. "That person who was ignorant to you..... They may be starting to realize their faults and repent now."

(Using guilt to make someone fall in love. That's like basic Manipulative Gong 101.) Zhe Chouhen grimaced.

[Scum Meter raised to 20%]

[Satisfaction Meter raised to 40%]

[Love Meter raised to 43%]

[Good job, dear hater~ >.<]

Zhe Chouhen: (.... Don't speak in that jolly tone, you psychopathic system! It seriously creeps me out!)

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