Chapter 197: Is This the Luck of the Emperor?
"Please strike a pose that you consider to be your absolute most intimate," the event organizer instructed, gesturing enthusiastically toward the center of the brightly lit stage.
Without missing a beat, Rovel swept Bronya off her feet, cradling her effortlessly in a classic princess carry. Bronya stiffened for a fraction of a second before adjusting her grip on the two oversized Homu plushies in her arms, turning her stoic gaze toward the flashing camera lens.
"Uh... are you sure this is your most intimate pose?" The organizer hesitated, his index finger hovering awkwardly over the shutter button. This was hardly the passionate display the event coordinators had hoped for to cap off the grand finale. Besides, the duo had already relied on this exact same lifting maneuver to survive the grueling second round of the obstacle course.
Rovel offered a gentle, melancholic smile, pitching his voice to carry across the quieted audience. "Actually, she suffers from a severe injury to her legs. She relies on a heavy exoskeleton armor just to walk normally."
He tightened his hold on her slightly, his expression a mask of absolute devotion. "The reason I believe this is our most intimate action is because I want to prove something to her. I want the world to know that even when she takes off that cold metal armor, I will always be here to become her legs. I will carry her forward like this for the rest of our lives."
A collective gasp rippled through the gathered spectators, followed almost immediately by a deafening wave of applause and cheers.
"Could it be... is that the real reason they were the only couple to endure until the very end of the stamina trial?" a woman in the front row murmured, dabbing at her eyes.
"He must have trained himself to the absolute limit just for her sake, just so he could hold her like that forever... Oh my god, my makeup is ruining, this is so touching!"
"Damn it, I admit it! You two really moved me!" a burly man shouted from the back, clapping his hands raw.
A tiny, almost imperceptible vein throbbed against Bronya's pale temple. She leaned her head closer to Rovel's shoulder, maintaining her picture-perfect posture while whispering directly into his ear. Her words slipped through tightly gritted teeth. "Can you please stop adding unnecessary drama to your own performance?"
"Isn't it a good thing to let the audience see just how deeply we love each other?" Rovel murmured back, his lips barely moving. "You know exactly how stiff our chemistry looked during the earlier rounds. The event rules clearly state that anyone caught faking a romantic relationship will be instantly disqualified. Bronya wouldn't want to lose the grand prize at the very last second, right?"
Bronya fell completely silent. Her grip on the Homu plushies tightened a fraction, signaling her reluctant agreement with his flawless logic.
Up on the stage, the organizer sniffled loudly, wiping a stray tear from the corner of his eye before pressing down firmly on the shutter button. The flash illuminated the scene. The dazzling stage lights, the fully assembled giant puzzle framing the background, and the tragic yet deeply loving couple standing front and center created an absolutely flawless photographic composition.
"It is finally over..." Bronya exhaled a long, quiet breath as they stepped off the platform. She hugged the two massive Homu plushies tightly against her chest. Enduring that gauntlet of embarrassing couple's games had drained her mental stamina far more than any combat simulation ever could. She truly never wanted to experience a public spectacle like that a second time.
Rovel walked beside her, his gaze casually drifting toward the floating, translucent interface hovering just above Bronya's head. He raised an eyebrow. Her trust level had unknowingly crept all the way up to 92%.
He mentally compared the numbers. Kiana's current trust level sat just a bit higher than Bronya's, resting comfortably at 94%. By any normal metric, scores in the nineties firmly cemented them in the category of very close friends.
However, the nature of those trust levels varied wildly from person to person. With someone as guarded and analytical as Bronya, a 92% rating most likely represented an unbreakable foundation of platonic loyalty and deep friendship. As for Kiana... well, her 94% was probably rooted entirely in friendship and shared meals too, right?
He clicked his tongue softly. It was a genuine pity he could not actively monitor Himeko's or Fu Hua's current metrics. He felt a burning curiosity regarding just how high their respective trust levels had climbed over the past few weeks. As for Wendy... he firmly decided against checking her status for the time being. The lingering fear of triggering some sort of terrifying yandere 'Golden Orange' scenario kept his curiosity strictly in check.
As they strolled down the bustling commercial street on their way back, the glowing neon sign of another Homu specialty store illuminated the pavement. A towering display of premium Homu blind boxes in the front window instantly snagged Bronya's undivided attention. Her footsteps slowed to a halt. The memory of Rovel casually pulling three ultra-rare Homus from similar blind boxes a while ago still burned brightly in her mind, leaving her harboring a deep, quiet envy.
Rovel noticed her intense, unblinking stare fixed on the colorful cardboard cubes. "Want to give it a try?" he suggested, gesturing toward the open doors.
Bronya hesitated for a fraction of a second. "...Yes." The temptation of a lucky pull was simply too strong to resist. What if today was her lucky day?
Marching straight up to the checkout counter, Bronya retrieved her wallet. "I will take two Homu blind boxes," she declared with absolute gravity, slapping her payment card down onto the glass surface.
"You are in luck, miss! We have a special promotion today: buy two, get one free. That makes three Homu blind boxes in total. Here you go." The cheerful clerk reached into the massive display bin, randomly plucking three sealed boxes and sliding them across the counter.
Rovel leaned against the edge of the counter, eyeing the brightly painted packaging. "By the way, is there really no special method to scan or check what is hidden inside these blind boxes beforehand?" he asked curiously.
"Negative," Bronya answered before the clerk could even open his mouth. "The reason premium Homu blind boxes command such an exorbitant price is due to their multiple layers of security. The packaging materials contain specialized lining that completely blocks X-ray and thermal detection., the physical containers use several one-time mechanical locks." She picked up one of the boxes, tracing her finger along the sealed seam. "Once a box is opened, it is virtually impossible to restore it to its factory condition. That guaranteed integrity is exactly why the secondary market values sealed blind boxes so highly."
Carrying her prizes to a small seating area near the store's exit, Bronya arranged the three identical boxes in a neat, perfectly spaced row on the table. She stared down at them, her gray eyes filled with the intense, calculating focus of a sniper lining up a critical shot. Just as her fingers brushed against the tear-away tab of the first box, she paused, glancing up at Rovel sitting directly across from her.
"Rovel, are you not going to pull any?" she asked, a hint of confusion rippling through her usually flat tone.
"I will pull after you are completely finished," Rovel replied, shaking his head with a casual shrug. "If I start buying them now, I might accidentally sweep up all the remaining limited editions in the store."
Bronya narrowed her eyes slightly. "...How could one person's luck possibly remain that consistently high? Your success last time was merely a statistical anomaly. A fluke." She clearly refused to believe in such an absurd, unscientific concept as perpetual good luck.
Reaching out, she slid the box on the far right across the smooth tabletop, stopping it right in front of him. "This particular unit was the promotional free gift. You take it." Perhaps she simply could not bear the thought of Rovel sitting there empty-handed, watching her have all the fun.
"Well then, I will gladly accept it." A warm, amused smile curled at the corner of Rovel's mouth as he rested his hand over the cardboard lid.
"Mhm. It was purchased using the New Year's allowance money you gave me anyway," Bronya noted with a short, practical nod.
Rovel's mouth twitched. "...Bronya, did you just casually admit to something quite incredible? I fully expected Kiana to be the one blowing her allowance on reckless impulse purchases. I certainly did not expect the highly rational, perfectly calculated Bronya to be the very first one to break discipline and gamble her funds away."
He let out a quiet chuckle. He was not about to act like some strict, overbearing Shenzhou-style parent. Once he handed over the red envelopes, the money belonged entirely to the girls to spend however they saw fit. He simply could not resist the opportunity to tease her a little.
Bronya completely ignored his teasing commentary. Her absolute focus had already returned to the cardboard cube in front of her. She gripped the tab and ripped it open. A brilliant, synthetic golden light spilled out from the interior packaging.
"It is gold! A limited edition indicator!" Bronya's eyes widened, a rare spark of pure excitement breaking through her stoic facade.
However, the moment the dramatic golden light faded, revealing the actual prize nestled within the foam padding, Bronya froze solid. She looked as though she had been instantly turned to stone.
It was, without a doubt, a genuine limited edition. Specifically, it was the White Valentine's Day Limited Edition Homu plushie. It was the exact same model, right down to the little decorative ribbon, as the massive prize she was currently squeezing under her left arm.
Rovel bit the inside of his cheek, fighting a losing battle to keep his facial muscles completely neutral.
"Bronya suddenly has a very bad feeling about this," she muttered darkly. Taking a slow, steadying breath, she reached for her second box and tore away the seal.
Another burst of brilliant synthetic illumination spilled across the table. "It is gold again!" The spark of desperate anticipation flared back to life in her gray eyes.
The light faded. The foam padding fell away.
Sure enough, her darkest premonition became an immediate reality.
Sitting innocently inside the box was the matching counterpart. The second half of the White Valentine's Day Limited Edition Homu set. She had successfully completed the romantic pair.
"Pfft..." Rovel slapped a hand over his mouth, his shoulders shaking violently as he finally burst into a fit of helpless laughter.
Staring blankly at the table, Bronya slowly processed the situation. She now possessed two complete pairs of White Valentine's Day Homus. The light of hope gradually drained from her eyes, leaving behind a hollow, defeated void. If these exact same plushies could simply be purchased from a random blind box on the street, then what was the point of her enduring all that humiliating, exhausting trouble to play a fake couple on stage just ten minutes ago?
"Hey, there is no need to look so devastated," Rovel offered, trying to inject some comforting warmth into his voice while wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. "These are still highly sought-after items. If you sell this extra pair on the secondary market, you might actually make a decent profit."
"Bronya will not sell them!" she snapped, hugging the newly unboxed plushies fiercely against her chest. "Homus are not mere commodities to be flipped for profit! Even if I pull the absolute most common, bottom-tier Homu plushie, Bronya will definitely treasure it and add it to the collection!" She shook her head vigorously, her twin drill-tails bouncing with the motion. This was her absolute, unyielding persistence when it came to her beloved franchise.
Taking a moment to compose herself, she leveled a serious glare across the table. "Alright. You open yours now."
Rovel nodded agreeably. He hooked his finger under the cardboard tab of the promotional box Bronya had gifted him and pulled it cleanly open.
A familiar, brilliant glow immediately flooded the seating area.
"Gold again?" Bronya leaned forward, her eyes tracking the light. Could it possibly be another Valentine's duplicate?
"Looks like a Detective Homu," Rovel noted casually, glancing down at the contents nestled inside the packaging.
"Oh." The intense interest burning in Bronya's eyes instantly cooled, dissipating into mild disappointment. "Detective Homu plushies are widely considered the most common among the limited edition sets., all the highly valued early serial numbers were pulled by hardcore collectors a long time ago."
She settled back into her chair. So, Rovel had merely managed to pull a relatively common, low-value limited edition. As she had logically deduced, a single person's luck simply could not remain at peak performance all the time.
Rovel reached deep into the box, his fingers wrapping around a solid, weighty object instead of soft fabric. He pulled it out and set it on the table. It was a carefully detailed Detective Homu figure, cast in high-quality resin.
"Is that so?" Rovel mused, inspecting the complex paint job. "Then I suppose this will only be good for use as a simple desk ornament."
Bronya froze. Her eyes blew wide open, practically bulging out of her skull as she locked onto the solid resin figure resting in Rovel's hand.
"What is wrong?" Rovel asked, genuinely puzzled by her extreme reaction. "Did you not just say that the Detective Homu limited edition is the most common one in the set? Why do you look like you have just seen a ghost?"
"Bronya was talking about the plushies!" she blurted out, her usual calm completely shattering. "But you just pulled a solid figure! Wait... when did the company ever release a Detective Homu figure? It could not possibly be a bootleg, could it?" She frowned deeply, her mind racing. It was practically impossible for a cheap counterfeit to slip past the rigorous quality control of an official Homu specialty store's sealed blind box.
Moving with blinding speed, Bronya whipped out her mobile terminal and rapidly handled to the official Homu merchandise database. Her eyes scanned the latest update logs. Her breath hitched.
According to the official site, a secret promotional tie-in had been launched just today, coinciding directly with the release of the White Valentine's Day sets. This specific figure could only be obtained through random blind box pulls exclusively at the Homu Paradise locations.
There were only three of them manufactured in the entire world.
She zoomed in on the high-resolution reference image, comparing it to the physical object on the table. She checked the tiny, laser-etched serial number stamped onto the base of the figure.
001/003.
The figure Rovel had casually pulled from a free promotional box was none other than the very first one in existence.
Was this... the legendary luck of the Emperor?
The gaze Bronya slowly directed across the table at Rovel completely lost its usual cold, calculating edge, gradually shifting into something bordering on fervent, religious awe.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]