"Begin Roleplay."
"Congratulations, Master, for drawing…"
"End Roleplay."
Entering the bathroom, leaning against the wall and clutching his painful chest with a grimace, Jiang Ge activated the roleplay function. Immediately, his reflection in the mirror transformed into Dan Heng, and the pain in his chest vanished.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Jiang Ge then ended the roleplay, reverting from Dan Heng back to his own appearance.
However, this action displeased the system. Not that Jiang Ge cared much; this system, aside from mentioning providing him with the ability to role-play as Honkai: Star Rail characters, it only knew how to trash-talk and make sarcastic remarks.
Fortunately, except when initiating roleplay, Jiang Ge didn't have to hear the system's voice at other times though today it was clearly quiet.
The only downside was that he had wasted one of today's roleplay opportunities. But Jiang Ge wasn't worried, as he still had two chances left. Moreover, just like drawing cards in a game, the system's gacha pool also had a pity system. After accumulating a certain number of draws, he would receive an additional opportunity to freely select a character.
Even if he used up all of today's chances and encountered danger, Jiang Ge could still use a self-select opportunity. However, up to now, Jiang Ge had only saved up three such self-select chances.
"Phew... time to go out."
Finally feeling relieved all over, Jiang Ge walked out of the bathroom. Corin, who had been waiting outside, quickly approached him with a flustered expression upon seeing him emerge.
"Mr. Jiang Ge, are you alright?" Corin asked while carefully checked Jiang Ge's body and asked with concern, "Are you sure it's alright not to get treatment?"
"I'm fine, see? I'm perfectly okay." Jiang Ge smiled and vigorously patted his own chest, which startled Corin so much she nearly jumped. She hurriedly pressed down on his hand.
"M-Mr. Jiang Ge, we still don't know if you're truly fully recovered. Please don't do such extreme things..."
"Don't worry, little Corin, I know my own body well." Looking at Ke Lin's worried expression, Jiang Ge resisted the urge to pinch her cheek. "It's you Corin, who probably didn't rest well last night because of me, right? You have a bit of dark circles under your eyes."
Corin doesn't matter. It's all my fault that Mr. Jiang Ge's ribs were injured," Corin said. She hadn't expected that Jiang Ge, whose ribs she had broken, wouldn't blame her but instead show concern for her condition. This made her feel even more guilty, and she couldn't help but reproach herself. "If this could be considered a punishment for Corin, that would be even better..."
She hung her head and spoke softly. But to her surprise, Jiang Ge suddenly grabbed her shoulders. Corin was startled, then saw Jiang Ge's furrowed brow—he was clearly angry.
"Mr. Jiang Ge?"
"Listen up. I really don't like what you just said. Moreover, if you don't go rest now, that's what will actually make me angry. Understood?"
"U-Understood!"
"Good. I happen to have some business to take care of outside, so I won't need your help, Corin. All you have to do is rest obediently, alright?"
"Alright, Mr. Jiang Ge!"
Hearing her reply, Jiang Ge finally nodded in satisfaction, his furrowed brow relaxing as he stepped aside to make way for the path upstairs.
Since Corin was a long-term, live-in private maid, after discussions with the Victoria Housekeeping, it was naturally arranged for her to reside in Jiang Ge's home for convenience. Initially, Corin still was a bit worried about the living arrangements, but soon found her concerns were unnecessary. Because compared to Jiang Ge's room, her bedroom looked more like the master's.
At this moment, Corin had no choice but to obey Jiang Ge's order and return to her bedroom to rest. But before heading upstairs, she turned back to look at the smiling Jiang Ge, recalling his angry expression from earlier, and felt increasingly unable to figure him out.
(Mr. Jiang Ge is very gentle, but... the things that make him angry are so strange...)
"Little Corin?"
"Corin will go rest right now, Mr. Jiang Ge."
Hearing Jiang Ge's urging, Corin didn't dare to linger any longer and went upstairs. Only then did Jiang Ge breathe a sigh of relief.
It was already 6 a.m. After he lost consciousness last night, when he woke up, he found himself surrounded by a group of doctors holding various instruments.
Jiang Ge's first thought was, "Oh no, I've encountered organ harvesters..."
He immediately wanted to transform and start causing a scene right then and there. Fortunately, after some explanation, it turned out that Corin had carried him to the hospital, where examinations revealed that completely fine as he thought. Corin really made huge deal even though he told her multiple times that he was fine.
Jiang Ge also learned that he had actually been lying in the hospital bed for quite some time. Due to certain treatment procedures requiring a family member's signature by regulation, and with no one else around Jiang Ge except Corin who brought him in, they couldn't contact anyone else.
The reason they were preparing to treat Jiang Ge at that moment was because Corin, overwhelmed with panic outside, had her mind in a fog and actually signed the forms in the capacity of his wife.
In the end, however, Jiang Ge still didn't let those doctors proceed with the treatment. He rushed out directly, grabbed a bewildered Corin—who had been looking worried but was stunned upon seeing him—and they ran off together.
But Jiang Ge made a mental note of the matter; he would need to get hold of that agreement document when he had time later.
Right now, he needed to go out.
Jiang Ge straightened his slightly disheveled collar, took the top hat hanging on the coat rack, and had just pushed open the door...
...he found Ellen standing at the door, sucking on a lollipop, seemingly waiting for him.
"Ellen?"
Jiang Ge was somewhat surprised. He checked the time, then looked at Ellen again. His skeptical tone clearly indicated he couldn't believe the Ellen before him was the real deal.
Seeing Jiang Ge come out, Ellen took the lollipop out of her mouth. She looked him up and down with lazy eyes and uttered a sentence that left Jiang Ge caught between laughter and tears.
"You're not dead?"
"Is that any way to talk to your boss?"
"Tch... If I'd known you weren't dead, I wouldn't have come so early," Ellen yawned and started complaining. "Corin reported in the early morning that she'd accidentally gotten you admitted to the hospital. The boss was so scared he woke us all up to go find you at the hospital, but when we got there, you were gone. Then Corin reported that you ran off from the hospital with her without receiving any treatment. Now the boss has gone to invite the best private medical team; they're on their way."
"And you?"
"The boss told me to come check the situation first. Anyway, I couldn't be bothered to run around. But you look pretty fine. Do you still need the medical team?"
"No need, I've already recovered."
"Is that so," Ellen nodded, then took out her phone and dialed Lycaon number. "Hey, boss, Jiang Ge says he's recovered, no need to get the doctors... Where is he? Right in front of me... Here, he wants to talk to you."
"Hello, Lycaon, it's Jiang Ge."
Jiang Ge took the phone and spoke. The elegant voice of Lycaon came from the other end of the line.
"Mr. Jiang Ge, it's a pleasure to hear your voice. Victoria Housekeeping has a preliminary understanding of the situation, but are you truly sure you don't require medical treatment?"
"No need, rest assured. 'Goodenough' has its own special methods. I am fully recovered."
"That's good to hear. It's truly fortunate that you are alright. On behalf of everyone at Victoria Housekeeping, I offer you my sincerest apologies," Lycaon tone was sincere, yet also carried a hint of helplessness. "I am truly sorry you experienced this. Please allow me to personally visit to make amends."
"That really isn't necessary."
"Please do not refuse. Our service has committed such a significant error. If we do not make reparations and provide retraining for the maid, Victoria Housekeeping would be in a very difficult position."
"Well then, you can come over this afternoon. I have matters to attend to in the morning."
"Certainly. Once again, my apologies, Mr. Jiang Ge."
Jiang Ge ended the call and returned the phone to Ellen, who was already looking somewhat impatient. He then said to her:
"You heard. Lycaon will be coming this afternoon."
"...so he mustn't see you lounging on the sofa reading comics, alright?"
"Don't worry, I know what's appropriate," Ellen put her phone away and scrutinized Jiang Ge for a moment longer before finally nodding. "But it really is good to see you're okay. Now I can set my worries aside and properly enjoy my sweets."
"Oh? I didn't realize I held such an important place in your heart, Ellen."
Jiang Ge was somewhat surprised. He never expected that one day Ellen would say something like that to him, and he couldn't help but feel a little pleased.
"Of course. Otherwise, I was worried if something happened to you then I couldn't have you go to my parent-teacher meeting, what would I do then?"
For a moment, the atmosphere turned awkward. After a long pause, Jiang Ge slowly spoke.
"...My dear 'little sister', you are truly thoughtful."
"My reliable 'big brother', this is what a younger sister should do."
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A/n: While I am a new translator, I have a Patreon! While it may be a bit empty right now both this and the other book on my page has advanced chapters posted on patreon. Set up for my web novel will be 2 chapters for every book a day and if you go to my patreon you'll see the set up there.
patreon.com/deadlygoober