"Sigh… if only I had equipment from another world."
Lisa let out a regretful sigh.
Although magic could substitute for part of the research, APTX4869 was, after all, a drug born from a purely scientific world.
Naturally, equipment from that world would be far more suitable.
If Lisa had access to such tools—and combined them with her magic— the success rate might improve significantly.
At that point, it might even become something that could be replicated, or perhaps spark a trend across all of Teyvat.
"Even if there's only one pill, if we don't test it, we'll never know its true effect, will we?"
Jean was still carefully examining the black pill in her hand.
After all, their understanding of the drug's effects came entirely from the manga.
What they had created now— what effect it truly had—was still unknown.
It might work exactly like in the story, returning someone to childhood.
Or it might work differently.
There could even be unforeseen side effects.
But it probably wasn't poison.
Jean trusted Lisa's abilities.
"You make a good point~"
Lisa leaned lazily against the wall and teased,
"How about you try it, Jean?"
Jean: "..."
Yeah, no thanks!
She was currently in the prime of her life— she had absolutely no desire to turn into a child.
As a kid, she wouldn't be able to do so many things.
She still hoped to… develop things further with Boss Han, you know!
More importantly, the drug's effects were still uncertain.
If some terrifying side effect appeared, that would be disastrous.
Although Jean didn't want to test it herself, she did offer Lisa a suggestion.
"You could take the drug to Boss Han.
Maybe he can give you some insight."
"Oh—now that's a great idea!"
Lisa's eyes lit up instantly.
After all, both the drug and the research materials had come from Boss Han.
With his wisdom, he would definitely be able to offer useful advice.
And while she was at it, she could read some manga and relax a bit.
She had barely slept these past few days while researching nonstop.
"Alright then, I'll head over now"
Lisa took the pill Jean handed her, smiling.
"Oh right," Jean added suddenly, rubbing her temples,"Take Barbara with you.
She's been in her room all morning and hasn't come out."
"Little cutie? What's wrong with her?"
Lisa blinked curiously.
Jean hesitated, looking slightly troubled.
But since Lisa wasn't an outsider, she didn't hide anything and explained what had happened last night.
"Tsk tsk, I never thought little cutie would do that alone in her room."
Lisa teased with a grin after hearing the story.
"It was because of Boss Han's food.
Don't overthink it."
Jean sat back down, rolling her eyes.
"Got it, got it~ I'll go find little cutie now."
Lisa waved casually and left the Grand Master's office.
"Food that makes clothes explode, huh?
That actually sounds pretty interesting~"
Standing at the doorway, a spark of curiosity flashed in Lisa's eyes.
Maybe she'd give it a try later.
Meanwhile, at Solace Book House.
As more customers arrived, the atmosphere grew increasingly lively.
Especially in the discussion area, people were reading while chatting animatedly.
However—
Suddenly, several out-of-place sobs echoed through the room.
They immediately drew everyone's attention.
"Uh… what's going on? Why are they crying while reading manga?"
"Yeah, they look absolutely heartbroken.
No idea what happened."
"Could it be that the manga was bad, and they regret wasting 100,000 Mora?"
"No way!
The quality of this shop's manga is universally acknowledged!"
"Exactly! You can insult me, but you cannot say the manga is bad!"
"Then what's the reason?"
"Maybe it's just too good, and they're crying from happiness?"
"Yeah! That must be it!"
Seeing the blonde girl in the corner and the floating creature bawling their eyes out, everyone was initially confused.
But after thinking about it, they concluded it must be because the manga was so good.
Look how happy they were— even crying tears of joy!
Naturally, Lumine and Paimon, sitting in the corner, heard all of this.
They just didn't bother responding.
At this moment, they were still completely immersed in overwhelming sadness.
"Waaah—Boss Han is way too cruel!
Why did he kill off my adorable Kaori Miyazono?!"
Thinking of that brutal ending, Paimon desperately wanted to mail Boss Han a box of knives.
Ah—no, wait.
She wanted to beat him up.
Violently.
The early part of the story had already been painful— the male lead's traumatic upbringing was heartbreaking.
But they endured it.
After all, the interaction between the male and female leads was incredibly warm.
Especially when Kaori helped the male lead regain confidence and step out of his despair—
Paimon was absolutely ecstatic.
Her face was full of "auntie smile,"
chanting "Get together! Get together!"
while eagerly continuing to read.
When the story reached the moment the male lead finally realized his feelings and understood that he loved Kaori—
Paimon's anticipation hit its absolute peak.
And then—
The plot took a sudden, merciless nosedive.
A devastating emotional blow.
The heroine encountered a life-threatening crisis and was rushed into emergency surgery.
At that moment, Paimon completely froze.
Sure, she had sensed something ominous earlier—
But she thought it was just a regular illness!
Who knew it would be this serious?!
Who the hell wrote this kind of dog-blood plot?!
Do stomach medicines grow on trees or something?!
Especially when she saw the male lead breaking down and crying alone on the streets at night—
Paimon's heart shattered.
Just when everything was about to become perfect, you pull this stunt?!
At that moment, Paimon almost wanted to stop reading altogether.
This was pure suffering.
But just like Boss Han had said—
"Healing anime only gets more addictive the further you go."
So she kept reading.
Holding onto the desperate hope that the heroine would recover.
That she would meet the male lead again.
That they would perform one final, breathtaking duet together.
But who could have imagined—
In the end, the heroine actually… actually died.
What the actual—?!
Paimon completely lost it.
She was so angry she wanted to hit someone.
How could anyone do this to readers?!
This is a straight-up emotional assault!
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