Rules Ch.161

Chapter 161: Slim (1)

In this world, if there are witches, naturally, there are also male witches.

However, compared to women who are born with an innate affinity for magic, men fall far short in both perception and natural attunement. As a result, even if they possess a magical bloodline, the vast majority of men can only serve as “carriers” of that lineage throughout their lives, completely unable to use the power within them.

Hmm… if we borrow a term from a famous children’s fantasy series from a previous life, most men with magical bloodlines are “squibs,” and only a very, very small number of lucky individuals are favored by nature and become true male witches.

Even so, due to differences in constitution, male witches are generally weaker than female witches. This is also why stories of witches are widespread in the West, while the term “male witch” is rarely heard.

Everly suspects that the reason Orff was able to enter an infinite loop on the day of his death is precisely because of the magical bloodline within him.

Having inherited a wizard’s bloodline from the same lineage as Erica, the Witch of Time and Space, he may also have gained magic related to time. However, because he is male, he cannot control this power as freely as Erica could. As a result, the time loop affecting Orff becomes a passive trigger, independent of his own will: as long as he dies on the final day, he will return to 8:25 a.m. of that same day and attempt to overcome it all over again.

In fact, this is already quite fortunate. Although the countless loops are painful, they have at least saved Orff’s life.

However, whether Orff will be able to trigger the time loop again in the future is uncertain. The heavens are fair—triggering it once is already a mercy granted to his magical bloodline. If it activated every time he faced death, that would be far too biased.

“Look into families with the surname Barnes who lived in Mokhan City, Dalifer State, during the 1940s. They should be your great-grandmother’s original family,” Everly said, recalling fragments from Erica’s diary and trying to piece together useful information. “With this information, you should be able to find some leads, right?”

Orff looked troubled and instinctively wanted to refuse. After all, he had already spent an entire winter break digging through his own family tree going back only four generations. Now he was being asked to investigate a family that lived in the distant state of Dalifer in the last century—wasn’t that just asking too much?

Come on, he was just a hacker, not the FBI!

However, just as the words reached his lips, he glanced over and saw Misha resting her chin on her hand, eyes bright and sparkling as she looked at him with pure curiosity and admiration. In that instant, a rush of heat surged to his head, and his pale face “whoosh” turned bright red.

Before he even realized it, his body spoke one step ahead of his brain: “Sure.”

“T-this little task? Totally simple. Leave it to me!”

He stammered while his face was so red it looked like it could fry an egg.

“Wow, you’re so reliable!” Misha clapped enthusiastically from the side, offering her entirely insincere praise at just the right moment.

Visibly, Orff’s thin back straightened even further.

Everly found herself a little amused watching him.

“Besides your great-grandmother’s family, we also need to continue investigating your great-grandfather’s side. After all, it’s still unclear which side the poem was passed down from… this is a big project. Can you handle it alone?” she asked deliberately, with a questioning tone.

Orff actually felt that he probably couldn’t.

But Misha was right there watching him, her eyes watery and shining like they were filled with stars—so cute, so captivating… He still remembered clearly how, in the final loop, she had rushed in carrying a camera and a computer like a savior, delivering him a chance at survival. At that moment, he had already decided: Misha was the girl destined for him!

As a man, how could he admit defeat in front of the girl he liked?

So Orff stiffened his neck and accepted Everly’s new assignment.

Seeing how cooperative he was, Everly’s pickiness toward Orff lessened a little.

Unfortunately, Orff seemed to have a natural talent for ruining the mood—

After the three of them had eaten their fill and left the pizza shop, he was so busy staring at Misha’s smiling face that he didn’t watch where he was going. As he stepped out the door, he tripped over the threshold and nearly fell flat on his face.

At the critical moment, Misha reacted quickly and grabbed the back of his collar like he was a little chick, yanking him upright and stopping his forward fall.

It was just… even though he was a whole head taller than her, in her hands he was as helpless as a little lamb. Honestly, he looked really weak.

The bit of satisfaction Everly had just started to feel toward Orff instantly vanished without a trace.

…

Whether it was studying the Latin manuscript she bought online (which hadn’t arrived yet) or conducting a full investigation into Orff’s family background, none of it could be completed in a short time.

So during the early days of the new semester, Everly mainly focused her energy on her studies.

During that time, through a phone call with Old John, Everly learned about the recent situation in Tunumo Village.

Remember those white trespassers who had broken into the Indian reservation and were smeared with tree sap before being sent to the police station? Their families ended up paying the Winton people a total of 30,000 dollars in compensation and reached a settlement, which finally secured their release.

Under the leadership of the tribal chief and priestess, Nava, the compensation money was turned into a special fund for developing tourism in Tunumo Village.

Just as Everly had suggested, they built a small museum at the entrance of the reservation. Its main attraction was the headless corpse specimen of the chupacabra. In addition, the villagers were willing to purchase deformed animal carcasses from nearby farms at high prices to expand the museum’s exhibits.

This approach served two purposes. On one hand, it helped ease tensions with the surrounding white farmers—after all, their farms were right next to each other, and constant resentment could easily lead to trouble. On the other hand, with more exhibits, the visitors coming to see the place would feel like they were getting their money’s worth.

The body of that previously mutated black sheep had also been dug out from the soil.

Fortunately, the weather was cold, so it hadn’t decomposed too badly. The Winton people turned it into a preserved specimen and placed it in the museum. Surprisingly, it became extremely popular. Everyone who saw its one-eyed face said it felt “as if they were staring into the eyes of a demon,” an experience both frightening and strangely irresistible.

Now, in just a little over a month, the village’s inn had been completed and its restaurant had also opened for business. Although it was still in its early stages and only received about six or seven guests per day, that was more than enough given how low the village’s expenses were.

The guesthouses were converted from unused homes, costing almost nothing to build. The restaurant was even simpler—whatever the guests wanted to eat, they just got directly from nearby farms.

As a result, the villagers were very satisfied with the current situation. Just a few days earlier, Old John had even received a package of local specialties sent by Karl on behalf of the villagers, expressing their gratitude toward Everly.

Everly was also genuinely excited upon hearing the news, feeling a sense of satisfaction that her efforts had not been in vain.

Because Tunumo Village still wasn’t well-known enough to attract more “big spenders,” she later got Misha and Orff involved as well. The three of them put on fake identities and posted across various paranormal enthusiast forums online, hyping up the Chupacabra Museum in Tunumo Village and doing some advertising.

In any case, she hoped Tunumo Village would continue to develop and improve.

…

Everly spent a calm and fulfilling month and a half in her school life.

By late March, while she was in class one day, she suddenly received a shipping notification. Opening the shopping page, she realized—her Latin book, which she had ordered nearly fifty days earlier at the start of the semester, had finally arrived at a snail’s pace!

Student parcels at the school were delivered to the Student Service Center’s centralized pickup point, requiring a student ID to collect them.

After class, Everly and Misha packed up and headed together to the Student Service Center. Just as they were leaving after picking up the package, a lightly dressed young girl ran toward them and nearly collided head-on with Everly.

Everly reacted quickly, stepping back first and narrowly avoiding the collision.

“Oh, sorry, Everly. I’ve got training later and I’m kind of in a rush… really sorry about that.”

After steadying herself, the girl hurriedly apologized, then quickly bypassed Everly and Misha and rushed into the student parcel pickup center. A short while later, she came running back out from the student service center, carrying several packages of different sizes in her arms.

As she passed Everly again, Everly couldn’t help but glance at her, noticing how many things she was carrying.

Seeing her gaze, Misha tugged on Everly’s sleeve and whispered gossipingly, “Hasn’t she gotten a lot thinner?”

“Huh?” Everly looked confused.

“I mean Gracie… wait, don’t tell me you didn’t recognize her?!”

“Who—are you saying that girl who just ran past was Gracie?!” Everly exclaimed in shock.

It wasn’t strange that she reacted that way—the difference between the earlier Gracie and the girl who had just rushed by was simply too large.

Because of dietary habits and lifestyle factors, the obesity rate in the United States had remained consistently high, and the poorer the population, the higher the likelihood of obesity.

In Everly’s memory, Gracie had been a very round girl.

Last year, during an elective course, she had once worked on a group assignment with Gracie, who was from the neighboring nursing program. At that time, Gracie had a very round face and chubby arms, and even slight exercise would cause sweat to appear around her neck, underarms, and back, leaving her breathless and panting heavily.

In the United States, there was a widespread stigma against obesity, because being overweight often led others to assume a person had some kind of moral flaw or an inability to control their basic instincts. Because of this, Gracie had been ostracized by her classmates and couldn’t find anyone willing to do group assignments with her. Everly and Misha, both loners who didn’t particularly care who they worked with, ended up forming a group with her—and that was how they got to know each other.

The girl from earlier had straight, slender legs and a narrow waist like a reed. Her curves were well-proportioned, with an hourglass figure that perfectly matched the male fantasy of an “American sweetheart.” Everly, to her own eye, couldn’t find any resemblance between her and Gracie at all—aside from hair and eye color.

That girl… was actually Gracie?

Seeing Everly’s stunned expression, Misha covered her mouth and giggled for a while before sharing the gossip.

“Gracie has changed a lot, right? She insists it’s the result of going home during the holidays and working out properly to lose weight, but her roommate Winnie has been telling people in private that Gracie has been secretly taking weight-loss pills.”

“Even if they are pills, that result is way too exaggerated. The last time I saw her was in December—it’s only been a little over three months. Can weight-loss pills even produce that kind of effect?” Everly didn’t quite believe it.

Compared to pills, she found it more believable that Gracie had undergone liposuction.

“That’s because the pills she’s taking are very expensive—SSU Fat-Burning Capsules. Have you heard of them?”

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