The Art of Bootlicking

----

拍马屁 : pāi mă pì (pie-ma-pee) a Mandarin insult meaning "patting a horse's ass." Refer to: Bootlicking.

Bootlicking: an informal term for behaving in an excessively obedient way as a means of gaining favor.

----

"Hello!" Yu Yan chirped.

She had practiced in her mirror, to get into the role of a new neighbor.

The only thing her father had ever praised her on was her two-facedness.

Of course, it hadn't been a compliment, but Yu Yan took it as one.

Yu Yan had knocked on the door of the nice-enough looking house beside her, and was faced with a gruff-looking merchant.

"We've just moved in next door, and we'd like to get to know our neighbors!" Yu Yan gave a cheerful smile. It was so wide that it stretched her muscles. Yu Yan had ordered Belluse to purchase some fruits from the market that very morning, for this very task.

Yu Yan thrust a basket of apples in the merchant's hands, who looked bewildered at the sudden present.

'Bootlicking. Establishing relations.'

"Feel free to come by for dinner," she added.

The merchant looked confused. "Who're you?"

"Oh, yes, I haven't introduced myself! How rude of me."

Yu Yan curtseyed.

'Carefree noble. Carefree noble. Carefree noble.

She was a carefree former noble now.'

"I'm Ingrid Signia, of the Signia Bar-" Yu Yan pretended to mess up. 'Carefree noble who just lost her family. Carefree noble who still thinks she's a noble.' "Er, you can just call me Ingrid. We're neighbors now!" She pointed to the shiny mansion opposite the house. Yu Yan introduced Belluse. "This is my... friend, Lucia."

The merchant wouldn't be dumb. It was evident due to the size of his house.

He would know that she was a noble, likely from the crumbling Resilia.

And the girl beside her was likely a servant based on her posture, most likely a maid.

His expression shifted.

"I see..." He pushed his hand forward. "I'm Sigmund. Sigmund Laver. It's nice to meet you." He emphasized his last name, which meant he was probably important.

'Aigoo.' Yu Yan cringed internally. 'So direct lah. You sound like a rich person on a blind date.'

After exchanging a small conversation, Yu Yan headed over to the next target.

She had planned to collect as much data about the hierarchy of Rook as possible, but no one was willing to fork over gossip to foreigners. First, she would establish her presence and integrate herself in the community. Backers would be necessary.

She knocked on the next door and did the same thing.

It was a middle-aged woman this time.

"Oh, hello." The lady smiled. She seemed pretty friendly, but she had picked up on the fact that Yu Yan was a noble. "I'm Alessia Rook."

'Ahhh, the mayor? Nice.'

Yu Yan did a double take, batting her eyes innocently. "Are you the mayor of Rook?" she asked, mouth forming an 'O.'

"Ha, at least that's what they call me." Alessia smiled casually, accepting the basket of apples. "Thank you for your consideration. It's much appreciated, Lady Ingrid."

'You better. I wasted a lot on these fruits.'

Yu Yan smiled. "It's the least I could do." Her smile was as genuine as she could force it to be. "It was nice to meet you."

"Oh, and also," Alessia added, "I'd like for you to join us at a community gathering this week. Nothing too formal, of course. Just a meet-up between friends."

Yu Yan beamed. "I'd love to!"

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Yu Yan and Belluse both returned home to the mansion.

Yu Yan propped a piece of parchment up on the wall like she was giving a presentation.

"Our official social debut-" she pointed at the center of the paper "-will be two days from now. But in order for us to have connections within the community, I'd like for you to get chummy with those at the local market. Make friends. Spread gossip. Sellers have the biggest mouths."

Belluse nodded, understandingly.

"I might have to bootlick the merchant a bit, but while you're at it, could you figure out more about Alessia Rook's influence and the Lavers? I can't go out myself, because we'll have to masquerade as a noble-and-servant masquerading as an ordinary pair. I'll have to seem incapable of keeping up our facade, but let it slip that I'm good at investments. You know, the mentally-capable type of noble."

Yu Yan had always been good at bullshitting. It had been one of her hidden talents.

It had come in handy in high school art class, where she had splashed paint on a canvas and managed to convince the art teacher it was a representation of modern society.

'The good old days.'

Yu Yan pointed at the three circles she drew.

'Rella' was scrawled in the top circle, 'Rook' in the second, and 'Laver?' in the third.

"Obviously the highest power in Rook would be the Rellas and those related to them." Yu Yan pointed at the top circle. "We have to discreetly avoid them at all cost. Alessia might have ways to contact them, but a small-town mayor shouldn't give us too much trouble if we tell her to keep it a secret."

"But having a noble in town would be something beneficial to draw people to Rook." Belluse frowned. "Why would she keep it a secret, Your Majesty?"

"I'll push the 'from the shadows' agenda," Yu Yan answered, smiling, "she's not dumb. She'll threaten to reveal my existence if I don't help her flourish Rook, and obviously, she'll take the credit while I do some grunt work." Yu Yan bit into a leftover apple. "With a little push in the right direction, our plans might just work out."

Yu Yan owned two moral lines she pushed upon herself. The left was murder, and the right was manipulation. Once you crossed the 'murder' line, Yu Yan would be stuck in a 'physically' morally grey area. She preferred not to stay there, so the left line was a touchy subject. Oftentimes, she pretended not to cross it.

There was no good or bad, only different shades of morally grey to different people.

Once you crossed the 'manipulation' line, Yu Yan would be stuck in a 'mentally' morally grey area, which was, for her, easier to stay in.

It wasn't that she was above crossing those lines. In fact, she had crossed the right line several times in both lives. But she had pushed upon herself criteria of when she could and could not cross them.

Would she be in danger or would her endgame be obstructed if she did not cross those lines? If not, then she wouldn't.

Self-control was necessary when crossing lines. If possible, Yu Yan wanted to maintain her morality and sense of 'human self'. She would do what she had to do, but she wouldn't look down on others that did the same. If they had different moral lines? Or if they had none?

Then she would avoid them if possible.

But to reach her endgame of living a peaceful life, she knew she couldn't stay in her usual zone.

In her first world, her endgame was also living peacefully. If possible, she didn't want to die. After all, if she died, who would continue supporting her kpop groups and hobbies? She wanted to stay alive to read the ending of One Piece.

Belluse understood. "But what image are we pushing to Rook, Your Majesty?"

"The noble who brought over riches while migrating is probably the most suited. I'll sew up a nice-looking dress and show it off a little at the meeting. We'll pretend like we're rich so we get more trust. But you can twist it however you'd like. I trust your competence."

Yu Yan placed the apple core on the table.

Only after she had planted her roots in Rook would she be able to stand tall and grow her branches as freely as possible.

---

The party was successful.

"Ah, you look wonderful today, Miss Rook...really, I can call you Alessia? It wouldn't be too rude?"

'Ha, it's been a week...you'd think we'd talk as equals by now…'

"Oh, Mr. Laver, it's nice to see you again! How are you?"

'Your shirt lowkey looks like you just puked on it...ah, are you going for a hug? What the-'

"Hello, my name's Ingrid Signia, but Ingrid's alright. How do you do?"

'Bro, you drunk? You look like you are...'

Lying was in her usual zone. For Yu Yan, occasionally changing faces or personalities, or lying, was perhaps close to the right line, but not past it.

Yu Yan's smile got faker and wider the more people she met. The corners of her lips hurt as she grinned and shook hands. Most of the around ten people who had attended were influential in Rook, most of them being either merchants or successful local business owners. Yu Yan's status as a Resilian noble had undoubtedly given her a free pass in.

Some of them were even cunning enough to probe at Resilia's current state, which Yu Yan evaded with ease.

After all, her aim today was just to get a candidacy as an administrator under the mayor.

Nothing more, nothing less.

'I need to get paid.'

Alessia Rook. The current mayor of Rook, a small town that was barely a speck on the map.

A subordinate under Orion Delacartes, the head of the Rella Duchy's capital city, Delacia, according to Belluse The Delacartes were an influential viscounty, a vassal of the Rellas. If Yu Yan wanted to remain unknown, they were second on the list of 'people to avoid,' as they had direct contact with the current Duke Rella.

Although Rook was under the Delacartes, Alessia would likely be just a pawn in the Delacartes' chess game, and nowhere near the Rellas' board.

But, backed by the fact that she was apparently known for her shrewd wit and somewhat sad background, it was inevitable she would aim for higher.

She was an almost perfect person to back. She was smart - but she wasn't talented.

Being smart and talented were two different things, and Alessia's ambition and political aptitude didn't make up for her incompetence in administration. Well, not really incompetence, but more of a lacking.

She had, according to Belluse, only recently came into office, so the administrator position was still empty.

An insignificant leader.

A backer.

The forty-seven-year old was quite friendly to Yu Yan, especially when Yu Yan had revealed her own competence.

"Ingrid, how are you settling in?"

'Terrible. I want to go back to Earth.'

"Great, actually. All the people are very friendly." Yu Yan beamed.

The attendees had already left, and only Yu Yan and Alessia remained.

The gathering had been hosted at Alessia's house, and tea had been served. It was more of a tea party-slash-social coffee circle, but it was comfortable enough for the mayor to probe Yu Yan's intentions.

"Mmm, the atmosphere is very open here, isn't it?"

'Ha, you finally get to the point.'

"It really is." Yu Yan smiled, finishing off her tea.

Alessia brought up a vague topic. "But it's only here. Sadly, this doesn't apply everywhere."

'...What, you want to bring an open atmosphere to Hell?'

"Mmm." Yu Yan set down her teacup. "But if you wish to spread something, it will spread. If rumors can be spread, then why not an open atmosphere?" she proposed, gently.

Of course, they weren't talking about an open atmosphere.

'Ayo, good thing I watch a lot of dramas.'

"It will be difficult, will it not? Rumors travel through ears. Atmosphere travels through the entirety of an area."

'Public support is needed.'

"Then you will need someone who can travel through the entirety of an area, and bring the atmosphere with them."

"But how will you know that they are capable of bringing said atmosphere?"

Alessia's face was smiling, but her eyes were tense.

"I, personally, feel that their capability is better proven through actions than words, Miss Alessia." Yu Yan smiled. "After all, you never know what one person brings to the table until they reveal all their cards."

'Hire me already~'

"Mmm, is that so."

Alessia remained unperturbed.

'I just want to get this over with. Hire me, please.'

Yu Yan continued. "I came here for a peaceful life, Miss Alessia. But no one can be truly at peace until they have the ability to strike down those against them. I believe you know my meaning."

'Please, it's taking some brainpower to uphold this conversation.

I want to go home.'

"I guess I do." Alessia leaned back, and smiled. "It's getting late."

Yu Yan gave a small nod. "Yes it is. I should be going now."

'A simple, yet mildly talented person.'

That was the image Yu Yan was going for.

But she would keep Alessia's ambition under control.

After all, she wanted a peaceful life. But she couldn't have it if she didn't have enough power to keep the flies away, right?

After returning home, Yu Yan sighed, collapsing onto her bed. Just as she was about to close her eyes to surrender herself to blissful sleep, her vision fizzled like a black-and-white pixelated television screen. The pixels then swirled into a rainbow vortex like a light from a prism, which slowly settled down into what seemed like an abyss-like space.

A familiar one. The very space she had been in before being transported into her body. Unlike Ye Zhao, she hadn't heard the voice of the System that brought him here. After being plunged into darkness, Yu Yan had just followed a tunnel of light and woke up in the Queen's body.

'The System's contacting me?'

Looking confused, Yu Yan looked around. She could only see endless darkness in every direction.

{Cross-player [Yu Yan] had been transported due to a System error. For that, this System apologizes}

A cold, mechanical voice, like the one described in "REBUILD."

'Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.' Yu Yan scoffed. She had known that for the second she had been transmigrated against her will.

It had later been revealed that Ye Zhao's transmigration had been caused by his intense desire to reunite with Xuehua, or Yingying, which had caught the attention of the System that regulated worlds. Since Yu Yan had no such desire, obviously, Yu Yan had been a mistake.

'Cross-player obviously is a term for the players that "play" across other worlds...smart.'

"I accept your apology," Yu Yan said curtly. "Are you here to transport me back?"

The System paused. 'Could Systems even hesitate?'

{This System cannot interfere anymore in this world, unless part of a programmed Response}

Yu Yan raised an eyebrow coldly. "Then why are you here then?"

'Useless.'

{This System is here to inform you that System Response, 'The Butterfly Effect' has occurred}

"So something has been changed due to my arrival?"

{This System says that the player's deductions are correct. This System also says that, since cross-player [Player Yu Yan]'s arrival, a vital part of the world has been changed}

"I'm guessing, since you haven't told me, I'm not allowed to authorize what exactly has been changed?" Yu Yan sighed.

{This System sincerely apologizes again}

"Tch. Fine, fine, then." She waved the darkness off. "If you don't have anything useful to tell me, why tell me at all? I need to sleep now. Please don't disturb my sleep in the future." Yu Yan paused. "And also, if Ye Zhao was given an ability due to his arrival - and I know his arrival was planned - why don't I have one?"

{This System states [Player Yu Yan] has been given a gift since the start of this world}

{This System suggests that perhaps [Player Yu Yan] has not noticed?}

'Aii....'

Yu Yan closed her eyes. "I can't deal with this shit right now. I'm going back to sleep."

It was true.

{Good Night}

Just then, two floating buttons appeared, above a glowing question.

{Would you like to return to the world <ELEVYAR>?}

[Yes] [No]

{[Player Yu Yan] has chosen option [Yes]}

{This System bids [Player Yu Yan] a restful sleep}

All of a sudden, the darkness convulsed, and Yu Yan slowly blinked herself back to reality.

'Ah, what a mess.'