Chapter 288: You Can Call Brother Asher a Scumbag, but You Can’t Say He Has Bad Taste

[VIP Chat Group]

[Steven]: ?

[Wallace]: ?

[Tiana]: Σ(⊙ω⊙|||)!!

[Leon]: Amazing. Tiana’s time stop was already shameless enough, and now Asher’s joining in too? Are this father-daughter pair just going to rule the entire quiz section now?

[Bruno]: Tiana probably didn’t use time stop this time. Otherwise, there’s no way she would’ve lost the buzz-in.

[Lance]: ...You say that as though you’ve forgotten where Tiana’s time-stop ability came from.

[Clair]: Tiana’s reaction emoji already tells us everything. She used time stop and still lost.

[Raihan]: There is always someone better, above the Little Demon King stands the Old Demon King.

[Tiana]: Waaaaah! Mom! Dad’s bullying me! (〃＞＿＜;〃)

[Cynthia]: Not my problem.

[Diantha]: Hahaha. Looks like Cynthia still hasn’t gotten over what happened last time.

[Volkner]: Seeing Tiana finally suffer a loss has brought a tiny bit of comfort to my heart. I’m genuinely moved.

[Aaron]: You’re not alone.

[Flint]: You’re not alone.

[Tiana]: Have my dear uncles been upset because Tiana hasn’t visited you in too long? Don’t worry! Tomorrow I’ll bring over a whole family-sized tub of my favorite ice cream and visit all of you~ (￣ω￣)

[Flint]: Ice cream sounds great! What flavor?

[Tiana]: Chili pepper and mustard mixed together. And you have to finish the whole thing while I’m watching~ (￣ω￣)

[Flint]: C-Chili pepper and mustard flavor?!

[Aaron]: Niece Tiana, actually, I didn’t say anything just now. Lucian used my screen to type it.

[Lucian]: ?

[System Notice: Contestant Asher, please answer within ten seconds. Otherwise, a random punishment will be issued!]

[Asher]: Fine, fine. I choose D.

The giant screen flashed.

A golden notification appeared.

[Correct Answer!]

[Congratulations to Asher for receiving the reward—Charm Heart!]

[Reward: Charm Heart—When worn, greatly increases the wearer’s charm and beauty. Female users only.]

[VIP Chat Group]

[Valerie]: It directly increases someone’s charm?! Something like that actually exists in this world?!

[Raihan]: Female users only? Asher’s luck is terrible! He finally manages to win a reward for once, and he can’t even use it himself!

[Steven]: Hehehe. Brother Asher can’t use it himself, but he can give it to one of the sisters-in-law... Brother Asher, are you starting to feel a chill down your back yet?

[Asher]: Steven, you bastard... (Suddenly surrounded.)

[Misty]: Hubby~ Who are you planning to give that Charm Heart to?

[Diantha]: Oh my, this sounds like something designed specifically for me. After all, I do make a living with my face~

[Elesa]: I want it too~

[Cynthia]: ...

In reality...

Asher placed his coffee cup on the table.

Then, with speed too fast for the eye to follow, he sprang off the sofa with one clear destination in mind—

The bathroom at the end of the hallway.

Unfortunately—

The moment he reached the bathroom door, Diantha’s Gardevoir blocked his path.

"Hubby, where are you going?"

Asher slowly turned around.

Four pairs of eyes, each shining in their own distinctive way beneath the living-room lights, were staring directly at him.

Asher sighed.

He abandoned all resistance and returned to the sofa.

"I’m not going anywhere. Happy?"

"If you’d cooperated this early, we could’ve saved ourselves the trouble."

Diantha leaned against the armrest, twirling a strand of hair around one finger.

"So?"

"Who are you planning to give the Charm Heart to?"

"Uh..."

"One person wears it each day?"

Asher raised one finger.

"That’s fair enough, right?"

All four wives simultaneously fell into thought.

"Fine."

Misty was the first to make the decision.

"One day each."

"As for the order..."

"Rock-paper-scissors!"

And so—

Four women with completely different temperaments formed a circle and began an extremely serious battle for the ages.

Rock-paper-scissors.

The competition was fierce.

The struggle could only be described as brutal.

Eventually—

The final showdown.

Elesa versus Diantha.

The two stared across the coffee table at one another as though a Pokémon battle were about to begin.

Elesa took a deep breath and tightened her fingers.

"I won’t lose."

Diantha smiled elegantly.

"I haven’t lost at this game since before I won Best Actress."

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Elesa threw paper.

Diantha threw scissors.

Diantha gracefully withdrew her hand and lightly blew across her fingertips.

"Thank you for the match."

Elesa collapsed onto the sofa and let out a groan more exhausted than anything overtime had ever dragged from her.

And so—

Diantha got to wear the Charm Heart first.

Without hesitation, she placed the necklace around her neck.

Then she tossed her long hair back and turned once in front of the floor-length mirror.

The effect appeared almost instantly.

Diantha suddenly looked as though she’d been surrounded by a permanent soft-focus filter.

Her hair seemed glossier.

Her skin appeared clearer and more luminous.

Even the sparkle in her eyes seemed noticeably brighter than before.

The item didn’t drastically alter her physical appearance.

But the changes to her overall aura and skin condition—

Were practically night and day.

[The effects of the Charm Heart have been synchronized to the livestream feed.]

[VIP Chat Group]

[Skyla]: Oh my gosh! Master, you look like you have a built-in soft-focus effect now!

[Valerie]: That level of gloss and translucence is better than what I get after two full hours of skincare before a fashion show. Waaaah... I’m kind of jealous.

[Diantha]: Hubby, do you think I look prettier now than before?

[Asher]: Pretty. You’ve always been pretty. You’re even prettier now.

[Diantha]: Hehe~ Then how about I give you a massage tonight? I guarantee it’ll feel even better than the one you gave me last time. I even brought several bottles of massage oil myself~ (?＞ ? ＜)?з

[Cynthia]: ...Diantha! We already told you not to say things like that in the group!

[Skyla]: Hahahahahaha! Ever since Master recovered those memories, she’s completely stopped holding back.

[Viola]: But is that really okay? I remember Miss Diantha used to have that cool, aloof actress image. Won’t acting like this hurt her popularity?

[Skyla]: Nope! The global beauty rankings updated last week, and Master is still comfortably in the top ten. Her popularity actually went up.

[Iris]: Global beauty rankings? That’s a thing?

[Bianca]: Iris, you don’t know? Pokémon Fashion Weekly publishes a global beauty ranking every year. It scores people across four categories—appearance, aura, popularity, and professional achievements. It’s considered really authoritative.

[Skyla]: I posted the link in the group. Go look for yourselves.

[Dawn]: Huh? I’m on the list too? I didn’t even sign up for this ranking.

[Clair]: That’s normal. At this point, basically every woman associated with Asher has made it onto the list.

[Cynthia]: ...I’m on there too?

[May]: Miss Cynthia, you didn’t know? You’ve consistently ranked in the top three for years!

[Cynthia]: I don’t usually pay attention to things like that.

[Elesa]: Oh my. Looks like my ranking went up again this year.

[Misty]: Hmph! As Cerulean’s number-one beautiful girl, obviously I’d make the list.

[Shauntal]: Waaaah... as a fellow woman, I’m so jealous.

[Leon]: Has Asher’s taste in women become one of the ranking criteria now?

[Raihan]: Can’t really blame them. Almost every woman connected to him is a top-tier beauty.

[Steven]: You can call Brother Asher a scumbag—but you can’t say Brother Asher has bad taste.

Just as everyone in the livestream chat was enthusiastically discussing the topic—

The giant screen resumed playing.