Current time — time after Ziek Leoners wanted to blow up Crimson Academy.
The assistant rushed to the chief's office, his heart pounding with urgency due to the dire situation. He had to relay Ziek Leoners' perilous state to the chief.
"Is this considered fixed?" he gasped out, "He is on the brink of destroying the world together with himself. If we don't intervene, his soul might break again."
The chief's expression turned grave, "Pull him out and try again. Maybe it was the troubled childhood. Give him a family with a better background and ensure he's paired with a soulmate."
"But, sir," the assistant said, his voice heavy, "It's not easy to move his heart. Guan Fei was his only compatible soulmate, and he killed her in their first life. There seems to be no one else."
The chief's brow furrowed in thought. "How did he bond with a common soul then? Find that girl and pair them up."
"Right away, sir," the assistant said with a nod, filled with a sense of urgency as he left the room to carry out the chief's orders.
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Somewhere at the System Headquarters...
At the System Headquarters, another chief sat at his desk, deep in thought. "What about the new girl?" he asked his assistant.
"We're not sure why she chose Olivia Bacchus, who had a fiance. We believed she wanted to use Victor as a backer at first to shake off other capture targets, but after conducting additional quests and research, we discovered that her motives were deeper than that."
Chief: "What do you mean?"
Assistant: "Well, she refused to participate in any quest that involved Victor. She had taken a strong stance and was willing to accept any consequences that may arise from her refusal."
Chief: "I thought she wanted to fulfill her wish to get back with her boyfriend, but it doesn't seem to be the case anymore if she's willing to give up so easily. Do we have any idea why she did this?"
Assistant: "Not yet, sir. We're still investigating."
The assistant continued with the report, "It seems that Bing Shi's main objective was to approach Alica and create a sense of indebtedness within her. She went as far as isolating Xavier from everyone else, effectively breaking his relationship with his best friend, in order to achieve her goal. Some of her plans were successful, some not. Overall she got what she wanted."
"Good. It's rare to see a host accomplish their objective so smoothly without causing any major issues," The chief rubbed his chin, contemplating, "It's also noteworthy that she and her boyfriend were able to create a positive lifetime bond, which although not as strong as a soulmate bond, is still a remarkable achievement. We should definitely take notes on her methods and apply them to her future missions."
The assistant perked up his ears, curious.
Many male and female leads had a tendency to follow their host after creating a strong life bond, leaving their physical bodies behind to work on autopilot, causing a significant imbalance. Although those bodies could be replaced with a compatible broken soul, there was still no solution to fix a unique broken soul without the use of a soulmate.
The chief pondered aloud, "Wouldn't it be great if she could solve this issue? Let's add these additional quests to her main mission."
The assistant expressed concern, "But chief, I don't think she's ready to get in contact with damaged unique souls yet."
The chief replied firmly, "If she fails, she fails. If she breaks...she's just a common soul. We can replace her with someone similar for the World Patching System 001."
"Understood, chief," the assistant replied obediently.
Lifetime bond - it was a bond, which created a possibility for the two souls to meet again in the next life. However, if one feared or harbored negative emotions towards the other soul, the lifetime bond could lead to negative interactions. The only way to break free from this bond was for both souls to move on and let go of their feelings.