The Distillery's Beloved Tried to Escape Her Guardian

Lingzi was born with a special ability: she can see affection scores out of 100 and threat levels out of 10.

One day, two newcomers joined the organization: Scotch and Bourbon. The numbers above both their heads were (0, 8).

Lingzi: ? On alert.jpg

Later, Rye joined. His numbers were (0, 9).

Lingzi: ? Tactical lean-back.jpg

These men are extremely dangerous. But she still has to work with them in the same unit so she can report back to her "guardian," Mr. Gin.

Their threat levels are practically maxed out. She's terrified that one day, during a mission, these three men will shoot her first, so she tries her best to raise their affection scores. No matter what she does, though, their threat levels don't drop at all.

The day her affection score reaches 100, she receives offers of protection from both sides. Lingzi pretends to accept, and the threat level suddenly drops to 0. That's when she understands: these people are all... double agents!

But in the end, she accepts neither offer and fakes her own death. The greatest hiding place is right in plain sight, so Lingzi boldly hides in Beika Town. But why does her new, squinty-eyed graduate-student neighbor show up with a score of (100, 10) right off the bat?

Excerpt:

Something cold pressed against her back.

Lingzi stopped even breathing. Knowing her end was near, she felt a familiar hand in a black leather glove grip her neck from behind.

The man leaned close to her ear and lowered his voice. "Who do you think taught you all those counter-surveillance techniques, hmm?"

Trembling, she turned to look. Silver hair fell down, and her former guardian had changed to (99, 10).

Theme: A pure heart born in darkness.