I Thought My Tsundere Childhood Friend Actually Hated Me.

First Class.

Shen Nian, who had originally vowed to pay full attention in class, ended up zoning out again.

The existence of the system utterly baffled him—especially the way tasks were completed.

From yesterday afternoon until now, he had already finished one main quest and two side quests.

Earning three thousand bucks in less than a day? Nice.

The cold, impersonal system had transformed into the warm, comforting digits in his bank account.

"System, you’re really something. I could cry. I love you. Let’s start a band and stay together forever."

The teacher droned on at the podium, and Shen Nian felt his eyelids grow heavy. Propping his cheek with one hand, his dead-fish eyes blinked open and shut—then suddenly, he’d time-traveled to the second period.

Even with plenty of sleep, the moment the English teacher stood at the front, his eyelids would inevitably droop. Truly, the divine embodiment of drowsiness in the modern era.

Shen Nian was the king of uneven grades: English in the 40s and 50s, math at 140, science subjects passable, his total score hovering around 550.

Sitting alone had its perks, but the lack of a deskmate to keep him in check wasn’t one of them. Every high schooler battled fatigue, and without a partner to mutually supervise, it was too easy to spiral into slacking off.

During the long break, Shen Nian leaned against the windowsill, letting the early autumn breeze brush his face.

As if sensing his arch-nemesis’ presence, he turned his head just as Xia Yanchun approached with her pink water bottle to refill it.

Bubbles rose in the water dispenser as Xia Yanchun glanced up and locked eyes with him. "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing. Come here, take a breather with me."

"No thanks. Standing next to you lowers my IQ."

Xia Yanchun had actually wanted to relax too, so she humored him and joined him by the window. The wind tousled her hair, and a familiar scent drifted into Shen Nian’s nose.

"Remember those elementary school essays that compared spring to a maiden and autumn to another? The autumn wind on your face feels like being gently caressed by the 'Autumn Maiden.'"

"Yeah, poetic, right? The writer who first came up with that must’ve been cultured."

Shen Nian touched his own face. "So does this mean I’m currently being molested by the Autumn Maiden?"

"......"

How does a creature like this even exist?

Xia Yanchun rolled her eyes. Did Shen Nian’s mom give birth to him upside down? No other explanation for such an alien being.

Her pink water bottle had a straw, and as she took a sip, her gaze drifted to the open English workbook on Shen Nian’s desk.

Shen Nian’s grades used to be decent, but over time, he’d fallen behind—especially in English, which was now a lost cause.

She understood, though. His English scores had been dropping since middle school. She’d seen him study hard, but no matter how much effort he put in, the results never improved—sliding from 100 to 90, then 80, then 60. Now, his 40s and 50s were basically luck-based. Any lower, and he’d hit rock bottom.

She’d once nagged him to memorize more vocabulary and even tried tutoring him, only to be met with, "I’ve given up on English."

He’d struggled, failed, and resigned himself. Why waste time? Better to focus on other subjects and play to his strengths.

Until those other subjects started slipping too.

Now, shockingly, his English workbook showed signs of actual work. Xia Yanchun couldn’t believe it.

"Heh, so you’re finally trying?" she teased, half-doubtful, half-hopeful.

At least as childhood friends, seeing him turn things around would’ve been nice.

"What else can I do? It’s senior year. Gotta study sometime," Shen Nian grumbled, closing the window and slumping back into his seat.

"That’s the spirit! Your English has so much room for improvement!"

"Shut up. You’re yapping too much." Shen Nian pointed at her like an accusatory husky.

"Just stating facts."

"I got screwed by the system. My scores won’t budge."

"And yet you enjoyed the perks for two whole years," Xia Yanchun fired back mercilessly.

Shen Nian fell silent.

Studying was like dating. You chased after it, invested time and effort, but it kept you dangling. No matter how much you loved it, eventually, your energy and patience would run out.

When hope faded, sheer stubbornness just looked pathetic.

In high school, top students thrived, their futures bright. Those at the bottom resigned themselves to the present. But the ones stuck in the middle suffered the most.

They struggled, hustled, endured—only for their scores to stay locked in that middling range, neither rising nor falling, leaving them frustrated and powerless.

Shen Nian knew the arrogance of the elite, and he knew the grind and despair of the mid-tier. That was him.

"Whatever. You high-achievers wouldn’t get it," he muttered.

"Alright, alright. You’ve worked hard, okay? Keep at it—I believe in you!" Xia Yanchun’s eyes curved into crescents. She genuinely wanted to see him do better.

Ding!

A flash—the system had arrived.

[Side Quest Unlocked: Combat Skills—Solo Grind!

You’ve become an adventurer and bought weapons, but raw strength alone won’t cut it. To grow stronger, you must master combat techniques. Learn from the village’s strongest warrior.

Reward: 1000 gold, temporary 12-hour Combat Skill Learning Efficiency Boost.]

Huh?

Shen Nian stared at Xia Yanchun. You? The village’s strongest?

Well, technically yes—she was the top-ranked student in their grade.

He could roast her about anything… except academics. That was untouchable.

Damn. Grass. A plant.

Based on past patterns and the system’s quirks, "combat skills" probably meant studying.

This system was way too gamified. Experience boosters? Really?

A learning efficiency buff…

So if he activated it, it’d be like cheating?

If it wasn’t turned off, was it basically on?

Trying not to laugh (dragon meme face).

"Xia Yanchun, since we’re switching seats anyway, let’s be deskmates. You tutor me, and we’ll both have a bright future," Shen Nian suddenly proposed, dead serious.

"‘Bad company corrupts good character,’ Shen Nian. I encourage you, and you repay me by dragging me down?"

"?"

So all that sweet talk about cheering me on was fake?

"I thought my tsundere childhood friend secretly liked me. Turns out you despise me? Interesting."

"Who’d ever like a lunatic like you? Not kicking you is me being merciful."

"Can you kick me barefoot?" Shen Nian whispered, leaning close enough that only she could hear.

"Get lost!"

Xia Yanchun fumed. She always ended up yelling at him. As a kid, he’d been chubby and kinda cute—how’d he turn into this idiot? Some details were still unclear. Could someone release a tutorial?

"If you’re serious about improving, I can lend you my notes and mistake logs, even teach you some of my study methods. But no to being deskmates. This isn’t elementary school—the teacher won’t allow it."

"Fine."

Shen Nian didn’t push the deskmate thing. Sure, sitting alone made dozing off easier, but he was used to it. Adding a partner might just feel awkward. It wasn’t a must-have.

Class was about to start, so Xia Yanchun didn’t say much more. Clutching her water cup, she returned to her front-row seat and huddled with her deskmate, chattering away.

The last period was self-study, but homeroom teacher Su Kexi commandeered it for a class meeting. The top five students from the final exams of sophomore year were called to the office to choose their seats. Soon after, Su Kexi projected a new seating chart onto the multimedia screen.

Someone had to sit in the corner seat. Shen Nian preferred having a desk to himself and had secured the same spot since freshman year by asking Su Kexi. As long as he didn’t want to move, she usually left him there.

Shen Nian glanced at the seating chart. His front-row deskmate was still Chen Dong—another top-five student who also favored the back row by the wall but didn’t want to be the water dispenser monitor. Staying put suited him just fine, and his deskmate remained unchanged.

As for the seat to his right, across the aisle…

Shen Nian blinked at Xia Yanchun, who was already huffing and puffing as she hauled her books to the back.

“Why’d you move here?”

“To supervise your studies.”

“……”

After the seat reshuffle, the rest of the class was free study time.

Shen Nian crossed his arms, growing increasingly unsettled, and scribbled a note to toss at Xia Yanchun beside him.

Xia Yanchun unfolded the slip of paper to find Shen Nian’s messy scrawl:

‘So my childhood friend who I thought hated me is actually a tsundere?’

“……”

Xia Yanchun’s face darkened. She swiftly wrote back in neat block letters, channeling her inner elite sniper “Bloodhawk,” and fired a verbal headshot at Shen Nian.

‘I’m asking the teacher to move me after class!’

.

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(Typos welcome to point out—will fix immediately if spotted.)

Yanxi reminds you: Due to Tomato’s request for 3M+ daily visits straining the servers, we now recommend switching to other big shots' sources.