After class, Su Bai and Wang Haoran went to eat at the second floor of the cafeteria.
Honestly, the premium stir-fry dishes on the second floor are actually quite tasty.
Though the dishes are fairly homestyle, they’re satisfying enough to eat regularly.
So, what kind of food isn’t satisfying in the long run?
For example, the Japanese restaurant where Su Bai has a membership card.
The ¥1299 all-you-can-eat menu offers high-quality meat, whether it’s teppanyaki-style or served in a hot pot—both perfectly suited to Su Bai’s tastes.
After all, he loves meat.
But eating it every day would get old fast.
The second-floor cafeteria near the boys’ dorm, however, is a reliable everyday option.
So whenever they finish class and don’t know what to eat, Su Bai and Wang Haoran come here to order a few dishes.
"Bai, I heard our class got a new rich kid—Liu Chen'ang, an exchange student from abroad."
"Oh."
"...Why are you so indifferent?"
"Should I have some dramatic reaction? Should I hiss at him or something?" Su Bai retorted. "Nah, rich kids have their own circles. Not my business!"
"You’re a rich kid too."
"It’s different. My circle’s full of pretty girls—I can’t be bothered with those trust fund types."
"...You’re unbelievable."
In Wang Haoran’s experience, rich kids usually run in circles with other well-off friends, spending their time clubbing, racing cars, and the like.
But Su Bai didn’t seem interested in any of that…
Wang Haoran couldn’t resist asking about it.
Su Bai shook his head. "Not that I’m not interested. If I get the chance, I’ll definitely try it out. But for now, I’m more into food. Oh, and basketball—the team captain told me to practice this afternoon. I’ll head over after a nap in the dorm."
With his system-enhanced physique, it’d be a waste not to show off on the court.
As for the racing and clubbing Wang Haoran mentioned…
Well, he couldn’t skip those either.
They were expensive hobbies, perfect for meeting the system’s indulgence criteria.
Su Bai planned to visit a car expo soon, pick out a sports car, and have it custom-ordered on the spot.
Once delivered, he’d park it at his current place—a duplex in Shanshui—until he found a villa to buy.
Simple plan, really. Just buy what he wanted.
"Oh, and Xue Tao said Liu Chen'ang’s family is like, top-tier in Jiangcheng," Wang Haoran added.
"How top-tier?"
"Roughly equal to a hundred Chu Mingzhes."
"Bro, since when is Old Chu a unit of measurement? Why didn’t Xue Tao use himself as the benchmark?" Su Bai laughed.
"Eh, those two are still rivals, even though you’ve kinda beaten them both into submission…"
"Beat them? I’m a pacifist, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah."
As they ate and joked around, an unexpected visitor approached Su Bai.
A very… well, pretty guy.
That might’ve been an impolite description, but the pale, delicate-looking boy gave off that vibe.
"You’re Su Bai, right?"
"...Yeah. Can I help you?"
"I’m Liu Chen'ang, the new exchange student in our class. Nice to meet you."
Su Bai shook his hand, baffled.
Then he noticed—this guy’s hand was soft, smooth, and pale…
Wait, why did it feel like a girl’s hand?
Given how many girls’ hands Su Bai had held recently, the comparison was natural.
So…
…
Well.
Mystery solved.
Not a rich guy—a rich girl!
But according to Wang Haoran, everyone else thought she was male.
So Su Bai kept his realization to himself, greeting her with a polite smile.
"W-Well, I’ll go order now. See you around!"
Liu Chen'ang hurried off, flustered.
[Ding! Detected S-tier beauty: Liu Chenyang (Liu Chen'ang). Favorability +2. Current favorability: 75.]
Damn!
She already liked him that much at first sight?
This rich girl must be a sucker for looks.
Running into an S-tier beauty living as a guy was unexpected.
Jiangcheng University’s computer science department really had all kinds of talent.
A gathering of legends!
"Bai, did I imagine it, or did Liu Chen'ang look kinda pained just now?" Wang Haoran mused.
"Not pained," Su Bai said solemnly. "I didn’t do anything."
"Really? I thought it was one of those rich kid showdowns—all polite on the surface, but secretly testing each other’s grip strength during the handshake… Like, one’s from a martial arts family, the other’s a retired special forces kingpin, locked in an even match…"
"What kind of web novels are you reading? Cut it out!"
Su Bai nearly spat out his pork rib and seaweed soup, laughing at Wang Haoran’s absurd imagination.
But no matter how wild his theories got, he’d never guess Liu Chen'ang was actually a girl—or how Su Bai had figured it out.
……
"Ugh, damn it! What’s… what’s wrong with that guy? Why did I…?"
In the bathroom.
Liu Chen'ang crouched in the farthest stall, fuming.
……
Honestly, she’d shaken hands with plenty of people in social settings.
It always felt normal. With Su Bai, it was just a standard greeting too.
So why did his handshake feel so… weird?
Was it…? No, no, that couldn’t be. She hadn’t noticed anything unusual at the time.
Which meant the strangeness came from Su Bai himself.
Her instincts about him were right.
Su Bai was the kind of guy who radiated masculine charm.
Becoming friends with him was a good call.
Later.
Liu Chen'ang returned to her place for a nap.
She’d rented a two-bedroom suite at the Ascott near campus—one room for sleeping, the other as a study—paid for the full year.
Luxurious enough, and practical.
She slept soundly until 2:30 PM.
No night sweats, no startling awake.
Normally, her sleep was restless, but today, she’d been unusually calm.
Was it… because of the handshake with Su Bai?
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Liu Chen'ang let out a light, melodic laugh.
"Seriously, I’m overthinking this…"
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
