Upon hearing the girls' voices filled with admiration and maternal concern, there was no need to look—Jiang Qiuran had arrived.
The reason Jiang Qiuran could be considered a top-tier "green tea" girl was largely due to her face and figure, which effortlessly earned praise from her female peers.
Among girls, even in ordinary friendships, there was a clear preference for the delicate, pale, and youthful aesthetic.
In contrast, someone like Zhou Jialu, with her bold, sexy appeal, often inspired more pure jealousy than admiration.
Jiang Qiuran greeted the members of the anime club.
As a freshman, she hadn’t been part of the club for long, yet she already seemed familiar with everyone.
Then, she glanced toward the visitor entrance, her expression slightly uneasy, though no one could guess what was on her mind.
"Has Su Bai not arrived yet?"
"Nope, not yet. I messaged him on WeChat—he said he’s still setting up his equipment. Should be here soon, though. Ugh, these rich guys are always so busy."
Xiao Xiong, the one tasked with luring Su Bai over, sighed. But there wasn’t a trace of annoyance in her tone—only eager anticipation.
This immediately set off alarm bells in Jiang Qiuran’s head.
Damn it! If even Zhou Jialu and her clique managed to win Su Bai over, that would be one thing. But if these anime club girls—whose looks paled in comparison to hers—got their hands on him? That would truly shatter Jiang Qiuran’s composure.
No matter. She had prepared a secret weapon today. Even if Su Bai had never indulged her before, Jiang Qiuran was confident she could capture his attention.
As the anime club members waited eagerly, Su Bai finally made his grand entrance around noon.
The moment he appeared, the equipment in his hands drew countless sidelong glances.
Not just from the Jiangcheng University anime club members, but also from other cosplayers and passersby at the convention.
A Hasselblad H3DII-60 worth 250,000 yuan, paired with an exaggeratedly large portrait lens…
At an event like this, expensive DSLR cameras were hardly rare—they were practically everywhere.
But most photography enthusiasts carried mid-range, budget-friendly models. Only a select few wielded flagship gear worth six figures.
And judging by the slightly clueless way Su Bai held the camera, he was clearly a beginner… which only made it more ridiculous. A newbie starting with this kind of setup? Talk about flexing.
In comparison, Su Bai’s cosplay of Okabe Rintarou barely got a second glance.
That character was as common at conventions as stray dogs on the street. Su Bai’s natural good looks were far more eye-catching.
"Su Bai, over here~"
Xiao Xiong excitedly waved both hands, bouncing on her toes as she called out to him from a distance.
Su Bai paused, mentally processing for a second before recognizing her.
Wow…
The difference between her real-life appearance and her photos/videos was… significant.
As expected, the system’s ratings for female charm were brutally accurate.
She couldn’t hold a candle to the S-tier goddesses Su Bai had encountered—hell, she wasn’t even on par with Liu Yuanyuan, Xue Tao’s girlfriend.
Estimated combat power: approximately 0.8 Yuanyuan.
"Hey, senior. Just here to check out the anime club’s booth… Huh, not bad at all."
"Right? Told you our club’s legit. C’mere, let’s take a pic together…"
Xiao Xiong pulled Su Bai in for a selfie against the booth’s backdrop.
The shot prominently featured Su Bai’s camera, his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch, and his unfairly handsome face.
Xiao Xiong positioned herself slightly behind him but pressed close, creating the illusion of intimacy between them.
Feeling the warmth of his senior leaning against him, Su Bai remained unflustered. He smiled faintly and played along for the photo.
The other cosplayers weren’t having it, though—they immediately swarmed him for pictures too.
The scene quickly descended into chaos.
On the bright side, it gave Su Bai a rapid-fire assessment of the female cosplayers’ figures in the anime club.
Honestly? Most were lacking.
Either they were rail-thin with no curves to speak of—chest area especially barren—or they carried a bit too much extra weight. Their costumes masked it decently, but the moment Su Bai’s arm went around them, the truth was obvious.
Yet one girl still blushed furiously, convinced her charm had Su Bai wrapped around her finger.
Confidence level: delusional.
Su Bai disengaged quickly and turned his attention back to his camera.
He noticed Jiang Qiuran was the only one who hadn’t approached him for a photo. Instead, she was typing something on her phone.
Su Bai ignored her.
She grew impatient and mouthed words at him from across the room.
Continued ignoring!
This girl was most fun when left to stew.
"Hey, you’re new, right? Don’t think I’ve seen you before."
Su Bai looked up to see a heavyset, disheveled guy eyeing him with suspicion.
"And you are?"
"The anime club’s lead photographer."
"Wait, the club actually has a lead photographer…?"
"If you join, you’ll be learning from me."
"……"
Su Bai barely held back a laugh.
In just a few sentences, he’d already picked up on the guy’s unique aura.
This dude was shaping up to be even more insufferable than Xue Tao and more pretentious than Chu Mingzhe—a true legendary creature.
Engaging with his type was playing right into his hands. He wanted you to take the bait.
Su Bai wasn’t about to get worked up. Instead, he clasped his hands in mock respect.
"Thanks for the guidance, senior! I’m just a clueless freshman. Hope you’ll teach me the ropes. The seniors here are so enthusiastic—seems a shame not to capture some great shots."
Enthusiastic?
Was that the right word?
The self-proclaimed lead photographer glanced at the group of girls. Though they were keeping their distance now, their eyes kept drifting toward Su Bai. They whispered among themselves before bursting into giggles.
It was the classic behavior of girls collectively thirsting over a hot guy.
Of course, the photographer missed the subtext entirely. All he sensed was a threat.
Between Su Bai’s tall, striking looks and the 250,000-yuan Hasselblad in his hands, the photographer’s Sony Alpha 1 suddenly felt embarrassingly inadequate.
In the world of convention photography, gear flexing was an unspoken competition.
The photographer’s setup—a 60,000-yuan camera body plus a 20,000-yuan portrait lens—was enough to crush the average otaku.
What random anime fan could drop 80,000 yuan on equipment?
And that wasn’t even counting his other gadgets, like the DJI Pocket 3.
But Su Bai had cheated the system, waltzing in with Hasselblad’s top-tier gear and instantly overshadowing him.
After a long, resentful silence, the photographer finally muttered, "Dude, that lens doesn’t really match your camera body."
"Oh, really? Had no idea—just bought it randomly. Got any recommendations? I can always order more."
"……"
] [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!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
