Lingering Fragrance

By the time programming class ended, the hour hand had finally pointed to five o'clock.

On any normal day, Su Qi would have rushed out of the classroom as soon as class was over, returning to his little nest to code games or draw original art for money.

But today, Su Qi felt a little lost.

The game had already been completed and had earned him a substantial sum. He definitely would not have to worry about food or clothes for the time being, so there was no need to take on coding or art jobs.

And because of that, Su Qi felt very idle.

The last time he had felt this way had been during his senior year of high school, before he had run away from home.

Although he occasionally argued with his overbearing parents, he had not needed to worry about anything besides his studies.

Put that way, he actually missed it a little.

Why am I thinking about that? If they don't come looking for me, there's no way I'm going back first.

And didn't I just make money? Why am I feeling so sentimental?

The four of them returned to the dorm. Han Yixing, the eldest, took out his laptop and opened spreadsheet after spreadsheet.

Wang Dongxu unlocked his phone and watched the wildly popular DouDou Short Video. The beautiful girls in the clips wore sexy hot pants or Dresses, swaying to addictive BGM. Wang Dongxu grinned from ear to ear, perfectly embodying what it meant to be a shameless pervert.

Wu Wei, meanwhile, quietly opened his phone and started reading a novel.

"What's the name of the novel you're reading?" Su Qi asked, seeing how engrossed he was. If it was good, he figured he could read it too.

"That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime!" Wu Wei answered solemnly.

Su Qi said, "Say the title again!"

"That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime!" Wu Wei answered once more.

Su Qi could only say, "Good lord, that title really is long! Still, it's straightforward enough. It tells readers exactly what kind of book it is!"

At that moment, the system's female voice spoke up.

"Reincarnating as a slime? How could that possibly be more exciting than transforming into a female protagonist?"

He had thought it was here to issue a mission, but who would have expected the system to merely butt in with a comment? What a disappointment.

Su Qi was not exactly a bookworm, but he had heard Wu Wei talk about the systems described in certain novels. Some gave the protagonist billions right from the start, and that was considered modest.

Others granted all sorts of extraordinary abilities, like medical skills or appraising treasures. Even the worst ones attracted countless beautiful women from the beginning before leading the protagonist to the peak of life.

So why did the genre suddenly change when it came to me? Forget left and right embraces at the start—this thing had first pried away my equipment for committing crimes, then wanted to turn me into a female protagonist.

What the hell? Were you sent here to screw me over?

The more Su Qi thought about it, the angrier he became. Ignoring the system's incessant chatter, he opened the novel app.

Then one particular novel made his eyes light up.

"Transforming into a Pure Lolita." Su Qi was not a lolita enthusiast, and none of his own works featured lolitas. What interested him were the words "transforming into."

Just how did someone transform? With that thought in mind, Su Qi started reading.

An hour passed quickly. Wu Wei patted Su Qi, startling him.

"What book has you so absorbed? Holy crap, Brother Qi, I never thought you were this kind of person!" As a bookworm, Wu Wei spotted the title in the upper-left corner at a glance.

"What is it? What is it?" Wang Dongxu leaned over as well.

"Brother Qi is actually into lolitas!" Wu Wei said with a sleazy grin.

"No way!"

"Do you two still want dinner or not?" Su Qi said.

As the saying went, a man who ate another's food had to keep his mouth shut. Normally, Wu Wei and Wang Dongxu would have kept egging him on, but with dinner coming up, they truly did not want to cause trouble.

The two of them obediently shut up.

"Brother Han, what car are you driving today?" Wang Dongxu asked excitedly. Han Yixing drove a different car every time they went out, which thrilled Wang Dongxu as a car enthusiast.

Before this, the most expensive car Wang Dongxu had ever ridden in was a Mercedes-Benz.

But ever since getting to know Han Yixing, he had ridden in Porsches and Maseratis. Maybe one day, he might even get the chance to ride in a Bentley.

Today, Han Yixing was driving a Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Its massive body had already drawn plenty of sidelong glances. After all, a huge and imposing off-road vehicle like this was the romance of countless men.

Wang Dongxu, seated in the front passenger seat, was clearly excited. His eyes sparkled as he looked over the interior.

Su Qi was not interested in cars, but he could still tell from everyone else's reactions that this vehicle was something special.

When Han Yixing pulled out the keys, Su Qi felt as if everyone's gazes were watching some absurdly badass male lead make his entrance in a movie.

Damn it, he really got to show off.

The car drove smoothly and steadily, providing an experience far better than any taxi.

Su Qi was still thinking about the novel's lolita female protagonist, who had attracted everyone's attention after receiving the aid of her cheat system, becoming absurdly overpowered as people looked at her in awe.

He could not help complaining about his own system again. What kind of nonsense was turning him into a girl right from the start?

But this time, the system was clearly angry.

The Female Protagonist System prompted, "This system is not a benefactor. This system is an independent entity with independent thought. The relationship between this system and the host is one of mutual benefit, not exploitation."

Hearing the obvious emotion in the system's voice, Su Qi found it amusing and said, "Don't systems in web novels also give more benefits the more fans the protagonist has?"

The moment Su Qi made that point, the Female Protagonist System fell silent.

That silence caught Su Qi off guard. He had already prepared his next argument for after this one was refuted. He had not expected the system to be so dim that a single question would stump it.

But then Su Qi froze, because a red box popped up on his status panel.

Ding! Seeing how desperately the host wishes to become a female protagonist, this system has mercifully accelerated the progress. Current progress: 2/7. Condensing Fat / Lingering Fragrance

Su Qi had not yet figured out what Condensing Fat and Lingering Fragrance meant.

When he saw Wu Wei beside him take a deep sniff.

"Brother Han, what air freshener did you put in your car? It smells so good!"

"Hey, it really does. It's relaxing without being overpowering. This is a divine scent. Is this some hidden attribute of a million-yuan luxury car?" Wang Dongxu looked around, trying to find where the fragrance was coming from.

"It's not from my car. Did one of you put on perfume?" Han Yixing knew his own car well. He had immediately caught a faint scent, gentle and non-irritating, one that made people feel at ease.

"I didn't."

"I don't even have any!"

Then the two of them turned toward Su Qi at the same time. Even Han Yixing, who was driving, watched Su Qi through the rearview mirror.

"I-I obviously didn't either! Haven't we been together the whole time?" Su Qi did not realize that his nervous repetition of "I" had already given him away.

Su Qi felt like crying. Every mystery had been solved. No wonder people had kept saying his skin looked good today.

So today had already counted as the first day. Now that the system had advanced the progress to the second day, he had developed body fragrance.

Mom, who knew what he would turn into on the third day?

Su Qi was panicking.

Looking at the faintly green-eyed gazes of his three roommates, Su Qi had the illusion that he was a little lamb.

System, I was wrong! Please take back your divine powers first! I need to rent a place—I can't keep living in the dorm! If I stay here, my chastity won't be safe!

The Female Protagonist System said: "A lesson learned through hardship brings wisdom. I hope the host will cooperate properly with me from now on and stop reading strange books."

Su Qi hurriedly nodded, indicating that he would not read them anymore!

This system was not to be messed with!

But even after they arrived downstairs at the buffet restaurant, he received no further response from the system.

Could this system be female?