Senior A-Kun

Maple Leaf Forest was rather remote. There was a road running through it, just wide enough for the bus to squeeze in.

Once they arrived, everyone conscientiously hauled the camping equipment out of the bus.

Most of the seniors had camping experience. They said this was one of the Foreign Language Club's traditional activities, though Xu Nan had never figured out what camping had to do with foreign languages.

The farce on the bus did nothing to dampen everyone's enthusiasm for camping.

Following the original groups, and under the direction of Zhang Yingluo and the others, they paired up, selected their spots, and began pitching tents in an orderly fashion.

Maple Leaf Forest was not actually ideal for camping. The grass was a little too thick, and no one knew whether there might be snakes or bugs lurking around. Experienced senior girls occasionally passed by to remind everyone to be careful.

After getting off the bus, Xu Nan wanted to get to work enthusiastically.

This was his first time camping, and he was quite excited. However, the tent assigned by the club was in his partner's hands. Just as Xu Nan was about to lend a hand, the ordinary-looking senior waved him off and started working without a word.

Before long, a completely sealed green tent had been set up.

"Senior, you're really skilled!" Xu Nan praised.

"I come camping every year. I'm used to it." The senior chuckled, treating Xu Nan with unusual gentleness.

Xu Nan was a little surprised.

After the public confession incident, he could clearly sense, once he got off the bus, that the boys' and girls' attitudes toward him had changed in sharply different ways. Most of the boys looked at him with contempt and jealousy. Even if he took the initiative to speak to them, they were unwilling to respond. The girls' reactions were far more complicated. Apart from Chen Shasha's resentful expression, Zhang Yingluo's blank face, and Qin Lele constantly running around, the other girls were still very friendly toward Xu Nan.

This proved that after hiding his Radiant Presence, his charm was still enough to erase the previous negative impression in the minds of the opposite sex.

It was different with those of the same sex. Unless Xu Nan obtained Extraordinary Charm that appealed to both men and women, it would not be easy to win them over.

Yet this senior who had been assigned to his group was so magnanimous. He was clearly no ordinary person. Xu Nan thought for a moment. In his contacts, the name of this senior with the slightly receding hairline seemed to be Qi Kun.

"Senior Qi..." Before he could finish, the senior opened the tent. "Just call me A-Kun. Come on, let's go in and test it out."

Xu Nan readily agreed. It was a good thing that Senior A-Kun, who was grouped with him, was so easy to talk to. After all, they would be sleeping together for the night.

The two went inside to get a feel for it. Senior A-Kun adjusted the tent's angle again and enthusiastically taught Xu Nan all kinds of tips.

Xu Nan felt that he had benefited greatly.

After a while, he could not help asking, "Senior A-Kun, why is your attitude toward me... so much better than the other boys'?"

Senior A-Kun smiled faintly. "Have you seen my face?"

Xu Nan studied him carefully and discovered that not only was Senior A-Kun's hairline somewhat high, his appearance was also rather ordinary. In fact, he was even a little ugly.

Xu Nan pondered. "Is there... something special about Senior's face?"

A-Kun calmly said, "It's especially ugly."

Xu Nan was filled with respect. "Actually..."

A-Kun waved a hand. "You don't need to say anything to comfort me. Ever since I entered Shang University, I've been the ugliest person in the school. The Foreign Language Club only wanted me because I'm especially good with my hands. I can do the work of five people by myself."

"It's normal for those boys to dislike you, because you're too handsome. So handsome that they get jealous and twisted."

"But I'm different. I'm not jealous of you at all."

Xu Nan sighed. "Senior has reached a higher realm."

A-Kun stared steadily ahead. "What higher realm? It's only because..."

"Anyway, you all say I'm handsome. No matter how handsome you are, it's all the same."

Xu Nan: "..."

That hit right in the heart, Senior!

He was about to say something, but seeing Senior A-Kun's calm expression, he suddenly felt that anything he said would be unnecessary. The man had lived through this for so many years. He had probably long since gotten over it.

"There's still some time before dinner. Come on, let's go rest for a bit."

Senior A-Kun took Xu Nan for a walk through Maple Leaf Forest. Along the way, they ran into several groups of girls, but Xu Nan politely declined their invitations to join them.

He felt that, given Senior A-Kun's attitude toward him, he ought to keep him company.

A-Kun looked at the maple forest glowing red, at several famous Foreign Language Club couples constantly Showing Affection, and at several senior girls taking selfies like mad. He patted Xu Nan on the shoulder with deep emotion.

Xu Nan perked up. Senior A-Kun's gaze was complicated and his emotions full. Surely he was about to say something astonishing, so Xu Nan listened attentively.

"Do you know D&D?"

Xu Nan shuddered. Could Senior be a professional too? Had he also been to Lü Junyi's hospital? Has my identity been exposed?

Just as he was caught between shock and doubt, A-Kun mysteriously pulled out his phone and opened a strange browser.

A huge amount of foreign content appeared on the screen.

"In the hidden world, someone in North America claims he has already reached the second tier. I heard his class is Bard."

"You've seen all those popular short videos lately, right? Those so-called extraordinary people are actually just professionals from the D&D world."

"According to what I've learned, a fantasy world is merging with Earth. Very soon, perhaps the entire world will undergo drastic changes."

A-Kun looked at Xu Nan. "Do you believe it?"

Xu Nan could only remain silent. He could hardly say, I've already inherited the Ron Sorcerer Bloodline. I'm already one of the professionals you're talking about, right?

He was not some naive little fool like Qin Lele.

A-Kun laughed at himself. "I know people like you won't believe it. All kinds of strange events can be explained with special effects or publicity stunts."

"But I have a feeling that world really is coming."

Xu Nan thought for a moment. "I know a little about D&D. If that kind of world really descends, what class would you want, Senior?"

A-Kun smiled faintly. "Have you seen my hair?"

Xu Nan shuddered. Another similar question. This time, he had to think carefully. He looked A-Kun up and down and pondered. "Senior has dark, glossy hair, a mature temperament, and the air of an artist. You also mentioned the Bard from North America just now. Could it be a class like Bard?"

"Wrong. Monk."

A-Kun sighed. "With my hairline, I'll probably go bald in a few years. I've always wanted to shave my head, but I've never had a good reason."

"If I inherit the Monk class, I can shave my head with perfect justification."

Xu Nan: "..."

Senior really was straightforward!

Xu Nan and Senior A-Kun walked around Maple Leaf Forest once. The scenery here was quite nice.

As night fell, the group in charge of the picnic called everyone over for dinner, and Xu Nan and A-Kun headed there as well.

However, as they passed a tent, Xu Nan suddenly heard a pleasant singing voice.

And the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

"Time to eat, Bai." Senior A-Kun pushed open the tent as if he knew the place well. Inside sat the boy wearing black-framed glasses.

He was holding a tablet and watching a live stream with great interest.

The singing was coming from the tablet.

"Xin'er?" Xu Nan was somewhat surprised.

Bai looked wary. "Student Xu Nan, a rich and handsome guy like you watches live streams too? Are you trying to compete with our million-strong army for Xin'er?"

"Those women may be utterly bewitched by your looks, but my Xin'er definitely isn't that kind of person!"

"Besides, Xin'er has a terrifying older brother. I advise you not to set your sights on her!"

Xu Nan felt awkward.

Of course he knew Xin'er streamed from home. He watched from time to time, but never paid much attention to it.

It was just that the men in her Live Stream Room apparently all saw her as a cute flat-chested girl.

Because she sang especially well, Xin'er was quite popular, as Xu Nan had learned when he helped her sign an agency contract.

He just had not expected there to be Xin'er fans in the Foreign Language Club too.

"Xin'er's older brother? Does she often mention her family?" Xu Nan's heart stirred, and he tried to get closer to Bai. "Don't worry, I won't compete with you for your Xin'er."

Bai pushed up his glasses and shook his head. "Xin'er rarely mentions her family, but she often talks about her older brother."

"We even suspect Xin'er is a classic brother-con, so her brother-in-law has always been considered our greatest enemy."

"However, I heard her brother-in-law got a girlfriend recently. The barrage army has been celebrating nonstop."

Xu Nan looked down and saw that the scrolling comments were indeed full of people celebrating the fact that their brother-in-law had a girlfriend.

"What a load of nonsense." Xu Nan did not care about any of that. As long as Xin'er was happy, that was enough.

"Let's go eat." After listening for a while, he called to Senior A-Kun.

But at that moment, Bai mysteriously grabbed them. "Xin'er just said that after this song, she has an important secret to share with everyone!"

"Student Xu Nan, stop pretending. Since you know Xin'er, you must be one of our barrage army too. I'm a generous person, so let's watch together?"

Just then, the music on the tablet came to an end. Xin'er cleared her throat and lowered her head to read the scrolling comments.

"Three million followers already... Fine, I'll say it. It's not a big deal anyway."

In front of the camera, Xin'er seemed completely relaxed, unlike the Xin'er Xu Nan usually saw. "It's still about my brother."

"He's kind of dumb. Because of a joke my father made with him back then, which he never got the chance to explain properly, my brother has misunderstood it all the way until now."

"Even now, he's still being kept in the dark!"

"As for what the joke was, I'm not telling you. Wait until I get four million followers."

Xin'er smiled playfully.

The barrage army immediately began wailing in despair, and all kinds of speculation appeared.

Xu Nan was slightly stunned. The dense barrage of comments made his eyes hurt.

In his memories, his stepfather really had a strong sense of humor. Even when their relationship had been distant, he would joke with Xu Nan from time to time, and Xu Nan had not been able to accept it back then.

But which joke was Xin'er talking about?

Before Xu Nan could figure it out, Xin'er suddenly ended the stream. Bai held the tablet with lingering reluctance, looking as though he might start licking the screen.

"Let's go. Hurry and eat." Senior A-Kun took out his phone.

"The Vice President and the others seem to have gone to ask about Riverbend. There might be some interesting news to share later."

"Aren't you curious why the Armed Police and the military district suddenly sealed off Riverbend?"