It's Her

"Thanks for walking me home today."

"You're welcome."

"Oh, right, when you saw me today..."

"My hair wasn't greasy, was it?"

"It was reflecting a little. I couldn't see clearly."

A red exclamation mark.

"Wuwuwu..."

Xie Xie tossed and turned on the bed.

He kneaded and tugged at the blanket, clutching it tightly to his chest one moment before kicking it away irritably the next.

He just couldn't stop fidgeting.

He looked exactly like a fish stranded on shore, flopping around wildly.

The soul communication device lay quietly by his pillow.

The bright red exclamation mark on the screen was especially glaring.

"Wuwu, Brother Xun, why? Why exactly?"

He buried his entire face in the soft pillow, his muffled voice filled with genuine confusion.

"I fought so coolly in the last Promotion Tournament. That girl from Class Four added me herself—she did it herself!"

"She even specifically praised how good my Light Dragon Dagger looked, saying she wanted to talk to me more about soul skills!"

"We'd only known each other for a few days. We walked together once, I walked her home, and after exchanging just a couple of messages when I got back, she blocked me. What did I do wrong?"

On the other side of the room, Lin Xun leaned lazily against the headboard. He could barely be bothered to lift his eyelids as he spoke flatly.

"What did you say to her?"

Xie Xie immediately raised half his face from the pillow and pulled up the chat history with a pitiful expression.

"She thanked me first, said thanks for walking her home."

"So I just said you're welcome."

"Then she suddenly asked whether her hair was greasy today."

"I was especially serious about it!" Xie Xie looked utterly innocent, his tone full of grievance. "I really wasn't talking nonsense! Her hair really was reflecting a little, so I answered honestly and said it was reflecting a little, and I couldn't see clearly."

"And then the very next second, it was a red exclamation mark!"

He abruptly threw the communicator onto the bed, rolled over, and lay flat on his back, staring at the ceiling with a baffled expression.

"No, wait. Doesn't reflecting mean her hair was smooth and in good condition? I was complimenting her! Why did she delete me?!"

Lin Xun fell silent for two seconds, then turned toward Yun Xiao, who was still awake on the opposite bed.

"Yun Xiao, explain it to him."

Yun Xiao gently pushed up his glasses and closed the book in his hands.

"Xie Xie."

"When a girl specifically asks whether her hair is greasy, she isn't asking about optical reflection or some physical phenomenon."

"She's nervous. She's afraid she doesn't look good, afraid you'll find her awkward to look at, afraid you won't like her."

"There's only one answer she wanted to hear: 'No, it looks great.'"

"When you said her hair was reflecting, what she heard was that it was so greasy it was shining—so greasy she could use it as a mirror."

Xie Xie instantly froze.

He looked as though he'd been struck by lightning, completely dumbfounded.

He stiffly turned to Lin Xun, his eyes full of pleading confirmation.

"Brother Xun... is she telling the truth?"

"Yeah." Lin Xun nodded.

"How do you know all this?"

"Normal people all know."

Xie Xie blankly turned back to Yun Xiao.

"Then you know too?"

"I wouldn't count as a normal person, but I still have that much common sense."

After saying that, Yun Xiao calmly reopened his book.

Xie Xie fell silent for a few seconds before pulling the blanket over his head and curling himself into a small ball.

His muffled voice came from beneath the blanket, filled with utter defeat.

"It's over. Am I just not cut out for dating?"

Lin Xun rarely opened his mouth to comfort him.

"Not exactly."

"You just didn't pass at all."

After a while, Yun Xiao set down the book in his hands, turned to look at Lin Xun, who was leaning against the bed, and asked:

"Brother Xun, the drawing channel for the Individual Credit Tournament opened today. Do you want to give it a try?"

Lin Xun casually propped his pillow higher and adjusted into a lazy, comfortable position, speaking in a languid tone:

"What's the rush?"

"Isn't it held once every half month? It's only the start of the month. There's plenty of time."

"The rules changed."

Yun Xiao picked up the academy notice lying beside the pillow and read softly.

"Starting this week, intermediate division students may freely form teams to participate in the Individual Credit Tournament. However many people are in the team, they will be randomly matched against the same number of senior students, up to a maximum of seven."

"After the drawing ends, the academy will arrange the match time and scoring instructors. There aren't enough instructors to go around, so slots are first come, first served. The earlier you draw, the earlier you fight."

After finishing, he put down the paper and added a crucial piece of information.

"If we draw now, we can start competing tomorrow. If we put it off until the last few days of the month, we'll most likely be scheduled for next week."

Xie Xie instantly perked up beneath the covers and immediately poked half his head out.

His black hair was a complete mess atop his head, like a disorderly bird's nest.

"Team up to fight senior students?"

His eyes lit up as he immediately grew excited.

"Isn't that just forming a group to start a brawl? I like it!"

"Brother Xun, why don't the four of us form a team and draw four senior students? We'll just go head-to-head when we get on the field. Let's fucking do it!"

Lin Xun glanced at him and calmly shot him down.

"Straighten out that chicken-nest hair of yours first."

As he spoke, he stood up and casually took down the school uniform jacket hanging at the head of his bed.

Then he turned to Yun Xiao.

"Yun Xiao, are you going?"

Yun Xiao nodded without hesitation. "I'm going."

"What about you, Xie Xie?"

The moment those words fell, Xie Xie sprang straight out of bed.

He did not even have time to put on his shoes, stepping barefoot onto the floor as he frantically fumbled for them.

"I'm going! Of course I'm going!"

He was brimming with fighting spirit as he declared righteously:

"I can use real combat to prove myself! Unlucky in love, lucky in the arena!"

Yun Xiao quietly delivered the finishing blow.

"When have you ever been lucky in love?"

Xie Xie froze mid-motion, instantly choking on his words.

"Can you stop hitting me right where it hurts every single time?"

While the two bickered, Zhou Changxi, who had remained silent all this time, slowly poked his head out from his bed. Clear hesitation filled his chubby face, and after struggling with himself for a while, he finally spoke.

"Brother Xun, I won't be going this time."

"The Soul Planning Hall has high-intensity training this afternoon. I should focus on getting through my trial period first. The most important thing is not to mess anything up."

Lin Xun slowly fastened his jacket buttons and glanced at him.

"No problem."

Once they had finished getting ready, Lin Xun, Xie Xie, and Yun Xiao left the dormitory together.

Downstairs, perhaps by coincidence—

Mu Xi was already waiting there, wearing a gentle smile completely at odds with her personality.

"What a coincidence, junior. Where are you off to?"

Lin Xun looked at her warily.

Mu Xi was not wearing her school uniform today. She had changed into a light blue dress, her golden hair draped over her shoulders. Her eyes curved when she smiled, and no matter how he looked at it, something felt off.

"We're going to draw lots for the individual tournament."

"What a coincidence. I happen to be free." Mu Xi clasped her hands behind her back and tilted her head slightly. "I'll go with you."

Before Xie Xie could react, Yun Xiao had already grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"Xun, let's go draw first."

"Hey, why are you dragging me—"

Before he could finish, he had already been dragged several meters away. Yun Xiao did not walk quickly, but his grip was surprisingly strong. Held by the back of his collar, Xie Xie shuffled along in tiny steps like a puppy being carried by the scruff of its neck.

In the blink of an eye, the two vanished around the corner of the corridor.

Watching the direction his two roommates had disappeared in, the corner of Lin Xun's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

Selling out a teammate.

Without even a moment's hesitation.

"Let's go, junior."

"Mm." Though Lin Xun was puzzled by her behavior, walking with a girl was hardly anything complicated.

It was no big deal to him.

The two strolled along the tree-lined paths of the campus toward the drawing area.

Mu Xi walked beside Lin Xun, her hands lightly clasped behind her back.

Every so often, she tilted her head and secretly glanced at the boy beside her.

A faint smile lingered at the corners of her lips, while a tiny scheme hid in her eyes. She was clearly holding something back, waiting for Lin Xun to ask first.

But Lin Xun kept his eyes straight ahead from beginning to end. His sense of boundaries was impeccable.

He simply refused to take the bait.

He knew Mu Xi's smile far too well.

Whenever she wore that expression, nothing good ever followed. She was definitely hiding some trick, waiting to trap someone.

After walking in silence for a few steps, Mu Xi finally could not help speaking first.

She cocked her head, her bright eyes sparkling, her tone carrying just the right touch of sweetness.

"Junior."

"My cat can do backflips. Would you like to come over and see it sometime?"

Lin Xun did not slow down in the slightest, his expression calm and unruffled.

"Oh."

"That sounds pretty tiring."

Mu Xi froze on the spot, blinking blankly for a long while.

That answer had been completely outside her expectations.

She had spent three hours the previous night reading dating guides and memorizing every flirtatious line.

According to the script, a normal guy would either curiously ask whether it was true or shyly agree. Even at worst, he would go along with the conversation.

But what the hell did "pretty tiring" mean?

Was the cat tired from practicing backflips, or was she tired?

Mu Xi's thoughts were a mess as she wondered how to steer the conversation back on track.

Then Lin Xun's unhurried voice sounded again.

"Actually, senior."

"If the two of us were stacked together, we probably wouldn't need to watch a cat do backflips."

In an instant.

Mu Xi's steps abruptly stopped.

Her mind went blank for several seconds before she slowly decoded the hidden meaning in his words.

Stacked together... then there would be no need for backflips.

In an instant, blazing red flooded her cheeks, spreading from her ears down her neck. Even the small patch of skin visible above her collar had turned crimson.

She instinctively hopped half a step backward. Her lips moved slightly, but when she opened her mouth, she could not get out a single word.

They were not even in the same league.

She had stayed up all night going through every flirting technique and couple's line, carefully picking the safest possible opener.

Yet Lin Xun had effortlessly turned the tables with a single sentence.

Mu Xi took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the heat in her face. Turning her head aside, she pressed her lips together and simply stopped talking.

But there was no hiding her reddened earlobes.

They walked all the way to the edge of the sports field.

The field was especially lively today. It turned out Donghai Academy's most anticipated event was underway: the Promotion Tournament between the historically strongest freshman Class One and the upper-year students.

Especially since a genius student had recently transferred in.

Lin Xun had not cared at first, but a casual glance made him freeze slightly.

Among the students representing freshman Class One on the stage, the newly transferred freshman stood out vividly.

The girl was tall and slender, with voluminous wine-red curls, a cool pale complexion, an oval face, and narrow light-gray catlike eyes. Her features were striking yet cold and proud. Wildly seductive while radiating sharp battle intent, she was a dazzling beauty with an intensely aggressive aura.

"Meow, why is it her!?"