A Grand One-Day Girlfriend Plan

"So, after all this time we've been talking, you still don't know my gender?"

"No."

Holding his soul communicator, Lin Xun's face darkened. This was the first Waterloo of his illustrious player career. Even now, this person still didn't know his gender.

Then what had all his sweet talk been for?!

Those late-night chats, daily updates, patient companionship—at this moment, all of it became inexplicably absurd.

Lin Xun fell silent for a moment, then typed a reply.

"You've never doubted it?"

Hidden Radiance replied instantly, her tone open and earnest.

"Doubted what?"

"You speak calmly, never get impatient, and you're thoughtful. You're gentle and patient when we chat, too."

"Besides, you usually talk about dorm life, special training details, and amusing things involving your female friends. Naturally, I assumed you were a girl."

Staring at the screen, Lin Xun felt his temples throbbing.

So—

Emotional stability = girl.

Being popular and good at chatting = gentle girl.

What kind of ridiculous standard was that?

Patiently, he tried to salvage the truth.

"I'll say it again. I'm a guy."

This time, Hidden Radiance fell silent for a full three seconds.

Then a string of incredulous messages filled the screen, every word brimming with disbelief.

"No way, right?"

"Really?"

"What guy is this considerate online and never brushes people off?"

"Other guys are either blunt or disappear halfway through a conversation. You're completely different."

"I always assumed you were a low-key girl with a great temperament!"

Lin Xun: "..."

He was completely speechless.

The two of them had only ever chatted privately online. They had never met, never video-called, and never seen each other's photos.

Everything Hidden Radiance knew about him came from the details of their conversations.

And Lin Xun's habitual player-brand gentleness—not snapping at people and keeping his emotions stable—had directly made her firmly imagine him as a gentle, beautiful girl with an excellent personality.

Lin Xun had originally wanted to explain himself point by point and properly clear things up.

But looking at her string of certain, insistent questions, he suddenly felt tired.

No amount of explanation would clear his name.

She couldn't see him or touch him. Based on nothing but an impression from text, she had already cemented that image of him in her mind.

Exhausted, Lin Xun simply gave up.

Lazily, he typed, "Whatever you say."

In Hidden Radiance's eyes, that sentence immediately became the soft, embarrassed helplessness of a girl whose secret had been exposed.

Elsewhere.

The wind in the corridor was gentle.

The evening breeze drifting through the hall swept slowly past, stirring the quiet stairwell and lifting the dark-red hair resting on the girl's shoulders.

After finally getting a chance to wear women's clothes outside, she leaned alone against the wall, tightly clutching her soul communicator.

The entire corridor was empty, without a single person in sight. Only scattered sounds from the distant training grounds could be heard.

The girl lowered her head, her gaze fixed firmly on the chat history. Her fair cheeks gradually flushed a faint red as she murmured softly to herself.

"A girl... doesn't seem so bad either."

Her thoughts were a mess.

For so long, she and Lin Xun had chatted every day.

Whenever she was bored, irritated, stuck in cultivation, or in a bad mood, this person had been there with her.

Other people were perfunctory when chatting, impatient, and prone to vanishing.

Only this person was always gentle and patient, even able to keep up with all her rambling nonsense.

The girl had always naturally assumed that the other person was a thoughtful girl with a soft personality.

In her eyes, Lin Xun's final "Whatever you say" had clearly been the posture of a shy little girl who had been found out, too embarrassed and helpless to argue back.

The more she thought about it, the more she imagined, and the softer her heart became.

Her finger hovered over the screen as she hesitated for a long time.

Then an especially embarrassing yet bold sentence popped into her mind.

She typed softly.

[Would you rather be the bottom or the top?]

The cursor blinked softly on the screen.

But as she looked at that direct and ambiguous question, the girl's entire face instantly turned crimson.

Her ears were so hot they practically steamed.

Too bold.

Far too direct.

What if she really scared that reserved, shy girl?

Panicking, she immediately deleted everything.

The input box was perfectly clean, as though nothing had happened.

The girl lowered her head, her heartbeat in complete disarray.

So the close online friend she had talked to for so long was a gentle girl.

Then...

Zero Class's exclusive special-grade classroom was spacious and cold.

There were only seven people in the entire class.

Lin Xun, Gu Yue, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Wu Siduo, Zhang Yangzi, and Wang Jinxi.

Those seven were the academy's strongest group of new students.

There were still several minutes before the teacher arrived. No one in the classroom was reserved, and the atmosphere was loose and relaxed.

Xie Xie sat on top of a desk with one leg crossed over the other, gossiping with Wu Siduo.

"Sis Duo, you just transferred here, so you don't know. Brother Xun is famous around the academy." Xie Xie lowered his voice, but controlled the volume just perfectly—perfectly enough for everyone in the classroom to hear. "Right when school started, he landed Ouyang Zixin, the goddess of the senior division. The senior division! A senior student several years older than him! Then they broke up at lightning speed. His reason was that the senior division and intermediate division were too far apart, and he couldn't handle a long-distance relationship."

Wu Siduo raised an eyebrow and turned to glance at Lin Xun.

"A long-distance relationship? The teaching buildings are less than two hundred meters apart."

"That's why I said it was a reason." Xie Xie spread his hands. "But Senior Ouyang still doesn't think he's a scumbag. I heard she even brought him water after the last competition."

Lin Xun sat in the back row, leaning against his chair. His tone was calm. "Xie Xie, did you forget something?"

"What?"

"When you went on a date with that girl from Class Four last time, she asked whether her hair was oily. You said it was reflecting a little, so you couldn't tell. Then she blocked you."

Xie Xie's smile froze instantly. Wu Siduo had only been listening indifferently, but at that, the corners of her lips curved upward.

Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi exchanged a look, then burst into loud laughter at the same time.

"Brother Xun, we're comrades in the same trench. It's not right for you to expose my dirty laundry like this." Xie Xie clutched his chest.

"You started it."

"I was just livening up the atmosphere!"

Wu Siduo turned to Lin Xun. "Still, that long-distance relationship excuse really was terrible. Back when you tricked me out of my White Tiger Pill in Star Luo City, you at least made up a few lies. Why did you get to Eastsea City and become too lazy to even fabricate anything?"

"It shows that I've matured. A real man doesn't rely on flowery words. He relies on sincerity."

"You put cheating someone out of a pill and sincerity in the same sentence. Don't you think that's contradictory?" Wu Siduo sneered.

"That pill was fake. I returned the real one to you later."

"So just because it was fake, you could trick me out of it?"

"Can a soul master's business be called borrowing?"

"..."

Zero Class's first day of lessons was not difficult. Wu Changkong, Zero Class's current homeroom teacher, merely gave a simple overview of the future plans and curriculum.

He also roughly explained the resources they would receive in the future. Apparently, the academy had some degree of cooperation with both the East Sea Spirit Pagoda and the Soul Planning Hall. However, no one yet knew exactly what form it would take.

After class, just as expected, Xie Xie darted over.

"Everyone! Today is Zero Class's first day of establishment. As the future number one assassin on the continent, I propose we go have a meal together and build some rapport!"

Zhang Yangzi stood up and pushed his chair back under the desk, shaking his head. "Jinxi and I can't go. The old man at home called us back and said there's something urgent. It seems to be about the future direction of our Martial Soul Fusion Skill training."

Wang Jinxi was already waiting by the door. He was still as quiet as ever, merely nodding to the others in farewell. The two left the classroom one after the other, their footsteps quickly fading at the end of the corridor.

The lively atmosphere dimmed considerably. Only Lin Xun, Gu Yue, Tang Wulin, Wu Siduo, and Xie Xie remained, the latter wearing an expectant expression as he waited for everyone to respond.

Tang Wulin was easygoing and had no objections. She nodded obediently, willing to go along.

Wu Siduo crossed her arms and watched with raised brows, looking as though she was merely joining in for the fun and didn't particularly care either way.

Leaning back in his chair, Lin Xun watched Xie Xie enthusiastically call out to everyone, a knowing smile flashing through his eyes.

He turned slightly and leaned closer to the cool, quietly seated Gu Yue. Lowering his voice so only the two of them could hear, he said, "Want to make a bet?"

Gu Yue raised her eyes, her clear gaze falling lightly upon him. Her features were cool yet gentle. "Bet on what?"

A sly smile curled at Lin Xun's lips as the little calculations in his heart clattered away.

"I bet that the proper meal Xie Xie takes us to today will be canned beef."

Gu Yue's brows lifted slightly, carrying a hint of disbelief. "You're that sure? Xie Xie is restless by nature and can't stand boredom. He doesn't seem like someone who would obediently settle for something so simple."

"Just tell me whether you're betting or not." Lin Xun was brimming with confidence as he casually laid down his terms. "The bet is simple. If I win, how about you be my girlfriend for a day?"