My Online Friend Can't Be This Cute

All he could say was that he hadn't wanted to slack off from the start. He had come up from a key junior high school, after all. He had some pride.

He felt inexplicably guilty, but he took a photo of the last page with notes in every book and sent them over.

Don't Play Holy Slash: What does sending just one page mean?

Human-Dragon Unity: It means there aren't any notes after that page.

Flaked Out: ...

Don't Play Holy Slash: ...Are you serious?

A Seductress: ...

Human-Dragon Unity: Truer than pearls, President.

Don't Play Holy Slash: Bury him. He's beyond saving.

Human-Dragon Unity: No, no, no! President, look, I'm still breathing! Still breathing! This heart that wants to improve is still beating away!

Don't Play Holy Slash: No, I'm thinking about what words are aggressive enough to describe your current situation without actually being insults.

Human-Dragon Unity: If you want to curse me out, go ahead. I can take it.

Don't Play Holy Slash: Forget it. Give me your school address, and I'll send you my little sister's textbooks. She won't need them anymore anyway.

Don't Play Holy Slash: It might take a few days. She doesn't have the science-track books, so I'll find a way to get them for you. I'll send them to you through Swift Wind then.

Human-Dragon Unity: Wuwuwu, President, I'll remember your great kindness forever.

Human-Dragon Unity: From now on, if the President tells me to play frontline, I'll never play damage.

Don't Play Holy Slash: Really?

Human-Dragon Unity: Really!

Don't Play Holy Slash: At least you've got some conscience, kid.

Flaked Out: Xiao Yi, do you have your school's class schedule? Or a daily timetable?

Human-Dragon Unity: I do.

Flaked Out: Send it over.

He rummaged through his photo album and found that he really did have a picture of the schedule, so he blurred out some information and sent it over.

Flaked Out: Wait a moment, okay?

A Seductress: What level of university are you aiming for, Xiao Yi?

Human-Dragon Unity: Maybe a better Second-Tier Undergraduate? Like everyone in the group said, I'm way too far behind right now.

Don't Play Holy Slash: Study hard from now on. You still have some hope of getting into a Second-Tier Undergraduate program. Keep it up.

Baibai: Go, Xiao Yi!

His talk of aiming for a Second-Tier Undergraduate program was based on his current learning pace.

If his cheat's overload ability was powerful enough, then getting into a better Second-Tier Undergraduate program really was possible.

Of course, he couldn't casually tell people about something like a cheat ability. No matter how close his online friends were, there had to be limits.

Besides, even if he told them, they would probably just think he was fantasizing again.

Taking a step back, even getting into a Third-Tier Undergraduate program wouldn't be the end of the world.

As a transmigrator, he couldn't let the National College Entrance Examination suffocate him to death.

The National College Entrance Examination was a turning point in life, but it wasn't the only path.

Flaked Out: Ta-da, it's done.

Flaked Out: Uploaded a file.

Flaked Out: Use it well and be grateful, okay?

Mo Xiangwen opened it and found a densely packed spreadsheet.

It clearly laid out what time he should get up every morning, what he should do after getting up, all the way to memorizing vocabulary before bed at night.

Every detail had been considered, including how much extra he should do when he was in good condition and how he should adjust when he wasn't.

What moved him even more was that, judging by the specific study content, the schedule had clearly been designed around his own learning situation.

Human-Dragon Unity: Help! Thank you, Pigeon! I'll strictly follow this study plan properly.

Flaked Out: Haha, all right. Remember to report back next week, okay? We'll make some adjustments based on your situation then.

She was so jealous. Xiao Yi was clearly her good friend, and she wanted to help him too.

But she hadn't gone through the National College Entrance Examination yet, so she didn't know how she could help him.

The petite girl sighed. Her pale little face flushed bright red as she held it in, but in the end, she could only tearfully repeat herself.

Baibai: Go, Xiao Yi!

A Seductress: Damn, this is so detailed. I can't believe this study plan was made in half an hour.

A Seductress: Xiao Yi, make a willpower check. If you fail, just marry her.

Human-Dragon Unity: I can never repay such great kindness, so I can only repay everyone in my next life as an ox or horse. Sigh.

Flaked Out: Shoo, shoo, shoo. I don't want such a useless workhorse.

Flaked Out: You look like the kind of guy who works eight hours and slacks off for seven and a half. Anyone who hires you would be unlucky.

Don't Play Holy Slash: With your education level, it'll be hard for you to become my workhorse in the future, you know?

Don't Play Holy Slash: If you want to be my workhorse, at least work hard enough to show me something.

Don't Play Holy Slash: No more chatting. Go study.

Human-Dragon Unity: Wait, I have one last thing to say.

Don't Play Holy Slash: Permission granted.

Human-Dragon Unity: Working is a transaction. Slacking off is what counts as making money.

Human-Dragon Unity: Why would I go to work if I'm not making money?

Don't Play Holy Slash: Are you done? If you are, it's time for the Black Room.

You have been muted by an administrator for 6 days and 15 hours.

A Seductress: Why do I feel like what he said makes so much sense?

Seeing someone agree with him, Mo Xiangwen chuckled. He turned off his phone screen, then looked at his reflection in it and let out a long breath.

Change of plans. He was going to go all in against the National College Entrance Examination.

In this situation, he truly felt like a man couldn't say he wasn't up to it.

If he gave up halfway, he would probably be too ashamed to face anyone.

No more lying around. Back to school!

Forget it, he would bring his phone too. He might as well stay at school on Sunday as well.

"What kind of madness are you on now?" Cai Yibin stared at him in disbelief. "It's the weekend. Why are you coming back so early? There are still several hours before evening self-study."

Cai Yibin's family ran a factory, and it was quite far from the school. Normally, he would stay at school to read novels or go out and have some fun.

Sitting in the classroom with his legs crossed, openly scrolling through novels and playing mobile games with his phone right on the desk had originally been the happiest part of his week.

But now, some bastard was about to taint the happiest part of his week.

"You can't fucking do this."

"What? Read your novels. You don't need to mind me."

Mo Xiangwen was studying his books and the study plan he had just printed out. He replied impatiently.

Only after printing it out did he discover that Pigeon had included her own study methods at the bottom of the document.

Perhaps because Pigeon was a humanities student, the methods she included only covered the three core subjects: Chinese, math, and English.

But that was enough. Math and English were what he most needed to catch up on anyway.

He really couldn't thank his online friends enough. He would find a chance to repay them later.

His science composite score wasn't outstanding, but it could still be called passable... even if his online friends clearly didn't see it that way. At least, his scores were passable.

Otherwise, there was no way he could have managed Third-Tier Undergraduate-level results on the last few mock exams with his English being such a disaster.

Although he still needed to review it properly if he wanted a good score on the National College Entrance Examination, it wasn't his priority right now.

"But how am I supposed to keep reading when you're like this?" Cai Yibin complained helplessly. "This was supposed to be the climax I'd been looking forward to for ages, but now it suddenly feels dull."

Mo Xiangwen gave him a speechless look. He hadn't expected a joke he used to make with his university roommates to be recreated in high school.

Thinking about it, he couldn't help but miss the days he had spent with those university roommates. But after graduation, they had all been pushed forward by life until they gradually drifted farther and farther apart.

Even that devoted roommate who had once gone far from home to work in sales for his girlfriend had eventually been forced to give up under the crushing pressure of life.

In the end, he had no choice but to go home and inherit a real estate company, becoming a big boss.

Mo Xiangwen could swear with a clear conscience that he wasn't jealous, but he couldn't say he didn't envy him even once.

When they met again, it was years later, at a deliberately arranged class reunion.

They spoke fondly of their wonderful university days, while their beer bottles and drink cups kept clinking together.

But they no longer had that tacit understanding from when they played League of Legends together—where a single shout of someone's name was enough for them to understand what was meant and know how to coordinate.

It was just like the lyrics of an old song they had loved to sing together.

Pushed onward, carried by the current of life; next year, strangers would be those who had been closest yesterday.

Had they known that after parting ways, each would have their own encounters, acting as guides for one another?

The strange thing was accepting that everyone had their own road to walk.

From childhood to adulthood, he had always had a few friends he could talk to.

But he hadn't expected that, after so many years, only his earliest online friends had remained in touch with him.

He didn't know whether that counted as life mocking him.

"What are you thinking about? You're so absorbed."

Suddenly, Cai Yibin waved a hand in front of his eyes.

"The sound of gaming keyboards lets me sleep peacefully, but the sound of my roommate turning pages keeps me awake all night?" Mo Xiangwen came back to himself, sighed, and said, "Is that what you mean?"

"Yes, yes, exactly." His eyes lit up as he nodded repeatedly in agreement. "The example isn't right, but the feeling you described is perfect."

"Heh. You'll turn into this sooner or later."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you want a few roommates in the future who speak nicely and are good at games, shouldn't you go review?"

"You make college sound like an internet café."

"No. At an internet café, you can't find four people to queue as a five-stack with you every day. At university, you can."

Cai Yibin looked at him with utter disbelief. "College life can actually be this wonderful?"

"Yeah, but if you don't work hard, all you'll have in the future are idiot roommates."

"What do you mean, idiot roommates?"

"Say you're playing jungle, and all your teammates are feeding like crazy."

"Yeah, that's pretty common."

"You charge alone into five enemies, steal Baron, and do it three whole times. You painstakingly carry these idiots from match to match until they're fed."

"I'm that awesome?" Cai Yibin asked skeptically. "Also, I play top lane more often."

"That isn't important." Mo Xiangwen patted him on the shoulder with a melancholy look. "What matters is that after you finally turn the game around, those people hold it in forever and still don't know how to praise you for being awesome."

Cai Yibin imagined it and nodded sympathetically. "That would be pretty awful."

Mo Xiangwen abruptly changed the subject, his gaze turning unfriendly. "Right? Then why was it that last time I used Blue Ezreal to one-versus-five and carry you all to a comeback, nobody praised me?"

Cai Yibin immediately broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly changed the subject. "You're right. If I want roommates in the future who talk nicely and are good at games to play with, I really should study hard."