The Campus Belle at His Door

It was evening.

Lin Qianqian arrived at Zhou Fan's front door.

She stood outside, hesitating for a long time without knocking.

After a long silence, she finally worked up her courage.

She was just about to knock.

But the door opened the very next second.

"Lin Qianqian...?"

Zhou Fan froze when he saw who was outside.

Lin Qianqian immediately lowered her raised hand.

All the mental preparation she had just done went out the window.

She hesitated for two seconds and was about to speak.

But Zhou Fan shut the door with a bang.

Lin Qianqian: "???"

Then Zhou Fan opened the door again.

He saw that Lin Qianqian was still standing outside.

"So it wasn't because I opened the door wrong. I thought I was seeing things," Zhou Fan muttered.

Lin Qianqian: "..."

She was already starting to regret coming.

"Ahem... did you need something?" Zhou Fan asked curiously.

Lin Qianqian was standing right outside his home, after all.

He couldn't just walk away and pretend he hadn't seen her, could he?

"Yes... I need to talk to you."

With that, Lin Qianqian fell silent again.

She didn't know how to bring it up.

Before coming, she had already steeled herself.

As long as she had thick enough skin, it shouldn't be hard.

But now that she was actually facing Zhou Fan, she was too embarrassed to say it.

An S-rank esper asking a C-rank esper for cultivation advice?

How humiliating!

"Why don't you come in and tell me?"

When Lin Qianqian still didn't continue, Zhou Fan assumed she had something difficult to discuss, so he politely invited her inside.

"Okay."

Lin Qianqian didn't refuse.

The two went inside.

"Have you run into some kind of problem? We aren't that close, but we are classmates. If you're here to borrow money, though, I don't have any to lend you."

"But since you've come all this way, I can at least hear you out," Zhou Fan said with a perfectly straight face.

How was he supposed to know why Lin Qianqian had suddenly come to see him?

The two of them weren't particularly close.

Aside from helping the Esper Bureau carry out a mission together, they hadn't had any contact since.

Now Lin Qianqian had suddenly shown up.

It was hard not to suspect she'd run into trouble.

Most likely, she wanted to borrow money.

If it wasn't about money... surely she hadn't taken a fancy to his looks?

That wasn't impossible, either.

After all, one rich woman already had her eye on him.

Sometimes, there was just nothing you could do about being so charming.

An innocent campus belle gets into trouble and has no choice but to ask a male classmate for help... That kind of plot sounded shady right from the start.

"I wanted... to ask you for some cultivation advice." Lin Qianqian bit her thin lip and finally said it.

"Oh, so that's what this is about." Zhou Fan nodded.

Good, she wasn't here to borrow money... wait!

Had he misheard?

Lin Qianqian was asking him for cultivation advice??

"What did you say?" he asked again, uncertain.

"I said, I want to ask you for some cultivation advice!" Lin Qianqian threw caution to the wind.

At worst, he'd laugh at her.

For the system's mission, she was going all in!

Zhou Fan finally heard her clearly the second time.

Then he looked utterly baffled.

???

"I've run into some problems with my cultivation... so I'd like to ask you for advice."

Zhou Fan: "???"

He was even more baffled.

What was that supposed to mean?

Lin Qianqian had an S-rank superpower. She was a one-in-ten-thousand genius!

And she was actually asking him for cultivation advice?

It wasn't April Fools' Day!

"Are you sure you've got the right person? If you're having trouble cultivating, you should ask a teacher. Why come to me?"

What qualifications did he have to guide Lin Qianqian's cultivation?

Lin Qianqian said, "I only want you."

Zhou Fan looked horrified.

Whoa, hold on!

Don't do this!

"I mean, we're about equally strong, so it should be easier for us to understand each other," Lin Qianqian said.

"Oh, that's what you meant. You scared me." Zhou Fan breathed a sigh of relief.

Just say what you mean.

Saying things like 'I only want you' could cause some serious trouble!

But he still couldn't understand, couldn't figure out, couldn't fathom why Lin Qianqian would come to him for cultivation advice.

"Of course, I won't make you work for nothing. I brought you something." Lin Qianqian took out a pink box, its contents hidden from view.

Zhou Fan looked at Lin Qianqian.

Something was wrong.

He kept feeling that something about this wasn't right.

Something was very wrong!

Lin Qianqian was acting far too strangely!

He couldn't imagine what cultivation problems Lin Qianqian could have as an S-rank esper.

Even if she did have problems, she shouldn't be coming to him.

"You have an S-rank superpower. Mine's only C-rank. I don't think I can help you."

Those words struck Lin Qianqian right where it hurt.

It hurt. It hurt so much!

A genius with an S-rank superpower actually had to ask someone with a C-rank superpower for advice.

How humiliating!

But she could only grit her teeth and say, "It doesn't matter whether you can help. The main thing is, there's no one more suitable than you..."

"All right... but let me make this clear beforehand: I might not be able to help you." Zhou Fan couldn't figure out what Lin Qianqian was thinking.

But since she'd already gone that far...

He could only agree for now.

"Then let's get started."

The two went out into the yard.

"Tell me what problem you're having first, and I'll see if I can help you work it out," Zhou Fan said.

Lin Qianqian said, "My problem is that I don't think I'm strong enough."

Zhou Fan: "..."

"If that's what you're going to say, this conversation isn't going anywhere."

She wasn't here to show off, was she?

She claimed to be asking for advice because she didn't think she was strong enough.

Then she'd show off right in front of him.

What a vicious scheme!

Lin Qianqian said, "What I mean is... I don't think I'm strong enough, but I can't figure out why. So I'd like to spar with you and have you help me identify where I'm lacking."

All of that was just an excuse.

She didn't think she had any flaws at all!

She even believed she was unbeatable among those at her level!

But when the system compared them, she had lost to Zhou Fan.

She refused to accept that!

So...

Although coming to see Zhou Fan was a system mission...

Deep down, Lin Qianqian also wanted to have a real match against him.

She was certain there was something wrong with the system's comparison!

She wanted to fight Zhou Fan herself and see whether he really was that impressive!

If she defeated Zhou Fan now...

She would have grounds to appeal to the system!

"I feel like that problem applies to a lot of people... I always think I'm not strong enough either, and I can't figure out why."

He still felt Lin Qianqian had an ulterior motive.

But since she was already here...

There was no harm in sparring with her.

It was also a good chance to see how big the gap was between him and an S-rank genius like Lin Qianqian.

"Okay, let's spar first and help each other find our weaknesses," Zhou Fan said.

Weaknesses?

She had none!

Lin Qianqian didn't think she had any weaknesses.

Today, she would prove herself!