The ancient Greek god in charge

"Holy shit, seriously? Someone drew all over Zhou Bin's face without anyone noticing?"

"Absolutely. You heard him scream too, right? Fucking hilarious. Probably the whole Teaching Building heard it. No idea what almighty master did it, or how."

"I heard someone used one of those delayed-ink pens while he was napping at noon. So satisfying. Hey, wasn't President Yan in that classroom?"

The Corridor rang with noise after the exam. Math had been the last subject in the Spring Semester's Beginning-of-Semester Exam, and everyone had already been like a tightly compressed spring about to release its energy. Now, with the added entertainment of Zhou Bin's decorated face, a cheerful atmosphere filled the Teaching Building inside and out.

Yet Yan Huan, who had witnessed everything, quietly slipped away with his bag as soon as the exam ended. With school almost out, he picked an empty classroom on an upper floor that people rarely visited and ducked inside.

"Click."

Turning to shut the door and block out the commotion downstairs, Yan Huan tossed his bag onto the chair behind him and sat down.

He took a deep breath, gazed around the deserted classroom, and ventured,

"Hey, whoever was talking inside my head just now. Are you there? Whether you're a system or some other cheat, shouldn't you explain what's going on?"

"Meow~"

As though in response, an ethereal meow suddenly sounded in the empty classroom.

Yan Huan turned slightly to look and saw a long-haired black cat standing in the aisle beside a desk, its head tilted and tail raised, staring at him with emerald-green eyes.

A stray that sneaked in?

The instant that thought surfaced, the black cat trotted lightly over, hopped onto the chair at the desk ahead, then leaped onto the desktop in front of Yan Huan.

The black cat turned its plump body around, licked a paw, and sat upright before him.

At the same time, the voice that had sounded in his head earlier spoke again.

"Hello, Yan Huan."

Great. A black cat that talked inside his head. Another touch of fantasy.

But after the bizarre incident with Bai Yi, Yan Huan's capacity to accept things was now frighteningly high. He merely leaned close to its round feline face and met its eyes.

"What are you? And what was that all about?"

"I am the god of this world. As for what just happened... please allow me to explain the current situation."

The black cat looked up at him adorably as the voice continued inside his head.

"In short, this world is being invaded, and I need your help."

The black cat's solemn voice left Yan Huan momentarily stunned.

"The Trisolarans are actually attacking?"

"No. Fantastical powers from another world are invading the world you currently live in."

The black cat shook its head, and an illusory glow instantly blossomed before Yan Huan's eyes.

First, a spectral crab appeared, brandishing its claws. Like the cat, it seemed to be the god of some other world.

Then the image faded, replaced by more information about that other world.

[Invading power's world of origin: 114514. Classification: female-oriented fantasy world. Name: Cruel Meat X Training]

"Stop, stop! That's enough!"

Before any more dangerous words could appear, Yan Huan waved away the glow with a dark expression, scattering the text like mist.

He took a deep breath, suddenly recalling the strange sounds that had come from Bai Yi earlier.

He seemed to have suddenly remembered something about Bai Yi's superpower, the one that made others ignore her no matter what she did.

[Indifference].

No wonder it sounded so familiar!

At that moment, filthy memories long dead in his mind suddenly began attacking the gentleman known as Yan Huan.

Good lord, so the ancient Greek god of porn had invaded!

The black cat gave another adorable "meow" and spoke inside Yan Huan's head.

"The invading power has caused abnormalities in this originally normal world, ultimately giving rise to five extremely dangerous [modifiers]. The thing Bai Yi had just now was one of them. They reside within women blessed with luck, feeding on their desires and gradually growing stronger. Eventually, they will make a complete mess of the worldline and utterly destroy this life of yours as well."

Yan Huan blinked, somewhat tempted to ask, "What does this have to do with my life?"

But then he recalled how Bai Yi, whom he barely knew, had suddenly tried to scribble on his face for no apparent reason and said something strange about having "plenty of time ahead." He swallowed his words.

Besides, if he had an ability like "Indifference" that could break free of reality's rules, he probably wouldn't stop at drawing on Zhou Bin's face.

Putting himself in her shoes, he didn't think she would keep playing such small games either.

Judging by Bai Yi's words, she had probably only recently obtained that modifier and was still at the stage of first tasting forbidden fruit, so her actions remained somewhat restrained.

But given time...

The black cat blinked its emerald-green, slit-pupiled eyes. As though seeing through his current confusion and frustration, it groomed itself while explaining,

"Over the past decade and more, your self-discipline and diligence have given you unimaginably handsome looks, an exceptionally intelligent mind, and extremely good relationships with others. You are also this world's only transmigrator, the only being I can communicate with. In other words, luck favors you too, and you perfectly satisfy what that world's power of desire seeks. You should understand."

Yes. Looking back, even though he had started as an orphan without an illustrious family background, Yan Huan had still maintained a disciplined life.

His studies went without saying. His grades in his previous life had been outstanding, and if his health hadn't been so terrible, he wouldn't have died suddenly and started over.

That was why he had begun exercising early in this life, building a solid foundation.

By exercising every day, he had not only gained a healthy body but hadn't even lost a single hair, breaking the curse of "going bald to get stronger"!

But was that precisely why this so-called invading power had targeted him?

Yan Huan shuddered. In an instant, countless figures from works laden with symbols of desire automatically flooded his mind.

The academically outstanding, aloof, breathtakingly beautiful unattainable girl; the gentle, kind, generously endowed older girl next door; the haughty, stunning young heiress.

Excellent and attractive as they were, they probably hadn't done anything, only to be affected by some bizarre item through a twist of fate, inexplicably defiled, or even corrupted outright.

No, wait. Maybe they really had done something inappropriate, and someone with that power took revenge, doing all sorts of things to them.

Whatever the scenario, he was probably the gender-swapped version of the former now!

His expression stiffened slightly. To think that all his painstaking efforts over the years had become the reason he was now in danger gave him the distinct illusion that "good people deserve to have guns pointed at them."

Yan Huan couldn't feel very cheerful right now. He leaned back in his chair, feeling rather done with life.

He couldn't help asking: Six-year-old Yan Huan, why did you make that birthday wish?

But soon, he straightened a little again.

"Wait. Why do you need my help? Aren't you a god? Can't you just get rid of these modifiers yourself?"

At that, the black cat looked helplessly at Yan Huan, seeming to ask,

"Are you serious? You're counting on a cat like me?"

Fortunately, the black cat still offered a proper explanation.

"I cannot directly interfere with the world. The gods of other worlds are the same, which is why the modifiers choose hosts within this world to reside in."

Yan Huan raised an eyebrow, seemingly spotting an overlooked point. Rubbing his chin, he glanced at the black cat before him.

"So you can give me similar modifiers too, right?"

"Correct. But unlike their evil modifiers, there are only two simple things I can grant you."

Appreciating Yan Huan's clear thinking, the black cat raised its left paw like a beckoning cat and explained,

"First, I can grant you [resistance to modifier effects]. This means that regardless of the modifier, its effects will only partially work on you. However, this resistance is not invincible. Modifiers grow continually stronger by consuming desire, and the resistance will gradually diminish until it fails completely. By then, you will probably be completely finished too."

Then the black cat lowered its left paw and raised its right.

"Second, each week I can randomly offer you [one permanently retained reward], including various abilities, attributes, and skills, usually with three options to choose from.

"These rewards may be strengthened by absorbing the modifiers' power as you deal with them. The abilities granted to you will remain even after you have completely dealt with all five modifiers. Consider them payment for helping resolve the modifiers and restoring the worldline to normal."

Yan Huan narrowed his eyes. Rather than being swayed by the black cat's grand promises, he pressed for specifics.

"Deal with the modifiers? How?"

The black cat lowered its raised paw and sat upright again, then spoke to Yan Huan with great solemnity, enunciating every word.

"There is only one way to deal with a modifier: [make its host willingly give up possessing the modifier].

"Beyond that, remember this: under no circumstances can you [reveal that you know the modifiers exist]. Once a host realizes you can detect her modifier, the desire to 'overcome unease' will grow exponentially, ultimately turning the modifier directly into a complete form against which resistance is useless. Then it will all be over!"

Got it, got it. You couldn't expose your cheat.

Think about it. You believed you'd been granted Indifference and tried to do something bad to the school beauty, only to be discovered by the entire class just as you were about to go into action, exposed to everyone's eyes.

In utter silence, you watched them raise their phones at your naked body...

That wouldn't be a little movie for getting off anymore. That was pure horror!

Yan Huan gave a bitter smile and muttered,

"So I need to make them give up their modifiers themselves without revealing I know about them? You might as well just kill me. If I had Bai Yi's modifier, I wouldn't give it up even if I died, okay..."

"..."

The black cat blinked its big, adorable eyes, unsure what to say to comfort Yan Huan, because that was simply the indisputable truth.

He liked watching Japanese anime. He did not like Japanese anime becoming reality, especially when he was the one playing the victim of sexual assault!!

After a long silence, Yan Huan gritted his teeth and took another deep breath. He sat up straight, expressionless, looked at the black cat, and held out a hand.

"Hand it over."

"...What?"

"This week's random ability. It's Friday today. You're not going to make me wait until next week, are you?"

"..."

The black cat swished its tail, rather impressed by his ability to accept things.

Then, as though by magic, three illusory golden orbs appeared before Yan Huan's eyes, words emerging as their light swirled.

[Ability: Perfect Facial Expression Control-Expressions were meant to be windows into emotion, but now they have become your ever-changing masks.]

[Technique: Catching a Blade Barehanded-You can't catch more than one blade, you know. Unless you have four hands!]

[Technique: 100% Successful Backflip-Hey, want to come over and watch me do a backflip?]

With a thoroughly exasperated expression, Yan Huan pinched the black cat's chubby face and demanded,

"What the hell are you giving me? How are any of these supposed to help deal with modifiers?!"

The cat meowed with an innocent expression, making the voice inside Yan Huan's head buzz.

"I don't decide that! I told you they're random! Random!"

"Just you wait. If they ever finish me off, I'll finish you off too!"

Just as Yan Huan was venting by pinching the fat on the black cat's cheeks, a sudden knock came from the empty classroom's door.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Yan Huan froze and turned toward the classroom door along with the black cat.

The handle turned, and the door slowly opened, revealing a boy in a gray Totsuki school uniform and Black-Frame Glasses.

Seeing that it was a boy, Yan Huan and the black cat both sighed with relief. Better yet, Yan Huan knew him.

He was their Student Council's accountant and technical support, Yatsuhashi Ki.

He had thick hair, slightly long bangs, and a somewhat pale complexion. A trace of anxiety showed in his eyes behind the faintly reflective lenses.

"President, why aren't you answering your messages? You've been tagged loads of times in the group, and you're not picking up your phone either. What are you doing here alone? If someone from your exam room hadn't told me you went upstairs... Huh, a cat? Where'd that come from?"

As Yatsuhashi spoke, the chubby black cat in front of Yan Huan caught his attention. Yan Huan shot it an irritated sidelong glance, then selected one of the three illusory orbs that seemed somewhat useful.

[Ability: Perfect Facial Expression Control]

In an instant, his facial muscles became extraordinarily flexible, as though their Ren and Du Meridians had been opened.

It was as if the keyboard controlling his expressions had suddenly gone from sixty-one keys to a hundred and seven, adding a whole slew of notes. Beyond that, the sensation of perfectly controlling every last corner struck Yan Huan as incredibly novel.

The muscles of Yan Huan's face twitched from top to bottom before finally settling into an apologetic smile. He took the opportunity to lift the black cat and asked,

"A stray. Just found it. Cute, right?"

"Meow~"

"It really is adorable. Have you named it? But is it really a stray when it's that fat?"

"Meow!"

"I'm planning to call it Meow-chan."

"Meow?"

"Meow-chan? What a great name. Wait, no! President, this isn't the time! Check your phone! You Anlina's practically frantic!"

At that, Yan Huan cradled the black cat and pulled his smartphone from his bag. He had set it to airplane mode for the exam.

The moment it connected to the school network, a dense barrage of notification sounds erupted.

A social app called "Plane" was commonly used here. Besides online payments and features like a friends feed, it also let users scroll through tacky short videos, so Yan Huan had always treated it as this Otherworld's WeChat.

"Ding, ding, ding~"

"Totsuki Student Council management group (5)"

Secretary-You Anlina: "Has anyone seen the president? It's urgent!"

Accountant-Yatsuhashi Ki: "Nope. I don't think any of us were in the same exam room as him? But exams only just finished, so he should still be at school..."

Secretary-You Anlina: "I'm trying to find him urgently precisely because he's still at school! Hurry, help me contact him! The principal wants him!"

Vice President-Hitomi Sakuramiya: "The president isn't in the Student Council Office."

Accountant-Yatsuhashi Ki: "Ah, his phone isn't going through either. Maybe he's busy having a secret rendezvous with some girl and has no time to check it."

Vice President-Hitomi Sakuramiya: "Yatsuhashi, please refrain from casually joking about another student's private life."

Accountant-Yatsuhashi Ki: "Sorry, I was wrong, Vice President."

Vice President Sakuramiya was as stiff and serious as ever...

The string of messages below was far too long, and You Anlina had tagged him in several other large Student Council groups too. Yan Huan simply lowered his phone and asked Yatsuhashi Ki directly,

"Too long. Can't get through it. What does the principal want me for?"

Yatsuhashi Ki took a deep breath and told Yan Huan,

"Well, the principal said your mom came to school looking for you, President. He wants you to hurry over!"

Mom?

Yan Huan's arms paused slightly around the cat, and he went motionless as a statue.

A parent coming to school to see their child was reasonable enough. The problem was...

His parents in this life had died in a plane crash shortly after he transmigrated here. He had grown up in the Orphanage!

Where the hell had this mom suddenly come from?!