The Diligent Miss Witch

It was breakfast time at Mo Zhen's house.

Taiping Prefecture time: 7:25.

Bai Xiaoxiao was the last to come downstairs. Her white hair was a little tousled, and she wore an off-white nightdress with a picture of Cinnamoroll on the chest.

Even after sitting down, Bai Xiaoxiao was still half-asleep, her head nodding as though she might doze off at any moment.

Mo Chou set a bowl of congee in front of her, then raised a hand to check his watch. "You have half an hour before class."

"...I don't want to go to class today."

Fighting off sleep, Bai Xiaoxiao picked up her spoon and ate her congee in small mouthfuls.

Mo Chou put on a stern face. "No. You don't have a fever, and you're not sick."

"All right." Bai Xiaoxiao could only lower her head.

Mo Xiaochuan, meanwhile, was full of energy. He picked up an egg, tapped it twice, and started peeling it, only to grow more frustrated the longer he went.

"Dad, didn't you put this egg in cold water? By the time I'm done peeling it, it'll be a size smaller, with nothing left but the yolk!"

Mo Xiaochuan said helplessly.

Hearing that, Mo Chou picked up the kitchen handbook beside him and flipped through it. "It doesn't say the eggs need to be put in cold water."

Mo Xiaochuan said, "Whoever wrote that book definitely never boiled an egg himself!"

"All right, I'll remember next time."

Mo Chou nodded. "I'll make breakfast from now on, so your older brother can get some more sleep too."

Mo Zhen silently ate his congee beside them.

Actually... he was still worried that Mo Chou might bring up Compound Nine at any moment, but it seemed the other man wanted to let the matter drop?

Ahem... since Mo Chou wasn't bringing it up, he would pretend nothing had happened.

After breakfast, the three of them each changed clothes and got ready to leave for school. It wasn't far away, so they all rode bicycles.

All three attended the international secondary school in Jinghai District. Mo Xiaochuan and Mo Zhen were in the high school division, while Bai Xiaoxiao was in the middle school division.

The two campuses were one intersection apart.

They arrived at school.

Mo Zhen and Mo Xiaochuan parked their bicycles before parting ways at the teaching building. Mo Zhen was in his second year of high school, while Mo Xiaochuan was in his first.

By the time Mo Zhen reached the classroom, it was already lively.

As the top-ranked international high school in Taiping Prefecture, it brought together outstanding students from all over the world. They were generally either rich or well-connected, or else had excellent grades.

By comparison, Mo Zhen's family, at least on the surface, was quite ordinary.

Mo Chou's public identity was that of a geology professor who frequently traveled for work. His income was considered good by ordinary standards, but compared with most of the rich kids in the class, it seemed rather tight.

But.

Mo Zhen soon noticed that, after he arrived in class today, the looks directed at him from all around were rather strange. It left him puzzled.

In the past, he had practically been invisible in class. He wasn't particularly good at socializing, and his personality was rather aloof, so he didn't have many friends.

So... even if my eyes have turned blue, there's no need to pay that much attention, right?

After all, the international high school even had superheroes and mutants, and hair came in all sorts of colors.

"Is that Mo Zhen?"

"I think it really is. Was he always that handsome without his glasses?"

"He's so good-looking..."

Only when Mo Zhen heard that did he remember he wasn't wearing his glasses today. Compound Nine had cured his nearsightedness.

Frankly, he didn't much like being the center of attention over something like this. It made him feel very insecure.

"Mo Zhen?!"

"Why aren't you wearing your glasses today?"

A brown-haired boy with a shoulder bag had also just arrived in the classroom. He sat down next to Mo Zhen and looked at him in surprise.

His name was Adam Hunter, a Briton of Irish descent who looked a lot like a young Maguire. He was one of Mo Zhen's few friends in class.

Mo Zhen frowned and put down his bag, somewhat glum. "It's a long story, so I won't tell it. Anyway... have I changed that much?"

Adam nodded, his expression grave. "A lot. I was stunned when I first saw you."

Mo Zhen had always worn black-framed glasses before, and he barely stood out in class. That was how the two of them had become friends.

After all, neither of them had much of a presence.

But today, from the moment Mo Zhen walked into the classroom, the vast majority of the class had fixed their eyes on him.

Even Adam, his closest friend at school, had only realized today that his friend was so... eye-catching?

Though those words were strange, that was Adam's first reaction.

Mo Zhen wasn't particularly tall for their class, standing around 171 centimeters, but his proportions were superb, with legs worthy of a supermodel.

His black hair had a slight natural wave, and his features were delicate.

Besides that, what stood out most were his blue eyes. They had a feline allure, yet, owing to Mo Zhen's own personality, also held a coldness and distance toward others.

That contradictory air made people want to approach him, eager to see whether some other emotion might appear in his eyes as a result.

Frankly, people rarely took the time to observe Mo Zhen, who was usually so inconspicuous as to be practically invisible.

What was more, he used to wear those tacky black-framed glasses, so people cared even less.

Only today did everyone discover that their class had been hiding a beautiful boy whose looks were practically a perfect score.

As for all those stares, Mo Zhen could only sit down and start catching up on his homework, pretending not to see them.

He had, however, found the culprit behind it all.

[Normal state panel]

[Charm: S-rank (constant attribute)]

[Constant attribute: An attribute that does not change when a transformation is undone. It remains in effect at all times, whether transformed or not.]

I'd actually prefer it if you didn't stay in effect.

Mo Zhen grumbled helplessly to himself.

Meanwhile, some of his classmates were already itching to make a move. After all, teenage boys and girls were always full of curiosity.

"Hi, Mo Zhen, that's your name, right? I don't think I remembered wrong. Interested in having lunch together? My treat."

The first to approach him was a blonde, blue-eyed American girl. Although she wore the high school uniform, she had altered her skirt to make it very short.

Her name was Linda. She had a sunny smile and looked like a classic American sweetheart.

Faced with her invitation, Mo Zhen didn't even look up, scribbling away in his English workbook. "Thanks, but I'm having lunch with my friend."

"Which friend? Can I come too?"

Linda was reluctant to give up. She drew out her words, sounding very cute.

Hearing that, Mo Zhen looked up from his English workbook, thought for a moment, and grabbed Adam beside him. "The two of us are in a hurry to play pool, OK?"

A bewildered Adam blinked. What pool? Doesn't Mo Zhen never exercise? He nearly passed out during the 800-meter fitness test last time.

Seeing that, Linda could only sigh in resignation. "All right, then I won't disturb you."

The American sweetheart left, disappointed.

Meanwhile, Adam scratched his head. "You won't even go when Linda asks you out? She's so pretty."

"You've got time to spare?"

Mo Zhen picked up his math and physics papers and tossed them to him, his voice unusually hurried. "Hurry, hurry, help me with these. I'm not going to finish in time! I'll buy you lunch."

He hadn't done any homework at all that weekend!!

Fucking hell, Chinese education, you win! Even Henry's Superman reincarnated here would have to do a set of Huanggang exam papers first.

Originally, their international secondary school hadn't assigned so much homework.

Then the American principal, who had believed in "happy education," went to prison for sexually exploiting underage students. A man from a populous province on the eastern continent, known as the "father of Hengshui," took over as principal...

And so their nightmare began.

"All right..."

Adam was kind and a man of few words. He immediately helped Mo Zhen catch up on his homework, and the two scribbled furiously. By the end of morning reading, they had just managed to finish all the papers and workbooks.

Mo Zhen leaned back in his chair with a book covering his face, completely out of strength and options.

Frankly, he thought homework was more exhausting than fighting. Given the choice, he would rather go another ten rounds with the witch.

"I'm hungry!"

Adam, just like him, was sprawled in his chair, his whole body burned out to a grayish white. Four of Mo Zhen's science papers still lay in front of him.

Bastard, don't underestimate the bond between us! They don't call me the legendary king of science, the tallest mountain in mock exams, for nothing!

In the recently concluded global mathematics competition, Adam had left everyone else in the dust, taking first place and earning guaranteed admission to a prestigious university.

In Tianhe City's joint college entrance examination, he had come in first by an even wider margin, earning the nickname Taiping Prefecture's "Little Newton."

As a poor student, Adam had earned every scholarship available at the school through sheer perseverance and hard work, along with a tiny bit of talent.

Haha, just kidding. It was all talent.

After handing in his homework, Mo Zhen finally had time to slack off during the lessons that followed.

He propped his head on one hand, seemingly staring at the blackboard, while his consciousness was actually completely immersed in his domain of the heart.

The diligent Miss Witch began practicing the various ways to use Malevolent Shrine.

She tried to develop World-Cutting Slash through her own efforts, or Domain Expansion, Soul Dismantle, and the like...

But all of them were so hard.

Miss Witch soon realized that bragging on Tieba about beating Satoru Gojo to a pulp was one thing.

Actually controlling Malevolent Shrine herself was another. She was completely lost and felt like a stupid Muggle.

Domain Expansion, Furnace: Open, World-Cutting Slash, Soul Dismantle-each was harder than the last.

Never mind Barrier Technique, what did it even mean to expand the target of the Dismantle Cursed Technique to the world to cut through space? Who could possibly understand that?

Can't you send me a Mahoraga?

After practicing for ages without the slightest result.

The girl sat beneath her little tree, pondering life alone.

"Forget it. Since I don't have a protagonist's talent, I'll just rely on the system. It's not like my life has that many viewers anyway..."

Miss Witch ultimately chose to accept reality.