126. Big Man!
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Tuesday’s match went surprisingly smoothly. Lin Nan and Chen Yao had basically become the strongest bottom lane duo in school, even considering that ADCs in this patch had a nasty habit of dropping dead suddenly. But Chen Yao’s skills managed to barely cover that, not to mention that Dong An, who played mid, had become much steadier after cutting back on his trash talk.
So, in the early game, Lin Nan and Chen Yao would burst through the enemy bottom lane, Dong An would suppress the mid, and although the top lane often faced pressure, in this version of the game, as long as the top could farm some experience, they’d have a level advantage over the enemy ADC and pose a serious threat during team fights.
Lin Nan was starting to feel unbeatable in this game at school!
With a thousand yuan prize plus last year’s championship skin, Lin Nan was rolling in it! From the moment he pocketed the cash until he returned to the dorm, the smile on his face didn’t stop for a second.
This was his biggest payday from his own talents!
But if you counted cuteness as a talent, then the biggest payday would be the money he swindled out of Wu Guodong.
A quick-reaction magic could nab a thousand bucks, while a temperature-ignoring spell had earned him nearly a grand too, but the transformation into a girl spell and the charm spell hadn’t made him a single cent yet.
Recently, Liu Xuefei seemed to be hitting it off with Wu Guodong online. On Tuesday, while Lin Nan was busy with his match, Uncle directly skipped work to come by, taking Liu Xuefei out to see a movie… Lin Nan was seriously envious; he hadn’t been to the cinema in over half a year.
Even though Wu Guodong claimed to prefer big girls and had no interest in flat-chests, Liu Xuefei’s impeccable makeup clearly captured his attention. Now the real issue was whether Liu Xuefei was willing to accept Uncle, and whether their worldviews would align in the long run.
But Lin Nan figured Uncle might just be seen as an ATM. After all, these days, college girls hardly thought about marriage before graduating; dating was merely dating. Meanwhile, Uncle was nearly thirty, probably mulling over how to get married and placate his parents.
Plus, Liu Xuefei came from a special family, making it hard for Lin Nan to believe they’d end up together.
After the match, the five of them decided to go out for a meal on a split-need basis.
Back to the familiar Sichuan restaurant, same old private room, just this time with the addition of Dong An.
Tu Junhui was known to guzzle down drinks with the ferocity of a beast, and Dong An was also quite the socialite. Before the dishes even arrived, the two were already hoisting their glasses, clinking them with roaring laughter while munching on peanuts.
Lin Nan usually wasn’t into drinking, only indulging when he was extremely depressed. The last time was just to unlock a magic trick and out of curiosity about rum. Now, with beer in hand, he found no interest whatsoever.
Xiong Da was allergic to alcohol, and Chen Yao always kept a level head while drinking—never getting drunk. So Lin Nan just stuck to coconut juice like a responsible citizen.
Winning the match was naturally a cause for joy, and Lin Nan had temporarily shaken off his gloomy worries of turning into a girl. With glee, he piled meat onto his plate, casting wary glances at the others to protect his precious share from thieving hands.
His recent life was so tough he could barely afford to eat meat in the cafeteria, despite having some cash in hand. He was gripped with the sense of impending doom, fearing he wouldn’t get living expenses for the next few months and would end up starving.
He didn’t like borrowing money, so he just tried to cut down on his spending as much as possible.
“Hey! Lin Nan! Want a drink?” Dong An called, already slightly tipsy, grinning ear-to-ear at Lin Nan. “That last teamfight in mid was incredible! We wiped out four enemies together! We’re invincible!”
Lin Nan didn’t want to k*ll the vibe, so he filled a glass with half beer and clinked it with Dong An.
Beer definitely went down easier than rum, but its smell was oddly off-putting for Lin Nan, making it a little hard to adapt.
He gulped down the contents of his glass and generously turned it upside down, signaling that he’d finished it.
“Good job! Manly!”
Yeah, wasn’t he just a big man?
Lin Nan felt his head swell with pride; ever since Lilith had possessed him, he hadn’t heard anyone call him “manly” in ages.
“Another!”
“Let’s go!”
He eagerly knocked back another drink with Dong An.
“Nice! Manly!” Dong An happily praised him once more.
Of course!
Lin Nan suddenly thought Dong An—the guy with a bit of a gangster vibe—looked more appealing than before. Even though this guy used to annoy Lin Nan with his family comments, today, Lin Nan decided to let bygones be bygones!
Wanting more compliments, Lin Nan bounced over to Chen Yao to grab the bottle, but was met with a glare.
“Don’t drink more; last time you went nuts.”
Chen Yao was still haunted by the memory of Lin Nan’s drunken antics when he randomly kissed him. Back then, he even wondered if Lin Nan was gay.
But judging by what happened afterward, it seemed Lin Nan was just a regular drunk, and since he essentially was a girl now, that barely counted as being gay.
Lin Nan sighed heavily; he was hoping to hear more praise from Dong An.
If his roommates said he was a big man, it wouldn’t feel genuine; it always rang like a consolation. But when Dong An, a guy he usually couldn’t stand, said such things, it felt way more credible!
Having won money, the five felt increasingly inflated in ego. Noticing Lin Nan wasn’t drinking with him, Dong An turned to Tu Junhui, “Our team could totally take on university matches! We’d at least rank top three in the region! If luck’s on our side, maybe we’ll even hit the national finals!”
Chen Yao rolled his eyes, “Did you forget what happened last time you boasted?”
Last time, his happy Yasuo almost got beaten into the ground. Although using that reference in LoL was a bit off…
Tu Junhui loved to drink; last time he brought rum, and now he was plotting with Dong An to order some vodka online.
Xiong Da was still the same, but now he was wrapped up in an online romance. He used to be all about mobile games, but now he was lost in the sweet allure of his internet girlfriend, radiating the smell of love all around.
Lin Nan felt envious; he wanted to find a girlfriend before the winter break and dive into a mushy romance.
He sighed deeply, originally riding high on the joy of winning the prize money, but now he felt his mood plummet.
It seemed that ever since he became more feminine, his emotional rollercoaster was wildly out of whack; one second he was high with joy, and the next he was down in the dumps over petty worries.
His roommates had gotten used to Lin Nan’s frequent “face-changing” moods, but Dong An still looked confused and asked, “Why the long face when you just earned a grand?”
Speak more if you’re gonna blabber!
Lin Nan shot him a glare, trying to maintain a stable mood.
“By the way, why does your hairstyle look more and more like a girl’s?” Dong An asked again.
That instantly reminded him of that overly self-assured barber, and his face darkened, his mood exploding anew.
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Thanks to classmates SSR and Xiao Huanlin for the generous ten-thousand fire scroll reward, current 0/100!
