157. A Month Later
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A month isn’t that long for college students.
With classes and meals, gaming in between, a day just flies by. Thirty times of this, and a month might as well have vanished into thin air.
While Chen Yao was busy leveling up in the gaming world, barely making any progress in his skills, Lin Nan had a different tale to tell. He seemed to have matured remarkably in just a month—presumably a side effect of his ongoing “development.” He looked even prettier than before, and his… assets were definitely more prominent.
The weather was finally cooling down to a pleasant twenty degrees, giving him all the excuses needed to don a cozy jacket that conveniently concealed his burgeoning confidence—why, his chest was probably an A+ now, right?
He hadn’t measured, but if he compared it to fruit, maybe it’d be an apple? He had no clue if other girls in their development phase were progressing just as rapidly, but any questions about it could easily be tossed onto the shoulders of magic and Lilith.
It was certainly Lilith’s fault that he was growing so fast.
With finals approaching, Lin Nan started pondering a memory-enhancing spell to deal with the inevitable exam stress.
The school wasn’t too strict about skipping classes—only if you miss more than a third of them would you be in real trouble according to the counselor. So long as you manage a passing score on the finals and avoid strict teachers, you’d be good. But that was the catch—getting a passing score wasn’t exactly a cakewalk!
Back in elementary school, if he didn’t score at least ninety, he felt like a fool. In junior high, the stakes rose to a hundred and fifty, and now, in college, he was just praying to scrape by. One extra point wasted could mean failing.
With high expectations, he turned to Xiong Da, who was inhaling smoke on the balcony.
A month ago, Xiong Da had dashed off to meet his online girlfriend, who turned out to be surprisingly real and not a tank or a dude but instead someone caught up in a pyramid scheme that nearly trapped Xiong Da along with her.
Who knew online romance could take such strange turns?
Finally back, Xiong Da had been sulking ever since, breaking his non-smoking streak with half a pack a day, utterly devoid of ambition—either zoning out in class or gaming.
“Hey, Xiong Da, got any study points or notes for finals?” Lin Nan asked, knowing full well he was heartbroken but still hopeful.
“None,” Xiong Da sighed, staring up at the sky like he was contemplating life.
Lin Nan had no retort and instead directed his gaze toward Chen Yao and Tu Junhui, who were both neck-deep in a Dota-like game, devoting their time to gear sets and strategies against hard AI opponents. Lin Nan found the game’s art style didn’t suit his aesthetic, so he had opted out of joining the fray.
“Tu Tu, Chen Yao, it’s almost finals! Don’t tell me you two are slacking off?” Lin Nan sighed helplessly. “Xiong Da won’t even share his study points with us! What are we going to do for finals?”
“I’ll ask around,” Tu Junhui said, his outgoing personality allowing him to buddy up with nearly everyone in class. “I think Lin Yuan is doing pretty well in grades?”
Lin Nan hadn’t paid much attention to Lin Yuan in the neighboring dorm, and most of their conversations revolved around cats, so he was clueless about his academic performance.
“Go for it.”
“Sure thing.”
Study points weren’t too bad; teachers often hinted at important topics during classes and even highlighted them as finals approached. The real problem lay with Lin Nan’s atrocious memory.
It wasn’t just that he had a poor memory; ever since he met Lilith, he felt like two fools combined seemed to make him even more forgetful…
Lilith may be a powerful witch with an imposing title, but her memory was laughably poor too. Luckily, in a magical world, she could wave the wand and patch up the gaps.
Like, a straight A turned into a high C.
Lin Nan wished to bolster his memory with magic, but that kind of spell seemed far too advanced; even if unlocked, using it would be like giving a toddler the wheel of a truck.
So he sought an easier spell with a similar effect.
“Nan Nan.”
Looking up, Lin Nan found Chen Yao leaning against his wardrobe. Lin Nan blinked for a moment and asked, “What’s up?”
Despite Lin Nan’s ongoing changes, they paled in comparison to the overnight metamorphosis he did the day after unlocking magic.
Having spent day in and day out with Chen Yao, he hadn’t noticed a thing, but he was starting to accept Lin Nan’s sometimes baffling masculine gestures—paired with his face, it created quite the mismatch.
“Xiong Da’s birthday is today, mind if we hit up KTV tonight?”
“Wait, it’s his birthday?” Lin Nan was oblivious. “I never heard him say anything about it!”
“Last year, I marked it in my phone,” Chen Yao replied matter-of-factly.
Really now?
Lin Nan had no idea Chen Yao cared for their roommate so much—what a sweet guy!
“I spent over five hundred dollars last time treating you guys for my birthday! We have to have a meal that balances it out! d*mn it!” Chen Yao fumed, sounding utterly aggravated. “Xiong Da’s last birthday merely scored us a barbecue! Tu Junhui, at least your two birthdays offset it, but you… never even invited me on your birthday!”
Lin Nan’s fleeting sense of gratitude disappeared. So, it’s about the money, is it?
“I usually don’t celebrate my birthday, so I forget.” Lin Nan’s birthday was during summer vacation, and if it wasn’t for anyone reminding him, it often slipped his mind until days later.
His parents hadn’t paid any attention to his birthday at all.
“No problem! Next year, I’ll throw you a celebration! When’s your birthday?”
“Let me check my ID!” Lin Nan jumped and dashed to his wardrobe in search of his ID while muttering, “I forgot my lunar birthday; I’ll just go by the Gregorian! It’s the same anyway.”
How long had it been since he last celebrated his birthday?
Chen Yao was well aware of Lin Nan’s parents’ indifference but didn’t realize it was to this extent.
It’s not like they couldn’t afford to eat; their child’s birthday hardly mattered? If all it took was a nice meal to make Lin Nan happy, it was hardly a hassle.
“August ninth!”
“Pretty easy to remember,” Chen Yao noted, adding it to his phone’s reminder, as if worried about forgetting later. Then he brought up Xiong Da again. “Xiong Da hasn’t been in a good mood. Tonight should be a… surprise…”
Before he could finish, Lin Nan burst through the door and shouted to Xiong Da, who was still dejected on the balcony, “How about we go to KTV tonight to celebrate your birthday?”
“…” Chen Yao rolled his eyes in defeat, while Xiong Da stared at Lin Nan, utterly bewildered.
158. KTV
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Back to student street, Lin Nan found it boring but it was still the only place near school for food and fun.
The little street behind the school wasn’t much—more of a ten-minute stroll with no KTV in sight.
Zoning out, Lin Nan followed his roommates, hiding in Chen Yao’s shadow.
While the permanent memory enhancement magic had high unlock criteria, there might just be temporarily useful ones! Even if they weren’t top-tier, they could be good enough since there were still weeks before break—plenty of time!
Soon, Lin Nan found just the right spell while stepping into the KTV room.
Speed-reading boost: enhance reading speed, deepen concentration.
He always believed he wasn’t slow-witted but rather unfocused while studying, often daydreaming instead of retaining textbook knowledge.
That pretty much matched how most underachievers felt—unless you had a brain disorder, most people hovered around average, with their lack of concentration being the main reason for poor performance.
Lack of focus, little self-control, always thinking about fun—that’s what made it hard to memorize.
This magic could fix that perfectly!
Unlock method… confess publicly.
Wait a minute, that sounds familiar. Didn’t I see something like that when I unlocked the invisibility spell last month? How’s this popping back up?
Lin Nan took a closer look.
Confess publicly, then insist on kissing.
Ah, there were another four words that were overlooked instinctively! d*mn! This requirement is outrageous!
Lin Nan’s face darkened, and he realized it was dark; looking up, he found himself inside the KTV room, standing at the door in a daze.
Tu Junhui turned off the lights, Chen Yao seemed to have stepped out to buy snacks for the evening, and Xiong Da was sulking on the sofa, glued to his phone.
Oh, the woeful heartbroken guy~
Lin Nan sighed, suddenly recognizing he couldn’t lean on magic for everything. He had pulled through last finals without spells, and he could surely do it this semester, too!
Confidently, he settled on the sofa, pulled out his phone—Tu Junhui had gotten study points from Lin Yuan earlier today and sent them to him.
Time to study hard!
Two minutes later, he gave up.
Why bother putting in effort when he could cheat? Plus, using magic was also a way to escape his identity crisis!
Lin Nan audibly justified swapping his phone screen to a novel page just then, and the room’s door swung open.
“Xiong Da, maybe skip on the drinking tonight?” Chen Yao stepped in alongside KTV staff pushing a cart of snacks and beer. “You’re allergic.”
Yet, Xiong Da ignored Chen Yao completely, reaching for a beer bottle and gulping it down.
After just a few sips, his already flushed face began turning beet red.
Once just a cool bald dude, and now… Love really can be lethal!
Lin Nan clicked his tongue; he wanted to comfort him but one month in a funk over a first love? That sounded familiar.
He grabbed a beer, not opening it yet until Chen Yao shot him a pointed glare.
Chen Yao practically viewed him as a girl; even Tu Junhui and Xiong Da treated him as a dude with a hint of femme fatale.
“Gotta celebrate Xiong Da’s birthday… I’m not that easy to get drunk,” Lin Nan chuckled awkwardly and sidled toward the corner of the sofa.
“Do whatever,” Chen Yao rolled his eyes. He noticed his three roommates were all quite the handful.
As for Lin Nan, since this semester started, he’d suddenly acted all feminine—though clearly still a dude due to peculiar circumstances. Xiong Da was brooding over a failed online relationship, and Tu Junhui just rambled on nonsensically.
Maybe he was the only serious one in the dorm.
After the staff set down the snacks and beer, Tu Junhui dashed to the tablet for song selection.
“What do you guys want to sing? I’ll pick for you.” It was obvious he was a KTV veteran, easily selecting a popular ballad before peering back at Lin Nan. “How about you, Nan Nan, sing ‘Qinghai-Tibet Plateau’?”
“You must want me dead!”
With a glum face, Lin Nan took a swig of beer—while this was more palatable than the rum he had tasted before, he still couldn’t quite handle the flavor.
How do people even enjoy alcohol?
If it weren’t for unlocking magic, he surely would steer clear of drinks.
Tu Junhui started a performance that could be best described as a cat in a blender—totally off-key and just yelling, making Lin Nan’s ears ache.
If memory served him right, he hadn’t gone to KTV more than four times.
In a ruckus that was actually ear-piercing, he felt completely out of place.
With a long sigh, he finished downing a bottle of beer, only feeling slightly warm—definitely not drunk.
He glanced at Xiong Da, sulking in the corner with his drink again, and then at Chen Yao, quietly comforting him. Suddenly, a wave of jealousy surged up.
I thought I was the one getting warmth!
Although he knew Chen Yao was a central air-conditioning kind of guy, it still irked him.
With a disheartened pout, the cacophony from Tu Junhui made everything worse. He couldn’t muster the words to say anything, so he grabbed another beer and silently munched on chips.
Let’s face it; his singing was horrible. He couldn’t manage a tune without straying off the original, forgetting lyrics, or hitting clashing notes—all devoid of any musical talent.
What’s more, he often got lost in his musical delusions, despite recordings sounding like cats in distress.
Thank goodness he had caught onto this early, or things could have been embarrassing at KTV in the past.
As one song ended and two beers vanished, Lin Nan’s head was starting to spin.
Seeing Tu Junhui finish, Chen Yao suggested, “It’s Xiong Da’s birthday; how about we all sing ‘Happy Birthday’?”
Lin Nan found the idea far too juvenile and was about to shake his head when Tu Junhui, without hesitation, nodded enthusiastically, “Sure! I’ll find it!”
Tu Junhui turned to Xiong Da, who still looked lifeless, resignedly pulling a gift from his pocket: “Here, this is for you.”
Wait, what? Did Tu Junhui actually prepare a gift?
Lin Nan blinked, patting his empty pockets. He didn’t even have a gift; he only had his phone.
“I know you wanted to play Monster Hunter World, so I got you a physical copy.” Chen Yao said with a beaming smile. “It’ll arrive in a couple of days.”
Xiong Da accepted Tu Junhui’s present, peered at it, and discovered it was an exquisite ZIPPO lighter.
His mood visibly brightened, and he cast a glance at the trio.
Lin Nan was still in shock, Chen Yao brandishing the mic ready to sing, and Tu Junhui proudly beaming as if he had selected the best gift ever.
Xiong Da paused, finally revealing a long-missed smile, and turned to Lin Nan, “You didn’t bring me anything, did you?”
“Um…” Lin Nan looked around, then awkwardly handed him a bag of unopened chips. “How about this as your gift?”
He felt sheepish but quickly added, “I’ll make it up to you in a couple of days…”
