"Holy crap, is it true? Someone scribbled all over Zhou Bin's face without him noticing?"
"No way, you heard his scream, right? LMAO, the whole building probably heard it. No idea which legendary mastermind did it or how they pulled it off."
"I heard someone used a delayed-reaction marker on him during his lunchtime nap. So satisfying. Wasn't President Yan in that classroom, by the way?"The hallway was abuzz with noise just after the exams ended. Mathematics was the final subject of the spring semester's opening exams, and the atmosphere had been like a tightly coiled spring ready to snap. Now, with the added amusement of Zhou Bin's face being drawn on, the entire school building was filled with an air of mirth.
Meanwhile, Yan Huan, who had witnessed everything, quietly slipped away with his bag as soon as the exam ended. Nearing dismissal time, he ducked into an empty classroom on a higher floor—one that was usually deserted.
Click.
Turning to close the door behind him, shutting out the clamor from below, Yan Huan carelessly tossed his bag onto a chair before sitting down.
Taking a deep breath, he scanned the empty classroom and tentatively spoke, "Hey, that voice in my head earlier... are you there? Whether you're a system or some kind of cheat tool, you should at least explain the situation, right?"
"Meow~"
As if in response, an ethereal cat's cry suddenly echoed through the empty classroom.
Yan Huan tilted his head slightly and saw a long-haired black cat standing in the aisle beside a desk, its head cocked and tail raised, staring at him with emerald-green eyes like polished jade.
A stray cat that had snuck in?
The moment this thought crossed his mind, the black cat darted forward lightly, first leaping onto a chair in front of him before finally landing on the desk right before Yan Huan.
The plump cat turned in a circle, licked its paw, and then sat primly in front of Yan Huan.
At the same time, the voice from earlier resounded in his mind again: "Hello, Yan Huan."
Great. A talking black cat that communicates telepathically—another splash of Fantasy element.
But after the bizarre incident with Bai Yi earlier, Yan Huan's capacity for accepting the unusual was frighteningly high. He simply leaned in, bringing his face close to the cat's round one, and met its gaze.
"What are you? And what was that earlier?"
"I am this world's God. As for earlier... allow me to explain the current situation."
The black cat looked up at him adorably as the voice in his mind continued,
"Simply put, this world is under invasion, and I need your help."
Yan Huan was momentarily stunned by the cat's serious tone. "So the Trisolarans really are attacking?"
"No. It's a different kind of Fantasy element from another world that's invading the one you live in now."
The black cat shook its head, and a shimmering illusion suddenly bloomed before Yan Huan's eyes.
First, the shadow of a claw-waving crab appeared—apparently another world's God, just like the cat.
Then the shadow dissipated, replaced by more information about the invading world:
[Invading Force Origin World ID: 114514, Classification: Female-Oriented Fantasy World, Title: Cruel Me*t Training]
"Stop, stop! Enough!"
Before any more dangerous words could appear, Yan Huan, his face dark, waved his hand to dispel the glowing text, watching as it dissolved like smoke.
He took a deep breath and suddenly recalled the strange voice that had emerged from Bai Yi earlier.
It seemed like he was beginning to remember something—something about Bai Yi's ability to remain unnoticed no matter what he did.
[No Concern]... No wonder it sounded so familiar!
At that moment, long-buried, filthy memories began assaulting Yan Huan's gentlemanly mind.Damn, it's like the ancient Greek god of lust is attacking!
The black cat let out another adorable "meow," speaking to Yan Huan telepathically,
"The invasive force has caused anomalies in this otherwise normal world, ultimately giving birth to five extremely dangerous [Modifiers]. The thing on Bai Yi earlier was one of them. They latch onto women blessed with fortune, feeding on their desires to grow stronger, eventually throwing the World Line into chaos while also completely ruining your current life."
Yan Huan blinked, almost wanting to say, "What does this have to do with my current life?"
But then he suddenly remembered how Bai Yi—someone he barely knew—had inexplicably tried to doodle on his face earlier while saying strange things like "there will be plenty of time." He swallowed his words.
Moreover, if he had a power like [No Concern] that could break free from reality's rules, he probably wouldn't have settled for just doodling on Zhou Bin's face.
Putting himself in her shoes, he doubted she'd remain so restrained forever. Judging by Bai Yi's words, she must have only recently obtained that Modifier, still in the early stages of tasting forbidden fruit, so her actions were still within reasonable limits—for now.
Given time... The black cat blinked its emerald-green slit pupils, as if seeing through his current confusion and frustration, while licking its paw and explaining,
"Over the past decade, thanks to your discipline and diligence, you've achieved unimaginably handsome looks, a superbly intelligent mind, excellent interpersonal relationships, and you're the only transmigrator in this world—the only one I can communicate with. In other words, fortune favors you too, perfectly meeting the demands of that world's desire-driven power. You should understand."
Yeah, looking back, even though he started as an orphan without a prestigious background, Yan Huan had always maintained a disciplined life.
Academics went without saying—his grades in his past life were outstanding. If not for his frail health, he wouldn't have died from overwork and restarted.
So in this life, he began training early to build a solid foundation.
Daily exercise not only gave him a healthy body but also ensured not a single strand of hair fell out, breaking the curse of "baldness equals strength"!
But precisely because of this, he'd been targeted by that so-called invasive force?
Yan Huan shuddered. In an instant, countless artistic depictions of desire-laden symbols flooded his mind.
The cold, untouchable beauty with top grades; the kind, gentle, and voluptuous girl next door; the tsundere, stunning young mistress... Such outstanding, attractive women probably did nothing wrong yet were somehow tainted by bizarre tools, even outright corrupted—wait, no, maybe they did do something inappropriate and were vengefully punished by those wielding that power, subjected to all sorts of things.
In any scenario, he was now the gender-flipped version of the former! His expression stiffened. The thought that all his years of hard work had become the very reason for his current peril gave him the eerie sense that "good people always end up at gunpoint."
Right now, Yan Huan wasn't feeling very "joyful." He leaned back in his chair, somewhat resigned to his fate.He couldn't help but ask: Yan Huan at six years old, why did you make that birthday wish? But soon, he straightened up slightly, "Wait, why would you need my help? Aren't you a God? Can't you just eliminate these Modifiers directly?"
Hearing this, the black cat looked at Yan Huan with an exasperated expression, as if asking, "Are you serious? With just this cat body of mine?"
Fortunately, the black cat still gave a proper explanation, "I don't possess the ability to directly interfere with the world. The same goes for Gods from other worlds. That's why Modifiers choose hosts within the world to inhabit."
Yan Huan raised an eyebrow, as if catching the key point, and glanced at the black cat while stroking his chin, "So, you can give me a similar Modifier too, right?"
"Correct, but unlike the evil Modifiers they possess, I can only grant you two simple abilities."
The black cat, appreciating Yan Huan's sharp mind, raised its left paw like a beckoning cat and explained,
"First, I can grant you [Resistance to Modifier Effects], meaning no matter what Modifier it is, their effects will only partially work on you. But this resistance isn't invincible. Modifier effects grow stronger as they feed on desires, and the resistance will gradually weaken until it completely fails. By then, you'll probably be done for."
Then, lowering its left paw, the black cat raised its right paw, "Second, every week I can randomly provide you with [One Permanently Retained Reward], including various abilities, attributes, and skills, usually choosing one out of three.
"These rewards may strengthen by absorbing the power of Modifiers during the process of dealing with them. The abilities granted to you won't disappear even after you completely resolve all five Modifiers. Consider it your payment for helping restore the World Line to normal."
Yan Huan narrowed his eyes, not swayed by the black cat's grand promises, and instead pressed for details, "Resolve Modifiers? How exactly?"
The black cat lowered its raised paw and sat upright again, then spoke to Yan Huan word by word with utmost seriousness,
"There's only one way to resolve a Modifier: [Make the Modifier's host willingly give up possessing it].
"Additionally, remember this no matter what: [You must never reveal that you know about the Modifier's existence]. Once a host realizes you can detect the Modifier, the desire called 'overcoming unease' in their heart will grow exponentially, eventually causing the Modifier to evolve into a complete form that renders resistance useless. Then it's game over!" Got it, got it. The cheat ability must never be exposed.
Think about it—you believe you've been granted the No Concern ability and attempt to do something bad to the school beauty. But just as you're about to act, the whole class suddenly discovers you, exposing you in full view of everyone.
In the dead silence, you watch helplessly as they raise their phones at your naked self—that's no longer just material for personal relief, that's pure horror!
Yan Huan forced a bitter smile and muttered,
"So, I need to make them give up their Modifiers without exposing that I know about them? You might as well just kill me now. If I had a Modifier like Bai Yi's, there's no way I'd ever give it up."
"..."The black cat blinked its adorable big eyes, unsure of what to say to comfort Yan Huan, because the facts were undeniable.
He loved watching Japanese anime, but he certainly didn't love it when anime became reality—especially when he was the one cast as the victim of harassment!
After a long silence, Yan Huan gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and sat up straight with an expressionless face. He looked at the black cat in front of him and stretched out his hand.
"Hand it over."
"...What?"
"This week's random ability. It's Friday—don't tell me I have to wait until next week?"
"..."
The black cat flicked its tail, somewhat impressed by his adaptability.
Then, as if by magic, three illusory golden orbs materialized before Yan Huan's eyes. As they shimmered, words emerged from within.
[Ability: Perfect Expression Control—Expressions are supposed to be windows to emotions, but now they've become your ever-changing masks.]
[Skill: Barehanded Blade Catch—Doesn't work if there's more than one blade! Unless you have four hands!]
[Skill: 100% Successful Backflip—Hey, wanna come to my place and watch me backflip?]
Yan Huan's face darkened as he pinched the black cat's chubby cheeks and demanded,
"What kind of nonsense is this?! How is any of this supposed to help deal with the Modifier?!"
The cat meowed innocently, making Yan Huan's head buzz with its voice.
"It's not up to me! I told you it's random, random!"
"Just you wait. If they ever 'finish' me one day, I'll 'finish' you first!"
Just as Yan Huan was venting his frustration by squeezing the cat's plump cheeks, a sudden knock echoed through the empty classroom.
Knock, knock, knock.
Yan Huan stiffened, and both he and the cat turned their heads toward the door.
The handle turned, and the door slowly opened, revealing a boy in a gray Totsuki Academy uniform and black-framed glasses standing outside.
Seeing that it was a male, Yan Huan and the cat both sighed in relief. Even better, Yan Huan actually recognized the boy.
It was their Student Council's accountant and tech support, Yatsuhashi Ki.
His hair was thick, his bangs slightly long, and his complexion somewhat pale. Behind his slightly reflective glasses, his eyes betrayed a hint of urgency.
"President, why aren't you answering your messages? You've been @'ed so many times in the group chat! You're not picking up calls either—what are you doing here alone? If it weren't for someone from your exam hall telling me you went upstairs—Huh? A cat? Where'd that come from?"
Mid-sentence, Yatsuhashi's attention was drawn to the plump black cat in front of Yan Huan. Yan Huan shot the cat an annoyed glance before quickly selecting the least useless-looking option among the three illusory orbs.
[Ability: Perfect Expression Control]
In an instant, the muscles in his face seemed to unlock some hidden potential, becoming incredibly flexible.
It was as if the keys controlling his expressions had suddenly expanded from 61 to 107, offering a whole new range of notes. Moreover, the sensation of being able to manipulate every tiny detail of his expression was strangely exhilarating.
Yan Huan's facial muscles twitched from top to bottom before settling into an apologetic smile. He casually lifted the black cat and asked, "Stray cat. Just picked it up. Cute, right?"
"Meow~"
"It really is adorable! Did you name it? But it's so chubby—are you sure it's a stray?"
"Meow!""I plan to call her Miao Jiang."
"Miao?"
"Miao Jiang is such a good name... Wait, no! President, this isn't the time for that! Check your phone quickly! Yu Anlina is practically going crazy!"
Hearing this, Yan Huan picked up the black cat in his arms and pulled out his smartphone from his bag, which had been set to airplane mode for the exam.
As soon as it connected to the school's network, a rapid series of notification sounds erupted like a bombardment.
The most commonly used social app here was called "plane." It not only had features like online payments and friend circles but also allowed users to browse cringe-worthy short videos, so Yan Huan had always treated it as the otherworldly version of WeChat.
"Ding ding ding~"
"Totsuki Student Council Management Group (5)"
Secretary - Yu Anlina: "Has anyone seen the President? It's urgent!"
Accountant - Yatsuhashi Ki: "Nope. Pretty sure none of us were in the same exam hall as him. But the exam just ended, so he should still be at school..."
Secretary - Yu Anlina: "That's exactly why I'm in a hurry to find him! Quick, help me contact the President—the principal wants to see him!"
Vice President - Sakuramiya Hitomi: "The President isn't in the Student Council office."
Accountant - Yatsuhashi Ki: "Ah, his phone's unreachable too. He's probably busy on a secret date with some girl and doesn't have time to check his phone."
Vice President - Sakuramiya Hitomi: "Yatsuhashi, please refrain from making inappropriate jokes about others' personal lives."
Accountant - Yatsuhashi Ki: "Sorry, my bad, Vice President."
Vice President Sakuramiya was as rigid and serious as ever... The rest of the chat was too long, and Yu Anlina had @-mentioned him in several other major Student Council groups. Yan Huan simply put his phone down and asked Yatsuhashi Ki directly, "Too much to read. What's this about the principal looking for me?"
Yatsuhashi Ki took a deep breath and said to Yan Huan,
"Well, the principal said... your mom came to school looking for you. He wants you to go over right away!"
Mom?
Yan Huan's grip on the cat stiffened slightly, freezing like a statue.
Parents visiting their child at school wasn't unusual, but the problem was... in this life, his parents had died in a plane crash shortly after he transmigrated here. He had grown up in an orphanage!
Out of nowhere, what kind of "mom" was this?!