As they almost reached the school gate, Maya, Amy, Lena, and Ellie suddenly pulled Dylan to the side of the school, which was quiet and out of sight. Dylan was, naturally, very surprised.
"W-what's going on?" Dylan asked.
The four of them didn't answer. They opened their bags. Maya pulled out a wig, Amy pulled out a pair of glasses. Lena and Ellie told Dylan to crouch down in front of them. Maya immediately put the wig on Dylan, making his hair look like a bowl cut, and Amy quickly put the glasses on him.
"Now it's perfect," Amy said, smiling.
"Yep, exactly. Let's go," Ellie urged, smiling.
"It's safe now. No one will look twice at you, hehe," Lena added.
"Come on... let's go inside," Maya suggested.
"Um... what is this supposed to mean?" Dylan asked.
"It's nothing... let's go," Ellie replied, pushing Dylan forward.
Then they emerged from behind the fence wall and walked toward the gate. Naturally, the students they passed wondered who the guy walking with the four of them, positioned right in the center, was. Dylan only became more uncomfortable because he had spent all his time in survival mode, looking like smoke at school with no one paying attention to him, and now he was attracting attention—a lot of attention.
In the classroom, the lively atmosphere suddenly fell silent as everyone turned to look at the door when Maya, Amy, Lena, and Ellie walked in with a strange guy with a bowl cut wig and thick glasses that made his eyes look bigger than his face. When Dylan sat down in his seat, all the classmates finally realized who the guy was, and they became even more curious because Dylan's body was now taller and more built than before, even though his posture remained proportional.
"You're Dylan?" a male student who approached him asked.
"Y-yeah, that's right, Connor," Dylan replied.
"Whoa, why did you change after missing school yesterday? What happened?" asked Connor, the only male classmate who ever spoke to Dylan, even if only occasionally.
"I don't even know myself, sorry," Dylan replied.
Suddenly, Connor leaned in close to Dylan's ear, immediately whispering while pointing to the four girls sitting separately.
"Hey... is it true that you got all four of them pregnant?" Connor whispered.
"Huh... no way, don't be crazy," Dylan answered.
"Haha... relax, bro, they already explained to the class yesterday that they were just talking crazy because they were mad... but why are they targeting you? Did you do something wrong to them? Or do they have a crush on you? You know their reputation—the four flowers that no one has ever been able to pick," Connor countered.
"That's the thing. There's no way they have a crush on me. They're probably mad at me but haven't said what I did wrong yet, haha," Dylan replied, pretending.
"Well, whatever, as long as you're okay, bro. Gotta go sit down," Connor said.
"Okay, bro, thanks," Dylan replied.
Connor left, returning to his seat. Dylan turned to see Maya already sitting in her spot, as were Amy, Lena, and Ellie. All of them looked over at him and blinked, which immediately made Dylan turn his head in the other direction, his face red.
"If I hadn't tapped their conversation yesterday, I still wouldn't believe they actually see me," Dylan thought.
[That is correct, sir. Please state 'Status' in your head, sir, to view your skill list.]
"Status," Dylan said in his head.
"Bwuuuung," a hologram screen opened in front of Dylan's face, making him jump back slightly in surprise. Then Dylan looked around to check if anyone was paying attention to him. Once it was clear, he looked back at the screen.
=============================================== Name: Dylan James.
Skill point: 10 skill xp points.
==================================
Con skill:
Active skill:
- 1000 face level 1 (0/30)
Passive skill:
- Smooth talker (max)
- Quick thinking (max)
=====================
Thief skill:
Active skill:
- Pickpocket level 2 (0/60)
- Flash step level 2 (0/60)
- Invisibility level 2 (0/60)
Passive skill:
- Martial arts mastery (max). ===============================================
Dylan read it carefully, thoroughly studying the function of each skill by tapping its name, which brought up a new screen with the details. After that,
"Hmm... I get it," Dylan said.
[As you can see, sir, you have 10 remaining skill xp points. You can allocate them later.]
"So the '1000 Face' skill can be used for disguise. If I were to use it to go back to my previous self, could I?" Dylan asked.
[You can, but there's a one-hour cooldown because your skill is only level one. The cooldown will increase as the skill level goes up.]
"Hmm, okay, I understand. Maybe I'll use it later," Dylan replied.
[Very well, sir.]
"Dling," a message came in on Dylan's smartphone. He immediately reached into his pocket, took out his phone, and opened the message. It was from Fiona and Iris's school. Before he could fully open it, another message came in; Aaron had also sent him one. Dylan opened the message from the school. His eyes widened because it said Iris had a high fever and a stomachache, and she was currently in the nurse's office. "Sreeeg," Dylan immediately stood up. The four girls instantly turned to look at Dylan.
Dylan took off his wig and glasses, then he bolted out of the classroom, leaving the four girls confused, but "dling," a message popped up in the family group chat saying Dylan had gone to Fiona and Iris's school to pick up a sick Iris. Maya, Amy, Lena, and Ellie immediately stood up and ran out of the classroom. But Dylan had already vanished because he used the 'Invisibility' and 'Flash Step' skills to move quickly.
"Whoa, why was he so fast? Where did he go?" Maya asked, confused.
"Hmm... should we follow him?" Lena asked.
"Let's go," Amy replied.
"Wait, before that... look," Ellie said, pointing into the classroom, specifically at Dylan's desk.
Maya, Lena, and Amy looked into the classroom and saw their classmates crowding around Dylan's desk, looking at the wig and glasses lying there. They also heard the female classmates who had briefly seen Dylan whispering about him.
"Ugh... a failure?" Lena asked.
"Looks like it. We couldn't get him to disguise himself and not attract attention," Ellie answered.
"Let's just go follow Dylan. Poor Iris," Amy said.
"Amy's right, but not all of us. Someone has to stay at school to inform the teacher," Maya said.
"Alright, I'll stay at school. Who else?" Ellie asked.
"I will. I also need to talk to a teacher about a scholarship for the faculty of sports I want to enter," Maya replied.
"Okay, Amy and I will go to Iris's school. Come on, Amy," Lena urged.
"Yeah, let's go," Amy replied.
Both of them immediately ran toward the school exit to follow Dylan. Meanwhile, Dylan, who was running on the sidewalk, replied to Aaron's message that he was going to Iris's school and put his smartphone in his pocket.
"Why is Iris sick? She seemed fine this morning," Dylan wondered in his head.
[Someone gave her something, sir.]
"Really?" Dylan asked.
[That is correct, sir. The important thing is we get there first.]
"Alright," Dylan replied.