Chapter 28: Please Accept This

Xu Lin sniffed.

Sure enough, the scent had faded quite a bit.

No way, already?

Less than a minute and my defense is broken?

But after thinking about it, he understood.

He had been worried that spraying too much Florida Water would make the smell overpowering, so he hadn’t used much.

Now it seemed that if the scent wasn’t strong enough, the defense wasn’t thick enough. It got pierced instantly.

Even though Lin Shen Xue’s tag status was only Unstable · Mild right now.

Gotta find a way to reapply the Florida Water.

So he pulled out some tissues from his bag and wiped his forehead.

“Man, it’s so hot today. No one’s here yet, so we can’t turn on the air-con.”

He looked at the tissue. It was completely soaked.

He wasn’t sure if it was sweat from the heat or something else.

“The more I wipe, the more I sweat. Even my hands are sweaty now.”

“Uh, Lin classmate, I’m gonna go wash my hands in the bathroom.”

As he spoke, he grabbed his bag and stood up.

His hand was immediately caught.

“Xu Lin classmate, I want to wash my hands too.”

Lin Shen Xue’s timid voice came through.

Xu Lin felt the warmth from her hand, and his body instantly heated up.

“Alright, let’s go together then.”

As long as he achieved his goal, it should be fine. She wouldn’t barge into the men’s bathroom, right?

The two of them went into their respective restrooms.

Once inside, Xu Lin hurriedly took out the Florida Water and slathered it all over himself. He nearly marinated himself in it.

He really didn’t want his defense broken again so easily.

“I wonder if this amount will last a whole class. Otherwise, I’ll have to come up with more excuses to reapply.”

Using the bathroom escape was the most straightforward, but if he did it too often, people might suspect he had some urinary issue.

Once he was ready, Xu Lin walked out of the bathroom.

“Xu Lin classmate.”

He saw Lin Shen Xue not far away, waving at him.

Is she really that afraid I’ll run away?

The two returned to their original seats in the classroom. A few more people had arrived by now.

“Whoa, what smells so good?”

Not long after Xu Lin entered, someone in the classroom let out a quiet exclamation.

That person was sitting in the very front row, quite far from Xu Lin.

Did I put on too much?

The scent reached all the way there?

She won’t notice anything strange, right?

Xu Lin glanced at Lin Shen Xue beside him.

Her eyes were closed again, her face serene.

And her <Heavy Girl> tag had completely stopped moving.

She’s back in that state!

He quickly checked the system panel and saw that Lin Shen Xue’s Unstable · Mild bar was dropping by 5 points at a time.

This effect was clearly much faster than before.

At this rate, wouldn’t her Unstable · Mild progress bar be completely emptied in just a few hours?

But soon, he realized it wasn’t that simple.

The bar quickly slowed to dropping by 2 points, then stopped moving entirely.

Yet the scent of the Florida Water on him hadn’t faded much.

Did she develop resistance already?

Lin Shen Xue’s <Heavy Girl> tag began moving again, just a bit slower than before.

Is this the limit of the effect?

…

The class finally ended.

Students began leaving one after another.

However, some didn’t leave. Instead, they whispered while looking in Xu Lin and Lin Shen Xue’s direction.

A few even seemed like they wanted to approach, but ultimately didn’t take the step.

Eventually, they left too.

This left Xu Lin feeling a bit uncomfortable.

It wasn’t that he actually wanted those people to bother him. It was just that he had been on high alert the entire class, yet nothing special happened.

During the lesson, Lin Shen Xue had been unexpectedly calm.

Part of it was definitely the Florida Water’s credit, but another part was that she was genuinely well-behaved in class.

She didn’t chat, didn’t play on her phone, and listened attentively.

Even though failing this elective didn’t matter—she could just retake another course next semester to make up the credits.

The few times she got distracted were when Xu Lin looked restless, and she noticed he seemed concerned about her.

It made him feel embarrassed.

Xu Lin had thought this would be a tough battle, but it turned out so smooth.

It actually threw his mindset off balance a little.

But thinking about it now, this was all good!

Suppressing Lin Shen Xue’s <Heavy Girl> tag had allowed her normal side to shine through.

There were still problems, though.

He had already unlocked the recipe for blue-quality tags, so the ones that were previously level-locked could continue progressing.

But now, instead of level, he was short on energy.

Continuing to unlock required 6400 tag energy this time.

He didn’t have nearly enough.

Last night’s dream battle had earned him a lot, but he had also spent a lot. Now he was down to just over 400 points—barely a fraction.

Fortunately, he was right next to Lin Shen Xue now.

But for some reason—maybe because her state was more stable, or because they hadn’t interacted much during class—he had only extracted a few hundred points from her.

Now not only was tag unlocking difficult, even making new tags later would be tight.

After all, crafting one blue tag now cost 200 points—ten times more than before.

“But it probably isn’t because her state is stable.”

Xu Lin thought to himself.

“After all, Li Zhi Ran is already Stable · Severe, and at her peak I could still get over 2000 points. I probably just didn’t do something right.”

He glanced around.

Most of the original students had left the classroom. A new batch was coming in. Right now, only the two of them remained seated.

“Whatever I do, it shouldn’t be here.”

So Xu Lin turned to Lin Shen Xue beside him.

“Lin classmate, shall we go?”

“Mm.”

Lin Shen Xue, who had been watching him the whole time, nodded with a big smile.

The two walked side by side.

Lin Shen Xue stayed very close. Her clothes occasionally brushed against Xu Lin’s arm.

Her body warmth came and went.

Every time her warmth got closer, Xu Lin’s body tensed up.

It wasn’t because her <Heavy Girl> power was affecting him—that part was actually fine now. It was the intense stares from everyone around them.

Xu Lin regretted zoning out. Without thinking, he had followed the crowd and taken the usual route home.

Normally, he was just another invisible student, so he never cared.

But now, with a walking spotlight beside him—and the two of them walking so close together—the pressure from everyone’s gazes was overwhelming.

Not to mention, he was currently wanted by the so-called Shen Xue Support Club.

He had thought that as long as they didn’t gang up on him in real life, he didn’t care what kind of games they played online.

But now, he was genuinely worried someone might suddenly appear and confront him in person.

He wasn’t worried about himself. He was worried it would destabilize Lin Shen Xue and ruin this rare peaceful state.

Sure enough, some people started looking at them with restless eyes.

“Xu Lin classmate.”

Just as Xu Lin was on high alert, Lin Shen Xue’s voice sounded. He felt a tug on his shirt.

Noticing she had stopped walking, he stopped too and looked at her.

She was holding something out to him.

It was the cloth tote—from earlier.

“Please accept this.”

“This is?”

So this was meant for me.

“It’s a set of clothes I made for you.”

“That was fast.”

The moment he heard “clothes,” he remembered their conversation yesterday.

But back then, he was just making small talk. He hadn’t actually expected her to make him a cosplay outfit.

“Ah, no, it’s not that.”

She lowered her head. Xu Lin couldn’t see her face clearly, but he could see her ears turning bright red.

“It’s not the Crosser outfit we talked about yesterday. That one isn’t ready yet. This was already finished before.”

Hearing her words, a scene from the dream flashed through Xu Lin’s mind. A chill ran down his spine, and he hesitated to take it.

But could he really refuse?

Xu Lin felt powerful energy emanating from her <tag>, as if it was waiting for the right moment.

If he refused, it would explode immediately.

He didn’t have enough energy right now. He couldn’t afford a direct confrontation with that power.

“Thank you.”

Xu Lin sighed inwardly and finally took the cloth tote from her hand.

It was clearly just a set of clothes, yet when he accepted it, he inexplicably felt a weight as heavy as a thousand mountains.