Chapter 27: A Familiar Scent

Xu Lin arrived at the classroom for class.

Even after taking a shower and eating breakfast, he still showed up half an hour early.

For an elective class like this, usually no one came this early since there was no need to save seats.

As he stepped inside, the room was indeed completely empty. Even the teacher hadn’t arrived yet.

He picked a seat in the back row, sat down, and took out his phone, ready to message Lin Shen Xue.

But just as he unlocked the screen, the sound of footsteps came from the doorway.

“Xu Lin classmate.”

A familiar voice followed.

It was Lin Shen Xue.

She was already standing right beside him.

Before seeing her, the thought of meeting Lin Shen Xue again in reality had made Xu Lin inexplicably nervous.

He was genuinely worried—what if she went berserk like in the dream?

But now, looking at her, her condition seemed far more stable than in the dream, even better than yesterday.

Today she wasn’t wearing a JK outfit. Instead, she had on a relatively casual set of clothes.

Yet… these clothes looked somehow familiar to him.

A dark scene flashed through Xu Lin’s mind.

It was exactly the outfit she wore in the sewing studio in the dream.

Why this one?

Could it be that she remembers the dream too?

“May I sit beside you?”

“Xu Lin classmate?”

Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Uh, sure. Please sit.”

Lin Shen Xue smiled faintly and walked to the window seat, settling down right next to him.

She placed her things down.

Only then did Xu Lin notice she had brought two bags today.

One was the schoolbag she carried to class yesterday. The other was a cloth tote, slightly bulging on the outside. He had no idea what was inside.

But he didn’t pry.

He still didn’t dare bring up unknown topics with Lin Shen Xue.

Xu Lin looked away and focused on the system interface in front of him.

Today’s contact with Lin Shen Xue felt so much better.

The powerful gravitational pull he used to feel the moment he got close to her was now completely blocked.

He checked his status bar. <Heavy Girl’s Gravity Field> hadn’t been applied.

<Heavy Girl’s Love> hadn’t deepened in color either.

Even when he accidentally looked straight at her <Heavy Girl> tag just now, he didn’t feel that uncomfortable pull.

This was naturally the effect of the Six Gods Blessed Florida Water (blue).

The effect in the dream had seemed underwhelming, but now it was clear he had underestimated it.

Clearly, the situation in the dream was far more dangerous than when he was awake.

Then he checked Lin Shen Xue’s tag status.

Sure enough—Unstable · Mild.

He had already seen it before coming. The first time, he worried the system was tricking him.

But now, sitting right beside her and seeing the same result, he felt relieved.

He had actually managed to drop her status by one whole level. Last night’s dream really had been a blessing in disguise.

Although the Unstable · Mild progress bar was currently quite full, with less than one-sixth empty, it had still dropped an entire grade.

Should I… have a few more dreams like that?

The thought crossed his mind.

But he immediately rejected it himself.

As Li Zhi Ran said, this was far too uncontrollable.

To put it nicely, it was a blessing in disguise. To put it bluntly, he had barely survived a disaster.

If the next one was too intense and he never woke up, it would all be over.

That said, interacting with Lin Shen Xue from now on should be a lot easier.

Xu Lin stared at the system interface and felt happy for a moment, but then he suddenly noticed something odd.

After Lin Shen Xue sat down, she had suddenly gone completely silent.

Feeling puzzled, Xu Lin glanced at her.

She was sitting upright in her seat, eyes tightly closed, breathing steady, a smile still on her face—but now with an added sense of serenity.

Asleep?

It wasn’t surprising he thought that. Aside from the fact she was sitting, she looked exactly like someone sleeping peacefully.

Didn’t she get enough sleep last night?

Her appearance left Xu Lin completely baffled.

Soon, he noticed something else unusual about her.

Beyond her body, on the other side, a dense black mass floated.

It was the <Heavy Girl> tag on her.

The chaotic, scribbled coils that usually danced around it had now stopped moving entirely, lying still like ink dots on paper.

That’s not right. Even if she’s asleep, the <Heavy Girl> power shouldn’t just shut down, should it?

While Xu Lin was still confused, he sensed a change in Lin Shen Xue.

Her eyelids fluttered. She took a deep breath, then slowly opened her eyes.

Noticing Xu Lin’s gaze, she turned her head and met his eyes.

In her eyes was a calmness he had never seen before.

“I’m sorry, Xu Lin classmate. I lost my composure.”

Her gentle voice carried a trace of peace, and even Xu Lin, listening to her, felt a little steadier.

Feeling calm from Lin Shen Xue? What a strange sensation.

Lost her composure?

Xu Lin didn’t think so at all. In fact, today’s Lin Shen Xue seemed much more normal.

But then he thought of something… Could she be talking about the dream?

“Being beside you makes me feel very calm. I unconsciously relaxed too much.”

So that’s it.

Xu Lin’s briefly raised guard lowered again.

It really was calm—and completely so.

Xu Lin even found it a little eerie, worried this might be the calm before the storm.

But soon, a possibility occurred to him.

Could this be the effect of the Six Gods Blessed Florida Water?

Just the scent alone can do this much?

Or is this the result of her tag status dropping to Unstable · Mild?

No, that didn’t make sense. Li Zhi Ran’s was Stable · Severe, and he never felt anything like this around her.

“Xu Lin classmate, the scent on you is really special. Did you use a new shower gel?”

“It feels so familiar.”

As she spoke, Lin Shen Xue leaned a little closer to him.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, breathing in the scent drifting in the air, her breathing growing even steadier.

So it really was the power of the Six Gods Blessed Florida Water.

The moment she mentioned it, Xu Lin understood.

“Familiar? You mean you’ve smelled it somewhere before?”

“I’m not sure where.”

Lin Shen Xue shook her head.

“It’s just… a very familiar scent.”

“Xu Lin classmate.”

“Hm?”

Lost in thought over her words, Xu Lin was pulled back by her voice.

“Could I… could I…”

As she spoke, her face gradually turned red. Soon even her ears were flushed.

“I-I’m sorry.”

In the end, she didn’t finish whatever came after “could I,” instead lowering her head and apologizing to Xu Lin.

Should I ask what she wanted?

But looking at her current state, it felt a little dangerous.

The black coils around her <Heavy Girl> tag had started moving again—still slowly, though.

Xu Lin worried that pressing her might cause her to fully activate.

He decided not to ask.

Then he opened the tag status page, a little concerned her status might have risen again.

The moment he entered, he saw her avatar slowly pulsing with light.

His heart tightened. He quickly tapped in to check the progress bar.

The Unstable · Mild bar was also flashing and moving slowly.

But it was shrinking.

Decreasing!

After tapping in, he checked the exact numbers and saw the value dropping bit by bit.

While he watched, it decreased by 6 points!

Was the Florida Water kicking in?

Xu Lin glanced at Lin Shen Xue and saw the blush on her face gradually fading, returning to that serene expression from earlier.

He looked back at the progress bar.

It had stopped moving.

Checking the log, he saw it had decreased by several hundred points in total.

That’s pretty good, right?

?

Just as he thought that, he suddenly felt a faint tugging force from beside him.

He immediately turned to look at Lin Shen Xue.

The black coils swirling around her <Heavy Girl> tag were clearly moving much faster now.

It seemed to have restarted.

And the calm expression on Lin Shen Xue’s face had vanished.

It’s starting again?

Where’s my Florida Water?!