The one dragging Xu Lin was none other than the girl dressed as a witch.
“Hey, hey, classmate, you’ve got the wrong person!”
Xu Lin shouted, trying to clear up the misunderstanding while struggling to break free from her grip.
But the gazes of the people around them were already locked onto the pair, and…
“Wow, what a playful couple, doing cosplay. Babe, how about we try something like that this weekend?”
“Sure, sure, any characters you like?”
“Radar Baby.”
There were actually people like this, discussing them after seeing the scene.
Forget clearing things up—Xu Lin couldn’t even break free.
The witch’s grip was surprisingly strong, and no matter how he struggled, it was futile.
Her frame didn’t look like she worked out; it seemed purely soft and delicate. Where was this strength coming from?
Could it be because of that?
Xu Lin finally had no choice but to shift his gaze to the two things floating beside her.
<Super High School Genius Girl> (Sparkling)
<Chuunibyou> (Resembling a girl with an eyepatch over her right eye)
They were similar to Lin Shen Xue’s <Heavy Girl> tag, but there were two of them!
And the effects were slightly different.
One tag was bad enough, but two? That had to be next-level intense!
So when he first saw her face and noticed these things, Xu Lin didn’t dare look directly at her.
He was afraid it would feel like staring at the <Heavy Girl> tag, making him uncomfortable.
But strangely, as he looked at these two floating texts now, he didn’t feel the same discomfort as with <Heavy Girl>.
Instead, his mood gradually calmed, and the embarrassment from being stared at by others faded.
Well, I have a system now. I’ve already encountered something as bizarre as <Heavy Girl>. Meeting a real witch isn’t that big of a deal, right?
People think she’s cosplaying. Maybe this is just her usual style.
In that case, this isn’t cosplay—it’s her work uniform?
[Attribute tag information extracted]
[Available tags for creation:]
[<?>, <Sweet Tooth>, <Cat Tongue>]
The system’s prompt voice sounded.
Xu Lin snapped to attention.
What the heck? Was I just buying into her narrative and seriously analyzing its logic?
He grumbled inwardly.
As expected, it’s those two tags causing this!
Xu Lin stared at the two tags.
※
An apartment building near the school.
Thirteenth floor.
The apartment door was wide open, revealing a pitch-black interior.
The witch-dressed girl pulled Xu Lin inside.
“Classmate, this isn’t right, not right at all!”
Xu Lin still tried to resist her strength, but as expected, he hadn’t managed to break free the entire way, and now he had even less chance.
The door slammed shut with a bang, and Xu Lin’s vision darkened instantly.
In broad daylight, the apartment felt like night had fallen.
Snap.
The sound of a finger snap echoed.
From the depths of the darkness, a purple-blue glow faintly rose, flickering like candlelight.
“Is that… a candle burning with purple flames?”
At first, Xu Lin couldn’t help but wonder if it was actual magic.
But upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn’t a real flame.
The purple-blue light came from a lamp base, and behind it, faintly visible, was a cord extending to a power outlet.
“Just an ambiance lamp.”
Xu Lin let out a sigh of relief.
“Hey, what—?”
Just as he relaxed, Xu Lin felt his body tilt. Then, he was enveloped by something soft.
Before he could check what he’d fallen onto, the witch’s cold face appeared before him.
The purple-blue light cast half her face in shadow, while the other half exuded mystery.
Her eyes stared directly at Xu Lin.
Her gaze made him uneasy.
“Classmate…”
Ignoring Xu Lin’s call, the witch began rummaging through her fluffy bag.
She pulled out a similarly fluffy black cat plushie.
Holding the black cat plushie in front of her face, she said, “Noxis, take a sniff. Is his condition serious right now?”
Then she shoved the black cat plushie toward Xu Lin’s face.
Xu Lin locked eyes with the plushie’s plastic cat eyes.
In this eerie atmosphere, he inexplicably felt like the black cat was actually looking at him.
“Check a few more spots?”
The witch muttered to herself, waving the black cat around Xu Lin’s body.
“Done?”
She pulled the black cat back, placing it near her ear.
“Mhm, mhm, mhm.”
She nodded repeatedly.
Soon, her gaze returned to Xu Lin.
“Wait here and don’t wander off.”
With that, she placed the black cat plushie next to Xu Lin.
“Noxis, keep an eye on the young man. Don’t let him wander.”
She turned and quickly disappeared into the darkness.
Xu Lin faintly saw a door in that direction.
Then, from where she vanished, came clattering sounds, like construction or something else.
Xu Lin stared blankly at where the witch had disappeared.
Then he looked at the black cat plushie beside him.
He realized he was sitting on an extremely soft sofa.
Run.
That was his thought.
Spending a little time with Lin Shen Xue had put him in that state, and now he was alone with a girl who had two tags. Who knew what would happen to him?
He didn’t know why she was so confident he wouldn’t leave, but if he didn’t escape now, when would he?
As he prepared to stand, his hand brushed against something fluffy.
“Kid, what are you looking at?”
A female voice sounded.
Xu Lin’s heart skipped a beat.
He quickly looked toward the room where the witch had disappeared.
No sign of her.
“Then what…”
The voice was indeed similar to hers, just slightly higher-pitched.
“Over here, kid.”
The voice came again, from beside him, specifically from the direction of the black cat plushie.
“No way…”
With that thought, Xu Lin slowly turned to the black cat plushie.
He finally understood the source of the fluffy sensation.
The black cat plushie was right beside his hand.
Did he accidentally touch it?
Or… was it actually alive?
Xu Lin stared into the plushie’s eyes.
They still gleamed with the sheen of plastic.
Undoubtedly an inanimate object.
An illusion? Or maybe there’s some kind of voice-emitting device inside the plushie, and she’s sending audio through her phone or something?
That would explain why the voice sounded so much like hers.
As expected, leaving the cat here wasn’t that simple.
With all her bizarre behavior, he’d almost forgotten her tag wasn’t <Super Hilarious Sweet Vegetable Girl> but <Super High School Genius Girl>.
And this girl was that legendary figure.
In the chaos earlier, Xu Lin hadn’t realized.
This witch-dressed girl was also a famous figure at the school.
“Li Zhi Ran, the beauty of the Science Academy, third-year. The new goddess of Nangang University’s Physics Department.”
Though three years had passed, she was still considered “new.”
But those weren’t her most famous titles.
Her most famous title was, unsurprisingly, “Witch.”
Rumor had it that she didn’t originally want to study physics but magic.
Obviously, the school didn’t offer that, so she reluctantly chose physics—theoretical physics, which she thought was somewhat related to magic.
“How is that related?”
Many people couldn’t help but scoff when they heard this story.
But don’t think she was just messing around. Her grades were genuinely top-notch.
In her spare time, she even researched robotics.
She called it “puppetry.”
In short, everything about her screamed “witch.”
The school administration could only say, “Well, we’re fostering students’ individuality, haha.”
So, making a small robot would be a piece of cake for her, right?
The clattering in the room stopped, and Li Zhi Ran’s figure reappeared.
“Crap, I fell for it!”
Xu Lin realized he’d been distracted by her little trick.
Looks like I’ll have to talk to her and get her to let me go.
He picked up the black cat plushie, Noxis, and looked at Li Zhi Ran, who had returned to stand before him.
“Your Witch Excellency, sorry for not recognizing you earlier. This puppet of yours is pretty well-made—it can even talk.”
Xu Lin had heard that this witch didn’t understand “normal talk.” Speaking to her normally would make her resistant. Only by using the language of the magical world could you barely communicate.
“Noxis isn’t a puppet; it’s my familiar.”
Xu Lin froze, managing only an awkward smile.
Li Zhi Ran glanced at him and the black cat plushie. “You seem to get along well with Noxis. As expected of the legendary hero. Others seem a bit afraid of Noxis, even though it’s so cute.”
They’re not afraid of Noxis; they’re probably afraid of you…
Xu Lin grumbled inwardly.
Hero? Me? Since when? Nobody told me!
Xu Lin forced a smile. “That’s nice… but I’m no hero.
“Your Witch Excellency, you must have the wrong person. I actually have some things to take care of. Could I, uh, take my leave?”
Xu Lin set down Noxis, looking at Li Zhi Ran as he made to stand.
“If you’re not afraid of death, go ahead and leave.”
Li Zhi Ran’s voice was calm, but the content carried a heavy threat.
A death threat? You’re not even a Heavy Girl!