Jiang Wan’s actions caught the Dorm Leader’s attention.
Curious, she poked her head out and pulled the curtains open a crack. “Is there another pervert running naked outside the girls’ dormitory again… Damn.”
Bed Four and Bed Three rushed over at lightning speed. One positioned herself to the left of the curtains, another to the right, and the third stood in the middle as they all peered downstairs.
Zhou Wenxing had already started playing background music on his phone. Holding up an electrical plug, he asked the dormitory supervisor, “Could you let me plug in my microphone?”
The dormitory supervisor stared at him coldly through the little window. “Which dormitory building are you from? What year and class?”
Zhou Wenxing guiltily averted his gaze. “Forget it if you won’t let me. I don’t really need it anyway.”
He struck a stylish pose like the lead singer of a band, lowered his microphone, and began singing at the top of his lungs, “SCREW EXAMS! THEY CAN ALL GO TO HELL!!”
The surrounding students immediately burst into enthusiastic applause. “WOOOO!!!”
Jiang Wan, who was already making her way down the stairs: “…”
There’s actually a song like that in this world?
Actually, she could have simply ignored Zhou Wenxing. After all, ridiculous teenagers were always finding ways to entertain themselves, and there was no shortage of students at this school who were absolute menaces in social situations.
But Zhou Wenxing was undoubtedly doing this for his mission, and Jiang Wan had no intention of letting him complete it and interrupt the seventy-two-hour countdown.
As she descended the stairs, she checked her phone and discovered that someone had already posted firsthand photographs of the scene in the year group’s main chat.
[Teacher Liang: ? I’m coming over right now.]
[Teacher Yu: ? I’m heading there too. Students at the scene, please help stop him. Did someone secretly bring alcohol into school again?]
[Lu Yiming: He hasn’t been drinking. He said he just wanted to cheer everyone up.]
[Teacher Wang: ?]
It looked as though someone would arrive soon.
Jiang Wan put away her phone.
All that remained was figuring out how to make Zhou Wenxing fail his mission and prevent him from receiving any Reward Points.
Admittedly, Zhou Wenxing’s behavior was always completely absurd, but there was no denying that it attracted attention.
By the time Jiang Wan reached the ground floor, the boys were passionately singing along with Zhou Wenxing to the song’s simple melody.
“I CAME DEAD LAST IN THE ENTIRE YEAR! I’M SORRY! I PROMISE I’LL WORK HARDER NEXT TIME!”
The girls standing nearby watched them with expressions of pity usually reserved for hopeless idiots.
Several fearless birds had even landed in a nearby tree to watch the spectacle.
Jiang Wan stared thoughtfully at the little birds for a moment, recalling and analyzing the occasions when Zhou Wenxing had failed his missions.
Wang Zhiyao happened to be on the ground floor too. She waved at Jiang Wan and sighed. “Boys are so childish. And that song is so tacky. If you’re going to sing about hating school, you should at least sing something like Lost One’s Weeping.”
Jiang Wan: “…”
Isn’t demanding a fast-paced song entirely in Japanese setting the bar a little too high?
Another girl leaned against a window, rested her chin on her hand, and nodded. “He’s probably trying to attract some girl’s attention, but this is just as tacky as singing Hey, Girl Across the Street, Look Over Here.”
Zhou Wenxing, who had overheard them and suffered a considerable blow: “…”
Jiang Wan casually asked, “Then what wouldn’t be tacky?”
Wang Zhiyao cleared her throat. “Wait here a moment.”
She dashed back into her ground-floor dormitory like a whirlwind. When she emerged, she was carrying an accordion, followed by another girl holding a violin.
Jiang Wan: ?
Then, right there on the spot, the two girls began performing a surprisingly convincing duet of Hedwig’s Theme.
Jiang Wan: ??
One of the boys outside the dormitory picked up the black robe Zhou Wenxing had thrown onto the ground and wrapped it around him. Another grabbed a red-and-white striped traffic cone from the roadside and forcibly placed it over Zhou Wenxing’s head.
“The Sorting Hat[1]Magical Hat That Assigns Students to Hogwarts Houses jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736180_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736180_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); has made its decision—”
A minute and a half into the duet, just as the music reached its climax, a clarinet joined in from some unknown girls’ dormitory upstairs.
Everyone shouted in unison, “—AZKABAN!![2]Wizarding Prison jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736180_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736180_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });”
Jiang Wan: ???
Was there even a single normal person at this school?
As the live performance grew increasingly stirring, Lu Yiming pointed toward a nearby camphor tree and declared with dramatic intonation and heartfelt emotion, “Look! It’s Hedwig!”
Jiang Wan: No. That’s just a spotted dove.
“—It’s my Hogwarts acceptance letter, four years late! I knew my owl hadn’t gotten lost!”
Fully immersed in his role, Lu Yiming pretended to climb a couple of steps up the tree.
Someone behind him shouted, “Petrificus Totalus![3]Full Body-Bind Curse jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736180_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736180_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });”
Lu Yiming looked back, obligingly cried “Ah!” and collapsed to the ground.
“Lu Yiming—!” His companion rushed forward with tears in his eyes, then turned to retaliate. “Take this! Sectumsempra[4]Cutting Curse jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736180_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736180_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });!”
“Expelliarmus[5]Disarming Charm jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736180_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736180_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });!”
“Avada Kedavra[6]Killing Curse jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736180_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736180_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });!”
“Hey! Who used an Unforgivable Curse[7]One of Three Particularly Forbidden Curses in Harry Potter jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736180_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736180_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });?! I’m reporting you to the headmaster!”
In the blink of an eye, the entire scene had turned into a chaotic magical free-for-all. Everyone waved thin twigs they’d picked up from the ground, throwing themselves into their roles with remarkable seriousness and enthusiasm.
Jiang Wan: “…”
I’m exhausted. Just destroy everything.
Amid the chaos, someone suddenly whipped their “wand” against Jiang Wan’s arm with a sharp smack.
“Levicorpus[8]Spell That Suspends a Person Upside Down by the Ankle Harry Potter Lexicon jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736180_1_8').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736180_1_8', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });!”
Jiang Wan expressionlessly lowered her gaze to the red welt that had appeared on her arm. Then she looked up at the student wearing an awkward grin and gave him a kindly smile.
The student chuckled nervously, hid his “wand” behind his back, retreated two steps, then turned and ran.
It took Jiang Wan less than two seconds to catch him. She twisted both his arms behind his back, physically disarmed him, and smiled.
“Obliviate[9]Memory Charm jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3736180_1_9').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3736180_1_9', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.”
…
By the time the teachers arrived, everyone had long since forgotten about Zhou Wenxing, who was dressed in women’s clothing.
A row of boys stood against the wall as punishment, with Zhou Wenxing in his skirt standing out particularly conspicuously among them.
At the other end, Jiang Wan, still wearing her indoor slippers, was holding dozens of little twigs.
Teacher Yu: “…What are you doing?”
Jiang Wan regained her composure. She looked down at the twenty-odd counterfeit magic wands she’d confiscated, then raised her head.
“…Rehearsing a performance.”
Teacher Yu: ?
[Mission Failed. Time Remaining for Host in This World: 16 hours, 32 minutes.]
Zhou Wenxing, still standing against the wall as punishment, burst into tears.
[Why?! I even dressed up as a girl!]
At noon the following day, Jiang Wan heard the gentle voice announce: [World Restoration Progress: 2/15.]
Zhou Wenxing was gone too.
Jiang Wan closed her Portuguese-Chinese dictionary, leaned back in her chair, and shut her eyes to rest.
Of the known System holders, only Chu Yishan and Sang Xiaotian remained. She still couldn’t determine whether the others were simply hiding well enough or hadn’t arrived yet.
The latter seemed more likely, because her encounters with the first three Transmigrators had already confirmed that they didn’t know she could hear their Systems. In other words, the Transmigrators had no reason to deliberately conceal their inner thoughts.
Based on her experience, Jiang Wan estimated that the effective range of her unusual ability was roughly thirty meters.
The school was only so big, and there were only so many places students could go. As long as a System spoke, it would be difficult for her to go this long without hearing it.
Taking them on one at a time was fine too. Jiang Wan didn’t want an even bigger mess.
One or two of them were already troublesome enough.
Her phone chimed. Jiang Wan picked it up and saw someone had made a suggestion in the year group chat.
[For this year’s Arts Festival, how about our year puts on a performance about the Quanzhou Branch of Hogwarts? Who’s in favor and who’s against?]
A large number of students immediately raised their hands in support.
Jiang Wan: “…”
So this is what it feels like to witness your own embarrassing past. I’m in agony.
…
During classes on Monday, Jiang Wan found an excuse to visit Class Nine. Of course, her main purpose was to observe Zhou Wenxing.
To her surprise, Zhou Wenxing turned out to have a very shy personality. Whenever someone brought up his antics over the past several days, his face turned bright red, and he buried his head in his folded arms, looking as though he wanted to move to another planet.
Jiang Wan breathed a sigh of relief.
—Looks like Lin Chengyan lost his memory because the Transmigrator left, not because I damaged his brain by hitting him with that giant water bottle. Nothing to do with me.
Since she’d already visited Class Nine, Jiang Wan decided to stop by Class Five, where Chu Yishan was.
The main reason was that Chu Yishan had been far too well-behaved lately. She hadn’t made any effort to attract Jiang Wan’s attention, almost as though she were deliberately avoiding her altogether.
Yet Chu Yishan’s System hadn’t been extracted.
Jiang Wan decided to wander into her presence and see whether she could forcibly trigger a mission from the System.
When she arrived at Class Five, she discovered Chu Yishan diligently distributing a large bag of snacks she’d bought from the school store.
Potato chips she’d picked up for Student Zhu, yogurt for Student Chen, iced black tea for Student Yang, a chicken burger for Student Ye… She was so busy that sweat had broken out across her forehead.
Jiang Wan watched from the classroom doorway for half a minute before lowering her gaze to the student beside the door.
“Are you bullying someone?”
The student sitting near the front of Class Five was shocked. She frantically waved both hands as she explained, “How could we?! Absolutely not! Everyone in Class Five gets along so well! Please don’t misunderstand!”
Four emphatic exclamations in a row.
“Then what’s going on?” Jiang Wan asked, lifting her chin toward Chu Yishan.
“It is a little strange…” The Class Five student scratched the back of her head in distress. “Chu Yishan’s been way too enthusiastic lately. She insists on helping everyone, and she gets upset if we don’t let her. Every day, I rack my brains trying to think of something she can help me with. I’m almost out of ideas.”
As she spoke, her face took on an expression of utter suffering.
“…So I had no choice but to do what everyone else does and ask her to pick up some food whenever she goes to the store. That way, she doesn’t have to run all over the place. And we always pay her back!”
Just as the Class Five student finished explaining, Chu Yishan finally completed her deliveries. She let out a long breath and turned around, only to meet Jiang Wan’s gaze.
She froze on the spot.
At precisely that moment, Jiang Wan heard her System announce:
[Daily Mission Completed. Extracting 55 Favorability Points toward Jiang Wan from another person.]
…I see. So she’s changed her target?
That’s fine too. At least Yue Mingshi won’t have to get dragged into this.
Jiang Wan gave Chu Yishan a casual nod and was just about to turn away when another System notification sounded behind her.
[Mission Triggered: Spend two hours alone with Jiang Wan. Upon completion, 4 Intelligence Points will be extracted from Jiang Wan.]
As far as Jiang Wan knew, the only System holders who hadn’t yet been expelled were Chu Yishan and Sang Xiaotian.
“Student Jiang Wan,” Sang Xiaotian called timidly from behind her. “D-do you have some free time?”
At the other end of the classroom, Chu Yishan was asking her System: [Who’s that?]
The System gave her a brief explanation of Sang Xiaotian’s background.
Chu Yishan immediately reached a conclusion.
[That’s far too unusual! Someone with that kind of personality taking the initiative to speak to Jiang Wan is completely out of character! That Incomplete System must be attached to him!]
Having made her judgment, she immediately put on a bright smile and hurried over to the classroom doorway to join the conversation.
“Jiang Wan! Long time no see!”
Jiang Wan turned to look at her and smiled. Once again, it was the kind of smile that made it seem as though she knew exactly what Chu Yishan was thinking.
Chu Yishan couldn’t help wondering whether this was some lingering aftereffect of having died in the previous world. Her mind was full of paranoid thoughts that someone was out to get her.
Then she heard Jiang Wan say to Sang Xiaotian, “Chu Yishan’s been very helpful lately. She should be able to help you work through some problems.”
As though a switch had been flipped, Chu Yishan’s System immediately issued a mission.
[Explain academic problems to Sang Xiaotian for two hours. Rewards will be calculated according to the other party’s level of understanding and the time spent explaining. Total Explanation Time Accumulated: 0 minutes.]
Chu Yishan was delighted.
I can find a way to get close to Sang Xiaotian and complete a mission at the same time. Could anything be better than this?!
…Although I don’t know how to solve the problems myself, what’s wrong with spending a few Reward Points to unlock some System functions for the sake of the bigger mission?!
Chu Yishan immediately agreed with a beaming smile. “Sure! How about during evening self-study today?”
Sang Xiaotian, however, didn’t seem particularly willing. “I want Jiang Wan to explain the problems to me…”
“I’m busy,” Jiang Wan refused bluntly. “The Sports Meet is coming up.”
There was no way Sang Xiaotian could change Jiang Wan’s mind. Once she’d made a decision, nothing anyone said would make a difference.
And so, Jiang Wan simply threw the two System holders together. She wasn’t worried in the slightest about whether Chu Yishan would successfully complete her mission.
Because…
[Mission Failed. 3 Intelligence Points Deducted. Host’s Current Intelligence: 70. Warning: Host is about to become mentally imp—Intelligence is about to fall below the normal human range.]
Having already heard a similar notification once before, Jiang Wan walked into First-Year Class Six and sighed.
Sang Xiaotian’s System… is a telephone scam!
Jiang Wan had noticed before that Sang Xiaotian’s situation was different from everyone else’s.
He was far too timid and full of resentment. He lacked the attitude of “this is just a game” that Lin Chengyan, Chu Yishan, and Zhou Wenxing all possessed.
Chu Yishan’s words had provided a good explanation.
Sang Xiaotian had been bound to an “Incomplete System,” and Chu Yishan apparently seemed quite willing to take on the job of recovering it.
Meanwhile, Chu Yishan, having switched targets, had become somewhat troublesome.
After all, if all she was doing was “helping others,” Jiang Wan couldn’t very well interfere too much.
Still thinking, Jiang Wan sat down at her desk. She was just about to draw a simple mind map to organize her next steps when she suddenly heard another System voice.
[Landing Successful. Welcome to the “Romantic Conquest System.” Your Identity Template is loading. Please wait…]
Jiang Wan: “…”
Well, well. So a new toy—
No, scratch that. A new opponent has arrived?
References[+]