I watched Dongli Yiren’s expression shift—from the timid awkwardness she’d shown when the senior brought her here, to now… where she couldn’t even manage basic courtesy with her new roommate.
Yes, sure, she had her circumstances.
Getting forcibly gender-swapped was a pretty earth-shattering event. She needed time to adjust. I understood that.
But that didn’t mean I was obligated to revolve around her feelings 24/7.
And she really wasn’t the same as Quan Xiuzhu. Even now—not a single “thank you.”
Though she did manage a “sorry” earlier. That counts for something, I guess.
Still—if she kept acting this way, it’d just look like I was chasing her attention and begging to be friends. Absolutely not. I was here to enjoy the show, not to subsidize her emotional processing.
So—
“You’re asking me? Then how about asking again… politely?” I smiled. “Normally, it’s the senior who brought you in that takes you to pick up the set.”
“I—… Could you please tell me where to get it?” A one-second pause, but free stuff wins battles that dignity cannot.
Whatever her motivation was, she said please, so she was teachable. Probably.
“Of course. We can go now. Do you know how to use the academy-issued phone?”
“I do.”
She nodded. Well, of course. Modern society. Even if the phone was different, any young person can figure it out in minutes.
“You don’t have to come with me. Just tell me where. I can go myself. Uh— I mean, I don’t want to trouble you.”
“But I am free.” I raised an eyebrow. “And do you actually know how to get there? It’s not close.”
“I know how to take the bus. The senior brought me here that way. It’s free.”
Ah. So that was how she had arrived.
“Got it. Then I’ll leave you to it. I hope you don’t meet a creepy senior on the way.”
I said it lightly, jokingly, but she froze.
“C-creepy… senior?” She blurted it so suddenly that I almost jumped. Her reaction was way too strong—practically a textbook trauma response.
So she had already encountered one, huh? Maybe the one who brought her here. Yeah. That tracked.
“…Huh? What’s wrong?” I asked.
She shook her head too quickly. “N-no… nothing… I just… I want to ask… Are there a lot of creepy seniors in the academy?”
“Oh? Probably quite a few.”
And no, I hadn’t actually run into any directly, not ones who tried anything with me at least. But that doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy spooking her a little.
“Especially the ones who are obsessed with first-year boys who got turned into girls. You should be careful. Someone like you is very noticeable. And those creepy seniors? Their eyes are sharp.”
As I said that, I couldn’t help remembering Senior Ying Shiqian and her group—who somehow saw straight through me despite how well I hid it.
Honestly… how did they even notice?
“Um… I think I’ll just stay here…” After thinking it over for quite a while, Dongli Yiren finally stopped in place.
“Oh? Afraid of pervy upperclassmen?” I asked. “Be honest, did you maybe...”
“I didn’t! I didn’t! Absolutely not!” She cut me off before I even finished.
The reaction was so fast, so sharp, that both of us froze in the awkward silence that followed.
She realized it, too, that her response was too much. Too defensive. Almost like… she just confessed without confessing.
So she had run into a pervy senior already, huh.
Hopefully, no one had tried testing anything too extreme. She was still brand new. It shouldn’t have gone that far… probably.
“Well, whatever. Free stuff is free stuff — can’t just go.” I stood up from the couch and brushed out the wrinkles in my clothes. “I’ll go with you.”
“You going with me means I won’t run into a pervert?” she asked, still wary.
“There are two of us, you know. And besides— I can cast spells.”
I tugged lightly at the badge pinned to my chest. For a moment, I swore my chest felt… fuller than before.
Great. Just what I needed. Changes are accelerating already, but this was not the time to panic about that.
“This is the badge from the Four-Piece Set,” I explained. “There’s a spell permanently embedded into it. Yours isn’t issued yet, so you don’t know. But I have mine. If someone tries something, I can actually fight back. Most seniors won’t push their luck.”
Of course, I was perfectly aware that older students likely had stronger spells, better defenses, and more combat experience. And I had never even tested this one in a real fight.
But she didn’t need to know that part.
Right now, she just needed reassurance.
At that moment, Dongli Yiren’s eyes fixed on my badge—intensely. So intensely that my hand moved on instinct to cover my chest.
Her stare was… kind of scorching.
“A-ah, sorry!” she blurted out, face flushing. “I was just looking at the badge…”
She clearly wanted it—needed it. Once she had the set, she would have her first real access to transcendence, her first means of protecting herself.
And maybe, in the back of her mind—her first means of revenge.
“Don’t do that,” I scolded lightly. “Even if it’s a misunderstanding, staring like that is rude.”
My gaze flicked, purely by reflex, to her chest.
…Still flat.
Well. Give it time. Once things grew in, I was absolutely going to get a handful—
Ahem. That thought stayed strictly internal.
“I’m sorry, I really am. Please… take me there.” Now she wasn’t just interested—she was determined.
This wasn’t about free gear anymore. This was survival.
I could respect that.
“Honestly…” I crossed my arms with a theatrical sigh. “Weren’t you just telling me not to come with you?”
Her face reddened further. “Sorry… I was being immature. Let’s… go?”