A Pair of A’s and a Debt Crisis

“Get lost! What kind of ridiculous mission is this?” Zhou Yi’s chopsticks snapped with a furious clatter. “I’m just going to embrace utter stagnation! If you’re so capable, then make this pair of A’s just explode already!”

Huddled in his chair, he picked listlessly at the lunch Jiang Chen had brought, his jaw clenched as he gnawed on the bitter realities of his life.

‘Damn it all, how was he ever supposed to face anyone in public again?’

[Player detected with restricted movement. Xiao Qi offers a thoughtful suggestion: Head to the campus supermarket to purchase a ‘tight-fitting sports vest’ for physical support!]

A sports vest? Zhou Yi’s fingers flew across his phone, swiftly searching for images, only to nearly choke on the mouthful of rice he’d just taken. ‘Isn’t this just a glorified bra in disguise?!’

“Are you mocking me? Undergarments are for women! I am a man, a genuine, undeniable man! I would sooner die than purchase a bra!”

[My dear, you are so wonderfully stubborn, aren’t you? Perhaps you’d prefer a chest binder? The Mulan-approved style!]

‘You are absolutely doing this on purpose, aren’t you?!’

[My dear~ Should you decline the chest binder, Xiao Qi still has a Plan C! How about a ‘Chest-Binding Bandage: Runaway Medieval Princess Edition’? Care to learn more?]

Zhou Yi: “……”

‘This wretched system first forcefully shoves a pair of A’s onto a person, and only now deigns to teach them how to conceal their hand. If it possesses such capabilities, why can’t it simply retract these twin mounds in the first place?’

He had finally grasped the truth: this infuriating system, apart from delivering punishments with more punctuality than an express courier, served up absolutely nothing but ludicrous suggestions.

Shifting his thoughts, he wondered if Chen Hao had truly amassed a mountain of debt, just as the game’s premise suggested.

It was only then that Zhou Yi realized he hadn’t seen the fellow in days, perhaps even weeks.

He swiftly sent a WeChat message, but after a considerable wait, it remained unread and unanswered.

‘Perhaps I should go check the adjacent dorm room?’ he mused aloud, already pushing his chair back, preparing to rise.

‘Hold on, no, how could I possibly go see them in my current predicament? I can’t even step outside the main door, can I?’

Stealthily, he lifted his collar, stealing a quick glance downwards.

‘Mmm… a pair of A’s. Unplayable.’

Thankfully, beneath the generous fabric of his loose T-shirt, they weren’t overtly conspicuous.

‘If I layer up with thicker clothes, I should be able to bluff my way through, shouldn’t I?’ he pondered, gnawing on his chopsticks.

‘And if someone actually notices, I could just claim I’ve been overdoing my chest workouts?’

…The absurdity of the excuse made even him wince. ‘Not even a stray dog would buy that line.’

Yet the stark reality remained: he couldn’t even bring himself to step out of the dorm room.

With no other recourse, he resignedly buried his face in the meal Jiang Chen had brought, the steaming bowl of century egg and lean pork congee causing sweat to bead on his forehead.

It was only after he finished eating that he noticed his T-shirt, now damp with sweat, clung unpleasantly to his skin, a sticky, clammy discomfort pervading him.

Unable to endure it a moment longer, he retreated into the bathroom, locking the door with a swift motion. Leaning against the cool wood, he took a moment to compose himself before slowly shedding his clothes.

This felt profoundly different from the first time he had inexplicably transformed into a girl within the simulator; back then, his mind had been consumed by a whirlwind of shock and fury, leaving no room for deeper contemplation.

Yet now, these two… *things* had unequivocally, undeniably manifested upon his very own chest.

His fingers trembling almost imperceptibly, he reached out, cautiously pinching them.

‘Holy hell… they’re actually warm to the touch?!’

He, Zhou Yi, had never conceived that the very first time he would ever feel *that* part of a woman’s anatomy would be on his own body. What perverse twist of fate was this?

He recoiled as if shocked by a jolt of electricity, then turned sideways to the mirror, only to spin back again, despairingly confronting the undeniable truth: they were strikingly prominent from every conceivable angle!

Those subtly burgeoning mounds on what should have been a man’s flat chest resembled nothing so much as two… small hillocks that had abruptly erupted from a vast, level plain.

Even if they were mere hillocks, they were still *mounds*!

The thought of his carefree days, strolling about the dorm shirtless and in nothing but a pair of loose boxers, made him instinctively clap his hands over his face in utter despair. ‘How the hell am I ever supposed to show my face in public again?!’

Still unwilling to concede defeat, he pressed down hard, hoping to flatten them somewhat, only to inadvertently brush against their sensitive, protruding apex.

‘Hiss—!’ A jolt of electric tingling shot through him, nearly bringing him to his knees.

He hastily cranked open the shower, allowing the warm cascade of water to wash away the overwhelming sensations of shame and profound abnormality.

As the bathroom filled with swirling steam, a sudden, insistent “Dong dong dong!” echoed from the door.

The rapid, urgent knocking abruptly yanked Zhou Yi from his surreal predicament back to harsh reality.

Jiang Chen’s voice, muffled but distinct, penetrated the door. “Zhou Yi? Are you indulging in a hot spring bath or perhaps cultivating immortality in there? Get a move on! Stop dawdling!”

Startled, Zhou Yi fumbled, and the bottle of shower gel in his hand slipped from his grasp.

‘What the hell? Wasn’t this particular class infamous for being “mandatory and guaranteed to fail”? How could Jiang Chen possibly be back so soon?!’

In truth, he hadn’t realized just how long he’d been lost in the depths of his own thoughts within the bathroom’s confines.

“I… I’m suffering from an upset stomach!”

“If you’ve got an upset stomach, why is the shower running? Trying to fool a ghost?” Jiang Chen’s retort was incisive, cutting straight to the point. “You rascal, are you perhaps hiding in there, engaging in some illicit activity?”

“I am not!” Zhou Yi vehemently retorted, his voice rising.

“I’m giving you three seconds. If you don’t emerge, I’ll simply smash the door open myself!”

“Brother, don’t be rash! I… I’m not even dressed!”

Zhou Yi pressed himself against the bathroom door, holding it shut with all his might, his back slick with cold sweat. He harbored not a single doubt that Jiang Chen was perfectly capable of making good on his threat!

He frantically fumbled for a bath towel, wrapping it hastily around his body. Yet, the two unwelcome mounds of soft flesh beneath it immediately pushed the towel into two embarrassingly conspicuous, indeed, *mysterious* bulges.

‘Damn it! How was he ever going to conceal *this*?!’

If Jiang Chen were to witness this sight, Zhou Yi was certain he would never be able to walk among humanity on this planet again!

In desperation, he cast his gaze towards the small ventilation window, seriously contemplating the possibility of escape through it.

“Brother Chen! Bro! My dearest brother! Could you possibly borrow a restroom from the adjacent dorm? I… I’m suffering from a severe hemorrhoid flare-up! Truly! The kind where blood flows like a river!”

A sudden, telling silence fell from beyond the door, lasting a full two seconds.

“…You damn well claimed an upset stomach just now, and now it’s hemorrhoids? Are you perhaps concealing someone in there?”

“No! Absolutely not! Brother Chen, if you truly cannot hold it any longer, there’s a bottle of Pulse on my desk; you… you can make do with that for now…”

A chilling, absolute silence descended upon the space beyond the door.

“Damn it!” A furious expletive was immediately followed by the resounding slam of the dorm room door, indicating, with high probability, that Jiang Chen had indeed gone next door in search of a ‘lifeline’.

Zhou Yi’s legs buckled beneath him, and he dropped with a soft *thud* onto the damp tiles, gasping for breath in ragged gulps.

After a brief interval, he cautiously poked his head out of the bathroom, confirming that Jiang Chen was not, in fact, lurking at the door with a knife. Only then did he scurry, bent low, back to the safety of his bed.

With a desperate lunge, he flung himself onto the bed, pulling the blanket over his head in one seamless motion.

The faint creak of the dorm room door being pushed open instantly reached his ears. Zhou Yi immediately held his breath, activating his ‘feigned sleep’ skill to its highest possible level.

Jiang Chen stood by his bed, his voice a low, querying murmur. “What was all that commotion just now?”

Zhou Yi immediately feigned a sickly demeanor, slowly pulling back the blanket. “Ah… I suppose I drank far too much last night. I’ve been… *indisposed* at both ends, and my head is still swimming…” He punctuated his words by dutifully rubbing his temples.

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing him for several long seconds before finally letting out a weary sigh. “We’ll see if you dare to drink like that again.” He then casually placed a bottle of electrolyte water on Zhou Yi’s bedside table. “Drink this; you don’t want to actually get dehydrated.”

Zhou Yi mumbled an agreement, then, still wrapped in his blanket, turned over to resume his feigned sleep. He tossed and turned restlessly through the latter half of the night, finally enduring until he heard Jiang Chen’s steady, deep breathing.

“Phew…”

He cautiously poked half his head out, confirming that Jiang Chen was truly asleep.

Opportunity had arrived!

He endured for another half an hour, then stealthily crept out of bed.

Guided by the faint glow of his phone, he rummaged through the bottom of his wardrobe, unearthing a thick, black hoodie he hadn’t worn in ages. He then layered it with a loose denim jacket and slipped back into the bathroom.

He examined himself in the mirror, turning left and right. “Hmm, not bad. It’s mostly unnoticeable.”

This would have to do. After all, he was just a nobody; who would pay attention to a minor change in an extra’s physique?

By the time he finally lay back on his bed, the horizon outside the window was already tinged with the pale light of dawn.

****

Zhou Yi was jolted awake by the rushing sound of water from the bathroom. When he next opened his eyes, the morning light had already flooded the dorm room.

He secretly let out a sigh of relief. He was immensely grateful that this dorm only housed two people, and equally grateful that his roommate was Jiang Chen.

If it had been a quad dorm, his current predicament would likely have been exposed in mere minutes.

He rose from bed, quickly donned his jacket, and ran his fingers through his bedhead, just as Jiang Chen emerged from the bathroom, wiping his damp hair.

“Awake?” Jiang Chen tossed him a wet towel. “Wash your face. First class is Old Zhang’s.”

Zhou Yi caught the towel, its cool touch sharpening his senses somewhat.

The two walked out of the dorm room one after another, the lingering sounds of snoring still echoing from the cracks beneath other dorm doors in the hallway.

The early autumn morning breeze carried a slight chill. Zhou Yi pulled his jacket tighter and quickened his pace to keep up with Jiang Chen.

Halfway through Old Zhang’s Linear Algebra class, Zhou Yi was already beginning to nod off again, the temperature outside steadily climbing with the rising sun.

As he drifted between sleep and wakefulness, the system’s voice suddenly blared in his mind without warning, startling him so much he nearly sprang from his chair.

[Broadcasting a fresh, urgent notice: Your friend, student Chen Hao, has officially defaulted on his online loan account as of 10:05 AM today~]

‘Holy hell…’ He clutched his wildly thumping heart, pressing his forehead against the cool desk to compose himself.

[The collection agency’s phone bombardment and text message threats have been initiated!]

‘What the hell does that have to do with me!’ He slapped the desk in frustration, causing the students in front to turn around in unison. He quickly lowered his head, feigning a cough, and patted his chest to regulate his breathing.

[Based on data analysis, the target is at extremely high risk of making irrational decisions due to panic! Can you truly bear to watch your classmate become a ‘flying man’?]

Hearing the system’s blatant threat, he cursed inwardly, simultaneously scanning the classroom. Sure enough, Chen Hao was nowhere to be seen.

A sense of foreboding crept into his heart.