New Script

“Yuehua, you look…”

In the dormitory, Ning Rou carefully set down her Cloud Cookies and spoke up.

“I look like what?”

“You look like you’re in a bad mood… What’s wrong?”

“A bad mood?”

Xiao Yuehua frowned and picked up the vanity mirror on her desk. It was the same cold, aloof face as always; she saw no difference. Shaking her head, she put the mirror back down.

“I’m fine.”

“You clearly aren’t.”

Ning Rou’s ability to perceive emotions was incredibly sharp; she could feel it. Since returning from her tutoring session today, the atmosphere surrounding Xiao Yuehua had shifted from its usual light clarity to something much more obscure and murky.

The tutoring session… the tutoring session… Is it Nangong Li? That iceberg monster—he must have seen how beautiful Yuehua is and done something @&# to her!*

Thinking of something specific, a flush of crimson rapidly bloomed across Ning Rou’s face.

No, that’s not right! She shook her head, dismissing her outrageous thoughts.

Yuehua has been defending Professor Nangong lately; maybe he really is a good person? Maybe I’ve misunderstood? It might not be him, it might not be him…

With that thought, Ning Rou spoke tentatively. “It wouldn’t happen to be because of Professor Nangong, would it?”

“Huh? No… no, what? How could that be…”

However, to her surprise, Xiao Yuehua reacted with such intensity it was as if someone had stepped on her tail. This caused Ning Rou’s heart to sink heavily—right along with the two “surging mounds” on her chest—as her face turned pale.

It’s over.

It really is because of him!

Has he really just been tutoring Yuehua all this time? Something must have happened between them… I’ve known Yuehua for so long, and I’ve never seen her like this…

As her thoughts began to spiral again, Ning Rou shook her head violently to banish the melodramatic nonsense.

No, no, I must have watched too many soap operas. Yuehua is smart and strong; if she really ran into a problem, she wouldn’t suffer in silence. Coercion or anything like that… it’s definitely not possible…

Filled with worry for her best friend, Ning Rou couldn’t help but steal glances at Xiao Yuehua. Her favorite Cloud Cookies suddenly tasted like cardboard.

Jiang Li had been feeling a vague sense of unease lately. Though he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what was wrong, his intuition told him that something was slipping out of his control. Furthermore…

“It always feels a bit chilly in the Deduction Room lately. I have this ominous feeling, like I’m being watched by countless eyes…”

Jiang Li scratched the back of his neck, where the hair was standing on end. “It couldn’t be… that the Deduction Room is haunted, right?”

On second thought, in a world of supernatural powers, the appearance of ghosts or malevolent spirits didn’t seem that far-fetched.

“Next time I’ll browse the academy’s deduction archives to see if there are any Celestial Masters or Taoist Priest archetypes I can manifest.”

Aside from that, a bigger problem stemmed from Xiao Yuehua. He had originally assumed she was like him—a “fake genius” with limited talent and a cold personality. But as the tutoring progressed, Jiang Li felt more and more that something was off.

For one, Xiao Yuehua’s deductions were becoming increasingly natural, and her manifested phantoms were growing more realistic. Secondly, the energy he consumed while providing her with the Amplification was getting lower and lower.

This could only mean one thing: Her true level was rapidly approaching the artificial level he provided through his talent.

This girl’s previous bottleneck likely wasn’t due to a lack of talent, but simply a “sickness of the heart.” She lacked confidence in her own gifts, and combined with her aloof nature and lack of confidants, the accumulated pressure had stifled her progress.

This was completely outside Jiang Li’s expectations. He had prepared a “warm companionship” conquest plan for a low-talent Xiao Yuehua—a “boiling a frog in lukewarm water” approach based on mutual sympathy. But now he realized that he was the only real frog; she was a cursed Frog Princess about to make a magnificent transformation.

Consequently, the plan he had previously drafted needed a drastic overhaul.

The problem was, Jiang Li was severely lacking in time. Regarding the Deduction Method, while he had temporary skills and talent templates provided by his status bar, he was completely ignorant of the theoretical knowledge.

If he were just an ordinary person, it would be fine. But he was a professor. Outside of tutoring Xiao Yuehua, students often approached him for guidance. This wasn’t something he could fake with gibberish; if he messed up the common sense of this world, he would be exposed instantly.

As a result, Jiang Li could only spend every spare moment siphoning knowledge like a dry sponge. He had no time to meticulously refine his plans, test their effects, or cautiously trial-and-error the best route to win over Xiao Yuehua.

All he could do now was pick up the pace. He had to accelerate the distance between them—before he became completely useless to her.

“Romance is… so hard… Galgames definitely aren’t like this…” Jiang Li covered his face weakly. He would have to make a risky move.

“What? A duet?”

In the Deduction Room, Xiao Yuehua accepted the script with a look of surprise.

“Exactly.”

Jiang Li nodded, using his Poker Face skill to keep his expression steady and speaking in a matter-of-fact tone. “Now that you have some mastery over the emotion of ‘Anger,’ you naturally need to begin practicing other aspects.”

Xiao Yuehua took the script skeptically. “The Masquerade?”

“Yes. Compared to the previous Witch script, where the emotions were direct and intense, the emotions contained in this one are richer, more restrained, and multi-layered.”

“Is that so?”

Xiao Yuehua began flipping through the script.

On the other side, Jiang Li looked calm, but his heart was in turmoil. The choice of this script was not random.

The Masquerade told the story of two spies from opposing factions who posed as a couple, only to have their “fake” act turn into real love. Of course, since he and Xiao Yuehua had only just become acquainted, it was far too early for a full romantic script. Jiang Li had selected a scene from early in the plot where the two spies still despised each other at a ball.

Even so, the script required the two to act intimately and dance under the gaze of a crowd, involving physical contact.

Women were naturally wary of such contact—not to mention that for some reason, Xiao Yuehua had clearly been in a foul mood these past few days. She might vehemently object. If that happened, he wasn’t entirely sure he could persuade her.

But Jiang Li really had no other choice. Xiao Yuehua’s growth rate was too fast. To complete his mission, he had to take a risk and accelerate the rhythm.