So much had happened?
Even though it was just a verbal account, Fang Miaoging could still sense the immense difficulties Huang Xiu had faced.
A campus overrun with monsters, a sudden gender transformation, and a profound sense of uncertainty about the future…
“Yes, it’s only been two months, yet I feel like more significant events have occurred than in my entire life combined!”
Huang Xiu’s eyes were slightly red-rimmed.
Up until now, many people had already learned about her transformation.
However, only Fang Miaoging remained truly close to her original life. For the moment, she was the sole person who was both Huang Xiu’s friend and Huang Xiu’s former self.
After confiding everything, Huang Xiu felt a long-overdue release, as if all her accumulated pressure had finally drained away.
“Alright, I’ll forgive you for not replying to my messages this time,” Fang Miaoging said, clapping her hands. “But if anything this major happens again, you can confidently tell me.”
She blinked her eyes playfully. “After all, from now on, we’re friends, aren’t we, Sister Xiu Xiu?”
‘Sister Xiu Xiu…’
Hearing that name, a faint blush of peach quickly spread across Huang Xiu’s soft cheeks.
To be called that by someone she had once liked…
It was simply too embarrassing.
“Don’t call me that!” Huang Xiu quickly exclaimed.
“Besides, there won’t be any more ‘major events’ like this in the future. What could possibly be more significant than a gender transformation?”
“What if you change back?” Fang Miaoging suggested.
“That’s impossible!”
Huang Xiu shook her head, a hint of dejection in her voice. “This physical transformation is permanent.”
“Alright,” Fang Miaoging conceded, knowing it was unlikely. She had merely been teasing Huang Xiu.
Compared to the Huang Xiu who was once a boy, the current Huang Xiu was simply far, far too adorable!
Even just looking at her, Fang Miaoging felt an urge to tease.
A blushing soft girl was truly delightful!
“I can’t believe how well you’ve adapted. I would never have guessed you were a boy before!”
Fang Miaoging rested her chin on her hand, smiling as she gazed at Huang Xiu. “I think you’re very suited to being a girl!”
“No, it’s just that I had no choice…”
Huang Xiu covered her flushed face with both hands, so mortified she wished she could burrow into the ground.
“Don’t be shy!”
Fang Miaoging decided to press harder. “Huang Xiu, did you… used to dislike me?”
Having shared two years of schooling with Huang Xiu, she knew exactly how to break through Huang Xiu’s defenses!
She was simply dumbfounded.
Huang Xiu began to clear her mind, attempting to adopt the ostrich’s head-in-the-sand approach to evade Fang Miaoging’s relentless interrogation.
“I know, you know. I’ve always known.”
Fang Miaoging paid no mind to Huang Xiu’s silence and continued, “That’s why I invited you out during the summer vacation, to give you a chance.”
Huang Xiu knew she couldn’t feign ignorance any longer. For the first time, she confessed her true feelings.
“I… I truly did like you.”
“When you invited me out back then, I was so happy… but I knew we had no future.”
She clenched her fists. “I couldn’t bring harm to you.”
“Well, I don’t like girls, so I don’t like you anymore either. But since we can’t be lovers, we can be best friends now.”
Fang Miaoging stretched languidly.
“And when you get married, I can even be your bridesmaid!”
She revealed her true intention, delivering a final, fatal blow that successfully shattered Huang Xiu’s last line of defense.
“Married? Impossible!”
Huang Xiu shook her head frantically, then pointed outside. “I, Huang Xiu, would rather live a solitary life, die a Touchpoint, or live in the Void Realm, than ever get married!”
Only men truly understood men; she couldn’t imagine herself being ‘pressed down’ in such a situation in the future.
Nor could she envision herself as a virtuous wife and loving mother.
“Oh, don’t be so absolute! Life is unpredictable; who can say what the future holds?” Fang Miaoging’s smile was as radiant as a flower.
Contrary to Huang Xiu’s thoughts, she actually believed it was possible.
In just over a month, Huang Xiu had almost completely adapted to life as a woman.
If this continued, in a year, two years… her original male mindset would eventually be completely overturned.
In popular internet slang, this was called ‘complete feminization.’
At that point, if someone truly pursued Huang Xiu with their life, there might actually be a chance.
“And if all else fails, you can still be my bridesmaid anyway,” Fang Miaoging added.
“We’ll see about that!” Huang Xiu mumbled.
She picked up her chopsticks and began eating furiously, trying to mask her embarrassment.
“Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. You and Shi Lei are so close; is it really just going to end like this?”
Fang Miaoging raised a finger and wagged it. “During this time, you weren’t replying to Shi Lei’s messages, and he even came to me, asking if something had happened to you recently.”
“I don’t know.”
Huang Xiu shook her head with a bitter expression. “In my current state, I don’t dare to reveal myself to him.”
To be honest, she was genuinely afraid that Shi Lei would recognize her, afraid that their friendship might evolve into something it shouldn’t.
Otherwise, it would be a tremendous hurt for both of them.
“Let’s just keep it this way!”
Huang Xiu tried to evade the issue.
“He’s such a good person; he’ll definitely find new friends to replace me.”
“What if he keeps remembering you? Your relationship is so solid; it would be a shame to break it off.”
Fang Miaoging clapped her hands.
“How about this: I’ll temporarily handle Shi Lei for you. When you’ve thought things through, it won’t be too late to talk then.”
Huang Xiu was about to refuse, believing it was best to cut ties cleanly.
But Fang Miaoging anticipated her answer.
“No refusing! But even if you refuse, it’s useless; you can’t stop me from talking to Shi Lei anyway.”
Huang Xiu was speechless.
“Alright, that’s settled then. By the way, are you free this weekend? Want to go shopping in the city with me?”
Fang Miaoging extended an invitation.
“I have a mission this weekend,” Huang Xiu replied, shaking her head.
“What mission?”
Fang Miaoging had originally planned to take Huang Xiu shopping in the city this weekend to make up for their missed summer appointment.
But she hadn’t expected Huang Xiu to have a mission already, only a week into school.
However, recalling that Huang Xiu was an S-rank individual, a rarity seen only every few years, hailed as the strongest freshman in a decade, it suddenly seemed somewhat natural.
After all, if such a genius wasn’t cultivated, who would be?
“Returning to Ying City…”
Huang Xiu briefly outlined the mission, vaguely describing the parts she couldn’t reveal.
“Returning to Ying City, huh?” Fang Miaoging listened with a touch of envy. “That’s going home at public expense!”
“You’re returning in glory!”
Fang Miaoging exclaimed with emotion.
“To think that the inconspicuous student from our class is now a big shot people have to look up to!”
“It’s not that amazing…” Huang Xiu’s face flushed from the praise. “I just have a good teacher!”
The reason she could take on missions early wasn’t because she was an S-rank freshman.
It was purely due to Yuan Fei’s arrangements.
“Even you are starting to shine now, so I, your former class representative, can’t fall behind!”
Fang Miaoging said earnestly, “Xiao Xiu, just you wait. I’ll become the NO.1 in the Research Department. By then, I’ll take care of all your Void Energy instruments and Void Tools!”
“Okay, the two of us, as NO.1s, will work together with one heart.”
Huang Xiu smiled.
Fang Miaoging extended her right hand, and Huang Xiu extended her left.
The two soft, slender hands overlapped, rising and then falling.
“Let’s do this!” they said in unison.
****
If confessing to Fang Miaoging meant Huang Xiu’s life would be vastly different, that was clearly impossible.
However, small changes were inevitable.
Firstly, her ‘bestie squad’—as Ying Zhiyu called it—gained another member.
Huang Xiu no longer had to read every message from Fang Miaoging without daring to reply.
Now, she had to reply.
Otherwise, Fang Miaoging would, at some point, furiously storm into her dorm to question her.
Secondly, her contact with former high school classmates, especially Shi Lei, had somewhat resumed.
From being permanently cut off, it became occasionally disconnected.
Although Huang Xiu was not very willing, Fang Miaoging was indeed doing her best to help her maintain her relationship with Shi Lei.
During this period, Huang Xiu was even forced by Fang Miaoging to play ranked games with Shi Lei in the evenings, gaining some points.
Despite being forced, she genuinely had a lot of fun.
However, no matter what Shi Lei said, she refused his voice invitations, citing the absence of a microphone.
And then there were a few other small changes: she had made friends with some students from the Research Department through Fang Miaoging.
Her network (or ‘fish pond’) had expanded once again.
Although the Exploration Department and Research Department shared the same campus, opportunities for genuine interaction were actually few.
Especially for freshmen.
Both sides were busy: one with learning foundational knowledge, the other with mastering various skills and knowledge to improve their ranks.
Both were quite busy.
Thus, typically, it was only in their second year, when Exploration Department students generally began taking external missions, that interactions between the two departments increased.
This was because Exploration Department students needed Void Energy instruments and Void Tools for their missions.
And these items were almost universally purchased from Research Department students.
The Exploration Department and Research Department earned academic credits through different means.
Exploration Department students earned credits through missions.
Research Department students, on the other hand, earned credits by manufacturing Void Energy instruments and selling them to Exploration Department students. They could also refine their products based on feedback from Exploration Department students.
The two departments formed a clever, complementary relationship, a deliberate outcome orchestrated by the school.
Compared to her personal life, Huang Xiu’s academic career had not changed at all because of Fang Miaoging.
The Basic Void Art teacher’s voice on Wednesday afternoon was still as slow and deliberate as a sloth’s.
However, to Huang Xiu’s surprise,
The teacher actually covered six Void Arts that afternoon, an improvement of twenty percent over the first session.
‘At this rate, in three more classes—next week, that is—I can begin learning Void Arts,’ Huang Xiu thought, feeling quite optimistic.
Thursday morning’s Combat class, arranged by Teacher Yuan, progressed steadily.
This time, in addition to sparring, special training to improve eyesight and reaction time was added.
Examples included dodgeball and catching red dots in a small space.
However, the dodgeball here was quite brutal.
The throwers were all robust Awakened individuals, possessing immense strength and speed. Not only that, but the balls were specially made soft ones.
While they wouldn’t cause bone-breaking injuries, they would certainly sting for a good while when they hit.
Huang Xiu was hit by Wen Erya at first.
Because she hadn’t mentally prepared herself, she nearly burst into tears, her mouth contorted.
She lay on the ground, recovering for a long time before gritting her teeth and continuing.
If even the strong-willed Huang Xiu reacted this way, let alone the other students.
Many screamed repeatedly when hit, refusing to participate in dodgeball training anymore.
For a time, Combat class became every student’s nightmare.
However, Teacher Yuan did not force them.
According to him, these exercises laid a strong foundation.
But if one couldn’t accept it and wished to jump straight into combat training, that was also permissible.
A tall building rises from the ground; a strong foundation is crucial.
Any classes they skipped now, they would have to make up a hundredfold in the future.
Towards the end, Teacher Yuan even used Huang Xiu as an example to motivate the other students.
He said that if a girl like Huang Xiu could grit her teeth and persevere, how could these boys give up so easily? Weren’t they ashamed?
Huang Xiu, inexplicably brought into the discussion, was full of questions.
She only wanted to say that she used to be a boy too; what kind of girl was she considered?
Nevertheless, the goading tactic was indeed very effective.
A large portion of the students who had been ready to give up gritted their teeth and resumed their eye-training.
Huang Xiu’s popularity in class also mysteriously surged, gaining a host of fangirls and fanboys.
She even suspected that if she raised her arm and gave a shout,
Her fangirls and fanboys would instantly crown her with a dragon robe, elevating her to the new class president.
‘But being class president isn’t good at all.’
Huang Xiu’s class committee list had been submitted by Tian Rong yesterday.
It had been officially approved.
As the Practical Committee member, Huang Xiu was currently quite free.
But looking at the pile of tasks assigned to the class president in the school’s class committee chat group, she only felt her scalp tingle.
She could do it, but it would inevitably cut into her rest time.
Already, her rest time had been significantly encroached upon due to the small thesis on undeveloped abilities.
Adding the responsibilities of a class president, she would truly be overwhelmed.
Just last night, to complete the short thesis, Huang Xiu had worked late until one in the morning.
However, the success was gratifying: she had written eight hundred characters, successfully completing the second chapter of the thesis.
This chapter concerned the applicability of Grass-type Pokémon to mutated plants.
Furthermore, she had also found a third work that would aid in the development of her abilities.
A household name of a game: *Plants vs. Zombies*!
Huang Xiu played *Plants vs. Zombies* on her computer while transcribing the distinctive plants within it.
“The plants in *Plants vs. Zombies* have undergone many adjustments for game balance. If they were to be mutated according to the game, many of their effects wouldn’t actually be that strong.”
After all, a cherry is only so big; no matter how much it mutates, the Void Energy it can withstand is limited.
It would also be impossible for a mushroom to mutate into a Sun-shroom, unless it was a mushroom bomb she had mutated.
Even so, the creativity behind some of the plants still provided Huang Xiu with considerable inspiration.
Like the Spikeweed… she could actually mutate a batch of underground plants to restrict enemies.
And the Wall-nut.
Huang Xiu only suddenly understood when she saw this plant.
She could completely mutate some plants into armor to protect herself or other high-offense, low-defense mutated plants.