"W-why?"
Su Cheng looked at the black-haired girl with utter confusion.
He had absolutely no connection with this girl.
Were girls these days really so casual?
She even touched his precious little hand.
Wait, that's not what he should be worried about right now!
System punishment!!
Thinking of this, Su Cheng's expression instantly turned to horror as he hurriedly withdrew his hand.
His voice trembling, he said, "I was just joking, don't take it seriously..."
"That's not important."
"How is us becoming boyfriend and girlfriend not important!?"
"Just how casual are you?!"
The black-haired girl narrowed her eyes and said calmly, "Though I don't know why you chose to confess, I want to ask you not to do anything that would bring shame to our entire class."
Hearing these words, Su Cheng understood - this girl had overheard his muttering to himself.
Was she accepting his confession for the sake of the class?
"Are you in the same class as me?"
The black-haired girl nodded.
"I see, I have to go now!"
Su Cheng nodded solemnly, then hurriedly left, not even taking his blanket and water bottle with him.
Watching Su Cheng's hastily retreating figure, the black-haired girl looked at the water bottle and blanket on the ground, then reached down to pick them up.
Why was there still punishment after a successful confession?
That damn system didn't even give any advance warning!
At this moment, Su Cheng listened to the countdown getting closer and closer, his heart growing more anxious.
His running speed increased as well. He needed to find a place without people or surveillance cameras. The only place without cameras was that corner where he had been resting earlier.
The system punishment would arrive in five minutes, so he had to reach a completely deserted place to hide within that time.
He had no idea what the system punishment would be.
And he couldn't take out the Ghost Blade to turn invisible now, because the surveillance cameras would catch him doing it.
In his desperate hurry, he completely failed to notice two figures standing under a tree ahead.
They were both girls.
One had short hair, the other had shoulder-length hair.
Both had exceptionally cold expressions. The short-haired girl had her head lowered as she spoke with the long-haired girl beside her.
The short-haired girl's behavior was very respectful, while the long-haired girl maintained an indifferent expression, emanating a cold aura like a block of ice.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, both girls simultaneously looked up toward Su Cheng.
They saw Su Cheng running from the corner.
Both their gazes fixed on Su Cheng's face.
The short-haired girl's eyes contracted slightly, and she suddenly hid behind the large tree, while the long-haired girl continued to stare at Su Cheng, her face showing no ripples of emotion.
"Oh no, there are people here too!"
Su Cheng cried out internally.
But when he clearly saw the long-haired girl's appearance, he froze completely, though his body continued running.
Ji Qingyi.
Her name suited her perfectly.
Pure righteousness, pure as ice and jade; etiquette, deportment, aspiration - she embodied the characters "Qingyi" perfectly.
Moreover, this person had helped him before.
Without her during the Eddie Incident, he might have already been expelled from school.
"Hello, Senior Ji!"
As he was about to pass by Ji Qingyi.
"Goodbye, Senior Ji."
Then as he was about to move past her.
He politely greeted her, though the politeness was minimal.
Ji Qingyi barely whispered four words: "Mere empty courtesy."
"Young Miss."
Liu Qingyue, seeing Su Cheng leave, slowly emerged from behind the tree in the shadows. Looking at Su Cheng's departing figure, her eyes flickered with puzzlement.
[107]
[106]
[105]
...
"The rooftop!"
Hearing the countdown with less than three minutes remaining, Su Cheng's heart began pounding violently, and he accelerated his pace.
He needed to get there as quickly as possible, couldn't waste a single second.
He even pretended to take out and put on a face mask from his pocket.
After all, running through campus, if he met someone who knew him and they decided to follow, it would be disastrous.
[10]
[9]
[8]
"Bang~"
He forcefully pushed open the rooftop door.
As the door opened, wind rushed in, stirring up dust and dirt from the ground.
Thankfully, the rooftop was empty.
"Huff huff~"
He closed the rooftop door, then leaned his body against it, slowly sliding down to the ground.
[Punishment begins!]
[Punishment confirmed!]
[You are foolish and lack careful thinking.]
[And your form shall experience great disparity.]
[Punishment: Animal Realm]
[Please savor the taste of being a beast]
"You're the beast, your whole family is..."
How could Su Cheng tolerate being called a beast by the system?
So he started cursing, but before he could finish-
"Poof~"
A cloud of white smoke erupted.
Then he felt his entire body beginning to change, his form continuously shrinking.
Not only that, but he felt his clothes disappear, replaced by fluffy fur, with his belly turning white, and his hands gradually becoming black and flat.
"Wings!?"
Good heavens!
"I really turned into a beast?!"
Su Cheng saw this situation with horror on his face. He tried to run but found his legs had turned into claws.
Then he accidentally fell over, his belly against the ground, helplessly flapping his wings but unable to get up.
[Random beast appearance assigned]
[Bird type—Penguin]
[Duration: ten minutes]
[Each time discovered by a human, add ten minutes.]
[When discovered by the tenth person, you will eternally sink into the Animal Realm.]
[Note: If discovered by someone who previously rejected you, and you can counterattack to make them heartbroken and devastated, you can receive one random reward.]
"That scared me to death."
A penguin doing the Thomas spin on its belly let out a sigh of relief.
"How is a penguin supposed to make someone heartbroken and devastated?!"
"I just need to use the Ghost Blade to stay invisible for ten minutes."
"But first I need to get up."
So he recalled scenes from wildlife documentaries he'd watched before, continuously flapping his wings against the ground.
"Pat pat pat~"
Strange sounds emerged, then suddenly using his core strength, he bounced up.
"Not bad at all!"
After standing up again, he contacted the system space, wanting to turn invisible.
Ten minutes was nothing, couldn't stump him.
He just needed to find a corner and stay invisible for ten minutes.
"Clang~"
The clear sound of a blade falling to the ground rang out.
"Huh?"
The penguin looked at his wings in confusion, then at the Ghost Blade on the ground.
Well, he couldn't grip it!
As soon as it came out of the system space, it slipped from his wings and fell to the ground, leaving the penguin very embarrassed. He instinctively tried to bend down to pick it up.
But his wings were too short, and how could wings pick anything up anyway?
He wasn't a monkey.
He could only slightly nudge the Ghost Blade's position.
"Right, use my beak."
Thinking of something, he quickly bent down to try to pick up the Ghost Blade with his pointed beak, just as he was about to touch it—
He discovered in horror that the rooftop door suddenly opened.
A girl wearing a badge that read [Disciplinary Committee Member] walked in, and upon seeing the penguin on the rooftop, she first froze, then showed an expression of utter disbelief.
While he maintained his position trying to pick up the Ghost Blade with his beak, and since both his eyes were on the sides of his head giving him binocular vision, he naturally noticed this girl as well.
At this moment, they stared at each other, and the atmosphere fell into dead silence.