Chapter 110: Chapter 101: I’ll Never Like Cosplay Again

The next morning, Shen Yuan was in the hallway on the 18th floor, watching Li Zhi, who had just stepped out of her apartment.

"Did you bring it?"

"So we’re not even saying ’good morning’ now, huh!" Li Zhi shot back with a glare.

"Uh, sorry. Let me make up for it right now."

After apologizing, Shen Yuan immediately bowed. "Young Master Li, good morning. Your handsome childhood friend, Shen Yuan, awaits your holy decree."

"I brought it. It’s in my backpack, get it yourself. Just make sure no one sees you taking it out of my bag. Or else..."

Li Zhi tossed her backpack to Shen Yuan. "It’ll ruin my good name!"

Shen Yuan nodded, took the Exclamation Mark Lamp from Li Zhi’s backpack, and stuffed it into his own with a grin.

A moment later, however, Shen Yuan’s gaze fell to Li Zhi’s feet.

Her socks were a new pair.

Jiyang wasn’t large, but it was home to Datang Town, known as the international capital of the sock industry.

Although Shen Yuan and Li Zhi lived in the city, their official residences were registered in the town.

In fact, his Eldest Female Cousin’s family made socks.

For a while, his Eldest Female Cousin basically wore a pair for a day and then threw them out without washing them.

She just got them from home, anyway.

’What a spendthrift.’

It was the same for Shen Yuan. He never had to worry about washing socks, either. After all, his family would go to his Eldest Female Cousin’s place and get socks by the woven bagful.

You know, those white woven bags. A whole bag full of socks.

They might not have been high-quality, but you couldn’t beat not having to wash them.

Wear once, then toss. Totally worth it.

Even if you bought them from a street stall, you could get cotton socks for one yuan a pair.

Washing summer socks... if you know, you know.

Li Zhi’s family was the same as Shen Yuan’s.

For feet that wore new socks every day, there was no need to worry about any indestructible bacteria lingering on them.

Besides, their everyday shoes were also frequently sanitized.

’Handpicked by Shen Yuan: a fragrant, soft little nest for his precious toad.’

But I digress...

The little white socks hugged her feet, ending just below her ankles and revealing their slender, pale shape.

If Shen Yuan tilted his head just a little, he could see Li Zhi’s Achilles tendon.

Li Zhi’s Achilles tendon was very long. Visually, this made the area from her lower calf to her ankle seem slender and elongated. When she wore shoes that exposed her ankles or high heels, it would lengthen the proportions of her calves, creating the visual effect of killer legs.

Although Li Zhi usually wore her school uniform pants around Shen Yuan, he had observed that her legs were definitely not the bony, "bird leg" type.

On the contrary, Li Zhi’s legs were full and shapely.

He could tell from how tight her uniform pants became when she sat down.

You’ve read manhwa, right? It was basically like that.

Suddenly, Li Zhi moved. Shen Yuan quickly averted his gaze, looking everywhere but at her.

Li Zhi, who was tying her shoelaces, felt the corners of her mouth lift slightly.

Seeing Shen Yuan’s reflection in the elevator button panel, she found him utterly ridiculous.

’Dumbass Shen Yuan.’

...

「Class 15.」

Shen Yuan sat at his desk and hung his backpack on the hook on its side.

However, the Exclamation Mark Lamp was already stashed in his desk.

’Now everything is ready. All I need is for that group of idiots to show up!’

Around 6:15, Sun Xiansheng was the first to arrive. He looked around and saw a large exclamation mark appear above Shen Yuan’s head.

Except, the exclamation mark wasn’t lit.

Sun Xiansheng immediately became distraught.

"I repent!"

Sun Xiansheng hurried to Shen Yuan’s desk, placed both hands on its surface, and said with a sorrowful expression, "I have not completed your quest. Yesterday, Ah Shuai and Old Zhang’s attacks were too fierce! I—ah, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be making excuses!"

Just then, a glimmer of light appeared in Sun Xiansheng’s eyes.

The Exclamation Mark Lamp on Shen Yuan’s head had lit up!

Sun Xiansheng felt a hand land on top of his head.

Then, he heard Shen Yuan’s voice.

"It’s alright, my child. I have heard your repentance. Your attitude proves that you have sincerely mended your ways. Your quest is complete."

CLICK.

Shen Yuan reached up and turned off the Exclamation Mark Lamp.

Although the lamp went out, a brilliant light erupted in Sun Xiansheng’s eyes.

"O, merciful Yuan!"

After singing his praise, Sun Xiansheng left, weeping with gratitude.

Watching this scene, Li Zhi’s eye twitched.

She felt a sense of powerlessness, not even knowing where to begin her critique.

After Sun Xiansheng, Zhou Shaojie also arrived in the classroom.

Seeing the lamp on Shen Yuan’s head, Ah Jie’s delicate body trembled, and he rushed forward to repent.

"I’m sorry, Yuan, I failed to complete your quest! I only managed to memorize fifty words before I collapsed! Please forgive me!"

Facing Ah Jie, Shen Yuan was not as kind as he had been with Sun Xiansheng. Instead, his brow furrowed.

"Forgiveness? You can’t even do something this simple, and you expect my forgiveness? Get back to your seat and memorize vocabulary! I’ll be testing your progress before school ends today! If I’m not satisfied, you can just keep on memorizing."

Ah Jie, with a pained expression, returned to his seat and started copying words.

As for the other two, when Chen Mingyu arrived, his face was haggard, but you could tell from his eyes that he was actually very excited.

’The kind of excitement you get when something just hits your kink.’

’Ai Muyu must have been thrilled.’

"Yuan, here’s my task. I worked on it until two o’clock this morning to finish!"

Shen Yuan glanced at the thick vocabulary notebook, and his mouth twitched.

’Seriously, dude? You actually took this seriously?’

But what was done was done. Shen Yuan turned on the Exclamation Mark Lamp on his head and placed a hand on Ai Muyu’s.

’Damn, his hair’s all greasy from pulling an all-nighter.’

Feeling Shen Yuan’s hand on his head, the exhaustion in Ai Muyu’s heart seemed to instantly vanish.

Then Shen Yuan watched as Ai Muyu’s head tilted to the side, and he went still.

"The fuck?"

Shen Yuan quickly reached for Ai Muyu’s neck.

’Okay, still a pulse.’

’The idiot stayed up too late and just passed out.’

Shen Yuan shifted Ai Muyu into a more comfortable position, then returned to his own seat.

"Damn it, I don’t think I’ll ever like cosplay again."

"Oh? Not gonna watch JM anymore?" Ah Jie said, looking at Shen Yuan mischievously.

Shen Yuan waved his hand. "That’s a separate issue."

"Right, right. A separate issue is a separate issue, censored is censored, and uncensored is uncensored."

Shen Yuan immediately grabbed Ah Jie in a headlock, squeezing until he could barely breathe.

Yang Ze was the last to arrive.

He, too, had not completed his task. But unlike Ah Jie and the others, Yang Ze’s choice was to simply not do it at all.

He even looked at Shen Yuan in confusion.

"Why? If you get a quest, do you have to do it?"

And so, Shen Yuan sentenced Yang Ze to the punishment of Aruba.

"Get him!!"

At Shen Yuan’s command, Ai Muyu, who had been sound asleep, suddenly woke up and immediately grabbed hold of Yang Ze.

"Accept your punishment!!"

Shen Yuan and the others immediately hoisted Yang Ze up and carried him to the back door of the classroom.

"No, bros! I was wrong!! I’ll do the quest! I’ll do the quest! AHHH!!"

"Once isn’t enough! At least three times!!"

Ai Muyu shouted the loudest and was also the most ruthless.

"We’re deskmates! Chen Mingyu! You have no heart!!"

In the end, Yang Ze was left draped over his desk, whimpering.

Shen Yuan turned on the Exclamation Mark Lamp above his head and slapped Yang Ze on the back.

"Quest complete!"