Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Holy crap, is it true? Someone managed to doodle all over Zhou Bin's face without anyone noticing?"

"Absolutely. You heard him scream, right? I'm dying—probably the whole teaching building did. No idea which legendary classmate pulled it off or how."

"They say it was one of those delayed-colour markers. Whoever did it waited till he was napping after lunch. Epic. Wasn't Yan, the student-council president, in that room too?"

The corridor was still buzzing after the last exam. Math had been the final test of the spring term, and the collective tension had snapped like an overstretched spring. News of Zhou Bin's decorated face turned the release into full-blown carnival. Every floor, inside and out, smelled of popcorn-level glee.

Yet the only eyewitness—Yan Huan—had already slipped away the moment papers were collected. With dismissal still half an hour off, he ducked into an upper-floor classroom that nobody ever used.

Click.

He shut the door, muting the uproar below, tossed his bag onto a back-row chair, and sat.

Deep breath. Empty room. Testing the waters, he said aloud,

"The voice in my head earlier—you still there? System, cheat, whatever you are, time to brief me."

"Meow~"

A reply. Out of nowhere, a long-haired black cat stood in the aisle, tail flicked high, head tilted, emerald eyes fixed on him.

Stray that sneaked in?

The thought barely formed before the cat trotted over, hopped onto the desk, and sat—round, plush, dignified—licking one paw before folding it neatly beneath its chest.

At the same moment, the earlier voice sounded in his mind.

"Hello, Yan Huan."

Great. Telepathic cat—another splash of fantasy. But after whatever weirdness Bai Yi had just displayed, Yan Huan's suspension of disbelief was sky-high. He leaned in until he was nose-to-whiskers.

"What exactly are you? And what was that back there?"

"I am the god of this world. As for what happened—allow me to explain."

The cat tilted its fluffy head, voice continuing in his head.

"In short, this world is under invasion. I need your help."

Yan Huan blinked. "The Trisolarans finally showed up?"

"No. A different fantasy force from another world is breaching yours."

The cat shook its head; a shimmer of light blossomed mid-air. First appeared a crab-like apparition, claws spread—some other world's deity. Then the image dissolved, replaced by scrolling text:

[Invading World ID: 114514

Classification: Female-oriented fantasy

Title: Cruel Meat-X Discipline]

"Stop—enough!"

Before any more hazardous words could pop out, Yan Huan slashed the air; the letters scattered like smoke.

He sucked in a breath, suddenly remembering the strange sound that had come from Bai Yi—her cheat-like ability that made people ignore anything she did.

[Indifference].

No wonder it sounded familiar. Right now, long-buried memories from less-than-savoury media assaulted his inner gentleman.

Good grief, so the ancient Greek god of smut just declared war on us?

The cat gave another dainty meow. "The invasion has seeded five dangerous 'Modifiers' in this world. What you saw on Bai Yi was one of them. They lodge inside women blessed by fate, feed on their desires, grow stronger, and eventually twist the timeline into a complete mess—your life included."

Yan Huan opened his mouth to ask what any of this had to do with him, then recalled the utterly unfamiliar Bai Yi suddenly wanting to doodle on his face while murmuring "we have all the time in the world." He swallowed the question.

Besides, if he had possessed the Indifference Modifier, graffiti on Zhou Bin's cheek would have been child's play. Given time...

Judging by Bai Yi's words, she'd only just acquired the Modifier and was still tasting forbidden fruit—her actions still within bounds. Give it weeks or months...

The cat's green slits narrowed, reading his unease. Between licks it explained, "For the past decade your discipline and diligence have given you extraordinary looks, a brilliant mind, excellent relationships—and you are the sole reincarnator I can contact. In other words, you possess the same fortune the invaders crave. You know what that means."

Yeah. Orphan start, no powerful family, yet Yan Huan had kept a Spartan routine. Studying was easy—back on Earth he'd been top of his class; if not for a frail body he wouldn't have died mid-exam. So this life he'd begun training early.

Daily workouts bought him robust health and—miraculously—not a single lost hair, shattering the "balder equals stronger" curse.

But that excellence painted a target on his back.

A chill ran through him. Images flooded in: honour-roll ice queens, gentle big-sister types next door, proud ojou-samas—each inexplicably corrupted by some magical item or plot device.

Or maybe they'd provoked someone and were now being 'punished'...

Either way, he was the gender-swapped lead in that story.

His face stiffened. Years of hard work had become the very reason he was now in danger. He felt like the proverbial "good guy held at gunpoint."

Yan Huan slumped against the chair, half-dead inside.

He wanted to ask six-year-old Yan Huan why he'd wished for this on his birthday.

Then he straightened. "Hold on. You're a god—why do you need me? Can't you just erase the Modifiers yourself?"

The cat gave him a look that said, Seriously? With this body?

Still, it answered solemnly, "I cannot intervene directly; neither can any foreign deity. That's why Modifiers choose hosts inside the world."

Yan Huan's eyebrow arched. "So you can give me a Modifier too, right?"

"Correct. But unlike the evil ones, I can grant only two things."

The cat raised its left paw like a beckoning cat statue. "First, Resistance: any Modifier will only partially affect you. But the shield isn't absolute—Modifiers grow by devouring desire, and the resistance will erode until it fails. When that happens, you're finished."

It lowered the left paw and lifted the right. "Second, each week I can give you a permanent reward—abilities, stats, or skills, usually three choices. These can strengthen as you siphon power from Modifiers, and they'll remain yours even after all five are gone."

Yan Huan narrowed his eyes, not falling for big promises. "Define 'deal with' a Modifier."

The cat folded both paws and spoke with absolute gravity, "There's only one way: make the host willingly give it up. Remember: under no circumstance can you reveal that you know about Modifiers. Once a host realizes you're aware, their fear—labelled 'Overcome Unease'—spikes exponentially, instantly turning the Modifier into its final form against which resistance is meaningless. Game over."

Yeah, yeah—no exposing the cheat. Imagine thinking you're safe under Indifference, assaulting the school beauty, only for the whole class to walk in on you mid-act... That's not an adult video, it's a horror movie.

Yan Huan gave a wry smile. "So I have to get them to surrender their cheat without letting on I know? Might as well kill me. If I had Bai Yi's Modifier, wild horses couldn't drag it from me."

The cat blinked its big, innocent eyes—no comfort it could offer.

He loved Japanese anime, but he did not love living in one—especially as the victim.

Silence. Finally Yan Huan gritted his teeth, sat up straight, and stretched out a hand.

"Hand it over."

"What?"

"This week's random power. It's Friday; I'm not waiting till next week."

The cat flicked its tail, impressed. Three golden orbs materialised mid-air, each rotating, each spitting out text:

[Ability: Perfect Expression Management—your face becomes a mask that never betrays emotion.]

[Skill: Unarmed Blade Catch—works on one blade at a time, unless you've got four arms.]

[Skill: 100% Successful Backflip—hey, come to my place and I'll show you.]

Yan Huan pinched the cat's chubby cheeks. "These are the best you've got? How are any of them going to help against a Modifier?!"

The cat mewed innocently, the sound buzzing around Yan Huan's skull like a swarm of bees.

"It's not like I decided this! I told you—random, totally random!"

"Just you wait—if they ever finish me off, I'll make sure you're next!"

While Yan Huan pinched the black cat's chubby cheeks to vent, a sudden knock rattled the empty classroom door.

Knock, knock, knock.

Yan froze. He and the cat swiveled in unison toward the entrance.

The doorknob turned; the door eased open to reveal a boy in the grey Yuanyue uniform, black-framed glasses perched on his nose.

Male—Yan and the cat both exhaled in relief. More importantly, Yan recognized him.

Hashimoto, the student-council accountant and tech officer.

Thick hair fell over his forehead, strands a little too long. His face looked pale; behind the reflective lenses of his glasses, his eyes shone with urgency.

"President, why aren't you answering your messages? Everyone's been @-ing you, and your phone's off! What are you doing up here by yourself? If the people from your exam room hadn't told me— Whoa, cat? Where'd that come from?"

Mid-sentence, Hashimoto's gaze locked onto the plump black cat. Yan shot the cat a sidelong glare, then tapped one of the three floating orbs in front of him. He chose the one that looked marginally useful.

[Ability: Perfect Expression Management]

In an instant, every facial muscle felt as though the Ren and Du meridians had been flung wide open; they moved with newfound freedom.

It was like the dial for his expressions had jumped from a 61-key keyboard to a 107-key grand piano—suddenly a flood of extra "notes" was at his disposal. Better yet, the flawless control down to the tiniest twitch thrilled him.

Yan's features rippled from forehead to chin, then settled into a smile of polite apology. He lifted the cat with both hands.

"Stray. Just picked it up. Cute, isn't it?"

"Meow~"

"So cute! Did you name it already? Though with that round belly, are you sure it's a stray?"

"Meow!"

"I'm calling it Meow-chan."

"Meow?"

"Meow-chan—great name, right? Wait, no! President, this isn't the time! Check your phone! Yua Lina's going crazy!"

Yan tucked the cat against his chest, then pulled out the smartphone he'd set to airplane mode during the exam. The moment he reconnected to the school Wi-Fi, notifications exploded like fireworks.

At Yuanyue, the go-to social app was "Plane"—part payment platform, part feed, part short-video stream; Yan treated it as the local version of WeChat.

Ding-ding-ding—

Yuanyue Student Council Management Group (5)

Secretary – Yua Lina: "Anyone seen the president? Urgent!"

Accountant – Hashimoto: "Nope. None of us were in his testing room. But he should still be on campus..."

Secretary – Yua Lina: "Exactly why I need him! Someone get through to him—Principal's asking!"

Vice-President – Sakuramiya Hitomi: "He's not in the council office."

Accountant – Hashimoto: "Phone's off too. Probably out on a secret date and too busy to check messages."

Vice-President – Sakuramiya Hitomi: "Hashimoto, please don't joke about classmates' private lives."

Accountant – Hashimoto: "Sorry. My bad, Vice-President."

Vice-President Sakuramiya is as uptight as ever...

The rest of the chat scrolled on forever; Yua Lina had also tagged him in a dozen other council groups. Yan set the phone aside and asked Hashimoto point-blank, "Too long—can't read it all. Why does the principal want me?"

Hashimoto drew a deep breath.

"The principal says your mother is here looking for you. You need to go—now!"

Mother?

Yan's arms tightened around the cat. For a moment he turned to stone.

Parents turning up at school wasn't unusual, but—this time—it made no sense.

In this life, his parents had died in a plane crash right after he'd transmigrated. He'd been raised in an orphanage.

So where, all of a sudden, had this "mother" come from?