On Friday evening, Xiao Chun Miura spent her time in a state of extreme anxiety.
The advancement of the Midterm Exams was like a huge stone thrown into the lake, completely disrupting her already fragile schedule.
This meant that all plot nodes related to the Midterm Exams could be greatly advanced!
The School Festival, Sports Day, and other mid-to-late Events might still be far off… but those Favorability Events built around “review,” “asking questions,” and “studying together in the Library” could very likely erupt intensively within the next week.
Moreover, she had no way of predicting exactly when they would occur.
According to the game’s storyline, as an honor student, Kanzaki Sou, and as a hopeless student, Kondo Haruka, had considerable time and scenes together before preparing for the Midterm Exams.
Thanks to her role as the heroine of the first Personal Route, Kondo Haruka almost monopolized Kanzaki Sou during his first Midterm Exams.
This was also the period before the Sports Day when Kanzaki Sou and Kondo Haruka’s relationship developed the fastest—a time when the Sports Day served as the final push before breaking through the window of their relationship; according to the story, as long as Kanzaki Sou wished, he could confess to Kondo Haruka after the Sports Day, and she would not refuse.
…Dangerous, too dangerous.
Xiao Chun Miura lay on her bed, shaking her head incessantly.
The world she was in had slight differences from the game’s plot… She could feel that, compared to the game, Kondo Haruka in this world was definitely more proactive.
If she really let the original Midterm Exams plot play out between her and Kanzaki Sou, their relationship would surely develop rapidly within just two weeks.
She absolutely did not want to watch Kanzaki Sou’s Goodwill towards Kondo Haruka soar to 60 or 70 before the Sports Day.
That would truly be like receiving a suspended death sentence.
Originally, Xiao Chun Miura had hoped to rely on her Librarian status, which she had already obtained, to slowly build a relationship with Kanzaki Sou and gradually take away the time he spent with Kondo Haruka.
But now, it seemed that time was not on her side at all!
She even considered whether her own interference had caused the game world’s plot to actively correct itself… Otherwise, she truly couldn’t understand how the timing of the Midterm Exams had advanced so much.
All Friday night, Xiao Chun Miura desperately recalled every detail in the game related to the Midterm Exams.
Kondo Haruka would use excuses like “I usually focus on club activities, so I fell behind in cultural subjects, hehe” to ask her childhood friend Kanzaki Sou for tutoring;
During this period, Kanzaki Sou would also meet with the Student Council President, the classic refined lady, and politely refuse her invitation to join the grade’s Study Group;
And in a certain Library tutoring Event, Kanzaki Sou would also have an accidental encounter in the venue with the lively and cute school idol, the heroine of the second Personal Route…
Even apart from Kondo Haruka, there were still many heroines to be wary of, whose main scenes had yet to arrive.
After all, the plot had already exceeded her expectations; even if several heroines started developing relationships with Kanzaki Sou at the same time, she had nowhere to argue…
“Ahhh—”
Xiao Chun Miura let out a painful wail.
As a background character, how could she appear in so many important occasions and simultaneously interfere with so many potential Goodwill-raising paths under the premise of having no Personal Route or major plotlines, always in a “coincidental” fashion?
Impossible, it was still the old method—once or twice might work, but once Kanzaki Sou started to find it strange and suspected she was approaching him with ulterior motives, he would probably distance himself immediately.
At that point, she could only wait for doom.
…Kanzaki Sou himself was even more perceptive than Xiao Chun Miura imagined. To say he wouldn’t notice her intentional actions was just self-deception.
So, after thinking all night, the conclusion Xiao Chun Miura reached was…
She still had to take the initiative.
Seize the time and leave no opportunity for others!
On Friday night, Xiao Chun Miura pulled out her textbooks and notes, confirming that her grades were average—not bad, but definitely not outstanding.
This way, she could use the excuse of exam preparation to ask Kanzaki Sou for help.
…In a situation where she couldn’t predict how much the plot might shift, Xiao Chun Miura couldn’t rely on the missing System. She could only struggle to survive on her own.
So early Saturday morning, she went to school and found Sakura-sensei, who was working in the Library, and asked her for Kanzaki Sou’s contact information.
Her excuse was that she had work matters to discuss. Sakura-sensei had a gossipy look but didn’t pursue the matter further.
***
On a sunny afternoon, warm light poured through the open window into the room, where a bespectacled boy sat at his desk, fully focused.
The pen in his hand occasionally tapped against the desk, but the sound didn’t disturb his train of thought as he reviewed his studies.
His handsome eyes, half-hidden by tousled hair, were locked onto the notes in the book, his mouth softly reciting the methods for solving problems. He would occasionally frown, then quickly relax.
“Bzzz—”
Amidst the quiet, the phone in the corner of the desk suddenly vibrated.
“Hmm?”
The boy raised a hand, pushed his glasses up with his middle finger, then reached out to unlock his phone.
“Ah, it’s Miura-san.”
Xiao Chun Miura waited nervously for a reply.
After returning home from school, she hesitated for a long time before finally sending a message, her shame overwhelmed by her will to survive.
“…Will this work—”
“Ring~”
“Yaa!”
Startled by the cheerful notification, Xiao Chun Miura’s hair on her shoulders trembled.
It was a LIME notification sound.
Xiao Chun Miura picked up her phone. It was a friend request acceptance.
The message read: [Hello, Miura-san!]
Her heart skipped a beat.
He accepted!
She had just sent the friend request, and he had already agreed.
She wasn’t even mentally prepared yet…
At that moment, Kanzaki Sou sent the first message.
[SS: Good afternoon, Miura-san.]
This ID… The corner of Xiao Chun Miura’s mouth twitched slightly.
It was the abbreviation of Kanzaki Sou’s (Shinzaki Sou) initials.
Adding another S would make it a triple S rating.
Thinking of a joke at the wrong time, Xiao Chun Miura amused herself.
[Xiao Chun Miura: Good afternoon, Kanzaki-san.]
[SS: May I ask what the matter is?]
The tone was a bit cold.
For some reason, Xiao Chun Miura’s heart pounded wildly.
Phew… Calm down, just do what you have to do.
[Xiao Chun Miura: Sorry to bother you, Kanzaki-san… I feel a bit overwhelmed preparing for the Midterm Exams.]
[…]
[SS: I see, such things do happen.]
A moment later, a pdf file appeared in Xiao Chun Miura’s chat window.
[SS: This is a summary of key points for each subject compiled by the Student Council. It’s more accurate than the teacher’s scope. I hope it’s helpful to you.]
Xiao Chun Miura opened the file curiously and found it was indeed a densely packed, well-organized review of key knowledge points.
[Xiao Chun Miura: Thank you so much, Kanzaki-san!]
[SS: You’re welcome. After all, we should help each other.]
After a moment of typing, another message arrived.
[SS: I also hope you pass the exams smoothly. Have a good weekend.]
The conversation ended there.
Kanzaki Sou didn’t send any more messages.
Xiao Chun Miura held her phone, staring blankly at the few short lines of conversation.
?
It ended just like that?
She still had things she wanted to say!
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