Love, Gun, Cupid

"If all high school teachers were like you, then probably no boy would pay attention in class," Lin Jiade thought to himself.

However, Du Juan was right. The serious moment was about to begin. He planned to complete the three-stage ritual of burying himself in magic tonight and step into the other side of the world.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Worldly Desires

Lin Jiade's soup pot was very large, so he put all the ingredients he had bought into it at once and added water to boil it. While the soup was still relatively thin, he poured the sand he had bought into the living room to make "land" for burial.

Four hours later, the ingredients in the soup pot were cooked. Their color and shape reminded Lin Jiade of the mud used to plaster the walls when building a shelter in the wilderness survival shows he had watched.

He forced himself to take out the potion, which weighed about 300g. When he took the first bite, a sour feeling welled up in his throat. He was disgusted by the sweet taste of the potion.

"Luckily I don't have diabetes," he commented, "otherwise, my urine sugar would have spiked to three pluses after eating this."

"You have to eat the whole thing," Du Juan encouraged Lin Jiade, suppressing a laugh. "Come on, you can do it."

"You only have the leisure to say that because you're an observer!"

Lin Jiade didn't want to chew the soft, mushy stuff in his mouth properly. He swallowed it, feeling it slowly slide into his stomach, and then the next bite...

It took him a full twenty-five minutes to swallow the 300 grams of potion, and his mind and body suffered equally.

"It feels like the calories are off the charts."

This is Lin Jiade's reflection on his first potion.

He rested for a while, then lay down on the ground, and Cupid helped him cover him with sand, leaving only his head sticking out—literally, he was buried.

Lin Jiade held a silver coin in his hand and chanted in the tribal language he had just learned, praying to the supreme god Mbori (a fictional god in this magic system) for the right to use magic.

The moment he finished chanting the incantation, Lin Jiade's consciousness soared into the sky. As the planet rotated and circulated, he plunged into the ocean, then surged from the ocean to the land, and then rose into the sky again... After countless water cycles, he suddenly opened his eyes.

The familiar scenery told him that he was lying on the living room floor, and as for why he was lying on the floor... oh, he was performing a burial ritual.

He sat up and looked at his left hand in surprise; the silver coin he had been holding had vanished without a trace.

He looked up at the cuckoo: "Where are my silver coins?"

Du Juan replied, "I paid the price."

To whom?

"Look toward this planet, and from now on, you will be able to feel the energy that circulates between the ocean, the sky, and the earth."

"I dreamed of traveling between the sky, the sea, and the earth."

“Dream? It might be a hallucination caused by the energy emanating from the planet,” Du Juan said. “A senior once told me that the feeling of Homo sapiens when they first perceive energy is the same as the feeling of an otaku playing White Album 2.”

Lin Jiade had heard of the famous "White Album" and could even recite some of its famous lines. This is a manifestation of the coexistence of the best and worst in the internet age: it makes it convenient for people to receive information, but also allows them to receive a lot of useless information.

He has never had the opportunity to try either games or animation because he is not the target audience for these works, and currently, the time he spends watching animation is mainly for reminiscing about his childhood.

The cartoons I watched as a child were extremely disliked in junior high and high school, but when I watched them again as an adult, they suddenly became interesting.

The disappearance of the silver coins was a painful but acceptable loss for Lin Jiade. Before he could try to sense the so-called energy, he had to go to the toilet to deal with the problems caused by the potion.

As a result, he had to ask his counselor for leave and was scolded.

It turns out there's been a rumor circulating online that eating a certain burger will make you sit on the toilet. Three people from their department have already had their rumors debunked by trying to be "myth busters."

The counselor assumed Lin Jiade was that kind of person, and after thinking about it, Lin Jiade accepted the counselor's misunderstanding. He wasn't good at lying; from childhood to adulthood, his lies were always easily detected.

Du Juan doesn't know how to take care of patients, and Lin Jiade also refuses her care because his deteriorating stomach can't withstand the torment of Du Juan's "delicious food" for the time being, so he goes back to cooking for himself.

Everything is enhanced by the contrast with one’s peers. Under Cupid’s gaze, Lin Jiade developed the illusion that he was a very good cook.

After burying himself in magic, the magic that the cuckoo chose for him was a detection spell, which can detect the energy intensity and part of the target's true form. In other words, it can be used to determine whether the target is human.

In addition to the usual method of preparing and brewing a potion with a bunch of ingredients, this time the potion can be used to perform detection spells in a more flexible way.

Besides the burial magic, Papastathopoulos concocts three types of potions for use in magic:

The first method is to cut yourself open and then squeeze the potion into your body through the wound;

The second method is to consume magic potions. The more you consume, the stronger the potion becomes. 300 grams is the lower limit for consumption, and 800 grams is the upper limit.

The third method involves applying the substance to the corresponding body part where the magic is cast; for example, a detection spell is applied to the eyelids.

Lin Jiade chose the third option without hesitation. Even though applying the potion would only bring out half of its power, he really didn't want to hurt himself or sit on the toilet after consuming the potion and be scolded by his counselor.

At the same time, he declined Saturday dinners and reduced the time he usually spent on weekly phone calls with his family, so that they wouldn't notice he wasn't feeling well and worry unnecessarily.

He is currently focused on only three things: his research on magic, Jasmine's homework, and Teacher Yang's professional course. He is prepared to take the exam without any preparation and have his participation points deducted.

By the time he taught Jasmine his second lesson on Saturday evening, his complexion had returned to normal. If he concentrated, he could sense an invisible presence moving in the air.

That is the energy of the planet's cycle; in the air it is the wind, in the ocean it is the waves, and on the earth it is the steady, slow heartbeat. Whenever the earth beats its heartbeat, his body trembles along with it, the energy passing through his body and leaving tiny remnants.

Lin Jiade was unaware of the changes in himself after taking the potion, but in Jasmine's eyes, he had become more "energetic".

She had tried to walk with crutches without a wheelchair, but she walked slowly and unsteadily. After opening the door for Lin Jiade, she leaned forward and fell into Lin Jiade's arms.

Lin Jiade instinctively reached out and hugged her. As she breathed softly against him, her petite and slender figure came into his view, reminding him of the scene in his dream where her back was pressed intimately against his.

If Jasmine and I were like Beauty and the Beast back in our second year of high school, then now we're like a more powerful version of Beauty and the Beast. Lin Jiade thought.

Young people prefer fit physiques, and in their eyes, someone like Du Juan, with a well-proportioned body and curves above average, is considered thin.

So, in his eyes, Jasmine's figure was probably that of a refugee. Therefore, even though he was holding her, he didn't feel any worldly desire... just not yet.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Ayamori and Yoshitoku Ikari

"Rehabilitation is tough; it's a long and painful process, just like studying. The key is to persevere."

The young man reached out and supported Jasmine's arm, straightening her up. Then, he picked up the four-layer insulated container with his other hand and waved it in front of her: "I hope you remember what we agreed on Thursday."

Jasmine nodded and pointed to the empty trash can, where there was no trace of takeout boxes.

"This meal is not the final menu, because we can't be sure how long you exercise every day, so there's room for adjustment in terms of calories, especially carbohydrates."

Lin Jiade dragged a chair from Jasmine's room and took out the food from the thermos: a main meal with fruit, a soup, a meat dish, and a vegetable dish.

Jasmine glanced at it twice, then picked up a spoon and, under Lin Jiade's expectant gaze, put it in her mouth. Lin Jiade thought it was cute when she chewed the food with her small mouth.

He was waiting for a review. Jasmine kept her head down and ate until she finished her food, wiped her mouth with a tissue, and then said to Lin Jiade, "Thank you."

How does it taste?

"..."

Jasmine hesitated, but Lin Jiade waved his hand and said, "Just tell the truth. I'm not that fragile."

"It's not as good as takeout, but I can tell you put thought into it. So, thank you."

Lin Jiade put the food box back. Although he felt bad for Du Juan, she would no longer have the opportunity to cook.

He wanted to practice repeatedly to make a meal that would move Jasmine, a meal that would bring a genuine smile to her face... even just a smile like Rei Ayanami's. That was Shinji Hayashi's, or Yoshitoku Ikari's, greatest wish right now.

In addition, there's Jasmine's academic performance. Even if it makes Jasmine cry, he still wants to see good grades. This desire is even stronger than his desire to make Jasmine smile.

"I'm such a devil," Lin Jiade lamented as he examined his own heart. "Jasmine has already suffered so much, how could you bear to make her cry?"

Out of guilt, he added three more math problems to Jasmine's homework.

After a half-hour break, the second lesson began. Jasmine dutifully handed in her assignments on modern reading comprehension and essay writing, but Lin Jiade simply set them aside.

He took out his phone and held it close to Jasmine's face. The sight of the large, smiling man lunging at her reminded Jasmine of the crime dramas she had seen on legal programs.

She raised the fingers that gripped the cane, and the black claws swallowed the light of the lamp. If she had wanted to, five more scratches would have appeared on Lin Jiade's chest. But he had no chance to be a demon hunter, nor did he have the chance to dream of being a bunny girl senior.

But for some reason, Jasmine didn't make the defensive move she had prepared. Instead, she withdrew her claws and calmly accepted the fact that Lin Jiade was standing next to her.

To Jasmine, Lin Jiade was tall and fiery. Even just being near him, rather than touching him, seemed to give her a dizzying heat and vitality.

The barbarian was completely unaware that he had exceeded the social distance permitted by their relationship. But he was frank, cheerful, talkative, full of goodwill, and extremely rude.

He's a good person who's hard to judge, so Jasmine is willing to give him a chance.

“We’ve already exchanged contact information,” Jasmine said. “Although I don’t understand why you’re sending pictures of cats, they’re quite cute.”

"That's called an emoji. Haven't other people sent it to you?"

“You are the only contact I keep in touch with.”

Lin Jiade remained silent, and Jasmine was unmoved. She forced a smile, opened her phone's photo album, and said, "I noticed you don't seem very motivated to study, so I'm sharing my university life. Of course, there's no diving or flammable oolong tea."

Jasmine looked at him like a single dog seeing a couple showing affection. Lin Jiade added, "This isn't bragging. I just want to say that you can live this kind of life after you go to university."

As he spoke, he clicked on the first photo. They were wearing camouflage uniforms, standing on a red plastic track. He said to the photo, "Freshmen have military training when they start university. Back then, it was mandatory to live on campus. Folding blankets into neat squares and checking dormitory cleanliness became routine torture. And because I'm tall, the instructors paid extra attention to me."

He's like a defender on a football field, keeping an eye on the opponent's most threatening striker. Whether the striker has the ball or not is not important; what's important is that the defender prevents the striker from having the ball.

For the instructors, whether I caused trouble or not was irrelevant; what mattered was that I posed a potential threat, so I was the first to be disciplined, serving as a silent warning to others who might disobey their orders.

“Boring,” Jasmine said.

"Yes, I also find military training very boring, and now that we can't shoot real guns, the only fun is gone."

However, having such a mandatory group activity allows students from all over the country to share common topics and complain together, thus bringing them closer together.

Even the shyest person in the department could talk to others after military training. Without group activities, they probably would have spent four years alone in a corner.

Lin Jiade clicked on the second photo. About twenty people were sweating profusely, making hand gestures and grinning foolishly. Some were even holding their backs. He explained, "The school organized a football tournament. Our department got third place. Sigh."

"Isn't third place amazing?" Jasmine asked.

"Looking at the rankings is fine, but we're not those animals who specialize in sports, what more do we need?"

Lin Jiade looked pained. "But the top student is from the biology department, and one of their first-year students is someone who was eliminated from the U17 team of a professional club in the Super League. Even if this person goes back to high school, he hasn't forgotten his football skills."

Goodness, when we faced the biology department in the semifinals, it felt like this guy was a combination of Mbappe and Haaland. He single-handedly led ten of his teammates to a humiliating 7-2 defeat against us.

It was because after achieving five goals, he selflessly set up his teammates, without exerting his full strength.

If he were serious, this match would probably turn into a volleyball score game. What's even more difficult is that, according to the biology major's volleyball prodigy, his skill level is only good enough to be a benchwarmer in an amateur club.

Don't use your own hobby to question someone else's expertise; that's the lesson I learned from this competition. Even in industries that may not seem particularly successful, there's still a world of difference between professional and amateur, and between amateur and enthusiast.

The next photo shows Lin Jiade and his classmates wearing DIY slogan shirts ordered from an online store. Everyone is squinting and opening their mouths, with some people having ferocious expressions, but the most ferocious one is Lin Jiade himself.

Jasmine looked at Lin Jiade, seemingly imagining him wearing a mask of pain. Her gaze grew increasingly strange, and the image she was conjuring up seemed to be getting worse.

Lin Jiade explained, "This is a choral competition. The reason my expression was so funny is because I really gave it my all."

Jasmine pointed to the photo: "Some people are taking advantage of the situation."

"I was really into my singing, but I only realized that when I saw the photos later."

Why are you taking this so seriously?