Chapter 41: You’re Not… Growing Up or Something, Right?
“I’m going back to the dorm to enjoy the air conditioner.”
An Han decided to leave right away. His mind was still a mess after being groped, how was he supposed to come up with a reasonable reason to finish Task 3?
He rarely picked the middle-difficulty missions, so he wasn’t sure how hard this one would be.
When he reached the supermarket entrance and looked back, An Kexin hadn’t followed him out. That surprised him.
“That’s it?”
This task didn’t seem any harder than the usual ones he picked as number three. Just saying a line or doing a small thing could complete it?
But… there was still no message saying the mission was done.
He couldn’t let his guard down.
He nervously looked around, half expecting An Kexin to jump out from somewhere and grope him again or something.
She might even pull off his jacket and point at his chest, leaving him speechless.
But… An Kexin wasn’t that kind of person, right?
Could the system really change someone’s behavior just to make a mission harder?
An Han walked carefully, eyes darting around, afraid that what he imagined might really happen.
But even after he reached the dorm building, nothing happened. Just then, the task notification finally appeared.
[Task completed. Reward: Custom Chest Binder]
Custom Chest Binder: No matter how big, it perfectly flattens your chest.
Hidden feature: Even if you’re shirtless, no one can see the binder.
Cleaning feature: Self-cleaning, never needs washing.
An Han let out a sigh of relief. Whatever the reason this mission was so easy, at least he got his reward.
And it was even stronger than he expected!
It still worked even if he took his clothes off, which meant he could hang around shirtless in front of his roommates again after a shower, just like before!
And if his “body stats” maxed out later, even if his bra size reached E, F, or G, he could still use this thing to hide everything perfectly!
Plus, no more worrying about washing or drying it and having his roommates find out!
If he had known system tools were this powerful, he would’ve chosen them way earlier!
Feeling instantly cheerful, An Han quickened his pace toward the dorm, eager to test whether the binder really worked as well as described.
But as soon as he turned the corner into the dorm hallway and looked up, he saw Su Peng standing right outside their room, waiting.
“What the… this guy pops up out of nowhere.”
An Han muttered under his breath, then raised his hand and called out, “Su Peng! You need something from me?”
Su Peng turned to look at him, and that sharp, examining gaze made An Han’s steps slow down. He felt a little uneasy.
I didn’t play any pranks lately, did I?
Why’s he looking at me like that?
An Han felt nervous but forced a smile as usual. When he got close, he patted Su Peng on the shoulder. “Where did you go just now? I woke up and you were gone.”
“My phone died. I went to a friend’s place to borrow a power bank.”
“You should’ve said earlier, I have a power bank.”
An Han quickly noticed that Su Peng’s eyes were fixed on his chest.
Pretending not to notice, he calmly took out his keys and opened the door. “Your phone should be charged now, right?”
“Yeah, it’s got power.”
“Finally, I can enjoy the air conditioner.”
An Han stretched lazily as he walked into the dorm, though his mind was busy trying to figure out if he had somehow offended Su Peng.
That shouldn’t be possible.
Even though their friendship score had dropped once before, it had been slowly increasing again lately, right?
If he had done something wrong, the system should’ve shown a notification saying Su Peng’s favorability went down.
He casually turned on the air conditioner with the remote and began folding up the bamboo mat he’d used earlier for his nap. Su Peng followed him in, shut the door, and sat down on a chair.
Su Peng looked at him quietly, unsure how to start the conversation.
“You came to see me about something, right?”
An Han crouched down with his back turned, rolling up the mat.
Since he asked, Su Peng finally spoke. “Earlier, Kexin sent me a message.”
“Her?”
An Han’s heart skipped a beat, so this was because of that task!
“What did she say?”
“She said you… uh, how about you take off your shirt and let me have a look?”
Are you kidding me?!
An Han had just stuffed the mat into the wardrobe and nearly lost it. He almost grabbed a wrench to smack Su Peng’s head.
Before, he might’ve taken off his shirt without hesitation, but now? Absolutely not!
He turned around and carefully studied Su Peng from head to toe.
Hmm. He looked like a normal, decent guy. Not like some pervert.
“I’m serious,” Su Peng said, frowning. “I looked it up online, your condition might be serious.”
“Me? Serious condition?”
An Han didn’t understand what he meant but could clearly see the concern in Su Peng’s eyes.
Even more confused, he stared blankly at him. “Wait, what exactly did An Kexin tell you?”
Su Peng said seriously, “She said you might have a tumor on your chest. It hurts when touched, and it sounds pretty bad.”
“What? No way! Don’t say stuff like that.”
An Han froze, then followed his gaze down to his own chest. “This isn’t a tumor! That’s way too much!”
“Then could it be a nodule?”
What even is that?!
An Han was totally lost, shaking his head fast. “Definitely not!”
“Then what else could it be, don’t tell me you’re developing?” Su Peng said, genuinely concerned. “You shouldn’t hide something like this. How about I take you to the hospital for a check?”
An Han gave a stiff, awkward laugh, suspecting Su Peng was teasing him on purpose.
But now he more or less understood what had happened.
An Kexin must’ve seen the “bump” on his chest earlier, and since he left without explaining, she went and told Su Peng about it.
If he had chosen Task 3 earlier, to find a reasonable excuse and calm her down, this wouldn’t be happening now.
As expected, system tasks were full of traps!
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Su Peng said sincerely. “We’re best bros, right? If something’s wrong, you should tell me.”
“It’s really nothing.”
But Su Peng clearly didn’t believe him.
He had noticed the shape of An Han’s chest before but never paid much attention. This time, though, he couldn’t ignore it, he had to find out what was going on.
“Really… maybe I just gained weight too fast?”
An Han’s voice wavered as he tried to make up an excuse. “So I grew a bit of a chest… You know, some guys gain fat in weird places.”
“But you’re not even fat.”
“Then maybe it’s because I ate too much tofu or soy stuff? You know that online saying, eating too much soy can make guys more feminine.”
“I checked online too,” Su Peng said seriously. “It said if a man’s chest starts bulging or sagging, that’s a problem. Even if it’s from soy, you still need to see a doctor.”
Seeing An Han gripping his shirt tightly, unable to meet his eyes and staring at his feet instead, Su Peng raised an eyebrow. “You know, you’re really easy to read when you lie. The more nervous you get, the more obvious it is.”
“Really?”
An Han froze for a moment, then quickly straightened up, hiding his nervous movements.
“I just… uh, my stomach hurts! Don’t wait for me!” he shouted as he ran to the bathroom.
A tumor, seriously?!
What’s going on in An Kexin’s head?!