There were two side effects in total, and each one was more ridiculous than the last.

[Note]: Once a character's loyalty reaches a certain level, their personality will change.

The moment he saw that, Gu Qinghan had a bad feeling.

A twisted personality?

Their true nature exposed?

Once the hypnosis training reached a certain stage, it could actually cause a girl's personality to mutate.

What kind of heaven-defying skill was this?

Thinking of the possible later plot developments in Revenge Hypnosis, Gu Qinghan could vaguely guess what would happen.

Perverted. And each one more perverted than the last.

As for the second side effect, it was even more absurd. Absurd to the absolute extreme.

Any man who expressed friendship toward Gu Qinghan would automatically get NTR'd by him.

What kind of pure love slayer was this?

Maybe they were just being polite, okay?!

He only wanted to learn hypnosis magic for self-defense, so why did so many bizarre problems come with it?

Wouldn't this just make him easier to catch?!

Gu Qinghan felt a wave of dizziness. His vision started going dark. He could only barely keep his footing, one hand braced against the table.

Sure enough, there was no turning back now.

The potion had already been swallowed. It was too late to spit it out. And once the effects had been digested, there was no way to strip them away again.

After thinking it over, Gu Qinghan could only come up with one solution.

Avoid meeting people as much as possible.

Especially men. Under no circumstances could he become friends with them.

If he had no other choice, he could just slap them on reflex and cut off their declaration of friendship.

For now, the only thing Gu Qinghan could do was stay holed up in the house and avoid going outside.

Starting today, Gu Qinghan would become the greatest shut-in in history.

He wouldn't step a single foot out the door.

...

Three hours later.

Gu Qinghan was still trying his best to hold out.

Reality proved that avoiding all contact with people was extremely difficult.

The first thing to attack Gu Qinghan was a rapid knock at the door.

—Knock knock knock!

The sharp sound pierced through the door and drilled into Gu Qinghan's ears.

"Who is it?"

He spoke warily, focusing his mind.

"I'm your neighbor across the hall. I just moved in nearby today and wanted to get acquainted with you."

A loud male baritone came from outside. It naturally made people feel at ease.

Neighbors getting to know each other was perfectly normal. It helped build familiarity, and made daily life more convenient for everyone.

But Gu Qinghan's body froze on the spot.

A man. Making friends.

Right after he'd drunk the potion.

In that brief instant, Gu Qinghan's face darkened. He immediately pulled back the right hand reaching for the doorknob and locked the latch tight.

"Sorry... I have urgent business today. Come back another day!"

Gu Qinghan answered stiffly, with a trace of lingering fear in his voice.

That had been close. He almost NTR'd the neighbor by accident!

"Then when would you be free, sir? I've got quite a bit of free time these next few days. I can visit again anytime."

The male voice came from outside again. He still didn't seem willing to give up, and politely asked in return.

What answered him, however, was a rude tone:

"I'm never free! Stop bothering me, you damned red-ass face!"

The man outside went silent for a while. No reply came.

He couldn't understand why Gu Qinghan had cursed at him.

A strange silence filled the space between the two men on either side of the wooden door.

After a long while, the man outside let out a slow sigh, and his footsteps gradually faded away.

Holding his breath, Gu Qinghan slowly walked to the door and pressed an ear against it.

Time passed second by second.

No sound.

He really had left.

Only after five full minutes did Gu Qinghan finally let out a sigh of relief in his heart. The huge stone weighing on his chest was finally set down.

He had barely escaped disaster.

He did feel a little guilty, but this was obviously the best method Gu Qinghan could manage.

Anger the other party. Cut off any possibility of friendship. Only then could he avoid an NTR plot developing.

If he hadn't been forced into it, Gu Qinghan wouldn't have wanted to use this method.

"That bastard Hohenheim..."

Gu Qinghan couldn't help feeling a burst of anger. If he'd known, he never would've drunk that potion. He should've just picked some normal class.

If not for him, how would Gu Qinghan have ended up in such a miserable state?

But things had already come to this. Regret was meaningless now. He could only grit his teeth and deal with the problem in front of him.

After the man left, Gu Qinghan sat back down on the edge of the bed.

He kept his nerves taut.

To prevent any accidents.

Another hour passed.

—Knock knock knock!

The knocking sounded again.

"Who is it?" Gu Qinghan's whole body tensed up instantly.

"I'm from property management. Time to pay the management fee!"

"Pay my ass! You useless property people never do a damn thing, and you still collect money every day. You've got the nerve to ask me for money?"

Gu Qinghan said through gritted teeth,

"Get the hell out of here!"

The man outside muttered something under his breath. He couldn't understand why the people in this house were so angry, then slunk away in embarrassment.

The second round could also be counted as safely passed.

The sunlight gradually crept toward noon, then began to sink westward.

Staying on high alert for so long had drained Gu Qinghan's stamina.

Outside the window, free birds chirped as they traced graceful arcs through the sky, indescribably carefree.

Gu Qinghan looked toward the street, and for no reason at all, felt a little envious.

People came and went. Everyone looked so happy and free.

If he hadn't transmigrated here, would he have been a little happier?

He couldn't help thinking that.

Another three hours passed.

The evening glow stained the horizon a dim red, as lifeless as an old man in his twilight years.

Gu Qinghan's eyelids grew heavy. He felt like he could fall asleep at any moment.

Right now, he had an impulse.

For some reason, he wanted to rush out the door, breathe in fresh air, and shout to everyone, let's be friends!

But he knew he couldn't do that.

Not with men, and not with women either. This was the Kingdom of Pure Love, and the rules here were countless.

Just then, the silence was broken once more—

Meow~

The soft, babyish sound drifted in through the window, making Gu Qinghan freeze.

What was going on?

Following the sound, he slowly turned his head toward the cute little creature on the windowsill.

A tiny orange cat was standing there carefully, lazily licking its paw.

It lay comfortably on the sill, basking in the sun. It glanced at Gu Qinghan, then went back to grooming its fur.

Gu Qinghan's eyes lit up.

As if he'd grabbed hold of a lifeline, he let out a relieved breath.

If it was a cat, then he wouldn't need to worry about that damned hypnosis side effect, right?

Gu Qinghan sadly realized that he needed companionship so badly right now that he was starting to project feelings onto a cat.

With a faint smile, he stood up and found a piece of salted dried fish on Hohenheim's alchemy table.

Then he gently placed it on the floor.

"Come on, little orange kitty. Come taste some magic fish~"

The orange cat leaped down from the windowsill and ran to Gu Qinghan's feet, staring warily at the dried fish on the ground.

A few seconds later, it crouched low and walked over.

This little orange cat didn't seem afraid of people.

Gu Qinghan smiled and reached out a hand, gently stroking its back. The fluffy texture felt very nice to the touch.

In some corner of his heart, a warm feeling was healing Gu Qinghan's wounds.

The cat let out a soft little rumble, but it didn't resist Gu Qinghan's touch.

After a slight struggle, it adapted to being petted by him.

Gu Qinghan smiled and gently stroked the fur on its back.

Meow~

With another soft cry, the cat licked its little paw, then exposed its belly without any guard at all and started acting spoiled.

A sturdy bridge of friendship was built between one person and one cat.

Gu Qinghan couldn't help feeling his heart fill with strength.

Even if he couldn't interact with people, having a cat seemed like it would be enough to comfort his heart.

Thinking that, the soothing motions of Gu Qinghan's hand became even gentler.

However, things never developed the way one expected.

A strange sensation surged through his body, and Gu Qinghan's expression stiffened.

Rushing magic power, like a torrential river, washed through the magic circuits in his body and warned Gu Qinghan of one thing—

The passive skill, Golden-haired Affinity, had been triggered.