In a single-bed recovery room in the school infirmary, Ning Chu sat on the snowy-white bedding, cupping a glass of water in both hands and taking small sips of glucose water.

In either this life or his last, this was the first time he’d ever fainted—and the first time he’d ever drunk glucose water.

It was a little sweet, and didn’t taste bad.

He lifted his gaze and glanced at Wen Yang and Zhang Shaoqing, standing off to one side. The corner of his mouth twitched.

The male lead and the second male lead from the novel are both waiting on me now......

Too bad he wasn’t a girl and wasn’t into men. Besides, this world wasn’t some spin-off of an otome game. It was a male-oriented smut novel.

If there were still a chance to change things, and he knew this world better, he’d have dropped out and run for the hills already.

“Ning Chu, how about you faint again in a bit?” Zhang Shaoqing said with a cheeky grin. “Then we can bring you back here one more time and skip out on training.”

Ning Chu turned his head away, not even bothering to answer. He shifted his butt and leaned back against the headboard, his eyes half-lidded as he gazed at the window.

His hand instinctively pressed against his lower abdomen, as if that could hold back the pain.

This wasn’t like the stomachaches he’d had before. It was a cramping pain that gradually spread, expanding from one spot across a wider area. It wasn’t especially intense, but it wouldn’t let up, making it all the more miserable.

Something occurred to Ning Chu, and he jotted a line in his phone’s notes: September 16—abdominal pain.

He didn’t think it was possible, but if the pain lasted for several days and the same symptoms came back next month, then he really ought to go to the hospital for a checkup.

As ridiculous as it sounded, what if it really was his period?

But the hospitals in this smut-novel world...... Somehow, they felt a little dangerous.

He clearly remembered that he’d once written a few hospital scenes inspired by Night Shift Nurses.

He’d really set himself up for this!

“There’s no way it’s really my period, right?” Ning Chu muttered under his breath, rubbing his temples in frustration.

Wen Yang, who was sitting nearby playing a mobile game, turned to look at him. “What’d you just say?”

“Nothing. My stomach just hurts like hell.”

“Isn’t this the infirmary? Ask the doctor for some medicine.” Zhang Shaoqing kept his eyes fixed on his phone as he got up and headed for the door. He took two steps, then walked straight into a pillar.

“Fuck! Stupid pillar!”

Watching Zhang Shaoqing angrily kick the pillar twice, Ning Chu really couldn’t imagine this dumbass turning into the villain from the book.

Ning Chu had the same thought again.

Then there was Wen Yang, who looked so honest and straightforward. Supposedly, he’d never even held a girl’s hand since turning eighteen, and Ning Chu had even ruined his first date.

How had this guy turned into a womanizing harem king?

“Here, this is for your stomach.” It didn’t take long for Zhang Shaoqing to come back with a small bottle of medicine. “One pill at a time.”

“You haven’t even seen a doctor......”

“The doctor’s busy. There are seven or eight girls waiting outside. Good thing you fainted early, or you’d be sitting on a bench out there too.” He tossed the bottle onto the bed and continued, “It’s just a minor thing. Do you really need a doctor? I could’ve bought you something from the pharmacy myself.”

Ning Chu picked up the bottle without comment, swallowed a pill with some glucose water, then went back to clutching his stomach and staring blankly into space, looking utterly defeated.

Wen Yang finally finished his game and looked up at his roommate, half-reclined on the bed. “How are you feeling? You still look pretty pale.”

“I still don’t feel well......”

“Then why don’t you take the morning off?” Wen Yang said with concern. “Just say the Sichuan food Shaoqing took you for last night was bad and gave you gastroenteritis. The counselor should approve it.”

But Zhang Shaoqing was already grumbling from the side. “How could it have been bad? We ate it too, and we’re fine.”

As they chatted, a middle-aged man walked into the recovery room.

Ning Chu instinctively looked up. When he saw the counselor in his impeccable suit, looking every bit the respectable gentleman, he froze for a moment.

“How are you feeling?” The counselor came to the bedside and looked Ning Chu up and down. Ning Chu awkwardly hunched his shoulders and avoided his gaze. “If you’re feeling better, get back to military training. And you two—have you been slacking off in here for half an hour?”

Zhang Shaoqing retorted without a shred of shame, “I’m taking care of my sick roommate. How’s that slacking off?”

“He looks fine to me.”

“His stomach still hurts! He got gastroenteritis from the Sichuan food we ate last night.”

As they tried to brazenly talk their way into getting more time off, Wen Yang’s gaze shifted to Ning Chu. He’d clearly noticed how uneasy Ning Chu seemed.

He edged a little closer and asked quietly, “Are you feeling sick somewhere else?”

“No......”

Ning Chu rubbed his temples, full of regret and self-reproach.

It was mainly that seeing the counselor, a polished scumbag, made him feel uneasy.

In the book, the counselor used his position to threaten and manipulate female students. Ning Chu had no idea whether anything like that had happened yet.

After all, it was a smut novel. A lot of its plot went against morality, the law, and basic decency. On the page, it was just wish-fulfillment fantasy. If it really happened in real life, though, it’d be nothing but sickening.

Why had he ever written a smut novel in the first place?!

“All right, you two go back to training. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on him.” The counselor couldn’t be bothered to keep arguing with Zhang Shaoqing, so he waved the two of them off. “You say you’re taking care of your roommate, but I heard you playing games out there just now.”

“Keeping a sick person entertained with a game counts as taking care of him, doesn’t it?”

Zhang Shaoqing kept stubbornly arguing, but he still headed for the door, reluctant as could be. He muttered, “The sun’s so blazing. I don’t wanna do military training......”

Wen Yang reluctantly got up and followed him. Ning Chu thought it over, then hurriedly climbed out of bed too.

“Wait for me!”

“You’re feeling better?”

“I’m okay. Let’s leave the recovery room for the other girls. I’m going to training!”

The counselor looked at Ning Chu’s still-somewhat-pale face and frowned slightly. “Fine. Go ahead, then.”

As noon drew near, the sunlight grew harsher and more blinding.

The moment Ning Chu stepped out of the infirmary, the glare made it hard to keep his eyes open. He hurried to catch up with his roommates, then heard Wen Yang ask in surprise,

“Why do you seem to have such a bad impression of the counselor? You’re acting like you did with Shaoqing before—you keep trying to avoid him.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Ning Chu and I have always been tight!”

Ning Chu silently rolled his eyes at Zhang Shaoqing.

Of course he’d been wary of one of the book’s main villains at first. That guy was way more perverted than the counselor. But after spending some time with Zhang Shaoqing, he’d realized the guy was just a dumbass.

As long as he didn’t let the plot between the two of them happen, that dumbass would stay a dumbass forever, and the virgin would stay a virgin forever.

“Hey, wanna order takeout together for lunch? We can combine orders to get the discount.” Zhang Shaoqing came over with his phone in hand.

Wen Yang shook his head. “I’m eating in the cafeteria. I made plans with my girlfriend.”

“Ning Chu? Whoa! How’d you perk up all of a sudden?”

Wen Yang turned around, only to see Ning Chu brimming with fighting spirit, looking at him with renewed determination.

“I’m eating lunch in the cafeteria too! Let’s sit together!”

“Huh?”

That damn woman was trying to use this chance to muscle her way in!

Maybe this was one time he ought to team up with Zhang Shaoqing!

Ning Chu hooked an arm around Zhang Shaoqing’s neck and smiled with a suspiciously warm friendliness. “You’re coming too!”

“I don’t wanna fight the crowds in the cafeteria...... What’s his girlfriend got to do with us? I’m not going!”