Devour?
Taking advantage of the moment the teacher was focused on the blackboard, Lin Ye took out his phone and typed in the noun 'Devour'.
1. To swallow, to eat, to consume down. 2. To submerge/engulf. 3. Medically refers to phagocytosis, the process of surrounding and destroying bacteria and other foreign bodies. 4. Aggression and annexation.
These were the literal definitions, but what exactly was the manifestation of his superpower 'Devour'? Lin Ye didn't know.
"It would be easier to understand if there were an explanation, this..."
This time, it was truly somewhat difficult to understand. Previously, Time Stop, perspective, Invisibility, and Sleight of Hand were all very obvious; the problem lay in their drawbacks.
But this single noun this time was indeed a little hard to immediately understand regarding the specific expression of the superpower.
The scope of 'Devour' was varied.
Speaking small, perhaps it was just eating things to increase material utilization efficiency? Speaking big, could he even eat planets, suns, and the universe?
Lin Ye rested his chin on his hand, thinking.
This superpower definitely had a connection with the act of 'eating'. If he wanted to experiment, he had to try eating first.
There was still quite some time before the lunch break, and it was a bit early to eat lunch. Lin Ye's gaze fell upon the bento prepared by Yukino Yukinoshita.
He wondered what lunch Yukinoshita had prepared for him today.
Centering on the superpower and eating, Lin Ye unfolded his thoughts and associations, recording some of his ideas in a notebook to facilitate his later review and analysis.
"Lin Ye, come answer this question."
Once again, Lin Ye was caught and questioned.
Facing the math teacher's question, Lin Ye quickly glanced at the problem on the blackboard, then glanced at the young girl. However, at this moment, the girl remained motionless, showing no trend of turning around to look.
"Teacher, the answer is 1."
He really didn't know much about Japanese Literature or History classes; unknown knowledge was just unknown. But for courses like Mathematics, Physics, or Chemistry, he had at least proactively reviewed and recalled quite a few knowledge points from time to time recently.
The knowledge points and level he once mastered in high school could be said to have recovered to half his level.
Dealing with the teacher's classroom questions wasn't a big problem.
"Mn, be more serious in class from now on."
The math teacher signaled for Lin Ye to sit down.
Only then did Lin Ye notice Yukinoshita's eyes turning to look over.
This girl originally planned to watch his drama, right!
Too much.
Although, yesterday I indeed was a bit sorry to you.
On the podium,
The math teacher continued explaining the next problem.
Lin Ye put down his thoughts on his new superpower and turned to think about another matter.
The matter that was interrupted by the appearance of the new superpower—the disappearance of Mai Sakurajima's presence.
Last week's Invisibility drawback was 'Presence greatly decreased', not completely disappeared. Since that was the case, why was Senpai in a state where she was nearly completely ignored and disappeared, and even the numerous recorded materials regarding her were constantly decreasing?
Lin Ye used his phone to search for 'Mai Sakurajima' again.
The result...
There was even less information.
Lin Ye slowly typed out a question mark.
"Didn't return to normal."
The superpower updated, the drawback was swapped out; shouldn't Senpai's reduced presence have recovered?
Why hadn't the information regarding 'Mai Sakurajima' on the Internet turned back even a little? It even made him feel it had become less.
During this week, after confirming Mai Sakurajima appeared abnormal, Lin Ye would search for 'Mai Sakurajima' information via the Internet every morning to confirm the situation of Senpai's fading presence.
And the current Internet information situation, compared to yesterday, was even worse.
Lin Ye instantly felt a problem.
Senpai's abnormal condition, I'm afraid, hasn't recovered yet!
Threads of cold sweat emerged. This wasn't fear, but the guilt of not fulfilling a promise. It was agreed that on Monday, everything would return to normal, but now it seemed Senpai's problem hadn't been solved.
Lin Ye sat in his seat, rubbing his temples with both hands, alleviating the emerging pressure.
"Senpai's condition..."
"Could it be that the superpower refreshed and the drawback disappeared, but the lasting influence still exists?"
Lin Ye thought about the drawbacks of his previous superpowers, but no drawback continued to act.
Therefore, the drawback of Invisibility should no longer produce an influence on Mai Sakurajima. Senpai's presence should have returned to normal.
Unless...
Lin Ye's expression became serious. He thought of it.
"Puberty Syndrome. Senpai said that more than a month ago, she developed related symptoms, only the frequency wasn't high, the scope wasn't large, and the duration wasn't long."
On the basis of this premise, Mai Sakurajima received the influence of the Invisibility superpower's drawback, greatly decreasing her presence.
The two combined and overlapped, mutually assisting each other.
This led to the appearance of this worst-case scenario, causing the whole world to fall into a state of forgetting Mai Sakurajima, and even the recorded materials began to be lost and disappear.
Up to now, one could even say not much was left.
Going on like this, Mai Sakurajima would likely truly disappear from this world, forgotten by everyone, and even he might not be able to avoid it.
That young girl would be as if she had never appeared.
Slap...
Lin Ye stood up abruptly.
In this instant,
The whole class's lines of sight focused on Lin Ye's body, and Yukino Yukinoshita was also within that scope.
"Teacher, sorry, my body is a little uncomfortable."
He immediately covered his stomach, his face becoming a bit unsightly.
The teacher on the podium actually didn't believe it, but he waved his hand, signaling that Lin Ye could leave.
Under everyone's gaze, Lin Ye walked out of the classroom slightly hunched over.
His agreement with Mai Sakurajima was for noon. It wasn't noon yet, but Lin Ye felt he should take the initiative to inform Senpai in advance, rather than dragging it out until 12 o'clock and passively being discovered by Mai Sakurajima.
In the former case, Lin Ye believed he could occupy more initiative and could also better comfort Senpai.
In the latter case, he might lose more of Senpai's trust.
Lin Ye took steps forward, but saw that teacher in a white coat ahead.
It was Shizuka Hiratsuka.
Lin Ye immediately used Time Stop and quickly left the teaching building. In his view, running into Shizuka Hiratsuka would definitely result in a bout of questioning.
The excuse of going to the toilet wouldn't work well; after all, the toilet wasn't in the same direction he was walking.
Shizuka Hiratsuka blinked, looking at the empty corridor passage before her eyes.
"Saw wrong?"
She shook her head, inserting her hands into the pockets of her white coat. "Smoke a cigarette, rest a bit."
She was afraid she was a bit overworked lately; even hallucinations had appeared.
...
...
Tap tap tap...
Lin Ye walked alone in the empty club building.
Before long,
He arrived at the Service Club.
Knock knock knock...
Lin Ye knocked on the door first. "I'm coming in, Senpai."
He waited slightly for two extra seconds. Seeing no voice shouting to stop coming from inside, he pushed open the Service Club's classroom door and walked in.
The Service Club was empty. The windows were open, the clear breeze blowing in, the light gauze curtains swaying.
No one?
No, could it be that I can't see Senpai anymore either?
"Senpai."
"Senpai Sakurajima."
...
Lin Ye's voice held an extra portion of nervousness.
"Don't scare me, come out quickly."
However,
There was no response. She seemed to have disappeared.
Gulp.
Lin Ye swallowed, the bad premonition in his heart becoming increasingly intense.
Now that the superpower Invisibility had refreshed and changed to the new superpower Devour, could he also no longer see Mai Sakurajima whose presence had disappeared to near completion?
"Senpai, you... are here, right!"
"Write some words on the table with water, or paper currency..."
Lin Ye suddenly thought of something. He immediately took the water bottle, shook it to confirm there was still water inside, and poured it directly onto the tabletop.
However,
The water on the tabletop didn't undergo any change. The words he expected did not appear.
Lin Ye's heart fell to rock bottom.
Now, Senpai was likely... truly disappeared, never again in this...
"Student Lin, why did you come over?"
At the doorway,
The figure of a beautiful girl with long black hair appeared.
Mai Sakurajima was looking at Lin Ye, who appeared in the Service Club with a face full of sorrow, with a slightly puzzled look.
Lin Ye turned to look. Seeing that familiar figure at a glance, the sorrow in his heart was replaced, and emotions of joy and rejoicing excitement emerged.
He slowly exhaled a breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart. "What did Senpai go do just now?"
"What's wrong?"
Mai Sakurajima recalled and thought for a moment, realizing the reason for Lin Ye's abnormally anxious attitude. "You didn't think I disappeared and couldn't be seen either, right!"
"Mn."
Lin Ye, contrary to Mai Sakurajima's expectation, admitted it directly without a shred of embarrassment.
He walked to arrive in front of Mai Sakurajima. He extended his hand, wanting to pinch Mai Sakurajima's cheek, but ultimately placed his hands on the girl's shoulders and patted them gently.
"I really thought I couldn't see you anymore, Senpai."
An indescribable trace of throbbing; that was the warm current of being cared for.
"I just went to the bathroom."
"So that's how it is. I should have thought of it earlier. I should have gone directly to the bathroom to find you, Senpai."
"Pervert."
Mai Sakurajima cursed with a slightly red face.
"Just kidding."
Lin Ye smiled, alleviating the suppressed emotions. "There is something I need to tell you, Senpai."
"What?"
Seeing Lin Ye's somewhat hesitant appearance, Mai Sakurajima associated it with something and spoke with a relaxed tone. "Say it directly! It's about my abnormality, right! Can it not be solved?"
"Temporarily can't restore the original state. Senpai can test it now; others probably still can't see you."
Best if it worked, but Lin Ye hoped Mai Sakurajima would be mentally prepared for failure.
The records regarding Mai Sakurajima on the Internet hadn't recovered. This indicated that the mysterious power suspected to be 'Puberty Syndrome' was still acting on Mai Sakurajima's body.
"Mn."
Mai Sakurajima gave a hum, and she and Lin Ye headed to the teaching building together.
Lin Ye didn't follow her inside but let Mai Sakurajima enter alone to test.
And the result...
A huge classroom, more than thirty people including the teacher—everyone ignored her existence as if they hadn't seen her.
Sure enough.
She hadn't recovered.
Will it be like this forever in the future?
Mai Sakurajima's heart fell to rock bottom.
She went to a few classrooms; the results were still the same, without any change. She left the teaching building and regrouped with Lin Ye.
"Senpai, I will think of a way."
"..."
"Please believe me one more time. I will definitely let you return to normal."
Now there was no influence from the Invisibility superpower's drawback anymore. Mai Sakurajima's current condition, barring accidents, was the influence of Puberty Syndrome.
He had a method. The simplest was using the method from the original work, but would the method from the original work be effective?
Lin Ye hesitated. Therefore, he needed to find a more suitable method to awaken the public's memory of Mai Sakurajima, to recognize Mai Sakurajima's existence, and let Mai Sakurajima be observed by everyone in this world once again.
Facing Lin Ye's promise,
Mai Sakurajima wanted to believe, but it had already failed once. Yet, not believe?
If she chose not to believe, what about the future?
"Senpai, you don't think I deliberately didn't help you in order to monopolize you, right!"
While Mai Sakurajima was still struggling in thought, a sentence from Lin Ye pulled her back to reality, revealing a look of astonishment.
"Although Senpai is very pretty, has a great figure, and long black hair hits my moe point even more, plus the bonus of being a big star makes it even more thrilling when bullying you..."
Mai Sakurajima: "..."
This guy indeed had ulterior thoughts about her.
But these thoughts made her happy more than worried.
This was the best manifestation of her feminine charm. Compared to Kyou Fujibayashi, compared to Yukino Yukinoshita, compared to Ai Hoshino, she didn't lose at all.
"But I absolutely won't deliberately attempt to keep Senpai by my side because of these reasons. Really, please believe me, look at my sincere eyes."
Lin Ye moved a step closer, but following Lin Ye's smile, all this atmosphere vanished cleanly instantly.
"Where are your eyes sincere?"
"You look."
"No."
"Then you taste."
"No."
But at this point, Mai Sakurajima had also made her choice. She decided to believe Lin Ye one more time.
Apart from trusting Lin Ye again, she had no other choice.
"Senpai, I have a method, but I need to plan and arrange. I need a few days. Please wait calmly for a few more days."
"Mn."
She hummed.
Lin Ye stood in front of Mai Sakurajima, clearly able to smell the pleasant faint fragrance on the girl's body.
"If my method can't take effect and can't let Senpai recover from this abnormality to normal, I will be responsible. Please rest assured."
Mai Sakurajima: ???
This 'responsible' of yours, you plan to cohabit with me for a lifetime, right? That's the meaning, right!
"I suspect you are doing it on purpose now, not putting in your full effort."
"Hahaha, how could that be! Definitely won't."
Lin Ye's smile made it hard for Mai Sakurajima to judge truth from falsehood.
But she had no other choice. Even if Lin Ye deliberately didn't solve it, she could only accept it. Now, in the whole world, apart from Lin Ye, no one could see her anymore.
Leaving Lin Ye, how would her future be? She didn't know.
Every prevision stopped in time under worry.
Lin Ye also knew the girl's heart wasn't calm at this time. The hope he gave initially had been shattered, and the promise he gave didn't have a clear time stipulation. In the girl's view, this meant he didn't have much certainty.
Therefore,
Mai Sakurajima's current psychological and mental state actually hadn't improved much. It was just Mai Sakurajima regulating herself, maintaining outward calmness as much as possible to put his mind at ease.
Ding-a-ling...
The teaching building's class bell rang. Ten minutes ago, a dismissal bell had already rung.
"Still not going to class?"
Mai Sakurajima said in a sentence.
"If you don't plan to go to class because you're worried about me, there's no need. I, Mai Sakurajima, won't be defeated by this little setback yet."
The girl with long black hair appeared full of self-confidence.
She didn't hope Lin Ye would miss class because of her. Although in her view, given Lin Ye's current specialness, whether he attended class or not wasn't a big problem. But sure enough, since he was a student, since he was at school, he still had to attend class properly.
"Here I can admire the big star Mai Sakurajima."
Mai Sakurajima sighed lightly. "You've looked for so many days, still not enough?"
"How is that enough? At least a lifetime is needed, right! Hahaha..."
Mai Sakurajima thought it would be a month, but this guy...
"If Yukinoshita and the others hear these words of yours, they'll be heartbroken."
"Didn't they not hear it!"
"Scum."
"Being called that by Senpai, I have no way out either."
Lin Ye didn't explain or refute. If he was scum, then he was scum!
He accepted it. Unable to be single-minded to one person, only able to be single-minded to a group, calling him scum was fine too!
"Hurry and go to class!"
Under Mai Sakurajima's repeated suggestion, Lin Ye accepted and left.
"Sigh!"
Watching Lin Ye disappear at the end of the corridor, Mai Sakurajima sighed lightly.
Now that Lin Ye had left, she could reveal her true side—weak, worried, and even helpless.
"If I can never return to normal, I... what should I do! Is a life always like this in the future... okay?"
She lowered her head, slightly depressed. "Believe him, believe one more time."
She mustered up some spirit.
She couldn't give up. Once she gave up, everything would end.
She still had hope.
Mai Sakurajima walked to the window, gazing at the scenery in the distance.
The green youthful campus scenery outside the window calmed her mood slightly.
Lin Ye saw this and only then left with peace of mind. At least Senpai didn't have any thoughts of taking her own life.
There was still one chance.
He had to succeed, letting Senpai break away from this abnormal predicament.
Lin Ye left quietly.
If he didn't adopt this method, he feared he wouldn't be able to determine Senpai's true inner thoughts.
With him present, Mai Sakurajima wouldn't speak the truth.
Internally, Lin Ye said sorry to Mai Sakurajima and returned to the classroom.
"Sorry, Teacher, I'm late."
The subject teacher didn't make things too difficult for Lin Ye.
Lin Ye returned to his own seat, but just as he sat down, he felt the line of sight coming from Yukinoshita.
The girl was very curious about what he went to do during the time he left.
She took out a slip of paper, wrote, then erased it. In the end, she didn't choose to throw the paper slip to ask.
Yukino decided to ask at noon.
The lunch break time arrived.
Students of Class J left the classroom one after another.
"Finally class is over."
"Starving me to death."
"My pork cutlet rice bowl, I'm coming."
...
Two minutes later, only Lin Ye and Yukino Yukinoshita remained.
The two left the classroom one after another, walking toward the club building.
Leaving the teaching building and walking outdoors where there weren't many people around, Yukino Yukinoshita spoke up, "What did you do in the morning?"
She looked at the boy beside her.
"Stomach uncomfortable."
"I want to hear the truth."
"Comforting someone."
Was it a girl?
Yukino Yukinoshita thought about it and didn't ask this question that simply didn't need asking.
Someone Lin Ye would deliberately feign illness to leave the classroom to comfort during class, how could it be a man? At least this man wasn't kind enough to the degree of comforting a man.
Mood was bad.
This time, Lin Ye and Yukino Yukinoshita were the first to arrive at the Service Club. Of course, Mai Sakurajima didn't count.
Mai Sakurajima, standing by the window, leaned her back against it, looking toward the two with a calm expression.
Lin Ye said he would come to the Service Club to eat lunch at noon. Dining together with a quasi-fiancée beautiful girl, this was something many boys anticipated and yearned for, right!
Thinking about it this way, Lin Ye was truly happy too. His experiences would be envied by who knows how many men.
Just the ambiguous girls of Lin Ye she knew about, any one taken out would be school beauty level. Yet this guy contacted several at the same time, focusing on being sentimental and universally loving.
"What's wrong?"
Lin Ye noticed Yukinoshita's changed expression.
"I remember the chairs were placed straight."
Before leaving, she would confirm the placement of tables and chairs.
"Maybe someone came during the holiday!"
"Mn."
Yukino Yukinoshita nodded and accepted this explanation. She sat down, placed the bento on the tabletop, and opened it.
"Here."
Only then did Mai Sakurajima know that Lin Ye's lunch bento was prepared by Yukino Yukinoshita.
These two, they didn't admit an intimate relationship at first. Now not only were they quasi-fiancés, but Yukinoshita also prepared bento. This relationship counted as intimate no matter what.
"Making bento for you, allowing you to live in her apartment, and inviting you to mooch meals. I suggest you two just get married immediately and become husband and wife! There's no need to live separately either."
In Japan, this age could already get married.
Lin Ye glanced silently at Mai Sakurajima.
She understood that look.
This was not wanting to give up an entire forest for a single sapling waiting to grow!
This man was indeed greedy.
Knock knock knock...
The sound of knocking rang out.
"Yahallo, Yahallo."
Yui Yuigahama opened the classroom door and waved proactively to say hello.
Those trembling dumplings made Mai Sakurajima startled enough to take a few extra looks.
This age, so voluptuous, for real?
However, speaking of which, this girl with the pink dumpling bun was also quite cute. The exquisite makeup let her judge that this girl was the type who pursued fashion, having a distinct difference from Yukino Yukinoshita.
Yui Yuigahama also sat down, taking out the bento she brought.
Lin Ye opened the bento box pushed in front of him. He was stunned.
One glance, all vegetarian dishes.
Green vegetables, carrots, tomatoes, accompanied by rice. The entire bento's colors looked very good, but the nutrition was severely unbalanced.
"Yukinoshita, I... am not losing weight."
"Eat more vegetables. It can let you have less energy and thoughts."
There were words within words.
Definitely.
Lin Ye knew even more that this was Yukinoshita's small revenge against him, expressing dissatisfaction with him.
"I want to eat meat."
Finally,
Under Lin Ye's gaze, Yukino Yukinoshita put a small piece of steak from her own bento box into Lin Ye's bento box.
"You are so nice!"
Still had to be meat.
Couldn't do without meat.
Lin Ye moved his chopsticks. He ate rice first.
The taste didn't have any change.
Afterwards, he ate tomatoes and green vegetables, and there wasn't any major change either.
Finally, it was the steak.
If eating the steak also had no change, then this superpower Devour probably had no necessary relationship with eating.
He had to start from other aspects.
Lin Ye took a bite.
The taste of the steak cooked by Yukino Yukinoshita was still not bad. Although it was already cold due to the time, the taste was still delicious.
The taste of black pepper wrapping the beef spread on the tip of the tongue. The meat quality was fine and elastic; regarding material selection, the young girl definitely chose good ingredients.
One could see the girl's concentration on this.
But up to now, Lin Ye hadn't sensed changes in his body either.
Even eating meat didn't work.
Lin Ye was a little disappointed.
"What's wrong, taste isn't good?"
"No, it's my problem. Thought of a matter."
Lin Ye took a second bite. Instantly, his eyes changed.
"Yukinoshita, this steak of yours can still taste like chicken? How did you do that?"
So magical!
Lin Ye took two more bites, all discovering a chicken flavor.
On this point, he still had confidence.
"Chicken flavor? Impossible."
Making steak into chicken flavor?
Wasn't this seeking far and neglecting near?
The price of beef was unknown how much higher than chicken. Moreover, she used top-grade steak. This price doubled again several times; making it into chicken flavor could simply be said to be a waste of heavenly gifts.
Lin Ye ate and ate again, but he indeed tasted chicken flavor.
And Yukino Yukinoshita also tasted it, savoring carefully. "There isn't any problem. Student Yuigahama, you try eating it."
She handed the bento box to the front of Yui Yuigahama.
"I, I'll try eating it."
Yui Yuigahama took a piece and ate it. "Steak, no chicken flavor. Student Lin, is your body uncomfortable, affecting your sense of taste?"
Sense of taste had a problem?
But the next second,
Lin Ye suddenly felt the steak in his mouth also appeared to have the taste of cauliflower.
What the hell was this situation?
The drawback is affecting sense of taste?
Suddenly,
A strand of peculiar faint fragrance drilled into Lin Ye's nose tip.
This wasn't the smell of ingredients, but the smell of a woman.
Lin Ye blinked looking at Yukinoshita, then looked at Yui Yuigahama, and even glanced at Mai Sakurajima. But he remembered very clearly that the scents of the three girls were completely different from this scent.
Even sense of smell was affected?
What is this drawback!
Or was it caused by the superpower, and not caused by the drawback?
Lin Ye once again examined himself in a circle from top to bottom, but still didn't discover he had any changes.
He wanted to figure out the new superpower more and more.
Now, he didn't even know how to correctly use this superpower. He couldn't just not use it and waste this superpower that appeared for a duration of one week in vain.
Perhaps this superpower was very powerful!
Lin Ye couldn't help but think.
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