July 24, Thursday

It was already 34°C in the early morning.

By noon, it was definitely going to break 38°C.

Was the sun planning to turn the entire city into an oven?!

Since Master Halliluya banned me from investigating under the bridge, I finally got to sleep in until 10 AM.

I only got up because the old air conditioner in my room couldn’t fight off the blazing sunlight streaming through the balcony.

Half-awake, I checked my phone.

[Seven Deadly Sins - Lust: Commander! SOS! Disaster! Starting today, the social worker uncle is on vacation! The school water station is closed! No one’s delivering water! I’m so thirsty… I need something cold…]

At this godforsaken temperature, Zhao Zhao was still stuck in an AC-less classroom, suffering through summer school.

And now, he didn’t even have water.

By the time I finished reading this message… he was probably no longer of this world.

Should I bring him water?

Nope.

That would just be throwing away my own life for nothing.

I’d probably evaporate into thin air before even reaching the school.

Farewell, Zhao Zhao. May heaven bless you with unlimited air-conditioning.

Given Old Feng's disappearance, I set three ironclad rules for myself—

I can only write down the name of the victim... ahem, I mean, the target for beautiful girl transformation if all three conditions are met.

1. I must know the target’s appearance—both before and after transformation.
2. I must have the target’s contact information.
3. I must know the target’s home address.

In other words, I must be able to track them down after they transform.

If I can’t guarantee that, I absolutely cannot write their name down.

I refuse to accidentally screw myself over and become an unlucky disaster magnet.

After hastily solving the "what counts as breakfast" dilemma, I aimlessly browsed QueB Le ¹.

Then my phone rang.

"Kai-chan, how’s your summer vacation going?"

A voice that could be mistaken for either male or female—crisp and airy, like a bamboo flute.

It was Tan Rinka.

A perfect beauty in both appearance and personality—

Only flaw?

He’s a guy.

"Not bad,"
I replied casually.
"What’s up?"

"You know what I’m calling about… The thing we agreed on before summer break? You remember, right?"

I paused to recall—

Oh, right.

He wanted me to model for Yan Liuzhuan for a day.

In exchange, he’d let me use his secret base.

And my one condition was:

As long as I don’t have to wear women’s clothing, I’m in.

"Ohh, yeah! I remember now. Is it today?"

"Yep! You free?"

"No problem, I can head out now."

"Awesome!"
His voice practically bounced with excitement.
"Let’s meet at the metro station at 11! I’ll bring the outfits!"

Wait.

"Hold up. What do you mean, ‘outfits’?"

I had a bad feeling about this.

"Even if it’s men’s clothing, you still have to wear my chosen men’s clothing, right? Oh, and we’ll need to do some light makeup."

"Nooo way!"

"Eh? But Kai-chan, you only said no to wearing women's clothes, right?"

Wait…

Was our school beauty actually this manipulative?!

Before heading out, I stared at my Bishoujo Notebook, debating.

It was too hot to carry a bag.

But if I didn’t bring it, I might regret it later.

"Notebook-sama, can you still teleport to me if I need you?"

…

No response.

Master Halliluya claimed it was sentient, but whenever I talked to it, it acted just like a regular notebook.

What would I even need to bribe it with to get on its good side?

In the end, I stuffed a few moonstones into my pocket and headed out.

Moonstones have an air of mystery, making them great for deception—I mean, persuasion tools.

I had recently bought a bunch at a discount.

The store owner thought I was making prayer bead bracelets, so he gave me a deal on lower-quality stones.

The metro station wasn’t far from my house, but the unbearable heat slowed me down.

The streets looked like a desert, with heatwaves distorting the air.

Even the ground itself seemed warped and wobbly.

I barely made it on time.

Rinka was already there.

He wore a sleeveless sky-blue dress with a sun hat, leaning against a ventilation outlet while playing on his phone.

As I got closer, I noticed he had a light pink women’s backpack—

That’s gotta be where the "outfits" are…

We made eye contact at the same time.

"Kai-chan, you’re so slow! Are you one of those guys who insists on arriving exactly on time? If you’re meeting a girl, you should show up at least half an hour early!"

He put his hands behind his back, bent forward slightly, and tilted his head up to look at me.

These types of upward gazes from girls are seriously cute.

But we’re not dating!

Why am I getting scolded when I arrived exactly on time?!

"Sorry, sorry. The heat slowed me down."

"But wow, your outfit is way too casual. If you show up to Yan Liuzhuan’s place like that, he might not even let you in!"

"Wait, what? That’s a thing? Whatever, if he won’t let me in, so be it."

So what if it’s just a T-shirt?!

Is it eating your rice or something?!

"Alright, alright. You know how picky he is… Here, change into this."

Rinka handed me a drawstring bag.

I highly doubted his definition of "normal men’s clothing."

For all I knew, it could be something that "looks masculine but is actually women's fashion."

I changed in a KFC bathroom.

Surprisingly, the outfit was normal—a white dress shirt and a lightweight suit vest.

…Relatively speaking.

Because this wasn’t normal everyday wear—

This was the kind of flamboyant outfit worn by male hosts in Japanese host clubs.

The shirt collar was ridiculously long and had a silver cross sewn onto it.

The shiny black nylon vest was decorated with pointless chains and badges.

This outfit radiated pure "host club energy."

Most people could never pull this off.

But I am not ‘most people’.

I am a ridiculously good-looking protagonist.

If I took off my glasses and swept back my bangs—

Ikebukuro’s No.1 Host Club King would be mine in an instant.

…

Oh s̲h̲i̲t̲.

I looked in the mirror—

Who the hell was this gorgeous beauty sporting the bad-boy look?!

Forget No.1 host—

I look like a top-class Yoshiwara² courtesan!!!

That uncle right there, yes, stop trying to assure yourself with the restroom signs.

This IS the men’s room!

As a fully legitimate male in the men’s room,

WHY AM I THE ONE WHO HAS TO ESCAPE?!

"Ahh, this turned out exactly as I imagined!"

Rinka happily clapped his hands, looking completely satisfied with his fashion choices.

"As expected from Kai-chan! You’re a natural model! Just this face alone could make you rich!"

"Don’t even joke about that. You know how much I hate it."

Sorry, even though I could easily make a living off my looks, I insist on relying on my talent instead. I refuse to bow down to money…

Unless, of course, if there's just too much of it.

In that case, let's talk.

"Alright, let’s do some light makeup."

"Can we do it at his house instead? It’s scorching outside, It’ll definitely sweat off."

"No worries. If I do your makeup, it won’t smudge even if you go for a swim~"

Wait.

Would it even come off with washing?!

Was he planning to paint my face with oil paint?!

"Now that you mention it, your own makeup looks perfectly intact."

"Oh, that’s because I live five minutes away from the subway station~"
He beamed.
"I might look like this, but my foundation is pretty thick. If I actually sweat, it does get affected a little."

An apartment right by the metro?

Rent there must be expensive.

But considering this guy owns a secret base hidden in the school, I doubt money is an issue for him.

"Thick? It looks totally natural to me."

This flawless skin—was it all just makeup?!

Hearing this, he proudly stood tall with hands on his hips.

"See? That’s because I’m that good at it~"

To get to Yan Liuzhuan’s place, we had to ride five subway stops.

And throughout the entire trip, I felt the piercing weight of dozens of stares.

I was seriously regretting handing my big-frame glasses over to Rinka, who had a bag, for ease of safekeeping.

Meanwhile, he was soaking up the attention, clearly enjoying himself.

To any outsiders, we probably just looked like two high school girls on a summer vacation date.

Under the assault of countless prying eyes, we finally reached our new destination—

Unlocked new map: Yunzhou Road, Pingcheng New Street Station.