Based on An Han's current understanding of the system, judging a task's difficulty solely by its description was absolutely wrong—it should be judged by the reward instead.
Besides, a transformation magic wand? Like Ultraman's transformation device? That seemed utterly useless to him.
There were no monsters in this world—no need for him to fight anything.
Could it be another kind of magic wand? Like the one from Cardcaptor Sakura?
An Han ran through his mental catalog of all things resembling a magic wand...
Surely it couldn't be one of those magical girl transformation wands, like the one from that twin-tailed anime, right?
"What's wrong with you?" Su Peng asked, noticing An Han staring fixedly at him. He assumed it was because of the spilled snack earlier and started checking his clothes for stains.
"N-nothing! Nothing at all," An Han shook his head quickly.
Regardless of what this "magic wand" actually did, unless it could turn stones into gold, it wouldn't be of much use to him—he didn't even know any magic.
But if he chose the random attribute points option, he'd need Su Peng's help.
Having his friend watch him dress up in women's clothes and go on a date with his roommate… wasn't that clearly the harder option? Was the system seriously trying to push his shame threshold even lower?
"What exactly can you help me with?" An Han's face visibly flushed crimson. He began doubting whether his understanding of the system had been completely off all along.
Logically speaking, the first option—rejecting Su Peng outright—should've been the easiest.
Su Peng chuckled and matched An Han's pace. "You haven't even told me what you need me to do yet."
"Cross-dress."
An Han forced the words out through his mounting embarrassment. The heat from his shame made his cheeks glow an irresistibly cute shade of red.
"Oh, so you really do have a thing for cross-dressing, huh?" Su Peng teased.
"Not at all! It was just… an accident!" An Han protested fiercely. "I'm a perfectly healthy, normal guy!"
Su Peng didn't press further. After a brief pause, he shrugged helplessly. "Well, anything else I could manage, sure—but cross-dressing? That's totally outside my area of expertise."
"Huh?"
"But if you're gonna cross-dress, you'll at least need to cover your Adam's apple, right?"
An Han instinctively touched his throat, nodding thoughtfully.
Although the system had already adjusted his physique so he wasn't as scrawny anymore, his Adam's apple was still quite prominent. If Long Xing noticed it, he'd definitely become suspicious.
"I should go buy a ribbon or something," he muttered to himself.
[System Notification: Task Completed. +1 to Appearance Attribute. Bonus: +5 to Su Peng's Affection Level.]
Wait—how did Su Peng's affection level go up?
An Han quickly brushed the question aside. He had more pressing matters to deal with.
"What else?" Su Peng asked.
"Leg hair?"
That was another issue. Although black pantyhose could hide leg hair to some extent, that only worked in dim lighting—and the pair he'd bought were summer-weight, too sheer to fully conceal anything.
Su Peng's help could minimize the chances of him being exposed.
An Han hooked his arm around Su Peng's neck and dragged him toward the same motel they'd visited before. "Come on! Be my fashion consultant!"
After all, Su Peng had already seen him in women's clothes on the balcony. Now that his shame threshold had been lowered, he felt oddly fearless.
"So… why exactly are you cross-dressing?" Su Peng asked.
"To meet Brother Long." At the mention of this, An Han's newly adjusted shame threshold started feeling inadequate again.
His previously calmed emotions began churning once more.
After all, becoming his roommate's crush while dressed as a girl… no matter how you looked at it, that was just absurdly bizarre.
"Long Xing?"
"Remember that time you saw me on the balcony? Well, I ran into Brother Long outside campus in that outfit, and then…"
An Han covered his face with one hand. "He fell head over heels for me at first sight."
Su Peng was speechless. He just stared at An Han, whose blush had spread all the way to his ears, unsure what to say.
"He even took secret photos of me in that outfit. Later, he realized the girl he liked looked a lot like me."
"Plus, Chen Junjie kept stirring the pot, so Brother Long started suspecting that the girl he liked was actually me in drag."
An Han felt his whole situation was just too surreal.
"If he finds out it really was me… I'm doomed!" he wailed dramatically—then suddenly perked up, grabbing Su Peng's hand with intense eyes. "Hey, can you beat up Brother Long?"
Su Peng instinctively leaned back, unable to handle An Han's pleading puppy-dog eyes. "No way. Definitely not."
"Then you, my dear apprentice, better hit the gym more—you've gotta protect your master!" An Han's face was still bright red, but his mouth refused to stop teasing. He patted Su Peng's shoulder like some old-fashioned cadre.
"You should focus more on how you're gonna fool Long Xing," Su Peng deadpanned.
"Yeah…" An Han's expression instantly drooped. "Go buy me a scarf first—something I can tie around my neck."
"And get thicker pantyhose too."
"What about a hat and mask? They could cover your face," Su Peng suggested.
An Han considered it for a moment, then shook his head. "Deliberately hiding my face might look suspicious."
The wig alone should be enough to alter his appearance, and since their meeting would be at night—Long Xing had stared at those cross-dressing photos endlessly without noticing anything off, so this time should be fine too.
Back at the small motel, An Han noticed the owner was giving him a rather odd look.
He didn't dwell on it and led Su Peng straight to their room.
"You go buy the stuff first—I'll change into the outfit here." He sounded surprisingly calm; after all, Su Peng had already seen him dressed like this once. "Meet me back here when you're done."
"Alright…" Su Peng scratched his head, still confused about how he'd gotten roped into helping someone cross-dress to deceive another person.
Just as he turned to leave, An Han suddenly grabbed his wrist. Turning back, Su Peng found himself staring into a pair of huge, dark eyes—filled with pleading and vulnerability. His protective instincts flared up instantly.
"Don't worry—I won't tell anyone," Su Peng promised softly.
"I was actually talking about your grilled cold noodles…"
Su Peng glanced down at the snack in his hand—he'd almost forgotten he'd gone out to buy street food.
"It's already spilled anyway—what a waste to just throw it away, right?" An Han grinned, snatching the food. "I don't mind eating it. I'm kinda hungry."
"I don't mind either."
"But you've got stuff to do! Since you're heading out anyway, just grab another one on your way," An Han said matter-of-factly, already settling at the small table in the room and waving him off. "Hurry up, go go!"
Su Peng couldn't help but laugh—he'd never met someone so shamelessly pushy.
"What if I just go tell everyone you're secretly a cross-dresser?" he teased.
"I'm sorry! I was wrong!" An Han immediately bowed his head, offering the grilled cold noodles back with both hands like an apology gift. "Here, Big Brother, please eat."
"What's wrong with you?" Su Peng flicked him lightly on the forehead. "Just eat it. I'll be back in about half an hour."
An Han sat obediently, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Okay!"
Had he always thought this guy was just eccentric? Now he was starting to seem… oddly adorable.
Shaking his head, Su Peng left the room.