I just wanted to cultivate immortality, but I was forced to open a harem

Her popularity is also at the forefront, firmly surpassing the second and third place Yukinoshita Yukino and Kasumigaoka Utaha.

The girl was none other than Kato Megumi, who was already far ahead in the vote count. She showed no joy at all, nor did she shake her head or sigh. She just looked on expressionlessly, as if she was a bystander watching something that had nothing to do with her.

Lin Hezhen looked at the rabbit hairpin, which was quietly lying on the girl's head. The shape of the hairpin was quite cute, and it was obvious that it was the type that little girls would like.

“How does it feel to be popular?”

"Fortunately."

After the initial confusion, Kato Megumi has gradually adapted to her current life.

She used to be a person who was good at observation and networking. Although she was inconspicuous, she was able to play a role in regulating relationships and easing conflicts in small groups. Now that she has become the center of the crowd, it is just a change in role positioning, which is enough for her to cope with with her abilities.

However, adaptation does not mean liking it.

As the center of the crowd, you need to always pay attention to your words and actions, deal with people's enthusiastic words, and avoid giving people the impression of being self-righteous.

During lunch break or after school, her classmates would always invite her to various places to play and meet more friends, but Kato Megumi was a nice person who was not likely to refuse others, so she inevitably felt tired over time.

Lin Hezhen shook his head and said, "Are you okay? Then why is there no smile on your face?"

Kato Megumi was stunned. She stroked her cheek. When was the last time she smiled from the heart? It felt like a long time had passed.

Now there was only a stiff social smile on her face, as if she was wearing a mask, hiding her true emotions and leaving only a perfect shell.

Lin Hezhen asked again: "Is this kind of life what you really want?"

Kato Megumi was speechless, and she felt a little flustered. Staring into those eyes as deep as the starry sky, she always felt that she was seen through from the inside out.

"What do you know?" she asked hoarsely.

"I only know that anything that is not obtained through hard work is ultimately just a fake thing."

Kato Megumi's delicate body trembled, and she raised her hand awkwardly to touch the rabbit hairpin on her bangs.

Lin Hezhen continued to ask, "Your abnormal sense of existence is obtained by praying to the Stony Cat, right?"

Kato Megumi remained silent.

Lin Hezhen took a deep breath and frowned, "The Smileless Cat cannot give you what you want out of thin air. It can only take it from others and give it to you. Do you know what will happen to that person if he loses this sense of existence?"

Kato Megumi had never thought about this question, or rather, she had thought about it, but her intuition prevented her from thinking about it further.

The presence she gained was overwhelming, enough to turn an unremarkable girl into as popular as a school idol.

So what becomes of the person who loses all this?

It definitely won’t be good. Maybe even the days of being an unknown person like before will become difficult for him. He might even become a very annoying person and find it difficult to move forward.

Thinking of this, she felt as if she was on the edge of a cliff and had to grab the sturdy iron railing on the edge of the roof to steady herself.

"Are you trying to say that person is you?" She suspected that Lin He was the victim, otherwise it would be impossible to explain why he knew so much.

"No, do you know the third-year senior Mai Sakurajima?"

Kato Megumi nodded.

Lin Hezhen breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she still remembered it, that was good.

"Now in this world, many people have forgotten her existence. They don't remember what she looks like, don't know her name, and can't even hear her voice or see her figure... When no one can observe her, she will truly disappear, as if she had never existed."

Lin Kazuma narrated calmly, and his words struck Kato Megumi like lightning, causing her to feel a huge sense of guilt.

"Is this true?" Her usually calm face revealed an expression of pain, fear and regret. She felt like a huge rock was pressing down on her heart and she could hardly breathe.

"I didn't expect this, I just, just wanted to be a little more visible."

The girl covered her mouth with her hands and looked up at the sky, trying to hold back the tears that were about to burst out.

"Do you know what it feels like to have no expectations from people since birth? It's a slightly suffocating feeling with anger and powerlessness, as if you're watching yourself sinking little by little to the bottom of the sea, but you can't do anything, and even the sound of asking for help is stuck in your throat and you can't make it out."

"If the world is a large drama performed by many people, then I am the background of this drama, like a tree or a blade of grass, I can only watch the glamorous protagonists perform their own joys, sorrows, anger and happiness from afar, while deeply burying my dream of being the heroine."

"I just want everyone to pay a little attention to me, give me affirmation and recognition, so that I can really feel that I am needed and know that I am not a dispensable person!"

The girl gave up on herself and said the words that had been weighing on her heart for a long time. Her worries and pressure might seem ridiculous to others, but in the girl's heart, they were the culprits that disturbed her peace of mind.

Lin Hezhen did not laugh at her, but said sincerely: "Of course you have the right to pursue a better life, a life that better meets your expectations, but the premise is that it must be something you have fought for through your own efforts. Is what you get now by praying for what you want?"

"Think carefully, does having this sense of existence that doesn't belong to you really make you happy? If you really want it, why don't you try to get it yourself? Besides, don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. No one knows the disadvantages of having a weak sense of existence better than you. So, can you bear to watch another person fall into a more miserable situation than you because of you?"

His words echoed in the girl's heart like a warning bell, causing her to waver.

"So, what should I do?"

"Return the fake thing that the Unsmiling Cat gave you, and then I will help you find your own stage."

Chapter 32: Under the Snow, Continue Tutoring

The lunch break passed quickly, and Lin Hezhen finally persuaded Kato Megumi to cooperate with him, and the two exchanged contact information.

The next thing to do is to find a girl who is deliberately hiding, and let the two meet while Kato Megumi still remembers her, so that Kato Megumi will have a deeper understanding of the seriousness of the matter, and then go together to settle accounts with the Unsmiling Cat.

Unfortunately, he was intercepted again when he was about to run home after school.

Shizuka Hiratsuka, who was wearing a white windbreaker, crossed her arms and sneered, "Did you forget something?"

Only then did he remember that he had promised the other party that he would go to the Service Club to receive tutoring from Yukinoshita Yukino after school every day.

"Teacher, I have something important to do today, so I'm asking for a day off! I promise to rank in the top 20 in the next monthly exam!"

There are a total of 40 students in Lin Hezhen's class. Although the deviation values ​​of students in this school are relatively high, judging from his recent learning results, it is certain that he will be ranked in the top 20.

"Are you going to take the exam without attending the tutoring? Stop talking nonsense. A man should do what he promised." Hiratsuka Shizuka didn't listen to his explanation and directly grabbed his collar and walked towards the club classroom.

With Lin Hezhen's skills, there are a hundred ways for him to escape from her.

But considering the trouble that would follow, and the fact that she was so big, his arms were held tightly by her and he suffered from friction in the cramped space.

Being threatened by Shizuka Hiratsuka with this torture, Hayashi Kazuma said he was powerless and had no intention of resisting, and could only let her drag him to the service club.

When they arrived at the service department entrance, Hiratsuka Shizuka opened the door and pushed Hayashi Kazuma in like a prisoner, warning him, "Don't even think about sneaking away. I'll be watching you the whole time!"

She then said to Yukinoshita Yukino, "Yukinoshita, if this guy dares to skip classes or do something bad to you, just tell me and I will make him regret living in this world."

Yukinoshita Yukino smiled and said, "Teacher, there is more to this world than just going to college. For a young talent like Lin, after dropping out of high school, whether he works on a factory assembly line or works the night shift at a convenience store to think about life, both are very suitable for him."

What this woman says is still irritating. It's such a waste of that pink and tender cherry mouth, which looks so delicious, but has a poisonous tongue!

It makes people want to cover her mouth tightly so that she can only make meaningless whimpering sounds.

Hearing Yukinoshita Yukino's ridicule, Hiratsuka Shizuka stood on Hayashi Kazuma's side and spoke for him.

"This guy was admitted with the third highest score in the school. I believe that as long as he is determined to study hard, he will definitely be admitted to a good university in the future."

"Teacher, I won't let you down." Lin Hezhen promised.

He really couldn't dislike this responsible and warm-hearted teacher.

"I won't be fooled by a few nice words. If you want me to recognize you, then show me your achievements. Also, if you try to escape tutoring again, I will let you taste the iron fist of punishment!" She said, rubbing her hands together viciously.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Yukinoshita." Hiratsuka Shizuka gave her final instructions, waved goodbye and walked out of the classroom.

The classroom door closed, and it was time for the boys and girls to be alone again. Without Yukinoshita Yukino's greeting, Hayashi Kazuma went straight to his seat and sat down.

Since yesterday's tutoring session, he temporarily had his own seat in the service club, located to the right of Yukinoshita, some distance away from her table.

Yukinoshita Yukino closed the book she was reading and said in her unique cold and pleasant voice: "First, give me the homework assigned yesterday so that I can check it, and recite the words and text to me."

"at the same time?"

"Meanwhile. Any questions?"

"If you can do two things at once, then there's really no problem."

"Multitasking is a basic operation for me, who is in the top grade of the school."

This woman, will she die if she doesn't pretend? Lin Hezhen rolled his eyes in his heart, took out the homework and handed it to her, cleared his throat and began to recite.

Even though he had a fight with the Stony Cat early this morning, he still finished his homework seriously yesterday and completed all the tasks assigned to him by Yukinoshita Yukino meticulously.

However, Yukinoshita Yukino is not a woman who is easily satisfied.

She is a person who is strict to others and herself, and pursues perfection in both process and results.

In her dictionary, there is no best, only better, and her attitude towards people is not worst, only worse.

For example, she pointed at Lin Hezhen's answer to a reading question with disdain and said, "The question asked you what the meaning of ending with 'a strange light flashing in the fish's eyes' is. Why did you give a irrelevant answer?"

Lin Hezhen complained, "How should I know why there is a strange light flashing in the fish's eyes? Is it because they died with their eyes open or because they are rich in DHA? Why don't we call Hikigaya Hachiman to ask him? He must have a unique opinion on dead fish eyes."

Yukinoshita Yukino pressed her temples and said patiently, "Think carefully with your brain, which is not much bigger than a fish's brain. The title of this article is 'A Kind of Deliciousness'."

"The whole article describes a family that is short of food and accidentally catches a fish to cook fish soup, but at the end it is discovered that the fish was not cooked into the pot at all. This O. Henry twist is placed at the end, giving people unexpected drama. The 'weird' part has deep meaning, which triggers readers to think deeply about the article."

Lin Hezhen muttered, "But I think maybe even the original author didn't think that much, and the person who set the question was just trying to make things difficult for me."

Yukinoshita took a deep breath and said, "You don't even know the root cause of your own clumsiness, embarrassment, and stupidity, and you still blame others. Don't you feel ashamed? The meaning of a book will become clear after reading it a hundred times. It is not difficult to draw a conclusion if you increase the amount of reading and think diligently."

"If your fish brain really can't understand it, just do more practice. There are only a few types of articles and question ideas. The stupid method of the sea of ​​questions is also suitable for you. What if a blind cat meets a dead mouse and encounters the original question?"

In short, Yukinoshita pointed out his mistakes mercilessly and never let go of any details.

Moreover, while preaching, there were also subtle personal attacks, coupled with the occasional contemptuous glances, which made some special XP enthusiasts exclaim "Great!"

Unfortunately, Lin Hezhen did not awaken any special hobbies. In order to shorten this torturous time, he performed beyond his normal level and completed today's learning tasks ahead of schedule.

Seeing that he had made good progress, Yukinoshita Yukino kindly sped up his learning progress and greatly increased the amount of after-class exercises so that he could spend the following weekend happily. She is such a gentle, considerate and understanding woman.

Lin Hezhen was almost moved to tears. The major educational institutions in the island country need talents like you to help parents realize the dream of "letting their children win at the starting line."

After the tutorial, Hayashi Kazuma asked Yukinoshita Yukino while packing up: "What do you think of the third-year senior Mai Sakurajima?"

"Mai Sakurajima-senpai, who is that?"

"Ha, didn't you say you memorized the names of all the teachers and students in the school?"

Yukinoshita Yukino frowned and said, "It is precisely because I remember the names of all the teachers and students in the school that I am curious. Why have I never heard of this senior? It is more likely that you are mistaken. There is no such person in our school, right?"

Lin Hezhen paused as the situation worsened.

"Goodbye, and thank you for your tutoring."

He hurriedly said goodbye to Yukinoshita Yukino, stuffed all his books and stationery into his schoolbag, and ran out of the classroom.

Chapter 33 The Beautiful Girl Only I Can See

He ran to the door of Sakurajima Mai's classroom, where several students who had just finished club activities were packing up to go home.

"Excuse me, do you know Mai Sakurajima?" he asked standing at the door.

"Sakurajima Mai, who is that?" The students looked at each other.

He found the girl who told him that Mai Sakurajima had asked for leave in the morning and asked, "Do you remember me? This morning I asked you why Mai Sakurajima didn't come to school, and you told me that she asked for leave today."

The girl thought hard and said, "I think I saw you this morning. What was the name of the person you asked about, Ying? Sorry, I don't remember it."

It seemed that Sakurajima Mai's classmates had completely forgotten her. Lin Kazuma no longer wanted to linger and turned around and left.

He took out his cell phone and found that Mai Sakurajima had contacted him many times, but he didn't notice it because he had turned the phone to silent mode during class.

Lin Hezhen hurriedly called back and the call was picked up after just one ring.

"So slow! Why didn't you answer my call?" Sakurajima Mai's voice was full of resentment, like a little woman who was put in a difficult situation by her boyfriend.

"I was taken to tutoring by Shizuka Hiratsuka, and my phone was on silent mode." Hayashi Kazuma explained briefly and asked, "Where are you?"

"I'm at your door. No one can see me now, the talismans don't work, I can't buy anything, and I haven't eaten for a day." There was a barely perceptible tremor in her voice.

"I understand. Now go back to your house and don't run around. I'll come find you right away."

After saying that, Lin Hezhen hung up the phone and hurried home.

He went to the shoe cabinet to change his shoes, and took the time to send group messages to his few contacts on Line, asking them if they still remembered Sakurajima Mai.

Uego Yoshihiko replied in seconds: "Sakurajima Mai, who is that? Is she a girl from our school or from outside? Is she pretty?"

Lin Hezhen sent a voice message saying: "There is someone in the school, very beautiful, but you can't see or touch her, and you can't even remember that there is such a person. She goes to school every day, but everyone in the school ignores her existence."

Uego Yoshihiko: "Are you telling a ghost story? It's so scary."

Lin Hezhen: "No, it's true, because I can see her."

Yoshihiko Uego: "The setting you mentioned is very similar to "Another". Are you catching up on this anime? Although this work is a niche one, the characters, plot, and animation are all great. It is also adapted from the novel by mystery writer Ayatsuji. You have a good eye for choosing it as a first-time otaku work. By the way, I recommend it..."