Chapter 39 It Is Quite Absurd

"Hey! Where are you going?!"

Qin Lu shouted at Chu Liunian's retreating back. Her actions were so sudden that Qin Lu was somewhat caught off guard.

Perhaps it was because Chu Liunian had looked far too pitiful just moments ago, or perhaps out of concern for her physical condition—whatever the reason, after shouting, Qin Lu quickly hurried after her.

His three roommates exchanged bewildered glances before also stepping forward to follow.

By the time they caught up with Qin Lu, he was already standing still, his gaze locked onto a temporarily erected fitting room within the convention grounds.

Chu Liunian had just run inside there.

Li Chenggang scratched his head and asked in confusion, "Why did she suddenly run in there? Is she planning to change her clothes or something?"

After a brief pause, he continued, "If it's because she was terrified by those three gas tanks earlier, that's understandable. But now that those three gas tanks are gone, what is she still afraid of?"

Wu Xuan pushed up the frame of his glasses, a flash of profound wisdom hiding beneath the lenses as he replied, "I don't know."

Li Chenggang gave him an exasperated glare.

Qin Lu was also pondering this very question. Glancing to the side, he noticed Wang Chen's expression looked a bit uncertain and doubtful, prompting him to ask, "Did you figure something out?"

Wang Chen thought for a moment and countered with a question of his own, "Do you guys remember what I told you earlier about Chu Liunian scolding those three gas tanks back at school?"

Li Chenggang and Wu Xuan both froze, while Qin Lu said thoughtfully, "Could the news you heard have been exaggerated, or perhaps completely made up by someone else? Judging by the way she cowered just now, she doesn't look like someone capable of chewing anyone out at all. It's a miracle she wasn't the one being yelled at."

Wang Chen said helplessly, "Yet it's actually true. Why else do you think I told you she wouldn't necessarily get the short end of the stick? But her behavior just now was indeed a bit different from when she dressed down those three guys. I suspect it might have something to do with the clothes she was wearing."

Hearing this, even Qin Lu was left somewhat dumbfounded, and he subconsciously asked, "Sora-chan's cosplay outfit? What could possibly be wrong with that?"

"I heard... cough, I just heard about it too, so believe it if you want, or just consider it me talking nonsense if you don't."

Wang Chen first offered a preemptive disclaimer, then carefully chose his words as he explained, "Someone posted on the campus forum before, saying that Chu Liunian has a very strange personality—sometimes quite easygoing, sometimes rather silent, and at other times quite annoying, speaking with hidden barbs and exceptionally good at tearing people down."

"Originally, nobody took it too seriously, just thinking she was the eccentric type. But later, someone who had a secret crush on Chu Liunian claimed that through observation, they noticed whenever Chu Liunian's personality changed, the clothes she wore would change accordingly."

"You guys know, Chu Liunian always wears JK uniforms at school, or various cosplay outfits, and has never worn anything resembling normal clothes. Because of this, wasn't she dubbed the 'Otaku Goddess' back in our freshman year?"

"So that person with a crush on her suggested that she might be deliberately roleplaying the anime character matching her outfit, which is why her personality appeared so strange..."

Wang Chen finished his leisurely explanation, looked at the bewildered faces of the other three, spread his hands, and shrugged. "Pretty absurd, right? I thought it was pretty absurd too, so back then I just read the post for laughs."

Li Chenggang opened and closed his mouth, looking as though he had a flood of sarcastic remarks he wanted to spit out, but ultimately he only uttered five words: "That is pretty absurd."

Wang Chen nodded. "Precisely because it's so absurd, everyone who read that post concluded that the person with a crush on her was overthinking things, or that Chu Liunian was just a hardcore anime fan with severe secondary-school syndrome. Personally, I think that explanation makes the most sense."

Li Chenggang scratched his head. "Wait, if that's true, does that mean she scolded those three gas tanks earlier because she was playing a rather aggressive and sharp-tongued character, and the reason she cowered this time is because the Sora-chan she's portraying is kind of timid?"

Wu Xuan attempted an analysis of his own, "That still doesn't make sense. Even if Chu Liunian is deliberately roleplaying anime characters, her behavior just now is still off. Sure, Sora-chan is shut-in, introverted, and not good with people, but she wouldn't cower to that extent."

Upon hearing this, Li Chenggang and Wu Xuan both felt it made sense. Then, as if recalling something, their gazes collided for a fraction of a second, their eyes widening considerably.

In unison, they blurted out, "Holy crap! You've all watched that show?!"

As soon as they finished speaking, all three simultaneously averted their eyes.

"Cough... well, you see... a buddy of mine made me watch it when I was a kid..."

"Me too, my friend said it was the pinnacle of pure love, so out of curiosity I checked it out..."

"My friend told me it was an anime about family bonds, and as it happens, I value family ties very much, so... you guys know what I mean, right?"

The three of them began desperately trying to salvage their pride, then abruptly looked at Qin Lu, as if silently cross-examining him with their eyes.

Qin Lu pondered for two seconds and probed tentatively, "Oreimo?"

The three of them simultaneously revealed expressions of profound relief. "Good brother, we knew you'd watched it too."

A bunch of idiots!

Qin Lu was torn between laughter and tears, then said, "I'm going to the restroom."

The restroom was nearby. After making his announcement, Qin Lu walked straight in. He currently needed a relatively quiet environment to ponder some rather bizarre matters.

Unfortunately, the closer he got to the restroom, the harder it was for him to stay calm.

After all, when you see a "man" dressed in a Zhongshan suit swaggering into the women's restroom, and a magical girl in a pink dress walking into the men's restroom, it becomes completely impossible to simply pretend not to see—though since this was an anime convention, perhaps all of this suddenly made a strange sort of sense.

It is said that there are three things in this world that must never be trusted: a man saying "just the tip, I won't go all the way," a woman saying "whatever," and an anime convention restroom.

Qin Lu hadn't experienced the first two yet, but he was truly witnessing the last one firsthand right now.

Thus, he quickened his pace, silently entered the men's restroom, and began to relieve himself while deep in thought.

The things Wang Chen said earlier were indeed absurd. After all, this wasn't a sci-fi movie; modern society is governed by science, so how could such bizarre phenomena possibly exist?

Yet, if you carefully chew on his words, you realize the situation isn't actually all that absurd. Even if what he said about Chu Liunian was true, it still didn't transcend the boundaries of science.

Chu Liunian acting out different anime characters based on the cosplay outfits she wore was, to some extent, somewhat akin to an individual with dissociative identity disorder switching to another persona.

However, Chu Liunian's case was rather unique because you couldn't tell whether she genuinely suffered from multiple personalities, or if she was simply an avid drama queen who loved acting, or if she was truly immersed in the second dimension to a thoroughly absurd degree.

To take a step back—even if this matter genuinely touched upon some unscientific realm, Qin Lu wouldn't find it completely unacceptable.

After all, he possessed a system himself; by comparison, Chu Liunian's condition wasn't all that preposterous...

Thinking of the system, Qin Lu naturally recalled Chu Liunian's status as probed earlier through his magical glasses.

Up until now, Qin Lu had used the magical glasses to inspect Yao Yanyan, Tang Yu, and Chu Xijin. Their names had presented no issues whatsoever, but solely in Chu Liunian's case, her name was trailed by a string of question marks.

Initially, Qin Lu had been somewhat baffled, but after hearing Wang Chen's speech just now, a certain hypothesis abruptly formed in his mind.

However, this hypothesis still required verification, and until then, he couldn't be entirely certain whether Chu Liunian was truly as absurd as Wang Chen claimed.

As these thoughts tumbled through his mind, Qin Lu suddenly felt a subtle gaze fixate upon him.

Subconsciously turning his head, he saw the muscular Anya he had seen outside earlier standing nearby, staring at him with a complex expression.

Seeing Qin Lu turn to look, the other man flashed a polite yet awkward smile, then quietly shuffled a couple of steps away.

Clearly, in this sudden contest of length and stature, he had already suffered defeat.

Isn't this just humiliating oneself? Qin Lu gave a slight twitch of his hand, leisurely strolled out of the restroom, and discovered upon exiting that the three idiots were nowhere to be found.

So, he pulled out his phone and sent a message in a group chat named [Filial Son and Loving Father].

Qin Lu: 「Where did you guys go?」

Li Chenggang: 「Never mind us, the three of us went elsewhere to look at girls」

Wu Xuan: 「Old Qin, I'm only realizing now that the rumors on the forum saying you were aiming for the entire goddess harem were spot on」

Wang Chen: 「Brother Luo, I used to get mad when people called you a scumbag, but I won't get mad anymore. I'm going to join them in cursing you」

Li Chenggang & Wu Xuan & Wang Chen: 「Panda-man cursing beast.jpg」

Qin Lu: 「Whatever makes you happy」

He put away his phone and turned his gaze toward the fitting room Chu Liunian had just entered.

Right at that moment, the door to the fitting room opened...