Lin Nan regretted it as soon as he got out of bed.
Although his sense of dignity had indeed dropped quite a bit over the past month, repeatedly challenging his bottom line, he still couldn't do anything too outrageous.
Initially, in a moment of reckless abandon, he had climbed down from the bed with great momentum, ready to get to work. But after getting down and seeing Chen Yao's startled expression, his mind immediately cleared up.
Never mind.
What if after unlocking the magic, he still had his little brother? Wouldn't he still be a man then? And if there was really a way to return to normal in the future, wouldn't he just be making things harder for himself?
He sheepishly returned to his seat, pretending he hadn't had enough water and poured himself another cup.
Besides, he had already used most of the unlocking methods he could accept - crossdressing, kissing a male's cheek, being hugged for twenty minutes... Although these still felt embarrassing, they had only slightly tested his bottom line. As for other magic, it was hard to say.
Chen Yao also felt that mysterious trembling sensation disappear. He looked around suspiciously but couldn't find the source of the threat that had made his back break out in cold sweat.
Looking at Lin Nan from the balcony, he noticed that Lin Nan's face, which had been pale from stomach pain, had somehow taken on a hint of embarrassed redness, with clearly swollen eyes.
Looking at Lin Nan's face shape from the front, it did show some masculine features for various reasons, but fundamentally it was still an oval face. From the side, against the light, that half of his face looked exactly like a certain female celebrity.
After thinking for a moment, he declared with certainty: "Like that Japanese... Saito Asuka?"
"What did you say?" Lin Nan turned his head in confusion at Chen Yao's muttering.
Unfortunately, as the side profile became a front view, some facial imperfections were suddenly magnified. Where Chen Yao had just thought Lin Nan looked as beautiful as a female celebrity, now he suddenly felt that his face was just somewhat feminine.
"Nothing." Chen Yao still maintained his angry expression and lowered his head to continue smoking.
Afraid of the smoke drifting into the room, Lin Nan closed the back door with a look of disgust.
The insulation had been working well these past two days, and with the help of the temperature regulation magic, the pain in Lin Nan's lower abdomen was becoming increasingly mild, or perhaps he had just gotten used to it.
One hand holding a heat pack against his stomach, the other holding a cup of hot water, Lin Nan sat idly at the computer, his stomach pain making him frown.
After about ten minutes, Chen Yao walked back into the room smelling of smoke.
Lin Nan turned to look at him and noticed that he seemed to have calmed down.
"I don't care what you're thinking anymore," Chen Yao said helplessly, standing behind Lin Nan with his arms crossed. "But if you have troubles, remember to tell me. At least talking about it will make you feel better."
Chen Yao had originally wanted to maintain his angry facade to force Lin Nan to get a diagnosis and completely resolve this issue, after all, gender wasn't something to joke about. But when he saw Lin Nan's reddened eyes, his heart softened.
"Talk to your family properly during New Year's," he figured that since Lin Nan had been like this for eighteen years, a few more months of delay probably wouldn't be a problem.
"Mm." Lin Nan agreed perfunctorily.
Seeing his attitude, Chen Yao gritted his teeth in frustration. This was Lin Nan's own business, yet he had to be the one concerned and supervising, it was like being more worried than the emperor himself.
He pursed his lips and returned to his seat: "Duo queue!"
"Stomach hurts, not playing..."
"Never saw you hurting before."
Chen Yao remained skeptical about whether Lin Nan's stomach pain was actually menstruation - after all, who gets their first period at eighteen? Lin Nan actually had similar thoughts.
However, there should be someone who could confirm this.
Lin Nan opened WeChat and found the girl he had added through Tu Junhui during their previous gathering.
Although he had never chatted with this girl before, Lin Nan guessed it must be Lina.
"Lina, need to talk to you, come to my dorm building."
"OK!"
Knowing that Lina was from another world, Lin Nan found her use of English particularly strange.
Having arranged to meet someone, he closed his laptop, grabbed his phone and was about to hurry out. Chen Yao, who had just returned to his seat, turned back confused and asked: "Didn't you say your stomach hurt?"
"Urgent matter." Lin Nan was about to start running, but the pain in his lower abdomen suddenly increased a level, frightening him into immediately stopping, carefully holding his stomach.
"Why don't I go instead?" Seeing him in such a delicate state like Lin Daiyu, Chen Yao stood up with a wry smile, "Don't try to act tough at a time like this, you fool."
"Really have something, meeting someone."
"Then I'll come with?"
Regarding the magic matter, it's better not to let others know.
Lin Nan shook his head and slowly opened the front door to leave the dorm.
Chen Yao looked bewildered. He had thought that having known Lin Nan for many years, he should be one of the people who understood him best in this world, but after National Day, he discovered that this guy might be hiding some big secret.
Arriving downstairs at the dorm building, Lin Nan had just walked out when he saw Lina waiting for him below.
"Where were you these past few days?"
Before Lin Nan could speak, Lina bombarded him with questions, looking exactly like a husband scolding his wife for coming home late.
Lin Nan was completely confused, not knowing where Lina's attitude came from, but he didn't pay much attention to it since he had something to ask her about.
"Help me check something," Lin Nan sat down on a flower bed, looking up at Lina standing in front of him, "My stomach has been hurting these past few days, it's not because of your magic, right?"
"It's your period, isn't it?" Lina said disapprovingly with her arms crossed, "I warned you about this early on."
Confirming his suspicion, Lin Nan nodded thoughtfully before asking, "Will it affect my body?"
"You need a purification magic to clean out the residual blood in your body," Lina sat down next to Lin Nan, tilting her head to look at him, "At least you knew to ask me, otherwise you might have suddenly dropped dead after a while."
Lin Nan was stunned, not expecting that magic would be needed here as well.
So he recalled Lilith's life experiences and quickly found the magic Lina mentioned.
In the magical world, periods barely affected Lilith. Using purification magic once a month prevented bleeding, and with her good constitution, it just meant a few days of emotional instability each month for Lilith.
It seems sanitary pad companies would probably go bankrupt within three days in that world.
The magic's name was simple - just "Purification."
But if the previous magic unlock conditions were just repeatedly testing and pushing Lin Nan's bottom line, then this magic directly broke through his bottom line, making it completely unacceptable to him.
"Crossdress for an entire day?"
Lin Nan, who had just managed to calm down and decided not to give up completely, realized he still had to use magic...