NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19: My Popular Friend
While Dematero was lost in the dream world he had woven, Xanthia's relationship with Luciel, a strong, ambitious, and righteous girl, progressed rapidly.
She didn’t intentionally try to please Luciel, unlike with Dematero. In her efforts to complete the "Battle of the White Moonlight" task, her clumsy attempts at being charming were as useless as winking at a blind person.
Xanthia gradually found it boring. The task progress bar wasn’t moving, and it was a waste of time she could spend accumulating happiness points.
In contrast, just eating together in the cafeteria and strolling hand-in-hand across the campus with Luciel felt fulfilling, joyful, and happy.
On Sunday afternoons, they would go shopping, play, and hang out, becoming inseparable best friends.
Now, even during breaks to the restroom, Luciel would invite Xanthia along.
In their genuine friendship, Luciel was the more proactive one. She found Xanthia comfortable and congenial to be around, so she poured more of her enthusiasm into their friendship.
For Xanthia, it was her first experience of the closeness between girls. The most important thing was that everyone took this as normal best-friend behavior. Unlike boys, if they were seen hugging or holding hands, they would attract strange looks.
Xanthia, enjoying Luciel’s enthusiasm passively, was thoroughly happy.
After all, Luciel was the acknowledged beauty of Class 3 in the first year, the top girl in the eyes of the boys. Now, she had the privilege of being so close to this class beauty—what more could she ask for?
In her past life, Xanthia had been pitifully single, with no female friends, never imagining that a girl would be so warm and kind to her.
After becoming inseparable friends with Luciel, Xanthia's presence in Class 3 of the first year became more noticeable. This was clearly due to Luciel’s popularity and good reputation in the class, and Xanthia naturally benefited from it.
Some boys who liked Luciel hadn’t taken action yet. But if they ever did, the smarter ones might try to win her over by getting close to Xanthia first, using the "best friend route" to achieve their goal.
Some boys, who had been secretly observing Luciel, noticed that she had become close friends with Xanthia. To their surprise, they found out that this class beauty had a good eye for friends, as her new friend was also a beautiful girl with delicate features and fair skin.
People often say that a beautiful flower needs green leaves for contrast. Many pretty girls prefer to be friends with ordinary-looking girls to highlight their own beauty. For example, Elena was best friends with a girl named Yannis La Alexandros, who looked quite average, which made Elena’s beauty stand out even more when they were together.
However, there was no such dynamic with Luciel and Xanthia. They were two completely different types of beauties—one was strong and bright, the other gentle and elegant. They complemented each other perfectly, enhancing each other’s charm.
Some "wishful thinkers" couldn't help but fantasize. If they were the protagonist of a harem story, they would definitely want to be with both of these beauties, creating a trio that would be perfect. Letting one go would be a huge missed opportunity.
In short, Xanthia’s high school life became more vibrant after becoming friends with Luciel. Her "charisma" attribute naturally increased from 34 to 40 without her intentionally spending happiness points to boost it.
This increase in charisma was likely a feedback from her rising fame, attention, and presence. Being best friends with Luciel, the class beauty, made people see Xanthia in a new light.
With her charisma now at 40, Xanthia realized she could finally equip the schoolgirl uniform and over-the-knee socks from the starter pack. She decided to wear them the next time she and Luciel went out on a weekend, hoping to both please herself and impress Luciel.
Luciel wasn't very particular about her appearance. She had big ambitions and was focused on her studies. Her parents also didn’t encourage her to waste time on her looks, as studying was the most important thing during high school.
Because of this, some boys in the class thought she was quite "boyish." At least she had shoulder-length hair; otherwise, she might have earned the nickname "tomboy." She was indeed a bit careless, even walking with slightly outward-pointing feet, which wasn’t very ladylike.
Even though her looks surpassed Elena La Loannou's, she didn’t have that "ethereal beauty" vibe. She didn't know how to present herself and was too down-to-earth.
Xanthia thought that once she became closer friends with Luciel, she could buy her some outfits that suited straight men's aesthetics, like playing a real-life version of a dress-up game. She was very excited about the idea.
Those outfits might not appeal to girls, but they would definitely attract boys, hitting their preferences perfectly. Xanthia was confident about this.
As time passed, the date of the first monthly exam since the start of the school year approached, scheduled to take place after the National Day holiday.
Such major exams right after a holiday usually stressed out students who wanted to achieve good grades. They couldn’t fully relax during the break.
However, Xanthia didn’t have such worries. She was very confident about the upcoming monthly exam.
The reasons were previously mentioned: she had the "gifted" attribute and a solid understanding of high school knowledge from her past life as a "exam taker," which she had mastered thoroughly.
Another advantage was that after becoming best friends with Luciel, they motivated and encouraged each other in their studies. Luciel increasingly felt that Xanthia shared her passion for learning and had high comprehension!
In reality, Xanthia didn't love studying that much. She just had a solid foundation to rely on, and studying with a pretty girl added to her happiness points...
As Xanthia enjoyed diving into the sea of questions with Luciel, she couldn’t help but feel regret for her past self. If she had had a class beauty friend back then, she wouldn’t have just ended up in an ordinary college. With full motivation, she could have easily secured a place at a top university!
Having a beautiful girl to study with was such a great motivator!
However, there was now a problem. Xanthia’s biggest competitor for the top spot in the class might very well be Luciel.
Both of them were working hard in private, aiming to surprise everyone when the results were announced!
