With My Ability To Swap, I Will Never End Up In A Love Triangle Mess - Chapter 40

“Morning, Xiaocha!”

“Good morning~”

“Xiaocha’s extra cute today!”

“Thanks~”

Bai Xiaocha was surprisingly popular in class. Out of the forty-something students, more than half greeted her or complimented her cuteness.

“Ugh, Xiaocha’s so popular! I’m so jealous!”

Xiayue, sitting to Xia Xi’s left, gnawed on a dry piece of bread with envy.

Their classroom had an odd layout—two single-seat columns on the sides and three connected desks in the middle.

Rumor had it that Leng Xiyu had personally negotiated this arrangement with their homeroom teacher. The reason? Well…

Xia Xi, currently seated in the middle of the back row, glanced to his left: Xiayue’s desk was a chaotic mess. To his right: Leng Xiyu’s desk was spotless, not even a single book in sight.

The two were complete opposites.

Sandwiched between them, he took a look at Bai Xiaocha’s desk.

…Yep. This dumb loli’s workspace wasn’t much better.

A Hatsune Miku-themed desk cover draped over the surface, with a mountain of textbooks stacked on the left—each wrapped in anime-themed protective sleeves.

At the front was what fans called a “itaboard”, pinned with a dozen “badges”.

And to the right of the board sat three chibi-style sitting figurines.

So this is the desk of a hardcore “2D fan”? Truly terrifying.

Xia Xi suspected that if his sister weren’t so lazy about organizing, her desk would probably look just as anime-infested.

…

“Look at you all, sluggish and lifeless! Is this how energetic students should act? Stand up and read aloud!”

As expected, no high school senior could escape the fate of being forced to stand and recite during morning self-study.

As a veteran, Xia Xi had always wanted to criticize this method. Standing just made your legs ache and your mind wander—when can I sit down?—making it way less effective than sitting. (Unless you were the type to doze off sitting, of course!)

But in this world, it seemed classical poetry wasn’t as heavily emphasized. So what exactly were they supposed to memorize?

“We’ll have a recitation quiz on Fish, I Want in first period. Be prepared.”

The homeroom teacher’s words cleared things up.

Turns out, their curriculum focused mostly on classical prose, with only a handful of poems.

Xia Xi stood up, controlling Bai Xiaocha’s body, only to realize—he couldn’t see the blackboard at all. Just the backs of his classmates’ heads.

For the first time in his life, he felt the sting of height discrimination.

“A quiz in first period?! I’m doomed! I haven’t memorized any of it!”

Xiayue was already panicking.

Xia Xi snorted in amusement.

This girl really takes after me—or rather, the me who used to get dragged to the office to “reflect in the mirror” every time I failed a recitation.

When it came to memorizing texts, the siblings were oddly similar: hopeless.

“What’re you laughing at, Xiaocha?! No way you’ve memorized it either!”

Annoyed at being mocked by the dumb loli, Xiayue retaliated by giving Xia Xi’s white-stockinged thigh a sharp pinch.

Xia Xi: “I know it.”
Bai Xiaocha (in his mind): “I don’t!!!”

Thanks to his memory-enhancing ability, Xia Xi had these classical passages down pat. A little recitation quiz? Piece of cake.

“WHAT?! Since when did you study behind my back?!”

Xiayue clutched her chest dramatically, as if heartbroken.

“We swore to live and die together as sisters, yet here you are, secretly outworking me! How could you~?”

Her acting was over-the-top, and Bai Xiaocha’s mental reaction was just as intense.

“No, no, no! That’s slander! It’s Ghost-san who knows it, not me!!!”

Faced with these two clowns, Xia Xi shrugged and casually flipped through Bai Xiaocha’s textbook.

Of course, even if he wasn’t actually reciting, he still had to move his lips to avoid getting caught by the teacher.

So the scene unfolded like this:

• Xiayue: Miserably cramming.

• Xia Xi: Faking it effortlessly.

• Leng Xiyu: Dozing off.

…

“So boring…”

For someone who didn’t need to memorize anything, morning self-study was painfully dull. But he had a solution:

Singing.

What was morning self-study without a little music?

After all, every school had that saying:

“Morning self-study breeds singing kings; night self-study breeds writers, artists, and dreamers!”

“Hmm hmm hmm~”

Knowing his own singing skills (or lack thereof), Xia Xi didn’t dare sing the lyrics out loud—just humming the melody.

And surprisingly, Bai Xiaocha’s sweet, soft voice made even humming sound adorable.

“Xiaocha, you went off-key just now.”

The girl in front suddenly turned around and pointed it out, leaving him mortified.

“You could hear that?!”

Crap. Does that mean people heard me singing in high school too? Why did no one tell me?!

“Of course. Ren’ai Circulation, right? Your voice makes it extra cute.”

Well, when the whole classroom was reciting Strategies of the Warring States, any stray melody stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Hehe, serves you right, dummy! That’s what you get for laughing at me earlier.”

Xiayue giggled at Xia Xi’s embarrassment.

“Go memorize your text. When the teacher calls on you, don’t expect me to help!”

“Tch.”

Seriously, how did they recognize the song from just humming? Is Ren’ai Circulation that iconic in this world too?

After getting called out, Xia Xi was too embarrassed to keep humming. But with nothing else to do, he zoned out, mouthing random words while staring blankly.

…

Morning self-study was short—just half an hour, ending around 7:30.

From 7:30 to 8:00 was running exercises.

Yes, that nightmare fuel for students everywhere: the “One! Two! Three! Four!” military-style jogging.

“Teacher, I’m on my period today. Can I skip running?”

One girl raised her hand.

Unlike the horror stories spread by clickbait articles, their teacher didn’t force her to participate. Instead, she was allowed to rest in the classroom—even given the teacher’s own thermos with a “drink more hot water” reminder.

Xiayue’s eyes lit up, about to speak—but Xia Xi beat her to it.

“Teacher… um… my stomach hurts… Can I…?”

Damn you, Bai Xiaocha! Stealing my excuse?! We’re so done!

“NO!”

Before the teacher could respond, Xiayue cut in.

Xia Xi glared at her, baffled by her sabotage.

With Bai Xiaocha’s short legs and frail build, running would be torture!