The Reincarnated OP Protagonist Is Now A 3rd Grade Student (Patreon)

Chapter 43: The Time for Judgment Has Come, and a Decision Must Be Made

The enjoyable time always passes quickly, and when Chen An came to his senses, he found himself standing in front of the school, welcoming a special day for all elementary school students.

Final exams

Even if the children were usually carefree, they couldn't help but feel nervous on such a day. Chen An had seen many children who didn't like to study at all but started studying actively due to the exam pressure.

Now, he was feeling a bit nervous as well. However, it wasn't for himself but for Lu Li.

For some reason, she had gone to school early today, which was the first time since they became friends. Was it because of the influence of the final exams? Or was it because he had put too much pressure on her?

"Definitely the latter."

The system, perched on his shoulder, scorned, "You knew her grades weren't good, yet you insisted that she should be in the top class with you. What were you thinking?"

"Well, only this way can we continue to be deskmates," Chen An scratched his head. "If we don't make it into the top class, the probability of being deskmates is only a few in hundreds."

"Even if you're not deskmates, you'll most likely be classmates. At most, you'll be separated by a few walls. Why are you so fixated on being her deskmate?"

The system pondered for a moment and looked at Chen An questioningly.

"I don't know why, but being with her feels really relaxing and enjoyable. Even though I've been with other human kids before, I never had this feeling."

Chen An placed his hand on his chest and sighed, "Could it be that I–"

"You said it before; this is a place without LSP, a miraculously clean environment. But you seem to have forgotten that."

The system stared at Chen An in horror, "Your very existence here is a profanity against this miracle!"

"What are you thinking?"

Chen An couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"I'm thinking that I've made a mistake."

The system shook its head, "She's just an elementary school student! How can you, a proud adult, make a move on an elementary school student?"

"Please remember, whether from the perspective of biology or botany, I'm also an elementary school student!"

Chen An sighed and rubbed his forehead, "And, this damn sage state, besides allowing me to have a higher intellectual capacity, it's not a good thing at all!"

"Still making excuses?"

The system sneered, "Then tell me, why are you so fixated on being her deskmate?"

"Because... this damned sage state, besides allowing my intelligence to have more room for improvement and making me more powerful, it's really not a good thing!"

Chen An rubbed his forehead and said, "It's because I'm too mature that I've been having trouble fitting into the small groups within the school. Do you think I don't want to play with these human kids? But my consciousness as an adult really doesn't fit in with these kids. When they're discussing who's stronger between Luffy and Goku, I'm thinking, 'Why is this even a debate? Why not choose superman as Goku opponent?'"

He paused for a moment and continued with a puzzled tone, "But strangely enough, after Lu Li appeared, this feeling of not fitting in has weakened a lot, as if..."

He couldn't help but reminisce about the words he had heard not long ago.

"Classmate, you're the only one who hasn't turned in your homework."

That was the only time he had ever forgotten to do his homework. As a mature adult, he shouldn't have made such a low-level mistake, but it had happened because he was having too much fun with Lu Li and was unconsciously influenced by the Fool's Stone's abilities.

"Yes, that's it!"

Chen An clenched his fists with determination. The reason he wanted to be Lu Li's deskmate was to use her abilities to weaken his own sense of maturity. This way, he could pass through childhood in a better way.

"In addition to abilities that can lower one's intelligence..."

The system whispered into Chen An's ear, "Love can also make people lose their intelligence, you know."

Chen An punched the system away with a cold expression, then shook his head vigorously, trying to clear his mind of various distracting thoughts. He continued to walk towards the examination room.

Upon closer inspection, Chen An realized that many entertainment works created by adults and related to elementary school students seemed to have a close relationship with the opposite sex, leading to the theme of love.

It was ridiculous. How could elementary school students understand all of that? They were really a group of unserious adults...

As Chen An walked into the examination room, he didn't notice that not far behind him, Lu Li was holding the glasses, hesitatingly looking at his back.

Today was the final exam for the first, third, and fifth grades, while the second, fourth, and sixth grades would have their exams tomorrow. The reason for this division was that during the important final exams, some students might have dishonest intentions. Therefore, the school had adopted a one-student-per-desk policy to keep everyone at a distance and prevent students from peeking at each other's papers.

Additionally, during the exam, invigilators would patrol the area to prevent any dishonest behavior by the human kids.

However, that wouldn't work against her.

Lu Li extended her hand, looking at the ordinary glasses she held.

The mysterious person had forcibly given her this magical item, and she had already tested its incredible effectiveness. With this glasses, she could copy all the excellent answers onto her own paper.

This way, she would be able to get into the top class. Even if she couldn't sit with Chen An, they would still be in the same class!

But before using these glasses, she had to overcome a personal hurdle—was what she was about to do right? The teacher's guidance and the school's rules clearly stated that cheating was wrong.

"What's wrong with it?"

A bright red car stopped behind her, and a woman's voice came from inside.

"Isn't that your friend? Is there anything wrong with wanting to be with your friend?" she said.

"Friend?"

"Yes!"

The woman's voice in the car was filled with genuine admiration as she said, "When you grow up, you'll understand. Society is full of treacherous hearts, and everyone approaches each other with thick defenses. Only you kids, only you kids can show genuine sincerity without any guard, bravely putting your true feelings out there without fear of being hurt. If someone responds to your sincerity, stands up for you, goes against your parents for you, and becomes a friend helping you in your studies, that's the only person until now who will stand up for you, fight against your parents, and be a friend helping you with your studies."

"Yeah, compared to such friends! The teacher's teachings and the school rules... are simply not worth mentioning!"

Determined, Lu Li swung her hand, forcefully throwing the cheating glasses far away, until a distant male student made a low growl questioning who was randomly throwing things.

The woman looked at Lu Li in astonishment.

"My friend sacrificed his time, exerted all his efforts to help me review! If I cheat, then all his hard work and sincerity over these days would be in vain, right?"

After saying this, without looking back, Lu Li thought of chasing after Chen An, who was walking away into the distance. She left the woman looking grimly at Lu Li's departing figure.

"Why was it possible to change it last time, but this time... Tsk, has it come to an end?"