Life Exchange Game

Eight hours later, Xia Yu returned to his own body.

Sitting up from the bed, he stretched lazily.

Ever since he got this game, he no longer needed to sleep; the body under takeover would handle the rest.

He got up from bed, took a step, and sat down on the chair at his desk.

Picking up his phone, he checked his bank balance.

The three thousand balance made his heart ache.

Buying a phone for Youxue cost him two thousand, taking a cab to pick up the black cat cost seven hundred, and buying cat food and litter for the black cat cost another three hundred. In just a few days, he had spent three thousand.

Even with the Body Exchange Game, why is my money not increasing but decreasing instead?

After a moment of heartache, he told himself it was a necessary initial investment, soothing his wounded spirit.

He casually pulled a book from the shelf and started reading. It was an adventure novel.

As someone tight on money, he couldn’t afford to buy books. The book was given by the president of the Literature Club, who bought them to use up the club’s spare funds, and as a member of the Literature Club, Xia Yu got a copy too.

Over three years of high school, the books he received from the Literature Club filled up one of his small bookshelves.

At 7:30, he opened the door, washed up, had breakfast, and took the subway to school.

It was Monday, the start of a new week.

Upon arriving in class, he hadn’t even sat down when someone grabbed his backpack.

“Xia Yu! Help me!” It was a boy with a pleading look on his face.

The boy was named Gui Zixiao, considered a friend of Xia Yu.

“…Which subject?” Xia Yu opened his backpack.

“I need them all!” Gui Zixiao said.

“You haven’t done any of them? Are you sure you can copy everything before the deadline?” Xia Yu glanced at the time. There were only fifteen minutes before morning reading, and after that, it was the last chance to submit homework.

Gui Zixiao looked embarrassed and stared at Xia Yu.

Xia Yu had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, Gui Zixiao handed over his math and English homework to Xia Yu: “Please take care of these.”

“I refuse.” Xia Yu not only didn’t take the notebooks but also retrieved his own homework.

“Wait, wait, wait, did you forget there’s an art class today? And it’s oil painting!” Gui Zixiao grabbed Xia Yu again.

“Add a duck leg to my lunch.” Xia Yu proposed.

“Deal!”

Holding Gui Zixiao’s homework, Xia Yu returned to his seat.

He didn’t expect that even with the system handling his homework, he’d still have to do someone else’s.

During morning reading, he propped the book up on his desk, writing furiously, and managed to finish the homework just before the end of the session.

After submitting the homework, the first class was art. Led by the class monitor, the group lined up and headed to the art room.

The art teacher had already laid out the paints and other tools.

Putting on an apron, picking up a brush and paints, Xia Yu found an easel towards the back and sat down.

He clipped the oil painting paper onto the easel and squeezed the paint onto the palette.

Once all the students were ready, the art teacher took out a stone bust from the cabinet and placed it in the center.

The task for this class was to paint the bust.

Sitting next to Xia Yu, Gui Zixiao had already started painting. “Thanks, buddy. Give me ten minutes, and I’ll help you paint!”

Xia Yu’s painting skills were terrible, especially with oil paints. In his previous life, he could have skated by due to the education system’s disregard for art, but in this world, art and other subjects were taken seriously, and these assignments were even stored away. He had no choice but to have someone else do it for him.

Shaking his brush, Xia Yu pretended to be working.

A minute later, he felt bored. Five minutes later, he glanced at Gui Zixiao’s painting. It was bad but much better than his own. Xia Yu’s work would definitely be deemed unacceptable, while Gui Zixiao’s could pass.

At this point, the teacher began making rounds, and Xia Yu quickly started doodling.

They weren’t using specialized canvases but cheap oil painting paper, and Xia Yu had stashed some away. He’d just have Gui Zixiao paint a new one later.

The teacher moved slowly, especially lingering for three minutes behind a boy. Not because the boy’s work was good, but because next to him was a well-developed girl.

Three minutes later, the teacher continued his rounds and soon reached Xia Yu’s area.

Looking at Gui Zixiao’s work, the teacher sighed and then turned to Xia Yu’s painting.

He made a surprised sound.

He had been teaching Xia Yu’s class for two years and knew the students well. He was aware of Xia Yu’s habit of having others paint for him, but since Xia Yu was among the top students and the homeroom teacher had spoken to him, he let it slide.

But instead of the expected mess, he saw an average-level painting for the class?

Did that guy paint fast and give it to Xia Yu?

After standing there for a while, the teacher realized it wasn’t someone else’s work because the painting wasn’t finished, and Xia Yu was still working on it.

Under his watch, the painting not only didn’t decline in quality but improved, reaching an above-average level in the class.

“Not bad, not bad,” praised the art teacher with a smile as he walked away.

The students around Xia Yu, hearing the teacher’s words, glanced at Xia Yu’s easel and collectively exclaimed, “Whoa!”

Xia Yu’s poor painting skills were well-known among his classmates.

Gui Zixiao grabbed Xia Yu’s shoulder. “You’ve been secretly practicing oil painting!”

Putting down the brush, Xia Yu glanced at Gui Zixiao. “Do you think that’s possible?”

“Right, you hate painting, and paint is expensive. You wouldn’t practice more.” Gui Zixiao calmly analyzed, thinking carefully. “So what’s going on?”

Xia Yu was puzzled too. His previous work was truly awful, and he had never practiced oil painting. The only related practice was during his first Body Exchange, spending a night drawing manga characters with An Siyao’s body.

Did improving manga skills also enhance oil painting?

That seemed impossible.

After pondering for a while, Xia Yu focused on [drawing Lv1].

He initially thought it was just a manga skill, but it turned out to be a universal skill?

Just reaching Lv1 in manga granted Lv1 ability across all forms?

Terrifying.

He then looked at [music Lv1]. By the same logic, did this skill encompass all instruments?

An Siyao was more valuable than he had imagined.

Maybe he should scare her less in the future.

Finishing the painting, Xia Yu received high praise from the art teacher during the critique.

In the evening, after finishing his part-time job, he returned home, lay on his bed, and logged into An Siyao’s body.