Please, I'm Trying to Study, Your Highness! - chapter 1

Under the Kitchen Sink

The space was cramped and narrow.

The scent of metallic rust mixed with strong perfume assaulted my nose, making me a little dizzy.

A pair of eyes had been fixed on every move here since the repairs began, tirelessly tracing the curve of my spine as I bent over.

It was so obvious, it almost felt tangible.

“Lin Hui, thank you for your hard work. Would you like something to drink?”

Behind me came the “concern” of the female landlord, Sister Chen.

Her voice was sweet and coy, but I could hear the sticky undertone of desire.

It was no illusion.

Because counting this time, I’d lost track of how many hints she’d dropped today.

First, she lowered her neckline, complaining about the heat.

Then she bent over to pick up something she’d “accidentally” dropped, “not noticing” that her skirt barely covered her hips, revealing a flash of skin.

She’d also asked for help taking off her stockings, claiming her hands were “too weak,” among other bizarre and ridiculous acts.

I finished wrapping the last round of waterproof tape on the pipe joint.

Withdrew my hand and crawled out of the suffocating darkness.

Just as I stood up to pack my toolbox-

“Thank you, Lin Hui, I really don’t know how to repay you,” Sister Chen came over, pretending to be concerned.

As she spoke, her foot suddenly “slipped.”

“Ah!”

She cried out in “alarm” as she fell precisely in my direction.

I quickly stepped aside, nimbly dodging her.

“Thud-”

Sister Chen, having lost her support, landed hard on the floor, crying out in pain.

“Ouch!”

It was clear she was genuinely hurt.

She lay on her back, her skirt flipped up from the fall, revealing even deeper shadows that sparked the imagination.

She looked at me pitifully, one hand on the floor, the other clutching her ankle.

“My… my foot seems twisted, Lin Hui…”

Her coquettish tone was full of flirtation.

Every gesture screamed “Help me up.”

I’m not some clueless guy; I knew exactly what the most appropriate response was.

So, I did put down my tools, slowly bent down, and reached out my hand.

Just as the flirtation in Sister Chen’s eyes was about to overflow and she was about to take my hand-

“Add money.”

Her smile froze.

I flipped my wrist, revealing the bright green payment QR code on my phone.

“Thank you.”

I smiled shyly and thanked her in advance, though my smile betrayed a hint of poverty.

Maybe she hadn’t recovered from the sudden shift in the “flirty landlord and young tenant” script.

Her voice trembled, unsure if from anger or confusion.

“What… what do you mean by this?”

“Exactly what it says.”

I patiently explained, “Sister Chen, this isn’t how the bill adds up.”

“On the 20th at the start of the month, the shower head ‘accidentally’ fell off. Two Wednesdays ago, the light bulb ‘just happened’ to go out. Last Friday, the bedroom door lock ‘mysteriously’ failed. A few days ago, the toilet tank float valve ‘suddenly’ got stuck.”

“Counting today’s leaking pipe, that’s five times in just over a month.”

I recited the details of each ‘incident’ word for word.

I kept holding up my phone, waiting for payment.

“Now, I seriously suspect you’re not looking for repairs, you’re looking for fun.”

“I am not! Isn’t it normal for things to break?” Sister Chen tried to argue.

“Normally, screws break from rust or wear, not from being forcibly twisted off with pliers.”

“The living room light filament is intact, but the socket shows signs of tampering.”

“There was paper stuffed in the bedroom lock cylinder, the fourth time…”

I listed each item, blocking every possible excuse.

When I finished, I silently met her gaze.

“See, isn’t it reasonable for me to ask for compensation for emotional distress and extra service fees?”

My eyes were full of expectation.

She was left speechless.

Perhaps realizing she couldn’t win the argument, Sister Chen switched tactics, bringing up her status.

“Lin Hui.”

Her tone carried a veiled threat, “Don’t forget, I’m your landlord…”

Oh, like I care?

I ignored her warning.

Just shook my phone.

The screen’s glow flickered across her face.

The message was clear: Enough talk, pay up!

We stared each other down in silence for over ten seconds.

In the end, Sister Chen gritted her teeth, picked up her phone, and scanned the code.

With a “ding,” the payment came through.

Satisfied, I put away my phone.

I wiped the smile off my face, couldn’t be bothered with her disheveled, seductive pose, and turned to slide open the kitchen door and walk out.

“Lin Hui!”

Sister Chen scrambled up from the floor, no longer pretending her ankle was twisted, and chased after me, chattering nonstop.

“Stop right there! What’s with your attitude? Haven’t I treated you well enough? You’re just a poor student, so I gave you a discount on the rent.”

“I bring you fruit every now and then, invite you to dinner, and what about you? How do you treat me?”

“I have money, I have a figure, I just want you to spend a few nights with me-is that so hard?”

She complained bitterly, full of aggrieved resentment at being rejected.
6! You really are hungry.

I ignored her completely and walked to the iron door opposite, taking the key out of my pocket.

Sister Chen seemed thoroughly enraged by my indifference, her tone icy as she pulled out her trump card, “Don’t be ungrateful. Next month’s rent, I’m telling you, I might…”

Her threat was abruptly cut off halfway.

I opened the door.

In the entryway, there was a backpack packed with my belongings and a suitcase.

Everything that belonged to me sat there quietly, as if it had long anticipated this moment.

I stepped inside, slung the backpack over my shoulder, grabbed the suitcase with one hand, and dragged it out.

“No need to wait for next month.” I spoke calmly, tossing the key over.

She caught it instinctively, the cold metal making her shiver.

Along with the falling key came my final two words.

“Terminating the lease.”

With that, I walked toward the elevator without looking back.

The elevator doors slowly closed, shutting out her face, written with shock and disbelief.

**

Walking along the chilly streets at night, the evening breeze blew against my face.

My mind, usually clouded from chronic lack of sleep, felt a rare hint of clarity.

The reason I could quit so confidently-no, not just quit, but terminate the lease without hesitation-was simple.

No deposit.

This world, generated by a power fantasy novel, is absurd and dumbed-down in many of its rules.

For example, landlords care more about “first impressions” than about the spirit of contracts.

Back then, Sister Chen saw my fair skin and harmless student look, and with a wave of her hand, waived the deposit.

Maybe, in her eyes, that was just the first step in baiting the fish.

But she definitely didn’t expect that she’d made it easy for this fish to slip off the hook at any time.

Want to be a cougar? Hmph, dream on!

Soon, I dragged my luggage to the new place I’d already found.

It was in an old neighborhood in the city.

Sixty square meters.

One bedroom, one living room, one bathroom, one kitchen.

Small but complete.

The landlord was a kindly old lady.

Seeing that I was a student living alone, she not only didn’t ask for a deposit, but the rent was shockingly cheap.

Only 500 yuan a month.

A true saint-I’ll have to buy her some supplements in the future.

As I tidied up my new home, I thought to myself.

Hmm? You ask why I turned down Sister Chen?

Tsk.

For any normal adult male, being favored by a mature, attractive rich woman might seem like a stroke of luck.

After all, the shortcut to skipping twenty years of struggle is right in front of you-who wouldn’t seize it?

But I just found it troublesome.

A kind of trouble that I reject from both body and mind.

As for the reason…

I, Lin Hui, am a misogynist to the core.

This misogynistic personality wasn’t innate, but shaped by my experiences growing up.

There are three main reasons.

First, my previous life’s family.

My father was an honest, hard-working technician.

He spent most of his life working diligently.

Smoked the cheapest cigarettes, drank the cheapest liquor.

Every penny he saved went to my mother.

In the end,

My mother not only used his hard-earned money to invest, to get beauty treatments, to enjoy herself,

But she also found someone else, and took all the family’s savings with her.

During the divorce, she even turned the tables, blaming my father for being incompetent and unable to give her the life she wanted.

I still remember the day we got the divorce papers-my father sat alone on the balcony, smoking from dawn till dusk.

A man in his early fifties, his back hunched like an eighty-year-old.

That image became a thorn in my heart that will never come out.

Second, I have too many “simp” friends.

They were all sunny, cheerful guys, but after getting girlfriends, each one turned into a shell of their former selves.

Some ran all over the city to buy their girlfriend’s favorite cake.

Some skipped class to queue for tickets to their girlfriend’s favorite idol’s concert.

Some split their living expenses in half to spend on their girlfriends.

Sounds touching, right? But what happened?

After graduation, the girls said they didn’t want a hard life and immediately married local guys with two apartments.

The same thing happened to the other guys’ girlfriends.

At the wedding, my best buddy got drunk, hugged me on the roadside, and cried like a fool, repeating, “I was so good to her, why…”

Why?

Because in this materialistic age, “feelings” are the least valuable thing.

Third, the poison of the internet.

Open your phone, and social media is full of news that challenges human nature.

Stories of people jumping off buildings over failed bride price negotiations, wives faking cancer to cheat their husbands out of assets, girlfriends using their boyfriend’s money to support another “boyfriend”…

Countless posts, videos, and comments have become tiny silver needles, day and night piercing the last beautiful illusions I had about women.

I know full well that you can’t generalize.

After all, there are plenty of weird guys too, so the internet is always stirring up “gender wars.”

The world has two sides, good and bad.

Loyal, good girls do exist.

But why should I, a bottom-tier Goblin, expect to meet one?
Let those unrealistic fantasies drown in reality as soon as possible.

After experiencing so much, you become numb, and your heart grows cold.

…

Of course, all of the above are just the straws that broke the camel’s back.

The reason I have no physical interest in women
is that I’ve only been able to sleep three hours a day… for three years straight.

You heard me right.

A full! Three years! Only three hours of sleep every single day!

It’s not that I don’t want to sleep-I simply can’t.

Years of severe sleep deprivation have left me not only as exhausted as a dead dog during the day, but my mind is in a perpetual state of half-dream, half-awake detachment.

In this condition, forget about romance.

Even the most primal physical urges have been completely worn away by endless fatigue.

Huh? You’re asking why I haven’t dropped dead?

A normal person doing this would have grass three feet tall growing on their grave by now.

The only reason I haven’t ended up in the ICU and can still stand here cleaning my room like nothing’s wrong…

is all because of that damned talent!

[Ding–]

As if in perfect sync with my thoughts,
a mechanical electronic voice, audible only to me, suddenly echoes deep in my mind.

A semi-transparent screen then materializes before my eyes.

The text on it is crystal clear.

[Achievement Unlocked: Modern Liu Xia Hui]

[System Notification: Detected that host user ‘Lin Hui’ has refused direct or indirect advances from no fewer than dozens of women over the past 1095 days]

[You have always held firm against temptation, maintaining the noble bottom line of singlehood even as a modern Goblin.]

[This record surpasses all Goblin peers in this world.]

[Title “Impervious to All Temptations” upgraded to “Absolute Defense: Holy Virgin Barrier.”]

[Special Reward: Unlock exclusive skill “Goblin Hero.”]

The voice pauses, as if loading the next batch of data, each byte striking my nerves with a cold, metallic sensation.

The text on the screen shifts, and a new interface pops up, detailing the so-called “reward.”

[Skill Details: Goblin Hero (Passive/Active)]

[Skill Background]: Among the Goblin race, whose survival instinct is driven by reproduction and plunder, a rare few outliers are born.

They abandon their kin’s primal desire to capture Saintesses, pouring all their vitality and will into endless combat.

They hone their skills, strengthen their bodies, and ultimately become war machines that strike fear into the Adventurer’s Guild-Goblin Heroes.

They are the oddities among Goblins, monsters born solely for battle.

[Active Effect]: Intimidation

Activating this skill imposes mental suppression on a designated target, inducing a “fear” state for powerful psychological deterrence.

The effect’s strength depends on your mental focus and the target’s willpower.

[Passive Effect]: Unyielding

Physical functions and physique are permanently enhanced; dynamic vision, neural reflex speed, muscle explosiveness, bone strength, and resistance to blows are all greatly improved for combat.

[System Review]:

Don’t compare me to those trashy kin.

Capturing Saintesses? No way. Fighting? Hell yes!

Silently reading these descriptions, I raise my hand to touch the virtual screen and tap the personal status bar.

Another, more familiar panel overlays the skill introduction.

–Personal Panel–

[Name]: Lin Hui

[Age]: 18

[Height]: 181cm

[Weight]: 73kg

[Title]: Absolute Defense: Holy Virgin Barrier [Mythic Unique]

＞Title Effect: Your will has been tempered to a level beyond ordinary people. Stamina cap +30%, stamina recovery speed +20%, and immunity to most mental charms.

[Talent]: Gift of the Grind King (Abnormal/Curse)

＞Detailed Description:

You only need 3 hours of sleep per day.

The remaining 21 hours can all be used to study and improve yourself-five whole hours more than others every day!

That’s 1,825 hours a year. What an incredible superpower!

Grind them into the dust, and you’ll be king!

Root Mechanism:

At sunrise, you absorb “cosmic sunlight” to forcibly recharge your body, repairing organ damage from lack of sleep and replenishing dead cells.

This forcibly restores your physical functions to a state capable of sustaining 21 more hours of high-intensity activity.

Note:

This effect only applies to the body and cannot restore mental fatigue or depletion.

The host’s soul will bear the burden of eternal exhaustion in endless sleeplessness, alone.

…..

That’s right-this is the secret to why I haven’t dropped dead.

When the morning sun hits me, a warm current envelops my body, like a portable power bank forcibly extending my life.

It can repair my liver on the verge of collapse, calm my failing heart muscle, but it can never… erase the fatigue deep within my soul.

So.

My aversion to women, mentally, comes from the shadows of my past life.

Physically?

For someone who considers sleep a luxury, how could I possibly have the energy to deal with women-the most complicated creatures in the world?