Chapter 30: The Handsome Stefan Kalen

After class, Stefan Cullen was immediately surrounded by a crowd of girls, all clamoring for his phone number, asking if he was free to hang out over the weekend. A few of the more infatuated ones were just short of throwing themselves at him—in fact, they already were.

Jonathan Bayes, or rather Lin Xiao in Jonathan’s body, quietly packed his backpack alone. No one came over to talk. Jonathan had always been unpopular—almost invisible in class. Apart from Eric, hardly anyone even knew his name.

Lin Xiao had no intention of changing this situation; he’d spent all his time lately getting used to the changes brought on by reaching Level 3. He had no time to waste on trivial socializing.

These lust-driven teenagers spent their days flirting and fooling around, either on the way to hooking up or already in the act. Lin Xiao, however, had long since moved past that phase—he sought only spiritual resonance. (Is this why he’s been single for ages?)

“Hey, Stefan Cullen, how should I address you?”

To Lin Xiao’s surprise, the handsome new guy broke through the throng of girls and approached his desk, leaning down with a friendly smile that clearly said he wanted to make friends.

Lin Xiao stood up, finding himself half a head shorter than the other boy. Jonathan had been even shorter before. After three rounds of extraordinary physical enhancement, he’d grown three or four centimeters, but still only reached about 176 centimeters—no match for the six-foot-three Adonis before him.

The girls in class whispered among themselves, puzzled. Why wasn’t Stefan interested in any of them? Why seek out that guy—what was his name again? Oh well, he was just a nobody anyway.

“Jonathan Bayes. What do you want?”

Lin Xiao slung his backpack over one shoulder, subtly rising onto his toes, but even then he still had to look up at the other’s handsome face.

“How about having a meal together sometime, Jonathan? I just moved to Hawkins and I’m not familiar with most places. I heard you’re into photography—so am I. Maybe we can exchange some ideas one day. What do you think?”

Stefan smiled, his dazzling charm and striking features causing the girls nearby to swoon with jealousy, wishing they could trade places with Lin Xiao and gaze into Stefan’s eyes instead.

“Sure, maybe another time. I’ve got something to do now, see you.”

Lin Xiao pushed his desk aside, sidestepped around him, and waved briefly as he left, much to the girls’ annoyance. Low looks and an attitude—what a piece of work.

Stefan remained where he was, watching Lin Xiao leave, a hint of interest curving his lips before the girls swarmed him again, resuming their relentless pursuit.

Outside, Lin Xiao walked to his car in the parking lot. Before long, Will and his three friends approached. Without ceremony, they piled into the car, chattering away.

Will greeted Lin Xiao, taking the front seat, then turned to continue his conversation with the others.

“Hey, have you noticed there are a lot of new faces at school these days?” Dustin blurted out, pulling a pair of binoculars from his bag and peering out the car window.

“Dustin, that’s not how you use binoculars. There are a lot of new faces, actually. My sister says there are several hot guys in her class now—better looking than Steve. She’s thinking about dumping her boyfriend,” Mike joked. His sister, Nancy, would eventually date Jonathan in the original story, but for now, they were just acquaintances.

“What’s so special about hot guys? Haven’t you noticed all the cute girls?” Lucas grinned. Of the group, Lucas was the first to escape singlehood, eventually pairing up with Max, the new transfer student. But the story had changed; Max and her brother hadn’t transferred to Hawkins yet.

“Yeah, I noticed. Prettier than your sister, Mike,” Dustin chuckled. He’d had a crush on Nancy in the original plot, but she’d always seen him as just a kid.

“Alright, you guys, aren’t you a bit young for this talk?” Lin Xiao started the car and headed toward the lab, as part of their daily routine—checking for any signs of creatures from the Upside Down.

“No wonder you’re still single, Jonathan. Love knows no age; it’s all about having feelings,” Lucas teased, drawing laughter from the others. Even Will grinned, leaving Lin Xiao fuming at their cheek.

“Who says my brother doesn’t have a girlfriend? Barbara comes by all the time—he just ignores her,” Will jumped in defensively, worried he’d be in trouble later.

Lin Xiao smirked. See, girls do like him. But compared to growing stronger, romance could wait.

“Barbara? She’s a dinosaur. Who’d dare like her?” Dustin snorted, making everyone burst out laughing again. Kids could be cruel when the subject was absent.

“Hey, that’s over the line. She’s just a little big-boned, not ugly at all. What do you brats know? And don’t you dare corrupt my little brother, Will,” Lin Xiao scolded. The laughter stopped at once—they knew Jonathan was a guy with magic, the sort who could slay monsters without blinking. They didn’t dare push their luck.

Their conversation continued in a jumble as they passed the lab, now heavily guarded with armed personnel patrolling everywhere. Since the last incident, security had been greatly increased. According to Dustin’s observations, at least a reinforced company—around 200 men—was stationed nearby.

Lin Xiao thought this was only reasonable. The existence of an interdimensional gate was no small matter; the U.S. government wouldn’t be so lax as to leave it guarded by just a handful of men.

After dropping Will and the others at Mike’s house, promising to pick them up at seven, Lin Xiao drove home. Passing the lab again, he gathered his magical energy and focused it through his eyes, piercing the outer wall to examine the gate inside.

The once narrow crack had widened to over a meter. Wispy, ash-like particles drifted continuously from the Upside Down into the real world.

“The gate’s getting bigger, but no more monsters have come through. Without monsters to kill, I can’t gain more energy—stuck at Level 3, my source energy is still at zero. Without a way to increase my raw power, I’ll have to keep honing my skills.”

Arriving home, Lin Xiao parked and went inside to teach Eleven about culture, while also discussing their progress.

Unlike him, Eleven’s abilities didn’t require killing monsters to absorb energy. She only needed to meditate, and her power would steadily grow—her cheat was even stronger than his. Under his guidance, her abilities had soared; now, her overall strength was at least at the level of six or seven, and she no longer suffered nosebleeds when using her powers.

“Jonathan, while I was meditating today, I sensed some strange forces lingering around the interdimensional gate. They weren’t the same as the monsters from the Upside Down. I don’t know what they are,” Eleven mentioned after their lesson.

Lin Xiao, hearing this, realized he’d also found something off. The area around the lab had grown eerily quiet. A few days ago, there were always some idlers hanging about, but lately, they had all vanished.

When something unusual happens, there’s always a reason. Add to that the murder in the Dark Forest that Chief Hopper mentioned, and Lin Xiao felt as if an invisible net was slowly drawing tighter around Hawkins.