Several days had passed since Gwen officially became a student at Wisdom Academy, and her friend list contained only one name—Sofia. No matter how often she greeted other students or asked them to be her friends, not a single one accepted her request.
"Very weird. Why doesn't anyone want to be friends with me?" she wondered aloud.
"Why are you so sure everyone wants to be your friend?" Sofia sometimes wondered where Gwen got her unshakable confidence.
"Why not? I'm beautiful and a powerful mage. Why wouldn't they want to be my friends?" Gwen asked, oblivious to the truth.
She conveniently forgot her unappealing appearance and the fact that no one knew her true strength. Worse, she answered Sofia's question so loudly that it drew skeptical looks from nearby students.
"Where is that strange girl from? Why is she so confident?"
"She should look at herself in the mirror."
"Wait! Isn't that the infamous girl from the rumors? You've heard about her, right? A freaky, ugly girl."
"I thought it was just a rumor! Never expected her to be real. Since when did our school accept someone like that?"
Although the students whispered, Gwen could still hear them. Yet, she never imagined they were talking about her. "A freaky, ugly girl? I feel sorry for her," Gwen muttered to herself, blissfully unaware that she was the subject of their gossip.
As usual, Sofia was the only one willing to spend time with Gwen. She invited Gwen to have lunch together in the cafeteria. And as she often did, Gwen refused the beef soup Sofia offered and let her friend eat all of it. After all, Gwen preferred to hunt monsters in the forest and grill their meat to her liking.
"Lucky me! Ever since I became friends with you, I always get this bird meat soup. Did you know the school only serves it in limited quantities? I used to miss out, but now I get it every day. You're like my lucky star!" Sofia said, savoring her meal.
"I've heard that a lot," Gwen replied nonchalantly.
"Heard what?"
"That I'm a lucky star. My luck has always been great, and everyone close to me experiences good fortune too."
"Oh, really? Then why don't you have any friends?"
The corner of Gwen's lips twitched at Sofia's mischievous smile. "Having friends has nothing to do with luck."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. But what about your appearance? Seems like you're unlucky there."
"What's wrong with my appearance? In fact, I could give you a makeover."
"No, no thanks!" Sofia suddenly felt a dangerous aura coming from her friend. She tried to turn and run, but Gwen's hand clamped down on her shoulder, pinning her in place. Where did this little girl get such strength?
"Where are you going? I want to reward you for sticking with me these past few days."
"No… no reward needed! I'm happy with what I have now," Sofia stammered as cold sweat dripped down her back. Despite her fear, she couldn't escape from Gwen, who was supposedly just a second-level mage. Why was her physical strength so extraordinary?
Reluctantly, Sofia followed Gwen back to their classroom, where the girl began applying something to her face and hair. Gwen even insisted Sofia change clothes, leaving Sofia too scared to open her eyes and see the result.
Sofia wasn't stunning, but she was decent-looking. Her tall, slim figure and dark brown ponytail gave her a tomboyish appearance. She wore black leggings under her short skirt to maintain modesty. At the very least, she didn't want her appearance to worsen.
"All done!" Gwen exclaimed proudly. "I'm a genius!"
Sofia felt like crying, terrified of how she might look. But the amazed whispers of their classmates confused her.
"Is that Sofia? She looks different."
"Hey, is Sofia really that pretty?"
"I always knew she was a girl, but now I actually see it. She's gorgeous!"
Sofia frowned in wonder at the murmurs. "What's going on?"
Gwen nudged her gently. "Don't you want to see the results of my hard work?"
Sofia opened her eyes slowly, then widened them as dozens of admiring gazes fell on her. Curious, she ran to the glass door and saw a stunning girl staring back at her.
Her brown hair flowed gracefully, her green eyes sparkled under perfectly applied makeup, and her lips were plump and rosy. Her formerly stiff, plain features now appeared soft and radiant.
"This… this is me?" she whispered.
"Of course! Am I not a genius—Eek!" Gwen's reply was cut short as a group of female students surrounded Sofia, ignoring Gwen entirely.
"How did you do it? How can you look this lovely?"
Sofia, overwhelmed by their questions, pointed at Gwen. "It's all thanks to her. She made me like this."
The other girls turned to Gwen with predatory eyes, but instead of being intimidated, Gwen grinned slyly and held up a small notebook.
"If you want me to do your makeup too, you'll have to become my friend," she announced.
The girls immediately swarmed Gwen like fans around a celebrity. While she basked in their attention, Sofia noticed something no one else did.
'Ah, I see now. She's a good-looking girl in disguise.'
The longer Sofia spent time with Gwen, the more she realized how mysterious her friend was. Not only was Gwen stronger than expected, but even beneath her supposed "ugly" appearance, there was an undeniable beauty.