A breeze swept across the playground, kicking up a few yellowed leaves from the ground. The atmosphere under the once-lively shade of the trees gradually became eerie.
Not long after Shizuka finished drinking the water, Lu Ming, who was closest to her, was the first to feel an indescribable sense of discomfort enveloping him.
This sensation made Lu Ming feel as if he were smelling food that had long since spoiled or the stench of a decaying corpse; it was also like his eardrums were being pierced by some sharp noise.
Lu Ming's stomach churned, and his subconscious urge was to leave immediately, but he forced himself to endure it without showing it in front of Shizuka.
Lu Ming instinctively turned his head away, avoiding Shizuka's gaze at that moment.
After turning his head, Lu Ming felt that doing so would make Shizuka sad, so he suppressed his nausea and looked straight at her.
Shizuka still looked as quiet and gentle as ever. The stray hairs on her forehead were wet with sweat and clung to her smooth skin, and a faint smile still played at the corners of her mouth.
At this moment, Shizuka was still small and cute, but looking at the adorable Shizuka, Lu Ming just felt she was very annoying—even repulsive to the point of nausea and wanting to escape.
After staying with the current Shizuka for a while, even breathing became somewhat difficult.
"What's wrong, Lu Ming?" Shizuka noticed Lu Ming's abnormality. She blinked in confusion and looked into his eyes.
Shizuka watched Lu Ming as he dodged and avoided her gaze. "Lu Ming, your face looks a bit pale. Did something happen?"
Lu Ming suddenly snapped out of it, suppressed the nausea in his throat, and shook his head while feigning composure. "No... it's nothing."
"Maybe I just got tired from running earlier." He clenched his palms, trying his best to endure.
Lu Ming's brain was racing at this moment, trying to figure out why Shizuka had become like this.
As he thought, Lu Ming noticed the half-bottle of mineral water Shizuka was still holding.
Upon seeing this ordinary bottle of mineral water, Lu Ming's mind cleared as if a fog had been lifted.
He immediately remembered Nobita's stiff smile when handing him the water, and how Nobita's face had instantly turned pale when Shizuka drank it.
Connecting this with the plot of Doraemon, Lu Ming quickly deduced the cause and effect of the situation.
It must be because I became Shizuka's desk mate and can talk and laugh with her every day, which made Nobita feel unhappy.
And he must have taken a gadget from Doraemon to prank me, but it accidentally ended up being used on Shizuka.
Thinking of this, Lu Ming stared intently at the mineral water in Shizuka's hand. Under his careful observation, he obtained the specific information about this gadget.
Lu Ming carefully examined the detailed information before him, ignoring the abnormality coming from his body.
A magical gadget produced in the 22nd century, the annoyance potion. After use, it creates an annoying field.
Everyone within the field's range will experience a sense of being completely ill at ease.
After reading this, Lu Ming looked at the production method and upgrade plan for the annoyance potion.
The final upgrade plan: annoyance ray gun. Its effect is the same as the annoyance potion, it's just more convenient to use.
Lu Ming didn't pay much attention to the final version of the gadget; instead, he searched for a solution.
But no matter how he looked at it, these plans were all for things that could make people annoying.
To obtain an antidote, he would have to enter the Universal Manufacturing Space and create a plan for one.
But after thinking about it, Lu Ming decided to go and ask Nobita how long this gadget would last and if there was an antidote.
While Lu Ming was still dazed, checking the specific information of the gadget...
The surrounding students also began to show abnormalities. Several girls who were originally chatting near Shizuka suddenly frowned, covered their noses, and stepped back.
The young girls were also whispering to themselves: "What's going on? Why do I suddenly feel so uncomfortable? And I feel like I'm going to vomit."
"Yeah, I have that same feeling of total discomfort! It seems to be coming from Shizuka and Lu Ming's direction."
Gian, who was holding onto Nobita not far away, and Suneo beside him also began to react.
The few of them suddenly jumped up as if stimulated by something and looked around, their gazes finally landing on Shizuka.
"What are Shizuka and Lu Ming doing! Why do I feel so uneasy just looking at them?" Gian said crossly.
Suneo nodded in deep agreement. "Exactly! Shizuka is so strange today. I just want to stay far away from her after seeing her."
Although Nobita also felt this sensation that made him completely uneasy, he still forced himself to endure the nausea to help Shizuka.
But he was still being held firmly by Gian. Nobita used all his strength to try and break free, but he was powerless and couldn't budge Gian an inch.
Nobita was carried by Gian as he ran to the other side of the playground. "I can't take it, I can't take it, I'm going to throw up," Gian shouted as he ran.
Suneo also followed behind Gian and ran far away.
Although Nobita's face was full of resistance, he breathed a sigh of relief after they had run far enough.
When Gian and the others reached a place unaffected by Shizuka, they suddenly felt the abnormality in their bodies vanish instantly.
After catching his breath, Gian looked at the struggling Nobita in his hand. His anger was instantly ignited, and he clenched his fist, striking him heavily on the head.
After delivering the punch, Gian tossed Nobita aside and went off to play elsewhere with Suneo.
The abandoned Nobita clutched his head and ran toward where Shizuka and the others were, but after just a few steps, he felt completely uneasy and had to slow down.
He slowly shuffled toward the place where Shizuka and the others were.
Coming back to his senses, Lu Ming saw that the students under the nearby shade had all run away, leaving only Shizuka looking at him blankly.
After snapping out of it, Lu Ming once again felt the sensation of total discomfort.
Shizuka looked at Lu Ming, then at the empty surroundings, and managed to force a stiff smile.
She had heard everything the surrounding students said before they left. She looked at Lu Ming, who had come back from his thoughts, and desperately wanted an answer from him.
"Lu Ming! They... they've all gone! The students around me are looking at me like they're avoiding some kind of monster, and even my usual friends have run away."
"And they left because they suddenly started hating me. Can you tell me what happened?"
She looked at Lu Ming, the only one still by her side, though his complexion was also very poor.
Lu Ming was still silently thinking about how to explain it to her. "Lu Ming, you must know what's going on!" Shizuka's tone was certain.
"Why is everyone suddenly avoiding me, and why has everyone become so strange, including you?"
"Lu Ming!" Lu Ming silently looked at the confused Shizuka.
"Do you remember that bottle of mineral water I gave you to drink?" Lu Ming asked.
Shizuka nodded after hearing this, looking at the mineral water in her hand.
Lu Ming continued to remind her, "Nobita gave that to me!"
Hearing this, Shizuka suddenly realized. "Are you saying this is one of Doraemon's gadgets?"
Lu Ming nodded. "This water was likely something Nobita took from Doraemon to use against me, but by some mistake, you ended up drinking it."
"Then what should we do now?" Shizuka asked Lu Ming urgently.
"We can only see if Nobita has an antidote. If not, we'll have to wait until after school to find Doraemon."