Chapter 17
Wen Rong still didn’t know he had become the “Runaway Bride/Cross-dressing Mysterious Beauty” on the anonymous forum.
After the school doctor found time to treat his wounds and moved the fainted Zhao Zeryang away, Senior Leon personally escorted him back to the dorm, instructing him not to open the door no matter who knocked before leaving.
Wen Rong didn’t quite understand who would come knocking on his door, but he obediently locked it.
Then, he pressed his back against the door, fists clenched, pale knuckles trembling slightly.
Thinking the Host felt down because of the club recruitment incident, the System called out gently: [Host?]
Wen Rong suddenly punched upward. “Ha!”
[?]
Then he struck a strange horse stance. “Adah!”
[???]
Immediately after, he sprinted and jumped onto the bed, grabbing a pillow and smashing it against the wall.
The System finally realized the Host wasn’t sad at all; he was savoring the moves used to counterattack Zhao Zeryang.
“Report to Captain! 9527 has completed the mission.” Wen Rong gave a Young Pioneers salute, stood up proudly, and jumped handsomely off the bed.
System: A bit chunibyo (delusional/childish).
The System simulated applause: [Clap, clap, clap, clap.]
[May I ask 9527, where did you learn that uppercut?]
“Learned it when the Director played Fearless (Huo Yuanjia).”
[That doesn’t seem to be Huo Yuanjia’s pose.]
“It’s the foreigner in Fearless. Because the foreigner always gets beaten, just like me. It has great reference value!”
System: Host, you sure know how to pick references.
It asked again: [What about the pose where you pressed his head and smashed the trophy?]
Wen Rong pondered for a moment, not as happy as before. “My high school bully.”
[…]
Wen Rong suddenly punched the air a few more times, regaining his smile. “Gege, having strength is really good! I want to exercise every day from now on, build muscles.”
[Did the Host consider the consequences when acting just now?]
The System didn’t mean to blame him, just purely curious. The Host, who could endure so much before, suddenly exploded—was it impulse or a decision made after careful consideration?
It wanted to confirm something.
Thinking back to half an hour ago, in the dark cave, the “building” made of fluorescent green numbers was teetering on the verge of collapse.
The System urgently called the Host: [Host, don’t be afraid. Remember what I said? In this world, your life won’t be in danger.]
[Host, calm down first. Everyone is watching now; you won’t be in trouble.]
[Host, you still have to exchange for the Mystery Grand Prize. You still have to find this world’s Mom and Dad.]
The Host’s panel stats all showed extremely low states. Empty bars flashed red.
This was a very dangerous signal, indicating the Host was on the verge of collapse and extremely likely to die.
Bang.
At the critical moment, something seemed to explode.
A flash of red passed through the blank bar.
Like a lightbulb with a bad connection—on, off, on, off… Bzzt, bzzt, as if one could hear the electric sound.
“Gege, I want to exchange for ‘Strength to hold on no matter what I endure’.”
At that time, Wen Rong’s tone was very different from now.
So were the numbers.
The Attack Power column rose from the initial 0 to 10.
This was an unprecedented case, simply inconceivable.
So now, apart from the solid EQ value of 0, the System somewhat disbelieved all other data, including IQ.
To be able to expand the understanding of the erotic “Strength to hold on no matter what I endure” into “Strength to knock someone out with one punch,” the Host shouldn’t be a true fool.
“I thought it through! If they want me to reconcile with him, it’s: he hits me, I beat him, we’re even. I will do tasks every day to earn points and exercise my body. If I meet him again, I won’t suffer a loss.”
Wen Rong punched the air bang, bang a few more times. “If they blame everything on me, I’ll find a reporter to expose the bullying I’ve suffered in school during this time. Didn’t you say last time that this school recruited me to export a ‘good impression’ to the commoner class? Those people didn’t consider my feelings, so I won’t consider theirs either.”
[If expelled, the Host will shoulder hundreds of millions in debt.]
“They bullied me first. Not upholding justice for me but making me pay money—that’s simply an overlord clause. I’ll find a lawyer to sue them.”
Wen Rong turned to open the window. The wind poured in, carrying a faint, rich scent of osmanthus.
He closed his eyes, pursed his lips into a smile, cheeks dimpling.
After a long while, he took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and said to the wind, “I don’t want to receive unfair treatment anymore.”
After the club recruitment ended, the freshmen had no collective activities. Senior Leon notified the group that they only needed to attend the opening ceremony at the auditorium on the weekend; other times were for self-arrangement.
Wen Rong spent a quiet day, never receiving punishment for the fight, nor even a message from Senior Leon.
Instead, the next afternoon, he received a system notification from Black Pigeon, telling him to go to Room 303 of the Administration Building at 7 PM.
Floriman Academy had signed agreements with multiple brands for customized student uniforms. After payment, these brands would immediately send designers by plane to the students’ homes to take measurements.
Because Wen Rong had no “home address” in the Black Pigeon system, and it happened to be the start of school, the location was set at the school.
There were still two hours until seven o’clock. The System taught Wen Rong how to use the electronic map to search for the Administration Building’s address. Confirming it only took 20 minutes to walk there, he quickly took a shower and changed into clean clothes to go out.
He planned to eat first. Walking over after eating, he could still arrive 20 minutes early.
But now, he should be able to arrive 30 minutes early.
Because as soon as Wen Rong walked into the cafeteria, he saw three boys wearing Tennis Club sportswear sitting near the door.
They were talking and hadn’t noticed Wen Rong yet.
“It’s all that Special Recruit’s fault. If not for him… how could our club’s recruitment be suspended?”
Another was somewhat absent-minded. “Y-Yeah.”
“What do you mean?”
He came back to his senses, hesitating, “I mean we should… should… give him a lesson.”
Another one said, “Not a good idea, right? Our club was just suspended for violating school rules. If we cause trouble again, the Dealer might really advise expulsion. He’s capable of doing that.”
“Now that you remind me, I also think it’s not good. The Dealer is famous for being selfless and iron-fisted. Better not get dragged down for a Special Recruit.”
“Agreed. Wen… the Special Recruit bled so much, he’s learned enough of a lesson.”
The three reached a tacit consensus, and Wen Rong breathed a small sigh of relief.
He hadn’t developed muscles yet. If these people looked for trouble, he would have to spend his last remaining points, which wasn’t cost-effective.
In Wen Rong’s plan, the remaining point should be used to counterattack Shi Ye.
“We can not hit him. We, we can personally…”
Two people looked up simultaneously, staring at the boy speaking.
Wen Rong held his breath again.
The boy paused, then hurriedly said, “Per… personally scare him. Haha, scaring him is fine, right? He looks timid. If I scare him, maybe when he goes back at night, he’ll keep thinking about how I scared him, dreaming about me.”
“Are you a fucking pervert?”
The other one: “This idea is good!”
Added: “Problem is how to ambush him?”
Wen Rong wanted to keep listening—after all, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated—but then he thought, I’m so close to them. If they look up, they won’t even need to think about how to ambush me; they’ll catch me right here.
After deliberating, he quickly asked the auntie for some food and hurriedly left the cafeteria.
At the same time, the boy facing the cafeteria entrance suddenly changed his expression and stood up. “Remembered I have something to do. I’m leaving first.”
“What is it? Didn’t you say we’d play ball later?”
The boy put his phone to his ear. “Family called me. My mom wants to set me up on a date recently.”
Then he walked away quickly.
The remaining two boys looked at each other. “Wasn’t his phone screen off just now?”
“Yeah, didn’t even pretend.”
“He left, just right for the two of us to play.”
“Keeping score ourselves is annoying. If only I could bring servants to school like Shi Ye. I’m done eating, let’s go.”
“Hey, I haven’t finished eating yet. Wait for me.”
“Wait for what, let’s go.”
The boy stood up with a crumpled face. Coincidentally, his peripheral vision drifted past the window, spotting a back figure in a white T-shirt and jeans.
He paused. “I seem to have something to do too. You go play by yourself.”
“Ah? How do I play alone?”
“Play with the wall.”
A sports car sped through the campus, its roar shaking the sky, causing quite a commotion.
Shi Ye had been in a bad mood for the past two days.
Since before school started, he had been preparing for the New Tennis Club’s recruitment. He thought it was in the bag, even suppressing his temper to fill out psychological test questions all morning at the Student Council, only to be notified by Zhou Xie in the afternoon to stop recruitment.
As for which of the New or Old Tennis Clubs would stay, he had to wait for notification.
Wait for his grandpa’s notification.
Bad things kept coming one after another.
First, he heard Wen Rong was bullied by Zhao Zeryang, then he saw that thread [15th Floor Bro didn’t lie to me].
Simply a bolt from the blue.
Now it wasn’t just the 15th Floor; many people knew the secret only he should have known, and those people actually called Wen Rong “Wife.”
“Fuck! A pack of dogs in heat.”
Shi Ye spun the sports car half a circle at the entrance of the Administration Building, tossed the keys to Qi Yuan, and stepped out.
He had taken a brief shower after hitting the sandbag. His grey hair wasn’t fully dry yet; on the way here, the wind blew it all back, fully revealing his sharp and flamboyant features.
His expression wasn’t good because he was plotting how to get the Black Pigeon system administrator account from Zhou Xie.
Wait until he found those dogs from the thread and neutered them all.
Just then, a shout came from behind, “Wen Rong.”
Shi Ye quickly turned around and saw a boy in a white tracksuit blocking a shorty’s path.
The shorty changed into a black T-shirt today, with a baffling colorful “Fight” printed on the chest.
What normal person wears “Fight” on their body? Why isn’t he wearing a uniform yet—
Thinking of this, Shi Ye inexplicably tugged the corner of his mouth.
He had increased his training volume these past few months, making the uniform tight, so he had the butler order a new set.
Black Pigeon system just sent a message notifying him to get measured.
Wen Rong must have paid for the uniform too…
At the entrance of the Administration Building, the two said something unknown. Wen Rong bowed to the other person and turned to run toward the main gate.
Shi Ye crossed his arms, assuming a pose he thought was cool, leaning against the stairs to wait for the rabbit.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Wen Rong buried his head and rushed up the stairs.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
He went upstairs.
Shi Ye: …
Shi Ye: ?
Blind.
Can’t you see a person as big as me?
Shi Ye cursed him in his heart, taking the stairs two at a time, coming up with a brilliant way to say hello.
Did no one want you at the club recruitment? Want to join the New Tennis Club? I didn’t want you originally, but who told me to say there’s no threshold.
No, that makes it seem like I want him to join the New Tennis Club too much.
Want to join the New Tennis Club? Leon asked me to take you in.
This is good. Makes it seem like I don’t want him to join that much, but also lets him in.
“How did you fly up here?!” Wen Rong’s astonished voice came from upstairs.
Shi Ye stopped thinking.
Another voice: “What?”
“Don’t come looking for me again. You’ve come a second time; the third time I’ll… I’ll scold you.”
The boy sounded somewhat innocent. “This is the first time I’ve come to talk to you. I want to be friends with you.”
“You grabbed me downstairs just now too.”
“Downstairs?” The boy immediately explained, “I’ve been waiting here the whole time, I wasn’t downstairs.”
“But the one downstairs…”
Wen Rong had his back to Shi Ye, but Shi Ye could feel him swallowing saliva, continuing to speak very dully, “Wasn’t the one in the white tracksuit you?”
The boy was stunned. “Huh?”
Wen Rong probably, finally realized that the two white tracksuits were indeed not the same person. He glanced around in panic, speaking incoherently, “Actually, you aren’t that good… No, no, no, you’re quite good, but I really don’t plan on making friends.”
Shi Ye raised a hand to cover his mouth, unable to resist cursing Blind again. Walking without looking at people, looking at people without looking at faces.
Satisfying.
Even more satisfying was the boy’s suddenly green face. “You said… there was someone in a white tracksuit looking for you just now too?”
Shi Ye walked behind Wen Rong, rarely learning from Leon to add fuel to the chaotic fire: “It doesn’t matter, Senior. Although you and your friend tacitly avoided each other, the ‘Good Person Card’ you received is exactly the same.”
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