Chapter 48 : Chapter 48
Chapter 48
The long day finally turned a page.
When Ji Qing woke up in the dorm room, the familiar ceiling came into view. Memories of last night surged before his eyes like a tide, and he covered his eyes in irritation.
Damn it, how had he ended up arguing with Shao Huayu?
The joy of successfully obtaining the bronze mirror had finally loosened the tightly wound string in Ji Qing’s heart last night, and only now did he realize how provocative his words had been at the time.
“It’s over. My persona...” Ji Qing murmured in a low voice.
Although Ji Qing had never deliberately created a persona for himself, his desire for Popularity Value was real.
Most readers of a shounen manga were either at that chuunibyou age or in the phase of being unable to resist “beautiful, strong, and tragic” characters. Ji Qing’s real personality, meanwhile, was a little too down-to-earth...
That was quite unfavorable for accumulating Popularity Value.
“But forget it.” Ji Qing pushed himself upright and put on his uniform with cool indifference. “It’s not a big problem. We’ve got dirt on Shao Huayu too, so he won’t spread it around.”
At that thought, the fingers fastening his buttons paused.
To be honest, he truly had not expected Shao Huayu to care about his image as well. That made Shao Huayu unexpectedly seem a little more adorable in Ji Qing’s eyes... probably adorable, anyway?
Ji Qing tilted his head, not entirely sure.
After straightening his clothes, Ji Qing washed up quickly and went straight out. Registration for Team Competition groups would close this Thursday, while the competition venue and team list would be announced on Friday.
The school had left the students a week to prepare.
If nothing unexpected happened, their Team Competition would begin next week. And once the Team Competition ended, the teachers and students of Third Ability Academy would be greeted by final exams.
“This semester really went by pretty fast,” Ji Qing remarked helplessly.
Although worry about the future constantly lingered in his heart, Ji Qing had been far too tired when he returned to the dorm last night, so he had failed to carry out his plan of locating the World Book.
He had to do it today, Ji Qing warned himself in silence.
Ji Qing first bought breakfast, then headed to the academic building as usual. Li Xuehua had unexpectedly become busy after the Individual Competition ended. The last class had even been taught by Class A’s homeroom teacher in her place.
Ji Qing was rather curious about what she had been busy with.
Although nearly a semester had passed, Ji Qing still did not know what their teacher’s Ability was. Since Li Xuehua was able to become Class S’s homeroom teacher, her strength was certainly nothing to scoff at.
“Good morning, students.”
At the very last moment after the class bell rang, Li Xuehua appeared hurriedly at the classroom door in her high heels. She braced one hand against the doorframe and steadied her breathing.
Soon, her usual bright smile returned. “How was everyone’s weekend? Have your teams been formed? Be sure to submit your team lists on time.”
However, that sentence did not receive the expected response.
Li Xuehua paused in the middle of operating the projector.
She raised her head and swept her gaze across the Class S students in the room: Ji Qing was leisurely spinning a pen, Shao Huayu was staring out the window in a daze, Zhou Que was dozing, You Xingluo was covertly smiling as he flipped through a book, while Song Xiaoran and Ling You’er were focused on their terminals.
What a strange reaction, Li Xuehua thought with puzzlement.
Even if Zhou Que, the most active participant in class, had fallen asleep, the others should still have reacted at least a little, shouldn’t they? Why had not a single one of them answered?
“We’re... talking to the other side.”
Sensing the stiffness in the air, Ling You’er gathered her courage and spoke. Her face flushed bright red, and she said in a flustered tone, “Teacher, I’ve really been trying hard!”
“All right, very impressive!” Li Xuehua immediately turned into a praise machine.
At that, a smile curved Ji Qing’s lips. He had noticed that whenever their homeroom teacher dealt with the socially anxious Ling You’er, she never held back in encouraging her.
That counted as teaching according to the student’s aptitude, didn’t it?
“It should be fine,” Song Xiaoran said gently as he set down his terminal. “Ling You’er and I have more or less settled our team. I’m more curious about how the others are doing.”
“I assume everyone else has found a team too?”
At the end of his sentence, Song Xiaoran looked toward the others present.
Ji Qing caught sight of Shao Huayu’s expression darkening a few shades, while You Xingluo said with a cheerful smile and no trace of fear, “Ji Qing and I have found ours as well.”
That really was a clean and efficient way to draw all the hostility onto himself, Ji Qing silently remarked.
But when Ji Qing looked at Shao Huayu again, Shao Huayu’s expression had already returned to its usual elegant composure, though tinged with an obvious chill.
“We’re still looking,” Shao Huayu said coldly.
“This...” Li Xuehua looked utterly baffled.
The people who should have been the least worrisome when it came to forming teams were still looking for teammates, while the ones who should have been the most worrisome had already formed theirs. How had things reversed themselves so quickly?
Still, before anything else, Li Xuehua asked curiously, “So classmate You is on a team with classmate Ji, and classmate Song and classmate Ling are on a team together after that?”
“Yes,” Song Xiaoran answered gently.
“That’s right~” You Xingluo said smugly.
But not long after, he muttered to himself in a somewhat regretful tone, “Sigh... too bad I didn’t get to see the reaction I wanted.”
That was an astonishing amount of aggro to pull, Ji Qing thought in admiration.
He was almost worried that Shao Huayu might not be able to hold himself back and would start a fight on the spot. After all, just yesterday Shao Huayu had declared in front of Ji Qing that he wanted to drown You Xingluo in a bathtub.
Yet Shao Huayu said nothing. Instead, Zhou Que woke up from the commotion.
“If it weren’t for a certain someone, would we really have to be finding teammates at the last minute now?” Zhou Que rubbed his eyes, still groggy, and complained, “I really didn’t expect someone to stab us in the back that hard.”
“Hehe~” You Xingluo happily flashed a V sign.
It seemed You Xingluo truly did not think there was anything wrong with what he had done. Ji Qing thought helplessly. Still, Zhou Que’s reaction was much calmer than he had expected.
It was probably because a whole day had passed as a buffer.
No matter how infuriating something was, after a full day had gone by, people’s attitudes tended to soften. At that point, people shifted from righteous anger over the problem to worrying about how to solve the trouble it caused.
Song Xiaoran looked surprised. “You still haven’t found anyone?”
“That’s right,” Zhou Que said as he stretched lazily. “It kept me from sleeping last night, so I’m sleepy as hell today.”
You Xingluo added in an artificially solemn tone, “When someone suddenly knocked on my door yesterday, I was really frightened. But it’s wonderful that everything ended peacefully.”
Shao Huayu gave him a fake smile. “How exactly does that count as ending peacefully?”
At the side, Ji Qing instinctively covered his eyes. Yesterday, he had still been worried that You Xingluo might shift the blame back onto him. Now, he was beginning to worry about You Xingluo’s personal safety instead.
On the podium, Li Xuehua listened in stunned silence.
Then she immediately realized that the current situation was this: You Xingluo and Ji Qing had stolen the teammates Shao Huayu and Zhou Que had already set their sights on, and the two sides had nearly gotten into a physical confrontation yesterday.
Th-this... Li Xuehua broke into a cold sweat.
She hurriedly smoothed things over. “That can also be considered a rather special campus experience. There’s still some time before the team registration deadline, so it isn’t too late to find teammates now. And even if you fail to find teammates, you can still participate in the competition.”
“Yeah,” Zhou Que muttered with his chin resting on his hand, “though I’m really annoyed about getting points deducted for no reason.”
That really was dissatisfying, Ji Qing thought.
The school competition rules had stated that if a Team Competition group failed to meet the school’s required team size of three to four people, the team’s score multiplier would be reduced depending on the circumstances.
Since both Shao Huayu and Zhou Que belonged to Class S, if the two of them failed to gather the required number, their score multiplier might be reduced to a terrifying level.
This was also the school’s way of preventing students from exploiting loopholes.
Song Xiaoran suddenly smiled. He did not comment on the matter of stealing teammates. Instead, he said gently, “That does sound troublesome. I’ll help you ask around too and see whether anyone is still ungrouped.”
“Much appreciated,” Shao Huayu said in thanks.
After the Individual Competition, the students had almost all already formed teams. During the Individual Competition, Ji Qing had often seen students lurking along the route contestants took back to their dorms to invite them, or recruiting teammates while they were eating.
Finding a suitable teammate now would be quite difficult, Ji Qing thought with a slight frown.
He seemed to have taken the joke a little too far.
Ji Qing could not help glancing at You Xingluo beside him. When You Xingluo noticed the look, he blinked in confusion. “Why are you suddenly looking at me?”
This guy really did not think there was any problem at all, did he? Ji Qing thought, inwardly sweating.
“But, teacher—” Zhou Que’s eyes suddenly lit up as he sincerely raised a hand. “Before that, may I ask whether the Team Competition location has already been decided? If it’s in one of the nearby Danger Zones, Hua Yu-ge and I could skip it.”
Everyone present turned to look at the teacher after hearing that, Ji Qing included.
Ji Qing was genuinely curious which Danger Zone it would be held in.
Most of the Danger Zones near Yancheng were low-risk zones, but the farther out they went, the danger level rose sharply. The school definitely would not let first-year students set foot in those places.
“Well now... the teacher can’t reveal that to you.” Li Xuehua smiled and pressed a finger to her lips. “But I’ve already gotten first-hand internal information. It’s going to be a very special experience~”
“And also—”
With a smile still on her face, Li Xuehua added, “At that time, I’ll be serving as your liaison. If you notice anything wrong during the competition, or if you encounter other students who are injured, be sure to tell me.”
“Teacher, that answer is basically the same as not answering at all,” Zhou Que said.
“It only makes us even more curious,” Song Xiaoran added.
“So... would you recommend taking part?” Shao Huayu murmured in a low voice. He shrugged with feigned regret. “Though teacher says everyone should participate no matter what, so that doesn’t really sound very convincing...”
“Oh?” Li Xuehua frowned slightly. She knew Shao Huayu was saying it on purpose, but she also knew he was genuinely considering whether to withdraw from the competition.
There were still three days left before the deadline for Team Competition applications.
At this point, finding a suitable teammate was harder than ascending to the heavens, and after entering Danger Zones so many times, the two of them had long since lost interest in the Danger Zones around Yancheng.
In the end, Li Xuehua relented helplessly. “All right, then I’ll reveal a tiny bit. But don’t spread it around, okay?”
“Yay!” “Of course.”
Scattered responses immediately rang out from the Class S students in the room.
The classroom then fell silent, everyone waiting for the teacher to reveal the final piece of information. Ji Qing likewise stopped spinning his pen. This was a moment that could determine what the group did next.
Li Xuehua smiled. “If nothing unexpected happens, it should be set on an island. I won’t say the exact location, but later on you should run into quite a few marine Aberrants there.”
“For those of you who grew up inland, it should absolutely be a special experience.”
“Wow.” Zhou Que’s eyes lit up.
He had never once been to an island, so he was definitely going to participate in this competition. Zhou Que immediately turned his head eagerly toward Shao Huayu, only to see a trace of surprise on Shao Huayu’s face.
“That’s rather shocking,” Song Xiaoran murmured.
“If it’s on an island... I remember those are all undeveloped areas, right?” Ling You’er muttered in a slightly timid voice. “Teaming up with Song Xiaoran really was the most normal decision I’ve ever made...”
“Mm...” You Xingluo, meanwhile, had a thoughtful look on his face.
You Xingluo had never foreseen this matter. He had never liked making active prophecies. On the one hand, that allowed his passive foresight to function more like a crisis warning; on the other, it made life more interesting for him.
But at this moment, an inexplicable sense of foreboding welled up inside him.
This island trip would probably not be simple, You Xingluo thought heavily. But if he used active Prophecy now, the result would be very vague.
Ji Qing turned his head sharply. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” You Xingluo instinctively revealed a faint smile and said softly, “The problem is still manageable for now. It will just be a little more complicated.”
Ji Qing frowned. “Hm?”
“You could say it’s the result of a prophecy.” You Xingluo leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Although I’m still rather confused myself, it probably means the Team Competition is going to run into some twists and turns.”
Ji Qing hesitated. “...Is that so?”
Yet for some reason, Ji Qing found himself looking forward to it more and more. What kind of Team Competition would it be if nothing went wrong at all?