Chapter 64 : Chapter 64
Chapter 64
At last, the manga had finally reached the scene Ji Qing had witnessed.
After a brief exchange and discussion, the four of them hurriedly began coordinating with one another. Drawing on her own experience, Ling You’er dealt with the incoming tentacle attacks while teaching Gu Lingxue what to do. She spoke very quickly, and her coordination on the spot was perfectly in sync as well.
This explanation not only helped Gu Lingxue understand the situation, but also allowed the readers to grasp the state of the battlefield.
“All right, now it’s your turn.”
“Got it.”
After those brief words came an immediate switch of roles.
This time, it was Gu Lingxue’s turn to support the battlefield. Standing at the shore, Gu Lingxue’s gaze gradually grew firm. At this moment, the thought circling in her mind was no longer about proving herself, but about cooperating with her teammates and getting through this difficult situation together.
【Wahhh, sob sob sob】
【Go, Xuexue!!!】
【Xiao You is so good. She even explained exactly what Xuexue should do, wuwuwu】
【All I can see is that this school really does crush people down.
Lingxue has finally returned to the state she was in during Volume One. Back then, she was bright and confident, and now she’s just that insecure】
【Well, what do you expect when all her classmates are disciples of the great families?】
【Liu Mu keeps saying he wanted to go to Class B, but I think Xue is the one who was most suited for Class B.
The atmosphere in Class B is so much better than in Class A. With Xue’s social skills, she absolutely would’ve thrived in Class B like a fish in water, but instead she got assigned to Class A】
【Do you really think Xue would’ve had any chance of entering Class S if she’d been in Class B?】
【Xue is one of the manga’s protagonists, after all】
【That would be a safe road, but how are you any different from the parents who want Xuexue to become a dutiful wife and mother?】
The manga instantly dissolved into chaos.
Seeing this, Ji Qing helplessly tapped his forehead, but he could not really point fingers at other people’s lives.
“In the end, her future is still her own,” Ji Qing said softly.
The four of them fought a fierce battle against the Aberrant octopus in the saltwater lake. Xie Chang’an quickly realized that his Tang Saber could not pierce the octopus’s soft skin, while Song Xiaoran, constrained by the saltwater lake, could not bring out the destructive power of his Wood Ability.
The corrosiveness of the saltwater was enough to strip plants of their support.
The two exchanged a glance and both saw the gravity in each other’s expressions. There were only three people in the team who could truly be called combatants, and two of them were being restricted by the terrain and the Aberrant’s characteristics. Song Xiaoran raised a hand to signal retreat, and Xie Chang’an understood immediately.
But the Aberrant octopus, with one main brain and eight auxiliary brains, clearly had no intention of giving them that chance.
The battle immediately fell into a stalemate.
【What’s happening, what’s happening?】
【So right now, the only one who can really be effective is Lingxue?】
【Starting off at this kind of intensity already?】
【In a normal hot-blooded manga, this is where the protagonists would explode with hidden power and defeat the enemy. But in Yuexia’s manga… uh, I honestly have no idea what’s about to happen】
【Ahhhhhhhhhh】
【Someone hurry over and support them! Hurry up and call for backup!】
【Yuexia, don’t cliffhang it here! (horrified face)】
This chapter of the manga ended right there, and countless readers wailed in agony at the ending.
Ji Qing found it deeply amusing.
The manga forum that week was probably extraordinarily lively. Yuexia really had left quite the cliffhanger. Ji Qing himself did not have that problem while reading, and he immediately clicked to the next chapter.
The next chapter opened with Ji Qing’s back.
Using visual misdirection, the artist drew Ji Qing floating in midair, backlit as he stood atop the highest treetop in the forest. Passing clouds happened to obscure the point where he stood. Hidden in concealment, he faced in the direction of the saltwater lake, the corners of his mouth slowly curving upward.
The next panel abruptly cut to pitch-black darkness.
The barrage comments were filled with question marks:
【？？？】
【No, wait, Yuexia, you…】
【I really want to ask what Ji Qing’s position in this story actually is. I’m suddenly getting a bad feeling】
【That smile from Ji Qing feels so villainous】
【Could it mean he already knows victory is guaranteed?】
【Wasn’t he supposed to be the protagonist’s idol, the person he’s chasing after? Don’t tell me he has some other hidden identity too?】
【With Ji Qing being the Valedictorian, how could he possibly not have some hidden identity?】
“This is bad…” Ji Qing muttered, resting his chin in his hand.
It looked like Yuexia wanted to tie him to the Aberrants. As the only person in the class who currently had a clear connection with Aberrants, he certainly suited that kind of role, but Ji Qing had never intended to shape himself in that direction at all.
With a headache, Ji Qing said, “I never thought there’d come a day when I’d have to outwit a mangaka across dimensions.”
At the saltwater lake, the battle between both sides was still continuing.
For the four-person team, simply maintaining their current advantage was already extremely difficult. If they wanted to escape successfully, then one of them would have to stay behind and cover the retreat. Song Xiaoran thought it over again and again, and ultimately realized that the only candidate could be himself.
Only he could successfully intercept the octopus.
Xie Chang’an’s expression changed the moment he heard that. He refused sternly and proposed, “Don’t you have your classmates’ terminal numbers? Hurry up and call them over!”
Song Xiaoran said calmly, “Do you know where we are?”
Xie Chang’an: “……”
That was something he truly did not know. Their team had come here through the underground waterway and had no idea which part of the island they were currently in. The island itself was undeveloped, and there was no map for them to reference.
As for satellite navigation… what kind of high technology like that even existed in the wasteland?
【Relax, Ji Qing has already found you guys!!!】
【So then— did the smile mean he already knew they’d won?】
【Wait, I think I get it now. Ji Qing figured out the location where the lord was appearing while discussing it with his teammates, so that’s why he smiled when he saw Song Xiaoran and the others?】
【There really does seem to be a cave behind the waterfall】
【That’s a huge discovery!】
【!!! I’m going back to reread it right now!!!】
“The readers haven’t noticed the problem,” Ji Qing murmured softly. “Was I just worrying for nothing? I’d better finish the manga first.”
After a grinding clash, the situation finally turned. A flaming branch came flying in from somewhere unknown and struck toward the Aberrant octopus. Using the force of the wind, Zhou Que suddenly leaped onto the ice, sneering arrogantly, “This is getting painful to watch.”
Song Xiaoran: “How did you get here?”
“You Xingluo told us.” Zhou Que said eagerly, “He said we had to come help. Ji Qing got delayed by other Aberrants.”
The other two members of the team arrived right afterward.
The arrival of the three from Class S greatly eased the pressure on the battlefield. The image froze on a moment of all of them coordinating together. Faced with the same enemy, the people who had once held mutual misgivings toward one another had begun fighting together and supporting each other’s actions.
【Wahhh, sob sob sob】
【I honestly never realized Zhou Que was this handsome before (starry eyes)】
【Yuexia’s battle scenes are seriously so exciting. That sense of pressure and anxiety had my scalp going numb, and now I can finally breathe again】
【The earlier volumes really made me furious, but now I’m so moved】
【Ahhhhh, I respect Class S so much right now. When something happens, they really step up】
【So cool!!!】
【You can tell the relationships inside Class S are pretty good. The way Song Xiaoran talks to his teammates feels so natural, and Ling You’er immediately released her possession and started communicating the battlefield situation with the other two, wuwuwu. Teammates like that are basically divine teammates】
【Is nobody going to talk about Ji Qing?】
【What kind of Aberrant could possibly keep Ji Qing occupied? He’s the Valedictorian】
Ji Qing stared at the last barrage comment and folded his hands together with false solemnity.
The truth, however, was that he did not know either.
Ji Qing could tell that Yuexia Cao wanted to leave a setup here. The moment he thought back to what he had said after the decisive battle, his vision instantly darkened. Ji Qing thought regretfully: It looks like my connection to the Aberrants is going to be completely nailed down now.
The next chapter opened with his own appearance.
Just as Ji Qing was talking with the four by the lake, the island suddenly trembled. Song Xiaoran hurriedly grabbed Gu Lingxue, who had almost fallen, and told her to maintain the ice field. After showing each person’s on-the-spot reaction, the manga finally pulled the camera back.
Out in the distant sea, an enormous humpback whale had raised a tsunami.
The towering tsunami and the tiny human figures appeared in the same panel, and the story immediately took on the signs of an apocalyptic catastrophe. The Aberrant octopus smashed through the ice and escaped, while the Aberrant humpback whale loomed nearby, watching them intently.
An overwhelming pressure surged into the readers’ hearts without giving them any choice:
【So terrifying】
【So this is the wasteland? Humans really are so tiny in the face of nature】
【Yuexia’s drawing skills are incredible】
【Ahhhhhhh, what do they do now?!】
You Xingluo was the first to grasp the situation.
Even if this trip ended in complete failure, the people had to make it back alive. Feng Youyou manipulated the wind field to lift the people on the ice, while Ji Qing used his Ability to pull up a tree trunk to serve as a floating vehicle. The people standing on the trunk were lifted by gravity and drifted toward the highest point on the island.
Looking toward the humpback whale in the distance, Zhou Que frowned. “A lord?”
You Xingluo denied it. “No, not that one.”
Through You Xingluo’s inner thoughts, the manga pieced together the clues they had gathered earlier, emphasizing Xicheng’s situation before finally pointing toward the outcome of the island incident. The scattered clues were organized into a complete timeline at this moment, allowing readers to sort out the cause of the island incident.
【The brains of the team?】
【You Xingluo’s reactions earlier were insanely fast too】
【So we unknowingly brushed past the Intelligent Aberrant lord?】
【That’s kind of a pity】
【I’m still completely confused right now. Maybe it’s because we’re missing the Aberrant point of view?】
【Now that they passed each other this time, they’ll probably face it directly next time.
Though I am a little disappointed right now. I really wanted to see the lord they kept talking about. It’ll appear in the later plot, right?】
【No idea, but probably】
【Is nobody going to praise the protagonist team’s reaction speed too? (Including Class S)】
【Do they count as part of the protagonist team already?】
【Sooner or later, they will】
【Chang’an’s feelings here are really interesting.
This is the first time he’s ever experienced this kind of cooperation, and his impression of Class S is shooting upward. From that perspective, the Team Competition is absolutely unbeatable. Is there anyone left who still doesn’t want to join Class S now?】
Judging from Xie Chang’an’s expression, that was indeed the case.
Ji Qing casually tapped his temple with one finger and thought: Because no one can resist being drawn to the idea of “having comrades who truly work together.” Xie Chang’an was, after all, still only a boy in the midst of adolescence. There was no way he could reject that vision of the future.
The tsunami was still rushing toward them.
After successfully landing at the highest point on the island, the group noticed the trend of the tsunami. Several of them were already exhausted from the battle, so they decided to split up and act separately. Knowing that his Ability could not function properly in seawater, Song Xiaoran turned to rescue the other students.
Constrained by the limitations of his Ability, Zhou Que chose to retreat.
The remaining people each found their own positions, and the fleeing group formally gathered together. But as they ran, Xie Chang’an turned back toward the three who had remained behind and asked in confusion, “What are they trying to do?”
The fierce wind stirred up by their flight struck Xie Chang’an’s face. His companions’ voices rang in his ears, followed immediately by Zhou Que’s protesting shout: “None of you are allowed to tell him! You’re all my friends, my friends!!!”
Xie Chang’an was completely stunned.
After hesitating again and again, he finally moved his legs and followed after the fleeing group.
【Wuwuwu, this really feels like an ensemble cast】
【What Zhou Que said was so funny】
【Zhou Que is adorable, like a fluffed-up angry kitten】
【This warmed my heart so much. This kind of lively everyday scene always moves me the most】
【Yuexia, I want to get promoted to Class S right now, QAQ】
The barrage comments were unanimously full of praise.
This scene almost perfectly showed what the future dynamic of Class S would be like. Even though the matter had not yet truly settled, the readers could not help looking forward to the story after the promotion. It was surely a future worth smiling over.
The camera then shifted to the three who had stayed behind.
Ling You’er possessed Shao Huayu, while Ji Qing still had some strength left in reserve. The three of them began using their actions to resist the tsunami’s encroachment on the island. Just as Ling You’er had told Gu Lingxue earlier, she became one of the people handling the final cleanup.
Time passed second by second, and then the humpback whale made the first move.
It swam toward the other side of the island, toward where the ship was docked. Tangled up by the wave after wave of Marine Aberrants, Shao Huayu could not free himself at once and could only watch Ji Qing run in the direction of the humpback whale.
At the same time, Ling You’er’s Spiritual Energy was nearing total exhaustion.
【Ahhhhhhhhhhhh】
【So tense, so tense, this is way too tense】
【Yuexia, it’s still only the first semester. Don’t end it, don’t ruin it, don’t slash the plot, wuwuwu TAT】
【Nothing’s going to happen on Shao Huayu’s side, right? Nothing’s going to happen on Ji Qing’s side either, right?】
【Everyone has to stay safe!!!】
Just as the manga readers were losing their minds, Ji Qing suddenly stopped running.
The evening sun fell across the surface of the sea, and the shadows of the humpback whale and the ship appeared on the same horizon line. Standing within the island’s shadow, Ji Qing faced the humpback whale across the coastline. He realized its decision.
This action had been meant as a warning, not as an assault.
After making that move, the humpback whale dived beneath the sea, and by then Shao Huayu had followed the traces over. He asked Ji Qing about the situation, and Ji Qing only shook his head calmly. But when his gaze caught sight of the students aboard the ship, Ji Qing suddenly said, “I think… it just wanted to give us a warning…”
“Maybe things within the Aberrants are more complicated too.”
【They definitely are a bit complicated】
【That seriously scared me to death just now, but I didn’t expect the whale not to be planning to wipe them out】
【Still kind of regret not seeing the lord】
【Could there be good ones among the Aberrants too?】
【The Valedictorian should still be a good person. Yuexia is probably just creating suspense on purpose. But I feel like the Valedictorian’s stance might start to waver. After all, he’s the only one who personally witnessed and understood the humpback whale’s actions】
【Huh? What kind of plot development is that now?】
The barrage comments were suddenly full of debate.
Watching their remarks, the corners of Ji Qing’s mouth lowered involuntarily. Ji Qing thought expressionlessly: Looks like it really is my fault. It’s all because I deliberately pointed that out back then…
In the manga, Shao Huayu did not deny him immediately. The panel delicately showed the change in his eyes, a kind of unease mixed with shock. In the end, Shao Huayu sighed and said, “Remember not to say those words in front of the Investigator sent from Central City.”
“A warning from the young master of the Shao family.” Shao Huayu’s tone was complicated. “I don’t want you to disappear from my life yet.”
The barrage comments exploded with excitement:
【I ship it!!】
【Holy shit, holy shit, I can instantly tell these two have an unusual relationship】
【The Valedictorian and the Second Seat are unbeatable!!!】
【What plot did I miss when I wasn’t looking?! (hands trembling)】
【They’re practically openly labeled friends now】
【He cares about Ji Qing so much, wuwuwu… he actually hurried over in a rush to find him】
【Protagonist, you absolutely have to get promoted!!!】
【Class S can definitely make it!】
【No wonder the atmosphere in Class S is so good (dazed face). The Valedictorian and the Second Seat have become friends and are even willing to cover for each other, so the class atmosphere goes without saying】
Ji Qing suddenly raised a brow.
Why did the readers all seem to be attributing the reason to his friendship with Shao Huayu? Wasn’t the greatest contribution to Class S’s atmosphere made by You Xingluo and Shao Huayu? Well… after thinking back over everything he had seen since school started, Ji Qing thought:
All right, he was still useful.
This chapter ended here.
The island’s story was over, and what remained was Xicheng’s story. Because almost no students from Class F had made it into the island’s inner ring, Xie Chang’an was arranged to share a double room with a student from Class D. Gu Lingxue, meanwhile, was still arranged to stay with Lu Qingyin.
Now that the Team Competition was over, Lu Qingyin finally had the time to properly talk with Gu Lingxue.
There had been twists and turns throughout this competition, but for now it had more or less come to an end. Lu Qingyin had also learned the rough promotion list from the teachers one step earlier than Gu Lingxue. With a trace of sadness, Lu Qingyin thought: If they did not talk things out properly now, there would be no chance left.
After listening to Lu Qingyin’s question, Gu Lingxue anxiously twisted the corner of her clothes, but still replied apologetically, “I’m sorry, Qingyin. You’re a very good friend, but I… I want to become a better version of myself.”
That night, the two of them laid bare their true feelings to each other.
“I don’t want to become someone’s appendage, and I don’t want to be trapped at home. I want to see different scenery, even if it means being hurt.” Covering her chest with burning eyes, Gu Lingxue declared as if making an oath, “That is exactly why I came to this Academy.”
【Sometimes I feel like Yuexia really understands girls. He can actually write out the difficulties women face】
【So Xuexue really wasn’t suited for Class B after all (soft tone)】
【Wuwuwuwuwu】
【Xue is probably the best female protagonist Kuman has created in recent years… I feel like Yuexia treats Xue like his own beloved daughter…】
【Would a beloved daughter go through this much suffering?】
【Yinyin is really a very good person too. She was willing to listen when Xue talked about her ambitions, and she didn’t mind Xue teaming up with Xie Chang’an either】
【Looks like her battle with Chang’an really did change the way she thought about things (sigh)】
“This really is a life moment worth remembering,” Ji Qing said, his tone full of relief.
After the post-Team Competition plot, the two of them had now both said goodbye to the people in their own classes, and all that remained was the class promotion. Ji Qing turned a few more pages and found that they were showing the two girls’ everyday lives, including going out around Xicheng and taking the chance to buy local specialties.
The readers greatly enjoyed this kind of warm and peaceful daily life, while Ji Qing skimmed over it quickly.
The manga ended there.
Seeing that, Ji Qing leaned back in his chair and suddenly let out a soft sigh as he tilted his head upward.
The monotonous pure white ceiling made his eyes ache a little, so Ji Qing quickly lowered his gaze back to the computer screen. He still had many difficult problems left before him, but the manga had been excellent.
That at least gave Ji Qing some comfort.
This time, Yuexia had not gone for any stale, overused plotlines. The clichés in the manga’s early stage had been visibly dull, and Ji Qing’s expectations for the story, along with his expectations of Yuexia, had dropped lower and lower at the time.
But that said— it was time to start worrying about the third identity.