Chapter 65 : Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Ji Qing had originally not planned to make the identity of the “Valedictorian” any more complicated.
But now that a situation had already emerged in which that identity was tightly bound to him, and the manga had already laid down foreshadowing, he had no choice but to consider how his character setting might change going forward.
In a subtle tone, Ji Qing said, “Li Yuan absolutely has to be an Infected, but as for Ji Qing…”
The unfinished words disappeared between his teeth.
At least now, he could finally give a reasonable explanation for why “Ji Qing” was able to overpower a whole crowd of geniuses born in the same generation as him—because he was not human at all. The more Ji Qing thought about it, the uglier his expression became. He himself had a hard time accepting that.
“Forget it,” Ji Qing said in self-abandonment. “I’ll just run away when the time comes.”
There was no way he could explain that none of it had been intentional, right? Even Ji Qing himself felt that would sound like sophistry. How could there possibly be such a ridiculous coincidence in the world? He just happened to lose his memory when he enrolled, and then afterward forgot that he was an Aberrant?
Even so, he still had to hide his identity as an Aberrant as much as possible. Ji Qing calmly said, “Since Shao Huayu is that wary, there must already be people who are strongly associated with Aberrants.”
So far, two wasteland organizations had appeared in the story: one was an infected organization, and the other was a cult organization.
So then, could there also be a cult that worshipped Aberrants?
Ji Qing lowered his eyes in thought.
Up to this point, Xicheng still preserved its faith in the ocean. Under those circumstances, if ocean-dwelling species came into contact with Xicheng’s citizens, it would be very easy for a cult to develop. So what could his position be?
A meaningful smile curved Ji Qing’s lips. “Then I’ll set myself up as a follower of a cult first.”
If that cult really existed, then he would align his identity with it as much as possible. If it did not exist, then he would simply become the founder of the cult himself. After all, he was already the figurehead leader of an Infected organization. One more identity as a cult leader would not make much difference.
As for the possibility that the real cult’s doctrine might not match his own ideas…
Ji Qing casually arrived at a conclusion: just slaughter the upper ranks and replace all of them with his own people. He only needed to fool the manga. As for every other problem, he could deal with it after he was exposed.
Still, he felt that becoming the founder of a cult himself would be easier.
With a conflicted expression, Ji Qing pondered, That would also make it easier for his classmates to persuade him to come back later. He would not have committed that many crimes, and the story could still end in a warm, happy reunion.
“I’m coming up with some pretty wild ideas,” Ji Qing suddenly muttered.
A moment ago, he had still been complaining about how he had somehow become the leader of Dawn Society, and now he had gone ahead and saddled himself with the future identity of a cult leader too. Sure enough, even under the premise of amnesia, a person’s behavioral logic did not really change all that much…
“Then it’s settled.” Ji Qing’s eyes steadied. “For now, I’ll push my identity toward that of a cult leader who might defect in the future. Then, once the identity is exposed, I’ll run. That way, the plot logic will flow smoothly.”
But there was still one serious problem in front of him.
How exactly was he supposed to explain the relationship between “Ji Qing” and “Li Yuan”?
Now there was finally a suitable reason for the two identities to appear separately. But should he connect them? Ji Qing’s brows knit tightly. When the system had asked him before, he had only intended to brush it off casually. He had not expected the risk of exposure to actually appear.
“For now, I’ll keep using the split-personality explanation,” Ji Qing said steadily.
At present, there was no way for him to avoid the risk of the two being linked together.
“Ji Qing” had gone out of the school at night many times before, and those records just so happened to overlap with the traces of Li Yuan’s appearances. Right now, no one was thinking along those lines, but in the future, some nosy people might investigate.
Rather than patching things up with even more lies, it would be better to directly use a “split personality” setup.
The true body of “Ji Qing” was an Aberrant, and later that Aberrant could use a clone to move independently. That explanation fit perfectly, and it also conveniently resolved the plot logic that had been difficult for him to handle in the past. And now, on top of “Ji Qing,” he had added yet another layer: a future identity that might defect.
“It’s like a set of nesting dolls.” Ji Qing rubbed his brow in helplessness.
No matter what, his identity as an Aberrant had to be hidden most thoroughly of all. Ji Qing was not prepared to gamble on the Federation’s mercy. Mercy had never been a virtue humanity truly needed.
Once all his other personas were stripped away, he would flee immediately.
After resolving the issue of his personas, Ji Qing finally had the leisure to look at the manga forum. It was a good chance to see how far the forum’s speculation had progressed, so that he could modify his persona setting accordingly. Since Yuexia Cao had already planted foreshadowing, the readers should be able to work out the general direction.
【Hot】【Featured】【Let’s dig into the identities of several people in Class S. I’ve realized that quite a few of them have major backgrounds.】
【Congratulations to Xuexue for finally clearing things up with Qingyin!! They’re still friends, that’s wonderful, wuwuwu】
【Hot】【I feel like Ji Qing might be connected to Aberrants, or to a cult linked to Aberrants. Abilities can be inherited through bloodlines, so in theory commoners should not be able to outdo aristocratic families, but Ji Qing can unquestionably suppress Shao Huayu. Does that really make sense?】
【I’m super looking forward to daily life after they move up a class! Watching how everyone acted during the retreat warmed my heart so much. I really love the way they all leave together after coordinated combat, bickering noisily the whole way!!! Youth is invincible! Long live Class S!】
【Hot】【The team competition arc is amazing! So many big scenes and battle scenes, and the suspense and foreshadowing are incredible. Yuexia, you absolutely have to keep this momentum going, aaaah!!! (wild rant)】
【It looks like the Aberrants themselves aren’t united. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the story develops into later.】
…
When his gaze landed on the second hot post, a faintly cold smile curved Ji Qing’s lips. “As expected.”
He had known the readers would start guessing from that angle.
Under normal circumstances, a manga character who occupied the position of Valedictorian would have an extremely complicated background. Either they were the protagonist’s childhood friend and the goal he was trying to catch up to, or they were the protagonist’s enemy and a ruthless villain, or they were a stubbornly tragic, beautiful powerhouse.
No matter how one put it, they could never be an ordinary existence.
“And yet… I really do want to live through high school like a completely ordinary person…” Ji Qing covered his face and sighed weakly. “It’s just that Yuexia Cao simply won’t give me that chance…”
That damned Yuexia.
【Thread: I feel like Ji Qing might be connected to Aberrants, or to a cult linked to Aberrants. Abilities can be inherited through bloodlines, so in theory commoners should not be able to outdo aristocratic families, but Ji Qing can unquestionably suppress Shao Huayu. Does that really make sense?】
【1L Original Poster:
Judging by common manga tropes, the Valedictorian is definitely an extremely important character.
I think at the start, that bastard was shaping Ji Qing into “the goal the protagonist is trying to catch up to,” but later, because Li Yuan appeared, Ji Qing’s positioning became kind of blurred. So first let me sort through Ji Qing’s plotline.
Ji Qing’s first appearance was on the train during enrollment registration. At that time, he helped the protagonist, but did not leave his name behind. Based on the circumstances then, he could only have been helping on a whim, and his attitude toward the protagonist was very casual.
His second appearance was during the opening speech, where he was talking with several people from Class S.
His third appearance was in the school infirmary after Zhou Que’s defeat. At that time, after seeing the protagonist’s meeting records, he decided to extend a hand and pull the protagonist up. His reason was: for fun. (PS: The contents of the meeting records are still unknown.)
At the time, he persuaded Shao Huayu, and later found Song Xiaoran. He also helped push Feng Youyou into contact with the protagonist.
His fourth appearance was the ability test, where he successfully conquered everyone with his strength, shattered suspicion, and gained countless admirers.
His fifth appearance was the team competition. Faced with the Aberrants’ strange behavior, you can see afterward that he has pretty good relationships with several people in Class S, especially Shao Huayu. I honestly don’t know how the two of them got close. From the way they talked during the ability test, they didn’t seem very familiar at all.】
【2L: Isn’t that pretty normal?】
【3L: The wasteland respects strength above all else. Ji Qing has already shown his strength, so naturally Shao Huayu would be convinced by him.】
【4L: The Original Poster’s speculation is pretty bold.】
【5L (replying to 4L): +1】
【6L: I’ve been thinking about this too.
Earlier, the plot kept repeatedly emphasizing how severe the wasteland’s class system is. Most of the people at the top of the ability hierarchy are children of aristocratic families. Even if someone like Song Xiaoran occasionally slips through the net, the power of speech is still held by the great families. Only Ji Qing… he is the exception.】
【7L: Exactly.】
【8L Original Poster: Ji Qing’s talent is dazzling to the point of breaking the wasteland’s rules.
All four aristocratic-family students currently in Class S maintain good relationships with him. Especially Shao Huayu and the others. Although Ling You’er still hasn’t been shown talking with Ji Qing in the manga, she mentioned Ji Qing very familiarly when talking with Xue.】
【9L: The more you think about it, the better it gets.】
【10L: The people in Class S all have pretty good relationships. Song Xiaoran and Ji Qing also talk very naturally. As classmates, they’re quite close, and even Chang’an looked surprised when he saw it.】
【11L Original Poster: But Ji Qing’s behavior during the team competition was very strange.
First of all, when You Xingluo mentioned the Black Tide, Liu Mu’s expression instantly turned grave. But Ji Qing… I felt like he looked a little as though he didn’t know what expression he should make. Combined with his smile later in the plot, it gave me a weird feeling.】
【12L: That part really did stand out.】
【13L: Ah…】
【14L Original Poster: Then later, You Xingluo informed Zhou Que’s group that support had arrived, but Ji Qing himself was absent. First of all, Ji Qing is the Valedictorian, an undisputed genius, so what kind of Aberrant could possibly hold him up? Of course, the island was completely destroyed afterward, so there were no traces left to find.
But I still feel like something is off.】
【15L: I think that part was reasonable, though. Mainly because neither of Ji Qing’s two teammates had attack-type abilities. Ji Qing was probably trying to keep the danger on his own side so that You Xingluo could go notify Shao Huayu and the others first.】
【16L: Shao Huayu’s team really has high combat power. If even they couldn’t resolve it after showing up, then would any team left on the island have been able to?】
【17L: I think that part was perfectly reasonable.】
【18L: Ji Qing’s micro-expression there was definitely odd, but you can also explain it from another angle. He’s a genius himself, so he wouldn’t fear the Black Tide the way others would. And so far Ji Qing’s background still hasn’t been revealed, so we don’t know what kind of attitude he has toward the Black Tide, the Federation, and so on.】
【19L: Are you seriously deciding Ji Qing is connected to Aberrants or maybe a cult just because his expression looked off during the team competition? Original Poster, your guess really doesn’t hold up at all.】
【20L Original Poster: That makes sense too. (thinking)】
【21L: The real key issue is that Ji Qing has had too little plot focus. You can’t infer his character setting from these appearances alone. Compared to whether he’s in a cult or not, I care more about how Ji Qing and Shao Huayu got closer. Can that bastard please make up some daily-life scenes for Class S later, TAT】
【22L: Don’t even think about it.】
【23L: Hey, hey, remember whose manga you’re reading. It’s Yuexia’s.】
【24L: Up to now, Yuexia Cao has never drawn a side story. And even if he did make one for an individual character, he’d probably draw Li Yuan first. Li Yuan’s popularity is way higher than Ji Qing’s.】
…
“This is actually going pretty well.” Ji Qing blinked in surprise.
Even though the readers already had suspicions, they had no way to prove anything conclusively.
For Ji Qing, that outcome was already quite good. He did not even need to hint that his allegiance might be wavering or that he might defect in the future. He might as well just spend high school in peace like this.
Resting his chin on one hand, Ji Qing murmured, “As for the popularity value, Li Yuan can earn it…”
He really did not want to keep thinking about character settings all the time.
But that was only a passing thought. Ji Qing let out a long sigh, then said dispiritedly, “Let’s just leave it to fate for now. In the end, whether I defect or not is only a matter of one sentence.”
Founding a cult was such a troublesome thing, and he was not all that eager to do it.
If nothing unexpected happened, Ji Qing believed that back then, he must have chosen to create or join Dawn Society because he wanted to cover up his identity as an Aberrant. But now the identity of a Dawn Society cadre had already been taken by Li Yuan…
And that bastard had been stubborn enough to specifically draw out the micro-expression he had meant to hide.
It was honestly almost too much to bear.
In the end, he was left with only two choices: either use the split-personality explanation, or defect to a cult. The only thing that absolutely could not be exposed was his identity as an Aberrant.
“The more I think about it, the more annoying this gets…” Ji Qing muttered irritably with his chin propped on his hand.
【Thread: Let’s dig into the identities of several people in Class S. I’ve realized that quite a few of them have major backgrounds.】
【1L Original Poster: You Xingluo’s identity is not ordinary. He is both Shao Huayu’s close friend and on good terms with Ji Qing. I specifically went back and reviewed the earlier manga and found that Liu Mu spoke to him very respectfully. He might be, like Shao Huayu, the heir of his family.
Shao Huayu’s identity has already been made obvious. The young master of the Shao Family.
Song Xiaoran’s situation is a bit strange. He is the only one among the characters introduced so far who could sense that something was wrong with the island. His reaction at the start of school was also very strange. I suspect his identity is unusual too. Later, the orphanage where he and the protagonist stayed just happened to be the old site of the Church of Choosing Heaven. This…】
【2L: The Original Poster is amazing!】
【3L: I spotted exactly the forum post I wanted to see at a glance, hehe.】
【4L: Shao Huayu’s identity was really obvious. Mainly because even the aristocratic-family students in Class A are thoroughly convinced by him. When Lu Qingyin first appeared, the narration even specifically introduced her identity as an heir. Someone like that not only knows Shao Huayu, but also admires him. That was when I realized Shao Huayu was definitely an heir.】
【5L: Wow.】
【6L: There were even little details like that?】
【7L Original Poster: I feel like Shao Huayu and Lu Qingyin have very similar character settings. The way they speak is elegant and composed, and they both care a lot about family honor. Their positions within their families must be similar too.】
【8L: The big boss is amazing.】
【9L: I vaguely noticed it too, but I didn’t think about it deeply.】
【10L Original Poster: Now if you go back and look at You Xingluo, doesn’t he start to look more and more suspicious? (smile)】
【11L: Exactly!】
【12L: So true!!!】
【13L Original Poster: You Xingluo is close to Shao Huayu. After school started, when Chang’an went to Class S to ask about Ji Qing, You Xingluo was sitting together with Shao Huayu. Because he was present, Shao Huayu did not storm off with a dark face, no matter how bad his expression looked.】
【14L: Chang’an, you dummy.】
【15L: I was seriously sweating for Chang’an back then.】
【16L: Looking back now, it feels kind of funny.】
【17L: So is he an heir too?】
【18L Original Poster: Judging from the plot so far, yes.】
【19L Original Poster: Among the four aristocratic-family students in Class S, only Zhou Que and Ling You’er do not fit this positioning. Zhou Que is too rash and hotheaded in his actions, while Ling You’er is so socially anxious that she can barely speak clearly. The two of them are probably on other development paths.
Those two likely did not receive education as heirs. The young masters of the Zhou and Ling Families are someone else.】
【20L: I noticed that too! After being defeated by Xie Chang’an, Zhou Que’s thought was just to win back next time, while Shao Huayu was considering the impact on the aristocratic families. But I’m really curious about the relationship between those two. Compared to the others, they seem more closely connected.】
【21L: Maybe they’re cousins, or maybe there are direct interests involved between them?】
【22L: That still isn’t certain.】
【23L Original Poster: We’ll wait for Yuexia’s new plot.】
【24L Original Poster: As for Feng Youyou, she’s genuinely impressive. She’s clearly a commoner, yet she never loses her composure, and in battle she can smoothly coordinate with two aristocratic-family students. At this point, she has basically already integrated into Class S’s circle. Compared to her, the others… sigh…
I’m pretty curious about her family situation.】
【25L: Feng Youyou really is.】
【26L: You can tell that Class S has already accepted her.】
【27L: Liu Mu doesn’t need to be worried about either. The one worth worrying about is our protagonist.】
【28L Original Poster: As for Ji Qing… there are too many mysteries around him.
First, where exactly does he come from, and where does his ability come from? I know geniuses do exist in the world, but what was this genius’s past? Why did he choose to enroll in the Third Ability Academy? What does he plan to do in the future?
The manga has not talked about any of that yet, and that bastard has only given one direct depiction of him during the ability test so far.
I’ve seen some fellow fans guessing that he might be related to Aberrants.
That is indeed possible, but also maybe not possible. The main thing is that this man’s life experience is basically a complete blank, and he has appeared in too few chapters. Let’s wait for more manga plot first.
I hope that bastard can shape him into a vivid Valedictorian.】
…
Ji Qing did not keep reading the rest of the thread.
His emerald-green eyes remained fixed on the final line for a long time. Then he suddenly chuckled. “Having few appearances really does have its advantages.”
Shao Huayu was already on guard against the possibility that his allegiance might waver, but the readers were not.
The manga readers were still waiting for his new plot. Even when some readers suspected that he might be related to Aberrants, other readers would refute them one by one.
“So that means I don’t need to start planning that early?” Ji Qing paused, and then a meaningful smile curved his lips. “That really is a good approach. If my life is truly threatened in the future, then I’ll just defect.”
As for after he betrayed them—
Whether he founded a cult or returned to Dawn Society, he could decide that later.
No matter what, Ji Qing would never place his life in someone else’s hands.