Chapter 2

[Congratulations, young monk, you've spotted the important detail (doge)]

[Compared with the brightly colored, radiant Protagonist Group, the black-haired boy in a black shirt and black pants at the edge of the comic looks like an inconspicuous gray shadow, his features impossible to make out. But... the floor-to-ceiling window, his casually lowered gaze, the black shirt casually unbuttoned to reveal his slender neck and collarbones... He gives off an instant big-shot vibe, with his allegiance unclear. Somehow he seems so elegant! Is he a new character?]

[That gaze looking down on the protagonists and scrutinizing them is the picture of cold indifference and cruelty. Even surrounded by a riot of flowers, he still stands out in bold, vivid strokes. It's like as long as he stands there, even the most dazzling colors will pale beside him. Who gets it? That sense that he's got everything under control just keeps building! A "big shot" really is a whole vibe, especially a broad-shouldered, long-legged big shot with a prominent Adam's apple. Delicious (starry eyes). Three minutes, I want all his information (bossy CEO voice bubble)]

[Is he an A or an O? He's tall and slender, with a gloomy, icy air. Even the mass of flowers behind him seems to have taken on a chill because of him. Blind guess: he's an A!]

[Don't worry, person above. That chilly gaze he gave the Protagonist Group from on high was as indifferent and disdainful as if he were looking at trash. I bet a fifty-cent pack of spicy strips that he's definitely an A! Though I don't know what rank of Alpha he is.]

[Lailisi and the other three righteous characters are all bathed in sunlight, while the villain we already know, the plague god He, is completely hidden in the dark. Half the mysterious black-haired boy by the floor-to-ceiling window is bathed in sunlight, and half is hidden in shadow. So can I assume he's half dark and half light inside? Or that it hasn't been decided whether he's evil?]

[What? Chaotic evil with a prominent Adam's apple! Let me take a bite, yum!]

[Damn it! What's his name? Why won't you tell me? What does the author get out of leaving me so desperate for answers! (overheating) (overheating)]

The instant Qin Su saw comments scrolling through the little window in the upper left corner of his interface, he heard the system's voice in his head:

[Congratulations, host Qin Su. At this moment, 29 comments in the comic's real-time feed have mentioned you, successfully extending your life by 29 minutes! Friendly reminder: each new viewer comment will automatically extend your life by one minute. Please continue to maintain your popularity and increase your presence in the comic world! In addition, the popularity points you gain in the comic world will also extend your life!]

[Since you have successfully obtained a certain amount of Life Points, your enrollment information will now be transmitted to you.]

Qin Su: "..."

He got it. Whether it was the comic world or the comic's readers in the real world, he could reap benefits from both.

After finishing its announcement, 777 watched the comments continue to increase and began questioning its existence as a system.

He undid two buttons and stood by the window as though he came with his own background music, without saying a word to the protagonists. That was the "performance" the host had talked about?

Yet the comments kept pouring in. That worked too? Then what did that make the previous hosts who had gone to great lengths to stir up trouble, only to be forgotten by the protagonists and viewers, even earning the viewers' annoyance before eventually being forgotten and dying?

Did it mean they had a whole lot of strength they couldn't stop using?

Following the system's notification, Qin Su saw the life countdown in the upper right corner change from 20 seconds to 29 minutes and 20 seconds.

Soon, it changed again to 37 minutes and 16 seconds.

After each change, the life countdown continued to tick down second by second, even as it increased with the growing number of comments mentioning him.

It was like a contest.

From the current situation, the number of "minutes" added to his life exceeded the number of seconds ticking away.

It seemed that thanks to his "effective" appearance just now, his popularity was currently "at its peak."

Having successfully generated his own buzz and ridden its momentum, Qin Su felt the tension in his heart ease slightly. In front of the comic's camera, he let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief inwardly.

But—

Qin Su narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze swiftly and discreetly sweeping over the comments in the upper left corner and the "life" countdown in the upper right.

According to 777's calculations, each new comment gave him one more minute to live. There were 24 hours in a day, so he needed 1,440 comments to stay alive for one day.

The comments currently coming in one after another seemed numerous, but compared with the life he needed to sustain, they were a drop in the bucket.

As the saying went, what one couldn't have was always the most tempting.

Prolonged "exposure" would only make the comic's viewers grow "visually tired" of him and "bored" with him faster.

The best strategy was to maintain an appropriate air of mystery and disappear quickly after giving the viewers and the Protagonist Group a fleeting glimpse, leaving the viewers dying of curiosity and unable to figure anything about him out.

Thus, after confirming that he had successfully extended his life for the time being, Qin Su timed it precisely and turned to leave expressionlessly before the five had looked at him for more than three seconds.

He left the Protagonist Group and the comic's viewers with nothing but a "cold and heartless" view of his back.

The moment he turned, Qin Su caught the visibly puzzled expressions on the faces of the four Protagonist Group members out of the corner of his eye.

At the same time, the comments about him in the upper left corner were pouring in, all trying to make him stay.

[??? Wait, you're leaving already? Tell me clearly, bro, where are you going, hey!]

[Nooo (Erkang hand)]

[(Ahem) Here's the thing (straightens tie) (adjusts microphone) (really loud) That's how big shots are.]

[Damn it, he's gone, and I don't even know his name to call him back (angry)]

Another surge of comments made Qin Su's remaining Life Points jump from half an hour to two hours.

The result was as expected. Qin Su had turned and disappeared from the Protagonist Group's view, as well as from the comic's camera, and the corners of his downturned lips lifted slightly.

The boy's appearance was like a dream, over too quickly for them to think much about it. They knew nothing about the boy in black, and in the blink of an eye he was gone, leaving only the flowers blooming brilliantly by the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Wait..." Samuel called out instinctively. Only when he realized the other party couldn't hear him did he stop, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

The other three came back to their senses at Samuel's voice.

At the thought of the meaningful look the boy in black had given them, He Muzhi narrowed his long, narrow eyes. The ease he had felt while basking in the sunlight was long gone, and his heart was full of uncertainty.

The same went for Lailisi, Lin Yin, and Samuel.

They were truly very curious about why he had stood there watching them with that look.

The boy in black had stood above them and cast that seemingly careless glance down at them. They couldn't make sense of it, and it left an indelible mark on their hearts.

After several seconds of silence, Lin Yin was the first to speak. "Does anyone have any information about him?"

"I don't." Lailisi shrugged and spread her hands. "This is my first time at the Federal Fourth Military Academy, after all. I don't know much about how things are here."

"No matter what," Samuel said, scratching his short pink curls as he ventured a guess, "with that height and presence, he must be an Alpha, just like Lailisi and Muzhi. Muzhi..."

Samuel looked up at the tall boy who had gotten to his feet. "Don't you think so?"

Prompted by his companion, He Muzhi considered the way the other boy had carried himself and nodded. "His height and build are no different from an Alpha's. He should be an Alpha."

After differentiation at the age of twelve, the builds and appearances of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas gradually developed obvious differences under the influence of pheromones. Most of the time, one could judge a person's gender by appearance with little chance of error.

"Wait." Lailisi seemed to think of something, and she looked at He Muzhi with a subtle expression. "There are exceptions."

At Lailisi's words, the other three, who had grown up together since childhood, immediately changed expression. They had clearly thought of the same "exception."

He Wenyuan.

He was a Beta, but somehow he had made himself no different from an Omega.

At the thought of He Wenyuan, He Muzhi's expression darkened.

Noticing the sudden change in He Muzhi's expression, Samuel hurriedly changed the subject. "Hey, everyone, the freshman entrance ceremony is tomorrow. I heard that according to the Federal Fourth Military School's tradition, outstanding seniors will give speeches of encouragement. I wonder if the person from just now will be among them?"

Samuel's words made the other three's eyes light up. They had clearly all thought of the same thing.

Even if he didn't give a speech, he would still sit with the upperclassmen according to tradition...

Or was it possible that he was a freshman this year, just like them?

In any case, there was a chance they would meet again.

At that thought, the four began looking forward to the upcoming freshman welcome ceremony.

Noticing their expressions, He Wenyuan frowned, his gaze moving between the empty floor-to-ceiling window and He Muzhi.

[Tsk, tsk, tsk, that look from the sinister plague god. I've got a feeling he's about to start creeping around in the shadows again.]

[This time I support little plague brother creeping around in the shadows with both hands and feet. We're counting on him for information on the mysterious new character~]

[Wait! You're just... leaving like that?] At the same time, 777 couldn't understand when it saw Qin Su disappear from the camera's range.

"What else?" Qin Su asked.

Drawing on the experiences of previous hosts, 777 earnestly advised him: [Shouldn't you seize this excellent opportunity to press your advantage, get more involved with the Protagonist Group, get more time in the protagonists' shots, and increase your popularity points?]

Hearing that, Qin Su gathered from the system's words that he still needed to get into the protagonists' shots to appear on the comic's camera. He raised an eyebrow and said to the system, "Since ancient times, eager attentiveness has never made people stay; playing hard to get wins hearts best."

[?]

This was beyond 777's knowledge.

Qin Su had no desire to say more. Having skimmed through the enrollment information sent by the system as quickly as possible, he rested his gaze on the [Space: 0] data on the interface. He made a judgment based on the information and, without asking, stated his request directly. "I need a black baseball cap and a black face mask."

Since there was "space," that meant it had a storage function. If there were "items," that meant there was a chance they could be exchanged for.

Ask? That was too much of a waste of time. When circumstances allowed, he had always preferred to get straight to the point.

777 answered instinctively: [Activating the space function requires 120 minutes of Life Points. Once the function is activated, one black baseball cap costs fifteen minutes of Life Points, and one black face mask costs ten minutes of Life Points.]

Just as I thought. Looking at his remaining Life Points, which had already increased to three hours, Qin Su made an immediate decision. "Activate the space function and exchange for one black baseball cap and one black face mask."

[???] 777 couldn't believe its ears. [Have you gone mad? Why spend precious Life Points on these useless things?!]