Chapter 22 (continued)

"Holy crap, it's just like Qi Yue said..."

"The Level Four Hazardous Object really did crawl out of the little lake in the middle."

"There really is a place to hide there!"

The students exchanged looks. There was only one possible reason Qi Yue remembered it so clearly. Everything about the YR Research Institute had been branded deep into his mind, an indelible mark. That was why he remembered it so clearly and could explain every aspect of Area F of the YR Research Institute, where they were about to go, without consulting the booklet.

Watching from the sidelines, Liao Yuanliang had the same thought as the students.

Surely Qi Yue couldn't have casually flipped through the booklet and memorized everything at a glance when it had been handed out less than twenty minutes ago? He had explained everything so clearly, distinguishing the important points from the minor ones and even considering places to hide, so that was absolutely impossible.

"That concludes the briefing on Area F." Although Qi Yue couldn't see the expressions on the mosaics' faces, he could hear the students murmuring.

Hearing their exclamations, Qi Yue knew he had gotten off to a solid start.

Blessings and misfortunes went hand in hand. In a sense, he even had his homeroom teacher to thank. After the booklet was handed out, to avoid his homeroom teacher's inexplicable, unblinking stare, he had been forced to pretend to be calm while focusing his attention on it. Even though the eerie, horrifying Aberrant corpses in the booklet had terrified him and made his scalp tingle, he hadn't dared show the slightest fear. He had tried to flip past the terrifying photos quickly while looking uninterested. In the end, he had gritted his teeth and forced himself to read it from beginning to end.

Next came the "intimidation" part.

"Beixing."

"Here!" Although Beixing didn't understand why Qi Yue had called him, he responded eagerly at once, looking up at Qi Yue on the podium with shining eyes.

Although Qi Yue had said Beixing's Esper Ability was connected to a god, Beixing thought that Qi Yue, so composed on the podium and radiating a gentle yet powerful glow, was the one who seemed connected to a god.

To attract everyone's attention and set the stage for the coming strong moment, Qi Yue raised the YF Research Institute booklet in his hand, still closed, showing that he had no intention of opening it.

After Beixing answered, he said bluntly, "You don't need to be afraid of any of the Aberrants that have appeared in Area F."

"Mm!" Beixing nodded earnestly.

When the Class F students heard that, they thought, Isn't that obvious...? Before they could finish the thought, Qi Yue spoke again, interrupting them.

"The ones you should be wary of are other people." During yesterday's physical combat class, Qi Yue had heard Teacher Jian reporting the loss of his ID Card to Yu Kaicheng in the restroom, and he felt vaguely uneasy. Though Teacher Jian seemed rough and carefree, the care he took with Beixing suggested he wasn't a careless person.

The students: "..."

Qi Yue had indeed known all along that although Beixing was a lethal weapon against Esper Ability Users and Aberrants, he was fragile and easy to kill for ordinary people.

Was Qi Yue bringing this up now to hint that ordinary people might try to harm Beixing during the Weekly Assessment? The students made a mental note to see if it proved true on assessment day.

They could hardly be blamed for thinking that. Ever since Qi Yue transferred to their Class F, he had never done or said anything without meaning.

But... Beixing only needed to stay hidden. There was no need for him to kill Aberrants for points. Beixing had no need to participate in the Joint Monthly Assessment at all, because having his name on the list would not only burden his team but also provoke dissatisfaction from the other Hunter Academies.

Their Seventh Hunter Academy was already at the very bottom of the barrel. They didn't want the other Hunter Academies tripping them up while they faced the danger of Aberrants. After all, many self-important Esper Ability Users had tried to approach Beixing before, and they had all met the same end: madness or death.

"Forget it."

After some thought, Qi Yue said, "I'll tell you exactly what to do during the Weekly Assessment."

During this time, he had forced Beixing to learn many ways to deal with ordinary humans alongside him. But with Teacher Jian's ID Card missing, he couldn't let Beixing run around Area F alone, just in case.

Beixing had to participate in the Weekly Assessment and place in the top six to qualify for the Monthly Assessment.

He would eventually leave Class F, and that was an unchangeable fact. Before leaving, he wanted to do something for Beixing. If he didn't bring Beixing along to a group activity like the Weekly Assessment, Qi Yue could guess without even imagining it that Beixing would go back to living alone as before.

Fighting side by side in danger was the best way to spark and amplify feelings akin to bonds.

As for the fact that it was only safe more than a meter away from Beixing, he would find a way.

"..." Showing off again!

The other Class F students looked at Beixing with envy and jealousy. And Qi Yue had brought up Beixing first and indicated that he had separate arrangements for him. Did that mean he wanted to bring Beixing to the Joint Monthly Assessment?

Not only was Qi Yue standing up for Beixing in front of his fellow Class F students, but he was also going to show the other Hunter Academies that he had Beixing's back?

"..."

They couldn't think of any other reason.

They had said the word "envious" so often they had worn it out!

Come to think of it, they rather wanted to see the expressions on the faces of the other Hunter Academies' students when they saw Qi Yue protecting Beixing, who was a '

person everyone hated

' in the eyes of ninety-nine percent of espers.

At the thought, the students began to look forward to it.

"Okay!" Beixing nodded. He would do whatever Qi Yue asked. Qi Yue would never harm him.

Hearing Beixing's obedient response, the Class F students couldn't help thinking he was like a well-behaved puppy wagging its tail.

Having dealt with Beixing, Qi Yue turned his gaze to the pink-haired Zhao Yu, who had recently been sitting fairly close to him and Beixing.

"Zhao Yu."

Suddenly called out, Zhao Yu sprang to his feet and said nervously, "Wh-what is it?" Had Qi Yue misunderstood because he had been looking at Beixing too often lately?

Heaven and earth were his witnesses: he only felt guilty about Beixing and meant nothing else by it!

"Don't be nervous." The way Zhao Yu had shot to his feet looked just like a student standing up nervously after being called on by a teacher. Qi Yue didn't need to see his expression to sense how he felt.

"Ah... oh, okay..." Zhao Yu swallowed. He thought that Qi Yue's bad reputation had spread far and wide, and with those chilling blood-red eyes scrutinizing him, it would have been strange not to be nervous.

"If you want to get a good result in the Weekly Assessment and keep yourself safe, the three-hundred-square-meter area in the southeast of Area F would suit you well." From what he had observed, Zhao Yu could control all kinds of vines. Based on the backgrounds in the Aberrant pictures in the YR Research Institute booklet and the marked locations where various Aberrants appeared in Area F, Qi Yue had determined that the place he recommended to Zhao Yu was overgrown with vines.

Although the students' Esper Abilities had yet to be officially disclosed, Qi Yue had learned a fair amount about each Class F student's ability through his observations during this time. He couldn't say exactly what their abilities were; if he got one wrong, his "omniscient" persona would be in danger of falling apart.

He could only suggest places where their Esper Abilities would be most useful or ways to deal with danger, misleading the students into believing that he knew all their abilities.

Qi Yue is helping me?! Zhao Yu's eyes widened.

Having been called out so suddenly, he had expected a scare, not a pleasant surprise. Was it because Qi Yue had approved of his recent, quiet attempts to get a little "closer" to Beixing?

Zhao Yu, one of the people involved, wasn't the only one taken aback; the other Class F students were too. Everyone looked at Qi Yue in disbelief.

Qi Yue went on to call the next student's name.

"Wu Anyi." She wore her purple hair in a high ponytail, often spent time with Zhao Yu, and occasionally stole glances at him and Beixing. Though she was skilled at controlling water, she often used a cool spinning kick to beat Zhao Yu in their matches. Qi Yue would have had a hard time not remembering her.

"Ah... I get something too?!" Thinking of the benefit Zhao Yu had received, Wu Anyi felt more anticipation than nervousness.

"That's right." Qi Yue picked up the booklet and flipped swiftly and precisely to page three, holding the Aberrants up for Wu Anyi to see. "Although there's water everywhere in Area F, you're still in great danger. They're everywhere you'd want to stay."

Wu Anyi opened her own booklet and sucked in a breath when she saw the Aberrants that lived as parasites in water. Although their level wasn't high, they appeared frequently and in large numbers. Her Esper Ability was related only to water, and she couldn't use it at all away from it. But if she stayed where there was water, she would eventually be overwhelmed. She really was in great danger.

"Could you tell me... what should I do?" Wu Anyi looked at Qi Yue nervously.

"Simple." Qi Yue gave the answer he had arrived at through brainstorming in a relaxed tone. "To solve this problem, you'd best spend all fifty-eight points you've earned on item number 397 in the Item Depot."

"...Huh?"

Item Slot 397? What was in it?!

Wu Anyi wasn't the only one whose mind went blank. So did those of everyone else in the class who had heard Qi Yue.

Qi Yue didn't answer Wu Anyi's question. Instead, he looked toward the next student, who often sat relatively close to him and Beixing, though more than a meter away, and whose features Qi Yue recognized. "Lian Cheng..."

Leaving the right things unsaid would leave the students with questions and give them an urge to verify his words. The admiration they felt when they checked would be incomparable to what they would feel if he simply gave them the answer now.

From the moment he learned that points earned in class could be exchanged for items during the Weekly Assessment, Qi Yue had forced himself to memorize the inventory of all one thousand slots in the academy's Item Depot. No one knew that the more effortlessly he spoke now, the more wretched he had been studying late into the night.

Liao Yuanliang: "..."

What was in slot 397 again? He even knows that. As expected of Qi Yue, the man who made even the Twin Know-It-Alls lose money!