Chapter 23 (continued)

"Don't worry about it." When Qi Yue caught Beixing's questioning, pleading gaze, he understood what Beixing wanted to ask. Clearly, Beixing still saw his classmates through astonishingly thick rose-colored glasses. Qi Yue cut him off. "He's not important."

Qi Yue had only realized what Jin Yuxuan wanted after hearing his sudden apology to Beixing.

Had his conscience suddenly caught up with him? But what good did that do? Time couldn't be turned back, and the harm he had done could never be undone. Jin Yuxuan wasn't the only student in Class F. If Beixing wanted friends, he had other options.

"Okay..." Beixing guessed that Jin Yuxuan had wanted him to leave so that he and Qi Yue could spend time alone and become friends. But Qi Yue knew he was Beixing's only friend, so he had rejected Jin Yuxuan's request before he could speak, to keep Beixing from overthinking things.

After being rejected, Jin Yuxuan's conscience had finally caught up with him too, and he had apologized to Beixing for trying to monopolize Qi Yue.

Although Beixing knew it was wrong to feel secretly pleased that Qi Yue had chosen him so firmly, he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from rising. "Thank you, Qi Yue," he said softly.

"...As long as you're happy."

What's he thanking me for? A question mark slowly formed in Qi Yue's mind. Beixing's train of thought was always surprising.

"Even if it's not very moral, I really am happy." Beixing nodded like a chick pecking at grain.

"..."

Qi Yue had a feeling that he and Beixing were talking at cross purposes.

"Then..." Beixing asked Qi Yue, "Should we go to the Item Depot now and exchange our points for the items we'll need for the Weekly Assessment?"

There were bound to be lots of people there now, which meant lots of people looking at him. Beixing actually wanted to wait a while before going.

But if Qi Yue wanted to go now, he thought he could overcome his fear. In any case, he could hide inside his cloak and pull its oversized hood over his head. As long as he didn't meet anyone's gaze, he could pretend those gazes didn't exist.

"Let's wait a bit longer," Qi Yue answered without hesitation. After spending so much time together, Qi Yue still put on an act in front of Beixing, but he didn't have to worry at all about Beixing discovering that his persona was fake. After all... Beixing didn't just see the Class F students through rose-colored glasses; he saw Qi Yue the same way. That was why Qi Yue could speak so directly to him.

For one thing, his headache hadn't eased yet, and he needed more rest. For another, today was the day the classes exchanged points for items. If they went now, they were sure to run into students from classes ranked above Class F. Whenever a lot of people gathered, unexpected things were always liable to happen. In his current state, unexpected things were what he disliked most.

Besides, he could only see the green health bars above the Class F students' heads that represented the strength of their Esper Abilities. He couldn't see those of students from other classes, so it was best to be careful.

"!"

Qi Yue was so considerate of him! Beixing let out an involuntary sigh of relief and nodded, touched. "Okay."

"We've got nothing else to do anyway." Qi Yue looked at Beixing's increasingly fine-grained mosaic face and tapped a finger lightly on the YR information booklet Liao Yuanliang had handed out. He smiled. "Read. I'll call you in an hour."

Qi Yue firmly believed that knowing yourself and your enemy was the key to winning every battle. The more he learned about the YR Research Institute, the less danger he would face.

"...Okay." This time, Beixing's voice noticeably lost its energy, and his body, hidden inside the gray cloak, drooped like a frostbitten eggplant.

Although he learned a lot every time, Beixing seemed to have noticed something too. With a faint unease in his heart, he looked at Qi Yue, who had already lowered his head and opened the booklet.

Qi Yue propped his forehead on one hand. On the surface, he looked as though he was reading, but he had actually closed his eyes to rest. He had overtaxed his brain in a short span of time, and right now he didn't want to see a single word.

The Seventh Hunter Academy's item exchange.

Although there was no explicit rule requiring students to line up by class rank, the Class F students considered themselves inferior. They unconsciously lined up behind students of other ranks, waiting by tacit agreement for the higher-ranked classes to finish exchanging items before taking their turn.

Jin Yuxuan arrived rather late because he had stayed in the classroom. To curry favor with him and continue getting money from him, Zhou Wei had saved him a spot early on.

When Jin Yuxuan arrived, Zhou Wei raised a hand to call him over, but saw the foul expression on his face. Another student who also got money by currying favor with Jin Yuxuan hurriedly pulled Zhou Wei's newly raised hand down and warned him quietly, "Don't call him. He looks like he's in a bad mood. Be careful you don't get caught in the line of fire and have him stop coming to you."

Everyone knew Zhou Wei's family was struggling.

Zhou Wei lowered his hand sheepishly. "Thanks for the warning."

He would hold the spot for Jin Yuxuan for now, and Jin Yuxuan could come over whenever he needed it. His goal was clear: he only wanted Jin Yuxuan's money.

Jin Yuxuan remained gloomy for a long time. When he finally came back to himself, he found that his followers hadn't called him over. Instead, they were standing in line together, chatting and laughing quietly.

Even the feelings his followers had for one another were more genuine than those they had for him, their "leader." Qi Yue's arrival had shattered his illusions. Jin Yuxuan felt that his former self-assured belief that he was at least a prominent figure in Class F was a joke. Qi Yue had ruthlessly stripped away the outer layer wrapped in his money, exposing the ugly truth beneath.

The Class A line.

Although Lu Zhaobei had the strongest Esper Ability in Class A and was the person most likely to become the Seventh Hunter Academy's first S-rank esper hunter, no Class A students were around him because he was an Artificial Esper. Instead, the people gathered around him were Zhang Shu and Yu Jin, two members of the main cast. They belonged to Class B and Class C respectively.

After leaving Qi Yue's dormitory last time, Zhou Zifu had realized that what he'd said had brought Lu Zhaobei down, so he hadn't appeared at Lu Zhaobei's side this time. Since Zhou Ziyao looked exactly like him, he had also kept Zhou Ziyao from showing up in front of Lu Zhaobei.

"How come I don't see Qi Yue?" Having heard some rumors about Qi Yue from Zhou Ziyao, Zhang Shu looked curiously into the crowd of Class F students. Zhang Shu couldn't see the Qi Yue whom Zhou Ziyao had described as someone whose "name you don't even need to know; anyone who's seen him knows it's him."

"A-Yao made Qi Yue sound so mysterious. Isn't it normal that we can't see someone mysterious?" Yu Jin said, though he couldn't keep himself from looking curiously toward Class F too.

Lu Zhaobei had actually wanted to look toward Class F for a while, but Big Zhou and Little Zhou were also in line here, and he was afraid Big Zhou would read too much into it if he looked over. He suppressed the urge to follow his friends' gazes and merely pricked up his ears to listen to their conversation.

"That's true." Then Zhang Shu's expectant voice rang out again. "Seriously, I'm kind of looking forward to meeting him during the Weekly Assessment."

Yu Jin reasoned, "Probably not. During the Weekly Assessment, our Area A is in the core region, a long way from Area F on the outskirts."

"Who knows?" Zhang Shu shrugged and shot Yu Jin a warning glance. "Say one more discouraging thing and I'll slap you across the mouth."

Yu Jin obediently shut up. Zhang Shu had a B-rank Esper Ability and could beat him with ease.

Yeah, who knows...

Lu Zhaobei secretly shared Zhang Shu's hopes. What Big Zhou had said had made him more cautious, but it had also made him increasingly curious about Qi Yue.

The dean's office.

Liao Yuanliang gave Li Qin a full account of Qi Yue's performance in Class F. "Dean, that's what happened."

"Just as you said." Li Qin finished writing a character on the white paper to his satisfaction before looking up at Liao Yuanliang. "Based on each Class F student's Esper Ability, Qi Yue gave everyone in the class a way to save their own lives in a dangerous situation. He practically spoon-fed them. Isn't that a good thing? What exactly are you worried about?"

Liao Yuanliang said, "...Was I not clear in my report? Dean, what I mean is that Qi Yue related everything about the YR Research Institute in a cold, matter-of-fact tone, as casually as if he were discussing the weather. He was far too precise, as though he'd lived there himself."

"So what?" The dean spread his hands and gave Liao Yuanliang, whose hidden thoughts were as easy to see through as a sieve, an exasperated sideways look. "That just shows that Qi Yue is kindhearted and eagerly shares firsthand information with his classmates, hoping they can all return safely. How normal. What a good kid."

How bad could Qi Yue be when he had entrusted the academy with so much money in a single payment?

Liao Yuanliang said, "...Since you put it that way, I really have nothing to say."

The dean was helping Qi Yue hide the fact that the Esper Ability Crystal Ball had shattered and had no intention of discussing compensation with him. That was one thing, but he could even turn a blind eye to how obviously well Qi Yue knew the YR Research Institute. Wasn't he afraid Qi Yue would bring the Seventh Hunter Academy to ruin?

Under normal circumstances, their Seventh Hunter Academy was too small a temple to house a great Buddha like Qi Yue, whose origins and purpose were both mysteries. It would be best to send him away as soon as possible. But the dean refused. Just what kind of spell had Qi Yue cast on him?

"Good, then hurry up and go." Li Qin impatiently waved Liao Yuanliang away. He was afraid Qi Yue would disappear along with the countless zeros in the academy's accounts. His life, held hostage by money, really wasn't easy.

"..."

Liao Yuanliang turned around, the corners of his mouth twitching. He shouldn't have bothered worrying about the academy.

"Oh, right." Liao Yuanliang seemed to recall something. He stopped and turned back to ask Li Qin, "Dean, do you know what's in item slot 397?"

"Huh?" Li Qin's brush paused, depositing too much ink and ruining the calligraphy. Furious, he threw the brush straight at Liao Yuanliang. "You must have too much time on your hands if you're making fun of an old man like me. What normal person would remember all those things?"

Even the Item Depot manager wouldn't remember. There were simply too many.

Liao Yuanliang picked the brush up off the floor and put it back on the desk. He pulled his lips into a smile, adjusted the glasses Qi Yue had provided, which were imbued with "magic," and answered the dean's question. "The 'perfectly normal Qi Yue' you were talking about just now."

"Goodbye, Dean." Having finally scored a point of his own, Liao Yuanliang left the dean's office in satisfaction without waiting for him to react.

Li Qin, realizing what Liao Yuanliang meant, fell silent. "..."