Xina's Repeated Deaths

"Here! See for yourself!" Himeko pulled a student file from her desk and slid it across to Warith.

"So mysterious!"

Warith opened the file, and the first thing she saw was Xina's personal information section regarding family.

Father: Unknown

Mother: Milian Nash, deceased.

The moment she saw the black-and-white photo of Xina's mother, Warith finally understood why Xina had reacted that way when she saw herself in the mirror—the makeup she'd put on Xina today was strikingly similar to the one in the photo.

Didn't that mean...

I'm such an idiot!

Staring at that black-and-white photo, an inexplicable wave of guilt instantly washed over Warith's heart. That feeling... that feeling was enough to make her sit up in the middle of the night and slap herself.

"Alright." Himeko seemed to catch on, raising her right hand to ruffle Warith's hair, comforting her: "That kid won't blame you. Since she said thank you, it means she genuinely appreciated you doing her makeup."

"Yeah..."

With Himeko's reassurance, Warith felt a little better, but she still decided to keep a closer eye on that poor girl from now on, see if she could sneak a few extra points into her usual score.

Anyway, she was unilaterally declaring right here: even if Xina's future exam results were barely passable, as long as she showed up to take the test, she'd try to give her a boost!

Days passed, and Warith's chance to observe came.

In the next class shortly after, Warith stood by the window watching Xina laughing and chatting with Kiana and the others, finally feeling at ease...

The next morning, Xina groggily heard a polite knock at the door.

She checked the time—4:30 AM!

"Ugh... at this hour, a Herrscher should be sleeping. Who's knocking?"

Muttering to herself as she shuffled toward the door, Xina's clingy drowsiness vanished the instant she opened it.

"Class monitor! Aren't you... aren't you supposed to be back this afternoon?" Xina stared blankly at Fu Hua standing at the door in a training uniform, a triple question popping into her head:

Why is she back so early?

What's she back so early for?

And what does her being at my door mean?

"The mission ended early, so I came back early. I took the red-eye flight."

"Red-eye flight..." Xina's mouth twitched a few times, and she couldn't help glancing back at the alarm clock on her bedside table, thinking: So you just got back? And instead of catching up on sleep, you came to find me? Did I get exposed...

Maybe sensing Xina's confusion, Fu Hua didn't hide it and spoke bluntly: "Before I came back, Teacher Himeko and Principal Theresa told me to take you on morning exercises to help improve your stamina."

Xina: "..."

"Hurry up and change! I'll wait for you at the door."

Under Fu Hua's urging, Xina reluctantly swapped her nightgown for a pair of ordinary athletic shorts and a loose T-shirt.

Staggering downstairs with a swaying step, Fu Hua had already been practicing Tai Chi for a while. Seeing Xina's dawdling demeanor, the Immortal Fu Hua furrowed her brow, feeling that Xina's procrastination habit was no good—it needed a dose of discipline!

"Since you're here, follow me!"

With that, Fu Hua walked out the door expressionlessly.

"Then... wait a second, let me leave a note for Mei so they don't wait for us at breakfast."

Before leaving, Xina grabbed a sticky note from the small basket by the fridge and scribbled a message.

"I already have a general idea of your stamina level." Fu Hua stood on the path in front of the villa, looking at Xina, and sighed: "You could be said to hold the firm last place in the entire academy. Even a D-Rank Support Valkyrie from the logistics department could leave you in the dust by ten thousand miles."

"So what..." Xina pouted in defiance, until Fu Hua pointed at the vast Lakeside Boulevard: "So we're starting from zero. Today, just run two laps around the lake!"

"How many? Two laps? You call that starting from zero? Why don't you just stab me directly!"

Furious, Xina let out a sharp shriek. She couldn't even imagine what kind of wreck she'd be after finishing those two laps, because deep down she knew—she probably wouldn't survive to complete them.

"Don't get so worked up, Xina. Human potential is limitless. Believe in yourself—two little laps are nothing!"

With that, Fu Hua gave a very gentle smile, but that smiling face in Xina's eyes looked like the Grim Reaper reaching out for her.

Death... oh, I'm still the Herrscher of Death... DAMN, that makes it even worse. Can't even die, so wouldn't that be living death!

For the first time, Xina loathed the authority within her body.

Under Fu Hua's lead, Xina finally stepped onto the track. After just over two hundred meters, she was already panting like she was about to keel over.

Just as she thought her acting was flawless and she could go back to rest, Fu Hua, who saw through everything, pulled out a rope from who-knows-where and tied it around both their waists.

From that moment on, the Herrscher Miss's nightmare truly began!

"Hey hey, Rosa, isn't that Class Monitor Fu Hua!"

A girl in a nightgown, planning to stroll off campus for breakfast, tugged at her drowsy companion beside her.

"Huh? No question. Who else would be up this early for morning exercise?" The other girl didn't even bother to look. "There aren't many people in this academy who can drag themselves out of bed on a weekend morning."

If Mary hadn't been yelling about being hungry and wanting to go out for breakfast, there was no way she would have gotten out of bed before nine o'clock!

"But there's someone following the squad leader. She can actually keep up with the squad leader's morning exercise—that's really impressive." Mary watched the two figures running toward her with emotion, just about to cheer them on, when Rosa beside her immediately pulled her back: "Something's not right!"

"Huh? What's not right?" Mary looked at her roommate in confusion, until Fu Hua and the other person ran past them through the thin mist.

"If I'm not mistaken... that's Xina..." Mary stared at their retreating figures and couldn't help wiping the cold sweat from her forehead.

Rosa beside her showed a pitying expression: "Good thing my physical fitness is up to standard..."

On the track, some people looked like they were still alive, but in reality... they had already been saved by the Authority several times.

And this back-and-forth state of life naturally led Fu Hua to misjudge the situation.

In Fu Hua's eyes, Xina's repeated deaths and revivals came across as:

Xina is persisting!

Xina is still persisting!

Xina can still persist!

Yes! Xina has held on!

Heavens! She is truly full of perseverance!