Oddball Roommates

Bunker, July 17, 2061.

As the epidemic gradually came under control, the passageways leading up from the lower levels were slowly reopened.

Some of the new students at Three Towers Academy were once again given the chance to return to the academy.

On July 18, they would attend their first class.

By July 17, the student dormitories were basically full.

People from every level and every corner began getting acquainted with their roommates.

Although Three Towers Academy managed its students by class, students had to form teams for simulated exams, so each class was effectively divided into many smaller groups.

Though not everyone in the same team necessarily lived in the same dorm, relationships with roommates developed the fastest during one's student years.

Most people were also more willing to build trust with their roommates and then form teams with them.

That made getting along with one's roommates especially necessary.

Many had even arrived at their dormitories before July 17.

Yue Yun had thought he was the earliest to arrive.

Ever since he had witnessed Wen Xishu, a genius his own age, single-handedly transport a Level Six facility and change the fates of countless people...

The pride in his heart had vanished completely. He had already sworn to push himself harder and become the most dazzling freshman at Tower of Slaughter Academy.

So he had arrived at the dorm early, intending to familiarize himself with the academy first.

But Yue Yun had not expected that he was not the first to arrive.

"My name is Wen Xun. I'm a new student at Tower of Slaughter Academy. We'll be roommates from now on."

Wen Xishu had been assigned to Tower of Slaughter Academy by Albert.

In practical simulation classes, Wen Xishu would need to undergo all kinds of physical training and learn various combat techniques.

Albert had always believed that the purpose of the Slaughter Tower was not merely to kill enemies in a virtual world.

That was why he believed the Slaughter Tower was no less important than the Strange Tower.

However, Wen Xishu was not entirely disconnected from the Tower of Desire either. He could choose to sit in on classes at Tower of Desire Academy.

In short, his specialization was in the Strange Tower direction, his main discipline was in the Slaughter Tower direction, and his usual electives were in the Tower of Desire direction.

Yes, he was one of the few studying all three branches at once.

Back to the point, Wen Xishu had been the first to arrive at the dorm.

Several days earlier, when the epidemic in the lower levels had yet to ease and the upward passages were still closed, Albert had already brought him to the academy dormitory.

Naturally, Yue Yun could not have arrived before Wen Xishu.

Yue Yun was the sort of prodigy who did not look especially large or muscular. From a distance, he even looked somewhat... frail.

But up close, anyone would immediately feel that this kid could fight.

At first glance, Wen Xishu was reminded of the late martial arts superstar from his previous life, the leanly built Bruce Lee.

Yue Yun was somewhat aloof. After hearing Wen Xishu introduce himself, his first reaction was not to give his own name, but to ask:

"Wen Xun? Which Wen? The Wen from Wen Xishu?"

After the incident where bullet comments had floated before Albert, Wen Xishu's emotional control had grown stronger.

Hearing a new student suddenly say his name, and say it right in front of him, his first reaction was—

Trouble. Could this be some noble with a grudge against the Wen family? Starting on nightmare difficulty, and he's been assigned as my roommate?

The enemy is in Honnō-ji? My foe is hiding where I lay my head?

This should have been shocking, but Wen Xishu calmly said:

"The Wen from culture, and the Xun from seeking."

Wen Xishu's expression was perfectly natural.

He had to admit that after coming to this absurd world, his emotional management had improved yet again.

Sooner or later, he would cultivate an eternal poker face.

Yue Yun did not notice anything strange. He merely seemed a little disappointed before coldly saying:

"My name is Yue Yun. Take care of me from now on."

As Yue Yun began putting away his luggage, the small ripples in Wen Xishu's heart slowly settled.

"Hey, don't look so disappointed. Even though I don't share Wen Xishu's surname, I... have heard of him."

Wen Xishu still decided to probe for information.

"You're asking about Wen Xishu too?"

Yue Yun frowned slightly, giving Wen Xishu the impression of a bitter, vengeance-driven protagonist from an early fantasy novel.

"Too? Who else is asking about Wen Xishu?" Yue Yun asked coldly.

"No one. I just figured there might be other people who wanted to ask around." Wen Xishu smiled.

His smile was the kind that could even soothe Ghoul Jennifer.

Yue Yun seemed to sense Wen Xishu's friendliness as well.

He lightly pressed his index finger against the side of his nose and said in a rather profound tone:

"He's mine."

Wen Xishu had not expected to nearly lose his composure so quickly. He had thought his emotional control was already polished enough that hearing someone mention his name would not provoke any extra reaction.

Yet those words, "He's mine," made his expression slip. His face twitched slightly.

Fortunately, no bullet comments floated out.

Seeing Wen Xishu looking at him as though he were some gay little creep, Yue Yun realized his words seemed ambiguous. He turned away and continued in a cold, profound tone:

"He is my goal. I will surpass him. Although there is a huge gap between us right now, thirty years east of the Bunker, thirty years west of the Bunker."

Wen Xishu finally understood and could not help laughing out loud.

"What are you laughing at?" Yue Yun's gaze sharpened.

"I just thought of something happy." Wen Xishu was completely at ease now.

He had thought Yue Yun was an enemy. Turns out he was a fanboy.

As for why he had a fanboy, Wen Xishu actually understood. His supplies and facilities must have earned him quite a good reputation.

Wen Xishu decided to call Yue Yun the Pretentious King.

This kid had the air of a Pretentious King written all over him. Look at that bitter expression, those sharp eyes, that icy tone.

"You're laughing at me. You think I'm delusional?" Yue Yun frowned slightly.

Heaven knew, Wen Xishu did not think surpassing him was anything impressive.

After all, he had entered the academy through connections. There was still a gap between him and those who had been admitted through their own ability.

"How could that be? I just think having a roommate like you will give me a lot of motivation."

Yue Yun slowly nodded.

"Keep it up. Let's work hard together and strive to become someone like him as soon as possible."

Honestly, Wen Xishu felt a little awkward at Yue Yun's earnest determination to surpass him.

If, after the midterm examination, Yue Yun discovered that the person he was chasing was his own roommate... would he feel completely disillusioned?

Wen Xishu did not dwell on it, because their next roommate had unexpectedly arrived as well.

He had thought the Pretentious King was already the model example of an oddball roommate... but Wen Xishu had still underestimated the caliber of Three Towers Academy.

Even the Principal was that unhinged, so naturally the students admitted by the admissions office would not be normal either.

Where there was a sleeping dragon, there would be a fledgling phoenix.

"Yo~ yo~ follow my rhythm, and we'll battle together! You shout six from behind while I show off up front!"

"Hey! Hey! My name is Nissen, and my Big Handle can go in deep! This year at Tower of Slaughter Academy, I'm definitely getting full marks!"

A rap so cringeworthy that Wen Xishu's hairs stood on end came from a Black man.

Though he had a good sense of rhythm, the lyrics made Wen Xishu deeply embarrassed.

Nissen.

Wen Xishu's second roommate was vastly more imposing than the lean Yue Yun. Wen Xishu roughly estimated that he stood two meters tall.

Yue Yun was cold, while Nissen was excessively enthusiastic. The moment he pushed open the door, he swayed his body and sang those lyrics that embarrassed even Wen Xishu.

Like a gorilla.

Nissen gave Wen Xishu a high-five in an extremely rap-like manner, and Wen Xishu returned the gesture.

It was probably like in movies from his previous life—two people smacked palms, then kept changing hand signs.

Meanwhile, Yue Yun coldly watched Nissen's wildly cringeworthy rap.

"Yo~ bro, we're roommates from now on! Shake with me!" Nissen paid no attention to Yue Yun's attitude.

He was genuinely overjoyed. Beatbox syllables kept spilling from his mouth, sending spit flying everywhere.

Yue Yun frowned, but he was used to it and could not say he disliked it. There were plenty of Black guys like this in the lower levels.

After thinking about it, Wen Xishu decided to say hello.

"My name is Wen Xun, and this is Yue Yun. Also... you don't need to force everything to rhyme all the time. He'd rather talk normally."

He felt that Yue Yun did not particularly like Nissen and seemed to have no intention of giving his name.

Yet Yue Yun said:

"You were admitted with full marks in every subject too?"

Nissen waved both hands around.

"Yeah~ my academics weren't full marks, but every other simulation was perfect. Academic tests are too hard for me, but the academy teachers said I'm talented. Hey, so they made an exception and admitted me."

Wen Xishu let out a breath of relief. It seemed this roommate could speak normally after all.

But...

He could imagine that he would definitely hear plenty of cringe-worthy things in the future.

A competitive spirit rose within Yue Yun. He had earned full marks too—full marks in every subject.

But he knew full marks did not prove much. Some people got that many points only because that was the maximum score.

His goal was to rank first among the freshmen, then surpass the upperclassmen, and finally catch up to the geniuses of the Bunker.

Since Nissen had been admitted as an exception, perhaps he had demonstrated ability that exceeded full marks.

With Nissen around, the dorm became much livelier. Yue Yun's frosty aura melted away without a trace before Nissen's cringe songs.

Nissen seemed to turn the entire dorm's atmosphere into hip-hop.

Wen Xishu did not like most Black people, especially the Guangdong-and-Guangxi limited edition from his previous life, but some of them were indeed positive and able to bring joy to others.

Wen Xishu and Yue Yun barely spoke, but Nissen kept singing.

Calling it singing was not quite right. He was really just deliberately making things rhyme while talking, and what he meant was—

During the freshmen's sixth class, a teacher would lead the students in a low-level Slaughter Tower trial.

Wen Xishu did not know how Nissen knew this, but if it was true...

Then he would likely log into the Slaughter Tower in the near future.

Aside from that, Nissen also shared another piece of news.

He said the academy had hidden some kind of treasure and had always encouraged freshmen to search for it. It was not a secret.

However, since Three Towers Academy had been founded, not even its finest students had found where the treasure was hidden.

Generally speaking, students would give up after searching for about a year without finding it.

But Three Towers Academy constantly recruited new students, and freshmen were always full of energy.

No one knew whether it was a gimmick, but the students felt that even without such a gimmick, people would still be fighting to get in.

So in the freshmen's eyes, it was probably like this: "This treasure is destined for me. The fact that none of you found it just means it was waiting for me."

Nissen held out his hand.

"Bro, wanna look for the treasure together? Tonight. Not just us either. Hey, plenty from the neighboring classes are coming, including people from the Tower of Desire department. The three of us should team up!"

Yue Yun had heard something about this treasure.

He was the Pretentious King. Before Wen Xishu appeared, he had believed that he would one day stand alongside Xun Hui and Wen Renjing.

The defining trait of a Pretentious King was believing himself to be the chosen one.

Yue Yun nodded and unexpectedly shook Nissen's hand.

"I'm in."

Wen Xishu did not say anything. A treasure that every class of students had failed to find was naturally extremely difficult to locate.

But Wen Xishu suddenly remembered that Albert seemed to have said—

"The academy does have a way to help you grow stronger. Consider it a little surprise, but no one has ever known where it is, because everyone has been looking in the wrong direction."

He stood up and nodded.

"There's no harm in trying."