111: You Came. You Shouldn't Have Come, but You Still Came. Maybe I Shouldn't Have Come, So I Have to Come

The Dragon Titan girl, Dia Lan, clearly doesn't understand the saying "the tallest tree in the forest catches the most wind." Her stunning entrance and terrifying aura yesterday have aroused dissatisfaction among many.

In horror movies, the strongest man is usually the first to die.

Li Aoz's high profile on Azure Planet was driven by self-interest, but he couldn't understand Dia Lan's motives for being so high-profile.

Should I help other students form a united front? [Forget it, university is so boring, I just want to play on my phone...]

Li Aoz shook his head and focused on listening to the lesson to avoid losing points again.

At the end of the morning's classes, Hobbes and Lucite each earned 2 Credits, while Li Aoz had answered 3 questions incorrectly, leaving him with -5 Credits.

"This won't do," Hobbes kindly reminded him. "Lioz, if you keep going like this, you won't be able to get into college. Let's skip lunch and I need to give you some extra lessons."

Li Aoz explained helplessly:

"That's unnecessary. It's not a matter of knowledge reserves..."

"Okay, don't feel embarrassed, we're all buddies."

Lucite patted Li Aoz on the shoulder:

"Don't worry, you still have the two of us."

"No need, this will only take up too much of your time. You'd be better off using this time to go to the library and read some books."

Li Aoz was both amused and exasperated.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean by 'delay'?" Lucite said, displeased. "The day I collapsed on the bridge, when you and Hobbes stepped out from the crowd to help me up, that delayed things far more than that. Because of me, you might also be targeted by Bei Chonggui Ming ..."

The big, honest-looking man became more and more embarrassed as he spoke.

"It has nothing to do with that." Li Aoz simply lied. "I'm not feeling well today, I have some worries."

You have committed an act of 'lying'. Perform a [Charm] check...

[Test passed! Great success, your teammates believed your lie.]

Li Aoz's 'sincere' words, coupled with his helpless expression, resonated deeply with Hobbes and Lucite, who recalled various details of Li Aoz's previous classes.

Pen slips from hand, mind wanders, feeling lost.

These do indeed look like signs of being distracted.

"Okay, I can see you're definitely distracted today," Lucite said sincerely. "Try to adjust yourself. If you're really unhappy about something, share it with your buddies; it'll make you feel much better."

"Look at you, so capable. Don't come crying to me for help later." Hobbes shrugged. "To be honest, I'm actually a top student."

"Thanks."

Li Aoz breathed a sigh of relief. He could easily deceive others, but he felt a little guilty towards these two classmates he had only known for a short time.

However, he was telling the truth. Even if the two of them tutored him until 3 a. m., it wouldn't make a difference. He might as well go have some tea instead.

We need to find a way to overcome this problem. If we can solve it, it will be a major benefit for the [Echo] path.

The previous post by 'Hard to the point of being an ant' gave Li Aoz a hint: if many players can't even handle the difficulty of the [Mutant] difficulty, then the [Echo] difficulty will probably filter out a lot of people.

[I remember there was a way. In my past life, I remember a video about how to use the brainless Zerg to learn extraordinary knowledge...]

But that video is from a long time ago, Li Aoz needs to recall it carefully.

The three walked side by side towards the cafeteria. Hobbes and Lucite started chatting about the courses for the new semester, their conversation lively and engaging. Li Aoz could only offer "hmm," "oh," "I see," and "me too" in response. Thanks to her high "charm" attribute, no one felt that she was ruining the atmosphere, allowing the two to continue their conversation smoothly without disturbing Li Aoz's thoughts.

As he walked and pondered, a group of men and women suddenly brushed past them. The man in the lead glanced at Li Aoz's back with surprise and teased, "Wow! Look, isn't this Lioz, the one the Ministry of Education personally invited to the school? Our top scorer, how come he can't even get a word in edgewise on a discussion about the Magic-electric Effect?"

Lucite and Hobbes immediately stopped, causing Li Aoz was deep in thought, to bump into them from behind.

"Why did you two suddenly stop?" Li Aoz asked casually. "Let's hurry up and go. I saw pineapple meatballs on the cafeteria sign. I haven't had these in ages."

"Lioz ..." Hobbes turned around and was about to speak when he was interrupted by someone behind him:

"I heard that you've lost all your special privileges, and even the interview and filming that were originally scheduled with the city hall have been quickly canceled."

Upon hearing this, Li Aoz turned his head and looked at the person who had shouted at him with a puzzled expression: the other person was nearly two meters tall, with a strong and muscular build, and his short black hair was combed into a slicked-back style, making him look like a High Tower.

As a first-year student, he was already wearing an expensive genuine leather robe, which appeared to be made of griffin skin, making it quite costly. Beside him, a beautiful maid was leading Ghost Wolf with blue flames burning on its tail, also a rare pet.

They're quite wealthy.

Li Aoz glanced at him; this guy's outfit, complete with human and pet supplies, was worth a whopping 40,000 Ammonium Gold.

This is truly astounding; it's equivalent to two and a half days' worth of interest in his own bank account! Li Aoz was filled with awe.

Who are you?

Facing the wealthy man, Li Aoz lowered his eyelids and asked politely.

"How rude!" the maid beside her said coldly. "Standing before you is Andyfa Morodia, the young master of the Morodia family. As a citizen of the Crystal Tower Civilization, surely you know what the Morodia means?"

"What— Morodia!"

Lucite was utterly horrified.

"Holy crap, it's Morodia..."

Hobbes's lips twitched.

Li Aoz looked at his two companions and asked sincerely, "What is Morodia? I know Molotov."

"Pfft." Passing students couldn't help but laugh. Lucite and Hobbes looked a little embarrassed; the latter secretly sent a message to Li Aoz: ' The Morodia family controls ' Ru Lun Shipping,' one of the Crystal Tower's top 100 workshops.'

"Is it that impressive?"

'Incredibly impressive! A gigantic workshop that pays Dina in taxes alone! It employs over 30,000 mages. Most importantly, the current workshop owner has close ties to the Verrazzi Company.'

"Oh, Verrazzi's lackey."

Li Aoz casually remarked something and then turned to leave:

"Let's go eat some pineapple chunks."

"Hello--"

Hobbes and Lucite exchanged a glance and bowed their heads to apologize to the Morodia family. "We are very sorry! He was a little upset today! Please be magnanimous and don't take it to heart."

"Yes, young master Morodia, don't bother with that poor boy Lioz."

The two men were very polite, which pleased the robust Andyfa Morodia. He nodded slightly and said, "I didn't mean any harm—but I'd like to remind you that you two have potential, so don't follow the wrong people."

"Of course, hehe, of course." Hobbes chuckled twice. "We'll take our leave now. Have a nice day, goodbye."

After saying that, he pulled Lucite and turned to follow.