The Little Tortoise

"You... What are you going to do?!"

Lan Mengqin was trapped in the ground and couldn't move at all. Seeing Chen Ming suddenly appear behind her, all sorts of indecent images flashed through her mind.

Being pinned against a wall, biting, and so on. Her cheeks instantly flushed bright red, and she began struggling even harder.

"What am I going to do? Obviously, heh heh heh!"

Chen Ming chuckled wickedly. His lecherous voice made Lan Mengqin panic.

Soon, the earthen wall dissipated, revealing Chen Ming and Lan Mengqin. But Soul Masters had excellent eyesight.

They spotted a piece of paper stuck to Lan Mengqin's back. It showed a little tortoise and had several large words written on it:

"I'm Lan Mengqin, the perennial runner-up."

The humiliation made Lan Mengqin see red. She shot Chen Ming a fierce glare, then tore the paper off her back and crumpled it.

"Just you wait! One day I'll surpass you and humiliate you properly!"

Lan Mengqin was determined to give Chen Ming a taste of his own medicine. Once she broke through to the Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster rank ahead of him, she would knock him down and take off her shoe to stamp on his face.

"Oh, really? Then I'll look forward to seeing when you can surpass me, perennial runner-up."

Chen Ming spread his hands, not at all concerned about Lan Mengqin wanting to surpass him. After all, he was a cheater. Cheaters didn't need to fear pay-to-win players like Lan Mengqin.

As it happened, Chen Ming, Lan Mengqin, and Dong Qianqiu each represented a different side.

Chen Ming represented the overpowered big brother who had cheat codes; Lan Mengqin represented the pay-to-win player; and Dong Qianqiu represented the humble commoner who was a God of War.

After they left the stage, they entered the waiting area. Lan Mengqin immediately threw herself into Dong Qianqiu's arms and complained indignantly:

"Qianqiu, that guy stuck a little tortoise on my back! That's so mean!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's so mean."

Dong Qianqiu chimed in, but the smile at the corner of her mouth gave away how much she was enjoying the show. Those two really were hilarious.

The thought of getting revenge on Chen Ming gave Lan Mengqin a headache. He was too strong. She wondered if she could beat him after working hard over winter break and breaking through to the Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster rank.

"Qianqiu, you'll help me, right? We'll team up and beat that jerk, then humiliate him together! Don't forget our sisterly bond!"

Lan Mengqin suddenly had a flash of inspiration. If she couldn't beat him alone, she could just bring her bestie along.

Surely two against one would do the trick. Then they'd defeat Chen Ming together, and she and Dong Qianqiu would each step on one side of his face. Double the humiliation!

Chen Ming: Looks like I really will have to lose once.

"I'll help you, Mengqin."

Dong Qianqiu naturally chose to stand with her big sister, Lan Mengqin. They were best friends, after all.

Lan Mengqin looked smugly at Chen Ming, as if she could already picture him licking her feet after she won.

"Childish. I'll just ask Qiu'er to join me, and we'll make it two against two. That'll teach you."

Chen Ming chuckled, not taking Lan Mengqin's clowning around seriously. When she heard that Di Qiu'er might come, Lan Mengqin immediately said:

"Don't you think I can win Qiu'er over? Then it'll be three against one!"

As she thought about it, Lan Mengqin realized Chen Ming's face might not be big enough for all three of them to step on. Where else could they step?

"If you can win her over, then I'll give you credit. How about that?"

Chen Ming shrugged. If Lan Mengqin could win Di Qiu'er over, that would be her skill. He had nothing to say about it.

The rest period passed amid the group's playful bickering. Dong Qianqiu soon took the stage for the losers' bracket match to decide third place.

Dong Qianqiu won as expected. The results were announced the next day: the top hundred would enter Class One, with Chen Ming in first place, followed by Lan Mengqin in second and Dong Qianqiu in third.

After achieving such high rankings, they received scholarships from the academy. Chen Ming got around two hundred thousand Federal Credits for first place, Lan Mengqin got one hundred thousand, and Dong Qianqiu got fifty thousand.

"No way! I made it into Class One too!"

Huo Tian's excited voice rang out. Hearing him, Lei Yuan and Feng Rulang gathered around to look at the results on his phone.

"No way! You came in ninety-first!"

"Lao Huo, that's so disloyal of you, leaving us behind and going to Class One!"

Lei Yuan had been assigned to Class Two, while Feng Rulang was in Class Three. They'd both been unlucky enough to face some particularly strong opponents.

"Hehe! I told you I had what it takes! See you, Lao Lei, Lao Feng. I'll miss you guys!"

Huo Tian said with a grin that he'd miss them, then began packing. The others also started getting their things together, preparing to head home.

"Goodbye. See you next semester."

They said their farewells, then left the campus. Chen Ming waited with his hands in his pockets, leaning against a wall with his eyes closed.

Over the course of that hour, the students finished packing and left through the school gates. The first semester had ended, and winter break had begun. Everyone headed home.

In the distance, four girls approached. Two of them stood out the most, with the strongest auras: Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu, along with their two roommates.

"Hey, isn't that the heartthrob from Class Nine, Chen Ming?"

The black-haired girl beside Lan Mengqin stared in surprise at Chen Ming, who was leaning against the wall by the school gate with his eyes closed, looking like a striking sight.

Lan Mengqin, Dong Qianqiu, and the last girl also looked over and noticed him. They were immediately surprised.

"He really is! Um... could he be waiting for you and Qianqiu, Mengqin? He's only ever interacted with you two."

The last girl looked at Chen Ming, who was clearly waiting for someone, then turned to Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu as she spoke.

After all, the only girls who had interacted with Chen Ming were Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu. He stuck to the same routine every day and often disappeared, so he rarely talked to anyone else.

"Let's ignore him and go. We'll leave him waiting here."

Lan Mengqin pictured the little tortoise Chen Ming had stuck on her back and angrily pulled Dong Qianqiu and the other girl away from him, heading away from the school gates.

The two girls' eyes seemed glued to Chen Ming. They reluctantly let Lan Mengqin drag them away. After all, girls admired the strong.

A boy like Chen Ming, who ranked first among the new students in both looks and strength, really did inspire admiration...

Seeing the two girls staring at Chen Ming the whole time, Lan Mengqin felt an inexplicable surge of anger. She was extremely annoyed.

"Goodbye."

"See you next semester!"

After the four girls said goodbye to each other, Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu watched the other two head home.

Then the two of them returned to the school gate and walked up to Chen Ming.

"Hey! Stop pretending and wake up."

Lan Mengqin came over and called out to him, annoyed. She gazed at Chen Ming's handsome face and was briefly distracted. This guy really was... pretty good-looking. But why was he so popular with girls? It was so annoying...

P.S. This is the second update for February 28, bringing the total to four thousand words.