The Fallen Prophet

"Wait, this isn't black!" Shangguan Che sat bolt upright, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.

—That patch of "darkness" was actually speckled with tiny points of light, swaying gently as if a breeze had scattered glittering diamonds across black velvet.

He smacked his forehead and laughed in dismay. "What was I thinking? I almost forgot the Earth is round. Of course I wouldn't be able to see land forever. I should be seeing the stars!"

The stars were much brighter than the ones he'd seen from the mountaintop back home. He could even make out the Milky Way's faint band of light, and the stars were so dense they looked like a crowded market.

He lay on his stomach, propping his chin on his hands as he stared. One moment he was counting Orion's Belt, the next he was looking for the Big Dipper. He even forgot he was hungry.

"So transmigrating comes with a complimentary VIP seat for stargazing? What a bargain!" The more he looked, the more excited he became. He sat cross-legged and tried pushing his "vision" farther out. The stars spread ever wider, and more points of light appeared until his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

The excitement of the night before still hadn't worn off. The next morning, he woke up on his own before his alarm went off.

The moment he opened his eyes, his first instinct wasn't to reach for his phone. Instead, he "activated" God's Eye. Sure enough, the same dazzling starry sky greeted him, putting him in a great mood.

"I should take a good look at my points today, and try some other food stalls in the cafeteria while I'm at it!" He hopped out of bed and hummed as he washed up, not even caring about the faint dark circles under his eyes in the mirror.

It was normal to feel a little groggy right after waking up.

After getting up, Shangguan Che waited a while before the system's email notification appeared.

[For every day you avoid expulsion, you will receive one item draw. Most items are ordinary, while the probability of obtaining a supernatural item is extremely low. All drawn items can be stored in the system inventory.]

He opened the new email and skimmed it. His brows immediately furrowed. "One draw for every day I don't get expelled? This isn't campus life. It's a survival challenge!"

He rubbed his chin and muttered, "Does the school see us as nuisances who could be kicked out at any moment? Could having zero personal points really get me expelled?"

The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. He waved the thought away. "Whatever. I'll try one draw first. My luck can't be down forever!"

He silently chanted, "Good luck, come my way," then tapped the draw button. A flash of light appeared on the screen, and an item card slowly unfolded.

The moment he saw what it was, Shangguan Che nearly leaped out of bed. "A military spike? An ordinary item? You call this ordinary?!"

He stared at the item's description: "forged alloy steel," "three blood grooves," and "rotating thrust."

Shangguan Che's mouth twitched again and again. "My peaceful high school life, you've got to hold on. Don't go turning into a hot-blooded battle anime right from the start!"

After muttering to himself, he focused his mind, and the military spike appeared in his palm. It felt heavy, its metal gleaming coldly. The angular blade looked vicious.

Shangguan Che weighed it in his hand, then tried flicking it. With a crisp click, the blade snapped open.

"Yikes..." He sucked in a breath and hurriedly put the spike back in the system inventory. "Better let you gather dust in there. I don't want to get expelled for carrying a prohibited weapon right after starting school!"

Shangguan Che pinched the wrinkled edge of a cheap loaf of bread as he ambled into the classroom.

The wrapper rustled softly between his fingers. The half-eaten piece was still in his pocket, left over from breakfast in the cafeteria. The free food stalls' dishes had been so bland that bread was still the best way to fill him up.

Quite a few students were already in the classroom, gathered in small groups and chatting quietly. They were discussing yesterday's entrance test or guessing what lessons they'd have today.

He looked around. On his left, the long-haired girl was once again holding a literary book with a plain cover, her eyes lowered as she read intently, paying little attention to the noise around her.

In the seat to his right, a red-haired girl clutched her pen and stared at her textbook, looking a little nervous. She was Sakura Airi, whose voice had been so soft during yesterday's introductions.

Shangguan Che hesitated for a couple of seconds, then decided he should get on good terms with his deskmate.

He shoved the bread wrapper into his desk and gave Sakura Airi what he hoped was a friendly smile.

"Hi, Sakura. I'm Shangguan Che. I might not have introduced myself very clearly yesterday. We're deskmates from now on, so I hope we get along."

As he spoke, he raised his right hand to offer a handshake.

"Ah... Hi, Shangguan." Sakura Airi clearly hadn't expected him to strike up a conversation. Her eyes widened slightly, and she set down her pen in a fluster before cautiously reaching out to shake his hand. "I-I'm Sakura Airi. I hope we get along, too."

The moment his fingertips touched the girl's soft hand, Shangguan Che's heart gave a strange little jump. He hurriedly scolded himself inwardly. What am I thinking? Let go, now!

He released her hand without a fuss and continued the conversation with a new topic. "Do you have any hobbies, Sakura? I like reading novels. I read both foreign and domestic ones."

He'd been so preoccupied with figuring out what to say about himself and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka yesterday that he'd barely paid attention to anyone else's introduction. Now he had to make conversation and hope they found something in common.

Sakura Airi's cheeks turned faintly pink. Her voice remained soft and airy, as if she were afraid of disturbing something. "I-I don't have any special talents or anything. I just... I just like taking pictures. Landscapes and things like that."

"Photography?" Shangguan Che perked up.

Introverted people usually didn't bring up a hobby as outward-facing as photography. Combined with what he vaguely remembered from her introduction, it gave Shangguan Che an idea.

Shangguan Che pulled out his phone and tilted the screen toward her, deliberately looking as if he'd stumbled upon a coincidence.

"What a coincidence! I taught myself a little photography before. I'm no expert, but I know the basics of composition and adjusting the light. We could share tips sometime! Oh, and why don't we exchange contact info first? That way we can send each other photos to discuss."

His heart beat a little faster as he spoke. After all, this was the first time he'd approached a girl he didn't know with a little "secret" motive in mind.

Fortunately, Sakura Airi didn't think much of it. She said nervously, "Is that really okay? All right."

She fumbled in her schoolbag for her phone and nearly entered the wrong password while unlocking it. After struggling for a while, she finally brought up her QR code for Shangguan Che to scan.

When he saw "Friend added successfully" on his phone screen, Shangguan Che quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He'd finally made his first friend!

Just then, the class bell rang, its sharp chime cutting off their conversation.

Shangguan Che put his phone away at once and smiled at Sakura Airi. "Class is starting. Let's talk another time. I'd better pay attention. This is my first high school class, after all. I can't afford to get distracted."

The first class was Japanese. The teacher began by explaining classical Japanese grammar.

Shangguan Che stared at the pages of his textbook, packed with kana, and compared them with his "white"-level Japanese ability. His head began to ache.

He could understand simple conversations, but when it came to complicated grammar and obscure vocabulary, he still had to guess.

Frowning, Shangguan Che jotted down the main points in his notebook as quickly as he could, struggling to keep up with the teacher. Language really is my weak spot. I need to start grinding through practice questions and improve my Japanese.

At last, class ended. Shangguan Che stretched and heard a classmate say that history was next. That immediately caught his interest.

"I heard Japanese history classes are different from the ones back home. This'll be a good chance to see how."

But as soon as the bell rang, the teacher opened the textbook and started talking about the "Jōmon period" and the "Yayoi period."

Shangguan Che stared at the unfamiliar place names and events in the textbook, flipping through the pages faster and faster as he thought impatiently, Why is it all Japanese history? What about world history? Hurry up and get to the world history section!

He flipped through the book so vigorously that it rustled loudly. Just as he finally found the "World History" section in the table of contents and was about to celebrate,

he heard a very faint laugh from his left. It was like a feather brushing past his ear, barely there.

Shangguan Che whipped his head around and met the gaze of the long-haired girl.

Her eyes were cool, with a hint of amusement that was hard to notice. She was just like one of those aloof, beautiful girls in anime who had a warm heart beneath the surface.

Shangguan Che froze for a moment. An over-the-top string of thoughts sprang into his head. Is this the aloof girl from an anime? Could this be the cruel trick of fate...

"Don't you think staring at a beautiful girl is rude?"

Before Shangguan Che could finish his fantasy, the girl's cool voice reached him. It was like a bucket of cold water, instantly dousing his delusions—though it didn't cure them entirely, it did bring him back to his senses.

Only then did Shangguan Che realize he'd been staring at her for ages. He quickly looked away and apologized earnestly. "Oh, sorry! I got distracted. That was rude of me. I apologize."

But inwardly, he grumbled, You were the one who laughed at me first. Why are you blaming me now? Oh, well. It's not worth getting worked up over something like that with an aloof beauty.

He took a deep breath and turned his attention back to the textbook, starting over from the first page and reading about Japanese history in earnest.

He'd transmigrated here, after all. He couldn't really turn into the class's worst student.

But after reading just a few pages, he realized something was wrong. The world history recorded in the textbook was completely different from what he'd studied before!

Some historical events had happened in a different order, and even the lives of certain important figures had changed.

"Seriously?" Shangguan Che couldn't help groaning inwardly. I was hoping to use my knowledge of 'future history' to become a little prophet. Looks like that won't work at all! I guess you can't make assumptions about history in another world just because it's familiar...

Complaints aside, all he could do was grit his teeth and keep reading. His grades might well be the key to avoiding expulsion.

Shangguan Che encouraged himself as he carefully noted down the key points in his notebook.