"Xia, Xia Mu..."
"Maybe you should go first."
Before Xia Mu could speak, a girl with twin ponytails sitting across the table from him quietly tried to stop him.
Though fear showed on her face, she couldn't bear to watch Ryuen target Xia Mu, who came from the same country as her.
"Thanks."
Xia Mu glanced at the student across from him, whose face had the classic look of a Huaxia high school girl, and thanked her. Without even looking up, he said, "This is a library, not a place for you to shout like an ape. Get lost."
As he spoke, he didn't even look Ryuen in the eye.
"Oh?"
At that, Ryuen's smile grew wider. He raised his fist and swung it toward the right side of Xia Mu's head.
The girls all let out startled cries.
"Whoosh!"
But the fist stopped just a centimeter from Xia Mu's head. It didn't come down.
He wasn't stupid enough to do something like that.
What he hadn't expected was that Xia Mu would be so confident he wouldn't even try to dodge.
It seemed his confidence didn't come from being clumsy.
"Hahaha!"
"Interesting. This is really interesting."
A feverish glint appeared in Ryuen's eyes, as if he'd found a new toy.
"Didn't I already tell you?"
"Get lost. Didn't you hear me?"
Xia Mu frowned and looked coldly at Ryuen. "You're disturbing my reading. What, do you want me to call a teacher over and have you put in detention for a day?"
His tone made it clear he wasn't joking.
Ryuen's laughter stopped abruptly. A trace of anger rose in his heart, but he did a good job of hiding it.
"Boss?"
Albert came to Ryuen's side, silently asking whether he should attack Xia Mu.
"Clap, clap, clap."
Ryuen applauded, his face showing a hint of amusement. "Your name is Xia Mu, right?"
"I'll make sure I play you to death."
With that, he put his hands in his pockets, turned around, and left. "Let's go."
Albert threw a couple of punches in Xia Mu's direction, the threat unmistakable, then followed Ryuen out.
The farce came to an end just like that.
Xia Mu brushed off the spot Ryuen had touched in disgust.
Play?
What he was better at was making people despair.
"Phew..." Seeing Ryuen leave, Shiina finally let out a sigh of relief.
Her lovely eyes lingered on Xia Mu, her expression complicated.
Xia Mu was calm beyond all reason. What had he been through?
That evening, Xia Mu walked back to the dorms beneath the streetlights.
As he walked, he spotted a familiar figure by the sea.
She rested both hands on the railing, letting the sea breeze wash over her as she stood lost in thought.
"Xia Mu?" Karuizawa Kei, her hair tied in a high ponytail, noticed him too.
Usually, she always acted haughty.
Just now, she seemed more like someone worn out after letting her guard down.
"Are you planning to jump into the sea, standing here all alone?" Xia Mu asked. "Did Hirata break your heart?"
"?" Karuizawa Kei.
"What kind of thought process is that?"
"I'm just, just in a bit of a bad mood. I wanted to look at the sea."
Karuizawa Kei's mouth twitched.
She was beginning to realize that Xia Mu's way of thinking was on a completely different level from that of normal people.
"I see."
Xia Mu nodded, then planned to ignore her and head back to the dorms.
"W-wait..." Karuizawa Kei called after him.
Xia Mu sighed helplessly, his shoulders drooping. "Can you people from Sakura Country just say what you have to say all at once?"
"Every time, you wait until I'm about to leave before saying 'wait, wait, wait.' Don't you find that exhausting?"
Hearing Xia Mu's complaint, Karuizawa Kei looked a little embarrassed. She smoothed back the strands of hair the sea breeze had tousled. "Um, well..."
"Could you lend me some points?"
During the first month, she'd spent all her points trying to build good relationships with the girls in her class.
Once, she'd happened to see that Xia Mu still had a full ninety thousand points.
Had he spent last month in the wilderness?
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Xia Mu clicked his tongue, and his cryptic gaze made Karuizawa Kei feel uneasy all over. "I-if you won't lend them to me, forget it..."
"I-I'll borrow some from Hirata. He's my boyfriend!"
She said it without much conviction, then turned her face away with an indignant huff.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Xia Mu shook his head and took out his phone. "Give me your ID."
Other people might not know, but he knew what Karuizawa Kei and Hirata's relationship was really like.
"Mm..."
Karuizawa Kei looked into Xia Mu's dark eyes and had the strange feeling that he could see right through her.
Still, she obediently took out her phone and accepted ten thousand points from Xia Mu.
"I'll pay you back." She lowered her head. Now that she was indebted to him, she couldn't keep up her haughty act.
When she looked up again, Xia Mu had already walked off. He didn't seem to care whether she paid him back.
"What a strange guy." Karuizawa Kei pursed her lips, but a faint warmth stirred in her heart.
He wasn't as coldhearted as she'd thought.
Xia Mu was on his way back to the dorms when he suddenly heard someone crying quietly in a corner beneath the dorm building.
"Wait, why have I run into so many things today?"
Xia Mu complained wearily. He hadn't planned to get involved, but when he passed the corner, he glanced inside and stopped in his tracks.
Because he knew the person there.
Or rather, it wasn't just that he knew him. They were very close.
"Fatty?"
He walked over. In the dim corner, he saw that the person crouched there, crying so hard he looked unrecognizable, was Zhu Xincheng.
Zhu Xincheng's heart leaped at the sudden call, but when he made out Xia Mu through his tears, he relaxed.
Then, fumbling in a panic, he wiped his tears with his sleeve and raised his bandage-covered face, forcing out a smile. "Ah, Xia. Long time no see."
"I heard Class D has zero points this month. Need your good buddy to help you out?"
As he spoke, he put an arm around Xia Mu's neck.
Though they hadn't talked in a long time, their friendship hadn't faded at all.
"What happened?" Xia Mu narrowed his eyes. He'd already guessed most of it.
"N-nothing."
Fatty still tried to deny it. "I talked to my parents on the phone and got homesick..."
"I mean, the injuries on your face," Xia Mu pressed.
"Oh, it's nothing. I fell while walking a couple of days ago." Zhu Xincheng waved it off. "You know I'm tough as nails. A little injury like this is nothing."
"Fatty."
Xia Mu stared at Zhu Xincheng. "What actually happened? Tell me."
"I'll help you. I'm your brother. Isn't it a bit of a betrayal to keep it from me?"
Even though he already knew the likely reason, he still wanted Fatty to tell him himself.
At Xia Mu's words, tears welled up in Fatty's eyes again. He couldn't hold them back any longer.
His tears streamed down, and bitterness overwhelmed him. His legs gave out, and he crouched down, not wanting Xia Mu to see him in such a pathetic state. "Xia, why don't we go back? Let's go home. This school is just awful..."
He sobbed, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Xia Mu reached out and patted him on the shoulder, his voice gentle. "Fatty, tell me what happened. I'll help you. Trust me."
Even without the abilities the system had given him, he wouldn't have been afraid.
Fatty was his brother. He'd help him, even if it meant risking his life.
At Xia Mu's words, Zhu Xincheng's already-fragile resolve finally gave way, and everything came spilling out.
"That bastard Ryuen Kakeru!!"
"To take control of Class C, he used violence against everyone. I refused to submit, so he beat me up..."
"I know I'm pathetic, but I really can't take it anymore, Xia Mu. He dragged me into a corner and beat me up over nothing..."
"Let's go home. Please, let's go home..."
He'd always had things go his way growing up. How could he have ever suffered such a grievance?
Xia Mu squeezed Zhu Xincheng's shoulder. "You want to go back home?"
"If you want to go home over something like this, why did you leave in the first place?"
"Have you forgotten? You were the one who swore you'd introduce Sakura girls to Huaxia's superior genes."
"Giving up already?"
Hearing Xia Mu's words, Fatty cried even harder. "B-but I can't fight back."
"Then why didn't you come to me?" Xia Mu said, exasperated.
"I didn't want to drag you into this. Ryuen Kakeru is terrifying. He even dares to attack girls in class, where there are cameras. He's so cruel!!" Fatty replied. That was why he'd been avoiding Xia Mu this past month.
At those words, Xia Mu froze for a moment. A warm feeling crept through him, along with boundless killing intent.
"Be a man. Stop crying. You're being a damn embarrassment."
Xia Mu patted Fatty on the back. "Get up."
"Together, we'll show Ryuen Kakeru what true despair feels like."
Before you continue