Honami Ichinose

To be honest, these points were not really worth Xia Mu's time.

But since it was a long-term game, given Sudo Ken's personality, he would surely provoke many people into challenging him.

Therefore, there would definitely be quite a few points to be earned.

"Xia Mu, over here!!"

From afar, Xia Mu saw Sudo Ken waving at him excitedly.

He hadn't expected Xia Mu to be so easy to talk to; when he invited him to help with the match, he had already prepared himself for a sound beating.

But in reality, Xia Mu wasn't that violent.

His previous behavior was entirely self-inflicted.

However, Kanji and Yamauchi were different; the moment they saw Xia Mu, it was as if they had seen a plague.

They both lowered their heads and tried to hide to the side, terrified that Xia Mu would notice them.

Xia Mu completely ignored those two.

Compared to Sudo Ken, one was brainless and the other was a coward; they weren't of much use.

It could be said that even if Class D lost these two, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

So, he would find an opportunity later to transfer their points into his own account.

On the other side of the court were the people from Class C.

The two classes had long been at odds with each other, and a small friction on the court had acted as the fuse, triggering this match.

Xia Mu actually hoped that Sudo Ken would provoke more people from other classes; that way, there would be more matches, and his points would roll in.

In his eyes, the basketball skills of these students were like an adult looking at infants—one punch and they'd go down.

"Hey, Sudo, do you think hiring a ringer means you won't lose?"

The guys from Class C were as arrogant as ever.

Perhaps they were used to the violent suppression of Long Yuan, so their class treated other classes with a hot-headed attitude.

"Haha, just wait to cry your eyes out later!!" Another Class C student gave a thumbs-down, laughing heartily.

Among the students participating in the game, two were the ones whose plans had been ruined by Xia Mu previously, leading to them being beaten up by Long Yuan, so they harbored extreme hatred toward him.

No matter what, he had to get his revenge this time!!

The match proceeded as scheduled.

However, no one expected that this match would turn into a one-man show for Xia Mu.

As soon as he stepped onto the court, the entire atmosphere seemed to change; Sudo, Kanji, and the others all passed the ball to him.

Once he got the ball, he would jump and shoot right on the spot.

And the most crucial part was that every shot went in; the people from Class C couldn't react in time.

In the second half, the people from Class C realized that Xia Mu's skills were formidable, so they all rushed over to block him.

But whether it was blocking, swarming him, or even trying to use fouls to collide with his body to stop him, nothing worked.

Instead, they were the ones sent flying several meters away by Xia Mu, looking absolutely pathetic.

And this was only because Xia Mu didn't want to attract too much attention and refrained from using basketball special moves; otherwise, these people would likely have just been background props.

In the end, they won without any surprises.

The girls on the sidelines stared at Xia Mu with stars in their eyes, screaming.

No matter how talented the school's students were, they only had a dozen years of experience, while Xia Mu was professionally trained and had reached the max level.

At least in his memories, that was the case; the basketball was like an old friend he had known for years, intimate and familiar.

However, to prevent his influence from spreading too far, Xia Mu still took out his pocket watch to perform Hypnosis.

It was perfect that everyone's attention was focused on him at that moment.

Although he couldn't fundamentally alter their memories, he could still make them believe that this was just an ordinary basketball game, and that Xia Mu's skills were simply a bit outstanding.

"Woohoo!!"

Sudo Ken and the others even tossed Xia Mu into the air to celebrate and cheer.

He very readily transferred his points to Xia Mu and even prepaid ten thousand, indicating that he wanted Xia Mu to help again next time.

"I, I'm sorry, Xia Mu, we were in the wrong before..." After this experience, Kanji knew that Xia Mu wasn't as unreasonable as he thought, and he apologized with his head lowered and face flushed.

Seeing Kanji apologize, Yamauchi, though still feeling some resentment, followed the crowd and apologized to Xia Mu as well.

"No, it doesn't matter."

Xia Mu shook his head, his gaze filled with endless indifference. "I don't care at all."

Indeed, the lives of these people had nothing to do with him.

He was only doing this to obtain points; even if people from Class C or other classes asked him to betray Class D, as long as they could provide the corresponding points and he wouldn't be exposed, what did it matter?

Everything to him was just a means to acquire Skill Points, and in his eyes, everyone was merely a pawn in his hand.

The only people he cared about were Zhu Xincheng, and perhaps Shiina as well.

Time flowed by, like a shuttle through the loom.

The days that followed were very peaceful, and two months slipped away like running water.

Aside from working out with the fatty every day and accompanying Shiina to read books, nothing particularly special happened to Xia Mu.

However, the fact that Kikyo Kushida was being far too quiet caught Xia Mu slightly off guard.

Logically speaking, her retaliation should have arrived like a violent storm, so why had she gone so silent now?

Still, Xia Mu knew she would act sooner or later, and when that time came, it would be another great opportunity to farm Skill Points.

On this day, Xia Mu was helping that troublemaker Sudo play a basketball game against students from Class B, as usual.

The final result was, of course, a win for Xia Mu.

To be honest, unless a team of the world's strongest players was gathered on the opposing side, it would be very difficult for them to beat Xia Mu.

And this time, in the spectator stands, there was someone who caught Xia Mu's attention.

Honami Ichinose.

She possessed a face full of approachability, her long, dark hair cascading down freely, and every word and action of hers carried a gentle smile that made it impossible for anyone to bear the thought of making an enemy of her.

Although she had another side to her, most of the time, she was exactly as she appeared right now.

Reliable, gentle, and kind.

Naturally, Ichinose also noticed Xia Mu.

Seeing the students from her class suffer a crushing defeat, she went down personally to comfort them so they wouldn't feel so dejected.

They even had a bit of an air about them, as if they were the ones who had truly won the game.

Hmph, so what if we lost on the court? We have Ichinose comforting us, do you?

Indeed, there were not many girls around Xia Mu.

On one hand, his temperament made it difficult for people to get close to him, and on the other, he was busy with Hypnosis.

Ichinose looked at Xia Mu and noticed the watch swinging in his hand; suddenly, she felt dizzy, as if she had been pulled into another world by him.

Shaking her head, she broke free from that state and looked at Xia Mu, feeling extremely surprised.

"He's from Class D, right? His name is..."

"Xia Mu, right? It seems he took first place in the midterm exams last time!"

Although his subsequent exam scores had quickly plummeted to the bottom, this only made him more intriguing.

During this period, there had been quite a few rumors about Xia Mu in Class D, so she had heard a little bit about him.

After receiving confirmation from the students beside her, her eyes flickered with a faint light. "Xia Mu..."

So Class D had such a powerful opponent; it really was a place where hidden talents were tucked away.

I must not antagonize Class D, Ichinose thought to herself.

On Xia Mu's side, after finishing the game, he changed his clothes and headed back to the dormitory.

Just then, a familiar figure he hadn't seen in a long time came running over in a hurry.

She had a camera hanging around her neck.