Sweeping Through

At 6:10 AM, the morning light just began to seep through the anti-glare glass curtain wall of the student dormitory, casting a cold, pale cyan hue onto the dark gray cashmere carpet. Yun Lan was already awake—or rather, he had always been a light sleeper. Years of self-discipline meant he naturally woke up around 6:30 AM, but today, it wasn't just his internal clock that roused him.

The personal phone on his bedside table emitted a dull, short vibration. It wasn't a call; it was a message. At this hour, there were very few people who would message this number directly.

He reached out to grab the phone, the screen lighting up and unlocking automatically. The message was from Honami Ichinose, and the content was so concise it was almost abrupt—no greeting, no explanation, just a sweet statement:

"I'll be coming in at 7 o'clock to make you breakfast, Brother Lan~"

"??? What does that mean? Isn't this my private space? I'm not some useless person who needs little Honami to come over and cook for me."

Yun Lan muttered to himself, though despite his complaints, he didn't stop moving.

Yun Lan brushed his teeth and washed his face, freshening up with the facial cleanser provided in the dormitory, then took the groceries he had bought at the supermarket last night out of the fridge to prepare them.

To call it preparation was a bit of a stretch; it was really just a simple wash and chopping them into appropriate sizes.

Hearing a knock at the door, Yun Lan put down what he was doing and walked over to open it.

As the door swung open, the beautiful face of Honami Ichinose came into view.

"Good morning, little Honami."

"Good morning, Brother Lan."

The two greeted each other with familiarity, as if this scene had played out a thousand times before.

"Has Brother Lan already prepped the ingredients for me? You're a lifesaver!"

Honami Ichinose skillfully started the stove and heated the oil, adding the ingredients in order from those that took the longest to cook to those that cooked the fastest...

Yun Lan stood to the side, wanting to say something but ultimately voicing his inner thoughts.

"Actually, little Honami, you don't need to come over to make me breakfast. I'm not an invalid; I can make my own breakfast."

"I'm doing this because I want to. Honestly, I've always been grateful to Brother Lan. You appeared in my life like a ray of light."

"It's fine, you don't need to be so grateful for that one small mistake from back then."

"No, no, no. Unilateral giving isn't allowed. Brother Lan, you really are something—this is the only thing about you that's bad. The way you help others without asking for anything in return is just too unfair."

Honami Ichinose puffed out her cheeks, stood on her tiptoes, and tapped the back of Yun Lan's head with her knuckles.

"Does that count as a flaw? Little Honami~"

"Of course it does, why wouldn't it? Any girl who sees such a gentle Brother Lan would want to keep him all to herself, wouldn't they?"

After hearing this, Yun Lan leaned in and whispered into the girl's ear: "Then, does little Honami want to keep me all to herself, too?"

As Yun Lan spoke, his warm breath brushed against Honami's earlobe like a light, airy feather. His voice was kept extremely low, carrying a hint of playful amusement while hiding an undeniable sincerity, easily disrupting the tranquility in her heart and throwing her carefully maintained, steady heartbeat into chaos.

Honami's body trembled almost imperceptibly, and her face "flared" red, the heat spreading rapidly from her cheeks to her neck. She could even smell the clean scent on him, like grass and trees dried in the sun; at this moment, the fragrance made her feel a little dizzy. She subconsciously gripped the spatula in her hand, her fingertips digging slightly into her palm.

"Brother Lan, I'm cooking breakfast here! Stop teasing me."

"The way you say that, it's almost like we're a couple..."

"Dummy! We aren't in that kind of relationship yet."

After finishing breakfast, Honami Ichinose ran off, and Yun Lan didn't stop her. Since it was Sunday, there was no need to attend classes in Class B.

Therefore, Yun Lan could continue his grand mission of sweeping through the clubs to harvest personal points from the second and third-year seniors.

Club Building, 9:20 AM.

The sound of bamboo swords cutting through the air echoed from the Kendo Club dojo. Yun Lan stood outside the door observing for a moment; through the gap in the door, he could see the third-year starters instructing the second-year students on basic stances. Sweat, shouts, the dull thud of feet hitting the wooden floor—a typical hot-blooded boys' club.

He pushed the door open and walked in.

The training sounds stalled for a split second. Several gazes swept over, carrying the instinctive scrutiny of upperclassmen toward an unfamiliar underclassman.

"Excuse me." Yun Lan bowed slightly, his etiquette impeccable. "I am Yun Lan, a first-year student this year. I'm here to challenge the club."

Yun Lan's words were like throwing a bomb into a pond, and the crowd couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

"You've got to be kidding, a first-year freshman coming to challenge us? Hahaha."

"Who doesn't know that every club at Advanced Nurturing High School has national-level strength?"

"Junior, the seniors don't have time to play around with you. We're in the middle of training."

"In that case," Yun Lan walked over to the weapon rack and picked up a bamboo sword, his movements as fluid as if he had held one a thousand times before, "please allow me to prove it with action. The wager is 500,000 personal points."

"I'll take that bet. My name is Tianxia," said a senior who looked quite sturdy.

"He can actually come up with 500,000 personal points? This kid is no ordinary person," a senior warned Tianxia.

Five minutes later.

Yun Lan sheathed his bamboo sword and bowed to Tianxia, who was still kneeling on the ground in a daze: "I concede. I only won by luck, Senior. Your practical experience is very rich."

"I'll go next. Tianxia, go back and practice properly. You can't even beat a first-year freshman; you're really losing your touch."

A senior said.

"Vice President..."

"Oh? So you're the Vice President of the Kendo Club? My apologies, my apologies. Then, let's begin."

Ten minutes later...

"I lost to you... truly, one cannot judge a book by its cover. It seems Sato didn't lose unjustly after all."

The vice president readily transferred 500,000 personal points to Yun Lan.

"Is there anyone else? I'm putting up 1 million personal points."

The crowd looked at one another, but since even the vice president had lost, no one else stepped forward to invite humiliation.

Besides, 1 million personal points was no longer an amount they could casually throw around as a wager.

Just as Yun Lan thought it was all over.

The door to the club activity room was pushed open from the outside, and the student who entered felt very confused by the scene.

Why was everyone surrounding a stranger?

"President, this freshman... just won 1 million personal points from us..."

The vice president said with a hint of bitterness; although he had been suave when paying the points earlier, only he knew the true pain of the loss.

"What? It seems your skills have truly regressed; you must practice more diligently in the future."

The president said with dissatisfaction.

"1 million personal points, would the president like to have a go?"

Yun Lan extended the invitation. If he won this round, that would be 1 million personal points—one could never have too many points.

"1 million, you say..."

President Sato pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth, and finally agreed.

"Then let's do it!"

Fifteen minutes later...

"And you said it was just luck!"

Tianxia, the senior who had sparred with Yun Lan first, shouted.

Good heavens, President Sato, who had the highest skill level, couldn't even hold out for fifteen minutes! If the opponent wasn't going easy on them during their previous matches, then what could it possibly be?