Even she thought the question sounded a little absurd as soon as she asked it, but her powerful intuition and confusion drove her to say it anyway.
Lin Mu paused slightly, bag in hand. He turned his head and looked at Ichinose Honami.
The last golden rays of the setting sun happened to sweep across his stern profile, tracing its perfect contours. The edges of his white hair seemed to glow.
His face showed little emotion, and his eyes seemed even deeper and calmer in the twilight.
He looked at Ichinose Honami's eyes, filled with confusion, anticipation, and a hint of awe.
The corner of his mouth seemed to lift almost imperceptibly. With a teasing, playful tone, he asked in return:
"Wouldn't I?"
He blinked. "What, did you think I was some comic-book protagonist with superpowers who could see through the past and future whenever he wanted?"
He deliberately tossed out the absurd possibility in a lighthearted, joking tone. Yet his gaze remained clear and transparent, and his smile carried an ambiguity that made him hard to read.
It was as if he were admitting it, yet denying it at the same time—or perhaps simply poking fun at her innocent imaginings.
Ichinose Honami was caught off guard by his question. She opened her mouth, but for a moment she didn't know what to say, and could only stare at him in a daze.
The absurd notion in the back of her mind hadn't vanished. If anything, his response had made it clearer—and even harder to believe.
Lin Mu didn't wait for her to answer or look back again. He simply raised a hand and waved in her direction, a casual farewell.
"Don't overthink it. Go back. If you want another fortune-telling session next time, remember to bring enough points.
I open this stall when I feel like it, if I feel like it."
With that, he picked up his light bag and turned toward the main road leading to the dormitory and commercial districts, walking at an unhurried yet unusually light pace.
His white hair gradually blurred in the deepening twilight, then disappeared around the bend in the road.
All that remained was Ichinose Honami, standing alone in the now-quieting plaza beneath the brilliant sunset, soon to fade from the sky.
She looked down at her open palm, slightly damp with sweat from her earlier nerves, then looked up toward the direction Lin Mu had disappeared in.
The turmoil and confusion in her heart gradually began to settle. It still felt hollow, but the suffocating sensation of drowning had passed.
She drew in a gentle breath, then slowly let it out.
A smile, no longer forced, gradually formed on her lips.
Perhaps... Lin Mu was right.
There was never only one road.
Rather than fixating on a path that seemed like a shortcut but was actually full of thorns—and might not even lead anywhere—until she wore herself out...
When she lost her way, perhaps she should stop for a while, take in the scenery around her, and get a clear sense of her true position and abilities.
But... deep down, she still couldn't extinguish her desire to try, to draw closer to that goal.
Lin Mu's final remark about a "benefactor" was like a tiny spark, rekindling a little hope.
"Wait..." she murmured softly, clenching her palm, then slowly opening it again. "All right. Then... I'll focus on doing what I can right now."
By then, Lin Mu had already tossed their conversation—which had cost him a little effort (by his standards)—out of his mind.
He was striding cheerfully toward his favorite dessert shop on campus, pondering whether to treat himself to the new mango mousse tonight.
Of course, the most important thing was to buy another classic chocolate lava cake. Or should he be extravagant and get one of everything?
That was what happened when you had lots of points. Life at the beginning and end of the month was like night and day.
(Thinking back to the days of Zhou Yu...)
As far as he was concerned, what he'd told Ichinose Honami was nothing more than some obvious advice he'd offered offhand, based on a little "helpfulness" and his impression of her.
It wasn't meddling, and he had no deeper intentions.
Whether Ichinose Honami came to her senses after hearing him, stubbornly refused to change, or tried a new path with half-belief and half-doubt—that was her choice and her life.
He, Linmu Fujimiya, only had to live his own life: plenty of desserts, points to spend, and a carefree existence of doing exactly as he pleased.
The rest? Who cares?
The April breeze, carrying the faint lingering fragrance of fallen cherry blossoms and the slight dryness of the approaching early summer, swept across Advanced Nurturing High School.
But Linmu Fujimiya continued at his own pace.
For most students in Class D, April was a month spent fantasizing about the "windfall" of one hundred thousand points a month.
For Lin Mu, however, it was simply another "vacation" he could arrange however he pleased.
The days he showed up in the Class D classroom were few and far between—probably less than half the time.
For him, sitting in that noisy classroom, where there was practically no atmosphere for studying, listening to teachers recite from textbooks while his classmates did their own thing, was nothing but a waste of life.
It was far better to curl up in his single dorm room and comfortably play the latest games, or pick a sunny afternoon...
...to carry his fortune-telling gear to the plaza and "see how things went" for a few hours, earning Private Points that had already passed the million mark and were still steadily increasing. That was far more practical and enjoyable.
He had already used his superpower to read Chabashira Sae's memories and glimpse fragments of her future, learning the cruel and intricately designed rules governing this school.
He had also clearly "seen" that Class D was destined for a rough—and perhaps even bleak—future in the months ahead.
Since he knew that spending time in regular classes that month would yield nothing but useless noise and restless moods...
...and no tangible benefit, whether in knowledge or points, why force himself to go?
It was wiser to arrange his time as he pleased and focus his energy on the things that truly made him comfortable and benefited him.
And on the rare days he showed up in the classroom, which he treated as "observation days" or "boredom days"...
(After a long vacation, he wanted to experience going to school.)
The scene Lin Mu found in Class D was invariably a dreary one, enough to make anyone drowsy.
Whispers and laughter, along with the sounds of students fooling around, never seemed to stop between the desks. The volume wasn't enough to bring down the roof, but it was more than enough to irritate anyone trying to listen to the lesson.
Quite a few students skipped class, too. Their empty seats gaped like open mouths, mocking the very idea of discipline.
Those who stayed in the classroom were mostly distracted as well. Some kept their heads down beneath their desks, fingers flying across their phone screens as they immersed themselves in games or social media.
(Are you guys secretly playing on your phones?)
Some simply folded their arms, tilted their heads, and fell asleep with them on their desks, ignoring the occasional glances from the teacher at the front. A few even let out faint snores.
A few boys and girls gathered together, passing notes and sharing snacks, as if this weren't a classroom but an afternoon tea party.
(Event period: May 1 to May 5)
Before you continue