Familiar Name

"My name is Yosuke Hirata. Everyone can just call me Yosuke. My hobby is playing soccer... Please take care of me. I hope we can all introduce ourselves and get to know each other..."

Mu Tianchen was woken by the noise in the classroom. He lifted his head and looked toward the podium.

Standing at the podium was a handsome boy whose looks were in no way inferior to his own, giving a self-introduction while surrounded by a group of girls. This drew envious glances from many of the boys in the audience.

After Hirata finished, a timid girl, encouraged by others, went up to introduce herself as well...

Everyone was introducing themselves? It really was a perfect chance to make a good impression, but for Mu Tianchen, there was no need for that...

"I'll just play the role of a background character," Mu Tianchen thought for a moment and then made his decision.

"Then, next student—"

Hirata looked around the podium and pointed toward a red-haired boy sitting in the back row.

"Are you all children?! There's no need for any self-introduction!" The red-haired boy glared at Hirata with anger.

"I'm not trying to force you to introduce yourself. I just thought that since we're all classmates, it would be nice to get to know each other. If this offends you, I apologize."

After saying this, Hirata even bowed to the red-haired boy to express his apology.

Seeing this, the surrounding girls immediately voiced their dissatisfaction with the red-haired boy, whispering among themselves and occasionally sending words of criticism his way.

"Shut up! Go play by yourselves!" The red-haired boy stood up, turned, and walked out of the classroom. Several other students who didn't want to introduce themselves followed him out.

"It's not Hirata-kun's fault," some of the girls began comforting Hirata as they watched him stare at the departing students.

"Let's continue!" a girl suggested, and soon the self-introductions resumed.

One after another...

"Uh, well... I'm Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Um... well... I don't have anything I'm especially good at, but I'll get along with everyone... so please take care of me."

"..."

"Who is this guy? He stole the perfect background character template I prepared! If he said all that, what am I supposed to say now? Seriously..." Mu Tianchen complained in his mind.

"Wait... Ayanokouji Kiyotaka? Why does that name sound so familiar? I feel like I've seen it somewhere before... Let me think..."

Mu Tianchen had been annoyed that this guy had stolen his template, but when he noticed the name, fragments of past memories began to surface...

It was a dark and windy night. His father had brought him, still a young child, to a room surrounded entirely by white.

That room was located deep in a remote mountain. Mu Tianchen clearly remembered that when his father started driving, it was still around noon. Because the journey was long, he unknowingly fell asleep...

By the time Mu Tianchen woke up again, the sun had already set. He asked his father, who told him they were almost there, so he stayed awake.

Before they came, his father had told him they were going to witness the birth of the "greatest" creation in the facility's history. Although his father called it "the greatest," Mu Tianchen couldn't detect a single trace of joy in his calm expression.

His father was the type to wear his emotions on his sleeve—at least, that was how he was with him.

He remembered one time when he achieved outstanding results in a competition arranged by his father, far ahead of the second-place contestant.

When his father found out, he watched the replay video over and over again, his pride overflowing. The next day, he spent a fortune taking Mu Tianchen to the most luxurious amusement park in the area for a whole day.

What exactly was this "greatest" creation? He couldn't help but feel curious...

As they approached their destination, the surrounding trees gradually thinned out. In the distance, a house that looked like a forest cabin emitted an extremely harsh white light from its windows, illuminating that area very brightly...

His father stopped the car. A burly man in a black suit walked over. After exchanging a few words, the man handed his father a key card and left.

Getting out of the car, his father led him to the door, gently patted his head, and said, "Close your eyes. I'm going to open the door. Once we're inside, open them slowly, got it?"

"Got it."

Mu Tianchen didn't understand why, but he had to obey his father. He quickly shut his eyes.

The moment the door opened, Mu Tianchen clearly felt a burst of intense light hit him. Luckily, he had kept his eyes closed when entering; otherwise, the sudden stimulation of that strong light might have blinded him.

Mu Tianchen slowly opened his eyes. The harsh light still made him tear up a little, but once he took in the scene around him, it struck his young heart with immense shock.

The room was very large, and everything around was basically an expanse of white. All the buildings and walls in the vicinity were white-themed, even the ceiling was no exception.

Entering this place felt like stepping into "heaven?"

But as he followed his father deeper inside, it gradually began to feel more like "hell!"

In the center of the room was a group of children about the same age as Mu Tianchen, separated by a glass wall. There wasn't a trace of the liveliness typical of their age in their eyes.

Their eyes were hollow. They were being supervised by several adults. Some were doing problems, others were practicing sparring with partners. Even when they were knocked to the ground hard by their companions, they didn't let out a single cry...

Mu Tianchen and his father watched through the glass, as if observing animals at a zoo... This was the first time he had come to such a strange place and seen such strange children his age...

As they continued walking further back, Mu Tianchen noticed that one boy among them was supervised differently from the others. Most children were in groups led by a single adult, but this boy was surrounded by a crowd of adults...

The boy stood expressionless as he faced the adults encircling him. One by one, the adults stepped forward to spar with him. It was hard to imagine that a child could use technique to trade blows evenly with those adults!

"Do you see him? He's the 'greatest' creation this facility has produced since its inception, the one I told you about." His father pointed at the boy and spoke.

"Mm." Mu Tianchen replied calmly, watching his performance, but inside he was full of astonishment.

Mu Tianchen also practiced sparring often, and precisely because of that, he could judge the techniques and moves the boy was using by observing his actions.

"His name is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. He's not only skilled in combat but also the strongest genius among the Fourth Generation Students in terms of intellect. I want you to strive to make him your goal..."

Mu Tianchen nodded. He had always admired and aspired to be a genius since he was young, but if the price was living in a place like this forever, he felt it would be very hard to endure...

"Mu Tianxiao, you've come." A man's voice came from behind. The man was dressed relatively formally and looked like he might be the person in charge here, with several staff members following beside him.

"Mm, long time no see, Teacher Sakurakoji." Father turned his head and replied.

The man led Father into the adjacent office for a conversation, but before leaving, he cast a meaningful glance at Mu Tianchen...

"Hey! Hey! Hey! It's your turn to introduce yourself!" The male deskmate in the front row yanked him back from his earlier thoughts.

"Huh? My turn already? Alright." Mu Tianchen then stood up and began his self-introduction:

"I... my name is Mu Tianchen. I transferred here... please... please take care of me."

Mu Tianchen pretended to stammer, occasionally lowering his head, his eyes darting away—the picture of a shy little girl.

Though his template had been stolen, Mu Tianchen still understood the principle of changing the form without changing the substance. Thinking of this, he recalled a classic line his middle school English teacher used to say about writing essays: "Don't just copy templates—learn to draw inferences!"

The classmates gave him encouraging applause, just like they had for Ayanokouji earlier.

Most of this applause was probably sympathy and pity from the students.

"What's up with the guys in our class? Are they all this shy?"

A girl with a gyaru-style blonde ponytail turned around and whispered to the girl behind her.

"Right, right—first that one, now another. They're not bad-looking either."

The quiet murmurs from the girls in the audience reached Mu Tianchen's ears, but he paid them no mind.

He had never cared about others' opinions before, and he still didn't now. He just focused on being himself.

Still... Ayanokouji Kiyotaka? Was it just a coincidence of names, or was it actually that person? He'd have to keep an eye on him from now on...

After the introductions were done, it was almost time for the entrance ceremony. Hirata called out for everyone to gather on the school field.

He didn't seem to have been affected for long by the red-haired boy's harsh words and departure. He recovered quickly, and most of the girls in the class stood up and followed him out.

As expected, a guy who was handsome, kind, gentle, and had a leader's aura was very popular...