Rules? What Are Those?

"Oh, this?" Su Chen said calmly, almost absentmindedly. "Just ignore it."

Wang Dong: "..."

She stared blankly for two seconds, her small pink lips parting slightly in an expression of utter shock. What did I just hear?

"Y-you can do that?" Wang Dong asked dumbly, her mind struggling to keep up. Weren't rules meant to be followed? Could you really just "ignore them"?

Su Chen looked at her bewildered, shocked expression and found it rather amusing. He continued toward the cafeteria, tossing over his shoulder, "Of course. If you're scared, or want to be a good student who follows the rules, you can eat in the cafeteria and head back afterward."

His tone was casual, but there was a faint note of provocation in it.

At that, Wang Dong instantly bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Her hesitation and shock were immediately replaced by competitiveness.

"Scared? As if!" Wang Dong lifted her chin and huffed indignantly. "Just you wait!"

With that, she actually rushed ahead of Su Chen and darted into the crowd at the cafeteria entrance. Su Chen caught only a flash of her pink-and-blue hair among the people.

It wasn't long before Su Chen had picked up his own breakfast. By then, Wang Dong had already come out of the cafeteria, head held high, carrying two steamed buns and wearing a smug little look of "victory."

She walked up to Su Chen and handed him one of the buns, then raised the one in her own hand. Her pink-and-blue eyes sparkled as she bragged, "Well? I'm super brave, aren't I? I've got the guts to own what I do!"

She looked as if she hadn't simply smuggled out a meal in violation of the rules, but had accomplished some incredible feat.

Su Chen took the still-warm bun. Seeing Wang Dong's "go on, praise me" expression, a barely perceptible smile flickered in his eyes. His face remained calm, though; he simply nodded and said, "Mm. Thank you."

Wang Dong seemed satisfied with his reaction and stopped worrying about "breaking the rules." After all, if the sky fell, the tallest person would hold it up... No, wait. Su Chen, the "chief culprit," was the one out in front.

The two found a relatively quiet corner and quickly finished breakfast. Su Chen ate fast, but without being rough about it. Wang Dong ate a little more slowly, though she didn't take long either.

Afterward, they headed side by side toward the conspicuous white classroom building.

On the first day of school, the area around the white classroom building was packed. The new students, full of nerves, anticipation, curiosity, and all sorts of other emotions, searched for their assigned classes.

"Class One. This is it." Su Chen stopped outside a classroom, glanced at the number on the door, and confirmed it.

He pushed the door open and went in, with Wang Dong following behind him.

Quite a few people had already arrived in Freshman Class One—around twenty or so. The classroom had been somewhat noisy, but the moment Su Chen and Wang Dong walked in one after the other, it was as if someone had hit the mute button. The noise abruptly died down.

Then countless eyes turned toward them in unison.

When everyone got a good look at the two of them, a suppressed rustle of gasps and whispers swept through the classroom. The girls in particular lit up almost all at once.

There was no other reason. The two of them were simply too dazzling, as if they had spotlights following them around.

Su Chen stood tall and straight. His long golden hair looked especially soft in the classroom light, but his golden eyes carried a natural detachment and an intangible pressure. He inspired admiration, yet people instinctively hesitated to approach, as though drawing too near might disturb something.

Wang Dong, meanwhile, had a different kind of presence. She was tall and slender too, and her short pink-and-blue hair made her fair skin look even paler. Her features were so exquisite they seemed like a carefully sculpted work of art.

Her face held the pride and sunny air unique to a young person, but her slightly raised chin and the sharp look in her eyes as she surveyed the room clearly said, "I'm not someone you want to mess with, so don't bother me."

Their temperaments were worlds apart: one cool and reserved, the other proud and outgoing. But both were absurdly good-looking, the sort who could be picked out of a crowd in an instant.

For girls just beginning to fall in love, looks and presence of this caliber were irresistible.

"Wow... Where did these two come from? They look like immortals! They're so gorgeous!"

"I know the one with golden hair! On registration day, outside the dormitory, he beat that really cocky pink-and-blue-haired freshman with one move! He didn't even use his Martial Soul!"

"Right, right! I heard about that too! Supposedly, the one he beat was a genius too, with a thousand-year Second Soul Ring! But he couldn't even last one move against him... That's terrifying!"

"The blue-haired one beside him is so pretty too... Like an elf!"

"Tch, what good does being pretty do? Isn't he the one who got beaten?" a boy muttered sourly.

"Exactly. Just a pretty face." Someone immediately chimed in, unmistakably jealous.

"I still like the one with golden hair better. His eyes are so unique, all golden, like jewels..."

"Hey, I just remembered! Isn't that blue-haired one the one who got taken out in one move by the golden-haired guy outside the dorm on the first day, then fell right into his arms?" A gossipy girl lowered her voice and whispered to her companion. Several girls nearby covered their mouths and giggled, their eyes darting between Wang Dong and Su Chen with curiosity and amusement.

Su Chen paid no attention to the whispers and stares around him, as if no one else were there. He walked straight to the empty seat in the back, sat down without a care, then closed his eyes to rest.

Wang Dong was different. She had heard them talking about how she'd been "taken out in one move." And that last remark about falling into someone's arms made her ears burn instantly, leaving her both embarrassed and annoyed.

She glared around the classroom at the students whispering among themselves, their eyes strange. A clear warning flashed in her pink-and-blue eyes, sharp as a blade.

The students who had been whispering fell silent the moment they met Wang Dong's gaze. Especially when they felt the faint pressure of the Soul Power she exuded—a Soul Grandmaster with a thousand-year Second Soul Ring—they all clammed up, lowering their heads or looking away, afraid to meet her eyes.

No one wanted to bring trouble upon themselves. Even if Wang Dong couldn't beat Su Chen, she was still a genius in her own right. What ordinary freshman would dare provoke her?

Seeing that the students who had been gossiping most enthusiastically had immediately shut their mouths, Wang Dong gave a cold snort. Chin raised, she strode over to the empty seat beside Su Chen and sat down heavily, deliberately making the chair scrape and clatter a little, as if declaring her territory.

Just then—

"Y-you... hello, classmate."

A girl's gentle, slightly timid voice sounded nearby.

Su Chen and Wang Dong turned to look at the same time.