A Top-Tier Showdown

By the flower beds in front of the teaching building, Yu Shujun and Wu Yuwei stood facing each other.

They were standing very close. Yu Shujun had said something in Wu Yuwei's ear, and although Wu Yuwei's shoulders still trembled with sobs, her tears had stopped.

Wen Nan came rushing down the stairs and called to the system in his mind: [9527, check Wu Yuwei's affection level.]

9527: [Affection level for Beautiful and Juicy School Beauty Wu Yuwei: 91%.]

Thank goodness. Yu the Scholar hadn't bewitched her with lies, and her affection level had held steady. It had even gone up a tiny bit.

Wen Nan slowed down, but then he saw Yu Shujun raise a hand and wipe the tears from Wu Yuwei's cheek. Then Yu Shujun gently drew an arm around her neck, pulled her into their embrace, and held her.

At the sight of the two embracing tenderly, Wen Nan's temper flared up again.

He strode over to them and looked coldly at Yu Shujun. "I have something to discuss with you in private."

Wu Yuwei lifted her head from Yu Shujun's shoulder. With tears still streaking her eyes, she stared blankly at Wen Nan, then at Yu Shujun.

Yu Shujun patted her back gently and whispered soothingly in her ear, "It's okay. Go back to class first. I'll come find you a little later."

Wu Yuwei nodded obediently, cast Wen Nan a resentful glance, then pressed her lips together and left without a word.

Watching Wu Yuwei walk away, Wen Nan snorted. "You're even better than me at winning over my harem, huh?"

Yu Shujun turned to look at him, their expression unreadable. "Your... harem?"

Wen Nan nodded. "In theory, you're part of it too, but I'm straight as a steel rod, so you don't stand a chance."

He thought for a moment, then added, "If you're willing to have your junk chopped off, I can make you a palace eunuch."

Yu Shujun stared at Wen Nan in confusion for a moment, then ignored his comment, moved a couple of steps to the side, and sat down by the flower bed. "What did you want to talk about?"

Wen Nan followed and crouched beside Yu Shujun. He slung an arm across their shoulders and gave them a firm squeeze.

"Buddy."

"...Buddy?!"

Seeing how much Yu Shujun seemed to dislike being called that, Wen Nan tried another one:

"Bro?"

"...Bro?!"

"Kiddo?"

Yu Shujun brushed Wen Nan's hand off their shoulder. "What exactly do you want to talk about?"

Wen Nan fished a packet out of his pocket. "Want one?"

Yu Shujun: ...

"Thanks, I don't eat spicy strips."

"Who doesn't eat spicy strips?" Wen Nan said with a smile. "Afraid I poisoned them?" He pulled one out of the packet and popped it into his mouth, swallowing it in one bite. Then he stuck out his tongue. "See? No poison."

Yu Shujun thought there was something wrong with the other person's thought process. But Wen Nan kept offering the spicy strips, and if Yu Shujun didn't take one, he didn't seem likely to give up.

After a moment's thought, Yu Shujun finally gave in, took one, and put it in their mouth. "Can we talk now?"

Wen Nan stared at Yu Shujun's lips, making sure they had tasted the spicy strip he'd laced with a special additive. Only then did the corners of his mouth lift in satisfaction.

9527: [Detected contestant using item—Truth Serum—on target: Cold and Scheming Straight-A Student.]

9527: [Item taking effect. Please wait...]

9527: [Item use failed...]

9527: [Sorry, the selected target does not meet the requirements for Truth Serum. The item cannot take effect.]

9527: [This item use will not count toward the number of Truth Serum uses allowed for a single mission. You still have one use remaining. Please take note.]

At the system's notification, Wen Nan raised an eyebrow.

Still, the result was more or less what he'd expected.

The usage conditions for [Truth Serum] said it only worked on characters below nine stars or players below lv10.

In other words, the person sitting beside him was either a character above nine stars or a player above lv10.

Either way, that didn't match the description of Yu Shujun's background that Wen Nan had been given. This couldn't possibly be a character with an affection difficulty of only one and a half stars.

"You changed your character card."

Wen Nan spoke with certainty.

Yu Shujun's eyes narrowed slightly as they looked at Wen Nan warily.

Now that he'd opened the subject, Wen Nan decided to press the advantage. "Who are you, really? A player impersonating a character in the map and disrupting the normal order of the game—if you get caught, you know what the consequences are, right? I have solid proof that you're cheating. If I report you to the complaints center, what do you think will happen?"

At Wen Nan's words, the face that had been utterly calm suddenly became a stormy sea. Fear, shock, confusion, panic...

All kinds of emotions appeared on Yu Shujun's face at once.

Watching the other person's expression, Wen Nan secretly rejoiced.

Looks like he'd bet right—

How would Wen Nan know what consequences Yu Shujun's actions would bring? He'd asked the system about what to do in a situation like this, but all it did was hedge and fob him off with explanations using completely irrelevant terms.

Not only did he have no idea about the consequences or punishment, he wasn't even sure that the so-called "complaints center" existed.

He'd made the whole thing up, just to bluff the person beside him.

Judging by Yu Shujun's reaction, Wen Nan was sure of it—

Players impersonating characters really would be punished.

[?]

[!]

[!!!]

[Huh?]

[No way!]

[For real?]

[That's... a player?]

[Holy crap, the streamer can even tell that? Amazing!]

[How did he figure that out?]

[The boss is the boss!]

[I knew it! During the last mission's tutoring session, the two of them kept going back and forth in the classroom, and I couldn't understand a single thing they said.]

[Exactly! At first I thought they were both speaking in riddles, then I figured it was just two straight-A students competing with each other. Only now do I realize this is a top-tier showdown between two big-shot players!!!]

[Wait, why can some players ignore the game rules and go to the Trial Zone for newbies to stomp beginners?]

[Bro, isn't Nine Times a Night, who we're watching right now, a big shot who ignored the rules to stomp beginners in the newbie zone? What's so strange about that?]

[What rules? Rules are for newbies. Big shots make the rules!]

[No, I can understand what Nine Times a Night did. After all, there are hidden items in higher-level maps that let you change accounts and identities. Using one is basically starting over with a new account.]

[Yeah, it's not strange for veteran players to come to the newbie zone, but a player impersonating a character? That's way out there...]

[Right? That item for changing accounts clearly says you can only start over as a newbie player. There's no way it could turn you into a game character.]

[Guys, think bigger. If the account-changing item can't do it, some other piece of equipment can.]

[Holy crap, you're not saying...]

[You mean...]

[The Archmage Staff Fragment?!]