Bullying About to Begin / Qin Mo Makes His Move

After all, he had not yet reached the point where he dared to spend his life fighting others.

"Why are these A-rank pieces of equipment all such traps?"

The Tiger Tally had been like this before, and now Reaper's Breath was the same. Were they useless? Of course not.

Did they have great uses? Then they might as well have been useless.

"Forget it. I'll put it away for now."

Maybe it would come in handy someday. Speaking of which, Heer's weapon seemed to be a scythe, and she was the Herrscher of Death. It could be called a perfect match for this weapon. But he did not know her, so it was completely useless for now.

The guaranteed A-rank item had already appeared, so Qin Mo did not hold out much hope.

He casually flipped over the next card.

Wrist Blade (B)

Effect: Concealment

Description: A Wrist Blade modified by Ezio. It discarded the requirement of cutting off the ring finger and was reinforced, allowing it to perform well even in direct combat.

Seeing this, Qin Mo remembered the Eagle of Florence character he had drawn. His name was Ezio, and the frustrating part was that character cards did not include the character's equipment.

The Wrist Blade he had drawn now could be said to be... destined.

After equipping the Wrist Blades in his equipment slot, Qin Mo smiled as he touched the blades that had appeared on both of his forearms.

Compared to Reaper's Breath, which was powerful but came at a heavy cost, Ezio's familiar Wrist Blades suited him better. Though he figured the Wrist Blades would have a hard time fighting some powerful Honkai Beasts, they were still better than having no weapon at all.

After sorting through the valuable items drawn from the card pool, he could sell them off for another stretch of operational funds.

Life after transmigrating was this plain and unadorned. Although he no longer needed to attend school or work, he still had to go to the Girls' Academy every day to confess to a young lady. Come to think of it, it was far more exciting than his old life.

But compared to his former days of merely living aimlessly, at least he no longer had to worry about money. Instead, he needed to figure out how to strengthen himself and survive in this dangerous world.

The most dangerous thing in the Honkai world was the special energy that existed everywhere. For those without sufficient resistance and adaptability, even a tiny amount of exposure could cripple or kill them.

Moreover, men had far weaker resistance to Honkai than women. It could be said that gender discrimination in this world was first-rate.

As an outsider and a man, there was no way Qin Mo could possess the resistance needed to survive in this world.

Until one day... a familiar person appeared in the Chang Kong City news.

Raiden Ryoma of ME Corp., Raiden Mei's father, was arrested and imprisoned on suspicion of economic fraud, and all of the Raiden family's assets were frozen.

The Bullying About to Begin

"Mei, please go out with me."

Holding the White Lily he had prepared, Qin Mo shoved it directly into Raiden Mei's hands without another word. It looked nothing like a normal confession, more like he was completing a task.

Oh, it really was a task. Then never mind.

This confession task went rather smoothly, though. After confessing and giving her the flowers, no one chased after him. Raiden Mei had been hiding alone in the little garden behind the school building. If not for Eagle Vision, he would have almost failed to find her. Qin Mo finally let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the bench beside her.

"What's wrong? You look a little unhappy."

Looking at Qin Mo, who had so casually sat down beside her, then at the beautifully wrapped White Lily in her hands, Raiden Mei moved to the other end of the bench and set the bouquet on her lap with a sigh.

"Didn't you see the news?"

Qin Mo spoke from beside Raiden Mei. Though she did not say it outright, he could sense the loneliness on her, as well as... despair.

"I did."

Qin Mo said it without any hesitation.

"But so what?"

Raiden Mei was somewhat surprised by his response.

"But aren't you..."

"Of course not."

Qin Mo cut her off without hesitation. "The reason I confessed is simply because of you. It has nothing to do with your background, and nothing to do with your father."

Raiden Mei looked at the bouquet in her hands and gave a faint smile. "But it still feels like your confession isn't very sincere."

"Still, thank you... Come to think of it, I don't even know your name."

"Qin Mo..."

With Raiden Ryoma's imprisonment, Raiden Mei had fallen from being a high and mighty young lady into the dust. And in a school for young ladies like Senba Academy...

Though she did not say it aloud, Qin Mo could already see what Raiden Mei's future days would be like.

Right now, quite a few people coveting the Raiden family's assets were probably trying to hollow out the company that had lost Raiden Ryoma.

There were also many people who had once been loyal to the Raiden family and were now leaving.

Senba Academy had received some news, but the bullying aimed at Raiden Mei had not yet begun. Still, it was not far off.

"Consider it payment for the rewards you gave me by letting me farm tasks off you..."

Qin Mo was not good at comforting people, and this situation was not something he could solve. But dealing with a few girls who only knew how to engage in school bullying was not much of a problem.

After completing several permanent tasks in one go—meeting Raiden Mei, confessing to Raiden Mei, giving Raiden Mei flowers, and reaching the top of Senba Academy—Qin Mo left.

Raiden Mei, the Raiden family's young lady and Raiden Ryoma's only daughter.

She had once been one of Senba Academy's most prominent figures. Although she herself was not proud of her family background, people around her had naturally gathered at her side, flattering and accommodating her.

However, Raiden Mei understood that the kindness these people showed was only because of her background. So while she did not reject them, she had few true friends.

The only people she cared about were her father and her master, the Homonculus Sword Saint...

Oh, the thing she had discovered at the dojo a few days ago had already proven that the Homonculus Sword Saint was her father.

It could be said that Raiden Mei did not care about wealth, servants, or the people around her who gathered because they chased status and power. But she cared deeply about her father.

Because he was her only family, and also her only "friend."

So she did not care at all about the people around her leaving, nor about the "friends" who had once gathered around her leaving. Their departure was not even one percent as painful as her father being imprisoned.

But...

She looked at the several letters in her shoe locker, their packaging obviously different from before.

Even in a Girls' Academy, Raiden Mei had received love letters before. But those had either come in pink envelopes, been decorated adorably, or at the very least been clean and pristine white.

The envelopes in her shoe locker now were completely different from love letters. Black, gray, and some that looked as though they had been violently handled.

If Qin Mo were here, he would probably complain that these young ladies had too much free time. They could even come up with so many tricks for writing letters, using so many different envelopes. If he had to search through them, it would probably take him an entire day.

When she opened the envelopes, the letters inside were all filled with insults directed at Raiden Mei.

Every line was packed with words like fraud, scammer, hypocrite, and demands that she get out of Senba Academy.

After silently clearing out her shoe locker, Raiden Mei changed her shoes and left school.

She had originally thought that would be all, but having little experience with the world, she had underestimated the malice of others.

Perhaps it was jealousy toward who she had once been, or perhaps it was simply the darkness of kicking someone while they were down.

When Mei arrived at class the next day, she found that her desk had been covered in insults carved and written with pens and utility knives.

Taking a deep breath, she chose to ignore it.

During the break, the restroom was also filled with whispered comments and pointing fingers.

After returning to the classroom...

Looking at her empty desk and the schoolbag and textbooks hanging from a tree, Raiden Mei fell silent.

"Good morning, Mei."

A familiar voice came from nearby. A figure flashed past, and the schoolbag hanging from the tree appeared in Qin Mo's arm outside the window. He was also holding a bouquet of white tulips.

"I got your bag back for you. How about considering becoming my girlfriend?"

Though he said that, Qin Mo had no intention of waiting for Mei's reply. It had always been like this. He stuffed the tulips into Raiden Mei's hands and casually hung her schoolbag beside the window.

"Thank you..."

Lowering her head to look at the white tulips in her hands, symbols of pure love, Raiden Mei softly thanked him. Even while facing Qin Mo, even with the people behind them still some distance away, she could still hear their chatter.

They seemed unable to understand why he continued coming to confess to Raiden Mei every day even in her current situation, and perhaps... they were jealous?

"Hm? What did you just say?"

It was not that Qin Mo's hearing was bad. He simply had not expected Raiden Mei to respond, so his attention had not been on her. Standing outside the window, he could see the students in the classroom who held malicious intentions toward Raiden Mei.

But as an outsider, and an intruder wanted by the school's teachers and security guards, the only reason he was not wanted by the police was because he had not done anything too outrageous.

So he was considering how to help Raiden Mei avoid being bullied without getting himself into trouble.

"I said, I'll think about it carefully."

With those words, Qin Mo saw Raiden Mei smile for the first time. He had to admit that his persistent confessions had brought him more than just task rewards.

"Hey! That girl is a scammer! Don't you know that?"

Just as Qin Mo was momentarily lost in Raiden Mei's smile, a loud voice came from the back of the classroom.

As a girl in the Senba Academy uniform walked toward the window, Raiden Mei's captivating smile faded.

"I remember you're..."

Looking at the approaching girl, Qin Mo put on a thoughtful expression. "Mei's former lackey, right?"

"I thought I'd been deceived by her back then! Who would have thought the so-called Queen Raiden was actually the daughter of a fraudster!"

Qin Mo's words clearly struck a sore spot. The girl looked as though she was about to jump up on the spot.

"You were fooled by her too, right? Let me tell—"

Before she could finish, Qin Mo interrupted her.

"Didn't you just simp for someone until you had nothing left, then get angry out of embarrassment?"

Qin Mo Was Getting Restless

Arguing with a bunch of little girls really was not very interesting.

Just as Mei had initially thought, they assumed Qin Mo was pursuing Raiden Mei because of her background.

But was Qin Mo really that shallow!?

In the Honkai world, what use were those assets!?

He was doing it for the tasks!

He was sincere. He was noble!

Raiden Mei had not expected Qin Mo to stand up for her or anything. After all, this was not something that could be solved in one go.

Qin Mo could not stay by her side forever, either...

All she could do was keep her distance from those who disliked her. She had never had any friends among them to begin with.

At lunchtime, she took the bread she had bought at school and went up to the rooftop.

A maid had once prepared her lunch every day, and a dedicated driver had delivered it. But those people had all left now.

She could only eat this sort of thing. Perhaps she would prepare her own lunch in the future...

"Here. Ramen."

Just as she was about to find a corner to sit down in, a lunch box suddenly appeared before her, startling her.

"Qin Mo!?"

Looking at the familiar face, Raiden Mei blinked. "Didn't you already come today?"

Everyone knew Qin Mo only came to confess once a day.

"I never said I'd only come once. Before, it was just because your bodyguards and the school security guards were always chasing me around, wasn't it?"