The Teacher... Behind Them

What kind of reward is it?

"I don't know!" Zhao Lei answered confidently, without the slightest hint of guilt on his face.

"My dad said... the reward will be delivered tonight -- oh right, he also said that he wants to have a real man's free-fighting match with your dad in the backyard."

Lin Yue's eyelids twitched. "... A fight?"

"Free fighting!" Zhao Lei corrected his wording, then raised his right fist and swung it twice in the air.

The voiceover read, "My dad's exact words were, 'It's been a long time since I've seen that old bastard... I'll take this opportunity to beat him up.'"

I didn't hear your dad's reply, but it seems he sent a rather long voice message with a lot of censored words.

Lin Xiaotian: I'm talking about stars, those stars.

Zhao Xu: (? o皿o)?=3=3

(Beating up "Lin Xiaotian"! Old Lin, you're certainly skilled at Wall-nut, but your fighting ability and your Wall-nut are completely different species! Tonight... stay put!)

Lin Yue closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, bowed slightly towards the classroom ceiling, and sincerely mourned for Lao Deng for two seconds.

After the moment of silence, Lin Yue looked around the classroom.

His gaze swept from the first row to the last, passing over every face— Luo Chen's, Zhao Lei's, and a few others he recognized—before stopping in the direction of Bai Qingfeng's seat. It was empty.

She's not here.

Where is my wife?

Lin Yue's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a sudden, heightened alertness.

The noise level in the entire classroom dropped two notches in that instant—the chatting stopped, and the classroom suddenly became eerily quiet.

Everyone in the class had heard of Lin Yue's name... after all, she was a ruthless person who could survive for 5 days in an event.

"Click--"

Luo Chen sat expressionlessly in his seat, holding his phone in his right hand—the screen was shattered.

It wasn't just ordinary cracking; the entire screen radiated outwards from the center in a spiderweb-like pattern, with cracks extending all the way to the metal frame.

A small shard of glass was still clutched in the palm of his hand, clearly indicating that the "crack" sound wasn't from the phone exploding on its own, but from being crushed by his own hand.

Luo Chen's face remained expressionless, but a vein on his forehead throbbed very slightly.

Luo Chen: (▼皿▼#)

(Just bought it. Used it for less than three days. And... why does it act like my sister is dead? How dare it curse my sister!)

Luo Chen... The students nearby silently pushed their phones deeper into the drawer and moved them half an inch away from Luo Chen.

"My sister came back a while ago, but she took a short day off." Luo Chen gently placed his phone, now a shredded mess, on the table... his voice as steady as a weather forecast. "She was a little tired, so she went home to rest. Don't shout here."

Lin Yue nodded to Luo Chen and mouthed "Thanks."

Then... he turned back and asked Zhao Lei about the overall situation in the classroom.

Zhao Lei had been waiting for Lin Yue to ask this question since the beginning of the session.

The casualties in this event were lower than in any previous one. Almost everyone in the classroom escaped safely, with most coming out on the second day. A few made it to the fourth day, and only Lin Yue, Bai Qingfeng, and two other people survived until the fifth day.

The only person who hasn't returned yet is Passerby A —but their status on the system still shows them as online, so it's probably nothing serious.

"And another thing," Zhao Lei said, turning the last finger down, his tone shifting to a rant, "Our homeroom teacher has been teaching us a new way to exercise since yesterday, I don't know what got into him."

They said it was something they learned at the Federation training camp, called a ' Plant Master Basic Physical Enhancement Course,' which required the entire class to attend.

Bro Hao, you just got back and haven't had a chance to suffer like this yet. I'm being dragged out of bed at 5 a. m. every morning to run laps. My legs are no longer my own.

Lin Yue raised an eyebrow.

There's nothing inherently prejudiced about "exercising"—it's just... do gamers really need to exercise?

After all... players basically only need to grow the plants well.

"What kind of exercise? Tell me about it."

Zhao Lei took a deep breath and pulled back the first finger.

"Jog nine kilometers every day."

The second finger.

Ninety-nine push-ups.

The third one.

Ninety-nine sit-ups.

The fourth one.

"Nine more sets of stretching."

The fifth one.

"All of the above must be completed before 8:00 AM every day. Late arrivals will require double the practice time."

Chapter 84 The Teacher Behind Me

Lin Yue paused for half a second, then her expression changed from curiosity to confusion, and from confusion to speechlessness.

This isn't a method to increase physical strength; it's practically a muscle-building method! Do I need to take some protein powder too?

For a normal person, doing this would be a huge problem, let alone improving their health; they might not even be able to get out of bed the next day.

Lin Yue opened her mouth, about to make a comment.

"What do you mean by jogging nine kilometers every day? Is this exercise or... abusing students? My dog has never run that far. Ninety-nine sit-ups is one thing, but ninety-nine push-ups? I'd be lucky to do nine push-ups."

Complaining... it felt so good!

I have to say, after being stuck in a submarine for five days in the deep sea, returning to the familiar classroom and talking badly about the teacher with classmates was just so great.

Lin Yue became more and more fluent and engaged as she spoke, and when she got excited, she even gestured with her hands to demonstrate the correct posture for sit-ups and the impracticality of doing ninety-nine.

Completely oblivious to the changes in the expressions of the students around him.

Sitting opposite Lin Yue, Zhao Lei's smile froze, then his face began to twitch violently, his lips pressed into a thin line, while he kept giving Lin Yue a hard time.

"Why are you rolling your eyes? Is your eye twitching?"

Lin Yue remained unmoved... and continued talking to herself.

Zhao Lei: Hold on! I have to hold on!!!

Behind Lin Yue, a tall figure had already silently walked in through the back door of the classroom.

Wang Yihang stood behind Lin Yue, his arms crossed over his chest, his forehead covered in black lines.

What does it mean to... just as you're about to meet the genius in your class, you discover that the genius is talking about you behind your back?

"What? You kid, you don't like my workout plan?"

These words rang out almost right behind Lin Yue's head.

Lin Yue's body reacted faster than her brain—she started turning around as soon as she heard the word "how," and halfway through the turn, her leg slipped off her knee and almost kicked the table leg.

When I turned to face him directly, I was met with that condescending, insincere face.

Lin Yue's mouth was still in the same open shape as when she was complaining, but the sound was gone.

His brain was rapidly recalling every word he had ever uttered, assessing which were normal complaints and which could be categorized as "disrespect for the teacher's authority."

The results were not optimistic.

I criticized myself the whole time... leaving myself no way out.

"No~ I swear to God!" Lin Yue raised her right hand above her head, palm facing outward, making a standard swearing gesture. "Teacher's fitness plan is absolutely amazing! I'm definitely not complaining, and I'm not looking down on it. Teacher, you've wronged me."

Wang Yihang watched as Lin Yue twisted the facts without batting an eye, and his tense expression immediately relaxed.

He seemed curious about how this person could change their expression so quickly.

He opened his mouth to scold him, but then he felt that the kid had just spent five days in the ocean, and he couldn't bring himself to do it.

So the words of reprimand... circled in his mouth, and finally turned into a muffled groan as if an itch had been scratched, and he raised his hand to scratch the back of his head.

"Sigh... didn't your parents tell you that?" Wang Yihang's tone shifted from the authority of a homeroom teacher to the helplessness of someone who had been through it all.

"After reaching the Tier Two, botanists can temper their physical bodies by absorbing plant essences. The effect isn't strong, but if you persist every day, your physical strength will be significantly stronger than an ordinary person—at least you won't be caught by Zombie."

--Crimson King--

The streets were bathed in the warm orange glow of the setting sun as Lin Yue walked home, the words her homeroom teacher had spoken in the classroom still echoing in her mind.

The Tier Two allows one to temper their physical body by absorbing plant essences.

I had never heard anyone mention this before.

It wasn't because he was ignorant, but because neither of his parents were at the Tier Two. Lin Xiaotian's talent was Wall-nut Growth, and his mother Li Xue's talent was affinity with Ice- type plants. Both of them had been stuck at the Tier One for many years and had never broken through to the Tier Two.

Tier One botanist... has no need for this ability, so naturally wouldn't tell him.

According to the homeroom teacher, if one were to absorb the plant essence of the Divine Waterdrop, one would be on top of the world.

Don't ask why, just say it's the confidence given by the Divine Waterdrop.

Our own... that little blue plant that just emerged from the Secret Realm, the crown atop its head seals the authority of the Water God.

Lin Yue, as the master of the Divine Waterdrop Shooter, surely... the little Divine Waterdrop Shooter wouldn't refuse.

What's even more interesting is the method Wang Yihang mentioned—using plants to train the body.

It's not about directly absorbing the essence of plants; that's called "Essence Harvesting," a forbidden technique on the black market.

The proper method is "Resonance Tempering": maintain close contact with the plant for a certain period of time every day, but how close... is hard to say.

Chomper: (o˙▽˙o)... Negative Distance

The homeroom teacher also said that from the Tier Two until now, he has insisted on running nine kilometers every day plus strength training, and his physical fitness is better than that of a young man in his twenties.

It even... outran Pole-Vaulting Zombie on the battlefield.

Lin Yue wasn't sure if he was bragging, after all, they were all plant farmers... who would have the time to race against Zombie?

"Mom! I'm home--"

Lin Yue pushed open her courtyard gate and habitually called out to the house.

Before Lin Yue's feet even crossed the threshold, her body instinctively made an expectant gesture... preparing to welcome the Chomper as it pounced from around the corner of the courtyard wall.

Chomper.

Every time he came home, Chomper was the first person to greet him.

Lin Yue stood at the gate for two seconds, then suddenly remembered... the Chomper was probably still in its Plant Garden at this moment.

awkward.

It's really unpleasant.

So what if she wasn't home? It's no big deal... just call her back and it'll be fine.

[Consumes 175 units of sunlight]

The moment the Chomper appeared in the yard, Lin Yue witnessed firsthand the entire process of a plant going from bewilderment to excitement.

The Chomper was stunned for a moment—it had just been dozing off, and suddenly... it was back in the familiar yard.

Its roots tread on familiar soil, soil where traces of... previous turning still remain.

Its large mouth slowly opened, and it took a deep breath of the air on the ground—not seawater, but air, carrying the sweet fragrance of osmanthus blossoms in the courtyard.

The DNA moved.

Every single day in the past, at this same time, this mouth has held the same person's head in its mouth in the same way.

Lin Yue saw the giant mouth of the Chomper begin to turn towards her. The curve, speed, and angle of that mouth were a precise replica of the muscle memory she had accumulated over the past few years.

My brain quickly calculated the current size of the Chomper —after eating a Zombie buffet for five days in the ocean, this guy is at least a size bigger than he was five days ago, and the maximum diameter of his mouth when he opens it has increased by at least a third.

If you take that bite, you might not even be able to hold your head in your mouth, you might even swallow your whole body.

"No! You're serious—"

The Chomper's mouth has already closed.