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When Mo Bai opened his eyes again, he saw neither the pink-haired girl with the lightsaber nor the imposing Impermanence Heron.
He was sitting inside the simulation pod.
"Did I leave the hologram...?"
Mo Bai shook his head and looked at the monitor beside him.
To his surprise, Holographic Strategy stages one through six were all marked as cleared.
Luck had played some part, but if something hadn't gone wrong with his domain at the end, he probably could have beaten the Impermanence Heron.
That was all speculation, though. What he really wanted to know was who the pink-haired girl who had appeared before him was.
I'll ask Lynae about her later.
Muttering to himself, Mo Bai opened the simulation pod.
Click—
The moment the hatch opened, Mo Bai realized something was off.
"Hey! He's out! The person inside is out!"
"My god, that freshman cleared stage six under those conditions?!"
A crowd of students outside the simulation pod were excitedly discussing Mo Bai's achievement.
They had come to use the simulation pods for class and happened to catch Mo Bai's Holographic Strategy challenge.
Which meant Mo Bai had already spent about two hours inside the hologram.
The students weren't so worked up just because Mo Bai was one of the few who dared challenge stage six.
More importantly, he had cleared Holographic Strategy despite a malfunction during his attempt.
"Are you feeling all right?"
A teacher approached Mo Bai, concern written all over his face.
Mo Bai was still trying to catch up. He hadn't expected so many people to gather around just because he'd played a hologram...
But seeing the teachers' expressions, he guessed it had something to do with the malfunction he'd encountered inside.
Rubbing his chin, Mo Bai told the teacher how the difficulty had suddenly increased and his abilities had abruptly been affected.
As soon as he finished describing the malfunction, a familiar voice called out from nearby.
"Mo Bai!"
It was Lynae. She pushed through the crowd and came up to him.
"Whew! Are you okay? I went to get a teacher the moment the hologram malfunctioned!" she asked, her face full of worry.
Seeing how plainly her feelings showed on her face, Mo Bai couldn't help smiling.
She might enjoy bickering with him, but when something serious happened, she was the first to take it seriously.
"You're still smiling? Come on, I'm taking you to Doctor Lu for a checkup."
With that, Lynae grabbed Mo Bai's hand and led him out of the crowd.
"Lynae! Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?"
Only then did one of the teachers notice the Academy's resident troublemaker.
"I'm taking an injured student to the Infirmary, teacher!"
Lynae looked back, flashed a toothy grin, and waved before dragging Mo Bai at a run to the Infirmary.
Tap, tap, tap.
"Heh-heh. Delivered safe and sound!"
At the Infirmary door, Lynae planted her hands on her hips, looking immensely proud.
Beside her, Mo Bai shot her a resentful look.
"Hey, what's with that look? I personally brought you all the way to the Infirmary."
Though she talked back, Lynae looked a little guilty.
"Are you sure you didn't just use me as an excuse to skip class? If you dragged an actual patient along like that, you'd probably put their life in danger..." Mo Bai grumbled.
Tap, tap.
Just then, a tall man with blond hair and red eyes walked out of the Infirmary.
"Students coming in during class is common enough, but it's rare to see one making this much noise here."
Lu Hess spoke gently, his arms folded across his chest.
This time, though, Lynae had a perfectly good reason to answer his teasing.
"I came with Mo Bai so he could get checked out..."
Reasonable as that sounded, Lynae still seemed a little guilty.
After all, she wasn't the one having health problems.
Mo Bai gave Lynae a helpless look, then walked up to Lu Hess.
"Sorry for the trouble, Doctor Lu."
"No trouble. It's my job."
Smiling, Lu Hess welcomed Mo Bai into the Infirmary.
Lynae, meanwhile, settled into a seat outside and started playing on her phone while she waited for Mo Bai's checkup to finish.
She'd known on the way over that Mo Bai was fine. Now she was secretly delighted to have skipped another class.
After a series of examinations, Lu Hess concluded that there was nothing wrong with Mo Bai's body.
But Lu Hess didn't let him leave right away. Instead, he struck up a conversation.
"By the way, I heard you ran into some trouble during your Holographic Strategy challenge," Lu Hess said.
"News travels that fast?"
Mo Bai felt as though word of his hologram challenge had already reached every corner of the Academy.
"Haha. You're a celebrity at the Academy now, Voidworm Knight."
Mo Bai's mouth twitched at Lu Hess's choice of title.
There was no other reason. It was just unbearably embarrassing to hear.
Earlier, he had laughed at Lynae when she complained to him about it.
Someone had asked Lynae for an autograph because of the Voidworm Knight title, and the way they'd addressed her had left her mortified.
He hadn't expected it to sting so much when the tables turned...
"By the way, Mo Bai, you don't have a Resonance Mark, do you?" Lu Hess abruptly changed the subject.
Mo Bai narrowed his eyes.
After spending so long at the Academy, he understood that he was something of an oddity in Solaris.
Normally, he could get away with pretending his Resonance Mark was hidden beneath his clothes. That trick wouldn't work on the doctor examining him, though.
"Don't be nervous. I just have one piece of advice for you."
Smiling, Lu Hess walked up to Mo Bai.
"Watch out for the Remnant Star Society."
The Remnant Star Society again?
Hearing Lu Hess bring it up, Mo Bai felt a wave of exasperation.
The group had a name that sounded like a school club, yet it seemed to be everywhere.
Judging by Lu Hess's tone, had they set their sights on him?
It made sense. There didn't seem to be any other third-party force at the Academy.
But Mo Bai hated the feeling of being watched. He'd only come to the Academy to live an ordinary student life.
"Don't worry, though. They haven't infiltrated the Academy to its roots. They'll play it safe and secretly collect data on unusual people like you."
Seeing the concern on Mo Bai's face, Lu Hess smiled reassuringly.
Mo Bai looked up at the man's closed eyes and smiling face.
For a doctor, Lu Hess knew rather too much.
"Relax. I'm on your side." With that, Lu Hess took something from his pocket.
A piece of candy.
"Have some candy. It'll help you relax."
Before you continue