Tuesday morning, in the open ground floor of Totsuki Academy's first-year teaching building.
Quite a few students had already gathered outside the courtyard, nervously watching the corridor beneath the building.
On the wall was an enormous blackboard, its color starkly different from the tiles beside it.
For now, it was completely blank.
"Isn't it almost time?"
"Seriously, I'm so nervous."
"How come the Academic Affairs Office got so much more efficient at this as soon as they appointed a director from the Dragon Nation? We used to at least get a week's reprieve before execution. Now it's just one weekend!"
In the ground-floor corridor, a pink-haired girl in a JK uniform strode forward with her head held high, cutting through the students' chatter.
She carried an enormous roll of paper in her arms, with two student council members following behind.
"She's here! The secretary's here with the 'imperial results'!"
"Lady You Anlina, please, I'm begging you, don't email my parents this time!"
"Nooo, anything but sending our grades to our parents!"
Wails rose all around as You Anlina approached the huge blackboard amid those cries.
The scene rather resembled an official sent by the ancient imperial court to distribute disaster relief, surrounded by starving people tearfully lamenting their misery.
Hearing them, You Anlina gave a sunny smile, raised her thumb at everyone, and said,
"Everyone! It's all right!! Even if you did badly! With your parents' friendly encouragement, you're sure to improve next time!!"
"Yamero!!"
"No!!"
That effectively sentenced everyone to death.
Totsuki Academy required students to provide their guardians' email addresses upon enrollment, generally emailing invitations whenever the school held major events.
Naturally, they also sent along things like the children's grades and end-of-term classroom evaluations.
The student council and Academic Affairs Office coordinated this work.
Below, You Anlina showed no sympathy whatsoever for the hardships of the people, merely turning around to begin putting up the results.
The two student council members behind her immediately stepped forward to help, unfolding the sheet listing the entire first-year class and hanging it on the blackboard.
Farther away on the second floor, Yan Huan held a cup of black tea as he and Hitomi Sakuramiya watched the spectacle below.
He yawned, trying to drive away his drowsiness with black tea, evidently without success.
As he watched, Yan Huan suddenly said with a laugh,
"Sure enough, You Anlina's the best person for this job."
Hitomi Sakuramiya withdrew her gaze, wholeheartedly agreeing.
"Yes. After all, this is the kind of thing that makes students dislike you. Fortunately, You Anlina's very popular. Everyone likes her."
The results below were unveiled bit by bit, covering almost the entire enormous blackboard.
As the list came into view, everyone involuntarily held their breath and fell silent, looking at the names.
Yan Huan: 499, rank 1.
Hitomi Sakuramiya: 491, rank 2.
Yatsuhashi Ki: 474, rank 19.
An Le: 457, rank 41.
Ashley Garcia: 441, rank 56.
You Anlina Shihua Ya: 398, rank 107.
Bai Yi: 292, rank 152.
Aria Spencer: 66, rank 178.
The five core subjects were reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and science.
Including this semester's transfer students, the Entire Grade had 178 students in total, with a maximum score of 500.
"Ah, Gao, what's wrong?! No, don't collapse!"
"Hahaha, I passed! I passed!"
"You beast, what did you pass?!"
Whenever the results were posted, the students always had an endless supply of antics.
Those antics concealed their feelings upon seeing their grades; who knew how many were happy and how many were miserable?
In Linmen, exam results were not decisive, but Totsuki Academy placed considerable importance on them.
Although the schools all operated under the same system, there were still enormous differences between schools in Linmen.
They had entirely different educational objectives and policies.
For instance, the university students in the South District lived quite happily day after day, carefree and without a worry, at most occasionally visiting a community clinic to get checked for gonorrhea, syphilis, and the like.
But the two in Jinghe District, Totsuki and Xiuzhi Academy, clearly existed to cultivate the next generation of a particular social class, and therefore had numerous requirements.
"President, you came first again. Congratulations."
Beside him, Hitomi Sakuramiya silently clapped for Yan Huan and offered her congratulations.
Yan Huan merely smiled. In fact, he had not looked at his own name at all; his gaze kept searching farther down.
He was looking for the two currently known Modifier users in his year.
Bai Yi, Aria Spencer...
After searching near the top for ages without finding them, he finally discovered them gathered at the bottom, holding their own little party.
Bai Yi's poor grades were understandable.
Because of her work as an idol, she only came to school occasionally. When she had free time, she might manage perfect attendance, but otherwise she was always taking leave.
That was also why Yan Huan had not immediately remembered who she was when he saw her using the Modifier last week.
Besides, she had run over halfway through her mathematics exam to draw those incomprehensible scribbles for Zhou Bin. Judging by her score, it did not look as though she had finished and handed in her paper early.
Losing mathematics meant losing a huge chunk of points. That was normal.
But what about you, blondie named Aria Spencer?
A total score of 66.
An average of around thirteen points per subject. All Yan Huan could say was:
What a goddamn genius.
Even choosing the same answer for every multiple-choice question would earn more points than that. She was over a hundred points behind the second-to-last student. Who knew what she had sitting on her neck?
Perhaps a lucky 666.
"All right, everyone! This will be taken down sometime today, and then we'll send you all emails. Sob, sob, sob..."
Just then, You Anlina stood beneath the blackboard with her hands on her hips and loudly announced this.
But with tears at the corners of her eyes, a forced smile, and an attempt at composure, combined with her trembling body, she looked rather comical.
One glance told everyone: she had bombed her exams too.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Secretary You Anlina, never thought you'd see the day, huh?!"
"You're the worst in the whole student council!"
"It's okay! You're cute, Secretary, so we'll still vote for you next year!"
Rather than cheering up at that, You Anlina pouted and burst into tears.
"Waaaah! Why can't I feel happy at all about being elected because I'm cute?! It's like... like I'm the student council's mascot!"
The students in the courtyard immediately burst out laughing, leaving Yan Huan and Hitomi Sakuramiya shaking their heads upstairs.
Just then, a female teacher wearing glasses approached them from behind and said with a smile,
"Classmate Yan, Classmate Hitomi Sakuramiya, please come this way. The principal would like to see you."
"..."
Yan Huan and Hitomi Sakuramiya exchanged a glance and looked away from the farce below, neither knowing what that old monster was up to this time.
"President Yan, Vice President Sakuramiya, I'm delighted to see that under your leadership, the student council delivered a nearly flawless performance last semester."
Principal Hermes sat on the sofa, smiling at Yan Huan and Hitomi Sakuramiya before him, his face creased like a chrysanthemum.
This bastard definitely got fed more cash again.
Yan Huan and Hitomi Sakuramiya secretly exchanged a glance as the same thought occurred to them.
"It's all thanks to everyone looking out for us and being willing to cooperate with our work."
Yan Huan was the first to smile and skip past Hermes's empty praise.
"More importantly, Principal, what did you call us here so early for?"
"Well, here's the situation..."
Hermes beckoned to the assistant beside him, took several documents, and said to Yan Huan and Hitomi Sakuramiya,
"Prominent companies such as Ye International and the Golden Lion Group have recently taken a keen interest in our students' development. They've offered the school a number of places for students to learn at their companies this summer, covering many departments and fields. You can take these back and look over the specifics."
The documents contained company introductions, quotas for each year, and other information.
Yan Huan accepted them and took a look, already understanding the nature of these documents.
Many students at the school lacked influential backgrounds, and these were resources that could give them an advantage in future school applications.
Ultimately, these things were also why Yan Huan had worked to attend Totsuki.
With that thought, Yan Huan asked Hermes,
"Then, as for the specific allocations...?"
"Students should first apply to the student council. Before the semester ends, the council will submit the list to the principal's office, and we'll review it."
The review generally covered three areas: Grade Point Average, participation in student public affairs, and disciplinary records.
The three sets of records were supervised and managed by three school administrative departments-the Academic Affairs Office, Student Affairs Office, and Discipline Department-rather than being something the student council could freely manipulate.
"Understood. We'll notify the students about this afterward."
Hermes smiled and nodded, then turned to pick up another sheet of paper.
For some reason, watching him pick up that sheet gave Yan Huan the distinct feeling of watching Jing Ke present his map.
"There's one more thing, Classmate Yan. Previous student councils have always organized academic support among students, but because participation was voluntary, the results weren't particularly good."
One-on-one academic support essentially meant encouraging students with good grades to help those with low Grade Point Averages under the student council's leadership.
But thinking about it carefully, with both sides participating voluntarily, it would be a miracle if it worked.
Why would students with good grades go to the extra trouble? Students with poor grades did not want to embarrass themselves in front of their peers either.
And so...
"So this year, the Academic Affairs Office hopes the student council can take the lead in a pilot support program to publicize the relaunch of this initiative."
Hermes pushed the sheet toward Yan Huan. It contained a list of students.
"In other words, we'll require a small number of students who are extremely far behind to join study groups as a demonstration, while encouraging outstanding students to lend a hand by giving them priority consideration for scholarships and resource allocations."
The map unrolled, and the dagger was revealed.
No wonder he handed over that other list first. So this was what he was waiting for?
Beside him, Hitomi Sakuramiya frowned slightly. She scanned the list and noticed several surnames that were quite well known in Linmen.
She roughly understood what the school board was up to, but said nothing, simply waiting for Yan Huan to speak.
Yan Huan had originally intended merely to go along with it, rather than embarrass the principal.
He would publicize it as required and mention the matter; how it actually got implemented could be discussed later.
But as his gaze swept over the sheet, he quickly spotted two familiar names.
"Bai Yi"-recommended participation.
"Aria Spencer"-mandatory participation.
Spencer's name had even been highlighted in red.
Oh?
I was just saying earlier that I should make something of that request I promised Spencer.
And now, hasn't the opportunity arrived?
Good, good, good. You've all fallen into my hands.
Yan Huan's gaze lingered briefly on those two names.
Hitomi Sakuramiya thought she more or less knew what Yan Huan would say, yet after waiting for ages, she still heard nothing from him.
Inevitably, she looked over.
She saw Yan Huan staring at Aria Spencer's name on the list, slightly dazed, seemingly hesitating.
That name...
Last night, she had still been uneasy about the blonde girl who could shatter her barrier with a single kick, so she had looked into her.
Aria Spencer was that blonde girl's name.
Why would the president look at her name with such an unusual expression?
Why on earth?!
What exactly happened between the two of them yesterday afternoon?
"President?"
At that thought, anxiety rose in Hitomi Sakuramiya's heart, and she hurriedly called to Yan Huan.
"...Understood. I'll notify the relevant students in a little while. I'll take charge of this."
V-volunteering to take charge?
Hermes blinked at the smiling Yan Huan before him, and his own smile grew even broader.
"That's wonderful, Classmate Yan. I'll leave this to you, then. Contact me anytime if there are any problems."
"..."
Hitomi Sakuramiya's pink lips parted slightly, and her hand could not help gripping the hem of her skirt.
First there had been that older sister named Ye Shiyu, and now there was this Spencer.
If the president was especially gentle because he regarded Ye Shiyu as family...
Then what about this blonde woman?
Her personality clearly seemed so awful, and she didn't look like someone who could get along well with the president either. Why had the president hesitated when he saw her name?
No, Hitomi Sakuramiya, don't overthink it.
Maybe the gentle, kindhearted president only wanted to help a student who struggled with her studies.
Besides, even if the president personally tutored her, there wouldn't be anything wrong with that, would there?
This was all normal.
Nor-
Hitomi Sakuramiya was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when her pupils suddenly contracted, and a surge of anger flared up inside her.
Normal, my ass!!
How could I suddenly think that?!
Where had that thought even come from?!
"Then that's settled. Thank you both for your help this morning. Go back to class."
"Yes, Principal."
Yan Huan stood up with the documents in hand, but Hitomi Sakuramiya remained seated beside him, making him raise an eyebrow.
"Sakuramiya?"
"Huh?"
Coming back to her senses, Hitomi Sakuramiya belatedly stood up.
"Sorry, President."
Deep down, an intuition made Hitomi Sakuramiya increasingly certain.
That girl named Spencer had definitely done something to the president in secret.
Following behind Yan Huan, Hitomi Sakuramiya's expression immediately turned cold, almost murderous.
Calm down.
Calm down, Hitomi Sakuramiya.
She comforted herself inwardly.
Plans succeeded through secrecy and failed through loose talk.
I had to hide it. I couldn't lose my composure.
Who cared about Ye Shiyu or Spencer? As long as I hid it, plotted in secret, and didn't expose any weaknesses...
One day, the president would become someone only I could see, someone no one could take away.
Mine alone!
"Achoo!"
The first-year Class C classroom.
Spencer sneezed, blowing down the house of cards she had painstakingly built on her desk.
"...Who's cursing me? Did Santa find out I badmouthed him last year?"
Spencer rubbed her chin, offering what she considered the most likely conclusion.
But soon, she gave up thinking about the question.
She pouted, looking a little unhappy.
Something had been bothering Spencer since yesterday.
For some reason, her classmates... no, everyone around her seemed to dislike her.
She had only transferred here a day ago, and she hadn't done anything.
When she tried to strike up a conversation, they would look embarrassed and casually offer a polite remark or two.
When she asked for help, they pretended not to hear, then made an excuse and left.
During free time in basketball class yesterday, she had wanted to find people to team up with, but her classmates avoided her as soon as they saw her, leaving her to play by herself.
At the end of class, they were supposed to assemble inside the gym and return the balls to the equipment room together, but she had just transferred and knew none of this.
Everyone else left one after another, and no one told her what she was supposed to do.
So she went back to the classroom building first, found no one there, then trudged back to return her ball, only to find the door already locked.
That was why she had gotten angry enough to kick her way into the equipment room, only to stumble right into Yan Huan and his partner doing something naughty inside.
Although she had gotten something on him, Spencer was still very annoyed.
"Ding, ding, ding~"
As the bell rang for class, their math teacher, Zhou Bin, walked through Class C's doorway.
Zhou Bin, known as the "math department's model worker," was famous for being unyieldingly strict.
But mathematics was a rigorous subject to begin with, and he taught it very well. At least, that was what Yan Huan thought.
This semester, he taught first-year Classes B, C, and D, as well as an afternoon math elective.
People from the Dragon Nation were fiercely competitive wherever they went, and for some reason, parents in Linmen really trusted people from the Dragon Nation to teach math.
At the moment, Zhou Bin wore a loose navy-blue T-shirt, which bulged over his slightly protruding belly.
A cross hung against his chest, his left hand was wrapped in red talismans, and a string of prayer beads encircled his right wrist.
With all these items lending their blessings, even his bald head, which reflected the sunlight, seemed to radiate the Buddha's light.
Amen. Heavenly Lord of Boundless Blessings. Amitabha.
Please protect me and let me escape the ghost from last Friday.
Zhou Bin rubbed the talisman band around his wrist, then abandoned his usual stern manner and forced an exceedingly awkward smile as he addressed the students below.
"Good morning, dear students. Let's take out our textbooks and turn to page fifteen, okay..."
"..."
Everyone stared wide-eyed at Zhou Bin on the platform.
As though they had seen a monster mimicking Zhou Bin.
With a smile that never reached his eyes, Zhou Bin adjusted his glasses and repeated,
"Dear students?"
"Oh, right, right..."
Zhou Bin seemed to believe that last Friday's supernatural incident had occurred because his usual strictness had caused the students' accumulated resentment to turn into a vengeful spirit.
Everyone took out their books, leaving only Spencer sitting there at a loss.
She glanced at the textbooks everyone around her was reading, then rummaged through her bag.
A peek inside revealed comics, a computer, snacks, a power bank...
She smacked her forehead.
Looks like I forgot my book!
Folding her arms, she turned to look around and discovered that the seat beside her was still empty.
Its occupant had gone somewhere and had yet to return for class.
Her name was... An Le, wasn't it?
A very busty girl.
Spencer spotted the textbook on the girl's desk at once. After a second's thought, she reached over and took it quite naturally.
Following Zhou Bin's instructions, she turned to page fifteen and tilted her head at the utterly incomprehensible contents.
Then she lowered her head, leaning closer to read the words carefully.
After a few seconds, Spencer's deeply scrunched-up little face was almost overloaded.
Then she gave an enormous yawn and suddenly became listless.
Sleepy.
And so boring.
Utterly bored, she laid An Le's book open on her desk.
She hadn't expected such a simple movement to send a bookmark tucked between its pages sliding out.
"Huh? What's this?"
Spencer tilted her head, curiosity showing in her eyes.
She reached out and picked up the crumpled cardboard bookmark, only to find words written on it in crooked, immature handwriting, like a child's.
"Yan Huan and An Le must stay together forever."
The handwriting differed between the two parts, as though two people had written it together.
As she read the words, Spencer's expression of utter boredom suddenly froze.
Then it gradually dissolved as her eyes widened little by little.
Before you continue