Tan Junhao

Biodata

History

First Recruitment Attempt

Tan Junhao first targeted Wen Jing after reviewing promising candidates from the Trial Tower rankings. Although he considered her initial D rating respectable, his recruitment plan also served the council president’s quota for admitting poor students. He offered her a third-grade Personnel Department position, reasoning that someone needed to perform the department’s difficult, tiring work 15.

He reassured his younger cousin, Tan Wenshan, that equal staff grades would not erase their social advantages. Expecting a promotion the following semester, he also promised Wenshan his team-leader position. Wen Jing answered the appointment notice with “Unsubscribe.” Tan Junhao restrained his furious cousin and decided to assess her at the upcoming welcome party instead 15.

Deep Space Vortex Confrontation

After Wen Jing defeated Tan Wenshan at the welcome party, Tan Junhao investigated her connections before acting. He learned that instructors valued her fighting ability and that she apparently knew Dean Bai, prompting him to pursue recruitment rather than straightforward retaliation 22 31.

At a Student Council team-building dinner at Deep Space Vortex, he arranged for Wen Jing to appear as the restaurant’s contracted chef. He used her employment to reassure Wenshan that combat ability did not overturn their social hierarchy. Wen Jing undermined the attempted humiliation by proudly declaring that she was there to make money 30.

Tan Junhao then offered her an Operations Department contract with benefits equal to those of its existing members. Wenshan recognized the arrangement as a planned good-cop/bad-cop recruitment tactic. Wen Jing refused and continued speaking to the restaurant manager while ignoring Tan Junhao 31.

Enraged, he secretly attacked her back with a venomous energy serpent. The attack vanished harmlessly because of her newly acquired Abnormal Status Immunity, and she left while he was still counting down to her expected collapse. He subsequently contacted the restaurant’s owner; the following morning, Deep Space Vortex ended its employment arrangement with her. His resulting “blacklisting” did not meaningfully hinder her 31 39.

Dismissal

When Wen Jing achieved S-rank Trial Tower results, Tan Junhao feared that he would lose his anticipated promotion. Song Zhi instead ordered him and all twelve members of his team removed from their posts after learning how the department had treated her 42.

As robots packed the office, Tan Junhao protested his contributions, invoked his relationship with a former council president, and demanded to meet the current president. Two second-year Operations Department members easily escorted him away despite his seniority 42 43.

The dismissal provoked resistance within the council, whose administrative authority remained concentrated among conglomerate heirs. That backlash later resurfaced when Song Zhi sought approval for Wen Jing’s consulting benefits 43 54.

Personality

Tan Junhao cultivates an air of leisurely authority. He expects formal titles at school, treats recruitment as a means of securing useful subordinates, and teaches Wenshan to preserve his status by having others act for him. His apparent generosity toward poorer students is calculated: he believes that modest courtesy can purchase their loyalty without substantial resources 15 21 30.

His composure depends heavily on receiving deference. Wen Jing’s refusal to acknowledge him provokes a covert attack, followed by economic retaliation when the attack fails. He nevertheless recognizes institutional limits, declining to pursue a public fight because bullying a first-year could create trouble with the academy 31.

Abilities & Skills

Venomous Energy Serpent

Tan Junhao developed his snake Wilderness Body’s venom into an energy-form attack. The serpent shadow is fast and concealed enough that most Awakened diners fail to notice its release 31.

• Energy-borne neurotoxin: Contact with an opponent’s projected energy allows the toxin to spread through that energy, making ordinary energy-based defense hazardous 31.
• Secondary eruption: If an opponent dodges, he can detonate the serpent shadow into poisonous mist 31.
• Paralysis: Its neurotoxin is described as sufficient to paralyze ten elephant-sized creatures 31.
• Limited lethality: By Ancient Wilderness standards, its toxicity is relatively weak and cannot kill most creatures on contact 31.
• Toxin recognition: The attack disappears when it encounters stronger toxins or a target it cannot affect, wasting the attack entirely. Wen Jing’s Abnormal Status Immunity triggers this limitation 31.
• Research applications: Several instructors have invited him to participate in toxin research because of the ability’s unusual rules 31.

Remote Manipulation

• Draws a freshly printed sheet of paper into his hand from a distance 15.

Combat Standing

• Despite being a third-year student, he is substantially weaker than the second-year Operations Department members who remove him from the Personnel Department office 43.

Relationships

• Tan Wenshan — Younger paternal cousin and subordinate. Tan Junhao mentors him in status-conscious political maneuvering and promises him his team-leader position. Wenshan’s admiration falters after witnessing his failed attack on Wen Jing 15 21 31.
• Wen Jing — Recruitment target turned adversary. Her rejection of his authority leads to an unsuccessful attack and blacklisting; his department’s treatment of her ultimately costs him his post 15 31 39 42.
• Song Zhi — Student Council president who dismisses Tan Junhao’s entire team and later personally apologizes to Wen Jing at Deep Space Vortex 42 53.
• Former Student Council president — An unnamed relative whose connection Tan Junhao invokes while protesting his dismissal 42.

Trivia

• He insists that reports be printed and handed to him rather than sent to his terminal. During the office clearance, seeing a robot pack his “antique” printer finally prompts him to physically intervene 15 42.