Rumors at the Academy

"Shit, I'm out of mana."

After firing off another Pillar: Death Star Celestial Judgment and reducing Hecate to a sliver of health, Lu Guan lost all his strength. He dropped out of his kaslana state and fell headfirst to the ground.

Hecate was really something. After being bombarded by so many meteors, she could still move. The Deep Space Union's technology truly deserved its place among the best on Solaris.

Watching Hecate limp slowly toward him, Lu Guan, utterly spent, wisely chose to...

"Heh, can we make peace?"

In theory, they couldn't, since a hologram couldn't understand human speech. In practice, however, they could, because the person operating it behind the scenes saw Lu Guan's condition and immediately stopped the projection.

Watching the monitor from a distance, Lacerta smiled, stood up, and said to Chisa, "Come on. It's time to check on our little chunni."

While Lacerta and Chisa were on their way to the simulation training ground, some unpleasant rumors were circulating around the academy.

"Principal Lacerta seems unusually interested in that new student from Huanglong. Do you think they might be..."

"Hey, someone said they saw that shrine maiden from Ashihara leave campus with the student from Huanglong yesterday. They didn't get back until late..."

"I heard the other Huanglong students say he's a young master from one of the Ming Court's prominent families. He came to the academy to polish his credentials."

"That's ridiculous. Is it true? Looks like the academy isn't as pure as it used to be..."

"And the usually lazy Dania, too..."

"Shh, keep it down. Look over there..."

Dania walked heavily along the academy path. The rumors about Lu Guan never stopped buzzing in her ears, leaving her irritated and making her quicken her pace.

Those chattering people... they're so annoying!

Why spread rumors and slander someone who has nothing to do with them for no reason? What do they get out of it?

At the same time, the president's words resurfaced in Dania's mind: "Deception will only ever get you a false bubble. All it takes is one little poke from someone else, and it'll burst right then and there."

"Deception..." Dania looked down at her toes. "If he found out that the way I act is just a disguise, what would he think... Would what he said before still count?"

She recalled the intimate scene from the previous night. It had been her first time being so close to someone of the opposite sex. Although Lu Guan had been asleep at the time, that feeling of warmth lingered in her heart, refusing to fade.

Even though the Fractsidus president had just put her under mental pressure and given her that whole brainwashing speech, whenever Dania recalled what had happened the previous night, she felt a trace of inexplicable courage again.

"Maybe... I should find a chance to tell him the truth?"

The moment the thought appeared, it startled her.

"No... I can't." Dania shook her head. "Was he serious about what he said before, or was he just joking?"

"If it was only a joke, wouldn't I have given my feelings to the wrong person?"

"Maybe the president was right... Everything gained through deception will disappear once the false bubble is burst."

"I'll... I'll watch a little longer... No... Even if I confirm that he meant what he said, I can't tell him so easily."

"Keep acting... Dania, you have to keep up the disguise and cover up all the facts. You can't let them notice..."

"This is... all I have..."

The infirmary.

"Now, open your eyes." Lu Hes held up three slender fingers and waved them in front of Lu Guan. "Tell the doctor, what's this?"

"That's... OK?"

"Good... Looks like you're fine." Lu Hes flicked Lu Guan lightly on the forehead, then turned to Lacerta beside him. "He just passed out from overusing his resonance power. A little more rest and he'll be fine."

"Mm, sorry for the trouble, Dr. Lu."

Lacerta stepped forward and sat down beside Lu Guan. "How did it feel to let your resonance power loose for the first time?" she asked with concern.

"...A little awful." Lu Guan smiled wryly. "Teacher Chisa told me before that my resonance efficiency was low, but I didn't expect it to be this low..."

"That's not all." Chisa, who had been silent beside them until now, handed Lu Guan a peeled apple. "Your resonance energy reserves are very small too. Try not to use moves that consume so much next time."

"Practicing your resonance ability is a gradual process. Don't rush it."

Lacerta smiled and teased him. "Also... if you're going to fight seriously, could you maybe cut back on the lines?"

Lu Guan: "?!!"

He hadn't expected someone to catch him in one of his occasional chunni moments, much less bring it up.

Intense shame began spreading down from the top of his head. "Um... did you both see it?" he asked in a trembling voice.

Lacerta and Chisa exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.

"I'm doomed!" Lu Guan clutched his head and cried out. "Doctor... where's the doctor? My head hurts so much... I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying!"

Lu Hes walked over, looking somewhat helpless. "Lu Guan, this is a sociological problem," he said irritably. "We generally don't consider 'social death' to fall within the scope of medicine."

He took a piece of candy from his pocket and offered it to Lu Guan. "Want some candy? I hope it'll put you in a better mood."

"Thanks." Lu Guan immediately dropped his act, took the candy from Lu Hes's hand, and tossed it into his mouth.

Seeing Lu Guan pull off that miraculous change of face in a second, Lacerta couldn't help finding it funny. "It seems... your mental state really does fit the spirit of our academy."

"You... I'm glad you're all right." Although Chisa was somewhat surprised by Lu Guan's ability to regulate his own emotions, she didn't say much else.

"Speaking of which... Lu Guan, have you activated the FliChat function on your terminal?" Lacerta asked. "It's a function the research institute developed recently. For now, it's only available on academy terminals."

"Once you've activated it, we can add each other on FliChat. If anything comes up, we can contact each other there."

"Me too..." Chisa said. "Since you call me teacher, I must live up to the responsibility that comes with that title."

"If you have any questions about your resonance ability, you can ask me anytime."

Lu Hes smiled. "Next time you pass out, remember to let the doctor know in advance."

After adding Lacerta, Chisa, and Lu Hes on FliChat, Lu Guan left the infirmary. At that point, the system's voice began ringing nonstop in his head.

[Beep! Lacerta's affection +5]

[Current character affection: 17]

[Host, please keep up the good work.]

[Beep! Lu Hes's affection +6]

[Current character affection: 8]

[Host, please keep up the good work.]

[Beep! Chisa's affection +5]

[Current character affection: 21]

[Host, please keep up the good work.]

[Beep! A romanceable character has been detected: Chisa. Her affection has reached a milestone. Would you like to claim the reward?]

No, Lu Guan said silently.

Going by the previous pattern, the reward for reaching 20 affection with Chisa should also be 10% resonance ability development. If he claimed it now, it would most likely create an imbalance with his mastery.

It was better to save it. He could also use it like a snap pop.

[Beep!!! Warning: The romanceable character Dania is experiencing extreme emotional fluctuations. Host, please monitor changes in affection and take appropriate action promptly.]

"What's going on?" Startled, Lu Guan hurriedly checked on Dania through the system.

[Dania]

[Current affection: ??]

[Thoughts on the host: So cold... emptiness... darkness... please don't... forgive me...]

"System? What's going on?"

[Analyzing host's request...]

[Beep! Conclusion: The romanceable character Dania is suffering a mental breakdown. The system cannot monitor changes in affection.]

"A mental breakdown?" Lu Guan's eyes widened. "How did this happen? Things had clearly stabilized before..."

Just then, the terminal hanging at his waist suddenly rang. It was a FliChat message from Lacerta.

"There have been some rumors about you around the academy lately. Don't pay them too much attention. Your teacher will deal with those bad children properly..."

"Get some rest, and don't think too much about it."

Looking at Lacerta's message, Lu Guan frowned again. What kind of rumors would make Lacerta deal with them personally? But he had no time to worry about anything else now. Dania's situation was clearly more urgent.

"I'd better go find Dania first."